Lehigh Football Nation

It may seem hard to believe now, but there was a time when people thought that taking the Rivalry outside the state of Pennsylvania was a horrible idea. A few days ago, Lafayette announced that they had sold out their alumni and faculty ticket allotment for the much-anticipated game at Yankee Stadium on November 22nd, 2014. Lehigh, who has more alumni, sold out their similar allotment on November 25th, 2013, meaning that this edition of The Rivalry will break attendance records. The game which some people thought might not sell 16,000 tickets will, in the most conservative estimates, will easily top 40,000 ticket sales, with the prospect of the Yankees opening up more seats later in the season.

Tyler Cavenas OL/DL Mahanoy Area HS, Mahanoy City, PA 6'5, 260 lbs (Photo Credit: Jacqueline Dormer /The Republican-Herald)

Brandon Yosha RB/Slot Receiver Cathedral HS, Carmel, Indiana (U. of Miami) 6'0, 188 lbs 3 years of eligibility remaining

So Dave Cecchini has left to be the new head coach at Valparaiso . I think in this day and age, one can't help think of devising a Hard Knocks/Next Food Network Star sort of situation in regards to who the next offensive coordinator might be, even if the reality is way different than the Reality Show method of choosing a new coach. "Each week, we'll find out who gets voted out by the panel of Andy Coen , celebrity head coach Chip Kelly , and Condolezza Rice as they pass a variety of tests on pass/run ratio, offensive game plan management, and an overall knowledge of the history of Lehigh and college football!  Tempers will flare, and you'll be there! " We certainly won't see that in the mad dash to find out who the next great Lehigh offensive coordinator might be.  But we can come up with a few biographies of folks we might want to see in this position - and maybe, just maybe, one of them will be the guy.

(Photo Credit: The Citadel Alumni Club of Pittsburgh) I don't think it's too much of a reach to say that pretty much everyone involved with the Lehigh football program now wants to add something else to their Christmas wish list from Santa - a new offensive coordinator. Consequently, Valparaiso, a non-scholarship Division I football program the competes in the Pioneer Football League, seems to pretty much have gotten the early Christmas present they were looking for. This morning, Dave Cecchini was announced as the new head coach of the Valpo Crusaders , making people who know Dave happy, because he's clearly been in line for a head coaching position for many years, and sad, because they know he's going to be a particularly big void to fill in terms of Andy Coen 's offense.

Many people think a key part of the Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or..) season is the anticipation of children of their holiday gifts. For college football fans, though, there's a different sense of anticipation in December - the recruitment of high school seniors to come play for their school. I'm just one guy among a whole lot of Lehigh fans, of course, but - what would I like under Lehigh's holiday tree in terms of new recruits? Find out - below the flip.

(Photo Credit: Matt Smith /The Express-Times ) When I look back at Lehigh's football program over the last four years, I can't think of a single game that wasn't meaningful. And when you think about this fact, that's a powerful thing to say about this group of seniors that will graduate this season. So many programs have off years, years in between quality starting quarterbacks, years when players who find themselves in NFL training camps graduate, and the number of holes to fill are too great to compete for championships, let alone playoff spots. But that didn't happen for this group of Lehigh athletes in 2013. Despite needing to replace two players who found themselves in NFL training camps, WR Ryan Spadola and LB Billy Boyko , a starting quarterback, QB Michael Colvin , and an all-Patriot League secondary consisting of CB Bryan Andrews and S Billy O'Brien , the expectations on this year's team was great: Win the Patriot League.  Build off a ...