FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[sigma one]

If a case is to be made for the Allegheny Administration's neglect of or active sabotage of football (and athletics as a whole), a number of issues come to mind.  Is there evidence that the president, Board of Trustees (either as a result of pressure from the faculty, or on their own) have developed a culture in which football has become of little or no consequence?  Is there evidence that the football budget has been substantially reduced, the entire athletics budget?  (By the way, athletic budgets at many liberal arts colleges were cut during the financial crisis of years' past, and most of those budgets are still smaller than they once were.)  Is there evidence that football has been restricted in its recruiting efforts?  This year's roster lists 60 freshmen:  this does not seem to support the claim that the Administration has decided not to recruit football student-athletes.  On the contrary, 60 new male bodies is a big chunk of enrollment, and a reason why one might think that Allegheny recognizes it still needs football to help bring in males--a challenge that many liberal arts colleges face as they attempt to balance male/female enrollment.  Is there evidence that for whatever reason those who want to play football somewhere, and who are college-quality athletes, are neglected or discouraged from attending Allegheny? I go back to the 60 freshman players.  If Allegheny can recruit 60 freshmen, why aren't there a bunch of good players among them?  Is there evidence that Allegheny's salaries for assistant football coaches have not kept pace with salaries elsewhere, making it difficult for Allegheny to recruit/retain a good football staff?  Is there evidence that despite the adequate roster size some decisions were made about the academic quality of the football program and, therefore, Allegheny no longer admits student-athletes who years ago would have been admitted?
     I could go on asking related questions about evidence, intent, etc.  The fact is that Allegheny has slipped badly from its proud tradition.  I've heard that one issue contributing to the decline is that football recruiters have not been effective in pulling in some of the better athletes from the rich recruiting territory where Allegheny is used to operating . . .that other schools are out-recruiting them.  I don't know if this is true (the recent record goes a long way to support this), but is this because of admission criteria (and a drop in legitimately applied financial aid for needy and/or strong academic students).  Is the current coaching staff deficient in their efforts?  I am not saying they are; I am just asking questions.
    All I see is that teams Allegheny once dominated, and teams that Allegheny once competed with at the top of the NCAC, are now all defeating the Gators by large margins. 
     Final questions: Is the current Administration even willing to try to change things?  Can alumni actually make a difference by applying pressure for improvement?  etc. etc. etc.
     I grew up in western PA and would like to see Allegheny move back toward respectability in football.  To ask for a return to the "old Allegheny" might be too much to hope for, but I sure would like to see them at the middle of the conference, and occasionally competing in the top tier.  "Nuff said."


     

[ExTartanPlayer]

This is a team that won a National Championship in 1990 and made the playoffs in  5 of the 6 years following, and at least competed in the NCAC until a couple of years ago:

2013: 0-10, outscored 358-65, losses of 65-0 to Wabash, 50-7 to Ohio Wesleyen, 56-0 to Wittenberg, in addition to 5 other losses by 20 points or more.
2014: 1-9, outscored 416-146, losses of 63-0 to Wabash, 59-7 to DePauw, 52-21 to Wittenberg, in addition to 5 other losses by 20 points or more.
This year: 0-5, 54-0 loss to Wabash, 48-9 to Oberlin.

Nobody is disagreeing with you that the results have gotten quite ugly in Meadville.  I think we're all in agreement there; Allegheny is one of the worst teams in Division III football right now.  What seems at odds is that you're hell-bent on this idea that the "administration" is the problem, without defining exactly what that means, and posting this bluster that it's such a shame poor Coach Matlak is left to soldier on bravely without administrative support.  Specifics, please.  What is the administration doing that is destructive to the program?  Does Coach Matlak no longer get a secretary?  Do the kids have to wash their own uniforms and manufacture their own shoes?

There is a certain mentality among academics, which I view as "leftist" (if only because of the NY Times' war on football), that football is barbaric and incompatible with a "progressive" academic agenda.

Plenty of strong academic institutions in Division III continue to field competitive football teams.  The idea "academics" and their "leftist" selves pushing a "progressive academic agenda" has anything at all to do with a football team's downfall is ridiculous in the absence of some specific evidence.  What ate these "leftist academics who think football is not compatible with the progressive academic agenda"actually doing that hurts the football program at Allegheny?

I am very academic.  I have a collection of graduate degrees and work for a large university-affiliated hospital.  I still like football.  Many of my college teammates have collected graduate degrees, in many different fields.  Last weekend I took a road trip with a couple of college teammates and one cracked that he was the least educated person in the car...with a Master's in Biomedical Engineering from Duke (the rest of us have PhD's, MBA's, or JD's).  Those are pretty academic pursuits.  We were on a road trip to watch a football game.  Those guys all still like football.

I guess we aren't the droids you're looking for, though.

*Edited to add: sigma one's post appeared before mine and is far more insightful.  Kudos, and instead of answering this, please provide answers to some of his questions.  If you can't provide any better answers than that, instead only repeating that "the administration" is to blame with no specific evidence that some of those things are problematic, you really have no argument, you're just looking for a reason to blame something other than poor coaching and/or recruiting by the staff (and as Gregory Sager has pointed out on the CCIW board before, recruiting is part of being an effective college coach).

[formerd3db]

ExTartan and sigma:

You cite some great examples and also that some specific answers to the questions should be presented in the argument that was being presented/discussed.  I would only slightly disagree in one aspect in that there are indeed some situations (albeit few, thankfully) where some administrations pushing the academics have not been the most supportive of the football program and even though they would never drop it.  That type of situation has not helped those programs in maintaining the level of talent they have had in the past and thus the overall performance less than what it had been or could be.  This is in regards to providing the amount of financial need based and/or community and/or academic aid packages that coaches can entice recruits who are of higher talent of those who would be considering DIII to chose that school.  I can tell you that has happened at some schools in our league (and I know of some coaches who have said exactly that/shared that with me).   That said, the historical record shows there have been some administrations which have no regard for the values which football provides and they have simply chose to eliminate it (University of Chicago back in 1939 and more recently Swarthmore are examples)-but that specific reason is obviously a different situation than you are discussing. +k to both of you.

[Li'l Giant]

There was a period not too long ago when DePauw fans were making similar comments about administration sabotage. They made a coaching change and bam, 7-3 last year and 4-0 as we speak.  I don't buy deliberate malfeasance as the reason for the terrible team Allegheny has now unless the team is getting treated like the Indians in "Major League" with no hot water in the showers and a broke down bus.

[bashbrother]

The real reason is most likely a combination of factors.   To lay blame on just the administration or just the coaching... is probably being a bit slanted.  It is an unfortunate situation in Meadville... that we can all agree on.

[wabndy]

That said, the historical record shows there have been some administrations which have no regard for the values which football provides and they have simply chose to eliminate it (University of Chicago back in 1939 and more recently Swarthmore are examples)

The story of University of Chicago's football program is very complicated.  I highly commend a great book on the subject for any D3 fan (I read it after seeing an ad on d3football.com many years ago).  The spoiler is that Chicago's team, once the undisputed king of the Big 10 had fallen on hard times and some disgruntled alumni were bound and determined to turn the program around by hook or by crook, regardless of what the administration did.  They were independently recruiting players, getting tutors to do their schoolwork for them, and paying their tuition and additional bonuses.  Basically the institution had completely lost control of the football program and so it was shut down.  (Yes - it was more complicated than just that - I'll defer to the book for a more thorough discussion of the nuances).


If Allegheny is getting 100+ players on their roster, they are probably going a long way towards doing what the administration expects them to do, recruit male athletes to attend the school.  If there aren't discipline problems and the program is being run with integrity, the administration could reasonably choose not to make a coaching change merely because of a lack of success on the field, so long as they are meeting their recruiting goals.  If there aren't alumni withholding donations and actively complaining to the administration (cf. Carlson's departure from Wabash after losing 5 Bell games in a row), then there may not be any pressure on the administration to make a change.

[wabashcpa]

If a case is to be made for the Allegheny Administration's neglect of or active sabotage of football (and athletics as a whole), a number of issues come to mind.  Is there evidence that the president, Board of Trustees (either as a result of pressure from the faculty, or on their own) have developed a culture in which football has become of little or no consequence?  Is there evidence that the football budget has been substantially reduced, the entire athletics budget?  (By the way, athletic budgets at many liberal arts colleges were cut during the financial crisis of years' past, and most of those budgets are still smaller than they once were.)  Is there evidence that football has been restricted in its recruiting efforts?  This year's roster lists 60 freshmen:  this does not seem to support the claim that the Administration has decided not to recruit football student-athletes.  On the contrary, 60 new male bodies is a big chunk of enrollment, and a reason why one might think that Allegheny recognizes it still needs football to help bring in males--a challenge that many liberal arts colleges face as they attempt to balance male/female enrollment.  Is there evidence that for whatever reason those who want to play football somewhere, and who are college-quality athletes, are neglected or discouraged from attending Allegheny? I go back to the 60 freshman players.  If Allegheny can recruit 60 freshmen, why aren't there a bunch of good players among them?  Is there evidence that Allegheny's salaries for assistant football coaches have not kept pace with salaries elsewhere, making it difficult for Allegheny to recruit/retain a good football staff?  Is there evidence that despite the adequate roster size some decisions were made about the academic quality of the football program and, therefore, Allegheny no longer admits student-athletes who years ago would have been admitted?
     I could go on asking related questions about evidence, intent, etc.  The fact is that Allegheny has slipped badly from its proud tradition.  I've heard that one issue contributing to the decline is that football recruiters have not been effective in pulling in some of the better athletes from the rich recruiting territory where Allegheny is used to operating . . .that other schools are out-recruiting them.  I don't know if this is true (the recent record goes a long way to support this), but is this because of admission criteria (and a drop in legitimately applied financial aid for needy and/or strong academic students).  Is the current coaching staff deficient in their efforts?  I am not saying they are; I am just asking questions.
    All I see is that teams Allegheny once dominated, and teams that Allegheny once competed with at the top of the NCAC, are now all defeating the Gators by large margins. 
     Final questions: Is the current Administration even willing to try to change things?  Can alumni actually make a difference by applying pressure for improvement?  etc. etc. etc.
     I grew up in western PA and would like to see Allegheny move back toward respectability in football.  To ask for a return to the "old Allegheny" might be too much to hope for, but I sure would like to see them at the middle of the conference, and occasionally competing in the top tier.  "Nuff said."


     

I would start with the bolded comments from Sigma One if I were inclined to dig deeper.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

My Witt DNA comment calls me to remark on one event which occurred in the Wabash Witt game.  As Witt came out of their dressing room, on their right at tables were a goodly number of HS recruits and parents there at the invitation of Wabash (similar to what I believe most teams do during the season).  The nastiness and vulgarity emitting from Witt [players' mouths aimed ot these folks was (at least should have been) an embarrassment to Witt, to their team, and to their coaches.  Yet their coaches were walking with them and permitted all this.

Two thoughts came to me from this: 1) I sure hope there were some cross over recruits and parents in the group.  It would seal that my son IS NOT going where these low lifes inhabit. and 2) Wabash players would never do this, the coaches would not permit it, it simply would not come to mind.  The difference in quality.  I suspect all the teams in the conference ... save the heathens at Witt ... respect Wabash and its players, coaches and alumni.  I know I have never experienced idiot conduct out of any representatives of another school directed toward Wabash  except at Witt, at DePauw (once in a while but not from players/coaches ... just over served undergrads sometimes), and at Franklin ... again from a few overserved undergrads.  I like the class of our conference ... save the idiots of Witt.

I know this is off subject ... but the antics of Witt players with Witt coaches present really hit me.

I believe this goes further than just their FB team. We have experienced the same from their Baseball team. And there team has not done anything recently to justify this type of attitude. I believe this may be prevalent in the Male athletics of the whole Witt program. Is the Basketball team the same way?

[wally_wabash]

Yes, Wittenberg is populated with uncultured brutes.   But what goes around comes around, amiright #6? 


Now, do people think they can score 30 on DePauw on Saturday? 

[wabndy]

Game notes from around the league:


Wabash at Oberlin.
Wittenberg at DePauw


Couldn't find any release on the other two games.


I'm always entertained by ER's coaches comments (or Brent Harris') on their upcoming opponent.  Very Lou Holtzesque "tough opponent, will present challenges, I hope we can win."  Thats got to get difficult to say unique vanilla platitudes when slogging through the middle of the NCAC schedule.

[wally_wabash]

Game notes from around the league:


Wabash at Oberlin.
Wittenberg at DePauw


Couldn't find any release on the other two games.


I'm always entertained by ER's coaches comments (or Brent Harris') on their upcoming opponent.  Very Lou Holtzesque "tough opponent, will present challenges, I hope we can win."  Thats got to get difficult to say unique vanilla platitudes when slogging through the middle of the NCAC schedule.

Also my favorite section of the weekly release.  Although Oberlin did just ring up almost 700 yards of offense in their last game, so it might not all be sportsmanlike politeness there this week.  We might laugh that off a bit here, but I'll bet coaches and players take those kinds of stats from the next opponent pretty seriously.  They probably should in any case. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

Also my favorite section of the weekly release.  Although Oberlin did just ring up almost 700 yards of offense in their last game, so it might not all be sportsmanlike politeness there this week.  We might laugh that off a bit here, but I'll bet coaches and players take those kinds of stats from the next opponent pretty seriously.  They probably should in any case.

Besides just the Oberlin 2012 experience that comes up every year, even in games that you're heavily favored (as a coach) I think you have to go through the "How could these guys beat us?" exercise to remind yourself what you have to focus on that week.  I think as a coach, you'd make the case for why Oberlin (maybe sorta kinda has a remote possibility) to beat Wabash as follows:

Lucas Poggiali started a couple of games as a freshman when Mandel was hurt and has been starting from sophomore year onwards.  He's not quite Josh Mandel but he has been relatively productive in his career and, as noted, did just ring up a huge week (against the team we've been taking a dump on for the last page, but still...maybe the Allegheny administration prohibits practicing pass defense?).  That experience goes for Blake Buckhannon too...I thought both of these kids had graduated by now.  Sign them up for the eighth-year senior team that someone (Andy Staples? Stewart Mandel?) used to put together on SI.com.  I think it's pretty well accepted that the Wabash defense is really, really good and he probably won't put on the aerial show that Mandel did in 2012, but if he can avoid turnovers and get a big play or two, it could be interesting. 

Yeah, real rocket science there, I know...don't turn the ball over and score touchdowns.  Realistically, we're talking about a team Denison beat 45-0 and of course Wabash should have no trouble at all.  But since this came up, I think it's interesting...the idea that coaches should start their gameplan with a "Why Oberlin could beat us" exercise even in apparently lopsided matchups.

[BashDad]

Significant:

[wally_wabash]

Denison has the longest active win streak (8) in the league.  Just throwing that out there. 

[Sir Battlescars]

I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate ExTartanPlayer on his outstanding academic career.

Job well done Sir, job well done!