FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Li'l Giant]

My loyalty to the NCAC does not extend very far.  it certainly doesn't extend to the point that I cheer on my rival.

Go Tartans!

Same.

Also, keep in mind Carnegie Mellon's head coach is former Wabash assistant Ryan Larsen. I don't need much of an excuse to root against DPU but Coach Larsen is a good guy. Met him when the AFCA was here in SA several years back. I wish him and his team good luck this weekend.

[sigma one]

I'm conflicted.  A small part of  me wants DPU to win so that they have to face North Central next week.  Nah, I hope CMU and Larsen handles them. 

[WABCOL86]

It would be interesting in the Dannies get to play NCC, but yeah, I kinda want them to get toasted by CMU.  Just out of curiousity, would Mr. Hammer have any interest in returning from Bowdoin if the top spot was available here?  Just wondering...

[sigma one]

I don't think so.  His wife is from New England;  as I understand it, that was at least part of the reason they moved back that direction.  And their kids are probably now at that age. . . .I want to say once again that the current coaching situation appears to be OK with the College.   

[WABCOL86]

I am sure that the College is okay with something above mediocrity as long as it fills the seats.  That doesn't mean the fan base is all that supportive.  We start regularly having 7-3 or 6-4 (or worse) with no conference championships or NCAA trips will cause a drop off both in the quality of recruits and the supportiveness of the fans and alums.  We will see, I guess.  As far as the other question I posed, that was what I was interested in knowing.

[smedindy]

I think they're happier about filling the class with quality student athletes.

[WAF5290]

2 very talented HS recruits (son's of friends...all state, etc) was interested in both schools prior to Saturday. They were at De_____w on a visit Saturday with a visit to Wabash set up for next week. Talked to my buddies today, both boys canceled their visit to Wabash and decided to pursue De____w. Losing the Bell is awful, getting humiliated to the point where kids are second guessing coming to play there is a whole different ball game.

[WABCOL86]

And this is exactly what I was afraid of.  It's happened before.  It's happening again.  And there is zero reason why we cannot have both "quality student athletes" and a winning championship program at Wabash except for complacency and shall we say laziness in our leadership regarding the issue?  It will end up costing the school dollars eventually.

[Li'l Giant]

I think they're happier about filling the class with quality student athletes.

I wish the administration would realize that this doesn't preclude the team from being good. It's ridiculous for the admin of a school that preaches critical thinking so hard to believe that the only way to be good at football is to have a bunch of juvenile delinquents.

Depauw had their own coaching struggles with a string of bad to mediocre staffs while we had a really good one. They have a really good staff now and we're probably going to see the reverse of what we were doing to them between 2009 and 2015.

If the admin is happy with that then that's pretty disappointing.

LG

[VoodooDoc]

The Wabash faithful will be pleased to know that Hard Hat D is alive and well and being played in Brunswick Maine.  The NESCAC has some very weird rules such as not playing in the NCAA playoffs, with the rare exception of last year due to COVID - not having any spring practice, and finally recruiting limited 20 to 25 players in the fall with very high admission standards at Bowdoin.

This past year Coach Hammer focused recruiting on both defensive and offensive linemen.  He also was able to get Blair Hammer to come to Maine this fall to coach primarily defensive linemen but also linebackers in pass rush technique.  As a result, the Hard Hat D came up big in defeating Wesleyan for the first time in over a decade.  The Bowdoin defense held them in check pretty well and forced the kind of mistakes that we were used to seeing opponents make in C'ville.  The defense then came up big by stopping a 2 point extra point play late in the game to seal the victory.  Last weekend, Bowdoin played Colby and the Hard Hat D was hard at work again shutting Colby down in the second half and sacking the quarterback 5 times to win for the first time in 7 years.  There was deja vu back to the days when the Little Giants were heading into the playoffs with Hard Hat D.

[sigma one]

My own personal take on this:
I don't think it's that the administration doesn't care about athletics, and for our purposes here about football.  From admissions to the president's office and on to the Board of Trustees everyone recognizes that sports are extremely important to recruitment, student body morale, and alumni connections.  I don't think, however, that their understanding of the importance of athletics extends to necessarily playing consistently at a championship level.  Success can be defined in a number of ways, from being at the top of the conference and making runs at the playoffs to just having consistently winning records.  Wabash fans are spoiled by the success of several programs:  most recently the basketball team's going to the final four with a generational player and strong supporting cast.  Track and Field dominates the NCAC.  Soccer is markedly improved over the past five years.   Wrestling finished second in the nation last year, losing the national title by ONE point.  Baseball is solid if not spectacular.  Swimming is consistently third or fourth in the strongest swim conference in the country dominated by Kenyon and Dension.  Several new sports struggle, and several more--golf and tennis--are inconsistent.  Volleyball, lacrosse, golf and tennis are "country club" sports for the most part, and Wabash does not attract the kind of students who have excelled in h.s. (including prep schools) in these sports.
Additionally, Coach Morel is engaged on campus and well-liked by the administration and faculty.  Records of 7-4, 7-3, 7-3 the last three years are respectable in almost everyone's eyes and not likely for the powers that be to be concerned.  I can't speak to losses to DePauw--and the Tigers are definitely on the rise in the NCAC and look like they will have continuing success. 
So, there it is.  I number myself among those (and the small sample size on these boards--though I know others share our feelings) who are concerned about Wabash being able to return to what we have seen since the early 2000's.  I was there when it started and believe that I helped influence the rise of football.  But I don't think of Wabash as a St John's, or Wartburg, or Trinity, etc.  Even in the best years, the objective was to compete for a conference title, go to the playoffs some years, and advance a round or two when the team was special. 
The offense is spectacular for now; the defense sucks.  If the LGs find a way to even out the two sides of the ball, then there's a chance to become a bit better.  But I am not sure we will in the short term be what we were from 2001-2018. Though I am hesitant to say this, I believe the school's leaders are pretty comfortable winning 3 games in 4 most years; and I don't think even 6-4 will change that if the football staff continues to bring in 50+ recruits a year.  If recruiting goes in the tank, then maybe . . . .   

[WABCOL86]

The Administration have to know, after the last 20+ years, that routinely going 7-3 or 6-4 will not be acceptable to the Alumni nor the overall student body.  Critical thinking will show them that it will hurt recruiting, if it already hasn't.  One thing I have noticed is that a lot of our players are smaller than what we were used to.  Shorter, nor quite as heavy (for OL in particular).  I remember that our coaches in the 1980's lamented that we had to contend with both the single sex issue as well as fighting schools at every level for the smart, well rounded players.  We have managed to (mostly) overcome the all male issue, but the smart, well rounded kids are ever harder to compete for.  Getting smoked in the Bell Game this year will definitely impact our recruiting, possibly for several years. Also, the football alums that financed the new stadium won't be satisfied with 7-3 and 6-4. Time will tell how this plays out.

[Li'l Giant]

Though I am hesitant to say this, I believe the school's leaders are pretty comfortable winning 3 games in 4 most years; and I don't think even 6-4 will change that if the football staff continues to bring in 50+ recruits a year.  If recruiting goes in the tank, then maybe . . . .

I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we'll get a change when Coach Morel himself decides it's time for one. Personally, I think Dean B is right and the admin will leave well enough alone until he retires; whenever that ends up being. The only question is will the truck be in the ditch by then or not. We're not in the ditch yet but without a course correction we're going to be. Once Liam Thompson graduates our offense won't be great anymore and if the defense still stinks, we're looking at some real trouble.

LG

[WAF5290]

Is it true that Coach M takes the salary he is to be paid and splits it up among his assistants? I have heard this from multiple people.

[sigma one]

Well--In their predictions, the D3 pundits gave a slight edge to CMU, 4 votes to 3, in what they all considered would be a low scoring game.  It was only low scoring on one side as DPU goes down 45-14.  Except for scoring the first TD early in the game after the new Tigers recovered an opening KO fumble by the Titans, the game was never in doubt.  We all knew the CMU defense was very good, and we thought the DPU defense was as well.  Not the way it turned out. 
Several thoughts:
Is the NCAC that weak this year?  This was CMU's most points in a game all year.
Was there a post-Bell Game hangover after their decisive win last week?  Maybe, but who can be sure.
CMU rushed for over 200 yards.  DPU rushed for 77; at no time did the DPU defense look like it could stop the Tartan's running game.
After they fell behind 28-7, the game was over.  Remind anyone of last week?

Can Tigers lay an egg?  Today was either an off day, or the beat down signals that the NCAC has fallen even more in the conference rankings.  And I don't discount that the Titans are a very good football team.  They move on to play North Central next week.   
     I mean this:  Kudos to DePauw on a great season.  Too bad today's result was so uneven.