FOOTBALL FORECAST
Tuss McLaughry, Resuming Coaching, Greets Squad Of More than 100 at Start of 1945 Football Practice
ON A STEAMY AFTERNOON in July (Monday the 9th, to be exact), the 1945 Dartmouth football reason was officially opened. On that day, some 115 assorted candidates (whom the sports writers are perennially pleased to call "hopefuls") turned out to greet Coach Tuss McLaughry on his return from the wars. The quantity of this turnout was unmistakable; the quality is, at this writing, problematical. With Coach McLaughry was his new coaching staff, consisting of Milt Piepul, the backfield coach and the only holdover from Earl Brown's regime; "Whoops" Snively, one of the Princeton gridiron greats of the early twenties, who coached the line at/Williams for a number of years before coming to Dartmouth; and Bill Battles, a towering end who played for an obscure sandlot aggregation known as the Chicago Bears before entering the Marines, from which organization he has recently received a medical discharge. Eddie Zanfrini, the trainer for the last two years and an indispensable member of the coaching group, completes the staff, which, with largely untried material, faces the most rigorous schedule in Dartmouth history.
And now for the talent. Only two familiar faces greeted Coach McLaughry as holdovers from the last Dartmouth team (in 1942) which he coached before entering the Marines. The first is Carl McKinnon, also a Marine, who made the 1942 team as a freshman and returned to Hanover in the V-12 last fall in time to hold down his regular guard position for the season. Carl is currently doubling as captain and catcher of the baseball team and will divide his attention with that activity until the end of the summer season. Carl is, by the way, one of the very few athletes whom the vagaries of military service has allowed (we hope) to play three full seasons of college football in the middle of the war.
The other veteran of the football wars (and the other wars too, for that matter) who turned out, to the surprised delight of coaching staff and squad alike, is Meryll Frost, star halfback on the 1941 and 194 a teams. Followers of Dartmouth football in those seasons will remember Frost as a halfback with blazing speed, tremendous drive, and a dazzling change of pace, which made him, despite his 175 pounds, a difficult man to bring down at the line of scrimmage and practically unstoppable once he broke into the clear. Frost was a ball-turret gunner on a Liberator with the Army Air Forces in Italy. Early last year, a crash landing near Rome in which eight of the ten crew members were killed hospitalized him for a prolonged period. After 18 months of treatment, including a great deal of plastic surgery, he is now fully recovered and anxious to resume both his studies and his football. If three years away from the gridiron plus the grueling experience he has gone through in the hospital has not seriously slowed this speedster down, he will break up more than one football game this fall. In any event, we welcome him back to the Dartmouth team, with our very best wishes.
In addition to the two veterans of his last Dartmouth team, Tuss also has a number of holdovers from last year's team, several of whom should prove exceedingly valuable in the arduous fall campaign. The following nine lettermen saw some service last fall, the majority in the latter half of the season: Fritz Alexander, center; George Rusch, end; Bob Harvey, tackle; Bill Huntsman, guard; Harold Swanson, Bob Albrecht, Ralph Powers, Don Evans, and Milt Fromson, backs. Of this group, Alexander looks like a standout for the center position, with his better than 200 pounds and his aggressive line play. Bob Harvey, the stalwart 215 tackle, was a 60-minute player throughout last season and should continue so through this one—at least unless and until he is transferred in mid-season. Hal Swanson is a natural for the fullback position, where he played last half of the season in 1944. Hal is also doubling in brass with the baseball team, where he is Jeff's best pitcher. This big 200-pounder is a natural athlete and will brighten up the corners considerably this fall. Albrecht, shifted from end, looks like a find at halfback, where his speed and passing ability should fit him into the modified T formation with which Tuss is currently experimenting.
A number of other candidates saw some action last fall, although not enough to give them letters. Jim Biggie at guard, Rollin Sontag at end, and George Little at guard fall into this category and may fill in some of the very evident holes. Scott Miler, a halfback of whom much was expected last year only to have him immobilized the entire season with a bad knee, is back and will see considerable action if his knee permits. Norm Falkin, a basketball player and promising end, was also out all last season with injuries but is back for another trial this summer. This about exhausts the number of candidates concerning which anything whatever is known at this writing. Several vaguely promising Marines were transferred here for the July term and several civilian freshmen look promising—just how much so we will know better by our next communique.
The summer sessions will be devoted largely to the inculcation of fundamental techniques, such as the normal squad ordinarily learns as freshmen. This year, the majority are freshmen, in one way or another, so considerable time will be spent on the rudiments. The present plan is to conclude the summer practice on August 17, followed by two weeks' vacation. Regular practice will start on Labor Day and from then on anything may happen. And probably will.
88 STURDY CANDIDATES, 5 COACHES AND 15 FOOTBALLS FORM AN ARTISTIC GROUP AT THE OPENING OF SUMMER GRIDIRON PRACTICE.
