Position Switches Something To Watch In Lehigh's Spring Session

Probably the biggest news from the first few days of spring practice is a few changes on the depth chart that may not seem that important at first, but could pay off later this fall.

It's the switch of rising senior Marc Raye-Redmond to the offensive side of the ball, and rising junior Nick Thevaganayam to the defense.

Raye-Redmond last season played mostly on special teams, and was listed as a defensive back. In his role on special teams, Marc excelled, not only notching 12 tackles but also getting 184 return yards alongside rising senior WR Gatlin Casey on kickoffs. Against Princeton last year, he had two returns for 49 yards.

Thevaganayam also mostly appeared on special teams, rushing the ball a couple of times, but was buried on the depth chart behind junior RB Dominick Bragalone, junior RB Micco Brisker and senior RB Nana Amankwah-Ayeh.

DB Nick Thevaganayam (LehighSports.Com)

"Every time I move kids around," head coach Andy Coen said, "it's because I think it helps the team and that individual player. Thevaganayam was a backup tailback, and even when we recruited him a long time ago, I thought he would be a good fit at safety. I talked to Craig Sutyak, and he felt the same way, so we made that move."

LFN's take: "Nicky T", as my typing fingers like to call him, wasn't going to get much opportunity behind Bragalone, but it's intriguing to think about him on the depth chart at either safety or rover. In Lehigh's 3-3-5 defense, having a stable of safeties and rovers is a must, and I think Nicky T will make his presence felt. It will be interesting to see that depth chart competition take shape.

"Marc Raye-Redmond, had really been doing a lot of special teams stuff," Coen continued, "but not getting a lot of opportunities in the secondary. So we gave him the opportunity to play tailback, which is where he played in high school. What I've seen from him so far in the spring has bee very impressive. Now he's got to figure things out."

LFN's Take: I like this move of Raye-Redmond from corner, where he was deep on the depth chart, to a possible change-of-pace tailback, where he could fit in better in terms of role as a possible pass-catcher out of the backfield. It will be exciting to see Raye-Redmond, already a very good special teams maven, "figure things out" over the course of this spring.

Lehigh has made it thorough the first three practices of their spring session thus far. This week, subject to change, they are scheduled:

Wednesday, March 29th, 5:15 PM
Friday, March 31st, 4:30 PM
Saturday, April 1st, 9:30 AM

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

UMass 21, Lafayette 14, halftime

Are you watching this game? UMass had this game under control until about 3 minutes in the second quarter, and then got an interception, converted for a TD. Then the Leopards forced a fumble off the return, and then converted THAT for a TD, making this a game. It's on CN8. You really should be watching this.

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

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