FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[usee]

He has been a D1 ccordinator for a long time. I wonder why he hasn't become a head coach yet? He was at Eastern, Wyoming and purdue as a coordinator. I would think he would have gotten his chance by now.

Gee, do you think he might be waiting for the right opportunity? H'es been widely viwed as the successor to Tiller at Purdue which, of course is his alma mater. My point is whether he gets that job or another one, Wabash is not going to be in the mix.

13 years as a coordinator is a little more than "waiting for the right opportunity". I don't buy it.

While I would be surprised to see Brock Spack take the wabash job, I certainly don't think there's "no chance".

[Li'l Giant]

Well, it's official now.

Neathery accepts job at Drake

[gobash83]

I think BB#16 has articulated the right criteria (though I am flexible on ping pong skills).  I am also leary of a D-I coordinator type as well.  I think the key will be someone who "gets it" when it comes to both high level D-III football and Wabash.   That is a unique combination and I would rather find the right person than worry about getting a "name" that D-III folks know or someone who has a resume that might be impressive (e.g. D-I coordinator).   

Our guy is out there, but I think it will take some work to find and hire him--not because it isn't a great job, but because we should be picky since it is such a great job and one that is important to the College

Best wishes to everyone for this Holiday season.

[Ryder16]

merry Xmas to all !
the rest of the NCAC gets their gift a few days early.. a chance to win in the conference
and to bash I hope u get a great gift of a new coach as great as CC.
wishes of a safe holiday season to all!

[aueagle]

I wish everyone a very safe & Merry Christmas...

Dear Santa:

All I want for Christmas is:
5 offensive lineman made of Blocks of Granite....
WR's that are fleet of foot & can get open in the seams....
RB's that go inside & outside like Horning & Taylor....
A QB that has a cannon, can run like a 3rd RB & has leadership...and can he please change plays at the line too? A true Field General
A Defense that swarms and believes in Search & Destroy....A punter that can coffin-kick and return men that have No Fear...
Recruits that shun the OAC, Witt, Gheny & Wabash...
Transfers from the Ivies and a couple from Youngstown State, Miami (Oh) & Ohio U
Championships in Delaware and 6,000 people in Selby
The Battling Bishop on the helmet...
A offense that scores 34 pts per game/a defense that gives up 9
That OWU becomes THE program in Ohio for D3
And yes, can the players all be Sophomores....

Thanks, Santa!

[BayernFan]

I don't think it's negativity at all. It's two things:

A. Respect for CC

Thank goodness somebody gets it. Can't win with some Wabash fans.

Pat, I am surprised that YOU don't get it.  The question misleadingly implies that Wabash has been a .500 program historically.  It has not.   To be accurate, it should have said "immediately before his hire" or something like that.  For that matter, considering Wabash's history, why on earth would "below .500" even be a choice?

CC took Wabash to a new level.... one that breached the national stage (consistently) for the first time, imo.  Whether a new coach can keep Wabash there (or take it a notch further still) is, I think, the main thrust of your poll question.

And that is a good question.

Interesting that Spack is being mentioned.  PUkes aren't all that enamored of him lately (not sure if they are enamored of anyone on their staff at this point), and he has take a lot of heat the last few years.  He may want to re-invent things for himself down the road.

I have to think that Wabash (thanks to CC and the kids he has coached) is a much more attractive job than it was when he was hired.

Of course, as always, the new guy has to be a very good recruiter, given Wabash's all-male status.  And that is true especially since Marian College in Indy (NAIA) has started a football program.  Marian and Wabash may now have to compete for the same athletes.

Speaking of Catholic Schools, does Wabash still recruit the Chicago area Catholic HS leagues much anymore?  I seem to remember that in my day several on the roster came from the Catholic Leagues.  Not so much anymore, it seems.  Am I wrong?

[wabndy]

Sorry Pat.  I generally agree with you - but "Same as before his hiring: about .500:" is still a backhanded compliment.  That being said, talk and polls are cheap until we get a new coach and see what he can do.

So why are 39.5% of the "poll" voters wrong? 

- Greg Carlson had run the program for a very long time in the "bad old days" of short playoff brackets.  He won more than his fair share of ICAC titles in those "bad old days."  You never heard about them or how good some of those teams actually were because of that short bracket system.  Riddle me this - were we to replay this season in 1998, would Franklin and MSJ gotten any coverage on d3football.com?  No.  Why?  Because now its a good rivalry that has playoff implications.  So it gets nationwide coverage.  Creighton took the reins of a program that was on the verge of success and had the benefit of both a playoff AQ to play for in a new (better) conference that meshed with Wabash's academic and athletic philosophy. 

- Wabash has a pretty impressive package with which to recruit a solid D3 level coach who can recruit and motivate solid student/athletes are already there.  I break it down this way:
Strengths:
Recent playoff success
Solid recruiting classes
Fanatical fan base who will actually show up to games
Fanatical alumni base who will help recruit
historic rivalry that is televised nationally
Recently renovated and impressive facilities
College administration that is committed to D3 intercollegiate athletics
College that has a strong (nay very strong) financial base that I'm sure will not be afraid to provide reasonable compensation for a coach.

Negatives
Difficulty in recruiting to all-male college
Difficulty in recruiting student athletes that can qualify academically to gain admission.
Jan-Mar. is when HS seniors make their choices on colleges.  New coach would have to "re-recruit" everyone. (incidentally - CC's blog entry to the incoming freshmen he recruited was really classy - reproduced below*)

Perhaps others can flesh out the pros and cons better than I.  But the way I see it - the college will probably not need to go begging for any old schmuck to come coach the team.  Sure, Coach Mummert can make a boneheaded pick - anything is possible.  It is possible that CC will go down in history as a flash in the pan "greatest Wabash coach ever" (Stan Parrish alums may beg to differ of course).  I just think that the odds are against that.  Am I making confirmed reservations to Salem next year?  Absolutely not.  Will Wabash be stuck with a so-so coach who will go 5-5 or 6-4 next year?  If you voted for that option on the front page in the poll - you are saying that Wabash will next year to Witt and Woo and  'Gheny and DePauw and somebody else.  I guess anything is possible . . . .

*from CC's blog:
To the incoming freshmen class of football players: Fellas, have the courage and self- confidence to make one of the greatest decisions of your life. Wabash is more than an education and it is more than playing championship football. It is literally a life changing experience. I know this for a fact because Wabash has changed my life. Wabash Football has been special for over 120 years and Wabash will continue to be special for the next 120 years. It is a hard decision for nearly everyone to make but if you know deep down that it is where you are supposed to be I challenge you to be strong enough to do the right thing and the best thing. You will never, ever regret it.
- If anybody has ever read anything similar put out by a departing coach - I'd like to read it.

[DPU3619]

For that matter, considering Wabash's history, why on earth would "below .500" even be a choice?

DO NOT CRUSH MY DREAMS!

On a more serious note, I think it has to be a choice.  There could be a selection made that would cause such an earth-shattering turn of events to happen.  I find to be highly unlikely, but it's possible.  A DePauw-type Rogers mistake could set this program back several years.  I SAY AGAIN FOR CLARITY DONT FLAME ME that I think such a thing is quiet quite far-fetched.

[wally_wabash]

I think you guys are taking the poll question a bit too personally...while the Carlson era produced teams that were consistently above .500, his teams were closer to .500 than they were to the postseason (the exception being the 1998 team that had a chance to make the tournament until Black Saturday happened).  The size and access to the playoff notwithstanding, if Wabash reverts to a team that averages 6 or 7 wins per season, the LGs aren't playing the in postseason and the program falls into national irrevelancy.  There really isn't a big difference between 5-5 and 7-3...either way, there's probably not much of anybody paying attention. 

On a more serious note, I think it has to be a choice.  There could be a selection made that would cause such an earth-shattering turn of events to happen.  I find to be highly unlikely, but it's possible.  A DePauw-type Rogers mistake could set this program back several years.  I SAY AGAIN FOR CLARITY DONT FLAME ME that I think such a thing is quiet quite far-fetched.

This is right on the money, Wes.  This is clearly a pretty pivotal point in the program's history.  The pieces are in place to be awesome for a long, long time.  The wrong hire could undo much of what's been done this decade.  I don't think that this point is lost on the search committee. 

[DPU3619]

You don't have to look too far to the south to see that, either.

While the Rogers hiring was a bad one, remember the one before it.  The Lynch hiring was the start of the snowball effect.  Sure, bring in a mediocre D1 guy.  It's really is a good thing for the program.  He had a ton of success in just one short season.  But, it was Lynch leaving after only one season when he got that itch again that really hurt the program. 

Then the Three Stooges (Bottoms, Lincoln, Abraham; Moe, Curly, Larry respectively) made the mistake of hiring Rogers that compounded the problem.

[Li'l Giant]

I think you guys are taking the poll question a bit too personally

THIS.

Then the Three Stooges (Bottoms, Lincoln, Abraham; Moe, Curly, Larry respectively)

[BashBacker#16]

Bayernfan,

Chicago Catholic League....um, #24 Dan Ryan Wood - a stud.  We've had a few in the last few years.  Tough to recruit out of there because there is so much competition.

Coach Carlson's career record at Wabash was just a notch under .700.  I don't get the .500 poll mark but no biggie.  Let's focus on the guy to continue what CC has built...  He's out there, just a matter of landing him.

Wabash Always Fights!

[wally_wabash]

Let's focus on the guy to continue what CC has built...  He's out there, just a matter of landing him.

Full court press, bro!   

[BayernFan]

Let's focus on the guy to continue what CC has built...  He's out there, just a matter of landing him.

Agreed 100%.... Should be interesting!!!

[smedindy]

For that matter, considering Wabash's history, why on earth would "below .500" even be a choice?

All you need to do is look at the 60's and 70's. Thankfully, we're a long way from that but it's not without precedent. GC's teams also had a malaise about them at times. There were a couple of two year stretches at about .500, then it seemed to pick up, then drop down a bit.