Tag: Coy Candelario

What You See is What You Get: NESCAC Football Roster Pic Power Rankings

NESCAC Football Roster Pic Power Rankings

It’s finally here. The long awaited, much anticipated roster pic article is ready. We can do as much analysis of each sport as we want, but nothing tops looking at the most amusing headshots. There’s no debate that football players have the funniest roster pics, so it was a lot of fun writing this. As always, I looked through literally every picture of every player on every team’s roster and selected the most ridiculous picture from each team. Some teams had better ones than others, but everybody had at least one good one. Enjoy.

10. Andrew Sommer ’19 (Amherst)

Amherst didn’t have the best options, but Sommer provides us with surely the best sideburns in the NESCAC. What makes his picture especially interesting is that not only did he not smile, but he also looks like he’s trying to break the camera with his stare. If I had to guess, I’d say Sommer is that hardo teammate who feels the need to give a motivational speech to the team before the coach gets to the locker room at halftime of every game.

9. Bryan Vieira ’19 (Trinity)

There’s no doubt that Vieira has some awesome flow. We all know it. The light hits his hair at such an angle; it looks like he was sent from the gods. The funny thing is that he absolutely loves his own roster pic. I know this because he hasn’t taken a new one since his freshman year. That’s right, for all we know he could be sporting a man bun, Mohawk, or Afro now that a few years have passed. You can’t sneak this one by us, Bryan. 

8. Ian Devine ’22 (Williams)

There isn’t anything too crazy about this one; it’s just a terrific Afro. Devine is the real-life embodiment of the old Head & Shoulders commercial with Troy Polamalu. We hear all this talk about concussions in football these days, but I don’t think Devine has much to worry about with that pillow-like mane squeezed under his helmet.

 

7. Sam Foley ’21 (Hamilton)

This one is obviously all about the ‘stache. That thing is perfectly trimmed and the way he has it extend down just beyond the corners of the mouth is nothing short of perfection. Foley tried something similar last year, but it wasn’t quite ready for picture day. No chance he was making the same mistake again this year. You gotta respect the effort as the backup quarterback to have a roster pic that blows everyone away. This guy gets it.

6. Shane Normandeau ’19 (Colby)

Shane is the kid who’s just happy to be here. He shows up to practice every day with the same goofy smile, does his thing, and heads home. His teammates sometimes get mad at his relentless cheery attitude and how he always feels the need to say “thanks coach” even when they’re getting yelled at to get on the line for their 7th consecutive suicide. But that’s just Shane. The kid who minds his own business and only pisses people off by accident.

 5. Steve Barsky ’21 (Tufts)

I can’t quite visualize what Barsky was going for here, but I guess it worked out because it landed him a top 5 spot on our list. It really just looks like he forgot it was picture day, overslept, and ended up getting there with bed head. I guess you could call it the “I don’t care” look. At least that’s what Coach Civetti must have been thinking when one of his players showed up looking like this.

 

4. Coy Candelario ’19 (Bates)

Coy is a mysterious guy. Few people have seen him and even fewer have actually met him. The only pictures we have of him are his roster pics from the last four years and that’s the way he likes it. His facial hair is very nicely trimmed and honestly I’ve always been a big fan of the musketeer look. I’m not sure if the flash was too bright or if his contacts were bothering him, but we really can’t get a good look at his eyes. Perhaps that’s just what he was going for – doing his best to remain an enigma.

3. Pete Huggins ’21 (Middlebury)

There were a few guys who went with this look, but I like Huggins’ the best because he just looks so grimy. I mean this guy looks like he’s right off the set of a 1980s adult film. What really stands out here is the confidence in his smile. We see plenty of dudes who think they’re funny making a stupid face because they know their roster pic is ridiculous. Here you see Huggins smile as if he doesn’t know that he’s rocking an outrageous Fu Manchu with a missed spot on his chin. Nice work.

2. Russ Gore ’22 (Bowdoin)

Russ Gore knows he’s good looking. It’s no secret. He wakes up at 5:30am every day to dye his sideburns darker and curl his beautiful blonde hair. As Russ will tell you, there aren’t a lot of people willing to put in the work that he does to look this good. I can’t even imagine how much difficulty he has fending off girls at Bowdoin parties. He’s just a middle-part away from looking like Mugatu from Zoolander and we all know how really, really, ridiculously good looking everyone is in that movie.

  1. Mark Piccirillo ’19 (Wesleyan)

I actually hate this picture. I simply had no choice but to put it at #1. If you’re going to go with a grin that cocky then you better be one of the best players in the league. That hair has so much volume you have to wonder if he blow-dries (spoiler: he does). Legend has it at Wesleyan that Mark Piccirillo once entered a Jesus look-alike contest against Jesus himself, and won. The whole grin, beard, and hair combo makes him look like Jack Parkman from Major League II. The way the Cardinals have been playing they could really use a savior and apparently Piccirillo is trying to fill that void. Congrats on the top spot Mark, you earned it.

Up Tempo: Bates Football Preview 2018


(Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

Up Tempo: Bates Football Preview 2018 

2017 Record: 2-7

Projected Record: 3-6

Projected offensive starters (*8 returning)

QB – Brendan Costa ’21*

RB – Jaason Lopez ’21*

RB – Peter Boyer ’19*

WR – Marcus Ross ’19*

WR – Ty Baum ’19*

WR – Derek Marino ’22

C – Jack O’Brien ’20*

LG – Dan Marino ’19*

LT – Phil Simplicio ’20

RG – Marty Guinee ’19*

RT – Yanni Falaras ’19

Projected defensive starters (*8 returning)

CB – Coy Candelario ’19*

CB – Kevin Claflin ’19*

DB – Joe Frake ‘19*

DB – Devin Clyburn ’21

DB – Jon Lindgren ’20*

LB – Bobby Dee ’19*

LB – Connor Suraci ’20

LB – Chase Fulton ’19*

DL – Calvin Johnstone ’19

DL – Walter Washington ’18*

DL – Connor DeSantis ’19*

Projected specialists (*1 returning)

PK – Karim Darwiche ’21

P – Justin Foley ’19*

KR/PR – Christian Sanfilippo ’21/Jon Lindgren ’20

 

Offensive MVP: Quarterback Brendan Costa ’21

(Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

Costa is going to be the biggest make-or-break player for the Bobcats this season. He finished his freshman season as the NESCAC’s 2nd leading rusher, trailing only 3-time All NESCAC honoree Max Chipouras of Trinity. He can definitely run, but with Bates switching to the “Air Raid” offense this season we’ll find out if he can throw. In 2017 he threw for the fewest yards per game of any starter – although they ran the triple option, which certainly does not lend itself to throwing the ball. However, he also completed only 47.8% of his passes, last among starters in the conference. We know that Costa can do damage with his legs, but he’ll have to prove that he can use his arm if the Bobcats want to snatch a few more wins this season.

Defensive MVP: Safety Jon Lindgren ’20

(Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

This kid was the biggest 2017 All-NESCAC snub and I’ll tell you why: he compiled 75 tackles last season, good for 7th in the conference. I know, it’s not good when your safety is leading the team in tackles. But 75? That’s legit. Now you’re probably thinking, “Oh, well if he had that many tackles then he must not be very good in coverage right?” Wrong. Lindgren led the NESCAC with 12 pass break ups. I will admit that he didn’t have any interceptions but come on, how are you going to hold it against him that he has bad hands? He’s playing safety for a reason. Anyways, the point is that Lindgren is a stud with outstanding defensive instincts and a knack for finding the play. He’s ready to lead a defense that returns the majority of its starters and will have to do more than they have in recent years to keep the Bobcats in games. Stay tuned to see if he learned how to catch over the summer.

Biggest Game: November 10th vs. Hamilton

Normally I’d pick one of the CBB games as the biggest game of the year, but the Bobcats have had no trouble in recent years securing that trophy. The biggest struggle as of late has been the season’s final game against the Continentals. Hamilton has been stuck between the top tier of the conference and the three Maine schools, always able to snag that last win against Bates to stay one spot ahead in the standings. This year the Bobcat offense will need to step it up, as they have only been able to score 21 points against the Hamilton defense in the past 3 years combined. That’s not good. Circle this one on your calendar, folks.

Best Tweet:

https://twitter.com/Coachcap77/status/1034816725299224581

If you don’t follow Coach Capone on Twitter, I highly recommend it. He has absolutely mastered how to use this app and is taking full advantage of that fact. If there was ever a football team who definitely feels the JUICE, it’s the Bates College Bobcats. This tweet gets me FIRED UP for a (mostly) new coaching staff, a new offense, and a new season. Stay hot, Coach Capone.

Everything Else:

Out with the old, in with the new. Bates welcomes Malik Hall as the 20th  head coach in program history. With him he brings new offensive coordinator Custavious Patterson and a new-look offense that probably shouldn’t be new-look because it’s what literally everyone else does, but is still very exciting for Bobcat fans. This will surely make games light-years more fun to watch, and will hopefully start putting up big numbers on the scoreboard. Brendan Costa ’21 is in position to have a huge season, as he’ll work to get on the same page as his wide receiving corps. They’ll return running back Jaason Lopez ’21 who played well in somewhat limited time last season, also catching a number of passes out of the slot. Freshman Derek Marino (younger brother of senior offensive lineman Dan Marino) has a chance to make a big impact at wide receiver in his rookie season. The defense returns top defensive backs Jon Lindgren ’20, Coy Candelario ’19, and Joe Frake ’19 who saw a ton of action last season. Chase Fulton ’19, Bobby Dee ’19, Pete Daley ’19, and Connor Suraci ’20 will anchor a solid group of linebackers who also have a lot of experience.

Coach Hall comes from the University of Pennsylvania where he served as the team’s defensive line coach (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

If the Bates offense can have a better year (and it looks as though they can), then the defense will get some valuable rest and will likely see some improvement given how many of their starters are returning. The coaching change has brought some very positive energy to the boys from Lewiston who really needed it. The Bobcats led Wesleyan at halftime last season, and have played Hamilton and Tufts close in recent years. They’re in striking distance of teams just ahead of them and it looks things seem to be going well (if Coach Capone’s reports are true). This could be the year that they finally make a leap and steal a few more wins.