Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on January 28, 2025, 06:21:01 PMI just noticed that CWRU now has Wabash back on the schedule for the first time in years.

Great to renew the series.

CWRU loses some great players from last season, but will hopefully put up a good fight!

I'm excited for this. I remember fondly those playoff battles in 2007 and 2008. I have nothing but respect for CWRU and Coach Debeljak. I hope it's a great game.

Quote from: Little Giant 89 on January 27, 2025, 06:32:08 PMSad to report that former Wabash Athletic Director and Dean of Students, Tom Bambrey, passed away over the weekend.  Tom graduated from Wabash in 1968.  He was a three year letterman who ran track under fellow Wabash legend J. Owen Huntsman.  In his time serving the College he was instrumental in bringing Chris Creighton, Erik Raeburn, Brian Anderson and Clyde Morgan to the athletic department.  Tom is a member of the Wabash Athletics Hall of Fame.  He was also a regular contributor on this board under the moniker sigma one.

He will be deeply missed.

I was very sad to hear this news. Dean Bambrey was a mentor and role model for me during my time at Wabash. He was my boss as a resident advisor and his counsel and support not only made my job easier, but taught me lessons that resonate to this day. I still have some handwritten notes he sent me through campus mail.

I took one of his English classes as well and found it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Especially when I learned from him in class that the Halloween Bell Heist of 1998 had occurred. Which led to his story about Operation Frijoles, which as mentioned already, was an epic tale.

His continued friendship over the years was a treasure. His love of Wabash was profound and contagious. He was a wonderful man and I will miss him very much. May he rest in peace.

Tom Bambrey. Some Little Giant!

I was in trial last week and did not ever get a chance to send in my ballot. It would have looked like this:

1. Mount Union
2. Depauw
3. Hope
4. John Carroll
5. Marietta
6. Alma
7. Wabash

I'll have my (redacted) together for the final poll after the playoffs.

Quote from: sigma one on November 17, 2024, 11:40:46 AMIf it's true that Don Morel will hand over the coaching reins to Jake Gilbert if the team decides to play in the bowl game this year, then his coaching career at Wabash is concluded.  I'm not going to assert that Morel's coaching record was as good as Creighton's or Morel's, I want to say that he did a good job of coaching the LG's  since 2016 (61-20/.753).  Don played a more challenging OOC schedule than either of his two predecessors.  His OOC losses included North Central (twice), Butler, and this year to UW Platteville, a playoff team.  True enough, he lost 5X to DPU, who are as strong as they have ever been the last three years--conference champion each year, and better than I can recall since they entered the conference.  He lost 3X to Denison, a team that has been vastly improved over the last 8 or so years.  He lost 3X to Witt--in a game that ranks second in importance to DPU. I'm not going to speculate whether Raeburn's or Creighton's teams would have lost some of those games--a fool's errand.
  Did Morel match the success that came between 2000-2015; of course not.  Those glory years for Wabash football were the best run in he history of the team.  (Creighon had a 6-4 record the year after going to the final 8 in the playoffs, and was 7-3 the next year.)
    All in all, though Morel did not matched either Raeburn's or Creighton's winning percentage, he still won 75% of he games he coached, arguably against stronger in conference and OOC opponents than the two coaches who proceeded him.
    I am among those who have been disappointed with recent results, but putting it all in perspective Don did a pretty good job--just not quite as good as Raeburn or Creigton.  What does the future hold?  Will Gilbert improve on recent years?  I hope so. But as John Carroll enters the NCAC next fall and Washington U. the following year, the conference will be much improved. And with DPU's success under Deitz they can be expected to remain strong.  Add to that Denison's rise, and even with Witt's falling off (will that continue?) and the future will be a major challenge.
      The biggest questions in everyone's mind is perhaps whether Don was less successful than he should have been with Liam Thompson leading the team and whether on the defensive side the team could have been stronger. We will never know the answers to these questions.  One could say that he wasted a couple of years during Liam's time--but this is again speculation.  Now, I'm done.  I've known Jake Gilbert for over 25 years and am cautiously encouraged about his appointment (including his contacts with the best high school programs in Indiana). I'm sure though the next few years will be even harder to manage than has previously been the case.   
     

I think this is all true and well-said. Especially about elevating the non-con games. That's a good distinction. The issue isn't that DM didn't do "a good job". We just went from great to good.

The 5 losses to DPU are pretty bad. And it might have been 6 if the 2 pointer at the end of the 17 game was ruled short, as DPU fans argued it should have at the time. CC and ER went a combined 12-3. That kind of disparity is never going to sit well with the fans.

And I think the biggest knock is the Liam Thompson years. To have only a single one-and-done trip to the playoffs with the best QB in a generation, and possibly ever, is bordering on malpractice. But we were told that good enough is good enough. CC and ER showed they could guide the team to a run to the quarters. I can't believe anyone would honestly say that they believed DM was capable of that.

I'm excited for Jake Gilbert's tenure, although, the league is going to be a lot tougher with DPU as good as they are and adding JCU and WashU. I have no doubt that he has someone in mind who will be a significant upgrade as an OC and play-caller. And the defense was much improved after only one season.

The past is the past and I'm excited for next season and beyond. WAF.

Bummed, though unsurprised, by the outcome today. The defense really did a good job for as long as they could, but they were on the field a long time. Whatever Dietz said at halftime must have been a doozy.

I'll raise a TWR to the end of the Don Morel era error.

Quote from: wally_wabash on October 22, 2024, 01:31:14 PMI'm 2/3/4 this week. 

Same.

Quote from: wally_wabash on October 22, 2024, 01:31:14 PMFor the most part, this group is hammering teams they're supposed to hammer, no warning flags really, and I'm waiting for some higher leverage games, which we're about to start getting this week.

Agree with this as well.

The best thing about this game for me was how the defense responded after OWU made it 20-13. That's a big change from the last few seasons where the defense was giving up late leads. I hope we can keep this up.

Quote from: ADL70 on September 12, 2024, 08:15:35 AM

Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on September 11, 2024, 03:07:36 PMNow that Carnegie-Mellon has announced that it's leaving the PAC, does anyone here think that Case Western Reserve U. might join John Carroll University in the NCAC?

The News Herald mentioned that there were scheduling discussions between JCU and CWRU. If CWRU joins NCAC (9 conf games) and can keep the Academic Bowl with CMU. No more scheduling worries! Seems like a win/win. Bring back the Baird Bros trophy came with Wooster. Does anyone remember the Baird Bros?
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baird_Brothers_Trophy

Was that the fishing thing? I'm going off memory here.

Quote from: wally_wabash on September 12, 2024, 02:33:09 PM

Quote from: ADL70 on September 12, 2024, 08:15:35 AM

Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on September 11, 2024, 03:07:36 PMWabash was already scheduled to play CWRU in '25 and '26.

Love it.  That's a really good, competitive contest for both sides and brings back memories of a couple of great playoff games between these teams in Cleveland in '07 and '08. 

I was just talking about those playoff games with a buddy yesterday. Fantastic games. If anyone knows where those games might be archived online I'd love to rewatch them.

Fixed my faulty ballot.

Ballot submitted.

Quote from: wabashcpa on September 07, 2024, 03:54:18 PM

Quote from: CollegeGolf18 on September 07, 2024, 03:27:20 PMWabash wins over St. Norbert 31-0.

Offense is a bit shaky but the St. Norbert defense is really good. I was very impressed with the defense and excited to see how they continue to improve.

Wabash only allowed 226 yards and only 88 passing yards. Great, great performance from them.

And when was the last time we could say that about the defense?  Gilbert already paying dividends.

Far too long. This game felt crisp. I love the energy. The defense was great. I'm excited to see what their ceiling is.

Quote from: Whitecarrera on March 12, 2024, 11:43:31 AMAgreed - this hire hits on so many different levels; an insightful move and bit of timing.  I think one place Wabash has struggled at times has been finding coaches with that certain combination of coaching success AND a real understanding of the place (Don't take that as a knock on anyone -- It's just a really hard thing to do). This though was an opportunity to check every box and then some. I'm glad to see Wabash approach it this way.

I agree with this. There has to be some buy-in. With Jake we don't need to worry about that. And obviously he's had success.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out this fall and beyond, of course.

Quote from: 83LittleGiant on March 11, 2024, 04:33:04 PMWabash Hires Jake Gilbert as New Defensive Coordinator and "Head Coach-In-Waiting"

I think this is a great hire for Wabash.  Jake will serve as DC this year and take over for Morel after the 2024 season.  Congrats Jake.

Article in Indianapolis Star

Wabash Announcement

I feel like I just took my socks off after a 20 hour day.

I love this move. Welcome home, Jake. WAF.

I turned mine in as well. I appreciate the patience. Thanks again for having me this year. It was a fun season and I look forward to next year.

Quote from: Whitecarrera on December 12, 2023, 12:37:52 AM
Second, the thought of Grinnell going 10-0 blows my mind, though it's 99% certain they weren't near the top 16 that year. They've only had three other winning seasons since 1970.

My girlfriend at that time (and currently; it's a long story) was a student at Grinnell that year and everyone on campus was blown away by how that season went. I can't remember who the opponent was but we went to one of their home games when I was visiting. They had a really nice crowd and everyone seemed amazed at the turnout. It was definitely a new experience for them to see a winning team. Too bad it didn't last.

Quote from: sigma one on December 13, 2023, 04:34:54 PM
The OOC teams next fall might be St Norbert and UW Platteville, if my information is correct.

Those are good matchups and I'm glad we aren't playing an out of division opponent. Let's hope we never play one again.