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.”
