Football Completes First Week of Preseason Camp
8/30/2026
The Dartmouth football team completed its first week of preseason camp on Sunday, Aug. 30, with a morning practice at Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field.
Camp officially started on Saturday, Aug. 22, with the primary focus of week one being on fundamentals.
“I thought it was a good first week of practice,” said Sammy McCorkle, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach. “Players practiced with a lot of focus and effort, and a lot of guys were flying around competing for opportunities. The hard work they put in during the offseason was evident – players reported prepared and well-conditioned. As a team, we had a strong sense of urgency every day and max effort was apparent in every drill we did. Moving into next week, we’ll concentrate on attention to detail as we prepare for our first scrimmage.”
Fundamentals, along with player development, have been major factors in the culture of winning at Dartmouth, with the Big Green’s 22 Ivy League titles being a conference best. In addition, Dartmouth has won four Ivy championships in the past six seasons and will aim to build off that success in 2026.
The Big Green has had two off days: Tuesday, Aug. 25, which was Dartmouth's media day, and Saturday, Aug. 29, which saw the team make the short trip to Storrs Pond Recreation Area for an afternoon of team bonding that included sand volleyball, Wiffle ball, Spikeball, and canoeing.
While nine players who earned All-Ivy League honors in 2025 graduated, Dartmouth returns Harrison Keith and Grayson Saunier, who were tabbed as Phil Steele Magazine Preseason All-Ivy League First Team selections. Keith was a 2025 Associated Press All-American third team honoree, and both were named to the All-Ivy second team in 2025. Joshua Johnson, who played in all 10 games last season and made 23 tackles, joins Keith and Saunier as captains. Dartmouth also returns a pair of All-Ivy selections on special teams, as punter Luke Armistead was a 2025 All-Ivy second team selection, and kicker Owen Zalc, the 2024 Ivy Special Teams Player of the Year, was a two-time All-Ivy first team honoree.
The Big Green also took time to support their fellow Dartmouth student-athletes when it attended and brought tremendous energy to the women soccer team's home victory over the University of San Francisco on Thursday, August 28, at Burnham Field.
Following along on Instagram, Facebook and X for more content from preseason camp, including positional previews with the Big Green's coaching staff.
