FULL NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION GRADUATE PLAYER ARTICLE
When the term "grad transfer" gets thrown around in college athletics, the focus typically turns to the student-athletes who pack up their belongings and head off seeking new adventures.
However, there are those who know a good thing when they see it and are just fine finishing what they started.
Running back Jake Conlan (West Haven, Conn./Trinity-Pawling) and defensive back Devon Williams (Fall River, Mass./Catholic Memorial) certainly fit that category. When their undergraduate days ended, there were options for both of them. They decided to continue their studies as well as extending their football-playing days in familiar surroundings.
"I definitely was not thinking about going anywhere else, I have been here since I was a freshman, with COVID and I had an injury my freshman year," said Williams, who led the Chargers with 10 tackles in the season opener. "I had two years left so I am excited about my chance to solidify my position."
Conlan grew up in West Haven so he had a first-hand look at the university that he now calls home. Along with Christopher Ais (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) and Hunter Cobb (Sandy Hook, Conn./Newtown), who like Conlan is a Connecticut native, he gives New Haven three running backs good enough to start.
Conlan has adapted just fine from the move to morning classes as an undergraduate taking mostly evening classes now that he is in graduate school.
"Coming back and being part of a great program with a great coaching staff is something special to me," Conlan said. "We have one of the biggest groups of graduate students in the country and it has done wonders for our program. It allows the younger guys to understand what they go through, how things run and how a collective group of guys can excel both on and off the field."
New Haven has 36 players on its roster in graduate school, the most in the nation.
Obviously, when New Haven football coach Chris Pincince looks through the transfer portal, the ability to help New Haven compete for the
Northeast-10 title is at the top of the priority list. However, getting players who want to capitalize on the chance to pursue an advanced degree is important as well.
"For them, it shows a love of football that they, 'hey, I want to exhaust my eligibility at the school I started at. If things weren't going well, obviously they could pick up and go somewhere else with no repercussions at all," Pincince said. "It says a lot about them as people that I have more football in me and I want to finish it out at New Haven. It probably says a lot about their teammates as well and how our administration and our staff really embrace the idea that we are trying to teach it better here, we are not just worried about the football part of things. For them to come back for Year 5 and in some of the cases, Year 6 it says a lot about the culture that we have started here."
There were a large number of transfers who started their collegiate careers elsewhere who stepped into key roles in a season-opening loss to Frostburg State.
"The transition has been really smooth," said former Brown University defensive back Jalen Fisher (Pasadena, Calif./Chaminade College Prep) who had two tackles in the Frostburg State game. "I only have three classes so I can balance school, football and having a personal life outside of that."
The players usually carpool to the Orange campus for the graduate school classes and share experiences in the classroom and as roommates with fellow transfers.
"I think what stands out is that a majority of them are mature kids that understand why they are here, that is to get a Masters, to win football games and to be contributors in whatever capacity they can be," Pincince said. "There hasn't been a lot of the, 'hey, I am entitled, I should be starting, I should be playing a whole bunch."
For the transfers, it is the best of both worlds with the ability to pursue a graduate degree while competing for a team in contention for the Northeast-10 title and a spot in the Division II playoffs on an annual basis.
"It is a mix between the grad school academics and the alumni who work with the students and even come back to campus," said receiver Myles Bradley (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central), who transferred in from Colgate.
"There is a winning culture to be able to compete in the games and stuff like that. There are a lot of transfers that come from all over so there are opportunities to meet a lot people coming from different backgrounds."
Due to the COVID-19 eligibility rules, players often have two years of eligibility when they transfer. That will change very soon so they will likely have just the one season of football left to play.
"It will be a huge change because now they want to finish that degree and with two years of football, they can get 3/4 of the way [towards the graduate degree] and some cases can graduate in a year and a half, so for them it is a well worthwhile investment," Pincince said.
Next up for New Haven is a trip to Bentley for a Saturday night clash.
Although Bentley is a conference rival, the 6:30 p.m. game will go down as a non-conference contest. It will still be a challenge.
"They know what we have and we know what they have so we going out there and be prepared to win," Conlan said. "Obviously it was a tough loss last week, but we beat ourselves. It was the first time playing with a lot of brand new guys and another week of getting to know each other's roles and understanding each other."
Bentley lost 20-19 to West Chester in the season opener. Quarterback Mark Waid threw for two touchdowns and led the Falcons with 98 rushing yards.
"They are a good, sound football team," Pincince said. "They play very hard on the defensive side of the football. They have changed a little offensively where they are uptempo. It is all about the quarterback and containing him. He is athletic, he can throw it well and he is a really big, good-looking athlete who tucks the ball down and runs. He is not afraid to run people over. He doesn't run out of bounds and extends plays."
