Lehigh Football Nation

In the "Lehigh Football Alumni in the News" department, word of of Corpus Christi, Texas has former Lehigh QB Sedale Threatt '08 not only getting assigned a place at with Arena Football 2's Corpus Christi team, apparently he made such an impression that he was anointed the starter for the 2-8 Sharks this weekend : In a joint announcement from Vice President/General Manager Larry Linde and Head Coach Michael Trigg the Sharks have decided to go in a new direction at Quarterback. The team announced that they have released QB Gary Cooper and decided to go with Lehigh Rookie Sedale Threatt. “We have to start playing better and start taking care of the football”, said Trigg. “We have an obligation to our fans and sponsors to put players on the field that take responsibility for their actions, and that have a team concept. At this point Sedale represents that player”, Trigg added. New Sharks QB Threatt during Sharks Overtime, which airs on ESPN 1230, had this to say about t...

Thought I'd take this time to highlight some prominent news regarding Lehigh football alumni (and former staff) today. You may not have been aware that former linebacker Jason Stokes was named Bloomingdale High (FL) 2008 Coach of the Year and the first-time head coach has started to build a sucessful high school program in Florida, but now you do. A slew of former Lehigh football assistant coaches just recently made some news at a slew of MAC schools. Start with former Lehigh assistant coach Casey Creehan, who will be coaching the defensive line at Eastern Michigan ; former Lehigh assistant coach and recruiting coordinator John Powers, who just recently was promoted to offensive coordinator at Ball State ; and former defensive coordinator Shannon Morrison, who left his alma mater at Marshall to become the co-defensive coordinator at Bowling Green - to serve under new head coach (and former Lehigh assistant coach) Dave Clawson. [UPDATE: The NFL's Minnesota Vikings promoted a ...

This blog posting is basically a hodge-podge of different things I wanted to mention before 2008 comes to a close. My YouTube highlight film of Lehigh/Lafayette is still in the process of getting done (I forgot how much of a pain in the you-know-what it is to go through game film to make a ten-minute highlight reel), as is my announcement about the LFN "Hawks of the Year" (which, if I ever can get the hang of it, will have YouTube support as well). But those, alas, will have to wait until 2009 to be complete. I've archived pretty much all of the Lehigh game wrap-ups for 2008 from the mainstream media on the CSN Log , before it's gone to the dusty archives of the Easton Express-Times and Allentown Morning Call . I've also been archiving much of the press clippings from the rest of the Patriot League, Richmond, and other schools. It's a big job - and I'm working to make it less so. I also recently helped pick the College Sporting News Fab 50, as well as...

The Rust family has guaranteed that football alumni will always have a dry place to tailgate for Lehigh games - the Rust Family Football Pavillion, to be dedicated on September 6th before the Drake game , is a new, dedicated area on Goodman Drive for football alumni to gather before and after Lehigh games. (Hopefully they'll let this non-football alumnus get some shelter under the pavilion every once in a while - and maybe offer me some fried turkey, too.) Tailgating at the pavilion will start at 10:30AM, while at 11:30 AM an official dedication ceremony will also take place. I hope to be there to witness the dedication myself. The final piece of the broadcast puzzle fell into place for Lehigh's broadcast TV schedule, which was announced today by Lehigh Athletics : Game TV Broadcasts Sept. 6, Drake, SE2 Sept. 13, at Villanova, (none) Sept. 27, at Princeton. WFMZ-TV, FSN Pittsburgh, FCS Oct. 4, Cornell, SE2 Oct. 11, Fordham, SE2, FCS Oct. 18, at Harvard, WFMZ-TV, NESN Oct....

Forgive the lack of posting this week, as I've been dispatching a lot of writing for the FCS Yearbook (to be released very soon). But I needed to clear out my inbox with a bunch of Lehigh-related news that hit the wires this week, starting with the fact that Lehigh season tickets are now on sale . They are a bargain by any standard: $55 for general admission season tickets and $75 for chairback seats - plus, you're guaranteed a Lehigh/Lafayette ticket (this year, played at Easton) if you buy now. If you are from Pennsylvania, you probably know what the "Big 33" all-star game is, where the best high school football recruits from talent-rich Pennsylvania and Ohio play as high school players one last time. This year, the "Big 33" game featured four incoming Patriot League players: RB/LB Nate Eachus (Colgate), LB Corey Watts (Lafayette), OL/DL Dan Kessler (Fordham), and one of ours: freshman OL/DL Cody Connare . I did not see the game, but there are some g...

One football alumnus goes to show that Lehigh alumni aren't just big names on Wall Street (Lee Iaccoca '45) and on the movie screen (Donny Most '72, whose acting career includes one of my 3AM pre-Greeker run favorites: Stewardess School ). Joe Alleva ('75) is now commanding one of the most powerful college athletics programs in the world. This weekend, Joe was anointed the Tiger's next athletics director by the LSU system president Dr. John Lombardi. Joe had worked for Duke since getting his double degree from Lehigh in 1975 and his MBA in 1976. “Joe Alleva brings a wealth of experience and accomplishment to LSU,” Lombardi said. “I’m confident we’ve found a new leader for LSU athletics who exemplifies the vision and integrity needed to lead our sports programs to new heights, a champion of student athletes who believes in the highest standards of competition both on the field and in the classroom.” Best of all, he's a through-and-through football guy: “It’s int...

Brett Snyder '00, forever and always a Lehigh football alumnus, recently appeared in the Morning Call detailing his fight against ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Keith Groller of the Morning Call has done a fantastic job bringing information about Brett Snyder's foundation, Tackle ALS . Keith has done so through his articles, of course, but has also talked about Brett in his blog as well. Last weekend, Brett held an Tackle ALS fundraiser in Starters Riverport in Bethlehem, where Brett presented a $15,000 check to another ALS foundation called ALS Hope: "The money we're donating is going to help the clinic that Dr. Heiman-Patterson runs at the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital in Allentown and also will go to her research and drug trials," Snyder said. "The pharmaceutical companies come to her, and she conducts her own research. We want to help people and increase awareness about ALS." "It's all dedicated to making a difference for peopl...

With the exclusive Lehigh Football Nation 30th anniversary team scheduled to be completed later this week, it's time to look at what some Lehigh football alumni are up to these days. As you'll see, it's about a lot more than just acting suave on camera ( nice photo, Rob ) - it's about pursuing dreams on and off the football field. On the football field, Adam Bergen ('05) and Gerran Walker ('06) continue to pursue their dreams of an NFL career. Adam Bergen is in training camp with the Dallas Cowboys , and he seems to have an excellent chance to stick with new head coach Wade Phillips. (And another former I-AA player, QB Tony Romo from Eastern Illinois, might be the guy to get him the ball.) Gerran Walker, on the other hand, was recently cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers . Here's hoping that he will get another shot in an NFL training camp this year, where this speedy receiver would seem to be able to stick somewhere. (Here's a thought - why not my belo...