Lehigh, Lafayette football teams announce early signees
A recruiting process like no other has produced positive results for the Lehigh and Lafayette football programs.
After not being able to play in the fall and get to see prospects in person, the Mountain Hawks on Wednesday released a list of 10 signees for the early period, while the Leopards unveiled 15 new comers who will get on campus and participate next fall.
Meanwhile, speculation persists that the Patriot League could soon announce plans for a limited spring football season that will include four or five league games against teams closest in proximity. The abbreviated schedule would be capped by a league championship game with the winner going on to the FCS playoffs that would also be reduced in size and length.
Lehigh coach Tom Gilmore and Lafayette’s John Garrett expressed excitement for a potential spring season, especially for the seniors who missed out on a 2020 campaign, while reminding that “nothing has been finalized yet.”
Gilmore and Garrett were both pleased with the level of talent they were able to add to their programs despite the limitation imposed on the recruiting process by the corona virus pandemic.
“It was challenging,” Gilmore said. “But I don’t know if our challenges were different from anyone else in the country. We do recruit on a national scale and without official visits, unofficial visits, that made it challenging for prospects from areas farther away. Everything was virtual, electronic. The volume of contacts we had with people was even greater than before. I was pleased we were able to get done what we did.”
Garrett agreed that things were
different.
“Because we weren’t playing we were able to devote much more time to recruiting than we normally would when you are preparing for a season and studying an opponent and going to practice ,” he said .“And then of course, it was also different in that nothing was in person. It was all virtual, it was all Zoom calls and Facetimes and all electronic, nonpersonal contact. That made it challenging, but fun.”
Headded that you would think the pandemic would reduce the recruiting process, but actually it allowed for moreofit.
“The technology allows you to do more and you can be very effective and efficient in contacting and recruiting student-athletes,” he said.
Garrett, who is 10-24 in three seasons at Lafayette but coming off a 4-2 Patriot League mark and a win over Lehigh in 2019, said he is excited about the players announced.
“Line one for us is getting the right kind of guy and this group is smart, tough, reliable, competitive and plays with great effort ,” he said. “They love football. So those intangibles are really important to us and this class embodies those traits. Also, we like big, strong and tough as well and these guys really fit our physical dimensions we require at each position. We brought in some big, strong, offensive and defensive linemen. That’ s important because we want our team to be strong, tough and physical.”
Gilmore, who went 4-7 overall, 3-3 league in his first season at Le high in 2019, said this class adds some“really high-quality guys.”
“We still have a couple of spots left to recruit, but we did well in getting players to fit the needs we have at this point,” he said. “In the last couple of years, we were able to get things balanced out so that there was no glaring shortage at any position. We were balanced this year, but the larger position groups like O-line, D-line and defensive backs were where we got some numbers and where we added good, quality guys.”
The one local player on either list was Central Catholic quarterback Matt Rauscher. Tim McGorry, Rauscher’s coach at CCHS, was an assistant at Lehigh for two seasons before taking over the Vikings.
“Matt’s a great kid and everything you hear about him is very positive,” Gilmore said. “It’s a unique situation for him and us in that Tim is over there coaching at Central and he’s running an offense that’s very similar to what we do here. So, Matt is going to have a lot of familiarity with our offensive system coming in. Hopefully by the summer the restrictions will be lifted and his ability to get over here and get started on something will give him a mental edge over many quarterbacks in the past.”
Lehigh has had success with many Lehigh Valley products at quarterback over the years — Mike Rieker, Phil Stambaugh, Mark Borda and Nick Shafnisky, to mention a few.
“That could add a little pressure to it for Matt, in a way, but there’s also a lot of glory to be a Lehigh Valley product playing quarterback at Lehigh,” Gilmore said .“We’ ve had some really good Lehigh Valley kids play that position for us. We’re always looking for area kids and hoping to get the best local prospects to stay home.”