FB: American Rivers Conference

[Norsanity]

Will things change at central now that there isn't a football guy as the ad. Heard they have a wrestling coach as ad. Wrestling never good at central either.

That's not what the second place national finish shows.  We may not have been good in your lifetime, but again, ancient history would say we were good at one time.  And the Interim AD is the current wrestling coach and a really classy guy, regardless of what you think of the wrestling program currently.

Didn't say he was or wasn't a classy guy. Being classy doesn't make you a good AD.
Surprising a school like Central with so many great programs picked a below average wrestling coach to be AD. It makes no sense. How could a coach who couldn't win lead other coaches?  I think Central could be taking a step back.

Enough of Central.  Any chance Luther gets a win this year? Really think changes need to be made within our fb program. No progress is being made. No reason for us to be this bad.

[doolittledog]

Enough of Central.  Any chance Luther gets a win this year? Really think changes need to be made within our fb program. No progress is being made. No reason for us to be this bad.

Magic 8 ball says...



I think whatever football staff is at Luther needs to have better support from the administration.  Like you say, no reason for Luther to be this bad.  It starts at the top...and not just the football staff. 

[notlongago]

Will things change at central now that there isn't a football guy as the ad. Heard they have a wrestling coach as ad. Wrestling never good at central either.

That's not what the second place national finish shows.  We may not have been good in your lifetime, but again, ancient history would say we were good at one time.  And the Interim AD is the current wrestling coach and a really classy guy, regardless of what you think of the wrestling program currently.

Didn't say he was or wasn't a classy guy. Being classy doesn't make you a good AD.
Surprising a school like Central with so many great programs picked a below average wrestling coach to be AD. It makes no sense. How could a coach who couldn't win lead other coaches?  I think Central could be taking a step back.

Enough of Central.  Any chance Luther gets a win this year? Really think changes need to be made within our fb program. No progress is being made. No reason for us to be this bad.

Actually if you cared to research your comments before you opened your mouth, you would see the Central wrestling program was abysmal when Van Kley took over 5 seasons ago. At one point they had 5 open weights (half the team) so that's essentially an automatic winless dual season.  Fast forward, and he has guided that team to 3 straight 10 dual win seasons, a 13-11 mark last year (most in about decade), a 6th place league finish (highest in 15 years), has sent a few wrestlers to the national meet, and he was tabbed as a league coach of the year recently, and is doing so a league that has more traditional powers then maybe the rest of the nation combined.  So obviously he can win.

[Norsanity]

9th to 6th in 6 yrs does say "obviously he can win" to me

[Norsanity]

Enough of Central.  Any chance Luther gets a win this year? Really think changes need to be made within our fb program. No progress is being made. No reason for us to be this bad.

Magic 8 ball says...



I think whatever football staff is at Luther needs to have better support from the administration.  Like you say, no reason for Luther to be this bad.  It starts at the top...and not just the football staff.

When you say administration needs more support what do you mean. None of our other sports are this bad.  Just that football takes more resources that other iiac schools have?

[DutchFan2004]

9th to 6th in 6 yrs does say "obviously he can win" to me

I don't pay attention that closely to wrestling.  I would say however 9th to 6th in wrestling for Central is better than Luther's progress on the football field.  The Central wrestling program is going in the right direction as for the Luther football program are they going in any direction??

[Norsanity]

9th to 6th in 6 yrs does say "obviously he can win" to me

I don't pay attention that closely to wrestling.  I would say however 9th to 6th in wrestling for Central is better than Luther's progress on the football field.  The Central wrestling program is going in the right direction as for the Luther football program are they going in any direction??

Totally agree.

[notlongago]

9th to 6th in 6 yrs does say "obviously he can win" to me

Im glad you agree.

Now to answer your previous question, Luther may be able to beat BV

[doolittledog]

When you say administration needs more support what do you mean. None of our other sports are this bad.  Just that football takes more resources that other iiac schools have?

More support FROM the administration.  I think the other sports at Luther get better support from the administration than what is given to football. 

I could be way off here, I have no inside knowledge of Luther.  I'm just basing this from family members I have that have worked at a number of colleges.  There are some schools that look favorably to having strong rowing or Lacrosse or Cross Country or whatever, but think it makes their school look bad to have a strong football team because they view football as a bunch of dumb jocks.  It's ridiculous to think that way, but they have seen it at a number of diferent places. 

That's what I take away from Luther, always a contender for the conference all-sports trophy, but football hasn't been a contender since the 70's.  I think Luther prefers to put their money in other places than the football team.  When they hired Durnin they said the conference average was 65k for a football coach and they were "competitive" with that number.  At the same time it was reported Simpson was turned down by the Des Moines Dowling HC because they offered him 80k and he didn't think that was enough.  Simpson then hired Glogowski.  It was reported when Loras hired Osterberger away from BVU he went from 40k at BVU to 65k at Loras.  Similar numbers were reported for Dillon at Cornell.  BVU, Cornell, Loras, and Luther with those low numbers have been at the bottom half of the conference.  Pay more money and you get better coaching.  Simpson and Luther hired coaches at the same time, Simpson payed about 20k more per year for their man than Luther did for theirs.  Which program is doing better right now?  Also, Simpson is putting money into their football facility.  What is Luther doing? 

[putmeincoach]

When you say administration needs more support what do you mean. None of our other sports are this bad.  Just that football takes more resources that other iiac schools have?

More support FROM the administration.  I think the other sports at Luther get better support from the administration than what is given to football. 

I could be way off here, I have no inside knowledge of Luther.  I'm just basing this from family members I have that have worked at a number of colleges.  There are some schools that look favorably to having strong rowing or Lacrosse or Cross Country or whatever, but think it makes their school look bad to have a strong football team because they view football as a bunch of dumb jocks.  It's ridiculous to think that way, but they have seen it at a number of diferent places. 

That's what I take away from Luther, always a contender for the conference all-sports trophy, but football hasn't been a contender since the 70's.  I think Luther prefers to put their money in other places than the football team.  When they hired Durnin they said the conference average was 65k for a football coach and they were "competitive" with that number.  At the same time it was reported Simpson was turned down by the Des Moines Dowling HC because they offered him 80k and he didn't think that was enough.  Simpson then hired Glogowski.  It was reported when Loras hired Osterberger away from BVU he went from 40k at BVU to 65k at Loras.  Similar numbers were reported for Dillon at Cornell.  BVU, Cornell, Loras, and Luther with those low numbers have been at the bottom half of the conference.  Pay more money and you get better coaching.  Simpson and Luther hired coaches at the same time, Simpson payed about 20k more per year for their man than Luther did for theirs.  Which program is doing better right now?  Also, Simpson is putting money into their football facility.  What is Luther doing?

are you saying they need a better coach but unless they are willing to pay more might as well just keep it as is?

[warthog]

I've been hiding in the weeds on this, but I do have to come to the defense of my friends at Luther. 

I don't believe they are intentionally leaving football out to dry.  In the past twenty years or so their football has generally been respectable in the league.  Let's not forget that until UD's explosion on to the scene last year, the league had been fairly well dominated by four teams for nearly two decades.  So while the Norse hadn't perhaps won any league titles they were certainly not the fulltime door mat.  We can't say a team needs to win a title or the program is in shambles.  Were we to do that, we would have to say all the conference wrestling teams (except Wartburg) were in shambles because they hadn't won a conference title in twenty years.  Luther runs a well rounded athletic program as witnessed by their regular appearence as contenders or winners of the conference all-sports trophy.

Luther College President, Rick Torgerson, would love to have Luther return to the glory years of Edsel Schweitzer's dominating Norse Football teams.  Torgerson was an enthusiastic assistant football coach in my years at Wartburg.  To say he doesn't care about football is a gross mistake.  Early in his tenure as Luther's President our family went through the recruiting process with Little Warthog.  Perhaps it was because Torgerson knew Mrs. Warthog and me from our days as students at Wartburg, but I can tell you he took an active role along with the Luther coaches is attempting to bring little warthog to Luther.

Finally we need to remember this Luther football team has been on an emotional roller-coaster for a couple years now.  Things will level out and the Norse will be just fine.

[doolittledog]

are you saying they need a better coach but unless they are willing to pay more might as well just keep it as is?

No, It all starts at the top.  Luther is a school with plenty of money but they pay bottom half of the conference for their football coaching staff, the football facilities are dated while the rest of the sports facilities at Luther look nice.  What is the whole football budget compared to the other schools?  Recruiting budget?  Assistant coaches?  Coach Durnin might be a great coach, but is he getting his hands tied by an overall low budget?  Does he have recruiting limitations or is he limited with what kind of staff he can hire?  I don't know.  We do know Luther isn't willing to pay top money.  We know recruits have been told they couldn't be involved with football and the music department.  It just seems odd that Luther is sucessfull in nearly EVERY sport but football for quite awhile now.  Not for 30+ years. 

As usual though, ask my wife, she will tell you my assumptions are usually way off base. 

[Ash Park]

I think recruiting limitations might be ONE factor in why they have not had much success. I know a few people up there and that is the similarity that they would always use between us (Cornell) and Luther. I'm not saying they can't get a lower act and gpa kid in at Luther but it is harder and takes more time for them to get that kid. Also, throw in the financial aid factor and I think you have part of the answer for their lack of football success recently. I do not know how many freshmen they had this year but I do know that those numbers have been down since Hefty was there. Like Doolittle said, I'm probably way off base.

are you saying they need a better coach but unless they are willing to pay more might as well just keep it as is?

No, It all starts at the top.  Luther is a school with plenty of money but they pay bottom half of the conference for their football coaching staff, the football facilities are dated while the rest of the sports facilities at Luther look nice.  What is the whole football budget compared to the other schools?  Recruiting budget?  Assistant coaches?  Coach Durnin might be a great coach, but is he getting his hands tied by an overall low budget?  Does he have recruiting limitations or is he limited with what kind of staff he can hire?  I don't know.  We do know Luther isn't willing to pay top money.  We know recruits have been told they couldn't be involved with football and the music department.  It just seems odd that Luther is sucessfull in nearly EVERY sport but football for quite awhile now.  Not for 30+ years. 

As usual though, ask my wife, she will tell you my assumptions are usually way off base.

[warthog]

Glad to see Ash Park coming back to add his insight to the IIAC conversation.

By the way, three cheers for the Rams of Cornell College.  Four MWC games into the season and they already have as many conference wins (2) as they had in the previous six seasons in the IIAC. 

[5 Words or Less]

Financial aid drives enrollment decisions