Yeah - this is an interesting move, and the timing puts Wabash in an interesting spot.  Dr.A, I was asked a similar question on a lacrosse specific board yesterday, and this was my response:

Ned, you're right -- I've never complained about him in the past, but neither have I ever praised him. In my book the jury was still out, but opinions range from negative to middle of the road.

He is a Wabash alum, and was the AD at Western Illinois prior to Wabash. He's a JD and I think very intelligent/qualified, but aloof and withdrawn. He likes to run things from behind his desk, insulated by senior associate directors of this and operational coordinators of that. He's from a football/coaching family, but to my knowledge he's never coached anything. He also looks a little like Waldo, but that's not why you can't find him in the crowd -- it's because he's probably not there.

I guess in short, Wabash is one of those places that's pretty tough to screw up (kinda like being Indiana's Governor). If you've got a personality and some vision, then you'll do great. If you can't get out of your own way, then you're going to get exposed pretty quickly (or maybe elected Vice President). But if you're competent and a good person, then you'll do fine, and this is where Matt fits. He does fine. But if you told me he's going to be the AD for the next 20 years, I'd rather that happen in Granville than Crawfordsville.

In one way or another, I've experienced six Wabash ADs over the last, eh ... long time. Two great, two bad, and two fine. I certainly wish Matt and Denison well, but I think Wabash has the opportunity now to do better, and my guess is that this administration has the wherewithal to take advantage of that.

Fair comments. Like I said, my first time seeing either, and no dog in the fight. I happened to be sitting nearer the BW parents, so I absorbed some of their mood.

I had the chance to see Baldwin Wallace v. UW Oshkosh in the Elite 8 game last night (my first time seeing either team). UWO led wire-to-wire, opened up a big lead, but allowed BW to claw back to 3 points (with possession) in the last minute or two. A very good game.

The biggest surprise to me was BW's coaching (or maybe lack thereof). For a coach with 700+ wins, there wasn't a single moment where you felt BW had a coaching advantage. Twice they played for the final shot in the quarter — each time one player held the ball at midcourt into the last five seconds, and then threw up a bad NBA 3-point shot. 35 years of coaching and that's the best you've got?  And I imagine it's kinda easy to roll through average competition without challenging for rebounds, but when you're behind ten in the first five minutes, you kinda need to challenge for the ball a little. Very disappointing for the BW crowd as they watched some cold shooting lead to conceding a 15 point lead. Just my two cents, now I'll go back to the football boards.

And just like that, LG89 read my signature line and went, "doh!"

Wooster Hire

Haha - Wooster hired a local HS coach.  Sure, he's an alum and has a little D3 coordinator experience, but I can't wait to see how this turns out!

Someone correct me if I mix up the details, but I think it was 2019; tie game in the 4th, and this catch was ruled incomplete.  With video, there was no doubt it was a good catch.  Wabash kicked a FG, and then DPU scored in the last minute for the win.  It was clearly a wrong call, but also had a huge impact on the game.

It's hard for me to get a still frame on Whitehead's dive, but I'm not so sure it was a bad call.  Clearly it was an outstanding effort, followed by a terrible spot, but in college football the pylon is out of bounds, and hitting it means nothing.  The ball has to break the plane inside the pylon, and I don't see that in the views I'm able to find. Would like to see a better angle if anyone has it. (Completely different than in the NFL where the pylon is inside the field of play)

Some bad calls at Blackstock have been a little more obvious.

Yes, but Hardin-Simmons would be in on their merits, regardless of conference. 5-5 is a different story.

Why did a conference with four teams get an automatic bid? Alfred State?

It's all good. I think you and I have a pretty similar perspective with a lot of things on this board, perhaps including the idea that coaches can be judged by a variety of metrics. Sometimes on-the-field success and success are not necessarily the same.

"Those glory years for Wabash football were the best run in the history of the team."

You might have a few Navarro/Parrish fans who disagree with that comment.

But all in all, very well said.

I think one of our problems is that we don't have enough guys wearing tights on only one leg.

You have to appreciate how the ISC logo covers the dot!

Does anyone know how Kenyon beat OWU?

... and Kenyon beat Hiram (DePauw's next opponent) by 20!