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Legendary Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens died Tuesday at the age of 66.
The school announced he died approximately six months after he suffered significant injuries from a bicycle accident in March.
"Our family is heartbroken to inform you that our beloved 'coach' has peacefully passed away surrounded by family," the Teevens family said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the injuries he sustained proved too challenging for even him to overcome. Throughout this journey, we consistently relayed the thoughts, memories, and love sent his way. Your kindness and letters of encouragement did not go unnoticed and were greatly appreciated by both Buddy and our family.
"We are confident and take comfort in the fact that he passed away knowing how much he was loved and admired."
The school's announcement explained he was riding his bike in Florida when he was struck by a pickup truck. In addition to spinal cord injuries he suffered, his right leg was amputated.
Teevens was already a Dartmouth legend even before he became the school's all-time winningest football coach at 117-101-2.
He played quarterback and led the Big Green to the conference title as the Ivy League Player of the Year in 1978. He also lettered in hockey as a multi-sport athlete.
He first became the school's football coach from 1987 through 1991 before taking opportunities elsewhere but eventually returned to his alma mater as coach in 2005. Teevens led the Big Green to a share of the Ivy League championship in 1990 and an outright conference title in 1991 during his first stint and then a share of the conference championship in 2015, 2019 and 2021 during his second stint.
Yet he was known for more than just winning on the field.
Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic noted he was the first collegiate coach to eliminate live tackling at practices in an effort to keep players safer. He also helped develop the Mobile Virtual Player, which is a remote-controlled tackling dummy that has become more widespread at the collegiate and NFL levels.
What's more, he became the first college football coach to hire women as full-time staff members and participated in the NFL Women's Careers in Football Forum every year at the NFL scouting combine.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recognized his impact on the game during the most recent NFL draft:
Sammy McCorkle has served as the team's interim coach this season.
Dartmouth president Sian Leah Beilock and athletic director Mike Harrity said the team will still play Saturday's game against Lehigh because that is what Teevens would have wanted.
Teevens is survived by his wife, Kirsten, their children Lindsay and Buddy Jr., and their four grandchildren.
Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens had his right leg amputated and suffered a spinal cord injury when he was hit by a car while riding a bike last month.
Kirsten Teevens, Buddy's wife, announced the injuries her husband sustained in an update about his recovery posted on Dartmouth's athletic website:
"We would like to thank everyone for the incredible outpouring of love and support for Buddy. It has been nothing short of amazing and we are so grateful. As Buddy navigates through the healing of his injuries, he is experiencing many positive improvements. Unfortunately, as a result of the accident, Buddy's right leg was amputated due to the severity of the injury. He is alert and communicating with us and ready for transfer to a premier rehab facility to continue healing. Spinal cord injuries are challenging, and if anybody is up for the challenge, it is Buddy. We appreciate your continued respect of our privacy as we navigate this ongoing recovery process as a family."
Kirsten previously told Tris Wykes of the Valley News on March 20 the incident occurred as the couple were biking home from a restaurant after having dinner in St. Augustine, Florida.
"He has sustained serious injuries and is currently hospitalized," Kirsten Teevens wrote in a text message. "He is a healthy man and hopefully he will have a full recovery. We are very appreciative of all the support and the outpouring of love."
According to Wykes, a preliminary crash report from the Florida Highway Patrol described Buddy's injuries were described as "critical" and it occurred around 8:40 p.m. local time as he was attempting to cross the main beach thoroughfare along the Atlantic coast.
Any additional updates on Teevens' condition will be provided by the family and included on Dartmouth's athletic website.
Teevens, 66, is in his second stint as Dartmouth's head football coach. He returned to the program in 2005 after previously coaching the Big Green from 1987 to 1991.
In addition to his work at Dartmouth, Teevens had stints as a head coach at Maine, Tulane and Stanford. He has a 151-178-2 career record with five Ivy League championships.
Teevens also played quarterback at Dartmouth from 1975 to 1978. He led the program to a conference title in his final season with a 6-1 record in Ivy League play.
The Ivy League set an example many conferences eventually followed when it canceled its men's and women's basketball tournaments in March, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut believes its decision on fall sports should once again set a precedent amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There's absolutely nothing different between the Ivy League and any division except for the money, to be very blunt," Blumenthal said, per Steve Berkowitz of USA Today. "It's about the money. And if the other schools fail to follow the Ivy League's lead, it will be only because of the money. And, in fact, it will be another misguided act in a long litany of putting school profits ahead of the people who play for them."
The comments come after the Ivy League announced Wednesday that it canceled its fall sports season.
"A decision on the remaining winter and spring sports competition calendar, and on whether fall sport competition would be feasible in the spring, will be determined at a later date," the statement said.
Blumenthal, who went to Harvard as an undergraduate and Yale for law school, said the Ivy League was "absolutely right on moral and health grounds" and noted every conference is "dealing with the same health threats and the same age population and the same vulnerabilities when students play football and other sports that either involve contact or close proximity."
After the Ivy League canceled its men's and women's basketball tournaments, the Power Five conferences all eventually followed suit. The NCAA also canceled the men's and women's NCAA tournaments and the entirety of the spring sports schedule.
College athletics, like so many other areas in the United States, has dealt with increasing COVID-19 concerns as the numbers continue to go up in a variety of places across the country.
On Wednesday, Ohio State announced it suspended voluntary workouts for seven sports, including football and both basketball teams, following positive tests for student-athletes.
Bryan Fischer of College Football Talk noted Ohio State joined North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Kansas State, Houston, Boise State and Arizona in making such a decision. What's more, Clemson, LSU and Texas were among the high-profile programs with a number of positive tests among players since they returned to campuses for voluntary workouts.
As of Wednesday, the United States has the most confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world at more than three million and the most deaths resulting from the virus at more than 132,000.
The Ivy League announced Wednesday that it is canceling its fall sports season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the league's statement, "A decision on the remaining winter and spring sports competition calendar, and on whether fall sport competition would be feasible in the spring, will be determined at a later date."
The Ivy League announced March 10 it was cancelling its men's and women's basketball tournaments. At the time, the conference received some pushback because the pandemic hadn't yet reached its current proportions.
However, the move looked prescient as more conferences followed in bringing their tournaments to a premature end to limit the spread of the coronavirus. On March 12, the NCAA scrapped the remaining winter championships and the spring season altogether.
The hope was that the pandemic would slow enough during the summer so as not to jeopardize the upcoming fall sports season.
Instead, the number of cases have trended upward. According to the World Health Organization, the United States is the leader in both cases (2.9 million) and deaths (129,963) from the coronavirus.
The NCAA Division I Council allowed programs to resume voluntary on-campus workouts on a limited basis for football and basketball starting June 1. Since then, numerous schools have reported positive cases.
The Ivy League's decision is a somewhat ominous sign for the fate of the 2020 college football season, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 29.
Incoming Cornell recruit Nate Panza was reportedly kicked off the football team after a Snapchat video was released online early Sunday morning showing him saying the N-word, according to
"A video was taken of me using a word that is offensive and hurtful. The word has a long history of cruelty for the black community and is simply wrong. I am heartbroken I have hurt people; those I know and those I do not. I take full responsibility for my actions.
"I do not believe that my language that night aligns with who I have tried to be as a person, the values I live by or the manner in which I have conducted myself as an athlete. My immediate reaction to the video was to reach out to my entire high school community to offer my sincerest apologies."
"I plan to better educate myself on the issues of racism and injustice in America, as I want to be part of the solution and not the problem," Panza also said in the statement. "The label 'racist' is not something I can live with and I will work to prove that every day for the rest of my life. It is my humble hope that I will come out of this incident as a better ally, better friend and better person."
How did the nation's first female coach in Division I football land a job? Has the Notre Dame playoff push already started? What are the must-watch games for Week 6? Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer has the answers to those questions and more in his weekly college football notebook, the Thursday Tailgate.
The original intent was not to make history. In fact, Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens had no idea his decision to hire a woman as a full-time coach would be historic at all.
When he first met Callie Brownson in summer 2017 at the Manning Passing Academy, where she worked alongside 15 other female coaches at the camp's first women's coaching clinic, he was impressed. Then he was curious—enough to offer her a summer 2018 internship at Dartmouth.
A few months later, Brownson is still at Dartmouth. Not as an intern, a label she has since shed, but as an offensive quality control coach and the first full-time female coach in Division I football.
"It really became a no-brainer," Teevens says. "It was her personality, her confidence in meetings and her heart. I didn't know she was the first one. I just knew she was a quality hire that would make our program better. Callie fit exactly what we're looking for."
For Brownson, the path to Hanover, New Hampshire, began in Alexandria, Virginia, where she played youth football as a 10-year-old and developed a love for the sport. But nurturing that love proved to be difficult at Mount Vernon High School, as her attempts to play were routinely denied.
"The last week of junior year, I came to the coach and told him I was going to try out as a senior," Brownson recalls of her last attempt. "I didn't care if you ever put me on the field, but I was going to be on the football team. I didn't want to be the kicker. I wanted to play. And he laughed at me; it was a no."
Eventually Brownson secured a roster spot on the D.C. Divas of the Women's Football Alliance, playing for them from 2010 through 2017 as a safety and running back. She was a five-time captain and four-time WFA All-American. She also won two gold medals for Team USA.
Throughout her time as a player for the national team, Brownson worked at various football camps, and that sparked her love for coaching. Entering her late 20s, she knew her playing career wouldn't last much longer. So in summer 2017, she interned in the New York Jets scouting department.
The following summer, after getting a taste of NFL life, she landed with Teevens. Players benefited from her influence so much that near the end of her two-week internship, they encouraged the Dartmouth coach to bring her on full time, which he did.
"People will say, 'Oh, you hired a woman.' No. I hired a coach, and I think that's important," Teevens says. "My responsibility is to bring in the best people to help put our team in a position to have success, and there's a variety of characteristics and traits you look for. She had every one of them."
Although most coaches in her position have months to acclimate to the system, terminology and routine, Brownson had less than a week. And still, there was comfort in the grind.
"I was fully submersed in everything," Brownson says. "It wasn't decorative, and this wasn't some sort of publicity stunt. I was there to work and learn and be a part of Dartmouth football."
From film study to recruiting to game-planning in meetings, Brownson has become an asset for Dartmouth, which is hoping to go 4-0 with a critical matchup against Yale this week.
While leagues such as the NBA and NFL have started to welcome women to the coaching ranks, Brownson's hire marks the continuation of a movement in Division I college football that began with the hiring of women to fill part-time coaching roles.
As for where this could lead, Brownson, 28, isn't thinking about what her life will look like in five years. She's focused on the present. "I want that ring," she says on the possibility of winning an Ivy League title in her first season as a coach.
And yet, she can't help but wonder if her presence and influence will help pave the way for something more, which is a responsibility she does not take lightly.
"People ask me all the time," Brownson says, "Do I feel pressure to do a good job? Of course; it's my job. And there are others out there like me that want to do this, and I want to make sure I leave no doubt that it's a good decision to hire women and to bring them on board."
The Notre Dame College Football Playoff Push Is Upon Us
The takes are coming. In fact, they are already here. Tell me if you've already heard this five weeks into the season: Notre Dame is this close to the College Football Playoff. Might as well write it down in pen. Screw the pencil.
Indeed, Notre Dame has a playoff-friendly schedule. Barring injury or the unforeseen, Brian Kelly's bunch should be favored in all its remaining games. The biggest obstacle could come this week at Virginia Tech, which recovered nicely Saturday against Duke after a stunning upset loss to Old Dominion the previous week.
The hardest game after that is…maybe the finale at USC? At home against Syracuse or Florida State? Maybe at Northwestern?
Just by assessing the schedule—and the lack of a conference championship game—it's easy to see why so many have started to connect Notre Dame to the postseason.
The Irish are a fine team. Ian Book has looked fabulous at quarterback since he took over starting duties in Week 4. The defense, anchored by lineman Jerry Tillery, who leads the nation in sacks with seven, has played well.
But this sport rarely conforms to the blueprint. You should know this by now. We see, we react, we overreact, we adjust and then we eventually overreact again.
Love you, college football.
Let's Talk About When It Would Be Appropriate to Rank Football Teams
Preseason polls are bad. Unnecessary. Manipulative. But they impact the way we rank and evaluate teams during the season, as certain programs and previously ranked squads have a much easier time moving into or higher in the Top 25.
Consider a team like Colorado. The No. 21 Buffaloes are ranked for the first time this season and are the only undefeated team in the Pac-12.
The Buffaloes aren't higher than No. 20 Michigan State, which has looked utterly average, and No. 18 Oregon, which has a loss, because they weren't ranked to start the season.
There's a reason we do preseason polls, of course. It's the same reason we put out the Top 25 each weekend. They create controversy and interest, and that's good for business. But to be fair, we shouldn't even consider ranking football teams until after four weeks.
That's still a small sample size, which is why the College Football Playoff committee doesn't meet for another month. There's no point to the rankings before then—other than the whole money-making component, which is, you guessed it: important.
Five Games to Watch This Weekend
Here's what you should watch this weekend, summarized in tweet-length form (all times Eastern):
No. 7 Oklahoma vs. No. 19 Texas (Saturday, noon): Will we be able to finally write "Texas is back" and mean it come Saturday afternoon? Regardless of the outcome, a lot of food will be fried outside the Cotton Bowl at the Texas State Fair, and we can all celebrate this rare, glorious early start.
No. 5 LSU at No. 22 Florida (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.): If the Tigers can pull this off, Ed Orgeron's squad will have beaten three top 25 teams in the first six weeks, with two of those wins coming on the road. But if LSU loses to a surprising, surging Florida team, some will want him fired. Coaching college football is hard.
No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 24 Virginia Tech (Saturday, 8:00 p.m.): The Hokies, a few weeks removed from a loss to Old Dominion—a team that lost to Liberty by roughly 600 points—will attempt to run Notre Dame's College Football Playoff RV off the road. It sounds crazy enough that it just might work.
No. 13 Kentucky at Texas A&M (Saturday, 7:00 p.m.): The No. 13 next to Kentucky's name is unnerving and lovely all at once. As is the fact that the Wildcats have the nation's No. 3 scoring defense, which is better than Alabama's No. 5 unit. If we are dreaming this football tomfoolery, I hope we stay asleep awhile longer.
No. 23 NC State vs. Boston College (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.): Is North Carolina State good? What about Boston College? These questions may not interest you, but we'll gain intel on them in what probably is the most interesting, non-interesting game set for Saturday.
What Else to Watch This Weekend
First: Laviska Shenault Jr., The Best-Kept Secret in College Football
Outside the football surgery Tua Tagovailoa is performing for Alabama, I'm not sure a football player has been more enjoyable to watch than Laviska Shenault Jr., Colorado's phenomenal sophomore wideout.
Yes, it's a Colorado-heavy week. But Shenault has double-digit catches in three of the Buffaloes' first four contests and leads the nation in receiving yards per game.
He's a deep threat. He's deadly on screens. He can also run the ball every now and then.
The Buffs draw Arizona State at home this week, which is enough reason to tune in. But do yourself a favor and take in the full Shenault experience. He's special.
Second: Will Washington State Finish a Game With Rushing Yards?
Mike Leach did it again, as he added the latest in a long line of quirky achievements to his coaching mantle. His Washington State Cougars won a conference game last Saturday over Utah by rushing for a grand total of zero yards.
Not one. Not negative yardage. Zero. And, again, his team won, 28-24.
For the season, Washington State is ranked No. 129 in total rushing yards, ahead of only San Jose State. This week, the Cougars draw Oregon State, which is No. 128 in rushing defense and allowing 6.9 yards per carry.
Something's gotta give. You'd like to think this will result in a big rushing output for Wazzu.
Leach, though, usually has other plans.
Third: Cole McDonald Stat-Watching Continues
I tried to tell you a few weeks ago to watch the 2-star Hawaii quarterback with dreadlocks who was posting huge numbers. Since then, Hawaii starter Cole McDonald has continued to be awesome—throwing for 24 touchdowns, rushing for two more and tossing only two interceptions in six games.
This week, McDonald is playing Wyoming, the nation's No. 100 passing defense.
Prediction: There will be (more) points.
Gambling Locks of the Week
Last Week: 2-4
Season to date: 13-15
We were trending toward an average 3-3 reboot week when Arizona's kicker botched what would've been a spread-covering extra point in the final moments against USC with a slice that looked like one of my tee shots. That was a suboptimal way to lose against the spread, though I've since had enough time and therapy to recover.
I've emotionally turned my attention toward Week 6, which has plenty of lovely wager potential. Here are the picks, using lines provided by the Westgate odds on OddsShark.
Virginia Tech (+6) vs. Notre Dame: For the second week in a row, let's take the team playing its backup quarterback that lost to Old Dominion not long ago. The Hokies are live.
Texas A&M (-6) vs. Kentucky: This line feels…odd. Kentucky is on fire and getting points. Looks too good to be true, yes? It usually is.
Mississippi State (+3.5) vs. Auburn: This game could be ugly—perhaps decided by a field goal either way. Give me the points. The under doesn't sound bad, either.
Florida (+2) vs. LSU: Florida suddenly looks like one of college football's better teams, which is as weird to type as it probably is to read.
Pittsburgh (+4.5) vs. Syracuse: Behold the ol' "So You Just Blew What Would've Been a Remarkable Upset and Now You're Going to Lose to a Bad Team on the Road" special.
Utah (+5.5) vs. Stanford: This is an spot for Stanford, which seems like a tired football team after an eventful couple of weekends. Utah will keep it close enough.
Adam Kramer covers college football for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @KegsnEggs.
The Heisman Trophy is arguably the most prized individual award in all of collegiate sports, and now even a fan can own one for the cool price of at least $400,000.
According to TMZ Sports, the 1937 Heisman, which was won by Clint Frank of Yale, is available for bidding at Heritage Auctions until Oct. 18. "Experts tell us it's expected to go for over $400,000," TMZ wrote.
Frank played running back and safety for the Bulldogs, although TMZ noted he didn't play in the NFL and instead went into advertising.
Frank's daughter, Laurie Dorsey, owns the Heisman along with her sister and two brothers after the Yale great died in 1992, and she explained the rationale behind the decision to sell it.
"It's difficult to share because we all live in different cities and states," Dorsey said, per Vin A. Cherwoo of the Associated Press (h/t Washington Post). "We became kind of the caretakers for it. We kept it safe in a bank vault. Now we would like to see it go to someone who really loves football and appreciates the Heisman and can enjoy it."
Frank beat out Colorado's Byron White, Pittsburgh's Marshall Goldberg and Fordham's Alex Wojciechowicz to win the Heisman after he tallied 157 carries for 667 yards and 11 touchdowns for a Yale team that went 6-1-1, with the only loss coming against the archrival Harvard.
Cherwoo provided context for the expected price, noting a number of Heisman Trophies were auctioned off with the following prices:
Prized quarterback recruit Brevin White has pledged to play college football at Princeton starting in 2018.
White took to Twitter to announce his decision:
White is one of the nation's top quarterbacks in the 2018 class. He is a 3-star prospect ranked as the No. 5 quarterback from California, No. 16 quarterback in the country and No. 338 player overall, per Scout.com.
In 2016, when Scout.com first offered a report on White's potential, it was very promising about his future: "He's solid mechanically, very accurate with all his throws, has good pocket mobility and is a very tough kid."
The biggest concern for White right now is size, particularly weight. He entered his senior season rail thin at 185 pounds on a 6'2" frame. College defenders don't even have to hit him square to break him in half right now.
But as long as White is working with the right coaching staff that can get him on a training regimen to add mass without losing any of the traits that make him such a gifted quarterback, he will be terrific very soon.
Conventional wisdom with prized recruits is to expect instant results because it's hard to tell a fanbase that it needs to wait before seeing the fruits of a coaching staff's labor.
White may surprise everyone by getting his body better conditioned to handle the rigors of college football right out of the gate, but even if it takes a year before he's starting, it will be worth it because there aren't many quarterbacks with his raw physical gifts.
Not all special teams are created equal.
Just ask Columbia University long snapper Patrick Eby and his perhaps too-trusting assistant.
With barely a backward glance, the sophomore delivered a perfect ball from a hallway's length away, nailing his target and, more importantly, not his friend.
Now, that's spectacular teams.
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