Dartmouth has become increasingly competitive in the recruiting process during Teevens' tenure, and the athleticism of next year's recruits could make the Class of 2012 the team's best recruiting class in recent memory.
"At least on paper, it's the best one we've brought in so far," assistant coach Mike Hodgson said. ""There are people Harvard got that we didn't want, and people we got that Harvard didn't want."
This year, Dartmouth's coaching staff said it continued to focus on the athletic ability of potential recruits rather than their size. The heaviest player in the incoming class, lineman Patrick Lahey '12, weighs in at 282 pounds and 6 feet 3 inches. The tallest player, outside linebacker Ryan Lee '12, is 6'6" and 240 pounds. Comparatively, last year's heaviest recruit weighed 265 lbs., and the tallest measured 6'5".
"We just go out and find the best athletes you can find rather than the size," Hodgson said "[Size is] something we can work on."
Dartmouth's football program has underachieved in the Ivy League in recent seasons, but Teevens is attempting to improve the team's record with aggressive recruiting.
"We're behind most of the league in speed and size and athleticism, and we've addressed that through recruiting," Teevens said.
On paper, Dartmouth's incoming class is competitve with those of the Big Green's Ivy rivals, but it is difficult to predict what will happen on the field next season. Teeevens believes, however, that in recent years his staff has been more successful in recruiting than other Ivy League football programs.
"We're having greater success recruiting against league opponents, people opting not to go to XYZ Ivy institution but to come to Dartmouth," Teevens said. "I try to portray Dartmouth as a different institution. The facility increases, that's an attraction to the recruits. [Dartmouth] is run in a first-class fashion."
Among the early decision recruits is highly regarded quarterback Connor Kempe '12, one of the most anticipated Dartmouth football recruits in recent memory.
"We're really happy with him coming in and think he'll be something special down the road," Hodgson said.
Kempe hails from Miami, Fla., where he was rated as one of the top quarterback recruits in Florida by recruiting outlets. Kempe chose Dartmouth over programs such as Auburn, Stanford, Purdue and Virginia.
Kempe also received a great deal of media attention after a near fatal kiteboarding accident in 2006. Kempe not only survived the accident, but returned to the football field within a year and once again drew the attention of national recruiters.
Another recruit expected to contribute significantly to the team is Foley Schmidt '12. Schmidt is a Minnesota native and a former high school teammate of Tim McManus '11.
Schmidt was a highly competitive athlete in high school, despite suffering from a very severe form of diabetes that requires him to be injected with insulin every hour.
Schmidt, like McManus, played quarterback for St. Thomas Academy. He was also nationally ranked for soccer and garnered attention as a possible walk-on place kicker by a number of top-tier college football programs. At Dartmouth, Schmidt is expected to compete for time as a kicker and a punter.
"The punt game is extremely important," Teevens said. "It's kind of hidden yardage that people are unaware of."
Overall, Dartmouth accepted 30 officially recruited football players, and three other incoming freshmen have also committed to playing football for the Big Green in the fall. Twelve recruits were awarded early admission and 18 additional players were accepted this spring. In total, the Big Green added 17 players on offense, 12 on defense and one kicker.
Last year, the program had only 25 official recruits, although there are now 34 players from the Class of 2011 on the team's roster. The difference is the result of league regulations that require each team to average 30 recruits per year over a four-year period.
While some regions are considered hotbeds for talented high school football players, Dartmouth's coaching staff said recruitment is not based primarily on geography. The incoming class is geographically diverse, with players representing 18 different states.
The new players are set to fill some of the holes left by the team's 27 departing seniors and could challenge returning players for starting positions.
"We've hit basically every position on the team," Teevens said. "I would say without question we've increased the depth and the performance of those positions."
All the players coming in, from the highly touted recruits to the walk-ons, have the opportunity to compete for a starting position during preseason.
"You never know until they get here how good they're going to be. You get some surprises." Hodgson said. "We want them all to come thinking they can start."
