There is no sugar coating the fact that Dartmouth football is struggling. The last win for the program came nearly two years ago, in what then appeared to be a breakout game for the team a 59-31 win over Cornell. Since the beginning of the 2008-2009 season, the highest scoring output of the Big Green has been a lowly 26 points at Homecoming a year ago against Holy Cross. Amazingly, Dartmouth has only held its opponents to less than 26 points in a game twice in that same 15-game span. You read that right: For the past two seasons, Dartmouth's best offensive and defensive efforts combined could have only produced two wins.
Since the graduation of the Class of 2008, an unheralded group who were all recruited by former head coach John Lyons prior to head coach Buddy Teevens' return to Hanover, Dartmouth has struggled on the field, while watching its victims in 2008 (the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Cornell) all improve over the same period. There have surely been clear improvements for the Big Green during Teevens' second stint at Dartmouth: the construction of the Floren Varsity House, the boost in alumni support and the recruitment of talented players such as Tim McManus '11, Charles Bay '11, Nick Schwieger '12 and Shawn Abuhoff '12. The team's spirit and physical conditioning appear to be at their highest levels since I arrived on campus in the fall of 2004, as well. The performance on the field, however, has not matched the apparent improvements on paper.
Therein lies the great struggle for the Dartmouth football program at the moment. I have watched every home game for the past six seasons, and nearly half of the Big Green's away contests, and it boggles my mind how Teevens can inspire such hope and optimism, and yet continually fall short when it counts most when the game is played. I have cheered, yelled, dressed up and gone crazy at more Dartmouth sporting events than any of my contemporaries, and maintained an optimistic outlook for the future of Dartmouth football throughout our struggle.
No more!
Coach Teevens, as one of your most loyal supporters, I am issuing an ultimatum on behalf of the entire Dartmouth community: Beat Columbia and Princeton this season, or relocate your office into Alumni Gym and take on the role of athletic director.
President Kim, you have spoken of making changes at Dartmouth where the data merits such efforts, and I submit to you no more clear a case where leadership is needed than at a school which prides itself on its athletic tradition. Judge Dartmouth football by its production and make the changes needed at the end of this season.
I will be at Memorial Field once again this Homecoming, dressed to the gills in green and white, cheering, yelling, singing our songs with pride and pulling for each one of our men on the field. At the same time, though, as a loyal son of Dartmouth, I have set my watch. The tradition of Dartmouth football dominance in the Ivy League with 17 Ivy League titles, more than any other school must not fail. Let us hope that this Saturday is the start of something new, and that we may cheer our team to victory as the backs go tearing by!
