FB: American Rivers Conference

[Purple Heys]

Speaking from the perspective of the Have-Not...not bringing in big recruiting numbers provides the following disadvantages:

1) Scout Team - with low numbers, starters may have to play scout team.

2) No JV Team -  Even with low numbers, freshman generally don't play a lot.  This wastes a year getting almost no game time except Special Teams.  If they could play JV games, they get game experience and game confidence.

3) Freshman play Special Teams - You make a choice to not play starters, putting inexperienced, less developed ballplayers into service.

4) Less qualified backups - not having JV game experience, means less reps in game situations, means less readiness to step in and step up.

If Z can bring in 170, more power to him.  Players self-inflict ignorance to the fact that it inevitably means less chance for them...thinking in terms of "it's just more competition and it will make me better".

It is not for a lack of trying that Cornell doesn't have bigger numbers.  In order to be competitive in the IIAC, they have to get the numbers up.  I think Coach B showed that he could recruit out of state and that's a necessity at Cornell.  I think we'll see the numbers creeping up.

[DBQ1965]

Rum, Gin, Scotch, Whisky, Bourbon, Beer...it's all good for me...especially if you include wings and other assorted meats.  And speaking of alcohol...this morning I noticed the building across the street from my office had sold.  I asked my boss about it and she told me a BREWERY is going to open up in there.  Less than a month until opening kickoff and there is also a brewery opening up across the street from where I work...life is good

Forget the rum ... aside from a martini with English extra dry gin and equally dry vermouth ... my preferences run to aged single malt scotch, single barrel bourbon, and good irish whisky.  And I didn't learn that living in Severance Hall.

[Mav45]

The only (big) thing I would add/wonder about would be the messaging from the coach/program to the kids being recruited.

If a kid is led to believe that coach "so and so" is actually interested in them as FB players, and then they come to 1st day of practice and find out that there's 170 guys who also believed that they were recruited as "the right kind of kid we want in our program"  ...I wonder if a bulk of those kids, studs and otherwise -- do they end up feeling duped?  Would the kid have selected that college if they knew that there were another 170 guys in the grinder?  Is it really a surprise to have a mass exodus?

I know how tough it is to recruit a kid to a private college!  It is a huge challenge to try to differentiate your program from both state schools, and all the other fine DII and DIII options out there-- and at first just hope to get on a kid's application "short list".  From that point you do your best, and hope like crazy the financial aid works -- it doesn't always!  So of course there must be more kids in the pipeline to account for attrition....that makes sense.  

And maybe some years you win more recruiting battles than others, or vise-versa.  But what I've always wondered is how in the world a program gets that many kids to "buy in"?   It seems for most people, there are deep considerations at play -- how can a coach/program recruit that many kids and still maintain a sense of ethical integrity?  What do you have to tell them?

I really don't know the answer, but it's fascinating to consider.  

The more the merrier. 

Were I a D3 coach I'd keep recruiting and welcoming kids to campus right up until the day classes start.  In fact I'd welcome transfers from D2 and D1 programs all year long.  If you have coaches, trainers, facilities and equipment for 150, why not use them?

Of course some (most) of the new recruits won't have a full four year football career.  So what?  None of those 60 or 70 who show up for the first day of practice their freshman year are going to play more than four years anyway.  Some will be done after one day, one month, one year, two years, three years or some will last all four years.  All D3 players should arrive on campus with a college degree as their main objective.  So what if 70 young men give football a shot their first year?  At least they've tried.  Its better than going to a state D1 school and doing nothing other than having a near orgasm if one of the members of the football team is in your 400 person English 101 course.

Well said.........all of it 

[badgerwarhawk]

The only (big) thing I would add/wonder about would be the messaging from the coach/program to the kids being recruited.

If a kid is led to believe that coach "so and so" is actually interested in them as FB players, and then they come to 1st day of practice and find out that there's 170 guys who also believed that they were recruited as "the right kind of kid we want in our program"  ...I wonder if a bulk of those kids, studs and otherwise -- do they end up feeling duped?  Would the kid have selected that college if they knew that there were another 170 guys in the grinder?  Is it really a surprise to have a mass exodus?

I really don't know the answer, but it's fascinating to consider.

It's a good point to consider.  However there's another side of that coin.  Would a college coach want a player who doesn't want to compete?  A player who gives up in the face of competition.  If a player has confidence in his ability they'll be willing to compete for the chance to play.  If they don't think they have much of a chance they'll drop out. 

[Mav45]

Of course that answer is easy....nobody wins with "less-than" athletes and competitors.  But don't you think that MOST of the kids that would consider playing FB in college were probably in the "leader" and "competitor" crowd?  Obviously the transition from stud in HS doesn't correlate to college success...one of my favorite days in preseason FB practices was watching the older bulls toss around the "newbies" -- attitude adjustment! 

Everybody understands that kids quit for all kind of reasons.  But I would think that one of the MOST significant reasons a kid might not "bond" to a cause/program would be if they felt they had been misled.  If a kid begins to feel like cannon fodder and nothing more, I bet disillusionment could get the better of them.   Not sure I could be convinced that  dropping from 170 to 90 simply weeds out only the obvious losers who never should have considered the opportunity in the first place.  And if they were that "unwilling" why would they have even considered the possibility in the first place? 

The only (big) thing I would add/wonder about would be the messaging from the coach/program to the kids being recruited.

If a kid is led to believe that coach "so and so" is actually interested in them as FB players, and then they come to 1st day of practice and find out that there's 170 guys who also believed that they were recruited as "the right kind of kid we want in our program"  ...I wonder if a bulk of those kids, studs and otherwise -- do they end up feeling duped?  Would the kid have selected that college if they knew that there were another 170 guys in the grinder?  Is it really a surprise to have a mass exodus?

I really don't know the answer, but it's fascinating to consider.

It's a good point to consider.  However there's another side of that coin.  Would a college coach want a player who doesn't want to compete?  A player who gives up in the face of competition.  If a player has confidence in his ability they'll be willing to compete for the chance to play.  If they don't think they have much of a chance they'll drop out. 

[Pat Coleman]

Because UD starts the season 2 days earlier than the other IIAC schools, does that mean they also can start practice 2 days earlier?

Im pretty sure, its a set number of days/practices before the first contest, so if your first game is earlier they should be practicing earlier.

Not quite. The date of the first practice is determined based on the date of the first game as well as the date of the first day of school. However, opening early on Labor Day weekend does not entitle one to practice earlier.

[doolittledog]

All this talk is assuming that Coach Z is telling all these recruits that they are his kid and they will get playing time.  We don't know that.  Coach Z could be saying nothing more than come to UD and you have a chance to compete for a spot.  The campus atmosphere and facilities could be inticing a lot more kids towards UD than in times past.  

And lets not forget.  I think there was talk last year that UD was bringing in something like 150 kids when the real number was closer to the 120 mark, with about 90 something left by the end of the season.  

We'll have a better idea how each school is stacking up for this fall in another couple or three weeks.  

[DutchHawk]

Because UD starts the season 2 days earlier than the other IIAC schools, does that mean they also can start practice 2 days earlier?

Im pretty sure, its a set number of days/practices before the first contest, so if your first game is earlier they should be practicing earlier.

Not quite. The date of the first practice is determined based on the date of the first game as well as the date of the first day of school. However, opening early on Labor Day weekend does not entitle one to practice earlier.

Thanks Pat, all I could remember is that it was determined by number of practices to some degree, everyone is alotted the same amount of contact time in fairness. If you play a game earlier but start school later that leaves more time for 2 a days and thus maybe a later start time.

[footballdaddy]

3 days until camp!

[footballdaddy]

Just some idle questions:

Do we give Central the trophy now, or go through the motions of the season?

Was Coe a one hit wonder?

How does Wartburg bounce back after a sup-par season while having to replace Nick Yordi?

Will the thousands of Spartan recruits make for a change in conference standings?

Are BV Luther and Loras so far under the radar that they crash?

Will a new coach produce different results for the Rams?

Will anyone ever say anything nice about Simpson?

[doolittledog]

footballdaddy...

Let's go through the motions...just to see how things play out

I hope so...but suspect not

Coaching legend Willis

If by change you mean out of the bottom two in the conference, then yes.  But the Central/Wartburg folks will laugh and say get back to us once UD wins a conference title

BV and Luther won't crash...they will both be 5-5 at the end of the season...Loras has my permission to crash and burn

Yes, but with a 3-7 record not many will notice the change

No

[SpeedKills84]

Just some idle questions:

Do we give Central the trophy now, or go through the motions of the season?

Was Coe a one hit wonder?

How does Wartburg bounce back after a sup-par season while having to replace Nick Yordi?

Will the thousands of Spartan recruits make for a change in conference standings?

Are BV Luther and Loras so far under the radar that they crash?

Will a new coach produce different results for the Rams?

Will anyone ever say anything nice about Simpson?

this is the IIAC so it's never over till its over. that being said i'd be surprised if they don't win it.

coesuxdrinkbeer.

no lower than third and may make a run for the title.

doubt it. expect UD to be middle of the pack. the usual teams at top and bottom.

if you fly far enough under the radar, you can avoid it all together, and the enemy doesn't know you're there until it's too late.

history says no, but never say never.

i ate there once. they have nice pie. 

[warthog]

Just some idle questions:

Do we give Central the trophy now, or go through the motions of the season?

Was Coe a one hit wonder?

How does Wartburg bounce back after a sup-par season while having to replace Nick Yordi?

Will the thousands of Spartan recruits make for a change in conference standings?

Are BV Luther and Loras so far under the radar that they crash?

Will a new coach produce different results for the Rams?

Will anyone ever say anything nice about Simpson?

I'd suggest we play it out.

Coe is far more than a one hit wonder.  they've been respectable during most of the decade.

Well, 3rd place for the Knights is sub-par.  I'll put them 1st or 2nd.  I think this QB situation must be under control.  When Coach Willis just smiles and says, "We'll be OK."  that means he has something up his sleeve.

I'll put the Spartans in the top four.  Not because I know anything about it, this prediction would just make Grandma Warthog happy.

I'm tired of saying this will be Luther's year, but I'll say it one more time.  They finish 4th or 5th. (That is the difference between the Knights and Norse.  The Knights say 3rd is a bad year, but the Norse are said to be much better if they finish 4th or 5th.)  BV and Loras tie for 6th.

No change for the Rams.  A coach with a losing record while coaching a conference foe now takes over a team with a losing history.  This simply equals more losing years ahead.

I can't say anything bad about Simpson.  The coaches, medical staff and players were all very nice when Little Warthog broke his leg and ankle at their place a few years ago.

[warthog]

Don't forget to order the D3 Kickoff.  I placed my order last week.  It is the ultimate in all things D3.  I probably should have read it before I made the predictions in my previous post.

[footballdaddy]

One more day!

Let the Games begin!