Colonials Corner

Colonials Corner made its way up to training camp for the first and only time this summer, catching the final 45 minutes of practice before doing a host of interviews for the 2010 Beaver County Times’ college football preview special.

That comes out September 3rd and most (if not all) of the content will be newspaper only. I encourage you to pick up a copy at a local newsstand, not just to help support the newspaper industry, but because it’s going to be a fantastic special issue. I’ve contributed a feature on local products Jon Baldwin (Aliquippa/Pitt) and Derek Moye (Rochester/Penn St.), plus an RMU preview that includes a feature story on Alex DiMichele, a Q+A with new receiver Jamie Cobb, and a position by position breakdown.

Some observations from camp (and I welcome others to post theirs):

• Jeff Sinclair looked good, as did Kyle McNeil. Coach Walton, in particular, is impressed with both, and he singled out McNeil for his progress,  saying he’d be comfortable playing the sophomore in any game situation.

• Myles Russ and Jeff Link are both a bit banged up and held out of practice and were supposed to be held out of the scrimmage. Apparently hamstrings have been a problem among the running backs, so the staff is conserving them. There is little doubt that Russ and Link will be 100% for this week and should be fine for Dayton.

• Freshman tight end Alex Smith has impressed in camp. He’ll wear #21.

• Freshman Deontae Howard and sophomore Monty Ashby will have some sort of impact on the team. Howard’s been credited for being physical despite his size, and defensive coordinators Scott Farison and Scott Benzel loved Ashby’s relentless work on the scout team.

• Donte Jeter, who played QB/DB for Oliver High in the city, has been moved to wide receiver. Wearing #13, he made a spectacular catch in 11 on 11 drills and has impressed Walton and the rest of the staff. He’ll contribute somehow.

• Speaking of new wide receivers, Jamie Cobb was very personable during our little Q+A session. He said he’s adjusting to the pro-style offense and that he’ll be the third wide receiver to start. Cobb has been compared to J.T. Kirk and reportedly has excellent hands.

• Brad Banas was working quite a bit with the first team and will play a lot at outside linebacker. The staff was high on the sophomore last year, when he played on special teams as a freshman.

• Rolf Bathold and Mike Landers are known quantities in the secondary, as are Marvin McCalla and Mike Richards. But McCalla and Richards have taken another step. Richards has become an excellent jammer on the line, while McCalla has looked very good in camp.

• Nolan Nearhoof and Steve Mitchell, who stepped in as freshmen, will play heavily on the defensive line again and have impressed the staff in camp.

• A couple freshmen linemen to keep an eye on – Jon Hill (6’4, 250), Henry Jartu (5’11, 260), and Chris Thompkins (6’1, 235). All have made some early waves. Naturally the depth on the team and the learning curve of adjusting to the 3-4 will limit the playing time, but these guys should be on your radar.

• Also impressive is someone who could end up returning kicks – Evan Taylor. Benzel compared him to Mike Niklos as far as his athleticism, build, and conditioning.

Training camp for the 2010 football season begins today and will go through the end of the month before the Colonials open the season at Dayton on September 4.

Due to our new responsibilities at PaPreps and the insanity of preparing for a football season involved with a Rivals.com site, as well as our continued responsibilities at the newspaper, there likely won’t be the kind of camp coverage longtime readers are used to. We do plan on getting out to some sessions, but we also encourage the fans to check things out.

You can post some comments about individual players, your expectations, and anything else RMU football related in the comment section below. We’ll do one of these for each week, as well as add in our own observations/interviews/news in separate posts.

For the first time, the Northeast Conference will send its champion to the Division I FCS playoffs. And for the first time in several years, the NEC coaches believe Robert Morris might have a shot.

The Colonials were picked to finish 2nd in the preseason coaches poll and earned three first place votes. Central Connecticut State, the defending champion, was picked to finish first. Albany, practically a dynasty the past few years, was picked to finish third.

Robert Morris finished a 5-6 season with five straight wins and returns 19 of 22 starters. The Colonials also placed four players on the All-NEC first team – RB Myles Russ, LB Alex DiMichele, DB Rolf Bathold, and K Garrett Clawson.

The annual Northeast Conference coaches teleconference is coming up on August 4th, a chance for all of us media types to talk to coaches about the upcoming season.

The NEC is doing things a little bit differently, though. Along with questions from the media, the NEC is allowing questions from fans as well.

Go to this site here on the NEC page to submit a question for Joe Walton or any of the NEC football coaches. The conference will sort through them and pick the best ones to ask during the teleconference.

Phil Steele’s annual college football preview magazine, one of many football magazines printed around this time, is one of the few to pay attention to FCS football. While the other magazines go all out on the bowl eligible teams, Steele’s magazine prints out a page each on all of the Football Championship Subdivision squads, including Robert Morris.

He also hammers out preseason all-conference teams and All-American teams.

This year, Robert Morris linebacker Alex DiMichele was named as a 3rd team All-American in Steele’s magazine.

DiMichele was also named to the All-NEC second team. He’s joined on that squad by center Sam Miller, linebacker Elias Navarro, safety Michael Landers, and punter Nick Schirtzinger. Running back Myles Russ, corner Rolf Bathold, and kicker Garrett Clawson were named to the All-NEC first team.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch is reporting today that the University of Rhode Island, one of the founding members of the Yankee Conference that merged into the A-10 conference and is now known as the CAA, is exploring the possibility of leaving the CAA for the Northeast Conference.

The move would be for football only, as Rhode Island participates in the Atlantic-10 in all sports.

The CAA has seen quite a bit of movement in the last couple of years. It first appeared to be expanding to 14 teams with the announcement that Old Dominion (2011) and Georgia State (2012) would be launching football programs and join the conference. But since then, Hofstra and Northeastern both ended their football programs, leaving the CAA at 12 teams. Should Rhode Island lead, it would drop to 11.

Meanwhile, the Northeast Conference presents an interesting opportunity for some schools in the Northeast, including Rhode Island. It now has an automatic bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, provides 40 scholarships instead of 63, and would reduce travel costs for some of the CAA schools used to traveling to Richmond, William and Mary, and eventually Georgia State.

The NEC has also been willing to add football-only members in the past, too. Duquesne and Albany are currently football-only members – Duquesne plays the rest of its sports in the A-10, while Albany is in the America East – and former member Stony Brook was a football-only member before moving to the Big South Conference.

So far the Richmond Times-Dispatch is the only paper reporting this. Stay tuned for any additional updates.

Thanks to Original_RMC for the tip.

We’ll get right to it. Bunch of questions in the comments during the preview section, so I’ll do my best to answer them.

If (QB Kevin) Quinn shows that his is 100% healthy during camp and there are some struggles at other positions like TE, do you perhaps see McNeil taking a stab at TE knowing that he could actually see the field faster since Sinclair is in front of him?

Short answer? No. McNeil developed well at quarterback last year, and to be honest, with just three experienced QBs on the roster and only one with game experience, the Colonials need to keep McNeil at quarterback. He and Quinn know the system the best besides Sinclair, and if Sinclair goes down at any point this season, RMU will need someone who knows the system to step in. Going to Sinclair last year actually hurt the Colonials until late in the season. RMU went off on the five-game winning streak because Sinclair took that long to fully adapt to the system. College ball is an adjustment, especially for QBs. Plus, since McNeil never took the field last year, he should be able to get a fifth year.

Could Jon Hill be a surprise freshman that makes an impact on the D this year? And it seems that the DL have a lot of depth, any possible names that you could see being switched to the OL?

Both line positions are deep, including 18 offensive linemen. And both positions are deep in multiple classes. So while there might be one or two switches, those would just be because of coaches changing their minds on freshmen who played both ways in high school. No one really pops out there. As far as Hill, could be a surprise? Sure. Any freshmen with his credentials could. But the depth at DE is pretty impressive, so Hill would have to really wow the coaches to jump in front of all the guys who got playing time last year.

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This is part seven of an eight part series examining the Robert Morris roster and depth chart for the 2010 season. For a schedule of the rest of the parts in the series, click here.

Well with each of the positional previews out of the way, it’s time to move into the other portion of the summer preview special. We’ll take a look at the two-deep depth chart, break down the schedule, and point out some newcomers to watch. All of the roster info is generally available in the other other posts, but this will condense it and give a good look at how the team shakes out as a whole and how some of the newcomers factor into the lineup.

Let’s begin with the two-deep depth chart. These are the guys guaranteed to get playing time on any given Saturday, either as starters, role players, subs, or special teamers. Players in bold are starters.

Also, feel free to submit any questions you have about this series or the team in general. I’ll answer them in a post late Saturday/early Sunday.

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This is part six of an eight part series examining the Robert Morris roster and depth chart for the 2010 season. For a schedule of the rest of the parts in the series, click here.

At the end of last year, it looked like the most holes Robert Morris had to fill for 2010 was in the secondary. But as summer kicks off and training camp looms in the distance, the holes are non-existent.

All four starters at the end of the year last year are back, as Michael Landers, Marvin McCalla, and Michael Richards are earned redshirts and a fifth season. They’ll join fellow senior Rolf Bathold in an all-senior secondary, at least to start. Landers and Bathold are locks, but Richards and McCalla could be pushed by youngsters. Alex Tarr and Eric Lowry were backups to McCalla and Bathold last year, and the team is especially high on Lowry, a rangy 6’1 sophomore. Richards, meanwhile, ascended to the strong safety position with Nathan Argenta still working his way back from an ankle injury and David Pittman leaving the team midway through the season.

Whatever happens, the depth in the secondary is incredible, and should the offense awaken some and the defense continue to press, the secondary will be able to continue their ballhawking traits developed last year.

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This is part five of an eight part series examining the Robert Morris roster and depth chart for the 2010 season. For a schedule of the rest of the parts in the series, click here.

While multiple parties were involved in pulling Robert Morris’ defense to the top of the NEC last year, two men were responsible for making it tick: Linebackers Adam Lawrence and Alex DiMichele. DiMichele, now a senior inside linebacker and primarily a run stopper, is the heart and soul of the defense. He is the team’s pulse, an unquestioned leader, and an absolute warrior. DiMichele finished second in the NEC in tackles and led the league in fumble recoveries. Lawrence was also one of the team’s leaders last year. The senior played outside as a playmaker, leading the team in sacks with 5.5 and tackles for a loss with 12.5. Both were good for 3rd in the NEC.

Couple that with Elias Navarro’s breakout year as a junior (97 tackles, 3 interceptions, 2 sacks) and Ian Milanak’s steady play at the other outside linebacker spot after playing inside the year before, and the linebackers were the backbone of the defense.

Navarro could end up doing what Milanak was asked to do: Move outside to allow for a seasoned youngster to start inside alongside DiMichele. It was Navarro last year, and it’ll likely be Ryan Nearhoof this year. Navarro has the speed and the agility to play both positions, and he could wreak havoc like Lawrence did at an outside position.

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