Bucknell

[jimk72]

My dad went to Bucknell and I grew up 8 miles up river from Lewisburg, so I know a bit about the Bison over the years. From WWII on, Bison administration has been luke warm (at best) on providing athletics with much support, with the exception of basketball. Since 1959 football has had 11 coaches and only two had winning records. Bob Odell (37-26..1958-1964) and Tom Gadd (48-28....1995-2001). So I'll give Chick a bit of a pass. It's just a really tough job on a number of levels.

[Justafan]

I have zero connection to Bucknell but I always had the impression that their Administration supported athletics based solely on the fact that between 1990-1991 and 2012-2013, Bucknell won the President's Cup 18 times. Since then it has been all Navy with Bucknell as 2nd until just a few years ago.

Total athletics, they were where Lehigh should have aspired to be IMHO. Times have changed there too however.

[HFO]

It’s worth remembering that he was considered a potential savior.
Perhaps his coaching skills are not the problem, it’s his job-picking acumen.
Valpo is an awful place to coach and Bucknell is a challenge.

I concur. Dave is an offensive genius, but there are only 261 Head Coaching jobs in NCAA D1. You have to start somewhere and then move on. Going from Pioneer League to Patriot League is a step up. Neither Valpo or Bucknell are known football powerhouses. Basketball.... a different story.

See that Dave has his teammates son Semptemphelter at QB.

Where did Troxell come from? Oh...Phillipsburg, NJ and coaching at DIII Franklin & Marshall, also not a powerhouse school even at DIII. What he brings is a proven P-burg tough attitude which had history of incredible head football coaches. Look at what is happening at DII level of Kutztown and East Stroudsburg. Both have incredible coaches. DIII Muhlenberg. So Cahill will get his 5 years, but if he isn't at 7-4 by Year 5...time for Lehigh to move on and bring in a proven winner at DII or DIII level who brings the right tough Lehigh Valley attitude to football at Lehigh.

[ngineer]

My dad went to Bucknell and I grew up 8 miles up river from Lewisburg, so I know a bit about the Bison over the years. From WWII on, Bison administration has been luke warm (at best) on providing athletics with much support, with the exception of basketball. Since 1959 football has had 11 coaches and only two had winning records. Bob Odell (37-26..1958-1964) and Tom Gadd (48-28....1995-2001). So I'll give Chick a bit of a pass. It's just a really tough job on a number of levels.

Yes, under Gadd the Bison were a very tough team. Always tough D and just enough O to win. Sort of strange that ever since he had to step down due to health (he died two years later) that the program has never been the same. Sort of a similar situation Lehigh finds itself in...now facing a overall losing season for the 7th straight year (if you want to count 2020), the longest such string since the "Desert Years" of 1962-70 of 9 straight losing seasons. We were able to pull ourselves out of that tailspin with the patience and belief that Deming Lewis had in Fred Dunlap who was hired in 1965. Being apart of rebuilding a program of great tradition should be a good lure for excellent high school kids who want to be part of that challenge.

[lfnadmin]

I really like Bucknell's football stadium, which is at the foot of campus and feels like a throwback. It's sight lines are great and it's a beautiful place to watch a game. It has lights and a video board. However other than that it's not very modern though and could use a facelift. Still it's one of the prettier venues I've been to, with more character than many more modern stadiums.

The capacity says 13,000 but very few people came to the game. Students aggressively stayed away, and I'm not sure if Lehigh's Marching 97 was included in the attendance totals. Lehigh fans almost certainly outnumbered Bucknell fans.

Weather was a factor. It was pretty brisk and windy, which as others mentioned affected the kicking and passing games.

I'd be willing to bet if Bucknell were to devote more scholarship money they could compete for PL championships and get a bigger number of fans to attend (because there would be more meaningful games). Like Lehigh and other Pennsylvania FCS schools, scheduling around Penn State games is a must, even more so for them since State College is practically their backyard, but with enough care it could happen.

The truth of the matter is more people watch winning football. Seven years ago if you said Holy Cross in 2023 would pack in 12,000+ for homecoming folks would look at you as if you had three heads, but it happened, and the only magic elixir is "winning". Everyone's "attendance woes" would be fixed with consistent winning. Le-Laf this year might return to being a sellout simply because Lafayette is nationally ranked and the PL title hopefully will be on the line.

[ngineer]

To this day the largest attendance in Goodman for any non-Laughyette game is the 16,900+ who packed the stands to see Lehigh take on Bucknell around 1998. Of course, it was Parents' Weekend and the weather was idyllic and both teams had winning records at the time, but it still showed what kind of atmosphere can be created if people have a good time attending. I would love for Laughyette to come in on November 18 with the PL championship on the line and knock that trophy out of their hands! So attendance this year should be greatly improved from last year's dismal showing in Leotard Land.

[HFO]

I really like Bucknell's football stadium, which is at the foot of campus and feels like a throwback. It's sight lines are great and it's a beautiful place to watch a game. It has lights and a video board. However other than that it's not very modern though and could use a facelift. Still it's one of the prettier venues I've been to, with more character than many more modern stadiums.

The capacity says 13,000 but very few people came to the game. Students aggressively stayed away, and I'm not sure if Lehigh's Marching 97 was included in the attendance totals. Lehigh fans almost certainly outnumbered Bucknell fans.

Weather was a factor. It was pretty brisk and windy, which as others mentioned affected the kicking and passing games.

I'd be willing to bet if Bucknell were to devote more scholarship money they could compete for PL championships and get a bigger number of fans to attend (because there would be more meaningful games). Like Lehigh and other Pennsylvania FCS schools, scheduling around Penn State games is a must, even more so for them since State College is practically their backyard, but with enough care it could happen.

The truth of the matter is more people watch winning football. Seven years ago if you said Holy Cross in 2023 would pack in 12,000+ for homecoming folks would look at you as if you had three heads, but it happened, and the only magic elixir is "winning". Everyone's "attendance woes" would be fixed with consistent winning. Le-Laf this year might return to being a sellout simply because Lafayette is nationally ranked and the PL title hopefully will be on the line.

You are telling the truth. Deion Sanders took Jackson State from a great half time marching band show to FCS Record for attendance for FCS which was almost 2x runner-up Montana or James Madison. Averaged over 42,000 per game with 3 games over 50,000.

Winning changes everything for game day experience. So...there is a shot Lehigh could for just one game allow seniors to be ecstatic. A win over current PL leader Lafayette College.

https://hbcugameday.com/2022/02/16/deio ... e-records/

[Sundayamqb]

As Coach Prime has shown, people come to watch exciting football -- speed and talent play a key role

Bucknell hasn't had a really exciting team in my memory.

Air Lehigh under Cecchini was exciting!

[Local82]

Troxell’s near-instant success makes for a tough comparison for Cahill but Lafayette is getting big contributions from some Garrett guys, notably Olivas.
Garrett didn’t win enough but his knowledge of the game and of talent was never questioned.
Gilmore obviously knows football but something went very wrong and the debacle was predictable.
Hiring somebody who got fired by a rival in mid-season and not long after a big win remains one really odd decision.

[Lehigh74]

I guess we’ll never know exactly why Sterrett made that decision.