Coach of UPenn B here. Seen a number of teams play in the East Penn Section over the season and the final of the West Penn conference. (With film wherever possible).
I’m sure I will have more to add after Saturday. Due to personal beliefs regarding coaching I will not be nominating Penn folks, although I do believe there are deserving candidates.
All-Region Nominations:
Codi Wood
Should having Nationals-club experience make you a shoe-in for the All-Region team? Probably. This kid is so fundamentally sound it’s scary. His defensive footwork is impeccable, can place the disc anywhere on the field, and is a master of understanding the flow of an offense. Spank is deeper than just Codi (See Alex Liu, Nate Donaher, and the “righty who throws lefty hammers”), but damn is the kid good.
Ethan Fortin
Should having Nationals-club experience make you a shoe-in for the All-Region team? I repeat, probably. This kid put Nova on his back a year ago to drag them to the last bid to regionals at East Penn conferences a year ago. This year he took a step back to allow Nova’s new coach to develop the rest of the roster and is reaping the benefits with a conference title. He can still take over a game when asked, but he has been doing his best work this year initiating Nova’s offense with his excellent cutting and insane throws. Other guys for Nova you should consider are Chris Dixon (Smooth operator in the O-line backfield), John-o (absurd acceleration and great deep target) and Casey Vaughn (shut down defender).
Brian Doherty
Drexel won’t ever get much rep. They make regionals every year with varying results but aren’t going to be making national commotion any time soon. That being said Brian is still the best player on this team. Solid hucks combined with excellent decision making beget significant work with his legs on the offensive and defensive side of the disc. Drexel also has a stud freshman ya’ll should consider for FOTY.
Pitt
We all know Pitt is really good. You could probably make a case for All-Region for any of their top 10-14. So I’m just going to name 4 guys, 2 from the O and 2 from the D who I think have been standout contributors this year. If people really want elaboration on each player I can, but I’m tired of typing. Jonah Wisch, Michael Ing, Kevin Tang, Sam Van Dusen.
Coach of the Year nomination:
Dan Wickens
A year ago Villanova squeaked into regionals on the back of Fortin and friends. They didn’t have a coach. Their offense was…unique. They finished dead last at OV regionals. Then they brought Dan Wickens into the fold. Wickens brought in a new offense and worked on turning the athletes that Nova already brought to the table to true ultimate players. They went down to Florida Warm-Up and hung tough with Elite competition even walking away with a few W’s. They went from being ranked 135 at the end of 2016, to a top 50 program in 2017 (Literally they were #50). And two weekends ago they took home the program’s first conference title. If that’s not deserving of Coach of the year…well I don’t know what is.