Now that you’ve read all of our team previews, it’s time preview the individuals. This year more than any year in recent memory, the league is just stacked with talent across the board. Plus when you factor in how many teams could make a run at the title, there are really so many players in contention for awards this year. Let’s see how they stack up.
Coach of the Year: Dan DiCenzo, Wesleyan
Barring a Williams-esque turnaround, which I don’t see happening (sorry Maine), this award is going to go to someone at the top of the standings. As evidenced in the Season Previews, it’s going to be crowded at the top with a whole lot of contenders, so your guess is as good as mine. But I’ll my chances with the 4thyear man in Middletown for a few reasons. First, despite posting consecutive 6-win seasons, the Cards are facing a bit of a rebuild with their personnel. Okay, rebuild is probably too strong of a word, but the faces on the field are going to look a little different this year, especially on offense. Sure, First Team QB Mark Piccirillo ’19 is back and the talk of the league (more to come on that), but everything else is going to look a lot different. WR Mike Breuler is gone, which really can’t be overstated, as the 2017 Player of the Year was absolutely dominant, finishing with 87 catches, 1172 yards, and 10 TDs. Oh, and the NESCAC plays a 9 game schedule. Dario Highsmith has transitioned to WR, leaving the backfield a relative unknown. The defense will be strong as ever, but it’s the offense that will tell this team’s story. Also, their schedule shapes up nicely to Coach DiCenzo to make a run at this award. They have one of the toughest Septembers in the league, hosting Middlebury before traveling to Tufts. If they can grab those two they look set to cruise into contention, before a grueling Week 8 @ Williams followed by the finale at home vs. Trinity. They’ll be tested early, and they’ll be tested late, and if they can pass both tests DiCenzo will be a huge reason.
Defensive Player of the Year:
- TJ Rothmann ‘21, LB, Williams
This is probably a little out of the box here, but if any defensive player in the league has the chance to improve the most it’s Rothmann. We often see just how big a jump in production is made between years 1 and 2, and as the only freshman named to the All-League defense last year, Rothmann fits that bill. Williams is going to make its name stopping the run this year, and his 83 returning tackles are going to be a big reason why. The biggest question is whether or not they’ll have the team success to get his name in this conversation.
- Andrew Yamin ‘19, DE/LB, Amherst
It would be natural for the reigning DPOY returning for his senior year to be at the top of the list, but that would make way too much sense. Instead, the Amherst star falls at #2. 13.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for a loss are a lot to follow up. Yamin very well may be the best defensive player in the league this year, and he might have the numbers to back it up, but as we’ve seen many times, once you set the bar for yourself, it can be really hard to reach. Yamin is going to have to at least match these numbers this year if he wants to repeat, and in a linebacking core shared with LB Andrew Sommer, there might not be enough to go around.
- Greg Holt ’20, LB, Tufts
This felt like such a slam dunk that I’m confident enough to feel like I’ve completely jinxed it. The 2016 Rookie of the Year took the jump into the First Team as a sophomore, and there’s only one more level to ascend to. Holt’s 84 tackles last season were good for 3rdin the league, but it’s their Class of 2018 that make him the favorite to win this award. The Jumbos graduated a staggering three All-League defensive linemen in 1stTeamer Micah Adickes and 2ndTeamers Doug Harrison and Zach Thomas. Those were some bad dudes, but they’ve left a hole in their departure and Holt is going to fill it. Not only will there be more to go around for Holt, but we already know that he can do it. He had an incredible 98 tackles in just 8 games his freshman campaign, and if he hits that century mark this season you can begin drafting the press release. His tackles for loss and sacks should see an increase as well. I’ll take Holt.
Honorable Mentions: DL Corey-Jean Jacques ’19, Trinity, LB Andrew Sommer ’19, Amherst, CB Tim Preston ’19, Tufts
Offensive Player of the Year:
- Ryan McDonald ’19, QB, Tufts
What’s with all the Tufts love, right? On paper, this pick doesn’t make a lot of sense. McDonald threw for just 11 TDs last year and paired them with 10 INTs. He was wildly inconsistent, but the entire pretense of this pick rests on the senior being able to develop into the kind of player he showed in flashes, but for all 9 games. McDonald threw for 267 yards against Trinity and followed it up with 336 against Williams the following week. His last three weeks, his passing high was 179 yards, and he was 14-31 with a pair of interceptions in that same game, a loss against Amherst. But McDonald could be the most talented player in the league because of his ability in the air coupled with his ability on the ground. He was third in the entire league with 722 rushing yards and rushed for 145 yards in his final game vs. Middlebury. If he can become a little more accurate and turn those 11 TDs and 10 picks into 15 TDs and, say, 6 INTs, he won’t even need much more improvement on his 1879 passing yards (2ndin the league) and aforementioned 722 rushing yards.
- Max Chipouras ’19, RB, Trinity
For the more casual readers of this site: yes, Max Chipouras is still here. The 2015 Rookie of the Year has been trucking linebackers and piling up the stats for what feels like forever, but he has finally arrived at his senior season. It’s a testament to Max that he led the league in both rushing yards with 947 and rushing touchdowns with 10 and it felt like his year was just okay. But when you take a closer look at the box score, you realize the kind of damage he could’ve truly done. He had 4 games with a YPC of 6+, but only had 50 carries in those games. Why wasn’t he given the ball more? Probably because Trinity outscored their opponents 190-27 in those games. Chipouras led the NESCAC in every major rushing category and he was taking his cleats off at halftime for nearly half of the season. In theory, Trinity shouldn’t be as dominant this year, and their offense not as balanced with QB Sonny Puzzo gone. They should have to give Chipouras the ball more, and that should lead to some serious numbers. If they decide to leave this guy in the game this year, they might have to rewrite the record books.
- Mark Piccirillo ’19, QB, Wesleyan
I wanted to put Piccirillo at #2 so badly. Like so badly, you have no idea. The plan going in was to be contrarian and predict a regression while Chipouras carries a greater load and steals it away from his CT neighbors. But then you look at Piccirillo’s stats from last year, and it’s just impossible not to install him as the favorite. 2657 yards. 70.4% completion percentage. 20 TDs. That’s before mentioning the 474 rushing yards (6thin the league) and 4 rushing TDs. I mean those numbers are insane. Now before you tell me that WR Mike Breuler is gone and any other arguments—save it—they were literally exactly what I was going to use to justify putting him at #2. In fact, I’m going to agree with some of those arguments. Piccirillo is probably going to regress. I mean it’s hard enough to throw for 2657 (2657!!) yards a second year in a row, and even harder without being able to throw it up to D3 Randy Moss 20 times a game. But the rushing numbers will probably go up due to the uncertainty in the backfield and increased playmaking responsibility on their senior quarterback. Coach DiCenzo always has the Wesleyan offense humming and Piccirillo will be the face of that. The team success certainly won’t be an issue, and quite frankly if he turns it over 15 teams again like he did last year, it probably won’t make a difference either. He’s the best player on one of the best teams in the league. I didn’t want to do it, but I have to go with Piccirillo.
Honorable Mentions: QB Bobby Maimaron ’21, Williams, WR Conrado Banky ’19, Middlebury, WR Joe Schmidt ’20, Hamilton