Lehigh Football Nation

If you blinked, you might have missed it: a tiny blurb at the end of a Morning Call article about " Kutztown boots soccer, sinks swimming teams ". But the harsh realities of the credit crunch and Depression 2.0 finally hit home at Lehigh athletics in a measurable way: Other area college officials contacted by The Morning Call said they know of no plans to cut sports teams. Lehigh University, however, is trimming its athletic budget, spokeswoman Linda Harbrecht said. ''In response to the current economic climate, Lehigh is making reductions in total spending -- including the budgets that support the sports program -- in an effort to ensure that sufficient financial aid resources are available for current and future students,'' she said. Pretty big news - that the budgets supporting the sports program are having cost reductions. Not the sort of thing you'd announce with fireworks, to be sure. But it's still a huge announcement that makes one wonder ab

Lehigh released their spring prospectus today , and anyone still asking the question "Where's the beef?" from that 1980s Wendy's commercial don't need to bother asking it any longer: they just need to look at the offensive linemen on Lehigh's roster. While the 2009 schedule is detailed in the prospectus, and the incoming class has some new tidbits of information as well that are included, but I'll talk here about my initial reactions about what Lehigh Nation might expect in 2009. 1. Beef. Count 'em: five offensive linemen, junior OL Ricky Clerge, sophomore OL Vinny Pellegrini, junior OL Alex Rowe, junior OL Keith Schauder and junior OL William Rackley all tip the scale at over 300 lbs. That could be the first time that's ever happened at Lehigh - and not a senior among them. Add to that junior NG David Brown , tipping the scales at 315 lbs on the defensive side, and you have a team that is going to be huge in the trenches without question.

With all the talk of Fordham's actions in regards to Patriot League scholarships, it's sometimes hard to keep your eye on the ball in terms of what's going on closer to home. And quietly Lehigh has added two more names to the incoming class, bringing the total number of incoming recruits to 28 - and also giving Lehigh even more speed on both sides of the ball. WR Brendan Kelly , originally from the Maryland area, spent a year at the Hill school in Pottstown, PA and recently formally announced that he's coming to Lehigh . At St. Mary's in Maryland he also played running back and was a first-team all-county punter. He also set a school record in the 55-meter dash - something that must have offensive coordinator Trey Brown pretty pleased. The other new name is a 6'0 defensive back, DB Bari-Boloka Nenbee out of Georgia (Miller Grove HS). On Lehigh's release, they say he was a Electrical Engineering Player of the Year in high school. Nenbee's high sch