FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Fripp52]

Fair enough........obsess away.  DePauw, and I think Wabash, report on Monday.  Hopefully there are some newsworthy topics to discuss from that point forward.  Looking forward to the Franklin scrimmage.  That should be a good guage for both teams.  Does Wabash scrimmage anyone ?

I'm done with the topic.  See you in late October or so.

[Breckenridgebear]

I am glad there is a running discussion about Walker and what possible scenarios that exist for his departure. It shows that there is interest in these "small school programs" besides the big rivalry games.

The fact of the matter is we don't know what happened and we might never know. There will be a story that comes out in the press one day, but how much can we trust the Indy Star, Greencastle Banner-Graphic, Crawfordsville Journal Review, etc . . . to get the whole story.

Walker was a great coach. He has a great family, and genuinely cared about his players, the fans, and Depauw University. He had a wonderful opportunity ahead of him, but left because he felt it was appropriate. The best we can do is wish him luck and hope the best for his family.

[WabashOline09]

Fair enough........obsess away.  DePauw, and I think Wabash, report on Monday.  Hopefully there are some newsworthy topics to discuss from that point forward.  Looking forward to the Franklin scrimmage.  That should be a good guage for both teams.  Does Wabash scrimmage anyone ?

I'm done with the topic.  See you in late October or so.

Unless anything major has changed since last year, Wabash should be going up against Wheaton before the season kicks off.

[scotty]

What about...head baseball coach at Indiana State? That's what the Penn faithful keep hearing. Whatever, Coach Walker is a good guy.

[D3_DPUFan]

What about...head baseball coach at Indiana State? That's what the Penn faithful keep hearing. Whatever, Coach Walker is a good guy.

The ISU story has been debunked...not happening. ISU expected to name coach very soon and Matt is not a finalist. And I agree with your assesment that Matt is a good guy...wish the best for him.

[bashbrother]

ISU story  - http://www.tribstar.com/sports/local_story_225220933.html

[DPU3619]

Here's my two cents for where we currently stand after the ISU thing went kaput.  I'm not a big conspiracy guy, but after chewing on this and considering the parties involved over the last week, here's my theory:

We've all mentioned the administration is surprisingly quiet on this.  Why?  They couldn't get their version of the Rogers story to the press fast enough.  They were jumping up and down on tables telling everybody about these emails from his computer.  They had a guy they wanted to get rid of, and they "formulated" a case to get rid of him.  We'd know if this was a policy disagreement like Rogers, wouldn't we?

What's different here?  Why not cook up something just to shut everybody up for a while?  Even if there is a serious transgression here (I think those in the criminal act camp are losing steam - one of us would know by now) the University could seperate themselves from that.  They've been through it all in the past few years.  They had every cable news network in the country in town for the "kicking fat girls out of their own sorority" deal.  It's just a P.R. thing.  Say, hypothetically, we're talking about a Eustachy type issue.  If you have ever had the occasion to know the man personally, I think you would share my belief that it is the least likely result here, but I'm trying to conjure up the worst possible PR situation for the purpose of the hypothetical. That would get more press than anything he could have possibly done, criminal or otherwise.  Even this university can get through that.  Everybody gets over bad P.R..  It happens.  Iowa State got over Eustachy.  Air Force got over Fisher DeBerry.  Georgia got over Jim Harrick.  Indiana will get over Kelvin Sampson.. etc.  Coaches do stupid crap.  Then you move on.  What's the big deal?

Unless, of course, somebody in the administration is somehow involved in whatever "it" is.  What if they aren't even willing to float a cover because they're concerned somebody's going to find out about it?  Sounds like a Bottoms or Lincoln maneuver, I know, but it's literally the ONLY thing I can think of to explain all this bizarre behavior from one of the most loose-lipped administrations in the country.  Yeah, your alum football coach isn't a very good fall guy, but what if they didn't have a choice?  Sacrifice what you need to and sweep the rest under the rug.

[frank uible]

There is the distinct possibility that DePauw and Walker both are constrained to silence by the same confidentiality agreement.

[DPU3619]

There is the distinct possibility that DePauw and Walker both are constrained to silence by the same confidentiality agreement.

In theory, yes.  In practice, no chance.  Not with this group.  They are only silent because they want to be.

[wabco]

Does anyone know where Walker is right now?  Did he just vanish with no contact with players or assist coaches?

I agree with Wes.  A criminal issue (and I am not saying there is one) would have surfaced by now.  No to health ... makes no sense.  No to a better job which required immediate choice/movement ... just doesn't pass the common sense test from either Walker or College standpoint in the silence category.  That leaves (just listing possible events): 1) some sort of moral/personal conduct issue (I AM NOT ACCUSING, simply listing) which the administration does not want out there, 2) some sort of "eggregious" - at least from the College standpoint - violation/stepping upon an administration "thing" for whjich the administration wants eternal complete bannishment, 3) some sort of recruiting violation (AGAIN ... NO ACCUSATION HERE) which the College wants to keep a lid on at least for now while it figures out short term/etc. what to do, 4) some sort of discovery of information by Walker which the administration wants desparately to remain undiscovered.   In all of this, a hefty severance package with an accompanying list of confidentiality and conduct requirements ... would be the way for the College to control Walker.  That makes sense to me that that is how it is occurring.  The Q is why.

I agree that this is a sad chapter and a not deserved "plunk" on the students, athletes, and coaches heads at a time when it is not needed ... and I do not believe anyone wishes them any "badness".  But I do not give the same pass to the administration (... nor would I give it to a Wabash administration should they act as badly as this and reflect as badly on the College as this ... I do not believe this is in the Wabash culture as I do not know of a Wabash man who whould tollerate such action by his College ... perhaps this is the answer to the earlier question/cry that Wabash posters seem to be obsessed with this event ... they simply cannot imagine the no explaination of conduct/action "thing").   

[wabco]

I just received this "off line" from a father of a Dannie to be.  I thought it was interesting.  As he has a student entering, he did not want to post this himself, lest there be some administration "blowback" ... kind of a sad state of affairs when a person has to be afraid to post because of some fear of possible reaction against a student.  In any event here it is:

"You and Wes did a nice job assessing the situation.  I agree -- as time goes on the possibilities narrow.  I'm with a 'relationship' issue or an 'admissions/recruiting' issue.  Looking back on the PR releases it is interesting to see how closely the athletic department's 'everything is beautiful' release is followed by the resignation.

With players reporting this weekend -- it will be increasingly more difficult for the university to contain reality.  I'd expect that the DPU players will be inquisitive and more than a bit restless to find out what happened to their former leader.  We'll have nearly a hundred more 'investigative reporters' on the scene and if the administration is not forthcoming it's going to be a huge cluster.

If it is related to admissions/recruiting -- it could have a real negative effect on the players.  In fact, if you think about it, it could be a plausible explanation for why DPU pulled the plug at [nearly] the last possible moment.  They can't afford to have their kids going somewhere else.  Make this announcement even a few weeks sooner and that is a decided possibility. "

[Bash-Dad #84]

I can understand why a parent would not want to post anything that could be perceived as negative on this board. As the father of an active player, I read this board daily, but rarely ever post. There have been times that I wanted to, because folks were speculating about things on here that I had inside info on, but thought better of posting it, so my son would not feel any fallout. All that being said, I wish we were talking about football right now. I don't think that there is anything left to say about Coach Walker, that hasn't already been said. When my son was deciding where to go to school, we visited DePauw and Coach Walker. I thought that he was a nice man and appeared to be a good Coach. We just happened to feel that Wabash was the place for him and Coach Creighton really made him feel wanted. Just this summer, Coach Walker put in a good word for my daughter, who is a Softball player that is thinking of going to DePauw. He did so based upon his remembering the visit with my son. He did not have to do that, so I wish him luck and hope that this entire thing is blown out of propotion.
My son is starting his junior year at Wabash. He was "rung" in with the Monon Bell and hasn't seen it since. That is all he or any of the other players really care about, is getting back that bell!

[Breckenridgebear]

I can understand why a parent would not want to post anything that could be perceived as negative on this board. As the father of an active player, I read this board daily, but rarely ever post. There have been times that I wanted to, because folks were speculating about things on here that I had inside info on, but thought better of posting it, so my son would not feel any fallout. All that being said, I wish we were talking about football right now. I don't think that there is anything left to say about Coach Walker, that hasn't already been said. When my son was deciding where to go to school, we visited DePauw and Coach Walker. I thought that he was a nice man and appeared to be a good Coach. We just happened to feel that Wabash was the place for him and Coach Creighton really made him feel wanted. Just this summer, Coach Walker put in a good word for my daughter, who is a Softball player that is thinking of going to DePauw. He did so based upon his remembering the visit with my son. He did not have to do that, so I wish him luck and hope that this entire thing is blown out of propotion.
My son is starting his junior year at Wabash. He was "rung" in with the Monon Bell and hasn't seen it since. That is all he or any of the other players really care about, is getting back that bell!

I agree with Bash-Dad (I know, it is hard to believe I would agree with any Wally), everything that is being said is speculation. We need to move past the conjecture and remember that Walker is a great guy, a good football coach, and a family man.  We may never know what the real happened.

[bashbrother]

Back to Football.......

Who will Bash have lining up at RB this year.   With Evan's departure (has this been confirmed?) will it be running back by committee until someone steps up?  Could the Frosh from Arizona find his way into some carries?

[LGHistorian]

In a post-media day article in the local paper it was confirmed by Coach Raeburn that Evan Sobecki has ended his career due to knee problems.  RB was one of two positions he thought would have a healthy competition for playing time. The other position being center.  I don't have the actual quote from him but the first specific comment he made was about how much importance he put on having a good center in place for his team to be successful.