I like this hire.  It restores (to some degree) my faith in the administration and the AD;  he's played and coached the game successfully at this level (and in this conference), he's got head coaching experience and he's enthusiastic about being here.  Now they have to support him in his recruitment efforts, something that frankly concerns me.  Nonetheless, the fact that they didn't go out and hire some frisbee football coach from Southern California, but committed to someone who appears to be a Football Guy, is a step in the right direction.  And I do NOT think that .500 is the goal - not for Alumni, and I'd bet certainly not for Coach Hammer.

I'll try to be nice.  I swore I wouldn't blog any more because I was too frustrated and it came across as venom.  But on this gracious invitation I'll say that I think Mark paid the price that others negotiated.  He had a winning record as of August of 2013, then went 1-26.  Did he forget how to coach?  Or was there something else at work that led us from [relative] contention in the NCAC to being blown out of most games we played?  I think he's still a good coach, and he's leaving because it is the "right" thing to do, and I wish him well.  So as much as I blame the administration for our football misfortunes - which many of you have castigated me for - I also am extremely interested in what happens next.  Do they alter the admissions policy to make it look better?  Sorry, getting cynical again, but that's where I'm at.  Again, especially you Wabash guys, imagine how you'd feel if your alma mater suddenly started getting beat by scores like 65-0.

Sorry, Ohio, Indiana and Pa brethren.  Peace to you all.

The neglect is not for sports overall -- the school proudly trumpets the success of the golf and soccer teams -- it is specifically the football program.  This is the gist of my complaint.  Sorry if it offends anyone that I put it in political terms but that's how I see it.  Can I offer "evidence"?  Of course not.  I'm an alum, and a football fan, venting.  But I truly believe I'm not simply out there. Mark Matlack did not become a bad coach overnight.  We might have 100 players on the roster, but if only half of them were recruited and better players were off the list for institutional reasons, we're not going to compete in this league or any other.  After the disastrous 2013 season I thought it was a one-off bad year and that younger players would develop and raise our level of competition.  Two years later we are running in place.  But this is my last post, the only folks on this blog seem to be our Ohio brethren (bless you all), and I'm too tired to argue about it.  I had some hope that Gator alumni would rally to the cause, but that's not happening (here or anywhere else that I can see).  So here's hoping that I'm totally misguided, and that the program is resurrected soon.

This is a team that won a National Championship in 1990 and made the playoffs in  5 of the 6 years following, and at least competed in the NCAC until a couple of years ago:

2013: 0-10, outscored 358-65, losses of 65-0 to Wabash, 50-7 to Ohio Wesleyen, 56-0 to Wittenberg, in addition to 5 other losses by 20 points or more.
2014: 1-9, outscored 416-146, losses of 63-0 to Wabash, 59-7 to DePauw, 52-21 to Wittenberg, in addition to 5 other losses by 20 points or more.
This year: 0-5, 54-0 loss to Wabash, 48-9 to Oberlin.

This is not a "down year", or a coach who has lost his touch. I am cringing at the thought of playing DePauw Saturday, not so much for myself as an alum as for the kids whose four years of football at Allegheny will be associated with these records and scores.  There is a certain mentality among academics, which I view as "leftist" (if only because of the NY Times' war on football), that football is barbaric and incompatible with a "progressive" academic agenda.  Is this why we've cratered in football?  I dunno.  Is a small liberal arts college to be judged by the success of its football program?  Nope.  Do I think the current administration gives a rat's tush about football?  No, I don't.  Am I pissed about that?  Yes, I am.  Seem to be no Gator bloggers out there - sign of the times -  but what would you do if this happened to your program?

Pick the date, it's a matter of time.  They show no support for the program, Coach Matlack is left twisting in the wind.  Leftist administration is angling toward extinction, just as other small liberal arts schools with impressive academic credentials realize the value of doing whatever it is you do to the best of your ability.  Torture.....

Appreciate both of your views, and admit that my opinions are drawn from gut feelings as much as empirical observations, but consider the following:

1)    "5-5 is no good."  Perhaps, but in the context of a 25 year run, those were the down years (with 1 exception).  From 1990 – 1999, the Gators had a 93-16 record, the NC and 6 playoff appearances.  OK, glory years gone by, history.  From 2000-2009, they were 56-45, with 1 playoff appearance and five 5-5 seasons.  But their non-league schedule for the first six of those years included games against Mount Union (2), Baldwin-Wallace (4),  W&J (6), Westminster (5) in addition to Wabash and Wittenberg (3-7 against each for the decade).  Which means, for the most part, they didn't lose a whole lot of games to NCAC foes other than the big 2 (and even won a few against each of them).  That is a competitive program, and if they slipped to 5-5 half the time it was because they dared to play up in their non-league schedule.  And they generally played tough in their losses to the good teams.  I will say that those 5-5 seasons are qualitatively different than the recent 5-5 seasons, but that only underscores my point.  We stopped playing top tier non-conference teams around 2008, which I believe to be the time that football moved back in the list of priorities for the school.  (Yes, I know, the AD got here last year, I've already acknowledged she didn't start this process). 

2)   I do not know enough about the kids to comment on poor work ethic suggestions, nor did I have any information about the work ethic of the kids on the good teams.  I do know that coaches look for work ethic as part of the recruitment process.  MM is the same guy who won the league and went to the playoffs in 2003; I have to believe that on his own he would look for the same kind of characteristics in his recruits.  If he is not, it is for reasons beyond his control.  Absolutely, I am drawing an inference from these facts, though I would not agree that it constitutes a blind accusation.  The decline in our overall level of success, the decline in the quality of our non-league competition, the decline of our competitiveness within the conference, blowout losses on our home field in what very well could be a winless season; all of it, given the constant of a head coach who has been there for 12 years, leads me to this conclusion.  I could be wrong, but I also haven't heard another plausible explanation.

3)   MM- see above

4)   I believe the administration is not – and has not been for several years - supportive of the football recruitment efforts as many, if not most, of the other NCAC schools are.  We would not be the first school to de-emphasize football; some schools have actually done away with their programs (Swarthmore, Hofstra).  I'm not sure that Allegheny is ready to drop football, but it seems that neither are they ready to commit to being competitive.   

Yes, the pain of this season has got my dander up.  It's a great school with great people and I've always been proud of both the school and its football heritage.  And I do send  money.  I would give an arm to see them beat Oberlin this Saturday (well, maybe not literally but you get the point).  And maybe there are some Freshmen and Sophomores there who will get some experience and lift the program.  But watching them this year is traumatic, as I'm sure it is to everyone associated with the team, if not totally unexpected.

Maybe a bad rap on the new AD, I concede.  But it is hard to reconcile one losing season in 25 years with 0-6, incredible disparity in scores, playing the same teams we've had success against.  Not a matter of coaching changes, MM has been there for many years, and he's a solid coach.  I'm frustrated because I feel bad for the kids getting pummeled every week.  I don't recall us compromising admission standards when we were making the playoffs every year, and I don't think that the many good schools in the D3 Top 25 have had their academic standing (or their applications for admission) fall off as their football fortunes improve.  For the record, I hope I am wrong about the administration's attitude, but not many programs fall off the cliff this suddenly.

Hard to watch the Allegheny football program sink into the mire this way, harder still not to believe that the current administration and AD feel not the slightest bit upset by it.  There seems to be a feeling that football success is incompatible with being a "progressive" or "elite" liberal arts school (or with aspirations thereto), and support for a once proud football program obviously has waned.  Coach Matlack wages an uphill battle on the recruitment front already, and this year will make it harder still.  65 - 0 on Homecoming Day, outscored 198 - 21 through the first 5 games -- this is a program that in the last 25 years has won a National Championship, made 8 playoff appearances and had one losing season.  An absolute shame.