We spent the past two weekends at the Big New England Clinic and the MHSFCA Clinic at Gillette Stadium. We got some good stuff so here goes. 

• We heard that Bill Belichick told coaches when he was here that North Carolina will be recruiting the area for “a while.” Interesting because I still see him returning to the NFL at some point. 

• Scituate Coach Herb Devine told me he is really excited about the team he has returning led by quarterback Jonny Donovan and athlete Grayson Foley. Devine said they have some talent in the freshmen and eighth grade classes as well.

• Steve Dembowski thinks his Milton Wildcats will bounce back next season. With 11 starters back on offense the Wildcats should have one of the top scoring units in the state once again. 

• Coaches kept talking about how loaded Division 3 will be in the new alignment. With King Philip and Marshfield moving down, the division is stacked and coaches across the state are noticing it. It almost felt like they were fans with a rooting interest. 

• Scheduling has been tough. Schools are still looking for games. Walpole for example needs a Week 8 opponent. They will not be playing Wachusett. Multiple coaches told me they have had a hard time finding games. 

• Hearing a lot of coaches express concern about line play. Many said they just don’t have enough big bodies up front. More undersized than years past and some told me it is hard to get to play or keep bigger kids you have in your program. 

• Players transferring to private schools was a big topic of conversation. Several local players reclassified this past Monday and public school coaches are at a loss as to how to handle it. Prevailing thought was, there’s nothing you can do. You hope to give your players a good experience and they chose to stay. 

• More public school showcase days could be on the horizon. The Hockomock League and MVC are among the leagues that have them and other leagues are considering it. We were told a couple other leagues are considering starting their own showcase days. 

• Heard some good things about the recent hires at North Andover and Andover. Both Matt Cerullo and Jay Fielding are highly respected and the expectation is that both schools will remain highly competitive both in the MVC and beyond. 

• Coaches are noticing the continued affects of the portal. We were told on several occasions that less college coaches had visited schools this winter. Sadly, many high school coaches think that high school recruits are getting squeezed by the “quick fix kids” that are available in the transfer portal.