FB: American Rivers Conference

[DutchFan2004]

Knightlife06,

Your statement about he was not happy about the way Coe was playing him.  More as a WR and a RB.  What did he want to play?  There are not many left other than QB or Line am I not correct?  If I misread can you explain your speculation. 

[knightlife06]

Again....pure speculation,
    From what I have heard, he wanted to be RB all the time, whereas in the past Ashton Northern had been the featured RB (Suckow in the slot), except in short yardage situations.  I'm not trying to make Neil out as being stuck up or anything like that because I know he is not.  But I think that's why he wanted to transfer before, and I believe that's why he and Raeburn may not have been getting along.  Sure, Northern may not be around anymore, but I guess he had enough.  Pure speculation. and I hope that made sense DF2004

[Walston Hoover]

Well I'm told now it is a done deal. Paperwork is through and he is on track to graduate... From Wartburg... in May. After spending the summer in Waverly working he decided he liked it there and wanted Wartburg to be the place where he would finish his career.
The Wartburg Seniors got together and decided that they would welcome Neil and he asked to be treated like any other newcomer to the program.
Serious blow to Coe's hopes, but, from what I've heard...Raeburn wasn't treating Neil like he wanted him at Coe anyway.
I'll take the 3 time all-conference player and another NE Iowa boy.
3 years too late IMO but better late than never.

[DutchFan2004]

Knightlife,

yes that does clear it up.  I had assumed that he always wanted to be moved around since he did that all three years. 


Walston,

Where do you think he will play?  With Knightlifes speculation he wants to be a RB.  Will he share time at RB or play WR?

If he is happy at Wartburg more power to him.  You have to be happy with what you are doing.  Hope he has 9 great games this year. 

[footballdaddy]

I just heard tonight from a Coe player that it is true.No reason given but it's a done deal.Great for the Knights,bad for the Kohawks.

[Walston Hoover]

He will be at RB to start but will also be used in the slot. With Weber as well it will be one of the fastest recieving corps Wartburg has had since Coach Winter and Cody Kelley were there. Add Duchman into the mix and its quite the group. Suckow makes 2 position groups look pretty salty.
Throw Blake Suckow into the Defense and Wartburg has had almost as good of offseason with transfers as Dowling

Haven't heard any Coe opinions on this yet but I can speculate what will be coming.

[footballdaddy]

Throw Blake Suckow into the Defense and Wartburg has had almost as good of offseason with transfers as Dowling

Haven't heard any Coe opinions on this yet but I can speculate what will be coming.

LOL Walston!

But I bet you've found out it's hard to recruit against God!

[Charlie Kohawk]

Haven't heard any Coe opinions on this yet but I can speculate what will be coming.

Speculation seems to be a popular hobby here lately. I'll refrain until I have facts to go on. I do know this -- if Suckow is transferring, he hasn't informed his coaches. Given that the Coe coaching staff includes his high school coach and teammate, doesn't he owe them at least that?

I haven't lost hope of #6 capping off a fabulous career as a Kohawk. But if he has indeed abandoned his chance to join a running back legacy that includes Carey Bender and Fred Jackson, it's a shame. And if he doesn't have the character to be a man with his coaches and teammates -- instead of running away like a spoiled kid who didn't get his way -- then good riddance.

[Pat Coleman]

Speculation seems to be a popular hobby here lately. I'll refrain until I have facts to go on. I do know this -- if Suckow is transferring, he hasn't informed his coaches. Given that the Coe coaching staff includes his high school coach and teammate, doesn't he owe them at least that?

Not according to Division III rules, for what it's worth.

[Charlie Kohawk]

Not according to Division III rules, for what it's worth.

Man law?

[sportsknight]

I do know this -- if Suckow is transferring, he hasn't informed his coaches. Given that the Coe coaching staff includes his high school coach and teammate, doesn't he owe them at least that?

And if he doesn't have the character to be a man with his coaches and teammates -- instead of running away like a spoiled kid who didn't get his way -- then good riddance.

With Walston's report that the paperwork just went all the way through, it doesn't surprise me that he hasn't told the coaching staff.  I'm not going to claim to know all the facts here, but it sounds like it wasn't exactly a secret that he wasn't happy at Coe.  From what I know of how these transfers work, things have to be kept confidential (or away from the original school) until everything is complete.  If Suckow didn't think the staff was giving him a fair shake before, why would he say anything before all the paperwork was done?  Why risk things not working out and have the coaching staff that much more pissed off at him?

Charlie, I know it can be a tough thing when someone that seemed pretty invested in your school decides to take his business elsewhere, but I'd be willing to bet this was not an easy decision for Suckow to make.  If he took everything into consideration, weighed his loyalties (teammates vs. GF/being closer to family), and still decided to jump ship then I see it as a pretty good sign that Suckow had a pretty good reason to leave.

[K-Mack]

Wow.

This is major. Maybe doesn't change the order of the expected top two, but it certainly could make things interesting.

I'm not sure I'm as big a fan of the instant transfer, as someone earlier mentioned, "the beauty of D3."

I guess for a scrub to leave somewhere and start over, you shouldn't have to sit out. But for a junior to hop from one contender to another for his senior year -- with legitimate reasons or not -- just seems kinda wrong.

In the end, it's the individual's choice though and that person's happiness outweighs what we think it will do to the football team he joins and leaves behind.

[Walston Hoover]

With the rules in place, the NCAA is looking out for the individual much more than the school. Makes sense that they allow the instant transfer in D3. If we truly are academics first and sports second, then there's no reason for penalties if one leaves one school for another.
While I am awefully happy that this happened for Wartburg and Neil's sake, I do feel bad for Coe with the timing of all this.
Being at Dowling, I know the Iowa state transfer rule is that you sit out 90 days from any Varsity competitions and I believe that includes band, choir, and speech competitions as well.
The rule is waived if a move is made into the WDM school district, but if a player from say, Grimes wants to go to Dowling, he has to sit out 90 days unless he moves into the WDM school district.

[the_mayne_event]

I agree with CK, he did all this without telling any of his teammates, coaches, or friends.  people on the team had to find out through this website and rumormill just like anyone else.  personally, i think that he should have atleast had the courage to tell his friends that he wouldn't be playing beside them next year. 

there is only one ball to go around, and when you have the players with the like of northern, rife, suckow, among others, it's kinda hard to give the ball to suckow every single down.  i wonder if he feels that he will with wartburg next year?  the offense was basicly designed around him with the slot option and motion handoffs...
..selfish...

[Walston Hoover]

TME-Does he tell them when he is thinking about leaving? What happens if the transfer doesn't come through? He already experienced that 2 years ago when he when he almost left for UNI and wasn't treated too well because of it. I wouldn't think he would want to risk that again.