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Max VeNard, 5, watches Dartmouth’s football practice with his grandfather, Jim VeNard, of South Bend, Ind., and his mother Claire VeNard, who is Chief of Staff for Dartmouth Athletics and Recreation, right, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Hanover, N.H. At left, Dartmouth player parent Glen Rives, of Houston, talks with Mike Harrity, the Haldeman Family Director of Athletics and Recreation at the school. Rives’s son Luke is a freshman on the team. (Valley News – Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. -
Dartmouth football players run through drills on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Hanover, N.H. The Big Green opens their season against Fordham in Hanover on Sept. 21. (Valley News – Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. -
Dartmouth football head coach Sammy McCorkle starts his team’s preseason with practice on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Hanover, N.H. The Big Green’s first game is against Fordham in Hanover on Sept. 21. (Valley News – Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. -
Dartmouth quarterback Kyle Meier, who is a freshman, moves through a drill during his team’s practice on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024 in Hanover, N.H. (Valley News – Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. -
Dartmouth wide receiver Grayson O’Bara runs through a drill during his team’s practice on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024 in Hanover, N.H. The Big Green’s first game is against Fordham in Hanover on Sept. 21. (Valley News – Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
HANOVER — Amid a gaggle of white jerseys last November, Dartmouth College football coach Sammy McCorkle thrust his arms triumphantly toward the sky and clutched a gleaming silver trophy in his right hand.
He had just overseen a dominant 25-point season-ending victory over Brown, which clinched a share of the Ivy League title and capped an emotional first season helming the Big Green.
“It really showed the resilience of our program, our players, our team,” McCorkle said at Ivy League Media Day recently. “But that was something that we learned and were taught by coach (Buddy) Teevens. That was part of his blueprint.”
As preseason camp commenced Saturday, McCorkle reiterated that the program’s “core values” and “foundation” established by Teevens, who died last September due to injuries sustained in a March bicycle accident, remain the same.
Entering his second season in charge of the Big Green, McCorkle said the focus is simple: pay mind to every detail and embrace friendly competition.
Dartmouth’s quest for a fourth league championship in five seasons is bolstered by a host of veteran talent. Such ample returning production provides McCorkle and his staff “the flexibility to put more on them.”
“It also allows us to let those guys get on the field and go play,” McCorkle said. “It’s an old man’s league. … Our hope is to be able to have guys out there that can know what they’re doing at all times.”
Fifth-year wide receiver Paxton Scott, who led the team with 51 receptions and 630 receiving yards last season en route to second-team All-Ivy honors, spearheads an offense that returns seven of its 11 starters. On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Don Dobes’ unit boasts five preseason All-Ivy nods, according to Phil Steele.
Nearly 75% of the roster has some playing experience, McCorkle said. That level of continuity breeds confidence across the team.
“For our offense, having this many returners — this is the first year where I think it’s been this many — gives me a lot of excitement,” Scott said. “A lot of guys have seen a lot of game time, and so whenever something comes at them, whether that be something they’ve seen or something new, they know how to handle it.”
Scott said the team’s first practice had its handful of small hiccups, but the intensity was great. Junior defensive back Sean Williams added the team is off and running “in the right direction.”
That “right direction” described by Williams leads toward one goal: capturing another Ancient Eight crown. A process which begins for Dartmouth on Sept. 21 in the season opener against Fordham.
“We don’t want to go two years in a row sharing the title,” said Williams, who earned a second-team All-Ivy distinction last season on defense and special teams. “So whatever needs to be done to make that happen, we’re going to do.”
Alex Cervantes can be reached at acervantes@vnews.com or 603-727-7302.