LFN: Coach Coen Talks to LFN About Spring Season

[Lehigh Football Nation]

http://lehighfootballnation.blogspot.com/2009/04/coach-coen-talks-to-lfn-about-spring.html

I talked to coach Coen about how the spring season is going, and my interview with him follows. It feels very much like a different spring season than the past few years.

[RichH2]

Nice column, looking forward to game this weekend. Coen is such a nice guy and a straight talker , I really hope he can get his team beyond losing so many close games

[LUHawker]

I really hope he can get his team beyond losing so many close games

Prior to last season, I predicted that Lehigh would have a winning record by virtue of winning just a couple more of the close games that they lost in 2007.

Boy, was I dead wrong on the exact element that I thought would be the difference.

I suppose I have to make the same prediction this year, but I probably have a little more evidence to back that up this time, with the team having won 3 of the last 4. Most importantly, it found a way to win against Lafayette when it could have turned into another debacle (had Kennedy not returned that INT for a TD, LC was knocking on the doorstep and it would have been Mylanta time yet again).

Of course it wasn't just Kennedy's pick, but the D found a way to make a huge play and the O made plays when it had to.

I'm going to make a very preliminary prediction of 8-3 this year with the losses coming against Villanova, one of Ivies and Holy Cross. Until Lehigh actually shows me the W, I think Randolph has our number. There it is folks, a really early prediction. That is a 3-game improvement from last year, which may be a tad optimistic, but definitely achievable. If Lehigh performs very well against Nova, I think we could be in for a very pleasant season.

[ngineer]

Prior to last season, I predicted that Lehigh would have a winning record by virtue of winning just a couple more of the close games that they lost in 2007.

Boy, was I dead wrong on the exact element that I thought would be the difference.

I suppose I have to make the same prediction this year, but I probably have a little more evidence to back that up this time, with the team having won 3 of the last 4. Most importantly, it found a way to win against Lafayette when it could have turned into another debacle (had Kennedy not returned that INT for a TD, LC was knocking on the doorstep and it would have been Mylanta time yet again).

Of course it wasn't just Kennedy's pick, but the D found a way to make a huge play and the O made plays when it had to.

I'm going to make a very preliminary prediction of 8-3 this year with the losses coming against Villanova, one of Ivies and Holy Cross. Until Lehigh actually shows me the W, I think Randolph has our number. There it is folks, a really early prediction. That is a 3-game improvement from last year, which may be a tad optimistic, but definitely achievable. If Lehigh performs very well against Nova, I think we could be in for a very pleasant season.

No question the 'Nova game will be a significant benchmark about how good we will be at that time. We had a young and virtually untested QB that day who grew up alot by November. If the progression continues we could surprise some people. I think 8-3 is 'realistically optimistic'. I agree with with the HC comment, and I would hope we can come up with some decent scheme to hold Randolph down.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

No question the 'Nova game will be a significant benchmark about how good we will be at that time. We had a young and virtually untested QB that day who grew up alot by November. If the progression continues we could surprise some people. I think 8-3 is 'realistically optimistic'. I agree with with the HC comment, and I would hope we can come up with some decent scheme to hold Randolph down.

Oh yeah. I have that Lehigh/HC game already circled on the calendar.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I'm very optimistic about this season, probably the most i've been since 2005. If they can find some playmakers on offense i feel they can beat anyone on their schedule. The defense is going to be flat out nasty. They'll handle Randolph this year by making him throw from his back. I don't see anyone, and that includes Villanova or Holy Cross putting up more than 24-28 points on this unit. I do believe Lehigh's brief hiatus from at least challenging for PL titles and playoff berths is over. The future this year and beyond is very promising if Coen finally has gotten "it".
I think the pre-season picks will be
1. Holy Cross
2. Lehigh
3. Colgate
4. Lafayette
5. Bucknell
6. Fordham
7. Georgetown

[RichH2]

Agree that HC game is the key for PL . Nova will be veryvery tough. BUT, I do believe 8-3 even 9-2 is reasonable. 7 home games really helps ifwe can avoid too many injuries on O we should score enuf .d will control most games. HC and Nova aside, there D needs to keep us close. I do not think anyone will control Randolph.

[ngineer]

Agree that HC game is the key for PL . Nova will be veryvery tough. BUT, I do believe 8-3 even 9-2 is reasonable. 7 home games really helps ifwe can avoid too many injuries on O we should score enuf .d will control most games. HC and Nova aside, there D needs to keep us close. I do not think anyone will control Randolph.

Define 'control';) IMO if we hold him under 300 yards, he'll be controlled.:D He can throw for 400 yards if we get 3-5 interceptions.:D

[LUHawker]

Agree that HC game is the key for PL . Nova will be veryvery tough. BUT, I do believe 8-3 even 9-2 is reasonable. 7 home games really helps ifwe can avoid too many injuries on O we should score enuf .d will control most games. HC and Nova aside, there D needs to keep us close. I do not think anyone will control Randolph.

I think 9-2 is possible, but I don't know about reasonable. Harvard and Yale probably aren't as strong as the past couple of years and Princeton is probably the same so we could go 3-0 here as opposed to my prediction of 1 loss. The CCSU game to open the season won't be a gimme by any stretch but Lehigh should still be favored. The PL is likely once again to be a four horse race among LU, LC, CU and HC with Fordham nipping at the heels. I still think Lehigh could be at one-loss in the PL, but as we've seen the past few seasons, there isn't much difference between those four teams and there could be a bunch of one-league loss teams.