HANOVER – At the end of the first week of spring practice, Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle fielded a question about what positional “room” concerns him most at this juncture.
He pointed to one area, but cautioned against calling it a concern.
"I wouldn't say I have concern about the offensive line," he said. "It's more about depth. We've got (four starters) we've got to replace. The good thing is we've got guys who had to play last year because of injuries, so they have some experience.”
Having players who got on the field last year is indeed a good thing. An even better thing is having Keith Clark back for his 18th year with the Big Green. The 2025 American Football Coaches FCS Assistant Coach of the Year has been down this road before and believes he has the young horses to successfully replace NFL prospect Delby Lemieux, Ohio State grad transfer Vasean Washington, Ball State grad transfer Max Wentz, and fifth-year senior Konstantin Spörk.
 |
| Keith Clark |
“So their performance level right now is up and down. Until they are exposed to all the different things you have to see and then have successfully executed their assignment against, it’s going to be a work in progress. But every day we’re getting a little bit better. I know it’s an overused word, but it’s a process. We’re playing the long game right now.”
Clark has had talented “bell cows,” leading the way in recent years, but he’s not sure he has that player this year.
“I wouldn’t say that we have that singular, super-dominant player at this point,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a little bit of leadership by committee.”
Leading the way so far this spring are seniors Will Prince, Cisco Caballero, and Max Livingston.
“They got some experience playing for us a little bit last year,” Clark said. “Will Prince is not a huge vocal guy, but he’s still a leader by example. Max Livingston is a little more vocal but needs to show he can do it every single play. And Cisco was away from the program in the winter, so he’s still feeling his way back and realizing as a senior people are going to be looking at him to perform a certain way.”
Clark also mentioned some younger players who have been making an impression this spring.
“Yuseph Mustafa is very athletic, but he’s still a developmental kid who needs to get bigger and stronger, but he has shown he’s very athletic. Anthony Ndika wasn’t with us last year for health reasons, and he’s shown up. But at this stage, he’s making some mental mistakes, which is understandable. He’s a guy who has flashed and shown talent. Julian Sutton, who’s lined up as a No. 1 right now, has a lot of talent. We need him to understand the game, but I see flashes from him. He could be a dominant player in this league with the right mentality.
“Those are just some of the guys who are a little bit more advanced in their fundamentals and are having success on the field. I can’t name them all, but a lot of guys are doing really good things, and I don’t want to short them.”
Added Clark: “It’s hard for me to say that we have a definitive starting five right now. We don’t really have guys who have separated themselves so far from the rest of the crowd that there’s no competition to start. There’s a lot of competition out there.
“My job is to make sure that the young guys are getting better at a more rapid rate to push the older guys. One of the things the older guys need to learn is effort level, how hard you have to play every single play in this game to be successful. Delby Lemieux had to learn that over the course of time. By the time he was a junior, he understood that I just played really hard on that play and had a lot of success, but now I’ve got to do it again. You can’t have that letdown, and that’s probably where we need to grow the most.
CLARK ON HIS NFL HOPEFUL
“I’m really excited for Delby. He’s worked extremely hard to put himself in the position he’s in. He’s always had an incredible work ethic.
“I know when he met with the Patriots, he sat with the offensive line coach, and they talked about protections, and from what I understand, they really liked him from a mental standpoint. They thought he was really, really sharp.”
CLARK ON HIS BUCKEYE
Like Lemieux, Vasean Vasean Washington is taking a big step up the football ladder. Unlike Lemieux, he’s doing it at the college level, as the lone grad transfer offensive lineman joining the Ohio State program this year.
“It’s a great opportunity for him,” said Clark. “It’s a chance to play in his home state, for one of the most prominent programs in the country. He’s not going to start there, but that’s the decision he made, and there should be seven games he gets into because of how good they are. It’s going to be a great experience; he’ll be able to get a master’s and then utilize the Dartmouth alumni community and the Ohio State connections to get himself launched in life.”
ON BEING THE OLD GUY IN THE ROOM
With Don Dobes and Duane Brooks retiring, Clark looks in the mirror these days and sees the dean of the Dartmouth coaching staff.
“You look around and it’s like, ‘Wait, what happened?’ “ he said with a laugh. “There’s a lot of youth, but with me, Kevin (Daft) and Shane (Montgomery), there’s more experience on the offensive side.
“When I look at the other side of the football, there’s a lot of youth. It’s a fun environment. The youthful energy is tremendous, and it kind of lifts you up every day.”
Which is something the dean of the staff tries to as well.
“The new coaches can look up to us older guys and say, ‘How do you do this?’ Or, ‘How do you do that?’ ‘’ Clark said. “It’s a fun environment to be around.
“It’s different than how it was, but I understand it’s a constantly changing environment. You just have to accept that. It’s sad to see friends go, but it’s also good to have new energy and excitement in the office.”
SAMMY McCORKLE ON THE O-LINE AND MORE
“We had some guys definitely step up and show they’ll come off the ball and hit you,” he said after a fairly physical full-pad practice that was moved inside because of a questionable afternoon forecast. “We just have to continue to clean things up. We had a couple of running players with missed assignments, but guys are going a good job. They know their targets, and now it’s about, ‘Go attack that target.’
“I thought overall the guys did a good job across the front line. And I thought the D-line did a great job competing, coming after them, and making them have to be ready to be aggressive. I was impressed by Taylor (Faalele) and Keoni Perkins, who had a great day.”
MAKING PLAYS
Plays, players, and notable goings-on that earned a notation in one onlooker's notebook Thursday included Noah Trigueros finding Ian Scott on a slant over the middle and the wideout taking it the distance during team period… wideout Nick Lemon with excellent blocking on an end run … Woods Ray hitting Jonathan Nelson in the back of the end zone … Gergely Hudak with a tackle for loss … Chris Chol with a tackle for loss on a pitch and a whistled sack on a QB rollout.
Also, Cameron Best-Alston going high for a pass breakup but then doing pushups on the sideline for not coming down with an interception that no one but he would have thought possible … Sean Chester forcing a sweep inside … Aiden Abercrombie coming free on the left side where Jaden Cummings delivers the pass.
During pass skill, James Elliott “sitting down” in a hole in the defense and Ray finding him … Ray with a back-shoulder pass to a sliding Jordan Leslie for a touchdown on one of the prettiest plays of the session … Trigueros firing high to the back of the end zone where Taysire Williams somehow pulls down what had looked like an overthrow … Samuel Washington with a breakup … Abercrombie with a full layout for a pass to the sidelines that is just beyond his fingertips, the effort loudly applauded by the staff.
In the final team period, Taylor Faalele looking like a cement mixer coming face-to-face with a running back … Ethan Couvertiere shutting down a sweep … Myles Craddock stacked up behind the line, then showing good vision bouncing to a hole … Keoni Perkins and Best-Alston with tackles for loss.