FB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[Rhythm21]

Aurora has become a power, I would assume by virtue of having an ex-NFL 2-time Super Bowl winner as head coach, as that has to help dominate the recruiting trail.  It will be interesting to see if Don Beebe stays at AU for the long haul (he is 58) or has ambitions above the D3 level; you could see him as a coach at NIU, or heck, why not even a Northwestern, although I've never heard his name mentioned for other jobs. 

I would also have to assume that AU would regress back to its historical mean when Beebe does retire/leave.

Any followers/fans of the program have any insights?

Beebe has ties to the Aurora area, which made this a nice fit for everyone. I hope he's there for the long haul, but if he does end up going to a different school (which I imagine a good amount of other programs would have interest in), AU would be wise to hire from his staff and keep the same culture and philosphies. But for now, I think we're all content to enjoy the ride.

[Captain_Joe08]

Aurora up 17-7 with under 10 minutes to play. Coe is near midfield though.

Sloppy game as AU has four turnovers (2 INT and 2 fumbles lost) while Coe has 5 (2 INT and 3 fumbles lost)

EDIT: Make that 6 turnovers for Coe as they throw another INT in Aurora territory.

[Captain_Joe08]

Aurora defeats Coe 20-7 in a sloppy game. Up next is UW-La Crosse.

[Captain_Joe08]

St. Norbert blows a 14-0 halftime lead and loses the Lakefront Bowl to Monmouth 21-14.

[Rhythm21]

Aurora defeats Coe 20-7 in a sloppy game. Up next is UW-La Crosse.

Never apologize for a victory! That being said, our offense owes our defense a few lunches.
*I haven't seen Aurora's O-line get beat like that in maybe 4 years.
*We had WRs dropping TDs, false start on 4th and inches, a terribly timed botched-snap on a 4th quarter punt.
*Chretin tried bouncing everything to the outside, and when he kept to the inside he'd get hit before getting back to the LOS.
*Tyler Adkins is a promising freshman making his first start, and thankfully he played well enough in the first quarter to get the points we needed to survive and advance, but he has to protect the ball much better if Luyando doesn't return next week. Turning the ball over 4x (I think), and the only reason we didn't get blown out was because our stellar defense (and punt team) took the ball away 7x (Yeah, this week's lunches are on the offense.)

We really missed Luyando's dual threat ability, and Coe quickly learned that the Adkins scramble threat isn't nearly as dangerous. But as is said in the movie 300, our defense, "Gave them nothing, and took from them everything!"  And a playoff win is a playoff win, and the fact I can come in here and nit-pic a NACC 2-score playoff W is a privilege we should not take for granted. Happy for the guys that they get a chance to clean everything up and come next Saturday, show UW-LaX what they're capable of.

[SpartanHouse4]

Aurora defeats Coe 20-7 in a sloppy game. Up next is UW-La Crosse.

Never apologize for a victory! That being said, our offense owes our defense a few lunches.
*I haven't seen Aurora's O-line get beat like that in maybe 4 years.
*We had WRs dropping TDs, false start on 4th and inches, a terribly timed botched-snap on a 4th quarter punt.
*Chretin tried bouncing everything to the outside, and when he kept to the inside he'd get hit before getting back to the LOS.
*Tyler Adkins is a promising freshman making his first start, and thankfully he played well enough in the first quarter to get the points we needed to survive and advance, but he has to protect the ball much better if Luyando doesn't return next week. Turning the ball over 4x (I think), and the only reason we didn't get blown out was because our stellar defense (and punt team) took the ball away 7x (Yeah, this week's lunches are on the offense.)

We really missed Luyando's dual threat ability, and Coe quickly learned that the Adkins scramble threat isn't nearly as dangerous. But as is said in the movie 300, our defense, "Gave them nothing, and took from them everything!"  And a playoff win is a playoff win, and the fact I can come in here and nit-pic a NACC 2-score playoff W is a privilege we should not take for granted. Happy for the guys that they get a chance to clean everything up and come next Saturday, show UW-LaX what they're capable of.

A playoff win with the backup QB who is a freshman....awesome stuff AU.

Much bigger test this week. Curious if the starter will be back this week.

[Pat Coleman]

Aurora defeats Coe 20-7 in a sloppy game. Up next is UW-La Crosse.

Never apologize for a victory! That being said, our offense owes our defense a few lunches.
*I haven't seen Aurora's O-line get beat like that in maybe 4 years.
*We had WRs dropping TDs, false start on 4th and inches, a terribly timed botched-snap on a 4th quarter punt.
*Chretin tried bouncing everything to the outside, and when he kept to the inside he'd get hit before getting back to the LOS.
*Tyler Adkins is a promising freshman making his first start, and thankfully he played well enough in the first quarter to get the points we needed to survive and advance, but he has to protect the ball much better if Luyando doesn't return next week. Turning the ball over 4x (I think), and the only reason we didn't get blown out was because our stellar defense (and punt team) took the ball away 7x (Yeah, this week's lunches are on the offense.)

We really missed Luyando's dual threat ability, and Coe quickly learned that the Adkins scramble threat isn't nearly as dangerous. But as is said in the movie 300, our defense, "Gave them nothing, and took from them everything!"  And a playoff win is a playoff win, and the fact I can come in here and nit-pic a NACC 2-score playoff W is a privilege we should not take for granted. Happy for the guys that they get a chance to clean everything up and come next Saturday, show UW-LaX what they're capable of.

A playoff win with the backup QB who is a freshman....awesome stuff AU.

Much bigger test this week. Curious if the starter will be back this week.

Topic of discussion on our podcast today.
https://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/2023/11/20/running-down-the-first-round/

[Rhythm21]

Aurora defeats Coe 20-7 in a sloppy game. Up next is UW-La Crosse.

Never apologize for a victory! That being said, our offense owes our defense a few lunches.
*I haven't seen Aurora's O-line get beat like that in maybe 4 years.
*We had WRs dropping TDs, false start on 4th and inches, a terribly timed botched-snap on a 4th quarter punt.
*Chretin tried bouncing everything to the outside, and when he kept to the inside he'd get hit before getting back to the LOS.
*Tyler Adkins is a promising freshman making his first start, and thankfully he played well enough in the first quarter to get the points we needed to survive and advance, but he has to protect the ball much better if Luyando doesn't return next week. Turning the ball over 4x (I think), and the only reason we didn't get blown out was because our stellar defense (and punt team) took the ball away 7x (Yeah, this week's lunches are on the offense.)

We really missed Luyando's dual threat ability, and Coe quickly learned that the Adkins scramble threat isn't nearly as dangerous. But as is said in the movie 300, our defense, "Gave them nothing, and took from them everything!"  And a playoff win is a playoff win, and the fact I can come in here and nit-pic a NACC 2-score playoff W is a privilege we should not take for granted. Happy for the guys that they get a chance to clean everything up and come next Saturday, show UW-LaX what they're capable of.

A playoff win with the backup QB who is a freshman....awesome stuff AU.

Much bigger test this week. Curious if the starter will be back this week.

Topic of discussion on our podcast today.
https://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/2023/11/20/running-down-the-first-round/

Well, let's hope Adkins protects the ball while still making plays downfield and that Chretin and our Oline can get back to form this weekend. And of course, that our defense continues it's lockdown performance.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

[Rhythm21]

Tough way for Aurora to go out, but for the seniors and all the players on the team, just know that all the alumni are grateful for the way you all continue to build this program up. Congrats on an amazing season!

[formerd3db]

Apparently, Concordia-Wis and its sister school here in Michigan, Concordia-Ann Arbor are in financial trouble. According to media reports today, faculty and staff layoffs are planned soon, and some Ann Arbor campus buildimgs might be sold or the school might even close permanently.

The situation is somewhat confusing because both campuses have had record increased enrollment since 2022, and the Ann Arbor campus has made a financial profit every year since 2013 according to the article. Unfortunately, two Town Hall meetings at the Ann Arbor school earlier this week (one with students, the other with the public and parents) did not go well as answers were lacking, again, according to the article. It was also reported that the Athletic Director at the Ann Arbor school (former head fb coach there and at Concordia-Chicago, Lonnie Pries) is putting a group together to offer to buy the Ann Arbor university and operate it  independently.

Although the Ann Arbor school is NAIA football, while the Mequon school is, of course, NCAA, this is sad, but unfortunately, a sign of the times. Do any of you think Concirdia-Wis will drop fb or some other sports? I think the fb program at the Ann Arbor school may be in trouble.

[Captain_Joe08]

Hard to say on that front. The program at Concordia (MI) has been a contender in their league for a while now since shaking off their early struggles (61-23 with 5 postseason appearances). They should be fine in the short term but developments on that front could change that. Found it odd that both CUW and CU-AA are joined at the hip.

As for CUW....I doubt they will drop football. Whether they cut some minor sports to offset some of the financial burden will remain to be seen but that will happen before football is remotely considered for cutting.

[WashingtonWiz99]

Apparently, Concordia-Wis and its sister school here in Michigan, Concordia-Ann Arbor are in financial trouble. According to media reports today, faculty and staff layoffs are planned soon, and some Ann Arbor campus buildimgs might be sold or the school might even close permanently.

The situation is somewhat confusing because both campuses have had record increased enrollment since 2022, and the Ann Arbor campus has made a financial profit every year since 2013 according to the article. Unfortunately, two Town Hall meetings at the Ann Arbor school earlier this week (one with students, the other with the public and parents) did not go well as answers were lacking, again, according to the article. It was also reported that the Athletic Director at the Ann Arbor school (former head fb coach there and at Concordia-Chicago, Lonnie Pries) is putting a group together to offer to buy the Ann Arbor university and operate it  independently.

Although the Ann Arbor school is NAIA football, while the Mequon school is, of course, NCAA, this is sad, but unfortunately, a sign of the times. Do any of you think Concirdia-Wis will drop fb or some other sports? I think the fb program at the Ann Arbor school may be in trouble.

The next 5-10 years are going to be a tough go for all institutions but especially the small ones.
I don't think this stops at just these schools in the Midwest:
MacMurray College (May 2020)
Silver Lake/Holy Family (August 2020)
Iowa Wesleyan (May 2023)
Finlandia (May 2023)
Cardinal Stritch (May 2023)

[Captain_Joe08]

What killed Finlandia was being basically being in Michigan Tech's back yard and being on an island in the D3 landscape along with offering limited majors.

Iowa Wesleyan tried to make do in D3 but struggled to be even remotely competitive in football before dropping back down to NAIA.

Stritch was a shocker....They had strong athletic programs when I was at WLC over a decade ago but the decline and then the pandemic finished it off.

Never got a good read on Silver Lake but again the Pandemic basically took that school out. They tried to make the jump back into the NAIA after being in the USCAA for years (former Lake Michigan Conference member btw).

[formerd3db]

What killed Finlandia was being basically being in Michigan Tech's back yard and being on an island in the D3 landscape along with offering limited majors.

Iowa Wesleyan tried to make do in D3 but struggled to be even
remotely competitive in football before dropping back down to NAIA.


Stritch was a shocker....They had strong athletic programs when I was at WLC over a decade ago but the decline and then the pandemic finished it off.

Never got a good read on Silver Lake but again the Pandemic basically took that school out. They tried to make the jump back into the NAIA after being in the USCAA for years (former Lake Michigan Conference member btw).

Two other major factors that hurt Finlandia were:

 a) they did not make recruting the Upper Peninsula high schools a priority. Concentrating on recruitment of players from Detroit and even out-of-state southern states was not helpful. Too much attrition occured each year due to difficulty in adjusting to the weather and culture if being so far north.  Even though a great number of U.P. high schools are 8- man foitball programs, and although Finlandia would obviously never have been a power, they would have aleast been competitive inbtheir last league eventually, IMO and,

b) Recruiting coaching staff from Div I former players and, again, especially those from southern states such as Florida, etc, wasn't helpful. Why woukd guys who were used to larger programs and warm weather want to go to a northern state with snow and cold and stay fir an extended time? They didn't and that turnover was difficult as well.

[WashingtonWiz99]

Two more!

https://apnews.com/article/fontbonne-university-to-close-2025-c2397d8ff4120d4533bc08c16dfb15a3

https://www.wdio.com/front-page/top-stories/northland-college-in-ashland-launches-urgent-fundraising-appeal-to-prevent-closure/