Lehigh Football Nation

I've often said privately that I thought that the departure of Andy Reid would probably be the end of Eagles Training Camp at Lehigh. With the hiring of new head coach Chip Kelly , this sad day for the Lehigh Valley and Lehigh University has finally come. In a noon press release, the Philadelphia Eagles organization announced their intentions of holding preseason training at the NovaCare complex and having some free practices at Lincoln Financial Field. I can understand why the Eagles did it, but it's a decision that makes me no less sad.

In effect, this is the final weekend before football season officially begins. Tomorrow, technically, is the first day that Mountain Hawk football players will be reporting to camp, and the 2011 football season ceases to be just a theory. To celebrate the weekend before I self-embark on yet another Lehigh football season, I decided to do something I've never done before. That is "smoke" some beef brisket. (more)

(Photo Credit: Denise Sanchez/The Morning Call) Lehigh Athletic Director Joe Sterrett admitted this week, after the NFL lockout was finally lifted after a tense 136 days, that folks around the Lehigh athletic department were "living on a string" the past few weeks. With the NFL lockout very much still on a couple of weeks ago, Sterrett made the decision to go ahead and prepare for Eagles Training Camp this summer - just as they had for the last 15 years on South Mountain. It's that preparation - and the "relationships" with folks like Eagles head coach Andy Reid - which ultimately caused the Eagles to bring Eagles Training Camp to Bethlehem for the 16th straight year, even as other NFL teams announced they were modifying or cutting back on their training camps. (more)

(Photo courtesy AP/Easton Express-Times) My family and I went early to Eagles Training Camp at the Whitehead practice fields, along with what had to be 2,500 (at least) of our closest friends. As the afternoon wore on, it got very hot on the Mountain but it was plain to see why Eagles fans are looking forward to the NFL regular season already. Even on a hot day these birds seemed like they had a spring in their steps. Routes were crisp as DeSean Jackson, Hank Baskett, Michael Avant and the other wideouts made a dazzling array of deep outs. This was a decided difference from last year, where the offensive mood was more workmanlike and many of the questions involved the receiving corps. Last year, the Eagles seemed to have more questions than answers. This year - as long as RB Brian Westbrook does indeed come back from his surgery on time for the upcoming season - there seem to be more answers than questions. Last year, fans were wondering if it would be McNabb's last year; this...

(Photo courtesy CK0712 Blog ) For those of you in the Bethlehem/Philadelphia area that might have recently emerged from a cryogenic sleep pod, the Eagles have officially returned to Lehigh for their annual preseason training camp . Sunday marked the first day for rookies and selected veterans to report to Lehigh's campus, while it's today when training camp begins in earnest for the rest of the team. Eagle head coach Andy Reid was seen the other day ready to go - or at least, ready to hit the links on the John C. Whitehead practice fields. (Nice shorts.) (And are those really flip-flops, Andy? I've got to believe that Roger Goodell has some sort of rule against an NFL head coach being caught on film in non-regulation footwear. They are Nikes, right? Shouldn't they be taped?) Lehigh has hosted Eagles training camp since 1995, and it's a ten year relationship that has been greatly beneficial to both the Eagles and Lehigh over the years. Both Nick Fierro of the E...

With the 14th Dalai Lama's historic visit just ending last week , and Lehigh's high school 7-on-7 shootout and the final Lehigh University Youth Football clinics slated to end on Wednesday, there certainly isn't going to be any rest for the support staff at the Goodman Sports complex this summer. After hosting youth football players, believers in Tibetan Buddhism from all over the country , members of the media from around the world , hundreds more students and alumni interested and inspired by the Dalai Lama's teachings, and even some Buddhist protesters , the Goodman complex now has an even bigger challenge - the Philadelphia Eagles' training camp (admission: free) and the circus of fans and media that accompany this intriguing annual event. The first practice is tomorrow, starting at 8:45AM. Lehigh is entering its 13th year of hosting the Eagles preseason camp - before 1995, the Eagles had chosen to host the camp in a variety of different non-D-I sites , incl...

This is a very quick post just to share something that irritated me a little. The Morning Call was covering a charity golf tournament hosted by the Philadelphia Eagles' Brian Dawkins, and it naturallly gives an opportunity to interview some current players coming up to have a fun day and raise money for a good cause. Now, I can understand why the Eagles players think that coming up to "basic training" at Lehigh isn't exactly a picnic, but is this really necessary? The several Philadelphia Eagles who ventured to Saucon Valley Country Club on Monday for the Brian Dawkins ' Burn Prevention Foundation annual charity golf outing knew they were close to their training camp practice fields at Lehigh University . And they kept a healthy distance away.''On the way up [from South Jersey], I was like 'This is a bad drive. I remember this road,''' safety J.R. Reed said. ''I wasn't even there last year because I didn't sign with them...