Roundtable: Which team outside the “Big 3” will be the next to win a CSFL title?

Spend only a few minutes looking at the archives of CSFL history, and it’s immediately clear who the league’s longtime powers are. Army and Navy have long been 1A and 1B in the league in some order, with one of those two schools having won at least a share of the title in all but eight seasons since the end of World War II. And while its historical profile is far short of those of the academies, Penn has emerged in recent years to form a “Big 3” atop the league, owning a 22-7 overall record and three top-2 finishes in the past four seasons. There hasn’t been a league champion outside of these three schools since Cornell’s undefeated season in 2006, but that drought must come to an end at some point. We take to the roundtable to ask: who’s the next team outside the “Big 3” that will take it home?

Cole Jacobson: Still standing as the most recent team to have accomplished the feat, Cornell has some factors going its way. For starters, it was the closest team to doing so in 2018, finishing with a 5-2 record (counting a forfeit win over Franklin Pierce). Moreover, the Big Red are almost always one of, if not the, best-coached teams in the league. With their mixture of triple options, tricky pass route combinations, run-pass options, guard-tackle counters, and more, they resembled a modern college football offense as well as anyone in the CSFL. Trying to defend them was always a battle for us mentally, even in years when we had a clear edge in physical talent. 

But that caliber of pure athletic talent is why I don’t see them as the most likely team to pull it off. Cornell’s high academic standards make it difficult to get a bevy of high-level athletes into the school every year. And unlike Penn, which has similar academic requirements but consistently pulls strong players out of the Philadelphia and south New Jersey areas, Cornell’s hometown of Ithaca isn’t exactly a hotbed of high school talent. While Cornell is capable of pulling off an upset when its cards fall right, it seems that a 5-2 year like 2018 is the ceiling for that program for the near future. And that’s why I’m picking Chestnut Hill as the next team outside the “Big 3” to win.

Looking at the arc that Chestnut Hill has been on since joining the league in 2015, this pick shouldn’t be a surprise to many. The Griffins played their first full schedule in 2016, and already have finished above .500 for two consecutive seasons, going 4-3 in both 2017 and 2018. To be fair, it’s not unprecedented for a newer program to be competitive that quickly. For example, Post went 5-2 in its second season in 2012, and Franklin Pierce went 5-2 in its debut year in 2013. And it’s true that neither one of those teams made it to the top: Post is 1-20 over its past three seasons, and Franklin Pierce is already out of the league. But there are reasons to believe that Chestnut Hill could be the first CSFL program founded in the 21st century to get there.

Why? One of CHC’s biggest advantages is location. Chestnut Hill and Penn are the league’s only teams located in a major city, and Philadelphia is known to produce high-caliber high school football talent. Moreover, Chestnut Hill doesn’t face nearly the admissions difficulties that Penn does. That combination has led CHC to have some on-paper talent rivaling any school in the league — for example, you don’t often see a pair wideouts as good as Reggie Robinson and Domoree Hill on the same team. It takes a certain baseline of raw athletic skill to win a championship, and CHC has shown the ability to recruit at that level.

Beyond pure athletes, though, it takes a culture to win, and that’s where CHC might differ the most from those Post and Franklin Pierce squads of years past. Look at the quality of the senior class that CHC just graduated: names like Robinson, LB Jonathan Baldwin, RB Raevon-Floyd Bennet, DE (and CSFL Hub founder) Kyle Johnson-Hackett, DT Brian Layden, OL Kevin Clancy, and OL Kevin Meredith all were part of CHC’s first-ever freshman class, and all were multi-year starters. 

As a reader, you’re probably wondering why I’m talking about the players who are leaving the team. It’s not because those departures are somehow going to help CHC — rather, it’s because the fact that they all stayed that long represents the strength of the program’s culture. Peek around the league to see some of the attrition that the lower-level teams have faced: Mansfield had only seven total seniors on its 2018 roster, Post only had seven, and Franklin Pierce had four. CHC’s players aren’t looking to transfer out when other opportunities arise; they’re in it for the long haul to win with each other, and that’s the trait that makes them most similar to the “Big 3” programs.

Additionally, CHC flashed its potential with a 31-26 win at Penn last season. While it’s true that it took almost everything that possibly could go wrong for us for that to happen — playing a backup QB all game, missing our only two non-rookie CBs, and losing a starting guard to a torn ACL in the first half, for example — none of those excuses change the fact that that was the first time a “Big 3” team had lost to a non-“Big 3” team for the first time since Franklin Pierce stunned Navy in 2015. Do I think Chestnut Hill is ready to come with performances like that week in and week out in 2019? No; in my opinion, the Griffins’ two losses by a combined 69 points to Army and Navy last season better personify how much ground they have to make up. So it might be a long time until someone outside the traditional powers raises the CSFL trophy. But if and when it does happen, my money is on CHC to be atop the podium.

As a dark horse pick, I wouldn’t sleep on Alderson Broaddus, either. The unique advantage AB has is that it also has a Division II football team, making it the only CSFL school besides the academies and the Ivies to have an NCAA team. AB defensive coordinator Matt Perotti told CSFL Hub that at least five former D-II players will be joining the sprint team this season. Obviously that high of a number can’t be expected every year, but when I think about the impact that someone like OL/DL Angelo Matos had for Penn in his two seasons with us after leaving the school’s FCS team, if the Battlers can even average one or two players of that caliber joining their roster every year in addition to the freshmen they are recruiting, they could be very good, very fast. It’s absurd to choose them as the most likely non-“Big 3” team to win when they haven’t played one game yet, but they serve as a nice sleeper choice.

Kyle Johnson-Hackett:  If someone asked me this question a few years ago it would yield a different answer. Different teams have risen to the top while others have struggled or have left the league entirely. Post had early program success a few years ago but has struggled in recent times. Franklin Peirce was consistently a competitive team but has since left the league. These departures and declines have allowed for new teams to take hold and take their shot at a league title.

Now to answer the question “Which team outside the “Big 3” will be the next to win a CSFL title?”, I think one of the teams that could win could be Chestnut Hill. Despite the loss of not just elite talent but all-time talent CHC still boasts one of the better rosters in the league. DB duo Nate Moser and Terrell Bush are the best corner tandem in the league. Rising DB Ryan Jakeman looks ready to take the next step and become an elite defender, I have him rated as one of my top 5 safeties heading into the 2019 season. WR/DE Akeem Browne will fill the role left by all-time great WR Reggie Robinson and do some damage on defense as well. The biggest threat returning for CHC is WR Domoree Hill who is my top rated WR heading into the 2019 season. The elite WR will finish his career as not only one of the best players in CHC history but also one of the best WR in league history. CHC head coach Mike Pearson has shown an ability to recruit top notch talent that continues to develop throughout their collegiate career. The next few years look promising for Chestnut Hill and with Mike Pearson at the helm they should continue to be one of the better teams in the league and one of the teams competing for a title.

My sleeper pick is Saint Thomas Aquinas. The new team in the league last year made a strong impression managing to win 2 games in their inaugural season. They have a ton of young talent that could blossom in the next few years. LB Kyle Teneyck, who made my preseason first team all-league list, looks like he can become one of the better defenders in the league. Young QB Kiel McKenzie is one of the best young talents at the position in the league. He showed some flashes last year backing up QB Luke Sullivan but now its McKenzie’s time to shine. STAC’s roster is full of young talent that can shake up the league if they continue to develop. The recruiting area they are in is also an advantage for STAC. The lower New York area in which they call home is surrounded by a plethora of high schools that continuously push out collegiate talent at all levels. They are also very close to New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well which means they can get some out of state kids without having to go to far. Much like Jacobson’s sleeper pick in AB it’s a little to early to expect STAC to compete for a title right now. But if they can continue to develop their talent and keep bringing in strong recruiting classes then STAC could very well be the first non-big three team to win the title.