FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

Smeds,

Curious (have I really asked your opinion 2 times in 2 days... ) - what makes you say that with so much certainty about Coach Ward?

Wabco mentioned his recruiting skills, makes you think about the guys he brought in which I know has been mentioned but this list is pretty crazy (off the top of my head):  Darryl Kennon, Matt Kraft, Russ Harbaugh, Bubba Lange, Michael Russell, Aaron Lafitte, Ray Green, Kyle Piazza, Andy Deig, Billy King, Brandon Roop, Patrick Millikan...  Not a bad group of talent.  Wow!

He went back to his alma mater and has only coached there for one season. Obviously, going back would be special for anyone, and I think he'd want to build a program similar to what CC did at Ottawa and Wabash. Yes, he can recruit - but recruiting is not the same as being the head coach as many have found out over the years.

Also, he only had one year at Missouri Southern as a coordinator and that was a tough year both on and off the field for that program.

If the Wabash opening was in 2010 or 2011 and he had put together some winning seasons and perhaps NAIA playoff appearances, then yeah, he'd probably think he'd accomplished what he wanted to do. But MacPherson is his first chance at being the head coach, coupled with it being his alma mater and what I think is his desire to build something for himself leads me to think that he won't look to move on.

Of course, I could be wrong. My statement above could be as accurate as all of the pundits forecasting the New Hampshire primary. But at least I don't shout at people.

PS - What would the decibel level be if Chris Matthews and Stephen A. Smith were locked in a room together with one mike??

[D3_DPUFan]

PS - What would the decibel level be if Chris Matthews and Stephen A. Smith were locked in a room together with one mike??

Good one...obviously it would be off the charts...but I have to think that Stephen A. would beat down Matthews...he is perhaps the most obnoxious (most of the time ill-informed) "analysts" on TV... fingernails on a chalkboard...

[wally_wabash]

He went back to his alma mater and has only coached there for one season. Obviously, going back would be special for anyone, and I think he'd want to build a program similar to what CC did at Ottawa and Wabash. Yes, he can recruit - but recruiting is not the same as being the head coach as many have found out over the years.

Alma mater jobs aren't the end-all.  If Wabash is a better gig than Alma Mater U., then the coach is going to take the Wabash job. 

When it comes to college football, I'll take a great recruiter who is an ok in-game coach over a great in-game coach who is a lousy recruiter ten times out of ten.  In this sport, you win most of your games not with X's and O's but with Jimmy's and Joe's. 

[aueagle]

 "Of course, I could be wrong. My statement above could be as accurate as all of the pundits forecasting the New Hampshire primary. But at least I don't shout at people" smedindy

And since smedindy brought the New Hampshire thing into play...I announce there will be no crying...real or fake on this board.

[smedindy]

Alma mater jobs aren't the end-all.  If Wabash is a better gig than Alma Mater U., then the coach is going to take the Wabash job. 

When it comes to college football, I'll take a great recruiter who is an ok in-game coach over a great in-game coach who is a lousy recruiter ten times out of ten.  In this sport, you win most of your games not with X's and O's but with Jimmy's and Joe's. 

I dunno. For a first time out as a head coach, it could be a big deal. Also, Ward's world may not revolve around Wabash College, despite the great memories and success.

I also disagree with the X and O. Many Wabash teams had good personnel in the past, but predictable offenses or questionable schemes left them underperforming.

[wally_wabash]

Alma mater jobs aren't the end-all.  If Wabash is a better gig than Alma Mater U., then the coach is going to take the Wabash job. 

When it comes to college football, I'll take a great recruiter who is an ok in-game coach over a great in-game coach who is a lousy recruiter ten times out of ten.  In this sport, you win most of your games not with X's and O's but with Jimmy's and Joe's. 

I dunno. For a first time out as a head coach, it could be a big deal. Also, Ward's world may not revolve around Wabash College, despite the great memories and success.

I also disagree with the X and O. Many Wabash teams had good personnel in the past, but predictable offenses or questionable schemes left them underperforming.

Bad schemes can handicap good personnel for sure (cough, OWU, cough), but there is a very low ceiling on how good a team without good players can be.  Recruiting, and recruiting very well, is absolutely essential to success.  Without that, you've got no shot to be great. 

[aueagle]

...I hear you LOUD & CLEAR,  wally....

[smedindy]

But, how many times do the recruiting wags say this is a Top 10 class and they do NOTHING? (Sure, D-1 is different...) You can recruit the athletes, but if they don't fit in, if they have the wrong attitude, if they're prima donnas, or if they have plateaued then it's an issue.

[Pat Coleman]

Look at Jeff McMartin from Central!  Do you think he created that program?  Heck no, he got hammered the 3 years he was offensive coordinator at DePauw, then he goes back to his alma mater, takes over a progam that was already rolling...and now he is the king of the hill in that conference! 

Interesting take. However, in reality McMartin took over a Central program that had just suffered its first non-winning season in 42 years, a season that was so bad that the coach had to "resign" afterward.

Wartburg had taken over as the top dog. Simpson made the playoffs as a Pool C. Central was tied for sixth in the league.

Success was hardly a given.

[wally_wabash]

But, how many times do the recruiting wags say this is a Top 10 class and they do NOTHING? (Sure, D-1 is different...) You can recruit the athletes, but if they don't fit in, if they have the wrong attitude, if they're prima donnas, or if they have plateaued then it's an issue.

You have to take any and all of that recruiting class ranking stuff with not just a grain, but an entire block of salt. 

1) It's completely impossible to predict how a 17-18 year old kid is going to adjust to college life.  Some kids flourish, some kids just can't handle it. 

2) Those "rankings", I very strongly believe, are massaged in such a way to appeal to the national audiences of the bigger programs.  Say Notre Dame has a top 10 recruting class, you're probably going to sell more recruiting insider magazines than you would if you said that Wake Forest had a top 10 class.  In 2006 scouts.com ranked ND's class as #5 and said "the strength [of the class] is what could be the top o-line group in the nation".  Really.  I watched a little bit of ND football this year and that line provided about as much resistance and protection as tall grass.  Does ND look like they have top 10 talent?  Heck no they don't.  It's all one big scam. 

The reality is that while it is possible to lose (or underachieve or however you want to say it) with good players using a bad game plan, it is NOT possible to win with any consistency with bad players regardless of your game plan. 

[Superfoot Wallace]

I watched a little bit of ND football this year and that line provided about as much resistance and protection as tall grass. 

No offense to the Golden Domers but think you're underestimating tall grass.

A wise man once told me that the key to successfully being the head coach of a football team were a quality strength coach and an outstanding defensive backs coach.  Much to Wally's chagrin this wise man was and still is a wing T coach.

Promising not to open up that can of worms, think the reason he could stand on the claims of these two particular coaches being of utmost importance is the fact that the T coach is as he is a position coach for his offensive line.

Not that one must be a wing T head coach to also be the offensive line position coach, but generally speaking the T head coach is most likely more hands on with the offensive line.

Guess there are other combinations and predict Spread head coaches most often work most closely with their QB's, but while standing on the gas doesn't constitute racing neither does braking on roller skates.

My friend sends me this Nash Equilibrium link from a professor at Tedford U comparing running and passing as a give take between an offense and defense, think the matching of a offensive line oriented head coach with a talented dbacks assistant subscribes to the same line of thinking.  Two waves to be surfed, diagnosed and prescribed here, and must say the best teams I have been associated with found their greatest strengths via this dbacks/oline coaching paradigm.

signed,
Hunk Anderson

[wally_wabash]

I watched a little bit of ND football this year and that line provided about as much resistance and protection as tall grass. 

No offense to the Golden Domers but think you're underestimating tall grass.

Should I revise "tall grass" to say "an Augusta fairway"? 

[smedindy]

The reality is that while it is possible to lose (or underachieve or however you want to say it) with good players using a bad game plan, it is NOT possible to win with any consistency with bad players regardless of your game plan. 

I find it hard to believe that Wabash will suffer in recruiting based on who the coach is. As long as the new coach grasps the nature of the place and realize that job #1 is to beat DePauw and job #2 is to win the NCAC, then the new coach will be fine. We made a good choice when Pat White took over from Andy Ford, and I have no doubt that Wabash will find a football coach that understands Wabash even if he is an 'outsider'.

Frankly, I think a new coach will have a leg up over CC, since there was some rocky alumni relations after the ouster of GC and some football alums stopped supporting the program with as much fervor as they did in the past. CC overcame that and won over almost all of the alums and now the good times, they roll...

[Mr. Ypsi]

I watched a little bit of ND football this year and that line provided about as much resistance and protection as tall grass. 

No offense to the Golden Domers but think you're underestimating tall grass.

Should I revise "tall grass" to say "an Augusta fairway"? 

I saw the ND game against then 0-2 Michigan, where Clausen spent the entire game on his back.  "An Augusta putting green" I might buy.

[wally_wabash]

The reality is that while it is possible to lose (or underachieve or however you want to say it) with good players using a bad game plan, it is NOT possible to win with any consistency with bad players regardless of your game plan. 

I find it hard to believe that Wabash will suffer in recruiting based on who the coach is. As long as the new coach grasps the nature of the place and realize that job #1 is to beat DePauw and job #2 is to win the NCAC, then the new coach will be fine.

I may be in the minority here...but here goes.  If beating DePauw is the #1 goal for our program, then I'm afraid that we're doomed to an eternity of multiple loss seasons, an occasional playoff appearance here and there, and being nothing more than an also-ran in the tournament.  I want to raise the bar.  Goal #1 needs to be Salem.  It just has to be.  Having done this playoff thing a few times in the last handful of years, I've grown to really, really like it.  Yet just getting there isn't enough anymore...I want more.  And I don't want to just talk about more, I want Wabash to acheive more.  I don't think that will ever happen if the Monon Bell is the primary focus and the thing that defines whether or not the season was a success.  If the goals of the program are to win championships (they should be), the Bell will take care of itself. 

I don't want to go back to the days when six or seven wins and beating DePauw was good enough.   Over the last seven years what I've learned is that there is so much more to do in Division III football than beating DePauw.  Beating DePauw is awesome, don't get me wrong...I think everybody should do it...but there's more out there to be accomplished.