FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[kestrel]

It's  that age-old question again: what came first? The chicken or the egg? Or in this case does the transfer go there because it's a better program? Or, is it transfers who make it a better program?  In the '90's Stout had a kid named Bechtel transfer to UWL's "better program" for his senior season.  A season or two later, Stout goes 10 - 0, bouyed by two transfer QB's, an excellent LB (transfer from UW), and DT Jeff Hazuga (St. Cloud State), arguably the most dominant lineman ever in the WIAC and conference MVP. Until the wheels came off this year, they were regarded as one of the better programs as transfer talent (Englebert/Wisconsin, Opahle/UMD, etc.)  continued to have an impact. There was a 10-year stretch where five or six of the league MVP/s were transfers.  Three I remember were Hazuga, Jared Arn (UWL/North Dakota), and Sean Hoolihan (UWEC/Mankato State), who took Blugolds to 3rd round of playoffs. It seems like recruiting is pretty much over-rated, while the real story in the WIAC is to be fortunate on the transfer trail.

[chmarx]

I know that some of the transfers to La Crosse were recruited by us before they signed with their D1 program.

Sometimes effort has long-term payback.

[footballfan413]

Kestrel, you make some good points and clearly have a better overall knowledge of WIAC history than I do.  Chmarx also makes a good point about how transfers and recruiting can have a cross over effect.  In 2002, UWW lost a promising high school RB they had recruited to UW-STP but one season later, Colin Burns transfered to the Warhawks.  Another factor not mentioned so far is the ability of programs to attract players who could have played at a higher level but choose D-3 instead for a variety of reasons.  Kleppe, Raebel, Underwood, etc.... are just a few examples of guys who, I have heard, turned down higher level interest to have the chance to play 4 years.  It is my understanding that Jacobs had some D-1 interest until he broke his arm senior year. In my mind, that has had more of an effect on the Warhawks national success the last few years than the transfer situation.  But getting a few transfers the quality of Widuch and Borzick sure didn't hurt.    

[badgerwarhawk]

We had extensive contact with both Borzick and Widuch as high school players so after their first choice didn't work out they knew they could play for us. 

[footballfan413]

We had extensive contact with both Borzick and Widuch as high school players so after their first choice didn't work out they knew they could play for us. 

Well, there ya go.........so much for recruiting being over-rated and less important than transfers. 

[eagle_defender]

I would agree that recruting is important.  I was deciding between UWSP and UWL as a senior.  I visited UWSP first, believed some negative comments made about LAX, and ended up at UWSP without ever visiting UWL.  After 1 week at UWSP I new I made the wrong choice and went home.  After 1 year as a laborer and 1 year in a community college I enrolled at UWL.  I wrote a letter to coach Terry expressing my interest to play.  Not only did he remember me but he called immediately and invited me to play for him.  I learned an important lesson that I use to this day.  If one person (or coach) is bashing the competition, they are usually insecure about their own product (or team).

During my last few years at LAX, I was involved in showing players and parents around campus on ther recruiting visits.  Even though I had to be up early on a Saturday, I wanted to make sure they didn't make the same mistake I did.  I always told my story while leaving out the name of the school I originally went to because I did not want to bash them.

I don't know if this is relevent to the conversation, its just something I am passionate about.

[stoutguy]

I would agree that recruting is important.  I was deciding between UWSP and UWL as a senior.  I visited UWSP first, believed some negative comments made about LAX, and ended up at UWSP without ever visiting UWL.  After 1 week at UWSP I new I made the wrong choice and went home.  After 1 year as a laborer and 1 year in a community college I enrolled at UWL.  I wrote a letter to coach Terry expressing my interest to play.  Not only did he remember me but he called immediately and invited me to play for him.  I learned an important lesson that I use to this day.  If one person (or coach) is bashing the competition, they are usually insecure about their own product (or team).

During my last few years at LAX, I was involved in showing players and parents around campus on ther recruiting visits.  Even though I had to be up early on a Saturday, I wanted to make sure they didn't make the same mistake I did.  I always told my story while leaving out the name of the school I originally went to because I did not want to bash them.

I don't know if this is relevent to the conversation, its just something I am passionate about.

I think it is very relevent to this conversation and I also think you make a great point about what makes for fair and good recruiting.  I had a chance to talk to Todd Strop Sat. morning on our radio show and he made some great points about things that he needed to do to improve his program.  I have heard him talk about potential recruits in the past and have never heard anything negative about an opponent or program.  He was candid about what he needed to do at Stout and I wish him well.  He is a great guy.  The finger pointing around here is getting old. 

[KitchenSink]

Wonder if anyone from Nebraska-Omaha will transfer up this way ... ?

[janesvilleflash]

Stoutguy- That was an excellent interview with Strop. You did a great job with it. Asked all the tough questions, and I thought he handled them well. I'm sure it's just me being stupid, but I don't get what you mean by the "finger pointing".?

[stoutguy]

By "Finger-pointing"  I refer to what happens when a team does not meet expectations.  It appears Stout underachieved this year and players, parents, community members, present coaches, former coaches, people who are concerned, people who are just enjoying the failure, fans at the games, fans who have never seen a game, and just about anyone else I have not mentioned all seem to be looking for a reason for the low number of wins.   The Stout program for as many years as Joe La Buda has been our HS coach, has been perceived as underachieving in many peoples' eyes.  In a small town, it is diffucult to compete with one of the best HS programs in the state and not have people be critical. 

[janesvilleflash]

Ok, I get it.

[Just Bill]

Wonder if anyone from Nebraska-Omaha will transfer up this way ... ?

I wouldn't think any scholarship players would be likely to leave unless they were having a poor experience and a had a Wisconsin connection.  There's only two Wisconsin kids on the UNO roster, so I wouldn't think any transfers are likely.

[KitchenSink]

You're probably right.  But you never know - they could have a walk-on type guy or two who LL "recruited" for his offense.

Just a thought.

[Warhawk 96]

Looks like the whole Boston College idea was shot to the ground.


"Steve Logan, offensive coordinator - Logan joins the BC staff after three seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe. During his stint with Berlin, Logan helped Dave Ragone (2004) and Rohan Davey (2005) earn Offensive Player of the Year and All-NFL Europe honors. Since August 2006, he has hosted a sports talk-radio show in Raleigh, N.C. Logan will be reunited at Boston College with Jagodzinski after working together at ECU from 1989-92 for Coach Bill Lewis."

http://bceagles.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/010507aaa.html

[K-Mack]

KMack, if LaCrosse isn't the team to beat they are definitely the other team to beat every year.  

Thanks. That was my initial thought, but I couldn't think of who was and wasn't back off the top of my head.

Well,
The USC comparison ... that's probably more of a rare case, but I bet you can make an argument for it. I think the program's depth should be good after two post-Stagg recruiting classes, so I don't see any drops further than say, 7-3, but to think you could waltz right back to the Stagg Bowl would be a huge oversight on how special this senior class is/was: Kleppe, Jacobs, Stanley, Schmitt, Widuch, Sakellaris, Mrkvicka, Reuland, etc., etc. ... that's a lot to replace.

You do have a fresh look though, unfamiliar schemes and enough talent with which to deploy them (Beaver, most of the OL, Raebel, Borzick, etc.), so a return to the playoffs is not out of the question.

 

I know that my point about comparing UWW's depth to USC was weak, but I was hoping to convey that although we lost an amazing group of seniors, I think our recruiting will keep us competing for the WIAC.  I hope that you didnt get the idea that I thought UWW was on its way to a third straight Stagg Bowl.  I would like to see us keep our perfect record at home for the third year in a row(even with MHB) coming to town.  I'm seeing a dogfight between UW-LAX and UWW for the title next year.

Yeah,
That wasn't so much directed at you as it was at a situation it reminded me of. St. John's 2003, and Linfield '04/05 for that matter, really had some special classes come through, and even though none of these teams is going to fall off the face of the earth, assuming the same level of success might not be wise given how special that senior class was.

And UW-W's senior group is among the best I can recall, anytime, anywhere.

So I guess it's more a tip of the hat to the senior group, and the UWW guys who have been there, done that twice ... they now have to convey that work ethic/desire/hunger to the players ready to step in.

Also, another thought I generally have when coaches change is that all the time you spend switching systems and learning new stuff is time you could be using to perfect things had there been stability.

Then again, the conference teams won't have years of tape on what you do and how you do it, so it could get interesting.