FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

Thirteen frosh is low, and that may set the program back a bit because they have to be the RIGHT 13 with a class that low to really make an impact as a class in their junior and senior years.

[smedindy]

Speaking of CC and Drake.

Just recently CWU hired the Assistant AD from Drake as their new AD.

A week before camp, the football coach here at CWU was axed despite winning 40+ games in five years and going to the D-2 playoffs in his first two years. (He wasn't popular with donors or fans or the administration and was kind of a narcissist, and he didn't recruit the players that went to the playoffs, plus there was other stuff afoot I guess...)

There will be a national search for a new CWU coach soon, and our new AD really admires Creighton. There is another prime candidate, an assistant at Missouri who is a CWU alum and has family ties to Ellensburg. The interim coach may be a candidate as well.

Is this idle message board speculation? Yeah. Just something to keep in the back of your mind as the year plays out.

(In the NCAA pecking order, I think that D2>D-1AA Non-Scholarship - the Pioneer League can get to the playoffs this year but will probably be matched against a D-1AA juggernaut and well...)

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Smed,
+1 for your article on the Mariners. Good stuff.

[wally_wabash]

If he's got a relationship with the AD there, I'd never say never.  I think they'd be foolish to not at least pick up the phone and talk to him about it.  They guy is a winner, plain and smple.  I'm not sure he would stray too far out of the heartland either, but I think you at least make the phone call. 

[sigma one]

To be fair, when Raeburn was hired, Wabash had been executing an organized recruiting plan with an assistant coach at the helm and Athletics aware of what they had to do to hold onto recruits.  Remember that Creighton did not announce his leaving until almost Christmas.  Of course, players always want to know who the head guy will be, but the contacts had been established.  Credit coach Gilbert that this happened. 
     With this said, it's hard to imagine that a place like Wooster didn't plan ahead--or maybe they did(n't).  In any case the number is still 13.  Yes, the RIGHT 13 can save the year.  I guess we will have to wait two or three years to know. 

[wally_wabash]

Some tidibits that I'm reading about some of the teams around the league...

- The numbers may be low in Wooster, but they are apparently loving the new staff.  Players are switching positions all over the place and they're gonna go fast. 

- Kind of a depressoid account of things in Meadville, where they apparently don't have a quarterback or any linebackers.   

- No story, but here is photographic evidence that DePauw had a football practice.  Idioms be damned, I would have rather had 1,000 words this time around. 

-  Wittenberg apparently did some 7-on-7 scrimmages this summer, including one with Mount Union, that Joe Fincham knew nothing about.  Right. 

Media coverage is pretty scarce aroudn the rest of the league. 

[wabashcpa]

Interesting freshman name on the Wabash roster - Cameron Belton.  Any idea how he compares to his brother coming into college? 

Another freshman QB coming in from Griffith - Austin Brown.  I would expect to see him compete more as a defensive back - not sure how running a wishbone in HS will translate here.  He will help somewhere, and sooner rather than later, I would guess.

Drake Christen looks interesting as well - championship pedigree, not very big.  Chris Ings 2?

Locally, curious to see if 2 WeBo boys, McMann & Bowden, make any noise this year. 

[wabco]

Note the third brother playing LB from the Buresh family, Ethan, is signed in and should make some noise .... and on top of this, there is yet another LB Buresh back at home, Sr. at Hamilton HS this year.

[bashbrother]

Interesting freshman name on the Wabash roster - Cameron Belton.  Any idea how he compares to his brother coming into college? 

From what one can take from this short video,  they look very similar  http://youtu.be/2vnezLvH7tU

The "Belton" balance, vision and speed with what seems to be a good arm.   

The QB competition in camp is going to be strong.    At the end of the day,  I have a hunch that Sophomore Putko will emerge from the pack and start the first game.   May absolutely be wrong.... we shall see.

[wally_wabash]

sigma one made brief mention previously, but one more of the freshmen to maybe watch for behind center sometime down the road is Connor Rice from Cathedral.  6-3 220, which is Walsh-sized.  Nobody plays against better competition in Indiana than Cathedral does and the information superhighway tells me that he got offered from ISU, so he's probably pretty good.  I don't think he runs quite like Chase did, but Matt Hudson did ok for three years in the ER offense and he wasn't a hyper-mobile dude either.   

[DadofBashWarrior..]

Any knowledge on the preseason scrimage for Wabash this year...?

[DPU3619]

sigma one made brief mention previously, but one more of the freshmen to maybe watch for behind center sometime down the road is Connor Rice from Cathedral.  6-3 220, which is Walsh-sized.  Nobody plays against better competition in Indiana than Cathedral does and the information superhighway tells me that he got offered from ISU, so he's probably pretty good.  I don't think he runs quite like Chase did, but Matt Hudson did ok for three years in the ER offense and he wasn't a hyper-mobile dude either.

The offense we saw last year wasn't Hudson's offense.  The Wabash offense is evolving.  We all realize Chase is a totally different athlete than a lot of us have seen at Wabash. Despite Chase being gone, I don't anticipate the offensive staff totally reinventing the wheel offensively based on how fast the Q is.

There are lots of easy solutions for the "non-mobile QB in a zone read run game" problem. Teams like that tend to add more bubbles, motions, and other screens to get the ball out of the Q's hands when he gets a pull read.  There are lots more triple option looks and packaged plays (read more about those here.) to get the ball out. I don't think you can just totally change what you do from year-to-year based on your Q.  You have to make the offensive scheme fit around the personnel you have.  That continuity needs to be there.

[wally_wabash]

sigma one made brief mention previously, but one more of the freshmen to maybe watch for behind center sometime down the road is Connor Rice from Cathedral.  6-3 220, which is Walsh-sized.  Nobody plays against better competition in Indiana than Cathedral does and the information superhighway tells me that he got offered from ISU, so he's probably pretty good.  I don't think he runs quite like Chase did, but Matt Hudson did ok for three years in the ER offense and he wasn't a hyper-mobile dude either.

The offense we saw last year wasn't Hudson's offense.  The Wabash offense is evolving.  We all realize Chase is a totally different athlete than a lot of us have seen at Wabash. Despite Chase being gone, I don't anticipate the offensive staff totally reinventing the wheel offensively based on how fast the Q is.

There are lots of easy solutions for the "non-mobile QB in a zone read run game" problem. Teams like that tend to add more bubbles, motions, and other screens to get the ball out of the Q's hands when he gets a pull read.  There are lots more triple option looks and packaged plays (read more about those here.) to get the ball out. I don't think you can just totally change what you do from year-to-year based on your Q.  You have to make the offensive scheme fit around the personnel you have.  That continuity needs to be there.

Au contraire, Pal...word on the streets* is that Wabash is implementing a Maryland I this year.  Except they are going to do it really fast.  That's right.  Stack I, one snap every 15 seconds.  Mind blowing stuff. 

*all unconfirmed and possibly made up entirely

[DPU3619]

Sounds like something Saban would do just to prove a point.

[bashbrother]

The Wabash Roster has most of the Heights & Weights updated.....   http://sports.wabash.edu/roster.aspx?path=football

A few of note:

OL -  Nathan Brock now listed at 295 Lbs?  Wasn't he in the mid-300's last year?  If I have my players right -  at this lower weight with his skill.... he could be a true force!  Now,  that is off-season commitment. 

LB -  Scola in at 225 Lbs.....  Beast!

DE -  Diaz-Aguilar in at 230 lbs.   We are going to be very tough coming off both ends.

FR. QB Cam Belton -  6-2 190..... nice size with speed.