The Lehigh football fan base has been beaten down for a long time.
After being used to contending for league titles and FCS playoff berths, the Mountain Hawks program has fallen on hard times.
Since winning the Patriot League title and going 9-3 in 2016, Lehigh has gone 18-46, including an 0-3 mark in the pandemic-plagued spring of 2021 and a 1-4 record this season.
A fan base that used to look for Lehigh’s name on the list of weekly national rankings now scours the schedule for games the Mountain Hawks might be able to win.
Many fans became disenchanted during Tom Gilmore’s 9-27 tenure spread over 3½ seasons and sought a change in head coaches. They got one when Gilmore resigned after internal discussions shortly after Lehigh lost to Lafayette 14-11 to cap the program’s worst season since a 1-8 mark in 1967.
When Yale offensive coordinator Kevin Cahill was hired last December, those who were seeking not only better results but also increased offensive production, thought Christmas had come early at Lehigh.
But as Cahill’s first season in charge reaches the midway mark Saturday when the Mountain Hawks open league play at Fordham, some fans don’t see much a change and might be getting impatient.
Cahill understands their feelings. He knows that everyone wants an instant turnaround.
However, football programs, much like weak credit reports, don’t go from bad to good overnight.
Anyone looking for a quick fix may be disappointed in first five games of the Cahill era, but the first-year coach understood all along that it was going to take time to lay the foundation for his program and change the culture.
“We’ve gone through situations at Yale and it’s very similar to what we are going through now,” Cahill said. “We had a lot of kids that just played football, but weren’t football players. Here, we’re talking to the kids all the time about the amount of time and energy that goes into this. And it’s going to take a little bit until we get it back to where it needs to be and where it has been in the past. And that’s one of the biggest positives. This place has won, and will win again. It’s just a matter of getting it done.”
Cahill said he has forged a relationship with the alumni and many of the fans and he understands that everyone wants to win right now.
“But there are things structurally we have to get better at and there are things schematically we have to get better at,” he said. “The answer to everything is recruiting. We’ve got to recruit and get more kids in here. We have to recruit the right kids who can do it here.”
Cahill knew the nonleague portion of the schedule would be a challenge with two games against CAA teams and two against Ivy League members. The fifth game was against Northeast Conference member Merrimack and that’s where Lehigh’s lone win has come.
But the players remain optimistic, energized and confident of a turnaround and Cahill hasn’t lost faith, either.
“This past week was a little bit of a shock to us,” he admitted, talking about a 49-7 loss at Monmouth. “We didn’t think we were 49-7 worse than Monmouth, but we played 49-7 worse than Monmouth. We had a spurt where we didn’t play well at all. We have to lose those spurts. We’re getting there and the kids have bought it.”
He said what isn’t evident is the team’s growth.
“Our record doesn’t show how much we’ve grown as a program from back in December when I got here,” he said. “I’m proud of where we’re at. I think we’re getting where we need to be, but our record doesn’t show it. And that’s what dictates our success, the record. And right now, it’s not good.
“But we’ve had growth and we’re getting better and a lot of younger guys are getting reps right now. And that’s going to pay off in a couple of weeks, and toward the end of the season, and it’s going to pay off in future years, too.”
Cahill and the team are happy to start league play where they are 0-0, and he believes his team has learned a lot from its nonleague schedule.
“You have to focus on your league games, but that can’t be the standard here,” he said. “That’s a great thing to look at now and it’s a little bit of a refresher because we’re 0-0 in the league and we’re playing some like opponents and like programs that we see year in and year out. But we want to be a program where every game matters.”
Injuries have taken a toll and the two-deep looks very different now than when the team opened its season against Villanova on Labor Day weekend.
“Everybody’s going through it,” Cahill said. “Fordham [3-2, 0-1 league] is going through it, Monmouth is going through it. Some of these schools have more kids and older kids. I watched a matchup the other day where a fifth-year player was going against a freshman and that’s 22 or 23-year-old kid going against an 18-year-old. We’ve just got to stop being in those situations too often. That’s where developing players and recruiting players comes into play.”
Going back to the fans, Cahill said: “I understand where they’re at and I sympathize with them. But I am not going to sit here and cry in my milk and be upset about it. There’s work to do and there’s a vision and mission I have and we’re sticking to it. We’re on pace to be where we need to be. Is it happening as fast as everybody wants? No, it’s not. We have work to do. This team is better than what the results are showing. The kids know that. The coaches know that. We’re not satisfied with what the season has been, but we’re working our butts off to get back there.”
Lafayette at Princeton
Lehigh is going through many of the same growing pains John Troxell went through last season in his first year at Lafayette.
But after going 4-7 in 2022, the Leopards are 4-1 and looking like a team that could contend in the Patriot League.
After three straight home games, Lafayette is gone all of October starting with the 1 p.m. game Saturday at Princeton. The Leopards began league play with an impressive 56-22 win over Bucknell last week and now go back outside the league for one game before getting a bye week to prepare for defending league champ Holy Cross on Oct. 21.
“I’m just really happy for our kids, but we’ve still got work to do,” Troxell said. “The coach in me keeps thinking we’ve got to do this better and do that better, but the best part is we’re playing with a ton of grit, a ton of emotion and the kids are having fun.”
Troxell, whose team earned three of the weekly awards presented by the Patriot League, said his squad is coming up to the hard part of the schedule with three straight road games.
“We just have to play well and do what we do,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep our kids working hard. If we do, I think we’ll have a chance to make a run here. We’re looking forward to Princeton, even though we haven’t had a lot of success against them. And then we’re looking forward to our bye week and getting some guys healthy again.”
Lafayette has lost 12 straight to Princeton dating back to 2004. With a win, the Leopards would top last year’s win total and earn five wins a season since a 5-6 mark in 2014.
“It’s great to see the success we’re having after all the hard work we’ve put in,” he said. “The kids have worked hard, the staff has worked hard. We may even be a little ahead of schedule from where I thought we’d be because we’re doing it with a lot of young players in key spots.”
Most notably, sophomore quarterback Dean DeNobile has won back-to-back Patriot League offensive player of the week awards. He has completed 52 of 79 passes for 604 yards since getting extensive time in Week 2 at Duke. He has thrown seven TD passes and has been intercepted just twice. He has also rushed for three scores.
