Lafayette FB: An overview on Day 1

Okay, here we go. Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. Day 1 of the 138^th season of Lafayette College football.  Year 3 of the John Garrett era. Practice 1, noon-2:30 p.m., in Fisher Stadium. Eighty-six players, according to Coach Garrett.  Twenty-four freshmen.

Coach Garrett took part along with the rest of the Patriot League coaches in a media teleconference call on Wednesday.  I sat through the entire thing, so I have some decent ammo on the rest of the league.

I was hoping for something on the Lafayette Leopards, too, but what I got from Coach Garrett was pretty much everything he’s been saying since the day he was hired.

But one comment has been haunting me for three days. He said, “So, there’s really nothing wrong with the system.”

The thing is, Garrett IS the system  -- at least offensively. Ever since Rich Bartel left town before 2017 summer camp ever started, thus leaving the offensive coordinator spot vacant, it has been clear that Coach Garrett wants to do things HIS way.

He doesn’t seem to be particularly interested in being the architect of the program, bringing in strong coordinators and assistants to carry out the master plan. He seems to want the master plan in his hands alone. We’ve heard lots of murmurs for two years about what impact the assistants have – or don’t have. I believe that’s why there has been such heavy turnover at the end of each season.

Coach Garrett told us he had this list of contacts that he could use to put things together on College Hill. He brought in Luke Thompson from Georgetown and pretty much gave him free reign over the defense for two years. Got some good results from that, too. Thompson is now gone, succeeded by Manny Rojas.

Doug McFadden, the only holdover from the Frank Tavani days, and Christian Pace are the only assistant coaches who have been with Garrett from the beginning. McFadden coaches defensive backs; Pace moved to offensive line this season after handling tight ends and fullbacks his first two seasons.

So, when Garrett says that his system is working just fine, even if it has not produced more victories, we can either believe him and content ourselves with whatever takes place over the next couple of months. Or, we can hope for some kind of adjustment in his way of thinking or in the personnel he chooses to carry out the plan that has been less than spectacular to now.

Even as I write this, I have my doubts about offensive change. Garrett didn’t give any evidence of it during his brief time on the league's conference call.

“We won three games each of the last two years and it easily could have been five or six,” he said. “Wow, if we keep doing the little things and work hard, we’re going to win games or make that big play … we have made so many improvements, upgrading the team by bringing in the right kind of guys and improving the talent, something we think about every day. Players who were sophomores then (in 2017) are now seniors … bigger, stronger, faster … it’s like we have to shake our head sometimes and say, boy, look at you now, you’re playing like a top player. We’ve beaten every team in the Patriot League except Colgate and Lehigh, and we’ve had good, hard-fought games with them. We have come to play each week. We focus on how we play …”

I used his other quotes in my Morning Call story the other day. I figured that was the assessment Coach Garrett wanted people to hear. Now, it's been heard.

The reality is not nearly so rosy. For example, in two games with Colgate, the Leopards have scored NO points and the Raiders 72. And against arch-rival Lehigh, Lafayette has scored 10 points in the last six quarters while giving up 58. I don’t know which was more painful, the second-half collapse in ’17 or the total no-show last season.

If there’s nothing wrong with the system, the Leopards’ struggles must stem from personnel or coaching.

Right now, none of that really matters because the slate is again clean on Day 1. Garrett has lots of returning starters – eight on each side of the ball.  Rojas is the only new member of the defensive coaching staff. This may be his first shot as a coordinator, but he has a solid history. He’s been a winner – three times he has been to the FCS postseason. And, he has returning assistants in McFadden, Andrew Seumalo and Rich Yahner, who already know the players. There’s talk of a change from 4-3 to 3-4, although Garrett said on Wednesday that there’s “not much change” and that the Leopards will likely play both three-man and four-man fronts.

Garrett is pretty protective of his depth chart, but he did give one last week. The 10 offensive linemen consist of two seniors, three juniors and five sophomores. Listed on the first team for now are cocaptain Jake Marotti and Gavin Barclay at tackles, Ben Wild or Taron Hampton and John Burk or Colin Bradley at guards and Joe Grundhoffer at center.

Receiver may be the strongest overall group – providing, of course, the quarterbacks get the ball there. Nick Pearson (41 catches, 592 yards), Quinn Revere (38-336), Julian Spigner (20-188) were the top three a year ago.  The only problem was that Revere’s two TD catches were high for the entire team, which had just four. Jake Liedtka had only one catch in ’18. Pearson also has been an effective speed-sweep runner at times and is a preseason all-league selection.

Tight end Steven Stilianos turned out to be a pleasant surprise for a freshman last year. He had multiple catches in three different games, including one touchdown.

Selwyn Simpson is listed as the first-team running back. He now weighs 235 pounds and he has shown some real flashes – like runs of 51 and 38 yards against Fordham last season. His 112 yards that day are a career high.

The other day, I saw a post from him on Twitter. I replied to the post that I expected this to be a breakout year for him.  He answered, “Yesssirr!!” If that happens, things could certainly get interesting. Lafayette needs an effective running game more than anything. Garrett has said many times he loves to run the ball, but he hasn’t made the run a priority for him.  Right now, J.J. Younger, who also figures to be a key player on kick returns, seems to be the No. 2 guy.

Mike Dunn is listed as the backup at both running back and fullback, but there has been word on the grapevine that he suffered a summer training injury. Garrett didn’t mention it Wednesday, and sports information director Phil LaBella couldn’t confirm it for me, either, so for now, this is talk. But a good source told me Dunn has had or will have surgery for a pectoral muscle in jury. At noon today, we’ll know whether he’s ready to go. Devon On was the only healthy TB for the spring game; three frosh are joining the group.

It was interesting to me when I received a two-deep chart for defense that it consisted of 12 positions, not 11.  The chart has two ends and two tackles up front, four linebackers and four d-backs in the secondary.

The first unit, according to the chart, has 2018 freshman sensation Malik Hamm and senior Keith Earle, who combined for 22 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks last year, at ends and Harrison Greenhill and sophomore Colin Hurlbrink at tackles. Ian Grayson, who started the first four games last year before being sidelined with a shoulder injury, is listed behind Hurlbrink.

Billy Shaeffer and Jack Lamb have the outside linebacker spots, with Major Jordan and Ryan Dickens inside. Jordan was the third leading tackler last year with 66. Eric Mitchell and Tre Jordan are listed at corners and Yasir Thomas and Romeo Wykle at safeties. Mitchell has started 28 games in his career and had three interceptions as a sophomore.

Last, but certainly not least, QUARTERBACK!

The question on the conference call came not from me, but from John Leone, who recently retired from Lafayette but who will continue to be part of the Lafayette Sports Network team. After giving the stuff about QBs getting too much credit for a win or blame for a loss, the need for the right players surrounding him, and after acknowledging Garrett’s opinion of two-year starter Sean O’Malley as tough, smart and gritty, Leone asked, “What’s the quarterback competition look like going into the season?"

Here is Garrett’s complete answer: “Well, it’s the same competition like last year. It was really heated last year. If you remember, Sean and Cole Northrup were neck-in-neck, getting the same reps in practice. And, they split time for the first four games; then Sean had the big game vs. Central Connecticut, where he completed 24 of 36 passes for 343 yards and three touchdowns and we beat that playoff team with a great team effort. That’s when he really separated himself. But it’s going to be a big, heated competition this year; it was like that in the spring. Cole Northrup is vying for the starting job; Troy Fisher is vying for the starting job, and we brought in Keegan Shoemaker … as a freshman, who we have high hopes for. So, it is going to be really competitive. We don’t know who the starter’s going to be. We just look at how they play and determine that on the field. So, I’m excited to see who emerges and grabs the bull by the horns.”

No mention at all of Reid Aichholz, a 6-5 junior who’s in his third season of waiting; sophomore Shane Davis or freshman John Paci. It’s interesting to see the bio on Aichholz, who ran for almost 1,400 yards and 39 touchdowns and threw for 4,000 yards and 37 touchdowns in two years for Indian Hill High in Cincinnati. He’s a two-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll member with 3.85 semester GPAs and a freshman and sophomore, so he’s obviously a smart kid on his way to big things. Somehow, he can’t break through with Coach Garrett. But he definitely fits the coach’s description of the right kind of guy.

Garrett has adopted “Break Through” as his mantra for 2019. Is he willing to do whatever it takes for the Leopards to have the chance to do that? We’ll see.