Author: Moderator

We are off and running with spring practices with three down and three more to go this week (the 2nd, 4th and 6th). Dogs of the Day so far have been Charles Callender, Rodney Thomas and Patrick Conte. It sounds like the defense is playing with a chip on its shoulder this offseason!

Yale Men’s Lacrosse fell to Penn 13-12 in OT on Saturday. All remaining ECAC teams in the NCAA Hockey Tournament were eliminated.

Here are the top opposing Ivy football squads heading into 2019:

Dartmouth-The top defenders from the top defense are returning. With any semblance of an offensive line, they will be a force to be reckoned with come mid-season.

Harvard-Harvard has the cupboard full of talent and continues to win recruiting wars. It’s only a matter of time before the sleeping giant awakens.

Princeton-Losing two of the best offensive and defensive players in the league will hurt Princeton more than they realize, yet they have the top young talent in the league waiting in the wings as well as proven talent at the offensive line and running back spots.

Columbia-Bagnoli has changed the culture and the losing attitude at Columbia, but the team does not have enough pieces in place to make a run for the title just yet.

Penn-With the rise of Columbia, Penn seems to have lost some of its swagger. Priore is not winning recruiting battles like he used to and the offensive production has been lackluster.

Cornell-Cornell has the ability to surprise any Ivy foe (such as Harvard) on any given Saturday. The loss of Dalton Banks coupled with inferior coaching will lead the Big Red to a losing record in the Ivy League.

Brown-Brown is in a rebuilding phase after the departure of Phil Estes, but they would enjoy nothing more than knocking off the Elis in Week 8.

Mathieu Araujo was named Yale’s Defensive Backs Coach after stints at Boston College and Springfield College (Graduate Assistant). Vashel will coach the outside linebackers and McGowan will assist with the defensive backs as well. Welcome aboard Coach Araujo and best of luck in transforming this secondary!

Spencer Matthaei and Josh Keeler are the top returners at defensive tackle. Both have flashed dominance in spurts, but need to be much more consistent at the point of attack this season. Sebastian Bruno, Michael Chime, Tate Goodyear and Adam Raine all have a chance to see extending playing time with a solid performance in Spring Ball.

Charles Callender and Devin Moore both return as starters from a year ago. Callender wasn’t the same player this past season as he battled through an injury, while Moore struggled to contain the outside edge at times. Christian Sampleton, Sean Kissel, Oso Ifesinachukwu and Reid Nickerson all played major roles last season and have the potential to replace Callender or Moore. Ethan Campbell and Brett Gerber could enter the defensive line rotation as well. Will Kyle Mullen ever return to reclaim his starting position?

The linebacking corps is full of raw talent that has yet to be fully developed. Micah Awodiran, Ryan Burke, Blake Hill, Noah Pope, John Dean, and Jordan Carey all started at some point last season. There never seemed to be a consistent unit on the field that could mesh well together, so developing cohesiveness among the top linebackers is crucial this Spring. These six players must take drastic leaps from 2018 to solidify the defense. Abelite, Frommer, Large, MacPhee, Ryan and Westafer will have the opportunity to compete for playing time and likely will be key players on the special teams units.

The secondary has an abundance of depth and experience returning, but these players need to be properly coached and put in a position to succeed. Our defensive backs must look for the ball and tackle well to give us a chance in 2019. Rodney Thomas will likely return as the starting free safety. Tosan Agbeyegbe and Miles Oldacre could be in competition for the strong safety spot, although Oldacre seemed to play more as an outside linebacker last season opposed to a true safety. Isaiah Dunham really showed a willingness to hit opponents in his limited playing time, something that was lacking in the secondary most of the season. Abraham, Alburg, Dixon, Ellis, Granberry, Henson and Hickey saw a lot of snaps last season and will battle it out for the starting corner positions. Dixon and Hickey played safety during parts of last season and could contend for the strong safety position with Agbeyegbe and Oldacre.

We are just one day away from the start of offseason practices. The Bulldogs will be practicing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with the exception of the week of April 9th as they will be practicing Tuesday, Thursday and Friday on that week. The final Saturday is designated as a community outreach day.

With the graduation of kicker/punter Alex Galland and long snapper Hunter Simino, the Bulldogs will have to groom new specialists this offseason. Freshman Ajay Culhane and Junior Sam Tuckerman will battle it out this spring to see who can solidify these positions. Incoming freshman Jack Bosman could enter the mix when fall practices begin as well. Nick Tibbetts was a very highly ranked long snapper out of high school and should fill in nicely for the departing Simino.

The preview of our defense will be posted tomorrow.

Yale Men’s Basketball fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to LSU 74-79.

Yale Men’s Lacrosse defeated Princeton 15-10 over the weekend and remains a top team in the country.

Yale’s Men’s Basketball team defeated Princeton and Harvard over the weekend to earn a 14th seed in the NCAA Tournament. Yale will face the Tigers of Louisiana State University on Thursday at 12:40 EST on TruTV.

In just over two weeks, the 2019 Yale Bulldogs football team will begin Spring Ball on a quest to bounce back from the middling 5-5 record in 2018.

The goods news is that every starter returns on our high-powered offense. Hinish, Eiselen, Strother, Cepalia and Warfield will anchor the offensive line. Tribble could reclaim his spot on the first team offense with an impressive performance.

Tight ends JJ Howland and D. Major Roman will form the best tight end rotation in the Ivy League. They are both big targets that can leave linebackers and safeties in the dust with their route running abilities.

Kurt Rawlings returns from his leg injury, while Griffin O’Connor will stand ready for the call. While the Princeton fanbase believes the Tigers have the most reserve talent at the quarterback position, Yale fans know better. O’Connor holds the single game passing yards record and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year despite starting only three games.

The running back position is stacked and the depth continues to grow thanks to our successful recruiting efforts. Lamar, Dudek, and Alston could start anywhere in the league. Charles gives us a lightning fast option as a third-down back.

JP Shohfi and Reed Klubnik create one of the most formidable wide receiver duos in Yale history. Sprinkle in Rouse, Sandifer, White, Carrington, and Aaron and the opposition will have a difficult battle to stay balanced against the passing and running games.

To improve offensively, the Bulldogs will have to focus on strength, consistency and smart schemes. In each game that we lost last season, the offensive line was pushed around and did not show the same tenacity that we witnessed in 2017. Consistency comes down to sustaining drives, avoiding penalties, converting on opportunities and staying healthy. Developing the best schemes week to week is always a challenge for coaches, but we need to master plays that can give our playmakers the best opportunity to score and continue to tweak the scheme throughout the season to keep defenders guessing.

Draft Diamonds interviewed Yale defensive back and NFL-hopeful Marquise Peggs. You can read the interview here: https://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/2019/03/marquise-peggs/

Men’s Basketball: Yale 88, Cornell 65; Columbia 83, Yale 75

Men’s Hockey: Princeton 3, Yale 2; QPac 4, Yale 1

Men’s Lacrosse: Yale 12, UMass 11

Baseball: Yale 4, New Orleans 1; New Orleans 8, Yale 7; Yale 8, New Orleans 7

Former Yale linebacker Foye Oluokun is continuing to make a name for himself in the NFL as The Falcoholic named him as the fourth best defender on the Falcons in 2018. Read the full article here: https://www.thefalcoholic.com/2019/2/28/18236389/foye-oluokun-atlanta-falcons-5-best-defensive-players-2018

The Greg Hall Senior Dinner will take place on April 17th at 6 PM at the Yale Club of New York. John Spagnola ’79 will be the Special Guest Speaker of the event. We’ve heard from concerned alumni that the loss of Hall will be felt most by current and graduating student-athletes seeking finance jobs on Wall Street, so we implore the alumni living in the city to step up to keep the network as strong as ever.

Spring Ball officially kicks off on March 26th.

Men’s Basketball hosts Cornell on Friday night and Columbia on Saturday night.

Men’s Hockey hosts Princeton tonight and Quinnipiac on Saturday night.

Men’s Lacrosse hosts UMASS on Saturday afternoon.

Baseball plays at New Orleans tonight, Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.

Men’s Basketball: Yale 77, Dartmouth 59; Harvard 88, Yale 86

Men’s Hockey: Dartmouth 2, Yale 0; Harvard 3, Yale 0

Men’s Lacrosse: Yale 14, Penn St. 13

Baseball: NMSU 19, Yale 6; NMSU 14, Yale 6; Yale 4, NMSU 2; NMSU 13, Yale 6

Former Yale football player Patrick Graham is now the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins. Check out ESPN’s recent article on him: http://www.espn.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/28736/dolphins-yale-guy-patrick-graham-who-dreamed-of-cia-seeks-smart-players

The Rapid City Journal published an article on incoming Native-American recruit Isaac Mitchell: https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/yale-recruits-rosebud-sioux-tribal-member-to-play-football/article_be52d8cf-a485-5fd0-b3ee-f19ccbdd57eb.html

Yale Men’s Basketball heads into the weekend as the top ranked Ivy League team with a 17-4 (7-1 Ivy) record. They have a crucial home slate ahead hosting Dartmouth on Friday night and Harvard on Saturday night.

Men’s Lacrosse dropped their home opener versus Villanova 11-10 in overtime. They hope to get back on track this weekend with a win over the visiting Nittany Lions of Penn State.

Men’s Hockey has had an up and down season with a current record of 13-9-3 (11-6-1 Conference). Yale is third in ECAC standings and has a difficult road trip ahead this weekend with contests at Dartmouth and at Harvard.

Baseball kicks off its season with four games at New Mexico State from Friday through Sunday.

Spring Ball is right around the corner and the Bulldogs are getting after it in the weight room. The focus this spring needs to be getting bigger and stronger along both lines as well as developing a cohesive secondary that can tackle.

Yale Football’s 2023 recruiting class currently has 29 known commitments to date. 247Sports ranks the Bulldogs’ class at #3 in the Ivy League. Here is the breakdown by projected position:

QB- 1

RB-2

WR-5

TE-0

OL-5 (4 Tackles, 1 Guard)

DL-4 (3 Defensive Ends, 1 Defensive Tackle)

LB-5

S-4

CB-2

K/P-1

There are eight prospects that received a 3 Star ranking from 247Sports and five prospects with a 2 Star ranking. Harvard currently has ten 3 Star prospects, while Princeton has nine 3 Star prospects.

Only one commit hails from the Nutmeg State, Quarterback Nolan Grooms. Oddly enough, there are more commits from the state of Arizona than Connecticut.

Josh McKenzie from Bergen Catholic is the highest-rated recruit despite tearing his ACL and missing his senior year of football.

Some of the faster safeties could wind up playing corner and a few of the tackles might transition to guard or center. There still could be room for more recruits especially if we have any members of this class heading off to Choate. Another commitment at defensive tackle would be nice to see in the coming weeks.