FB: American Rivers Conference

[Walston Hoover]

Interesting concept.  What do you do with schools like Gonzaga that don't have football teams?

You can imagine what it would be like if they did

Willis needs to be a football coach. He needs to be the football coach at Wartburg or someplace that Wartburg will never play.

[Klopenhiemer]

Interesting concept.  What do you do with schools like Gonzaga that don't have football teams?

You can imagine what it would be like if they did

Willis needs to be a football coach. He needs to be the football coach at Wartburg or someplace that Wartburg will never play.

Why did Willis step down from the head coach position in the first place? 

[Pat Coleman]

I guess the biggest difference I see is that Willis is open about interviewing for another job, while Raeburn kept everything secret. Just an observation.

Not sure how open Willis is being. Most state schools are fairly open about their hiring process and it's public information.

I note he isn't quoted.

[Alfredeneumann]

Pat,
Obviously you never read the twice a week Waverly Newspaper.... what's a quote?

[BB]

Interesting concept.  What do you do with schools like Gonzaga that don't have football teams?
[/quote]

Like Walston said, just pretend what they would be like if they did have football.  If both teams don't have a football program, pick which mascot would win in a fight.

[Wartburg Fan]

Interesting concept.  What do you do with schools like Gonzaga that don't have football teams?

You can imagine what it would be like if they did

Willis needs to be a football coach. He needs to be the football coach at Wartburg or someplace that Wartburg will never play.

Why did Willis step down from the head coach position in the first place? 

I believe it was to become AD and that the new W would take up most of his time and not leave any time for football. I also agree with WH and hope that Wartburg will never have to play against him.

[Walston Hoover]

He was dual AD/Football coach for a short time, which is probably possible when you have a huge support staff working under you, but at a school such as Wartburg that is not the case. His kids are getting older and involved in activities that I'm sure he wanted to get to, and I imagine the AD job at any D3 school pays more than football coach.
He was a finalist for the Whitewater job a couple years ago as well, one of only a handful of D3 schools he would leave Wartburg for. A D2 job though, when you consider virtually all recruiting is done by the second Tuesday of February, rather than pretty much beginning at a D3. Scholarships to offer, great facilities at St. Cloud, and having more full-time assistants. I can see what the allure would be. As a Wartburg fan, I hope Rick Willis never leaves. As a Rick Willis fan, I would love to see what he can do at a supposed (I say supposed because UIU is in the same conference) higher level of football.

[Walston Hoover]

If he does leave, maybe Al Doorenkamp would want to return to Waverly to be the AD.

[dutchfan1]

If he does leave, maybe Al Doorenkamp would want to return to Waverly to be the AD.

We like Al in Pella.... 

[doolittledog]

Surprise teams over the last 10 years and in no particular order.

2007 Central:  As conference fans would look at the box score and see yet again that Central was out gained and was down most of the game before coming through in the 4th quarter yet again to pull out the win.  Most people were surprised this team went 10-0

2004 Buena Vista:  Not many people expected them to come out of the gate like they did...fewer people thought they would then collapse late in the season. 

2006 Dubuque:  Dubuque hadn't won more than 2 games in a season in over a decade.  6-4 from the Spartans...not too shabby

2007 Dubuque:  There were many on here that thought the 2006 version of the Spartans success could be traced directly to Walner Belleus and now that he was gone Dubuque would go back to their old ways. 

2001 Coe/Cornell:  Both newbies go 6-3 in conference play...new guys from an inferior conference weren't supposed to be winning games so early in our conference!!!

[sportsknight]

Surprising teams...

2001 Cornell:  This one was probably the biggest shock.  If I remember right, they had a lot of the same personnel back from the year before (with the possible exception of QB Lovely, who I believe was staring as a soph in '01).  Everyone knew what they were going to do offensively, but not many were able to stop it.

2003 Central:  The sudden (and short-lived) fade of the Central I think came as surprise to everyone around the league.  That was the season that made Central have to start bragging about the streak of "non-losing" season, as opposed to winning seasons.

2004 BV:  If somebody had told you that BV would knock off Wartburg in the first week of the conference season and would be in position to win the league title with a month to play on September 1 of 2004, you would have offered to drive them to MHI in Independence.  But that's exactly what went down.  Their collapse at the end of the year was a bit of a surprise, but not near as much as their rise to that position in the first place.

2005 Central:  The Dutch were in Year Two of the McMartin era and nobody seemed to know what to make of them.  They had gone just 6-4 in '04 and lost their starting quarterback.  But that season they starting winning games in what has become known as "classic Central fashion" - by making plays that might seem small at the time, but end up being the difference in the game, and by doing just enough to pull out the W.  Some people call that luck, but Central's made it a habit the last 3 years.

[TheOne89.1]

Just saw on the NSIC website that Jeff Tesch (head coach for Bemidji State) signed a four year extension on his contract.  Looks like it's down to just Willis and current acting head coach for St. Cloud.

I would love to see Coach Willis continue coaching.  He is a great football coach.  Hopefully a job at a D2 school like St. Cloud would offer him some time off the field to be with his family...I think Walston is right that was a major reason why he stayed just as AD a few years ago.

[The Show]

If he does leave, maybe Al Doorenkamp would want to return to Waverly to be the AD.

We like Al in Pella.... 

Al was my high school principal for a year!

[Alfredeneumann]

I strongly doubt Al Dorenkamp would leave his alma mater to move back to Waverly. Would he do a good job, you bet.

I'll wait to share my speculation until/if the position of AD is open @ Wartburg.

Last I knew,  1 of Al's daughters was in DM.

[DutchFan2004]

I strongly doubt Al Dorenkamp would leave his alma mater to move back to Waverly. Would he do a good job, you bet.

I'll wait to share my speculation until/if the position of AD is open @ Wartburg.

Last I knew,  1 of Al's daughters was in DM.

I would agree with you on this.  I think Al is happy at his alma mater.  I think most players would think that this is where they want to be.  Having said that, you learn to say never.  Something may change his mind but I doubt it.