FOXBOROUGH – Now one of the longest tenured Patriots players, Kyle Dugger is the guy other younger players are now looking to heading into 2025. It’s a strange spot for him to be in, but he’s embracing the new leadership opportunity under Mike Vrabel. Dugger spoke for about 10 minutes on Tuesday and appeared to be in a positive mindset after a tough, injury-plagued season last year. Now entering his…
Cliche named new head football coach at Portland High School
Image courtesy of Portland School District/@PHSBulldogs Portland High School has hired a familiar face to take over for Sean Green. Nick Cliche, who joined Green as offensive coordinator in 2023 now replaces him as head coach. Cliche, a native of Vermont has nine years of high school coaching experience. He spent five years with Portland Youth Football. From there, Cliche served as offensive coordinator under Jason Jackson at Deering High……
First CIAC Showcase event draws big attendance
By Craig Boland NEFJ Correspondent DANBURY – On a rainy day at Western Connecticut State, 130 sophomores, juniors and seniors that play in the majority public CIAC conference, ran through athletic testing, position drills, and 1-on-1s in front of roughly 20 college programs (FCS, D2, D3) for a showcase. Following the massive success of the NEPSAC/ISL Prep showcases and the Catholic League showcases in Nee Jersey & New York, the…
Edelman wins 2025 Patriots Hall of Fame vote over Vinatieri & Mankins
We now know who will join Bill Parcells in the 2025 Patriots Hall of Fame class. Surprisingly, it isn’t the kicker he brought in as an undrafted free agent in 1996. Julian Edelman – who is extremely deserving and more than worthy of the red jacket – was voted in by the fans over both Adam Vinatieri and Logan Mankins, the team announced on Monday morning. “Julian Edelman is one…
MHSFCA holds its annual banquet
Courtesy of Milton Athletics The Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association held its annual banquet on Sunday night. Several head coaches, assistant coaches and players were honored at the event which took place at the DoubleTree Westborough. Six head coaches were inducted into the hall of fame. Jeff Cormier (Auburn), Steve Dembowski (Milton), Shawn Maguire (Burlington), Dave Palazzi (Leominster) Bruce Rich (Chelmsford) and Dave Woods (Bishop Fenwick). I caught up with……
Ranking the Patriots UDFA’s in order of who is most likely to make the team
The Patriots open up rookie mini camp later this week. Aside from the talent they drafted last weekend, they also signed 17 undrafted free agents. It is a deep group with some talent. We ranked all 17 players brought in and their chances of getting to training camp and making the team. The Patriots, have had an undrafted free agent make the initial 53-man roster in 20 of the last…
The Patriots are now Drake Maye’s team & he knows it
FOXBOROUGH – Drake Maye never seemed nervous in his rookie year while speaking to the media. He didn’t again on Thursday either when he spoke for the first time since January. There was still something different though. An even bigger whiff of confidence in where he and the team are at. The ‘year two jump’ or ‘sophomore slump’ will ultimately be the headline that gets talked to death this season,…
Harvard welcomes 31 players to the program as part of the Class of 2029
Harvard announces their 2029 recruiting class on Thursday. The class features 14 players on offense, 13 on defense, and four on special teams. The offensive talent coming in includes one quarterback, two running backs, seven pass catchers, and four offensive linemen. On defense, the coaching staff added five defensive linemen, three linebackers, and five defensive backs alongside one kicker, one punter, and two long snappers as specialists. It is a……
Recapping the UNH spring game
By Ryan Barry NEFJ Staff DURHAM – The UNH Wildcats wrapped up spring practices with their annual Blue and White Spring game on Thursday night at Wildcat Stadium. On the heels of a 2024 season that saw them reach the FCS playoffs for the 16th time in 20 years, this spring has seen a whole host of changes from the locker room to the coaching staff. With a slew of key…
Pirates make change at the top; Hire Tom Menas as head coach & defensive coordinator
Five games into the 2025 season and the Massachusetts Pirates have made a change at head coach. On Wednesday, the Pirates announced that they relived Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator Fred Griggs after a 2-3 start to the season. The Pirates are replacing Griggs with veteran Arena Football coach Tom Menas. Menas will be filling both roles. He began this year as the Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator of the…