Closing The Book On The Green-White

BGA (May 22) – Dartmouth’s annual spring Green-White Game earlier this month was unlike any before it, but also familiar.

As was the case through much of the spring, the weather did not cooperate. Given just three returning starters on offense and three on defense, head coach Sammy McCorkle very much wanted the 12th and final session of the spring to be a meaningful practice and not a slippery mess, so he had it moved indoors for the first time ever. Conducting a scoring scrimmage on a 70-yard field had its challenges.

Still the first indoor Green-White did have echoes of the past. According to those in attendance, play was sharp. The enthusiasm was palpable. And while there was no tackling, of course, there was plenty of action and more physicality than you might expect in a non-tackling contest.

Rising senior wide receiver Daniel Haughton knew the team would be unfazed by the change of venues from Memorial Field to the indoor facility.

“We always talk about sudden change and being able to adapt and improvise, so I think it was good,” he said, using former coach Buddy Teevens’ famed A&I expression. “We came out and we played with energy.

“The defense played well. The offense played well. I think we competed really well.”

McCorkle expected nothing less.

“It was the final exam,” he said. “It was a chance for us coaches and your teammates to kind of see how you're going to perform in a game situation. I thought our guys first of all took care of each other, but at the same time, you can see how we got physical, especially down in the red zone.

“Guys stepped it up, but I just thought overall the guys that came out here prepared to play full speed the entire time, and we were able to accomplish all the things that we wanted to accomplish.”

That’s exactly what McCorkle hoped and expected to see.

"I've been in a lot of spring practices here at Dartmouth College over 20 years, and they were all good,” he said, “but I tell you, this one here, you could just tell and sense the energy every single day.

“The one thing we never have to coach is hustle. We never have to coach effort. Those guys do a great job preparing themselves and playing fast.”

Grayson Saunier, who filled in admirably last fall when Jackson Proctor was sidelined and showed himself to be a talented runner when the starter returned, looked confident and composed under center in the Green-White. With classmate Woods Ray sidelined due to a medical procedure, freshman Noah Trigueros opened eyes throughout the spring and in the final practice.

As expected, the deep Big Green running backs group impressed in the scrimmage. And the wide receivers group, working under new coach Mitchell Thompson, who joined the program during spring ball, showed flashes with lanky 6-foot-2 James Elliott drawing notice.

Defensively, the graduation of Josiah Green (already practicing this spring at Duke) and Ivy League defensive player of the year Ejike Adele (a Rice grad transfer) will be felt, but rising senior Dakota Quiñonez showed the indoor practice facility onlookers he’s ready to help fill the gap. Cameron Lee, the 6-5, 220-pound rising junior linebacker, also showed why he could be a factor as an edge rusher.

“I'd say this was a really good spring for us,” said offensive lineman Delby Lemieux. “. . . One of the biggest things we try to harp on is that you know we're not last year's team. This is a new team. We're the 2025 Dartmouth football team. I think we did a really good job of embracing that this offseason, and coming into the spring, staying true to that throughout these last 12 practices and these workouts.

“I’m really proud of what all the young guys did. I saw them grow a lot. They progressed a lot at each of their positions. I think we're poised to have a really good summer and have a really strong start to the fall camp.”

The day included the naming of Dartmouth’s trio of 2025 captains: Lemieux, senior safety Sean Williams, and senior wide receiver Daniel Haughton.

Said McCorkle of the selections: “The guys did a phenomenal job. They hit it right on the head, choosing those captains. All three of those guys are phenomenal. They bring a little bit of different ways of leadership, but I tell you what, they've proven to be leaders of our football program.

“They're guys who have worked hard here, who've played a lot for us and they're exactly what Dartmouth football represents. . . . (But as) I told the guys, ‘Hey they're they're captains, but everybody here has to be a leader.’ ”

Which is exactly what Williams sounded like after the Green-White game.

“I think the spring game was good,” he said. “There was a lot of energy. . . . The best thing you can take away from spring – whether it is good or bad – is you can see what you need to improve on in the offseason or moving into the season.”

And that was part of McCorkle’s message with spring wrapping up.

“The biggest thing now is, we had a good spring, but we’ve got to continue to take this thing to the next level,” he said. “This is not when we put it on cruise control and we challenge the guys. If you're here on campus or you're off campus, you got to be totally committed. This is a huge offseason, and a huge summer for us leading into the preseason.”

NOTES

• Per McCorkle, roughly 50 players are expected to be on campus this summer working with new strength coach Conor McNally and independently on Memorial Field.

• The recruiting class, not yet formally introduced, will feature 27 players. “The group of guys we’ve got coming in hit all the spots that we needed to hit. And I tell you the one thing, physically you look at these guys and they are one of the better physical looking groups of incoming freshmen that we've ever had.

“When it comes to the offensive line and defensive line, the size of those guys is massive. In the skill positions we targeted a certain type of skill that we're looking for and we felt like we checked all the boxes.”

• McCorkle wouldn’t rule out any incoming players making contributions this fall. “There may be a few potentially. But usually the way we operate here at Dartmouth, we do a very good job developing our players. And hopefully, we don't have to depend and lean on a first-year guy to step in and play.

“But if a guy comes in and he's ready to play and he's a difference maker, he'll have every opportunity to do that.”

• Dartmouth coaches hit the road recruiting shortly after the spring game and will work a good number of camps around the country looking for talent. They’ll be back in town to get a good look at prospective recruits at the one-day Sammy McCorkle Football Camps on June 20, 23, 26, and 27 as well as July 11 and 12.

• McCorkle will be in Los Angeles early next month for a Friends of Dartmouth Football event at SoFi Stadium hosted by former Big Green kicker Dennis Durkin ’93. The event is scheduled for 6:30-8:30 p.m. on June 5.

* Editor’s Note: Because of a family wedding, I was unable to attend the Green-White spring game. Observations in the story were shared by knowledgable people who were there, and quotes in the story are lightly edited from head coach Sammy McCorkle and from video interviews.*

Spring Wrapping Up

HANOVER – If you’ve been reading the headlines, you know the spring football game is an endangered species at the FBS level. Fortunately for Dartmouth fans, the Green-White Game isn’t going anywhere.

Actually, that may not be true.

While head coach Sammy McCorkle has no intention of scrapping the annual contest, the Green-White might be going somewhere after all.

Where, you ask? Across the street to the Indoor Practice Facility, AKA the Green House.

Although McCorkle made it clear earlier in the week he wanted the last of the 12 spring dates allowed by the Ivy League to be in Buddy Teevens Stadium, a look at the weather forecast has him somewhat reluctantly pondering a venue shift for the Saturday morning event.

“If it’s a downpour, I don’t want (play) to be sloppy and not get anything out of it,” McCorkle said after Thursday’s practice under gun-metal skies at Memorial Field. “That’s not what we’re trying to do in the spring.

“I want to get a good practice in, so if we have to go inside, we’re going to go inside. Our guys will be fine in there. If we can be out here, we definitely would prefer that. But I’m not going to waste a practice when you only get 12 of them.”

HOW HAS SPRING PRACTICE GONE, COACH?

McCorkle: “It's been awesome. It’s been great. I've been in a lot of spring practices here at Dartmouth over 20 years, and they're all good, but I tell you, this one, you could just tell by the energy they showed every single day.

“Even the days that we do not practice, you can sense the energy in the offices, when we're watching film, when we're meeting, and down in the weight room. There's just that different edge across the board.”

Added the coach, who has guided the Big Green to Ivy League titles in both of his years at the helm: “The players are doing a great job and they're doing what a Dartmouth football player does – show up every day, ready to work hard.”

NCAA CHANGES

Over the month or so that Dartmouth has been practicing, the NCAA has made two changes that will impact the Big Green.

First, the FCS will join the FBS in the fall in allowing coach-to-player helmet communications during games. While the Ivy League was a little late to the party regarding video review, it has gotten on board with the helmet communications according to McCorkle.

“It was approved for the league, so it’s in the works and hopefully we’ll be able to do it this season,” he said. “We haven’t been able to work with it in the spring because there’s a purchase process we’ve got to go through, but we hope to be able to have it in preseason.

“(New offensive coordinator Shane) Montgomery has used it, so I feel pretty good about it. We’ll be able to adjust and adapt pretty quick.”

The other rules change will allow FCS teams to join their FBS brethren and play 12 games every year. While the Ivy League is limited by the conference to 10 games, the expanded schedule for schools from the Patriot League and the rest could benefit the Ancient Eight.

“We’re already scheduled out for the next few years, but I do think it could open opportunities for us with teams that are going to be looking for games,” McCorkle said.

Given that the Ivy League already made a sea change by finally agreeing to allow its members to go to the NCAA playoffs, McCorkle isn’t making any promises about a push to play 11 regular season games.

“That one’s out of my hands, but you never know,” he said. “Would we like to? I think it would be good to have the extra game and a chance to play more and prepare (for the playoffs), but we’ll see.”

SPEAKING OF ‘COACH MONTY’

Montgomery, the new quarterbacks coach as well as offensive coordinator, hasn’t overhauled the Big Green attack this spring, but there has been a push for Dartmouth’s passing game to be more vertical. That’s not to say the Big Green will change its personality next fall.

“We still want to run the ball,” McCorkle said. “That’s never going to change. That’s who we are. That’s our identity as a physical team up front, on both sides. We want to establish the run.

“But at the same time, we have guys out there on the perimeter who have good speed and who can run and make big plays. We want to make sure we give them an opportunity to do that. I think Coach Montgomery has done a good job of stretching the field. And what that does (in practices), is makes our defense better. You better make sure you're back there, and in the right spot.”

ABOUT THE QUARTERBACKS

As has been the case through much of the spring, Dartmouth had only two quarterbacks available Thursday.  With Jackson Proctor grad transferring to Northern Illinois, Woods Ray out with injury and Kyle Meier transitioning to tight end, rising junior Grayson Saunier and Noah Trigueros, just winding up his freshman year, are getting a lot of work.

Saunier completed 47-of-74 passes with five touchdowns and one interception last fall and ran 42 times for 231 yards and eight touchdowns. While he’s a known commodity, Trigueros has been something of a revelation this spring.

“He’s impressive,” said McCorkle. “This has been great for him. I feel bad for Wood that he had to miss (spring) because of surgery. But he’s been phenomenal as a mentor for Noah.

“With Noah, you could tell he was getting more confidence each day. He’d speak a little more and a little louder each day, and he started taking control. He’s going to be a good one.”

In addition to getting Ray back for the preseason, Dartmouth has two incoming quarterbacks, Jaden Cummings from South Carolina and Charlie Peters from Texas. Cummings is coming off a knee injury suffered in the state championship game, but McCorkle is hopeful he’ll be ready to go this fall.

MORE ‘ROOKIES’

Offensively, the other first-year name that kept coming up this spring was that of Dylan Elder, a 5-foot-10, 192-pound running back.

“He’s had a really good spring,” said McCorkle. “He has really, really grown these last couple of weeks, understanding what we're doing offensively.

“But I tell you what, all the running backs have done a great job, and DJ (Crowther) has done a great job mentoring those guys. He has taken it to another level.  Every one of those guys you put in there, our expectation is for them to be ready to make a big play, make a big block, be in the right spot. And they've done that across the board. We’re super excited about them.”

Among the young players who have impressed McCorkle this spring are defensive back Thai Brown and nickel Lou Lamar.

“Thai has done a good job of stepping up at the corner position,” McCorkle said. “And Lamar has put in the effort to truly understand what we’re doing defensively. He shows signs of being a very explosive player.”

GRAD TRANSFERS

Dartmouth will have at least 15 players doing a grad transfer season next fall, with at least 11 moving up to the FBS. McCorkle stresses Dartmouth’s ability to get players ready to play elsewhere after graduation as a selling point in the recruiting process.

“I just think our guys do a very good job of buying in on the development part of it,” he said. “Our staff does a great job developing our players. And that's kind of what we tell recruits.

“We've got double-digit guys going DI and a good handful of guys who are going Power Four. They may not have had all the stars coming out of high school and might have had only had one, two, maybe three offers. But we find those type of players who are willing to commit, and put in the extra hard work and listen and trust the coaching. We help develop them, and obviously they work hard developing themselves.”

And when they arrive at their next stop, they have some very impressive hardware on their ring fingers.

“The guys have a real test of success here,” he said. “Then they have it in their minds to go on and prove they can do it at an even higher level, and they’ve been able to do that.”

CAPTAINS

The voting is done and the ballots are in, but McCorkle is keeping the winner under his hat until Saturday’s spring game. What he would say is that he liked the results.

“The individuals the players decided on, they hit it right on the head,” he said. “They did a good job. And I tell you, there are a number of guys who got votes, and that’s a testament to the leadership in this program.

“But I think the guys they chose, without a doubt, are going to do a great job for us.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

While the players get a chance to catch their breath after the spring game, not so the staff.

“We're jumping on the plane Sunday, and we're recruiting for two straight weeks,” said McCorkle, who will be speaking on the West Coast and recruiting in Georgia. “We'll be back on the road going after guys that we've targeted.

“We're going to be everywhere. We’re hitting all the camps that are going to have the type of players that we're recruiting, and we’ll have our camps. We’ll be going at it the entire month of June.”

Dartmouth coaches aren’t allowed to talk about commitments among players wrapping up their junior year of high school, but those commitments will be coming.

“Our hope is to have some this weekend,” McCorkle said. “We had an OV (official visit) last weekend and have another one this weekend.

“We’ve got five guys coming in. Every weekend in May is an OV weekend. So it's gotten earlier, and we’ve targeted guys. Hopefully, some guys are ready to jump in the boat.”