Colgate

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

So lets have some patience with Kahill. My freshman year (fall of 1968) Fred Dunlap was expected to get fired at season's end. How bad was it? How about two wins in three season since his hiring in 1965! Going into the Lafayette game 0f 68' we were 2-7 with wins over Drexel & Gettysburg, both of which were true cupcakes. In what turned out to be an almost magical season ending game, we stunned The Purple Pussies 21-6.

I don't recall much after the game except being half stew and watching any ugly brawl as both Lafayette and Lehigh students fought over the wooden goal posts. Ah, the "good" old days. But the game saved Dunlap's job. He went on to eight more reasonably successful seasons before returning to his alma mater. But the foundation had been built which led to perhaps the most successful era of Lehigh football with Whitehead, Small, Higgins, and Lembo.

I don't know if he'll get as much slack as Dunlap, but lets all relax and give Kahill time to turn this around.

Actually, in the book, The Dunlap Rules, his son writes that Leckonby wanted to not renew Dunlap's contract, regardless of the outcome of the Lafayette game; but, President Lewis refused and overruled the decision as he liked Fred and and the new attitude he brought to the program and wanted to give him at least another year. Leckonby never got along with Dunlap and seemed to have a personal issue with him. Luckily, Lewis saw the qualities Fred brought to the program. Team won one more game in fall 1969 to go 4-5-1, and another 4 win season in Fall of 1970, with a heartbreaking loss at Lafayette on a game ending field goal, 31-28, after trailing 21-0 at halftime. However, the great upset of Delaware early in the season showed that things were headed in the right direction, and the following season had its first winning season since 1962. The rest, they say, is history as we went on the longest stretch of overall success until 2017, when everything started south due to Cohen's illness. You can't turn around a battleship quickly, and this will take some time. One thing Americans do not have anymore is patience.

Not sure American's have ever truly had patience going back to the Spring of 1775 or perhaps even earlier? December 6th 1773?

With that in mind, parents/recruits are not going to wait or rely on the premise of "hope" that the program is going to get turned around without some grounded/reasoned justification that it will happen. That's where hiring a proven coach to facilitate a turn around benefits recruiting and current player buy-in when it comes to the "patience" factor. In Cahill's case, a first time head coach, one needs some element of "blind" belief/faith that he will prove to be a successful head coach. At 2-9 and given the variables around the league/region, relying on patience and faith in 2023 is asking a whole lot imo.

Like I said, I'm not here to be a doom and gloom person. But a lot of this is related to my educational and professional work so there's quite a bit of nuanced interest here. Faith impacting patience as it relates to the recruiting process/player development being influenced by a coaching change (resume factors obviously included) needs further research given current cultural influences. I think I framed that right?...lol

[Richb-3]

Lehigh had 3 massive upsets 68-70 Lafayette, Delaware and in between, Rutgers, in the 100th anniversary season. They had already defeated Princeton, and where expecting to go 10-0. (someone, I believe their coach answered before the game, " why do you still play Lehigh? Because it is better to be 10-0 than 9-0." I don't think it was Rutgers AD as that was John Hill's father.

[ngineer]

So lets have some patience with Kahill. My freshman year (fall of 1968) Fred Dunlap was expected to get fired at season's end. How bad was it? How about two wins in three season since his hiring in 1965! Going into the Lafayette game 0f 68' we were 2-7 with wins over Drexel & Gettysburg, both of which were true cupcakes. In what turned out to be an almost magical season ending game, we stunned The Purple Pussies 21-6.

I don't recall much after the game except being half stew and watching any ugly brawl as both Lafayette and Lehigh students fought over the wooden goal posts. Ah, the "good" old days. But the game saved Dunlap's job. He went on to eight more reasonably successful seasons before returning to his alma mater. But the foundation had been built which led to perhaps the most successful era of Lehigh football with Whitehead, Small, Higgins, and Lembo.

I don't know if he'll get as much slack as Dunlap, but lets all relax and give Kahill time to turn this around.

Actually, in the book, The Dunlap Rules, his son writes that Leckonby wanted to not renew Dunlap's contract, regardless of the outcome of the Lafayette game; but, President Lewis refused and overruled the decision as he liked Fred and and the new attitude he brought to the program and wanted to give him at least another year. Leckonby never got along with Dunlap and seemed to have a personal issue with him. Luckily, Lewis saw the qualities Fred brought to the program. Team won one more game in fall 1969 to go 4-5-1, and another 4 win season in Fall of 1970, with a heartbreaking loss at Lafayette on a game ending field goal, 31-28, after trailing 21-0 at halftime. However, the great upset of Delaware early in the season showed that things were headed in the right direction, and the following season had its first winning season since 1962. The rest, they say, is history as we went on the longest stretch of overall success until 2017, when everything started south due to Cohen's illness. You can't turn around a battleship quickly, and this will take some time. One thing Americans do not have anymore is patience.

Not sure American's have ever truly had patience going back to the Spring of 1775 or perhaps even earlier? December 6th 1773?

With that in mind, parents/recruits are not going to wait or rely on the premise of "hope" that the program is going to get turned around without some grounded/reasoned justification that it will happen. That's where hiring a proven coach to facilitate a turn around benefits recruiting and current player buy-in when it comes to the "patience" factor. In Cahill's case, a first time head coach, one needs some element of "blind" belief/faith that he will prove to be a successful head coach. At 2-9 and given the variables around the league/region, relying on patience and faith in 2023 is asking a whole lot imo.

Like I said, I'm not here to be a doom and gloom person. But a lot of this is related to my educational and professional work so there's quite a bit of nuanced interest here. Faith impacting patience as it relates to the recruiting process/player development being influenced by a coaching change (resume factors obviously included) needs further research given current cultural influences. I think I framed that right?...lol

Don't disagree with your time frame...though I would add Fall 1777-Spring 1778 (having grown up near Valley Forge! One of the traits that I saw in Cahill early on was his blunt honesty, as well as being approachable for the players. He has been and will continue to weed out those who only "along for the ride", and from my speaking with some players who have been around for a few years, the change has been dramatic. He's there for the player as a coach and mentor, but he doesn't take BS excuses. It is my sense that that has been an attractive aspect for parents to see and will be helpful for recruiting. No question we need to 'bulk up', in a good way, in the trenches, so besides getting some excellent commitments from some skill players, the real need is 'up front' on both sides.
BEAT LAUGHYETTE LEOTARDS!!!

[HFO]

Talent acquisition is difficult, if you are not winning. Have to work with what you have and change the attitude mentally, upgrade their skills and build up their bodies to the level of FCS. Incrementally, best avenue forward is players within 50 miles of Lehigh who were passed over for FBS Scholarships. There is so much talent in south Jersey, north Jersey, Philadelphia/Delaware Valley, Lehigh Valley, Lackawanna Valley and Central PA.

You start getting guys who would be career backups at Penn State, Temple, Rutgers and give them opportunity to play as freshmen and get a quality education at Lehigh.

This program is still at least 2 years out from 0.500
At least 4 years out from a shot at Patriot League Title.

The program has degraded too much. The winning image is not there for parents and recruits.

[Chalkeye]

Are you seriously saying it could take two years for Lehigh to be a .500 team? Have you watched any games this season? In a best case scenario analysis, Lehigh COULD (note not SHOULD) HAVE beaten. Fordham, Holy Cross, Georgetown, and Cornell, if things broke right in any number of ways. That puts them This year at 6-4, rather than 2-8. One good recruiting year can change a lot of things. Plus, the secret sauce to a lot of teams is the Covid Exemption rules are rolling off. HC can't have a LB playing a 5th year post graduation, or a 5th year transfer, or 6th year Laffy linebacker. This settling and rearranging of depth charts without the extra years is going to level a lot of rosters. Hawks are not that far away.

[ngineer]

Yes, I felt that if everything 'broke right' for us this year a 4 or 5 win season was possible. As pointed out, it was there for the taking, but too many instances of shooting ourselves in the foot. We have a number of players with nice skill sets, but our major issue is in the lines. A number of games were lost not because of lack of effort, but due to being out manned up front. DL consistently gave away 30-40 lbs. a man. Without controlling the ball, the defense frequently got worn down by the fourth quarter. We have some quality backs, but they need consistent openings to run. We did that well against some lesser opponents, but the Holy Cross game was a good example of not being able to consistently move the ball. I am looking forward to a good recruiting class. We already have some high quality commits within a 50 mile radius as mentioned above. More are needed. Fingers crossed.

[RichH]

Yes, I felt that if everything 'broke right' for us this year a 4 or 5 win season was possible. As pointed out, it was there for the taking, but too many instances of shooting ourselves in the foot. We have a number of players with nice skill sets, but our major issue is in the lines. A number of games were lost not because of lack of effort, but due to being out manned up front. DL consistently gave away 30-40 lbs. a man. Without controlling the ball, the defense frequently got worn down by the fourth quarter. We have some quality backs, but they need consistent openings to run. We did that well against some lesser opponents, but the Holy Cross game was a good example of not being able to consistently move the ball. I am looking forward to a good recruiting class. We already have some high quality commits within a 50 mile radius as mentioned above. More are needed. Fingers crossed.

+1. 4/5 Ws was my goal for this year. We are not far from a 500 team. Biggest need is maturing who we have. Next is depth plus adding difference makers on both OL and DL. We lose much of the bulk we have this year. Cahill brought in a lot of DL in this year's class. 2ndary returns most everyone. Unit needs the weight room and more experience.
OLa mess for a number of reasons. A revolving door of players. There is some talent but we couldn't seem to keep those players on the field. The jury rigged lineups were outmanned by decent front 7s.
Recruiting
A very good start with the five verbals. The emphasis so far seems to be athletes.Coach Cahill. going with a slower more decisioned offer process.Much different than Gilmore s shotgun approach.