Skip to main content

"Buzz" Around Lehigh Football

No, I can't say it's particularly... well... original, but with Lehigh's Brown/White game completed, it's time to catch up with with some of the (shudder) buzz - or rumors, and the like - that's hovering around the Patriot League and the Lehigh program. (Why do I feel, well, dirty after writing that? Is it only because "buzz" feels ...so... so... 1996?)

We'll start with the NFL Draft, make a side trip to the Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame, "The Rivalry", and end up with new plans for Murray Goodman Stadium' new (natural) turf. And I'll try to do so without making a single reference to Independence Day.

  • Let's start with Don Bostrom's Morning Call column today talking about the number of local Lehigh Valley athletes that have been NFL draft picks, including hall-of-famer Chuck Bednarik. That doesn't interest me as much as the fact that he lists Lehigh football players that have been draft picks over the years... and (most importantly) that we're well ahead of Lafayette on that score (9 draft picks to 3).
  • Bostrom lists eight draftees... but as a matter of fact, there are at least nine: Pete Williams (49ers, 1958), Reed Bohovich (Giants, 10th round, 1962), Thad Jamula (Browns, 13th round, 1971), John Hill (Giants, 6th round, 1972), Kim McQuilken (Falcons, 3rd round, 1974), Jerry Mullane (Giants, 14th Round, 1976), Mike Rieker (Saints, 6th round, 1978), Steve Krieder (Bengals, 6th Round, 1979), Rich Owens (Redskins, 5th round, 1995). (There are plenty of other Lehigh players who have also played in the NFL that weren't drafted as well, notably Rabih Abdullah '97 who got a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots.)
  • The one not mentioned in Mr. Bostrom's article was Pete Williams, who was just inducted into Lehigh Athletics' Hall Of Fame last week. Williams was a true ironman (playing both offensive and defensive tackle) at the end of the "ironman era" in pro football, playing in every game (and almost every down, too) in the three years he was eligible (freshmen were not allowed to play varsity then). He was the captain the 1957 squad that went 8-1 and captured Lehigh’s first-ever Lambert Cup trophy. As if that weren't enough, he scored three TDs, one safety, and even kicked an extra point.
  • Rereading The Last Amateurs the other day, I wanted to pick out the following quote: "Wrestling is by far the number one sport at Lehigh." I enjoy the book and everything, but that always makes me laugh. I know wrestling is big, but bigger than The Rivalry? Hah!
  • You want more evidence? Well, just take a look at this piece in the Brown & White that asks the question: After Lehigh/Lafayette, Does The Rivalry Live On? I think after reading it - if you didn't know the answer already - the story is brought home with the story of a split household, with a Lehigh Dad and a Lafayette Mom. (What do they do for tailgates the third weekend in November, I wonder - bake Brown & Maroon cookies?)
  • The big news comes from my buddy ngineer off of one of the message boards, but not through an official release. Quote:
It was announced today that the day after graduation ceremonies end in Goodman Stadium that the old turf, that has been there for over 40 years, will be torn up and replaced with a new sod/turf system with underground irrigation and drainage design, which the current field does not have. AD Sterrett said going to an artificial surface was never seriously considered. Football is meant to be played on grass, pure and simple. However, the current turf has gotten 'exhausted' which has made it susceptible to disease/fungus, requiring a lot of work to keep in the good condition it has appeared.

However, there will also be a new "Field Turf" field constructed to replace the exisiting artificial surface upon which field hockey, lacrosse, and soccer sometimes play. It will be designed to accommodate all aspects of college football in the even to another 'monsoon' event, such as occured with Holy Cross three years ago. Should such a recurrence happen, the game would be played at the Ulrich Complex.

Finally, the scoreboard will be upgraded. Not sure if this year or next. But it is over 20 years old and replacement parts are no longer available. No details on what type of board, however, but it will definitely be designed to be easier to read with the afternoon sun.

I don't know what's more gratifying: knowing that the turf will be replaced at Murray Goodman and better drainage added (as someone who was there at the '05 monsoon, I can appreciate it), or that the scoreboard will be upgraded (almost a necessity now that "that school in Easton" has a DiamondVision color replay on their - admittedly impressive - scoreboard). Both "unofficial" announcements are great for the program, and I'll be looking forward to finding out more!

With more and more schools (like "that school in Easton") going to FieldTurf, that we're keeping natural grass is really welcome - and in the wake of some studies that are investigating potential health hazards with lead in artificial turf fields, it seems like resisting the urge to go plastic has always been the right decision.

Comments

CHC8485 said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
CHC8485 said…
Chuck,

Check the Offical NFL site and it only lists 8 Lehigh players being drafted. Pete Williams is not one of them.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?type=school

And since we're on the topic, who leads the PL in players drafted? Holy Cross by a long shot with 28 according to the site. Colgate is next with 21.

[Deleted Original Post to correct typos]

Popular posts from this blog

How The Ivy League Is Able To Break the NCAA's Scholarship Limits and Still Consider Themselves FCS

By now you've seen the results.  In 2018, the Ivy League has taken the FCS by storm. Perhaps it was Penn's 30-10 defeat of Lehigh a couple of weeks ago .  Or maybe it was Princeton's 50-9 drubbing of another team that made the FCS Playoffs last year, Monmouth.  Or maybe it was Yale's shockingly dominant 35-14 win over nationally-ranked Maine last weekend. The Ivy League has gone an astounding 12-4 so far in out-of-conference play, many of those wins coming against the Patriot League. But it's not just against the Patriot League where the Ivy League has excelled.  Every Ivy League school has at least one out-of-conference victory, which is remarkable since it is only three games into their football season.  The four losses - Rhode Island over Harvard, Holy Cross over Yale, Delaware over Cornell, and Cal Poly over Brown - were either close losses that could have gone either way or expected blowouts of teams picked to be at the bottom of the Ivy League. W

Made-Up Midseason Grades for Lehigh Football

 We are now officially midway through the 2023 Lehigh football season.  The Mountain Hawks sit at 1-5 overall, and 0-1 in the Patriot League. I thought I'd go ahead and make up some midseason grades, and set some "fan goals" for the second half. The 2023 Mountain Hawks were picked to finish fifth in the seven team Patriot League.  In order to meet or exceed that expectation, they'll probably have to go at least 3-2 the rest of the way in conference play.  Their remaining games are vs. Georgetown, at Bucknell, vs. Holy Cross, at Colgate, and vs. Lafayette in The Rivalry. Can they do it? Culture Changing: B+ .  I was there in the Bronx last week after the tough 38-35 defeat to Fordham, and there wasn't a single player emerging from the locker room that looked like they didn't care.  Every face was glum.  They didn't even seem sad.  More frustrated and angry. That may seem normal, considering the agonizing way the Mountain Hawks lost, but it was a marked chan

Fifteen Guys Who Might be Lehigh's Next Football Coach (and Five More)

If you've been following my Twitter account, you might have caught some "possibilities" as Lehigh's next head football coach like Lou Holtz, Brett Favre and Bo Pelini .  The chance that any of those three guys actually are offered and accept the Lehigh head coaching position are somewhere between zero and zero.  (The full list of my Twitter "possibilities" are all on this thread on the Lehigh Sports Forum .) However the actual Lehigh head football coaching search is well underway, with real names and real possibilities. I've come up with a list of fifteen possible names, some which I've heard whispered as candidates, others which might be good fits at Lehigh for a variety of reasons. UPDATE: I have found five more names of possible head coaches that I am adding to this list below. Who are the twenty people?  Here they are, in alphabetical order.