Coach McCorkle Before The Start Of Practice
In advance of the preseason, Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle offered remarks at the Ivy League's annual media day about this year’s Big Green, and the football culture at Dartmouth. Here’s a gently edited, and reorganized transcript of his thoughts:
Coach Sammy McCorkle on the overarching preseason goal for the team: I think the biggest thing as we go through each day of preseason camp is establishing an identity across the board at every position, which will help us establish an identity for our football program for this upcoming season.
On preparation for the opening of camp: The guys have done a phenomenal job ever since the season ended last year. Our new strength coach, Conor McNally, has come in and done a phenomenal job with our players. The biggest thing is how hard our players have worked, day in and day out. We talk about taking this program to the next level, and I think everything that they've been doing is doing that. They’re completely committed as a program, and as a team.
On a team that will rely both on proven veterans and promising young talent: We've got a number of returners coming back, but we also have a number of guys who maybe don't have the same amount of experience as those returning players, but they have the talent.
We lost some really good players (but) I don't call them holes we’re filling. Our staff does a phenomenal job of developing our players, getting our players on the field as much as possible to get that game-time experience. And I think that's going to be critical. Guys who maybe have not played as many snaps as a number of guys on our team, you can see the commitment they've made in the offseason. They're ready to be that guy.
We talk about it all the time. We don't play with 11 on each side of the ball. We play with 22 on each side of the ball. We need to have guys that are prepared, regardless of what the situation is. It could be injury, it could be mistakes, it could be just, ‘Hey, we want to make sure that we have enough players that can play throughout the entire game.’ That's going to be critical as the year goes on and toward the end of the season.
On the offense, starting at running back: We lost some guys, but we've got some guys, especially at the running back position in DJ Crowther, Desmond Jackson and Dylan Elder, who was a freshman last year. They are very talented guys who have experience, and we expect them to step up and continue to progress to help us be successful.
On the pass catchers: We feel like we have some playmakers, starting with tight end Chris Corbo, an All-American from last season, and a guy that can make things happen. We return almost every single one of our wide receivers, led by Daniel Haughton, one of our team captains.
On the starting quarterback: We have Grayson Saunier, who started a few games last year, and played in every single game, so it's not going to be new to him. He's going to be able to step out there and command the field, command the offense.
Coach Shane Montgomery, our new offense coordinator, has done a phenomenal job with our offense and especially the quarterback room. I think the biggest thing is confidence, and staying within the game. That's something we've always talked about with our quarterbacks. Just take what they give you. Don't try to force things. You’ve always got to take care of the ball to keep plays alive and series alive.
Grayson has done a good job of that. He did a great job in the spring of just really understanding what we are doing offensively, and more importantly, understanding what the defense is doing, and taking advantage of opportunities when they come up.
On the O-line: The offensive line is led by Delby Lemieux, another All-American. We return a number of guys who've had playing experience up there, and Delby will be a mentor to them.
That's where it's all going to start.We know, game in and game out, in an Ivy League football game, it comes down to the trenches. It's who can dominate there. Who can win at the line of scrimmage. Regardless of the defense and offense that you run, you've got to win up front.
On the key for the offense: We've got to finish. We need to put points on the board. You look across the board in this league and offenses are explosive. They can put up points. Obviously don't want to get in a track meet, but when you have opportunities to score touchdowns, want to score touchdowns so our biggest push is finishing.
On the strength of the defense: We return our entire secondary and that's very important. We've got Sean Williams, who's an All-Ivy player for us and has played a lot of snaps. It helps to have a guy like that who's a team captain who can run the show back there.
On the defensive front: We've got a number of guys that are going to have their opportunity at the linebacker position and at the D-line positions who are very talented players. A couple of those guys were injured last year and didn't have a chance to play. Now it's their turn, but there are no gimmes. There are no guarantees. They know that they have to come out every single day and compete.
On Dartmouth being considered one of the elite programs in the Ivy League: We set very high expectations for ourselves. Regardless of the outside noise, we expect as a program, as a staff, and as players, max effort every single day. We set the bar high, and that is the expectation.
We have a very good culture here. Our guys lean on each other. We have a very resilient group and a very resilient staff. Our guys do a phenomenal job of knowing that it's going to take all of us working together and preparing together to get where we need to get.
Every day is about taking this thing to the next level, and that's what our expectations are. It's attention to detail every single day that is critical. That's my responsibility, and our staff's responsibility, our players' responsibility, to hold each other accountable and make sure that we do that every single day.
On Ivy League finally getting the OK to go to the playoffs: It’s just a great opportunity for our league to have a team represent us in the FCS Championship. The goal is always to win the Ivy League championship, because if you don't take care of that, it doesn't matter. So our goal is to prepare ourselves to play for an Ivy League championship year in, and year out.
We don't talk about (winning the title and going to the playoffs) on a daily basis. We talk about winning the day and going 1-and-0. And as part of the process of going 1-and-0, the goals you're trying to reach are going to be there. So you've got to make sure you're prepared when that opportunity comes.”
Tomorrow on BGA Overtime: Who's back and who's moved on?
