FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[aueagle]

Was watching Witt-COW...Tiger O-Line looks NFL size
compared to Woo D-Line...41-7 Tiger-Up
Bishops drop to Big Red...frustrating

[DadofBashWarrior..]

Glad to see Allegheny get the win...did not see but it could not have been pretty with 1 int and 5 fumbles...
But...they overcame.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Chris Creighton fans - don't look now but EMU is 4-1!

I'll reserve judgment for a couple of years.  I think if anyone can turn EMU around, it may be CC, but I'm not sure ANYONE can overcome the inherent problems (not least the HUGE shadow of The Big House) and make EMU consistently competitive, much less consistently good.  And if he CAN do it, EMU will just lose him to a higher profile school anyway - such is life in the dregs of D1.

That's why I so admire D3 'lifers' - guys who could 'move up', but prefer to stay where 'student athlete' is a phrase you can say without a wince or a snicker.

[HCAlum86]

I see what the Wabash faithful on here are talking about. The only thing in the way of a 9-1 season for Wabash resides on the sidelines and press box. This team is very gifted athletically. Honestly, I haven't seen a team with "the look" that this Wabash team has physically since Valerie and Co. graced the field for Witt in 2009-2010.

WR's are big and athletic and the o-line could be very imposing. Might not be as talented as some Bash teams in the past, especially at QB; but they can make up for it elsewhere. As an OC, I would KILL for a TE that poses a matchup problem like Bash's. He would be a good recruit to most D2 programs.

As for Hiram, I'm proud of the effort.  The better team won, but the Terriers did not roll over. We were able to move the ball against a bigger, faster defense. Stanford should be proud of the game plan. I cannot wait for the game against Denison. This is a great opportunity to beat a team that we are not SUPPOSED to beat.

[wally_wabash]

I see what the Wabash faithful on here are talking about. The only thing in the way of a 9-1 season for Wabash resides on the sidelines and press box. This team is very gifted athletically. Honestly, I haven't seen a team with "the look" that this Wabash team has physically since Valerie and Co. graced the field for Witt in 2009-2010.

WR's are big and athletic and the o-line could be very imposing. Might not be as talented as some Bash teams in the past, especially at QB; but they can make up for it elsewhere. As an OC, I would KILL for a TE that poses a matchup problem like Bash's. He would be a good recruit to most D2 programs.

As for Hiram, I'm proud of the effort.  The better team won, but the Terriers did not roll over. We were able to move the ball against a bigger, faster defense. Stanford should be proud of the game plan. I cannot wait for the game against Denison. This is a great opportunity to beat a team that we are not SUPPOSED to beat.

The pieces are there and there might even be an eensy window in 2016 to get through Mount Union and see what lies beyond that event horizon...but Wabash is not in control at the moment.  We'll see what happens in Springfield this weekend and whether or not we need to spend five weeks grinding over the three way tiebreak scenarios in here.  In any case, this group can be so much better and will have to be on Nov. 12.  I hope this thing clicks in October and Wabash can make a big statement on Nov. 12 either for at-large invitation or possibly to get the league AQ.  Long way to go. 

Hiram played a good game on Saturday.  Hope Paolo can get back this week or otherwise ASAP.  He's a real good player and it was a bummer to see him have to leave late this past weekend. 

[wabndy]

Wabash's coaching....was wondering when someone was going to address the 800 lb. gorilla in the room.  Morel may be a great guy...and I have heard that from many people...but he is a proven loser as a head coach.  Google it.  The truth hurts. 

What was the WabCol admin thinking when they hired this guy?  Were they just being lazy?  I would think there would be a mile long line of young Coach Creighton-esque types jumping at the chance to coach a team like this.  Admin really screwed the pooch on this one.  They should have lured Carlson out of retirement if they wanted mediocrity.

Sorry - can't let this one sit.  Raeburn batted .500 against Witt.  It was just one loss.  Morel earned the trust and confidence of the players and fellow coaches to earn the top job.  Proven loser?  Last time I checked he was the offensive coordinator for a team that won its conference last year and made it to the third round of the playoffs.  If you want to play the "proven loser" card, remember that Morel actually has a higher w/l percentage than BJ Hammer.  Please, go head and call BJ a "proven loser"  - I dare you.


If you want to speculate on whether Morel or BJ would have gotten the job had both been on campus when Raeburn stepped down, be my guest.  Back here in the real world, a vacancy opened when a successful D3 coach got a once in a lifetime chance to coach D1 FBS football.  Yes it was the worst FBS football program in the country.  But a coach with a young family decided it was an opportunity and they took it.  Best of luck to them.  The normal route to the D1 coaching ranks is the life of a journeyman bench coach from staff to staff on a nearly annual basis until somebody takes a chance on you and gives you a coveted coordinator job.  The Stan Parrish path doesn't exist anymore - even in his era it was anomaly.  So ER is gone in March and there is a vacancy.  March is critical for D3 recruiting.  No NLI program means that you are tracking admissions deposits to see what your freshman class will look like in the fall.  Coaching jobs don't open up in March.  A national search would take two to three months.  Are there coaches out there that would want the Wabash job?  Of course.  How many of them are going to take it in May or June? 


So here's the question for you.  You've got a highly respected coach already on your campus who you know, your team knows, and your incoming freshman class knows.  Oh - and he's already been a head coach before.  You can go with that or see who you can pick up off the street somewhere.  Please think about your words before you call someone lazy or dismiss the administration's decision.


Yes, I'm frustrated that ER left (but happy trails to you and yours).  I'm frustrated that CC left.  I'm frustrated that BJ left.  You can whine about it or support the team we have.  Or in the words of Coach Dale . . .

[HCAlum86]

Wabash's coaching....was wondering when someone was going to address the 800 lb. gorilla in the room.  Morel may be a great guy...and I have heard that from many people...but he is a proven loser as a head coach.  Google it.  The truth hurts. 

What was the WabCol admin thinking when they hired this guy?  Were they just being lazy?  I would think there would be a mile long line of young Coach Creighton-esque types jumping at the chance to coach a team like this.  Admin really screwed the pooch on this one.  They should have lured Carlson out of retirement if they wanted mediocrity.

Sorry - can't let this one sit.  Raeburn batted .500 against Witt.  It was just one loss.  Morel earned the trust and confidence of the players and fellow coaches to earn the top job.  Proven loser?  Last time I checked he was the offensive coordinator for a team that won its conference last year and made it to the third round of the playoffs.  If you want to play the "proven loser" card, remember that Morel actually has a higher w/l percentage than BJ Hammer.  Please, go head and call BJ a "proven loser"  - I dare you.


If you want to speculate on whether Morel or BJ would have gotten the job had both been on campus when Raeburn stepped down, be my guest.  Back here in the real world, a vacancy opened when a successful D3 coach got a once in a lifetime chance to coach D1 FBS football.  Yes it was the worst FBS football program in the country.  But a coach with a young family decided it was an opportunity and they took it.  Best of luck to them.  The normal route to the D1 coaching ranks is the life of a journeyman bench coach from staff to staff on a nearly annual basis until somebody takes a chance on you and gives you a coveted coordinator job.  The Stan Parrish path doesn't exist anymore - even in his era it was anomaly.  So ER is gone in March and there is a vacancy.  March is critical for D3 recruiting.  No NLI program means that you are tracking admissions deposits to see what your freshman class will look like in the fall.  Coaching jobs don't open up in March.  A national search would take two to three months.  Are there coaches out there that would want the Wabash job?  Of course.  How many of them are going to take it in May or June? 


So here's the question for you.  You've got a highly respected coach already on your campus who you know, your team knows, and your incoming freshman class knows.  Oh - and he's already been a head coach before.  You can go with that or see who you can pick up off the street somewhere.  Please think about your words before you call someone lazy or dismiss the administration's decision.


Yes, I'm frustrated that ER left (but happy trails to you and yours).  I'm frustrated that CC left.  I'm frustrated that BJ left.  You can whine about it or support the team we have.  Or in the words of Coach Dale . . .

+k for the reasoning. Good argument

[Desertraider]

Wabash's coaching....was wondering when someone was going to address the 800 lb. gorilla in the room.  Morel may be a great guy...and I have heard that from many people...but he is a proven loser as a head coach.  Google it.  The truth hurts. 

What was the WabCol admin thinking when they hired this guy?  Were they just being lazy?  I would think there would be a mile long line of young Coach Creighton-esque types jumping at the chance to coach a team like this.  Admin really screwed the pooch on this one.  They should have lured Carlson out of retirement if they wanted mediocrity.

Sorry - can't let this one sit.  Raeburn batted .500 against Witt.  It was just one loss.  Morel earned the trust and confidence of the players and fellow coaches to earn the top job.  Proven loser?  Last time I checked he was the offensive coordinator for a team that won its conference last year and made it to the third round of the playoffs.  If you want to play the "proven loser" card, remember that Morel actually has a higher w/l percentage than BJ Hammer.  Please, go head and call BJ a "proven loser"  - I dare you.


If you want to speculate on whether Morel or BJ would have gotten the job had both been on campus when Raeburn stepped down, be my guest.  Back here in the real world, a vacancy opened when a successful D3 coach got a once in a lifetime chance to coach D1 FBS football.  Yes it was the worst FBS football program in the country.  But a coach with a young family decided it was an opportunity and they took it.  Best of luck to them.  The normal route to the D1 coaching ranks is the life of a journeyman bench coach from staff to staff on a nearly annual basis until somebody takes a chance on you and gives you a coveted coordinator job.  The Stan Parrish path doesn't exist anymore - even in his era it was anomaly.  So ER is gone in March and there is a vacancy.  March is critical for D3 recruiting.  No NLI program means that you are tracking admissions deposits to see what your freshman class will look like in the fall.  Coaching jobs don't open up in March.  A national search would take two to three months.  Are there coaches out there that would want the Wabash job?  Of course.  How many of them are going to take it in May or June? 


So here's the question for you.  You've got a highly respected coach already on your campus who you know, your team knows, and your incoming freshman class knows.  Oh - and he's already been a head coach before.  You can go with that or see who you can pick up off the street somewhere.  Please think about your words before you call someone lazy or dismiss the administration's decision.


Yes, I'm frustrated that ER left (but happy trails to you and yours).  I'm frustrated that CC left.  I'm frustrated that BJ left.  You can whine about it or support the team we have.  Or in the words of Coach Dale . . .

+k for the reasoning. Good argument

I don't know anything about any of this - but +K for the Hossiers reference!

[GRIZ_BACKER]

Wabash's coaching....was wondering when someone was going to address the 800 lb. gorilla in the room.  Morel may be a great guy...and I have heard that from many people...but he is a proven loser as a head coach.  Google it.  The truth hurts. 

What was the WabCol admin thinking when they hired this guy?  Were they just being lazy?  I would think there would be a mile long line of young Coach Creighton-esque types jumping at the chance to coach a team like this.  Admin really screwed the pooch on this one.  They should have lured Carlson out of retirement if they wanted mediocrity.

Every season is different from a team chemistry perspective. From my perspective as a supporter of another perennially successful team is that on paper things may look as cant miss but when its game time things just dont always mesh. And on top of that the teams you play have different make up and chemistry as well as motivation.  In some cases it is hard to keep the edge when you win game after game season after season.  Lot of arm chair analysis on here but who can really diagnose.  Knee jerk blaming the new coaches may not be fair after one loss to a good team.


Sorry - can't let this one sit.  Raeburn batted .500 against Witt.  It was just one loss.  Morel earned the trust and confidence of the players and fellow coaches to earn the top job.  Proven loser?  Last time I checked he was the offensive coordinator for a team that won its conference last year and made it to the third round of the playoffs.  If you want to play the "proven loser" card, remember that Morel actually has a higher w/l percentage than BJ Hammer.  Please, go head and call BJ a "proven loser"  - I dare you.


If you want to speculate on whether Morel or BJ would have gotten the job had both been on campus when Raeburn stepped down, be my guest.  Back here in the real world, a vacancy opened when a successful D3 coach got a once in a lifetime chance to coach D1 FBS football.  Yes it was the worst FBS football program in the country.  But a coach with a young family decided it was an opportunity and they took it.  Best of luck to them.  The normal route to the D1 coaching ranks is the life of a journeyman bench coach from staff to staff on a nearly annual basis until somebody takes a chance on you and gives you a coveted coordinator job.  The Stan Parrish path doesn't exist anymore - even in his era it was anomaly.  So ER is gone in March and there is a vacancy.  March is critical for D3 recruiting.  No NLI program means that you are tracking admissions deposits to see what your freshman class will look like in the fall.  Coaching jobs don't open up in March.  A national search would take two to three months.  Are there coaches out there that would want the Wabash job?  Of course.  How many of them are going to take it in May or June? 


So here's the question for you.  You've got a highly respected coach already on your campus who you know, your team knows, and your incoming freshman class knows.  Oh - and he's already been a head coach before.  You can go with that or see who you can pick up off the street somewhere.  Please think about your words before you call someone lazy or dismiss the administration's decision.


Yes, I'm frustrated that ER left (but happy trails to you and yours).  I'm frustrated that CC left.  I'm frustrated that BJ left.  You can whine about it or support the team we have.  Or in the words of Coach Dale . . .

[smedindy]

I'm glad someone broke the ice, because I was feeling the shot taken at Coach Morel was unfair and unjust.

You know, there have been other teams in the recent history of Wabash that had the talent but lacked the something-or-other. Plus, games against relatively even opponents can turn on just a few missed plays (or some great execution by the opponent). The rest of the NCAC IS getting better - DPU is a long way from where they were. Denison, Kenyon and Hiram have greatly improved. OWU is still a sleeping giant, and I'm sure BJ can turn Allegheny into shape. (Oberlin has its issues, and I don't know WTF is Wooster's deal, but...)

If Wabash has a couple, three 6-4 seasons, then yeah, there's panic in the streets of Indy.

But to call this coach a 'loser' after his turn at LaVerne, well that's not fair.

First, D-3 coaches at most colleges are there to make sure the players compete and get their education. Football is another part of the life learning that goes on in college.

He had great success early on in his career, then hit a rough patch, but Laverne didn't 86 him. It looks like the other members of the SCIAC (Redlands, Oxy, Cal Lutheran) decided to up their football game a bit. I'm sure recruiting in Southern California is a bear - you have a mix of programs and divisions everywhere. Ask BJ about recruiting in the SCIAC (Whitter has struggled so mightily for years - yet we'd never call BJ or Coach Carlson a loser, would we?)

He spent so many years at LaVerne as an assistant, coordinator and head coach he must have been doing something right.

Since he left, LaVerne is 25-59, including 0-3 this year, and that's including an 8-2 record last year with a playoff game against St. Thomas.

He's got a losing record as a head coach. That doesn't mean he's a loser. Stan Parrish has an awful D-1A coaching record. He's not a loser, not in the least. Neither is CC. Neither is ER, and it may take 3-4 years for Savannah State to just get to .500.

The bigger loss for this Wabash team may be BJ as coordinator, not ER as head coach.

[Li'l Giant]

If Wabash has a couple, three 6-4 seasons, then yeah, there's panic in the streets of Indy.

Three. I think three "bad" seasons is the limit. I mean, if an alumnus got three years in hoops before getting replaced, I can't imagine a football coach getting more than three.

Now, is it appropriate to even contemplate that 4 games into the season? Remember, CC followed up the 12-1 (2002) season with 7-3 (2003) and 6-4 (2004) seasons before BashDad and crew led the team to a 10-0 regular season in 2005. Imagine if we had pulled the plug after 2004?

There was an interview I saw with Coach Raeburn before his current team's season started where he was asked about expectations. And he said (I'm paraphrasing) that at Wabash a 7-3 season would be considered a bad year but that would be a great year at SSU. That expectation for us comes from an 11 year stretch of not losing more than two games.

I doubt that anyone around for the late 90s wants a return of that type of program. And while our administration wasn't around then, there's enough institutional memory that it won't take long to figure out a vast majority of alumni will be unhappy with that.

Losing to Witt sucks and I admit I wasn't happy after that game either. But we've got a long way to go this season and even longer before we get to the point of talking about actual changes.

[Caveman # 95]

Wabndy- Your diatribe is nauseating. You're acting all butt-hurt over the truth...grow up.

Cut-and-paste directly from the SCIAC website:

"His (Morel's) record as head coach at La Verne is 48-59"

....that qualifies as a loser. And another interesting direct quote from the SCIAC website:


""This was my 20th season of college football. I've always believed the only guys who should coach football are the ones who cannot live without it. I'm now at a point where I can live without football," said Morel."

So , he said it himself that he shouldn't be coaching football? 

[Caveman # 95]

And by the way, I never attacked Morel's integrity, and was quite specific when I said he was a "proven loser as a head coach".....not a "loser" as a human being.....which you and wabindy are obviously implying I suggested.

I bleed Scarlet guys, not heliotrope.

[Caveman # 95]

smedindy:  What is Carlson's Bell record??  Yeah, you got a real winner there. 

Nevertheless, I referred to him as mediocre. Did you miss that? 

[smedindy]

Not even ER, CC or even Larry Kehres could win at some places in D-3. Hiram? Oberlin? Whittier? Macalester? Hamline? Lewis & Clark? Wilmington?

You don't always win at most schools. Especially with the competition in Southern California. I checked - every SCIAC team has had a losing season in the last ten years. So, that says that the competition is relatively even, and if you hit on a class, you're going to win. If you miss, you're not.

What if he started a program, like at Anna Maria, who since they started is 7-66? How would that look on a resume.

Proven loser is weak sauce.

Maybe he got his enthusiasm back, too. Again, he was probably the best candidate at the time when ER left.