FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Desertraider]

Don't know if many of you check other boards but AJ Raebel (former LB at UWW) and Cancer Survivor was just named Head Coach at Waukesha South HS in WI:

http://www.waukeshanow.com/news/aj-raebel-named-new-football-coach-at-waukesha-south-b99652774z1-365482001.html

His mom is a frequent (respectful) poster on the WIAC board.

AJ was a beast at LB for UWW in the early years of the MTU vs UWW rivalry.  6'5" 245 and could move!

In the most respectful way possible: I could have gone a lifetime without recalling AJ Raebel. Thank you (sarcasm intended) for bringing that one up. He was an absolute monster and was everywhere on the field. In the Stagg a few years back I swear the announcer said the Raebel hit the QB as he threw AND called his name again for breaking up the pass 10 yards downfield to the TE.....on the same play. Congrats to AJ.

[hsbsballcoach7]

Kind of neat for those of you that care, but Mount Union is being tweeted like crazy (for a D3 school). It looks like there are many kids already "committing" to the Raiders from Indiana, Florida, Michigan and others. I use that term loosely because as we all know, those kids can still go to school anywhere they like. There are some kids with some pretty nice highlights. The staff is definitely going hard after QBs, oline, and WRs as far as the committed go. I'd wager that the best D3 recruits aren't committed yet because they're hoping for a D2 offer or better.

Also seeing some Juco players visiting and I don't think I've seen Mount do that very often. Talking to people, it sounds like the staff is very open on the QB situation with talented young guys, transfers and incoming freshman. We really could see a merry go round if there isn't a front runner or someone that stands out a over the others quickly.

[Craft_Beermeister]

Kind of neat for those of you that care, but Mount Union is being tweeted like crazy (for a D3 school). It looks like there are many kids already "committing" to the Raiders from Indiana, Florida, Michigan and others. I use that term loosely because as we all know, those kids can still go to school anywhere they like. There are some kids with some pretty nice highlights. The staff is definitely going hard after QBs, oline, and WRs as far as the committed go. I'd wager that the best D3 recruits aren't committed yet because they're hoping for a D2 offer or better.

Also seeing some Juco players visiting and I don't think I've seen Mount do that very often. Talking to people, it sounds like the staff is very open on the QB situation with talented young guys, transfers and incoming freshman. We really could see a merry go round if there isn't a front runner or someone that stands out a over the others quickly.

Luke Poorman QB from Orlando, Florida enrolled early at Mount Union a week or so ago.  Luke is a price catch and Larry Kehres personally flew down to Florida last summer to recruit him. Luke is a very good QB prospect, plus since Larry hates to fly I'm sure Larry thinks Luke has the potential to excel at QB.

[reality check]

 Ohio news out here in the desert.  Mesa Mountain View, one of the more historic programs in AZ has just hired Micah Fell as their head coach.  Coach Fell most recently resurrected Lima Senior HS and before that, he rebuilt the Ada HS football program.  He is an Ada resident and will be moving out here in the next couple of months.  Pretty cool to see how small a world it is.  I hope he enjoys his move out west and has lots of success.

[raiderpa]

Wish AJ Raebel the best in his new position.  If he can coach half as good as he played, he will be a great success.
Re: the Caruso award as Coach of Year and Vince not getting it, I am sure both would prefer the Walnut and Bronze over an individual award.

[purple]

 Mount Union"s best teams in order......(1)2015 (2) 1997 (3) 1996 . Most unheralded quarterbacks who were great players (1) Scott (2) Adamson (3) Smeck 

[joelmama]

^  He can have it.   I'm sure Caruso enjoyed the limelight a lot more than VK would have......

You seem to be a little vindictive there, HC.  We all know you have a dislike for Caruso as you have articulated before.  Why can't you just provide a simple congratulations rather than a watered down slight? 

I believe VK was a deserving candidate and did a great job this year, but congrats to Caruso on the award and guiding his team to the Stagg final game.

Caruso may have been a deserving candidate but he for sure got "outcoached" in the biggest game of the year.  Isn't that what the award is all about?

Come one, joelm, you know better than that (as a former player, you should .  The Coach of the Year awards are not decided on only one game of the year, regardless if a particular game is the biggest game of the year.  Again, IMO, VK was just as deserving of the award, however, it is not uncommon in any given year where there are at least a couple of candidates (or even three) who deserve to win the award, but the vote does not go their way.  In a way, it is kind of like the all-conference selections for players and that happens every year in every conference at all levels.

I may not like some coaches in collegiate football (and I admit I have certainly expressed my opinions on some of them here on the boards), however, I will always congratulate whoever wins the award.  While IMO, those awards should take into account many other aspects than just a coaching performance for a particular year, in all truthfulness, they do not.  But just because a HC's team does not ultimately win the league championship or a bowl game does not mean they are deserving of being recognized for a great job in getting the most out of his players for that specific year.  Just MO.

BTW I never played a down if that matters.  As for the Coach of the year award yes I think winning the final game or losing does make a difference.  Was there a material difference in talent for the two teams?  I do not think so.,  I think Vince made the adjustments needed to dominate the last 2.5 quarters of the game.  That is what a "coach of the year" does.  As for Caruso sure he deserves accolades just not coach of the year when he was outcoached in obviously the biggest game of the year.  Just my opinion.

[jknezek]

My opinion is completely different. I wouldn't have gone with either of these guys for coach of the year. UMU year in and out has the one of the best two teams in the country. I'm not saying any old coach could have kept the momentum running, both Kehres are amazing coaches, and won a championship, but I'm thinking most really good coaches could keep the thing on the track for a while. Same thing with Caruso. He's not exactly pushing the limits of expectations, although I'd say he pushed it a little farther than VK did this year.

Coach of the year for me? The guy at Olivet or maybe Hendrix. Olivet's coach went 0-10 in his first year, two 6-4 seasons, and now 9-1. That's a heck of a coaching job, and this year was the cap on a heck of a turnaround. Or the guy at Hendrix. 3rd season in football and they go to the playoffs with a conference championship? 3-7, 6-4, 8-2. To me these are coach of the year type performances. Making something out of nothing and driving a program to new heights.

[Desertraider]

Mount Union"s best teams in order......(1)2015 (2) 1997 (3) 1996 . Most unheralded quarterbacks who were great players (1) Scott (2) Adamson (3) Smeck

I can see the reasoning but beg to differ.
On the QBs:
1) Smeck - always seems to get left out of "greats" discussion despite being 36-1 as a starter with 2 rings.
2) Adamson
3) Jorris

Best Teams:
1) 2015
1A) 2006 - Really hard to overlook a team with 2 1,000yd qbs PLUS Nate Kmic and Pierre Garcon
2) 1997
3)1996

Now create an All-Mount team using no more than 2 players at each position..........got a think on that. QB and RB will be a tough one.

[Dr. Acula]

I can't believe you guys both have 2015 as #1 ever.  They were impressive, but wouldn't crack my top 3 I don't think.   

[Desertraider]

I can't believe you guys both have 2015 as #1 ever.  They were impressive, but wouldn't crack my top 3 I don't think.   

And those would be.........?

[Dr. Acula]

Without even looking I'd at least put 96, 97 and 08 ahead of 2015.   

[wally_wabash]

No love for the 2002 team?  The 2002 team was pretty awesome. 

[HScoach]

I can't believe you guys both have 2015 as #1 ever.  They were impressive, but wouldn't crack my top 3 I don't think.   

Exactly! 

Here's my 2 cents on the top Mount teams that I've seen since 1992 when the run began to the top:

1.   1997 - by a wide margin.  Lead by 4-year starter Bill Borchert, best QB to ever play at Mount.  His senior year was 61 TD's / 2 INT's.  The first of the great receiving corps with Knestric & Gollate out wide.  Defense led by junior MLB Jason Hall, the best of the best LB's in Mount history.  A true game changing LB who was regarded as the best in the conference, even over London Fletcher of Washington Redskins fame.

2.   2008 – Kmic was the most prolific RB in NCAA history. Micheli won the Gagliardi and was throwing to a NFL receiver in Cecil Shorts.  Kmic finished '08 with 2,790 yards / 43 TD.  Micheli completed 75% of his passes with 36 TD's.

3.   1993 – Jim Ballard won the first Gagliardi Award and is the Webster's definition of swagger.     70.1% completion / 4,572 yards / 54 TD's / 14 INT's.  Wasn't the pure athlete at QB that Borchert was, but he had a gun for an arm and ice in his veins.  IMHO, the greatest of the great leaders in Mount in history.  Had one of the top 5 WR's ever in Ed Bubonics and the best ever TE in Rob Atwood.  Defense was led by some guy named Mike Hallett who had 111 tackles, at DT.   Though most forget about him, Jim Gresko rushed for 1,517 yards/16 TD and caught 71 passes for 638 yards/11 TD's.  That was a scary good offense.

4.   2007 – Micheli & Kmic as juniors with Pierre Garcon as a senior.  Great team that came within a fumble in the freezing rain of a 4th title in a row.

5.   2001 – Great backfield of Gagliardi winning TB Chuck Moore and Dan Pugh, who won it the next year.   Defense was led by Matt Campbell, probably the best DE in Mount history.

6.   2015 – very good team that turned it up a few notches come playoff time.   Rose to the occasion along the O and D lines when it mattered most.   Logan Nemeth broke thru at RB to become Kmic-like and T Scott played with poise at QB.   Best player on the field was DT Tom Lally, who arguably was the best DT in Mount history.  At least most productive DT.

7.   2012 – very talented, senior dominated team across the board except for super sophomore Kevin Burke at QB.  Would be higher on list if they had better line play.  Good up front, but not great. 

8.   1996 – see the 1997 team, only as juniors

9.   1992 – The 1993 team as juniors dominated the semi-final at LaCrosse but turned it over 5 times on a frozen field.  Great team that came back in 1993 with an undying focus to win the first title.

10.   2002 – Led by Gagliardi winning RB Dan Pugh, 2,303 yards / 6.0 avg / 41 TD's, the '02 Raiders cruised to the title with a punishing ground game and a QB (Rob Adamson) that didn't get to show off his big arm due to the dominating ground game. 

11.   1998 - Least talented to win a title.  Very young team lead by a stud MLB (Jason Hall) and a bunch of kids that would end up great players.  Won a ton of close games that they had no business winning.



For the newbies and those caught in the moment, I believe 2014 misses the cut due to poor line play and inexperience in the coaching staff.   2013 is well down the list because of the same problems of '14 only with less coaching experience and the worst defense since VK took over from Don Montgomery.   2013 might have been a very exciting year to watch but it wasn't one of the better Mount teams.

[purple]

 Of course, we owe so much to The Great Jim Ballard, and the 1992 and 1993 teams.  Jim's team won the first Championship, as on that day, Jim Ballard was beyond himself with might and passion. I think the 2015 defense was a better group than the 1997 defense, and if you put a gun to my head,  I would take Scott to start over the Great Number 7.  Hence, 2015 takes my top spot.  My favorite team is the miracle team of 1998, who were assisted by God, a Purple Raider that year.