HANOVER – Amid a crowd of white jerseys last November, Dartmouth College football coach Sammy McCorkle raised his arms triumphantly to the sky, a shiny silver trophy in his right hand.
He had just finished a dominant 25-point win over Brown to end the season, securing a share of the Ivy League title and capping an emotional first season as coach of the Big Green.
“It really showed the resilience of our program, our players, our team,” McCorkle said recently at Ivy League Media Day. “But that’s what we learned and were taught by coach (Buddy) Teevens. That was part of his plan.”
As preseason training camp began Saturday, McCorkle reiterated that the program’s “core values” and “foundations” created by Teevens, who died last September following a bicycle accident in March, remain the same.
McCorkle enters his second season as Big Green coach and said the focus is simple: paying attention to every detail and engaging in friendly competition.
Dartmouth’s quest for its fourth championship in five seasons is aided by a number of experienced talents. This high level of performance from the returning players gives McCorkle and his team “the flexibility to rely on them more.”
“It also allows us to let the guys get on the field and play,” McCorkle said. “It’s an old man’s league. … We hope we have guys out there who know what they’re doing at all times.”
Wide receiver Paxton Scott, who led the team with 51 receptions and 630 receiving yards last season and was named to second-team All-Ivy honors, leads an offense that returns seven of its 11 starters. On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Don Dobes’ unit is eligible for preseason All-Ivy honors five times, according to Phil Steele.
Nearly 75% of the players have game experience, McCorkle said. This continuity creates trust throughout the team.
“It’s very exciting for our offense to have so many returning guys — I think this is the first year we’ve had that many –” Scott said. “A lot of guys have seen a lot of playing time, and when something comes their way, whether it’s something they’ve seen before or something new, they know how to handle it.”
Scott said there were a few hiccups at the team’s first practice, but the intensity was great. Junior defensive back Sean Williams added that the team is “heading in the right direction.”
That “right direction,” as described by Williams, leads to one goal: winning another Ancient Eight crown. A process that begins for Dartmouth on Sept. 21 with its season opener against Fordham.
“We don’t want to share the title two years in a row,” said Williams, who earned All-Ivy Second Team honors on defense and special teams last season. “So we’re going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
Reach Alex Cervantes at [email protected] or 603-727-7302.
