Lehigh Football Nation

Like you, I waited and waited for an answer to the question "Who will be Lehigh's starting quarterback?" And much like the frustrated press rabble on Friday night... tonight I'm left with no answer, according to word from the Easton Express-Times : "No, not yet. We'll sit down and watch the tape (today) and early next week, I'll let the kids know," Coen said. "I can put you guys on my text message list like Sen. (Barack) Obama." The third-year Lehigh head coach did say the two frontrunners for the position are junior Chris Bokosky and sophomore J.B. Clark. Isn't that like saying the frontrunners for the vice-presidential pick were Joe Biden, Evan Bayh and Hillary Clinton? Junior QB Chris Bokosky chimed in too: Bokosky, who threw for 469 yards and two touchdowns last season, said the competition is fun and friendly among the four quarterbacks. "We're a close group. We're competitors," he said. "It really brought o...

Two Lehigh defensemen earned preseason accolades from the Sports Network yesterday. Senior DL Brian Jackson made second-team all-American honors, while senior LB Tim Diamond made third-team all-American as mentioned in the official Lehigh press release . Jackson's inclusion comes as no surprise, as he's been recognized all through the offseason as being one of the best "D" linemen in Football Championship Subdivision, but Diamond's inclusion comes as a small surprise since (historically speaking) linebacker is a very deep position in the FCS ranks. One thing's for sure: the expectation level of this defense just went up another notch as no other Patriot League team had more than one member on the all-America team. "That school in Easton" boasted senior LB Andy Romans on the team, Holy Cross had senior QB Dominic Randolph on the team, and Colgate senior OL Nick Hennessey also got a nod. All the other Patriot League nominees made the second-team...

No word from Lehigh camp if coach Coen has Trisha Yearwood in his iPod, but he was recently seen sporting a cowboy hat in LehighSports.com's report on preseason practice . More important than his choice of headwear, however, was the content of the release and who he singled out for praise. One player he singled out has been an LFN fave for some time: junior DT B.J. Benning . “He’s big, he’s physical, and he keeps improving every day we’re out here,” Coen said. “BJ put on some extra weight and muscle in the off-season, but he’s every bit athletic as he was last season.” The other big news? How about the emergence of a couple of underclassman challenging at wideout and tight end? “ Sophomore WR Craig Zurn has really come on strong during camp,” Coen said. “He had a strong spring and he’s been able to carry that through. He was definitely in the mix at the start of camp, but he’s worked his way up the lineup even more.” Coen added, “He’s tough, he’s gritty, he’s a hard-nosed fo...

Today I'm profiling Colgate in my "Patriot League Offseason" series. Ladies and gentlemen: *your* Colgate Raiders. COLGATE Coaching Changes: This offseason, Colgate lost a huge part of their dominating defenses over the past decade: defensive coordinator Ed Pinkham, who was grabbed by Greg Schiano of Rutgers to fill out his staff vacancies. (Schiano, himself a Bucknell grad, obviously is no dummy.) Filling his big shoes as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach is another huge name: Steve Szabo, a Navy alum who played football alongside the great Roger Staubach. More recently, he comes after coaching linebackers at Michigan after a long, illustrious coaching career which included stops on defensive coaching staffs in the NFL. Also hired were two coaches from the ranks of Division III: a new defensive assistant (Dave Uimonen, Springfield College) and running backs coach (Kade Rannings, St. Joseph's, IN) The Hardest Guy To Replace: This one isn't hard a...

Every year, I usher in the new Patriot League football season with a capsule on the goings-on in the offseason for every team in the Patriot League. In years past I have combined everyone's offseason in one huge post, but I thought it better to concentrate on each team one post at a time. In addition to allowing me to keep my sanity, it allows me to highlight each team individually. Without any further ado, here's the first team I'm profiling (in alphabetic order): *your* Bucknell Bison. BUCKNELL Coaching Changes: Last year, the Bison welcomed a new defensive coordinator. This year, head coach Tim Landis will be welcoming a new offensive coordinator in Harold Nicholls. He comes from Rhode Island (where triple-option head coach Tim Stowers was run out of town) and lands at one of the few places in FCS where the triple-option is still in fashion. He replaces Ashley Ingram (who left to coach offensive linemen at Navy) and is the Bison's third offensive coordinator in...

This weekend saw a lot of interesting updates on how preseason practice is going for the Mountain Hawks. A tantalizing picture of the 2008 Lehigh football team is now taking shape. The Morning Call's Keith Groller started things off on Sunday with an extensive official report on progress at practice and tons of juicy tidbits as well in his blog entry . As if that weren't enough, the official Lehigh site also filed an update after Sunday's practice as well. From this buffet of different information, only tasty speculation can ensue. Let's get right to the good stuff, and what it seems to be what's on every Lehigh fan's mind: the QB situation. Who's ahead in the race? Is a decision being made? With Threatt gone, Coen has a chance to start over, and build an offense around a quarterback he can mold. The competition for Threatt's old job is the most intriguing aspect of Lehigh's preseason camp. Junior Chris Bokosky, who played when Threatt went ...