Hanover
“Happy New Year,” the veteran bench boss said with a grin as his troops staged their first preseason practice of the 2017 campaign.
One reason for the coach’s good mood was wearing jersey No. 6. That’s transfer quarterback Jimmy Fitzgerald, who was on the Illinois roster during the 2015 season and sat out last fall. That Big Ten Conference program has undergone extensive change and turmoil, and Fitzgerald was aided in landing at Dartmouth by former Illinois head coach Bill Cubit.
Fitzgerald, who has three seasons of remaining eligibility, played under Cubit during 2015. The coach, who was fired early last year, was once Teevens’ offensive coordinator at Stanford and recommended his old friend’s current program when Fitzgerald was hunting for a new home. The signal caller chose the Big Green over Ivy League rival Harvard last September after visiting both schools.
For now, Fitzgerald is in the pack behind senior Jack Heneghan, Dartmouth’s second-year starter. However, Teevens has been known to suddenly shuffle quarterbacks, such as when he unexpectedly benched Heneghan for last year’s Harvard game.
That move led to a disastrous varsity debut by Bruce Dixon IV, who later transferred to Winston-Salem (N.C.) State. The Big Green finished 4-6 overall and 1-6 in league play a year after sharing the Ancient Eight title.
“Jack’s done it before and seen a lot of things,” Teevens said of a player whose 2,725 passing yards last fall was the third-best in program history, in addition to 11 touchdowns and 14 passes intercepted. “It’s wonderful to have a guy like (Fitzgerald), but he hasn’t played a lot of football.”
Dartmouth opens the season on Sept. 16 at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla., west of Daytona Beach. The Hatters are coached by former Princeton head man and onetime Big Green assistant Roger Hughes and were 4-7 last season.
Another quarterback on the move before the season was Harry Kraft, grandson of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Harry Kraft never came close to cracking the Big Green lineup during two seasons and transferred to NCAA Division III Colby College in Maine, which was 3-5 last fall. He’s one of three Mules quarterbacks, one of whom is a 6-foot-2 senior who threw for more than 700 yards last season.
Kraft, 5-8 and 175 pounds, was well-respected by his Dartmouth teammates and even earned votes for captain last year, said Teevens. The coach lamented the player’s departure but understood his desire to see game action.
“He’s as hard-working a guy as I’ve ever had,” Teevens said of Kraft, adding that player’s use of the team’s video-review software was nonstop.
Colby plays in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, which includes Tufts University, located outside of Boston. The Jumbos roster the past two years has featured ex-Dartmouth quarterback Jonathan DiBiaso, who was once the Massachusetts state player of the year but never played for the Big Green.
DiBiaso appeared in one 2015 game for Tufts and did not see game action last fall.
Teevens called last season’s showing “embarrassing” and said he and his team have much to prove this fall.
“We were all disappointed,” the coach said. “Maybe we got a little full of ourselves and weren’t as crisp and didn’t make the critical plays that are the margin between wins and losses.
“I’ve got to do a better job. It’s my program, and I’ve done a lot of internal review. We’ve got to get back (up in the standings) quick.”
Teevens said he’s not yet sure how involved in play calling he will be after plucking those duties from eighth-year offensive line coach Keith Clark after last season. Kevin Daft, part of a fired staff at UC Davis after the 2016 campaign, is the new offensive coordinator.
“It’s a fine line,” Teevens said of monitoring play calls and actively deciding upon them. “I’ll be plugged in (on the headset), so the guys will know what I want and when I want it.”
Notes: Sophomore Rivers Cahee, a Louisianan who’s played both running back and defensive back, posted a 40.6-inch vertical leap recently. That would have placed him fifth at the 2016 NFL combine in that event. … Dartmouth will be practicing at the hottest times of the day and often on grass to prepare for its Florida opener, which is slated for a 7 p.m. start on natural turf. … Teevens said African-American scholar Cornel West, a philosopher, social critic and political activist, recently spoke with about 20 Dartmouth players. West has been teaching a course at Dartmouth, and Teevens was able to line him up for a 15-minute group chat on short notice at 10 p.m. … Only one of Dartmouth’s more than 100 players failed to pass the program’s conditioning test this week. … Seven Big Green players use initials for their first names. There are two D.J.’s, two J.J.’s, a T.A, a T.J. and a C.J. … Roughly a week remains in Dartmouth’s summer academic session and more than 30 football players are enrolled, resulting in some missing practices. … Miles Smith, who led the Big Green with 534 rushing yards as a sophomore last season, sat out Wednesday’s practice with a knee injury that Teevens characterized as minor. That left senior Ryder Stone and junior Rashaad Cooper as the top two ball-carrying options. … Jordan Argilagos, a freshman reserve running back last season, is not on the 2017 roster. Teevens declined comment on the Lawrenceville, Ga., product, who was an all-state performer in high school.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.