When Teevens '79, Dartmouth's head football coach, heard the results of the 2009 Ivy League Football Preseason Media Poll which placed Dartmouth eighth among the eight Ivy League teams he found them "no surprise" given Dartmouth's 0-10 record last year, he said.
"We certainly didn't anticipate a vote," Teevens said. "The one [poll] I'm most concerned about is the one at the end of the season."
Neither the preseason poll which Teevens said hardly ever predicts the season's outcome nor the team's win-loss record accurately reflects the team's growth during recent seasons, he said. These years were characterized by the development of a slate of young players and a new mentality for the team as a whole, he said.
"Our numbers, finally, have gotten to the point that we have a greater depth of positions," he said. "But the heightened athleticism will allow us to compete more readily."
Because players are now older, more developed and backed up by a promising class of new recruits, injuries should not pose the challenges to the team that they did last year, Teevens said.
The team's perspective on training has also improved their prospects for the upcoming years, he said, because players have been pushing each other to train harder and improve themselves. Despite a poor outcome last season, the team is "looking forward, not wallowing in self-pity," and intends to become competitive in the Ivy League, Teevens said.
"Nobody can just lay around, and if they do, somebody will come in and take their position," Teevens said. "I think the guys are hungry to demonstrate the type of guys and the type of program that we have."
One of the program's strengths is that older players are willing to step up as leaders and help younger players develop their potential even when they are talented enough to displace their mentors, Teevens said.
Team members are not "going to pay attention to all the preseason hype" of the Ivy media poll, according to team co-captain Tim McManus '11. Instead, a desire to improve the program drives players in their training.
"I think a lot of us have used that for motivation in the off-season," McManus said. "We've had our most productive off-season in conditioning and weight-lifting."
Quarterback Alex Jenny '10 also noted that players have been "putting up big numbers in the weight room" because of their more challenging exercise routines.
"I just got up to campus for the early conditioning test, and you can tell everyone worked hard this summer," Jenny said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth. "Through two days of working out up at school, I am definitely impressed by the people I have worked out with."
The class of new recruits also has a very high level of talent, Teevens said. He attributed the ability to attract this talent partly to the new facilities in the Floren Varsity House, which he said make Dartmouth a more attractive destination to prospective students who value athletics.
"Guys realize this is a great place to go to school," Teevens said. "I think Dartmouth attracts a special kind of individual who values what Dartmouth offers."
McManus agreed, saying that Teevens and the rest of the coaching staff have succeeded in fielding "a really high quality caliber of person," in addition to capable athletes for the team.
"As far as the incoming and recruiting class, I've heard a lot of good reports," McManus said. "I think we've got a lot of talent, and a lot of guys that were younger are coming back with a lot of experience."
The Ivy media poll ranked Harvard University in first place for the 2009 season, followed closely by the University of Pennsylvania.
Several of the other teams in the Ivy League could be hampered by the turnover in their rosters of starting players, Teevens said. Harvard in particular lost two senior quarterbacks, among their most talented players.
"[The other schools] all have talent coming up, but a lot of those guys will be first-time players," Teevens said. "We're not graduating as many senior as most folks, really, over the last three years."
