April 19 – Midway Through Spring (Second of Two Parts)

HANOVER – In an interview days ahead of the start of Dartmouth’s spring practice coach Sammy McCorkle talked about the addition of new assistant coaches Dan Hebert (wide receivers) and Braxton Chapman (running backs). What might have been the bigger news, however, didn’t break until after the interview for BGA.

That’s when 29-year-old tight ends coach Wendy Laurent was officially introduced as the Big Green’s associate head coach, barely two years after arriving in Hanover.

“Wendy's done a phenomenal job,” said McCorkle. “Seeing his growth since the first day he got here to where he's at now has been impressive. Just the way he holds himself, the way he presents himself, the way he represents Dartmouth College. We’re fortunate to have him as part of our program and really excited with what he's done in the short amount of time he's been here.”

Laurent, who was born in Haiti, raised in Hamilton, N.J., and played high school ball at Ivy League-feeder The Hun School, blocked for Saquon Barkley and Christian Hackenberg in Happy Valley as a 6-foot-2, 297-pound center. He earned his bachelor’s and masters degrees at Penn State and served as a grad assistant at Buffalo before spending two seasons as a grad assistant with the Nittany Lions.

When Buddy Teevens brought Laurent to Dartmouth he talked about the characteristics he shares with Cortez Hankton – the former Big Green wide receivers coach now at LSU. McCorkle, who held the role as the Big Green’s associate head coach until last fall, values those same qualities in Laurent.

“I just felt like he was definitely a guy who deserved the title and the position,” McCorkle said. “And he hasn't disappointed one bit since we named him. He has done a great job and is definitely a huge asset. 

“He just has something about him. He's got a very bright future. I definitely felt like he'd be perfect for that position and he has been.”

ARELLO OPENS EYES
Quinten Arello, a two-time Big Green captain who wrapped up his fifth-year season at free safety in the fall, had an impressive Pro Day a few weeks back in front of a scout from the New England Patriots.

Arello ran a quick 4.49 but was really off the charts with a 43½  inch vertical leap. He had solid numbers pretty much across the board.

Count McCorkle impressed.

“I'm just overly excited for Quint,” he said. “He did a phenomenal job of preparing himself, which is no surprise.

“That's the type of player he was during his time in our program. He always did the extra, always was going to be ready physically and mentally. And it was no different how he attacked this opportunity. He was ready, he performed with confidence and he did a great job.”

While the Patriots were the only team to have a representative watching Arello and a former New Hampshire wide receiver who also worked out, the scout registered his results with the NFL.

“It was really cool to have a lot of our team there watching Quint and cheering him on,” said McCorkle. “And obviously we appreciate the Patriots for sending a scout up. He was pretty impressed with what he saw.”

FIFTH YEARS
Like Arello last season, Dartmouth has a handful of players returning next fall for a fifth season, courtesy of the final year of the NCAA’s COVID-19 eligibility extension. Wide receiver Paxton Scott, tight end Nic Sani, offensive lineman Kyle Brown and linebacker Danny Cronin are all coming back. Offensive lineman Ethan Sipe is on the roster as a fifth-year although he’s still fielding grad transfer offers.

McCorkle recognizes the value of having older players who have been with the program as long as his fifth-years have.

“It’s huge,” he said. “The added depth is important, but also the leadership. It’s almost like having another coach at a position.

“Our coaches can’t see it all and when you look out there you can see our older guys coaching up the younger guys after they come off the field. They’ll share a little tidbit here, a little tidbit there and that’s huge. It’s just really being a big brother to the guys out there.”

CAPTAINS TO COME
It used to be that Dartmouth would elect captains and introduce them during the banquet at season’s end. That allowed them to lead the team during offseason workouts.

Some years back Buddy Teevens began holding the vote on captains off until late in spring practice to give the team a better opportunity to see who stepped up in winter conditioning and spring ball.

McCorkle has opted to do the same ting.

“We’ll vote on captains as a team probably on the Monday prior to the spring game,” he explained. “Then we’ll make the announcement at halftime of the spring game.”

ON TAP
After a week of rest and recovery, Dartmouth kicks off the final two weeks of spring practice on Tuesday. McCorkle is looking forward to seeing how the team reacts when it gets back on the field.

“The tough part of spring is you only get 12 days,” he said. “We throw a lot at them and it takes some time to digest it all, especially if you are inexperienced.

“We need those guys. That’s why a big part of this week is the chance for our guys to get in and watch film on their own. They can get in the playbook and watch practice film from the last two weeks so they can correct their mistakes.”

Continued McCorkle: “I think that's the biggest thing we'll be looking for as a staff. It’s not making the same mistakes that we made the first two weeks. That will allow our guys to start playing fast on both sides of the ball. And we want to see competition. We want to see who the guys are that are going to step up and be the guy.”

AND FINALLY
If you’ve been reading what used to be called BGA Daily you saw that McCorkle’s daughter, Maddie, scored a career-best five goals while helping the Duke lacrosse team to a win in its Senior Day game.

The good news? Her proud dad was in Durham to watch his oldest daughter have a career day between Dartmouth practices.

Following the Thursday practice he drove to Boston, spent the night, and hopped on the first flight to North Carolina Friday morning. He flew back that night, driving back to Hanover after landing at Logan.

“Find a way, make a way,” he said. “I knew it was going to be flying down and then turning around and flying back the same day. It was really nice that it worked out."

It worked out even better with what McCorkle saw his daughter accomplish on the field.

“I believe it was Thursday when I told her I’d figured out a way to be there,” he recalled. “It was funny, because I caught her before she went to the game and I said to her, ‘Hey, I’m telling you right now you’re going to have a career game today,’ and she went out and did it. That was pretty awesome.”

While Maddie’s day was over when the final horn sounded, her father still had miles to go before he could sleep.

“It was funny because they do their senior day after the game where you walk on the field and they take photos,” he said with a laugh. “But the game took forever. I'm sitting there looking at my watch. I had an 8 o'clock flight, and it was like 5.30 and I’m like, ‘We’ve got to hurry. I've got a flight to catch.’ "

Although he made the flight and was at practice the next morning, he had complete confidence everything would be fine if something had held him up.

“I didn’t have any worries because we have an experienced staff,” he said. “I really appreciate them allowing me to do that. It was no different than under Coach Teevens. He trusted us to handle business and be able to operate if he wasn’t there, and I felt the same way.

“I knew we’d be fine and had complete confidence if there was a delayed flight or anything else that Wendy would do a good job running practice.”

AND FINALLY II
Maddie isn’t the only McCorkle on a college lacrosse team, although she was the only one playing this year.

Younger sister Allie is a freshman attack at Colorado who was sidelined this fall by injury.

“She tore her ACL a week before the start of the season,” Sammy McCorkle said. “She's recovering and doing a heck of a job. She's a coach on the sidelines.

“They've done a phenomenal job keeping her involved. She travels with them and they're having a heck of a season (10-4). It's unfortunate, but she knows that's part of sports. She'll be back.”

April 18 – Midway Through Spring (First of Two Parts)

HANOVER – Wide receiver Paxton Scott has led Dartmouth in catches each of his first three seasons. Nose guard Josiah Green had more tackles last year than either of his two linemates who will be playing at the FBS level in the fall as grad transfers.

The easy thing to talk about during the off week in the middle of Dartmouth’s 12 spring practices would be to focus on stalwarts like Scott and Green. But Sammy McCorkle, in his first spring practice since being officially named head coach early last fall, was more than happy to work his way around the field sharing thoughts about players who might be a little more under the radar.

Given his background as a defensive coach, it’s no surprise that McCorkle began his remarks on that side of the ball. Here’s a transcription of his thoughts with six spring sessions to go (classes listed are per next fall):

DEFENSE
Sammy McCorkle: “(Junior defensive lineman) Dakota Quiñonez has done a great job. He brings a lot of energy and is doing a great job competing. (Senior) Darrell Smith-Porter is as well, which we need those guys to step up. We lost some good D-linemen last year and both those guys have done a phenomenal job every single day.

“At linebacker (junior) Zyion Freer-Brown is still not completely cleared, but you would never know the difference out there. He's done a phenomenal job. He has great instinct and I like the way he's flying around playing downhill.

“For a young guy, (sophomore linebacker) Steve Simpkins has had a really, really good spring. He has good anticipation and is doing a heck of a job. He's a tough one to block.

“At the nickel position it’s finally (junior) Tyson Grimm’s time. He hasn't disappointed. He's done a very good job at knowing our defense at the back  end and he's had a really good spring.

“Secondary-wise, (senior corner) Jordan Washington obviously had a good year last year and he's having a good spring, taking more of a leadership role. I think (junior) Patrick Campbell has done a good job of stepping in, wanting to compete for that other corner spot. 

“(Senior) Zach Farris is a guy who shows up every day. He has experience and brings some pretty good depth for us at that corner position.

“At safety, (junior) Sean Williams is having a good spring. (Departing free safety) Quinten Arello’s spot is kind of up in the air and (Junior) Jamal Cooper has done a good job of stepping up and showing that he could potentially be that guy. And I think of the young guys (sophomore) Harrison Keith has done a very good job, especially this last week, of really understanding our defense and getting our guys lined up.”

OFFENSE
McCorkle: “On the offensive line (junior tackle) Delby (Lemieux) is doing a great job. I’ll tell you what, it’s his athleticism. He’s getting better and better every day. And at center (junior) Nick Marinaro has done a really good job. He’s been really good getting our calls and protections made up front. He’s got very quick feet and is about as touch as they come.

“(Junior) Vasean Washington and (sophomore) Max Wentz are really competing for playing time this year. We need those guys to step up and watching their confidence grow in each practice is fun to watch. We want to see them continue to improve because we are going to need those guys.

“At tight end (junior) Sean Ward did a phenomenal job in the winter getting himself prepared and ready. And it's showing right now, at the tight end position. He's doing a very good job blocking at the line of scrimmage and with Chris Corbo gives us a huge threat in the pass game.

“At wide receiver, JG – (senior) Jackson Gerard would be the MVP of the weight room and the conditioning in the winter if you had to pick just one guy. He has completely committed himself and is playing with much more confidence. He's a guy that we definitely need to step up and take a little bit of that pressure off of (fifth-year) Paxton Scott.

“And then for the young guys, (sophomore) Nick Lemon has shown to be a deep threat. He's had some big plays during the spring, a couple of long passes for a touchdown. He's an explosive wide receiver who's still learning the system, learning the offense, but he's done a phenomenal job for us. We've just got to keep him healthy.

“At running back we've obviously got (senior) Q Jones and you've got (junior) DJ Crowther, but the guy I've been noticing a lot and is starting to really show signs of what he's capable of doing is (junior) Des Jackson. He's quick, he’s good in space and I’ve been impressed with him.

“We're moving him around to different positions, but when he's at the running back position, the thing I'm most impressed with is he's starting to have that physicality. He'll drop his shoulder. He’ll run through arm tackles. That's the one thing I think that is going to be a huge attribute for him going into next season.

“At quarterback, obviously, we've got (senior Jackson) Proctor. He’s shown what he can do in games and is doing a great job with our two younger guys. (Sophomore) Grayson (Saunier) and (sophomore) Woods Ray are getting better each day. We’re super excited about the ability of those two guys behind Proctor.”

SPECIALISTS
McCorkle: “We’ve been holding (sophomore kicker) Owen Zalc out the first half of the spring, making sure he's OK with a couple tight muscles here and there, but he'll be back to kicking the second part of the spring. That’s given the other guys a chance and (sophomore) Matisse (Weaver) has gone out and done a great job. (Sophomore) Julian Coviello is a walk-on who has stepped up and done a very good job.

“It’s nice to have two of those guys and three when Owen gets back. That takes some of the stress off the legs of the guys.

“(Senior) Davis Golick hasn’t had a chance yet to punt because we haven’t been outside that much. We usually do that the second half of the spring.

“Finally, (sophomore) Andy Belles is one of the better long snappers we've had in a very long time. His operation time is insane. He's done a heck of a job in the offseason preparing himself physically to be ready to take over.”

HOW HAS PRACTICE GONE SO FAR, COACH?
McCorkle: “I feel good where we are. We've got a number of guys who are not as much experienced. We have a good mix of guys who have a lot of experience. We have a good mix. But I'm impressed where we are. We talk about it all the time, just got to continue to get better every day.

“I was telling our leadership group in our meeting that I just feel like you can sense this being a very mature team. And it might be one of the more mature teams that have been around a long time. Just the way they handle themselves, the way they practice, the way they approach things.

“I think the fact that this isn't their first time going through this type of practice in spring. We did it last year so I think they're much more aware of it, used to it.

“We still have a number of things we've got to fix. And there's still a number of guys that we need them to step up. They need to be able to help us next season. So we'll continue to work on that and hopefully we get those guys prepared right away.”

CLOSING OUT THE FIRST HALF
For someone who hadn’t seen the Big Green this spring, Saturday’s sixth practice of the camp was an eye-opener. It’s no exaggeration to say the players were flying around.

Maybe some of that was the fact that it was a Junior Day and there were a lot of potential recruits and their families on the sidelines at The Greenhouse indoor facility. Maybe some of it was the knowledge that a week without football was in the offing.

Or maybe that’s just the way it’s been this spring.

What say you, Coach McCorkle?

“I think it's been pretty consistent,” he said. “I thought our Tuesday last week was just OK. I thought it was just an average practice. It wasn’t everybody, but what I tried to get them to understand is that we can't have 80 percent of the team playing with a lot of energy, working hard, playing hard while the other 20 percent isn’t. We need 100 percent all the time. We need everybody doing it. 

“So I challenged them that we can't come out like that again. I thought they did a good job on Thursday and then I really thought they did a good job on Saturday.”

For McCorkle it was a good way to enter the bye week of practice.

“Our coaches do a phenomenal job of making sure we're prepared, ready and we try not to waste any time in practice and that’s the way it was,” he said. “I thought the players did a very good job of being locked in and focused in on the drills that they were doing at that time.

“The energy is always good inside. I think having a Junior Day helps. Having an audience. But overall, I think it was really good. Now we’ve just got to continue to build on that energy each practice.”

THE WEEK OFF
It was several of the assistants who brought the idea of taking a week off in the middle of practice to Buddy Teevens a few years ago. If he had any skepticism about the idea he quickly realize it was a big plus for two reasons.

First, because Dartmouth’s academic calendar is such that spring practice overlaps with the recruiting calendar coaches from other Ivy League schools were getting to – and being seen at – schools with potential recruits well ahead of the Big Green coaches. 

And second, because after six practices the players can use a break and return to the field rejuvenated and ready to go.

McCorkle addressed the benefit to the players first,

“It’s a big week for their recovery physically,” he said. “Obviously (strength and conditioning coach Spencer (Brown), (head trainer Ben (Schuler) and I collaborate on to make sure this is an opportunity for our guys to kind of recover. But we're not going to slow down at all when it comes to continuing to improve our physical part, getting stronger and continuing to stay in shape.

“Spencer's got them lifting three times, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and they'll be outside a couple of time doing some speed work and some change of direction stuff. We want to be maintaining our physical condition to make sure that we're prepared when we hit it next week.”

On the recruiting side, Dartmouth assistants have fanned out across much of the country, something that has become even more important with recent changes in the recruiting rules.

“We have targeted guys that we're going after to make sure we’re seeing them,” McCorkle said. “It’s a good opportunity with the NCAA rule change from evaluation to contact. You can actually have communication with individuals in person as juniors.

“So it’s huge that we could get out. (Tuesday) was the first day you can do spring recruiting and we wanted to make sure we were the first one through the door. We want to make sure we can see the individuals we’ve targeted in person, get to know them and find out what they're all about.”

Tomorrow: This piece ended up being much longer than I expected so I’m going to break it into two parts.

Tomorrow’s much shorter story will include thoughts from Coach McCorkle about new associate head coach Wendy Laurent. Also his perspective on the big Pro Day by Quinten Arello, on the benefit of having fifth-year seniors in the spring (and fall), on the naming of captains and a very special down-and-back trip he made to another campus.

April 3 – Spring Preview

BGA  – Spring football for defending Ivy League champion Dartmouth will be a little different this year.

The Big Green has had an enviable run of battle-tested quarterbacks with Dalyn Williams ’16 starting for three years, Jack Heneghan ’18 for two, and then Derek Kyler ’21 for three years. Although he wasn’t the leading passer, the torch was then passed to quarterback Nick Howard ’23, who was the Big Green’s leading rusher in 2021, had seven starts behind center in ’22 and seven more in ’23.

With Howard graduate transferring to Butler and 2022 passing leader Dylan Cadwallader ’23 opting to graduate instead of return as a fifth-year senior, Jackson Proctor ’25 is not just the only quarterback on the roster who has started a game, but he’s the only one to have thrown a pass in a college game.

“Having one experienced quarterback is better than having none,” head coach Sammy McCorkle cracked with a laugh in the run-up to spring football. “He’s taken a lot of snaps and been in a lot of games. It feels like he’s been around a long time.”

Proctor started one contest in 2022 and the final two games last fall, finishing as the Big Green’s leading passer with 716 yards through the air. He had four touchdowns to go with three interceptions, completed an absurd 74.49 percent of his throws and ran for 168 yards and one touchdown with 103 of those yards – including a 78-yard touchdown jaunt – coming in the finale at Brown.

In his Dartmouth career Proctor has completed 85-of-116 passes (73.3 percent) for 791 yards and five touchdowns with three interceptions. He’s run 25 times for 265 yards (10.6 yards per carry) with one touchdown.

By most accounts, Proctor was in a tight head-to-head battle with Cadwallader to be the starter last year, and he comes into the spring as the clear choice not only to be QB1, but to mentor sophomores Woods Ray and Grayson Saunier, who will be competing for the backup role.

“We’re excited about Grayson and Woods,” McCorkle said. “They’ve had a year with us and we are confident they can perform. But starting now they have to show us they can do it under the lights.

“It will be a good competition between two good players. It will make them better and it’s helpful for us and for them to have Jackson as their big brother.”

SCHEDULE CHANGE

The news broke this winter but the on-again, off-again contest against Army slated for this fall was a victim of the Cadets having to rework their schedule as new members of the American Athletic Conference. Replacing Army on the Dartmouth schedule is Merrimack, which the Big Green will play on Sept. 28.

Merrimack moved up to the FCS level in 2019 and wrapped up the required four-year transition to Division I after the 2022 season.

“I know there’s some disappointment from fans excited about the Army game,” said McCorkle. “That’s understandable. We were fortunate to be able to schedule Merrimack. It’s always nice to have a game in your region and give your fans a chance to see you play.”

NEW COACHES

With the start of spring football wide receivers coach Dan Hebert and running backs coach Braxton Chapman – who already have been involved in mat drills – will finally have a chance to see their charges with a ball in their hands.

Hebert comes to Hanover after two years as a graduate assistant at Kentucky. He was on staff at Central Connecticut, his alma mater, for five years. Chapman spent last season at Coastal Carolina after a year as a quality control assistant at Northern Illinois.

“They bring a lot of energy,” said McCorkle. “You could see it during (mat) drills and with the way they have been running around.

“They are bright guys who have done a good job of learning our system from Kevin (Daft, offensive coordinator) and (defensive coordinator) Don Dobes, and the other coaches. You can see just how good they are at teaching. I’m excited to have them with us. They came highly recommended and have fit right in.”

Hebert steps in for David Shula ’81, who spent six seasons working with the Big Green wide receivers. Chapman takes over for Danny O’Dea, who has been in the program for 10 years and coached running backs since 2018.

O'Dea will now serve as recruiting director and as a former head coach at Hun School of Princeton, Cheshire Academy and Lawrenceville School, he has a wealth of knowledge and understanding about the fertile prep school scene that will benefit Dartmouth in his new role.

A final addition joining the Big Green staff this week is Erin Brennan, the latest woman to work in the Dartmouth program. A former soccer player at Alabama’s Spring Hill College, she will serve as recruiting and operations coordinator for the Green. She has been an assistant to the athletic director at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans and came to attention at the Manning Passing Academy.

“She comes from (graduating wide receiver) Jarmone Sutherland’s school,” said McCorkle. “She’ll take a little off Danny O’Dea’s plate and allow him to do more of what he’s really good at.”

With secondary coach Aashon Larkins – hired only last summer – in his first spring with the Big Green, nickels/special teams coach Joe Castellitto in just his second, tight ends/assistant head coach Wendy Laurent in his third and McCorkle in his first as the official head coach, the Dartmouth staff has had a significant makeover after years of stability.

But compared to a year ago, when the condition of late coach Buddy Teevens forced the Big Green to “adjust and improvise” on the fly, there’s a more settled feeling around the program this time around.

“The big thing is there was so much uncertainty last year,” said McCorkle. “This year we’ve had a chance to prepare. And we’ve been through it once now, so we’ve had a chance to see what worked and what we might want to change.”

As it turns out, they aren’t changing much.

McCorkle said they did add several more days of mat drills under the watchful eye of Spencer Brown, the strength and conditioning coach, and trainer Ben Schuler and his staff. “We were strategic about the load we put on the guys and the distances they were running,” McCorkle said. “We wanted to make sure we’re ready for spring, but we’re doing things the right way.”

Once again the spring practice slate will see Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday practices for the first two weeks, a week without practice while the coaches focus on recruiting, and then two more weeks of Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday sessions, culminating with the Green-White scrimmage on May 4.

“Taking a week off gives the players a chance to regroup and heal up if they need it, both physically and mentally,” said McCorkle. “We put a lot on them and will continue to do that to enable us to get to the next level.”

Before the week off, of course, there will be two weeks of practice and McCorkle, his reconfigured staff and 85 players are ready to go.

“It’s great to be back,” the coach said. “There’s a lot of energy. We’re all excited to get out there and get back at it.”

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