Patriot League 2019 Off Season Thread

[DFW HOYA]

It's never too early to start the talk to 2019. As we learned in the post that opened the 2018 thread, things don't always go as planned.

I'm curious what peoples thoughts on next years conference will look like and how they think it will shake out. I know personally the Raiders are excited for what's possibly to come in the sunny tundra ... Curious how everyone else thinks the league will shake out next year.

Colgate - Returns a vast majority on both sides of the ball. Love the quarterback, offensive line, and backfield situation.

Lehigh - Loses two key weapons at wide receiver. Return the best running back in PL though which should take pressure off of a QB who makes questionable decisions as is. If defense tightens up they should at least be in the talk around the top of the league.

Lafayette - That defense loses a bunch of contributors on the d-line but should still be a relatively stingy group. Can the offense figure it out? Should be able to feast on lower end of PL if they can figure out how to put a couple points on the board.

Fordham - Losing the experience they will at QB and RB hurts a ton. Their defense was suspect this year and I'm not sure what they lose to graduation. Supposedly they had a very tough year injury wise. I also think rest of league is catching up with the scholarship situation. Not sure Fordham will be able to "feast" as it used to in coming years.

Bucknell - A team that didn't show much fight towards the end of the year. Could be the biggest ? next year as to what type of team comes out of Lewisburg on Saturdays.

Holy Cross - New coach, no PP. A team that had lofty expectations at beginning of year after a couple games that quickly were extinguished. A bottom half of the league type team that might surprise one of two teams if they don't come ready to play, but doubt they will be contenders.

Georgetown - I don't think much needs to be said here.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Bucknell - Will Susan be back? They had a lot of young players getting reps but they were still terrible this year. It's hard to see them being much better next year regardless who's running the show
Colgate - will be hit very hard by graduation and Hunt is obviously going receive some phone calls. If he returns they head into next year as the favorite basically by default. The tradition of success if obviously on place.
Fordham - really disappointed this year year in Conlin's 1st season. The offense was especially bad and that's Conlin's expertise. I think they'll be vastly improved in 2019.
Georgetown - If Srgarlata returns and Johnson gets some weapons to work with they could be a 6 or 7 win team.
Holy Cross - Could be seen as the favorite imo but the schedule is ridiculously hard. A winning record will be a tall task. The program needs one.
Lafayette - Garrett needs to extinguish a lot of fires. The display today was an embarrassment for all those involved with Leopard football. The QB situation needs serious attention. They'll likely close out the decade without posting a winning record.
Lehigh - I comes down to the staff imo. With the right staff and given the current state of the PL they could turn the corner quick. If it's the same staff then it'll be another year of bad defense and fighting for a winning a record.

[van]

aside from the staff issues, Lehigh has some big shoes to fill from graduations, although I think that several seniors will be eligible for medical 5th years, and then there is the issue of the OL which was hit hard by injury this year but we really don't know if it would have performed better without the injuries

for example the starting 3 DL graduating, 4 year K/P graduating, QB and RB graduating, of these 6 the RB situation should reload fine but really no solid data on the other 5 positions

[RichH2]

Geez DFW this is a summer topic
Colgate will be preseason favorite. Raiders lose a lot but also get enough back. Expect continuity to keep them in the race.
The question for Lehigh is who will be coaching?. TBD.
We lose Brad and Dom but our biggest issue will be DTs.All of the position groups have starters or lettermen returning. OL s/b better with Curlin and Motley healthy. Fi gers crossed.
Holy Cross.Chesney has put together a solid team. Certainly a contender for PL title.
Fordham.I give Conlin a pass for 1st year but they were a bad team. A few years away.
Hoyas. If HC stays and he can get some better talent on the OL, they could have at least as good a year.
Bucknell has some talent but Susan has never gotten them beyind mediocre. Does he remain? TBD
Lafayette is ,if anything, more of a mess after 2 years of Garrett. Ms.Freeman has some decisions to make during the off season.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Pretty "interesting" headline in the local Lehigh Valley newspaper regarding Coen...

"Lehigh Gets A Happy Ending To The Season And Maybe A Coach's Career"

If Saturday’s game was the end of his 13-season tenure, it was a fitting final chapter for one of the area’s most classy coaches, regardless of sport or level.
It had been one of the most frustrating seasons of the Coen era as Lehigh followed up back-to-back Patriot League championships and Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances with two wins in their first 10 games and most of the eight losses were not competitive.

https://www.mcall.com/sports/college...117-story.html

[RichH2]

Pretty "interesting" headline in the local Lehigh Valley newspaper regarding Coen...

"Lehigh Gets A Happy Ending To The Season And Maybe A Coach's Career"



https://www.mcall.com/sports/college...117-story.html

That was the major topic at the game. Word was during August camp that Andy was retiring this year. The overwhelming feeling I got yesterday was the srnse that the day was a testimonial for Andy. If so, it was a fit one for his years at LU. We'll see.

[carney2]

I've given this no thought, and don't plan to begin thinking about it for months and months. The only thing that seems certain at this point is that Garrett was a bad hire at Lafayette and he is not the man to right the ship. Lots of talk about a second consecutive year of mass defections by the coaching staff, and bets are being taken as to how many of the freshmen and sophomores transfer out. (Any freshman or sophomore QB, other than O'Malley, who stays apparently doesn't care much about playing football.) At this point it appears that Garrett has lost all of his apologist supporters, and there is a loud cry for his firing. That absolutely won't happen, but he appears to have lost the respect of everyone in the locker room.

As for the Lehigh coaching situation, there was rumbling (not quite a full blown rumor) during the season that Andy Coen has some health issues. If so, it could play into what happens in Turdville over the next few days and weeks.

[ngineer]

Pretty "interesting" headline in the local Lehigh Valley newspaper regarding Coen...

"Lehigh Gets A Happy Ending To The Season And Maybe A Coach's Career"



https://www.mcall.com/sports/college...117-story.html

Very appropriate headline for a season that sucked... up until...

[ColgateTD]

Predicted order of finish 2019 season:
1. Georgetown
2. Colgate
3. Bucknell
4. Lehigh
5. Lafayette
6. Holy Cross
7. Fordham

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Predicted order of finish 2019 season:
1. Georgetown
2. Colgate
3. Bucknell
4. Lehigh
5. Lafayette
6. Holy Cross
7. Fordham

That's bold! Bucknell was horrific and generally have been for a while now. Lafayette and Bucknell appear to be among the very worst FCS programs right now. I could honestly see Georgetown being a legit factor again. HC has to survive their OOC to be a player in the league race.