Following Dartmouth's first winning season in more than a decade, the Big Green football team has worked hard on its recruiting efforts this offseason. Several high school football players have already made their decision in favor of Dartmouth and have chosen to become members of next year's Big Green football team.
Ryan McManus the younger brother of two-time Dartmouth captain Tim McManus '11 and a native of Mendota Heights, Minn. will join the Class of 2015, choosing Dartmouth over a number of other Ivy League schools, including Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Zack Fowler a 6'2", 235-pound defensive lineman from Southwestern Pulaski County High in Somerset, Ky. and placement specialist Riley Lyons who holds the school record for most field goals and touchbacks in a season at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell, Ga. also committed to the Big Green.
The incoming freshman class also includes Chris Boudreaux, who was admitted early decision to the College and intends to walk on to the football team. His mother, Gail Koziara Boudreaux '82, who was nominated by the Alumni Council to serve on the Board of Trustees, is the leading scorer and rebounder in Dartmouth women's basketball history.
The caliber of players set to join the football team is largely due to recruitment efforts by the Big Green.
"We will send information to the student athletes to request additional information," head coach Buddy Teevens said. "We go from a very large number of recruits down to a very small number of recruits. Within that small number you essentially build a football team."
A key part of the recruitment process rests in highlighting the College's positive attributes, Teevens said, explaining that his coaching staff emphasizes Dartmouth's strong undergraduate focus on education.
"I really try to push that we are markedly different as compared to the other sister schools," he said.
When potential recruits visit campus, Teevans often asks a faculty member to speak with them about his or her experiences at the College, he said.
"What's fascinating to me, having worked at a number of different places, is how willing faculty are to interact [with students]," said Teevens. "They might play pick-up basketball with a student, have dinner with them, or just see them in the library that's really a major point of separation from other schools."
For some Big Green football players, the intimate one-on-one interactions with professors and coaches during their visits was what encouraged them to commit to Dartmouth.
Captain Charles Bay '11 said that the highlight of his recruiting trip was meeting with faculty members who also worked at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center because he wanted to pursue a medical career.
"I got to talk to three doctors at DHMC, and I hadn't gotten to do that at other schools," Bay said. "That's definitely something that stood out in comparison to other schools."
Bay added that the Big Green coaching staff highlights not only the strong athletic programs at Dartmouth, but also the high caliber of education that recruits will receive.
"Dartmouth focused on football, but at the same time they stressed that we have really great education here," he said. "Other colleges can't back it up as much."
Defensive tackle Royce Egeolu '12 said that Dartmouth's recruitment efforts, while similar to those of its peer institutions, emphasized the intimate relationships that could be forged at the College.
"Honestly, it seemed like the coaches were more caring," Egeolu said. "They were more responsive with the athletes, and it was more personal. And the players showed us a good time."
Quaterback Connor Kempe '12 echoed Egeolu, explaining that after his official visit he "could not see himself anywhere else."
The belief that players could immediately help improve the football program after joining the team also factored into the decision to choose Dartmouth, players said. Although the Big Green has been unable to boast a winning program for much of the past decade, it has improved over the last three years, and finishing with a 6-4 record in 2010, the team's first winning record since 1997.
"As far as the football standpoint, the thing that really sold me is that I had the ability to come in as the quarterback who could turn things around," Kempe said. "That was one thing that stuck with me, you have the ability to come in and turn the program around."
Teevens stressed that he tries to involve parents in the recruiting process, because when parents connect with faculty it helps impress upon recruits the advantages that Dartmouth offers, Teevans said.
The football team will begin its season on Sept. 17 against Colgate University at Memorial Field.
