FB: Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

[The Forgotten Man]

Great job, Panthers!  You earned plenty of respect!

It was a great experience for the guys. They are already talking about what they need to do in the off-season to get better for next year.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all.

[The Forgotten Man]

Congratulations SLIAC Football Award Winners.

http://sliac.org/headlines/2008-09/fb_112408.htm

But of course anyone who plays D3 football is a winner!

[AF4]

Great first year for the new football version of the SLIAC... next yr will b even better

i thank we will have even more parity next season

if Greenville, Westminister, and Huntington can each improve 1-2 touchdowns they should b able to catch LaGrange... only thing is..LaGrange will get even better as all those juniors mature 

hopefully Eureka and Blackburn can get a good  jump in recruiting . and Lord willing Prinicipia can get a bunch of kids out for football next yr

i pray everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving...stay healthy

keep the faith

[AF4]

congrats to the all 26 football playing members of the SLIAC fall all- academic team

special shout out or props (as they say now days) to the 7 Huntingdon Hawks

way to go to all the Scholar - Athletes

keep the faith

[old 40]

Humblepie;

Anyword on the Eureka hire? I heard they interviewed 3 outside coaches and one inside. I have not seen any announcements. I heard the AD called the candidates on Wednesday and said they made an offer to someone. Let us know if you hear anything.

[keepitclassy]

Kurt Barth, former Eureka College stand out will be the next head coach at Eureka.  Congratulations to the Red Devils for landing an outstanding coach, and good luck for the next few years to come!

[humblepie]

Hopefully Kurt Barth can bring the eureka program back to the days when he was playing.  If Eureka can get some good recruits and find a way to keep the good players they have I think they can shock alot of teams in the sliac

[Andras Bacia]

  If Eureka can get some good recruits and find a way to keep the good players 

That is the key. 

As an EC fan I hope Coach Barth can make a difference and get the Red Devils on the winning side, but it might take more than coaching.

Eureka had a very good freshman class this year with several making significant contributions to the team. Unfortunately I've been hearing through the grapevine that some of those top recruits won't be back next year.
With around 21 Division 3 programs just in Illinois, and many more in neighboring states, there are a lot of options for good D3 players in the area. IMHO, if Eureka is going to attract and hang on to top players they need to make some major improvements across the board, new equipment, weight room, dorms, etc.  It's time for some upgrades.

[WhatDoIKnow]

Eureka followers,

Let's not kid ourselves.  The Barth hire is obviously as a result of lack of options.  When a press release talks about a coaches former playing days rather than his successes as a coach, such leads one to wonder.  8 wins in 3 years at EC as Asst Coach/Coordinator.  1 winning season in the last 4 as a HS Head Coach.

The only time EC has been successful is when they were NAIA or D3 (playing with NAIA scholarship players - Barth era).  Bottom line, unless they go back to NAIA, EC is a place where they will have a new coach every 3-4 years and get average players.

[lineman79]

Eureka didn't have scholarship athletes during the Barth era. They were affiliated with both NAIA and NCAA Div. 3. If they did they couldn't have been D3. Eureka had good coaches that could recruit too, i.e John Tully and Nick Fletcher.

Eureka's past administration didn't put $$$ into the facilites and let things go down hill. Additions have been made under the new president and I think the new AD is a great addition. EC athletics has a bright future I believe.

I'm cautiously optimistic on the Barth hire. Not a great resume but if he can get his players to play like he did and recruit well Eureka will turns things around quickly.

Good Luck Coach Barth and GO RED DEVIlS!!!

[Devils 50]

I think Kurt is a great fit for the Red Devils. I played one year under Kurt when he was the OC at Eureka and he is a great motivater. He has the support of the college behind him, which is a lot more than the last Coach had. Also, regarding his high school coaching record. Kurt got his foot in the door by taking a job at a high school that is best known for cross country running!!! They were coming off a 1 or 2 win season and had just been placed into a conference that has produced State Championship appearing teams 4 of the last 8 years, and Kurt got his team into the playoffs!!!
Only time will tell, but Kurt Barth goes hand in hand with Red Devil football and a lot of people are happy he is back home!!!!!

[WhatDoIKnow]

L79,

It is my understanding Eureka was NAIA and offered scholarships.  However, when they went D3 they quit offering scholarships, but those scholarship players remained in the program.  Bottom line, the point I was making is it took money to draw folks (quality players) to Eureka regardless of who the coach was. 

D50,

I am glad he was able to motivate you to a 8-22 record.  More of the same, the 2008 squad scored the most points in a season since '97, which is nothing to brag about.  If he was such a great motivator, why aren't we seeing it in his records/statistics as a coach. 

"Foot in the door", "cross country"?  Come on, excuses are like a-holes and everyone has one and they all stink.  Can someone tell me the last time a cc runner was great football player?  They run cc for a reason.  Doesn't Eureka coop?  Did someone put a gun to Kurt's head and say he had to take the Eureka job?  I know of 10 jobs in the last 4 years, which have opened up, which are better the EHS.  Why didn't he hired for one of those? 

I could really care less what conference they are in.  He was only in the conference for the last 4 years, not 8.  Let's face it, Central Catholic over the last 4 years has been the only consistent team.  Each of the other remaining schools has had up and down years or below average teams.  PC, U-High, Rantoul, Olympia are all winnable games.  Their non-conference game should be a winner.  Bottomline, good coaches come up with 1-2 wins a year where they should not have won the game.

I will let the Eureka followers state their case for their new HC, but we will have this same discussion in a few years despite being in one of the worst conferences in D3.

[Andras Bacia]

Here are a few things Coach Barth will need to work on. 

Of the 235 D3 teams the Eureka finished 48th in total offense and 23rd in rushing offense. Lagrange and Huntingdon were the only two SLIAC teams to finish ahead of them in these categories. Despite these numbers Eureka was 131st in scoring offense. (still scoring more than any team since '97) And I have to say some of the play calling and personnel decisions during the season were a little odd, inconsistent and even bizarre at times.
Don't run the same formation in every situation. Mix it up. It's not hard for a disciplined defense to stop the current offense.

The Eureka defense finished 227th out of 235. The only SLIAC defense worse than Eureka, 0-10 Principia at #235. The defense needs work.

And find a kicker/punter, you can't give up field position like we did this year and expect to win.


http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2008&div=III&site=org

[Devils 50]

What do I know:
That is a pretty fitting name since you seem to know everything about Eureka College and Kurt Barth, but let me tell you what I KNOW!!!!

What I know is that Dan Sullivan (EC's former coach) took over a team that had all of it's talent returning from a competitive 3-7 squad.
-Then proceeded to run off half of the players with his arrogance and his "I'm the head Coach not your friend attitude!"
-A team that had 75 players returned the following year with 39!!!!!
We went 1-9
-Then we went 0-10.
-Then the Head Coach of a College football program, would get onto this website under many names "Touchdown Jesus" for one and run his mouth!
-Then the President of the College fired the AD because she did not have the "heart" to fire Sullivan, and it took the new AD 3 games to get the job done and thats a fact!
*So as I said before the Red Devil community is excited to have Kurt Barth return home.

*And it is pretty hard to get coach to an 8-22 record in one season under a coach, O and Sullivan 3-27 in his first 3 years!!! wow

[WhatDoIKnow]

D50,

My name is pretty fitting.  Much of the information I have posted is common knowledge, but a little research doesn't hurt.  Bottom line, I could give 2 cents about Dan Sullivan or Kurt Barth.  The point of the matter is Dan Sullivan's 3 wins in 2+ seasons is par for the course for Eureka.  Per the D3 website, since 99 you have won an average of 1.9 games a year!  Kurt's average win total is 2 games a year, so I guess it is an upgrade per EC standards.

My only comment about this hire is EC had an opportunity to go out and get a coach with proven success either over a short or long period of time.  They failed to do this and for whatever their motives were hired Mr. Barth.

AB,

Take stats for what they are worth as it is all relative.  EC plays in one of the worst conferences in D3.  I would state EC needs a lot of work in a number of areas.  Only time will tell.