Lehigh Football Nation

(Photo Credit: Express-Times File Photo) It's always great to see great collegiate football talent stay home, and yesterday we learned that a fantastic athlete from nearby Palisades High School will be attending college just up the road. And, too, Lehigh announced another commit from an area that has been delivering the Mountain Hawks some solid talent over the past few years - Maryland. Let's get to know two new Lehigh football commits: WR Josh Parris and OL Ned Daryoush (more)

(Photo Credit: Ron Schwane/The Medina (OH) Gazette) Two new commits have been signed by Lehigh in the past few days, according to Internet reports. One is a "Battling Bee" - as you can see to my left - and the other is nicknamed "T.O."  (The Tuscarora (MD) High School  product might want to consider ditching that nickname: the last T.O. that made his way to the Lehigh Valley didn't work out so well.   'Next question!' ) Read all about these two new commits as the class of 2015 starts to take shape. (more)

He's not just Brett Gaul's little brother anymore. QB Derek Gaul , the Schuykill Valley High School senior, and the brother of Brett, who was a three-sport athlete for the Pathers, is coming to Lehigh as the Mountain Hawks' second confirmed commit of the class of 2015. He's another big name to come out of the Anthracite region to come to play for Lehigh: rising junior RB Zach Barket played against Gaul in high school, and will now be welcoming him as a member of Lehigh's incoming class. (more)

We have our first commit of the class of 2015, and he's a defensive end/linebacker out of East Stroudsburg. It was reported by Rivals that LB James Coscia has verbally committed to Lehigh . His story, as told by the Pocono Record , is one of how Lehigh's camps and outreach to football recruits in the community can help in attracting a top academic/athletic athlete and helping high school football players become Division I-ready. (more)

As long as I've been doing this, Lehigh generally waits a week after Lafayette announces their incoming class, and "that school in Easton" always announces on "signing day" every year.  That is, until this year when a day after "Letter of Intent day I get an email alert. "Lehigh announces the class of 2014." I shook my head.  What? A thought went through my brain - maybe it was a mistake, that Lehigh Sports information released the list early by accident. But it was no accident.  This was really it - this year's class of 2014, announced officially , complete with selected video of the recruits.  And there's plenty to be excited about below the flip - I assure you - with as much information as I could figure out about the incoming class.  (more)

With only 11 days until "signing day", it's starting to get interesting in the world of college football recruiting.  Even though Lehigh doesn't announce their incoming class of 2014 exactly on "signing day" (historically, Lafayette announces theirs, and Lehigh announces theirs a week later in order to maximize local press coverage), there's still plenty of buzz on who the new football members might be.  (Even though, technically, we're in a "quiet period" in recruiting right now.) Like the Ivy League, the Patriot League recruits nationally, due to their requirements for high academics.  There are a lot of football athletes out there, but not a lot of them can boast 3.85 GPAs and high board scores.  While Patriot League schools can and do tap players from the local area, in recent years they've gone all over the United States to find the type of student-athlete that fits the bill.  It's sometimes hard to think of an eastern Penns...

Last week, I introduced a new feature called "Football Prospect Friday", where I simply crib of the research that nameless hard-working folks (usually named RichH) have already done for me and posted to the Lehigh Sports Forum already.  (Just kidding... if you read my blog postings, you'll see that I actually give some background on all these players!) For those that missed last week's episode, where I detail six offensive players , you can follow the link. For those readers who have already enjoyed thinking about those players all week, I have a fresh new batch of players to consider this afternoon.  Let's look at the possible Mountain Hawks on the defensive side of the ball, shall we? (more)

A new year, and a new feature to get everyone to "Signing Day" 2010.  I'll cherry-pick five recruits that have listed Lehigh as "schools of interest" and recount what I've been able to find out about them.  I can think of no better place to start than in Lehigh's backyard. (more)

As Lehigh's recruiting class has shaken out, the Mountain Hawks has lost one of our California recruits but gained another from a state where we've had lots of success in the past - Georgia. LB/TE Jordan Jefferson was nabbed by Yale as the Eli announced their recruiting class for 2013 . Losing the 6'3 230 lb ATH (as listed on Yale's announcement) was bit a disappointment for sure - of course, with Yale being one of the richest universities in the country and with the Eli surely offering him a generous financial aid package (Yale offers arguably the best financial aid package in the country), it's perhaps not all that surprising. Schools like Lehigh are squeezed by the Patriot League - generally speaking, if they're good enough academically to get into Lehigh, they're also good enough to get into Yale. While it will be interesting to see how Jefferson does at Yale, Lehigh fans will surely be more interested in their new WR/DB Bryan Andrews , who had an off...

Coach Coen made the rounds in the Wednesday papers talking about the class of 2003. I talked to him today, and I'll post my full interview with him next week. But the whet you appetite, I'll post the links to Keith Groller's interview in the Morning Call and Michael Lore's in the Easton Express-Times . Add to that the official release , and you have a lot of quotes from coach Coen - of which the mashup follows below. Coen is ecstatic the winner of the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year award is coming to South Mountain. ''I was real impressed with him on tape,'' Coen said. ''Matter of fact, I watched the same tapes about three times just to make sure I was believing what I was seeing. It's true that his team was superior to a lot of the teams they played, but you could still see his ability.'' Coen saw Barket in person once and even though it was in a season-ending loss to Steel-High, he was again impressed. "He still ha...

Lehigh announced the class of 2013 today - a large 26-strong class that bolsters three huge need areas for the Mountain Hawks: defensive line (6 recruits), defensive backs (4) and receivers (4). Add to that mix two high-profile quarterbacks, two intriguing running backs, and a replacement for senior P/K Jason Leo (incoming freshman P/K Jacob Peery , pictured), and you have what looks to be a very impressive incoming class. “We continued to move in the right direction by bringing in big, physical kids, especially along both lines,” Coen explained. “With these last three classes we worked hard to address every position on the football field and I feel comfortable with the depth we have at every position.” Following the graduation of All-American Brian Jackson , as well as Paul Bode , Jon Warren and Keith Johnson along the defensive line, the Lehigh coaching staff made it a point to re-stock that position. “With the graduation of Brian Jackson and three other seniors, this was a ma...