040.jpg "Katie Rubin/DP Senior Photographer")
Championships often come with a certain feeling of finality, a realization that a team has been built up over time and its goal is complete once the players hoist up the trophy.
But for this group of Quakers, the future is just as bright as the present.
Yes, the strength of this team lay in its tremendous collection of seniors, but you get the sense that Al Bagnoli’s plan isn’t just to bring the Ivy League title back to Philadelphia.
It’s to keep it here.
Talking to Bagnoli at practice leading up to Saturday’s game, I asked him about finishing the year strong. One particular statement he made stood out:
“You want to make sure you’re going into the offseason with a positive feel, with some momentum towards your offseason program.”
For a normal coach, looking ahead to the offseason just days before a huge game is a recipe for disaster. But Bagnoli’s resume and coaching acumen allow him to think big picture, which is all he was doing.
After the blowout win over Cornell, Bagnoli was more focused on praising the senior class. And while their leadership shined through, the Quakers would never have been in a position to win their coach’s school-record seventh Ivy title without key contributions from underclassmen.
Highly-touted freshmen Lyle Marsh and Billy Ragone both showed flashes of brilliance, enough to qualify them as Penn’s backfield of the future. Marsh was the team’s most effective rusher after a breakout second game at Lafayette, while Ragone played well in the Ivy opener at Dartmouth (62 rushing yards, 3-for-3 passing) before a season-ending collarbone injury dampened his first season.
On defense, linebacker Erik Rask, lineman Jared Sholly and defensive back Jim McGoldrick (all sophomores), among others, stepped up at various points in the season. Youth and depth at all three defensive levels are vital when considering the need to replace players like Joe Goniprow, Jake Lewko, Chris Wynn and Jonathan Moore.
Bagnoli seemed to have his great young talent in mind when discussing the team’s future after his latest triumph.
“We’re positioned really well for the long haul,” he said. “When you look at the teams that were at the upper echelon of the Ivy League this year, we’re far and away the youngest.”
That youth makes this season’s undefeated run even more impressive. It also suggests that the best is yet to come.
In fact, next year’s senior class appears to be even stronger, especially in number, than the Class of 2010. Keiffer Garton, Bradford Blackmon, Luke DeLuca, Brian Levine and Zach Heller — to name a few of the 33 total — should be able to step into new roles as veterans to compliment the up-and-coming players.
“Our junior class — I’m shocked when I look at it,” Bagnoli said.
And if there’s one thing he knows, as the coach with the highest Ivy winning percentage and the most outright titles in history, it’s how to stay on top once he gets there. Bagnoli’s championships have come in bunches — back-to-back in 1993 and ’94, three out of four from 2000 to 2003 — and the drought from ’03 to ’09 was the longest of his tenure.
“He’s one of the best in the business,” Cornell coach Jim Knowles said after his team’s 34-0 defeat. “They proved it again today; they’re a far superior team to us. They deserve to be champions.”
With that, the rest of the Ivy League came to a disheartening realization: the youngest team in the conference had just run the table in what may have been the Ancient Eight’s best shot at the Quakers for several seasons.
Sometimes, coaching in the same league as Al Bagnoli can be a helpless feeling.
BRIAN KOTLOFF is a sophomore communications major from Elkins Park, Pa. He can be contacted at dpsports@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Comments
The Bright Future Ahead...
Excellent article...I think Brian Kotloff's analysis is spot on. If this team can get a break from the injuries bug, and if the underclassmen develop like they should, then Quaker fans will have many occasions to say "Wow!" over the next 3 years. I expect Penn to break into the FCS top 15 at some point during this time span.
Bigkahuna
The Bright Future Ahead...
Excellent article...I think Brian Kotloff's analysis is spot on. If this team can get a break from the injuries bug, and if the underclassmen develop like they should, then Quaker fans will have many occasions to say "Wow!" over the next 3 years. I expect Penn to break into the FCS top 15 at some point during this time span.
Bigkahuna
The Bright Future Ahead...
Excellent article...I think Brian Kotloff's analysis is spot on. If this team can get a break from the injuries bug, and if the underclassmen develop like they should, then Quaker fans will have many occasions to say "WoW!" many times in the next 3 years. I expect Penn to break into the FCS top 15 at some point during this time span.
Bigkahuna
The Bright Future Ahead...
Excellent article...I think Brian Kotloff's analysis is spot on. If this team can get a break from the injuries bug, and if the underclassmen develop like they should, then Quaker fans will have many occasions to say "WOW!" many times in the next 3 years. I expect Penn to break into the FCS top 15 at some point during this time span.
Bigkahuna
Looking Forward
The 2009 Football season has not been over one week and already many Penn fans, myself included, are looking forward to 2010 and beyond. Can you blame us?
This was an exciting year and after a few disappointing seasons the Quakers are back in 1st place in the Ivy League. Hopefully, we will remain in that position in the foreseeable future.
Penn has now won 799 football games since 1876. Next year the Quakers most assuredly will win their 800th game and join an elite group of schools who have already passed that historic milestone. Since the formation of the Ivy League in 1956, Penn has won 198 League contests. Red and Blue faithful are looking forward to being victorious in many more games over the next few years.
As a Penn fan for over 60 years, I graduated in 1960, I just want to thank all those responsible for making the 2009 season one to remember.
Season Past, Season Future
I, for one, was very pleasantly surprised by the results of the season, especially after the two first games. Based on last years results, I didn't think they'd fare this well. True, they went 5-2 in the Ivies, but they just squeaked by Columbia(!) and Yale, while Harvard went 9-1 overall, with the only loss being a 2-pointer to Brown. So this year was quite a pleasant surprise. Kudos especially to the D. And boy did I love beating those Harveys by ten points!
With regard to next season, I agree that things look rather nice. But let's not forget how quickly things can go south (can you say Oklahoma?). I'm always superstitious about making claims as to how things are going to be; I've noticed a nasty habit of such things blowing up in the face. Remember Sam Goldwyn's admonition: "Never make predictions - especially about the future".
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