FB: American Rivers Conference

[Willie University]

Willie: You know what's cool is that Kickoff has all that information.

Thanks Pat! Good to know and YES I did order Kickoff so can't wait to see that information!!

PS- On Footballdaddy's comments....I call BS and will be willing to bet Central and Wartburg both have more then 40 new players on their roster. However, IF they only have 40 new "quality" freshman as you speak of, then maybe it's because the recruiting trail is also getting tougher for them.........as 4 words or less mentioned...demographics is one influencing factor and colleges that have traditionally recruited more out of state students now recruiting more from the local areas and thus, winning some of the recruiting battles against conference foes is the other factor....

But, no matter which way you spin it, if a Head Coach only has 40 new recruits, he's going to say that was exactly what he wanted. If he has 80 new recruits, he is going to say that was exactly what he wanted. No one is just plan DUMB enough to say, yeah, I wish we had 60 new recruits but we'll have to settle for just 40.

All I care about is the end result and that is winning. If it takes 40 to 100 new recruits a year to field a national championship team, then so be it. I'll leave that decision up to Coach Zweifel and trust he knows what he is doing since he has coached in national championship games before.

However, to play devil advocate to your "quality" recruit statement. That is such a vague comment......what does quality mean? they started on their high school team?; they were all conference in high school?; they were all state in high school?

At the D3 level, you get all of the above in a new recruiting class---starters, all conference, all state, and then you have to figure in at what level did they play....A, 2A, 3A, etc... You could have an all state kid that played at the A level that isn't as good as a kid that played at a 6A level that was just a starter on his team. YOU HAVE NO IDEA really how good they are going to be until you get them in camp.

THUS, the reason you want to recruit a large incoming class of recruits. So you can figure out who the players are!

Still, I can't wait to read Kickoff.........

Willie U

[Kohawk Remedy]

Congrats to the Kohawks on being ranked 12th in the preseason poll.  Planning on making it to a couple of games including the opener in Mt. P

[doolittledog]

4 weeks from RIGHT NOW, Dubuque should be at about half time of their 1st game of the season.  And hopefully have a comfortable lead over Rockford. 

[Klopenhiemer]

I will agree with what daddy is saying. Wartburg has caught flack for the amount of kids that they brought in before. Heck I might have ridiculed them about it.  I don't believe in the philosophy. Please don't think I am firing up on UD. I am really impressed with what they have done and I see them as scary team with Z running the show. Buy how many of the 170 have any talent?  It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[doolittledog]

I will agree with what daddy is saying. Wartburg has caught flack for the amount of kids that they brought in before. Heck I might have ridiculed them about it.  I don't believe in the philosophy. Please don't think I am firing up on UD. I am really impressed with what they have done and I see them as scary team with Z running the show. Buy how many of the 170 have any talent?  It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

All 170 could have talent...but only 50-60 will ever see any playing time.  I don't really get it, but I figure Coach Z knows a whole lot more about his team than any of us.  I'm just ready to see it all play out on the field 4 weeks from now. 

[Willie University]

I will agree with what daddy is saying. Wartburg has caught flack for the amount of kids that they brought in before. Heck I might have ridiculed them about it.  I don't believe in the philosophy. Please don't think I am firing up on UD. I am really impressed with what they have done and I see them as scary team with Z running the show. Buy how many of the 170 have any talent?  It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

All 170 could have talent...but only 50-60 will ever see any playing time.  I don't really get it, but I figure Coach Z knows a whole lot more about his team than any of us.  I'm just ready to see it all play out on the field 4 weeks from now. 

It's really not a difficult concept. First, I am sure not all 170 will show up for camp. Guys always fall off before camp starts. Plus, you have to realize, at this level when no scholarships are involved, each team probably loses 20+ guys DURING camp. Part of camp is to weed out the players from the non-players. (Only the strong survive).

So, simple math says lets say 150 show up for camp, you weed out another 20 during camp, have 5-10 injuries and you start the season with aroung 120. 60 roughly on varsity and 60 on JV. You will lose more during the season to injury or lack of commitment/passion and then you end the season around 100.

So, based on that logic, starting camp with around 150-160 is a good number. By the end of the season, you hope you have the best 100 remaining.

This is football, not wimpy other sports. Not everyone is meant to play football at this level. Just because you were the stud of your little high school of 125 students doesn't mean you are going to be the stud when you get to college football. Some kids can't handle that..........only the strong survive 

Willie U

PS- My wimpy other sport comment: Other then wrestling (of which I did also in high school), I categorize every other sport as "wimpy" compared to football. No other sport can be as physical as football. There is a reason we wore pads.

Rugby, ultimate fighting are excluded from this. Speaking solely about typical high school and college sports.

[footballdaddy]

Let's take UD's numbers from last year for instance. I belive Zweifel announced approximatly 150 expected for camp. I think i counted 74 on the end of year roster. So in your opinion it's ok to lose 50% of your team from August to November? Why did 60-70 players decide to quit?

[Pat Coleman]

I will agree with what daddy is saying. Wartburg has caught flack for the amount of kids that they brought in before. Heck I might have ridiculed them about it.  I don't believe in the philosophy. Please don't think I am firing up on UD. I am really impressed with what they have done and I see them as scary team with Z running the show. Buy how many of the 170 have any talent?  It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

All 170 could have talent...but only 50-60 will ever see any playing time.  I don't really get it, but I figure Coach Z knows a whole lot more about his team than any of us.  I'm just ready to see it all play out on the field 4 weeks from now. 

It's really not a difficult concept. First, I am sure not all 170 will show up for camp. Guys always fall off before camp starts. Plus, you have to realize, at this level when no scholarships are involved, each team probably loses 20+ guys DURING camp. Part of camp is to weed out the players from the non-players. (Only the strong survive).

They're not expecting 170 to camp, according to what they told me.

[badgerwarhawk]

[

All 170 could have talent...but only 50-60 will ever see any playing time.  I don't really get it,

Mount Union seems to get it to work fairly well.  Z isn't going to waste his time recruiting players without enough talent, or at least the potential, to play in the league. 

I've heard it said that some of the private schools view the football roster as a means of recruiting students to the school.  If that's true then recruiting large classes benefits the school even if some of them don't end up seeing the playing field.

[footballdaddy]

They're not expecting 170 to camp, according to what they told me.

Hmmmmmmmm.......

UD's official press release says 170 yet the coaching staff told Pat a lower number.......

Tactics of misinformation or downright dishonesty?

Who do they think they are, Wartburg?

[Willie University]

Let's take UD's numbers from last year for instance. I belive Zweifel announced approximatly 150 expected for camp. I think i counted 74 on the end of year roster. So in your opinion it's ok to lose 50% of your team from August to November? Why did 60-70 players decide to quit?

If I recall, UD started camp with approx 120 last season and ended around 90. Take out seniors and you are probably right, returning around 75. Plus, remember, last season also involved some weeding out as most new programs do.

Regardless, I am excited that more local talent is choosing UD then in years past.

Looking forward to reading Kickoff and the season!

Willie U

[BoBo]

PS- My wimpy other sport comment: Other then wrestling (of which I did also in high school), I categorize every other sport as "wimpy" compared to football. No other sport can be as physical as football. There is a reason we wore pads.

Rugby, ultimate fighting are excluded from this. Speaking solely about typical high school and college sports.

Way to dig yourself into a pit and than attempt to climb out of it!! LOL    I'm sure I can use this strategy in the future!!

[Fannosaurus Rex]

They're not expecting 170 to camp, according to what they told me.

Hmmmmmmmm.......

UD's official press release says 170 yet the coaching staff told Pat a lower number.......

Tactics of misinformation or downright dishonesty?

Who do they think they are, Wartburg?

If it was Simpson we could just assume they can't count that high.

[footballdaddy]

Let's take UD's numbers from last year for instance. I belive Zweifel announced approximatly 150 expected for camp. I think i counted 74 on the end of year roster. So in your opinion it's ok to lose 50% of your team from August to November? Why did 60-70 players decide to quit?

If I recall, UD started camp with approx 120 last season and ended around 90. Take out seniors and you are probably right, returning around 75. Plus, remember, last season also involved some weeding out as most new programs do.

Regardless, I am excited that more local talent is choosing UD then in years past.

Looking forward to reading Kickoff and the season!

Willie U

Well I just counted 75 players on last year's roster including seniors. Using you figure of 120 in camp that still means 50+ left the program over the year. Is that an acceptable amount? How many would have stayed if they could have got more attention from coaches or seen some field time on JV?

[5 Words or Less]

30% male UD undergrads play football
(30% = 170 / half of 1,119 M&F students)