FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[BoBo]

Two Cadillac recruits from Michigan & high school teammates - one going to Mount Union; one headed to UW-Whitewater. Read HERE

[Raider 68]

I suspect being a Senior and projected to behind Seaman, Burke and Namdar (in no particular order) on the depth chart was not encouraging to Mr. Piloto.

There has to be more to the story on Piloto. Why would he play BB this last winter, then leave right before camp starts. He knew the number of QB's returning, unless he had a discussion with Coach Kehres and made a decision to leave the football program. Why leave the school when you have one year left to obtain a degree? Just a lot of questions! I  do wish him well
wherever he goes!

[02 Warhawk]

Looks like the Mount QB position just got a little less crowded, Matt Piloto is no longer at Mount

Didn't he transfer into Mount as well?

[PurpleSuit]

Looks like the Mount QB position just got a little less crowded, Matt Piloto is no longer at Mount

Didn't he transfer into Mount as well?

yep, from University of South Florida.  I've heard that its more likely that he is out of eligibility rather than leaving due to competition at the QB position, fwiw

[HScoach]

Looks like the Mount QB position just got a little less crowded, Matt Piloto is no longer at Mount

Didn't he transfer into Mount as well?

yep, from University of South Florida.  I've heard that its more likely that he is out of eligibility rather than leaving due to competition at the QB position, fwiw

He attended USF for a year, but wasn't on the football team.  Just attended as a regular student.  Contacted Mount after his freshman year to see if Kehres was still interested in him coming.   

[NCF]

I suspect being a Senior and projected to behind Seaman, Burke and Namdar (in no particular order) on the depth chart was not encouraging to Mr. Piloto.

There has to be more to the story on Piloto. Why would he play BB this last winter, then leave right before camp starts. He knew the number of QB's returning, unless he had a discussion with Coach Kehres and made a decision to leave the football program. Why leave the school when you have one year left to obtain a degree? Just a lot of questions! I  do wish him well
wherever he goes!

Good points Raider. It does seem odd to leave a program as a senior.

[PurpleSuit]

I'm pretty sure that Piloto was redshirted at USF in 2007, starting the five-year NCAA eligibility clock for D1 athletes.  That would have given him the 07-11 seasons to complete his four competing years.  I am not 100% sure what happens to the eligibility clock when you transfer to D3, where there is no clock.  But I'm guessing Mount appealed to the NCAA for an extra season and was recently denied leading to the odd timing.   

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

I'm pretty sure that Piloto was redshirted at USF in 2007, starting the five-year NCAA eligibility clock for D1 athletes.  That would have given him the 07-11 seasons to complete his four competing years.  I am not 100% sure what happens to the eligibility clock when you transfer to D3, where there is no clock.  But I'm guessing Mount appealed to the NCAA for an extra season and was recently denied leading to the odd timing.

That makes sense.

[formerd3db]

I'm pretty sure that Piloto was redshirted at USF in 2007, starting the five-year NCAA eligibility clock for D1 athletes.  That would have given him the 07-11 seasons to complete his four competing years.  I am not 100% sure what happens to the eligibility clock when you transfer to D3, where there is no clock.  But I'm guessing Mount appealed to the NCAA for an extra season and was recently denied leading to the odd timing.

That makes sense.

That does make sense. The discussion was interesting and, like Raider68, I found the underlying event surprising.  If that was the reason, one would think that eveyone involved would have inquired about that a long time ago, instead of perhaps assuming something like...well, we have the 4-5 years to complete this and we'll deal with it when he/we get(s) there.  Especially at DIII (and certainly at Mount Union), though, I would have surmised they would have encouraged him to finish it out in 4.

Perhaps I missed something in the "history of the story" i.e. was Pilato injured during one of those years or did he skip one?  If neither of those two aspects occurred, the bottom line is even if he red shirted in 2007 at USF, the 4 years as K&J dad mentioned are 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.  So if he all of those counted, then it would be a mute point to even try to appeal to the NCAA.  Anyway, he went out with a decent season last year and as has been discussed, he doesn't have to worry about trying to be the No.1 and/or keep the No. 1 QB position now.  If he is finishing up his degree at Mt. Union, he can just go enjoy the games (or perhaps even help out as a volunteer coach).  Anyway, interesting "late" development.   

[purpled]

Over the weekend my wife and I were going through some stuff in her cedar chest and we came across a 1993 football program. We all know who the first string QB was but who was, and no looking, the backup?

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

I'm pretty sure that Piloto was redshirted at USF in 2007, starting the five-year NCAA eligibility clock for D1 athletes.  That would have given him the 07-11 seasons to complete his four competing years.  I am not 100% sure what happens to the eligibility clock when you transfer to D3, where there is no clock.  But I'm guessing Mount appealed to the NCAA for an extra season and was recently denied leading to the odd timing.

That makes sense.

That does make sense. The discussion was interesting and, like Raider68, I found the underlying event surprising.  If that was the reason, one would think that eveyone involved would have inquired about that a long time ago, instead of perhaps assuming something like...well, we have the 4-5 years to complete this and we'll deal with it when he/we get(s) there.  Especially at DIII (and certainly at Mount Union), though, I would have surmised they would have encouraged him to finish it out in 4.

Perhaps I missed something in the "history of the story" i.e. was Pilato injured during one of those years or did he skip one?  If neither of those two aspects occurred, the bottom line is even if he red shirted in 2007 at USF, the 4 years as K&J dad mentioned are 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.  So if he all of those counted, then it would be a mute point to even try to appeal to the NCAA.  Anyway, he went out with a decent season last year and as has been discussed, he doesn't have to worry about trying to be the No.1 and/or keep the No. 1 QB position now.  If he is finishing up his degree at Mt. Union, he can just go enjoy the games (or perhaps even help out as a volunteer coach).  Anyway, interesting "late" development.

I didn't come up with the original years, but after some research, Piloto walked on and was a redshirt at USF for the 2007 Season.  Sat out the 2008 Season, and transferred to Mount Union in 2009.

I'm also not sure on the NCAA rules once he transferred, but it appears that the 5 Year Clock started in August 2007.

[PurpleSuit]

In D1, your clock runs no matter if you play a sport or not.  Piloto's first year was '07, he sat out '08 but it still counts as year two.  Then he is at Mount '09, '10 and '11, counting as calendar years 3-5 and playing years 2-4.  His appeal was probably to get '08 removed,  but as a D1 athlete at the time he clock runs regardless of participation.  I'm sure its something both Piloto and LK were prepared for but sometimes the NCAA is more lenient at the D3 level

[trafficman]

Matthew was told that he had 4 years of eligibilty when he arrived at Mount Union. He structured his academic schedule based on that information and was on schedule to end this fall semester (2012) with two major degrees. He stayed in Alliance all summer preparing for his senior football year and it wasn't until last week that coach (J.W.) called Matthew into his office to break the devastating news to him (2 weeks before camp starts). Matthew's parents asked Mount to appeal because they felt that Matthew was being penalized and stripped of his senior year for a rule that no one told him or his parents about.  The rule is : an athlete must complete his football eligibilty within 10 full time semeters. Had Matthew known that rule was in place, he would have structured his academic curriculum based on the 10 full time semester rule and would have scheduled a part time semester in between that time frame which would have made him eligible to play his senior year. As far as Matthew parents are aware, no appeal was made on behalf of Matthew.

Matthew was red shirted his freshman year (Fall 2007) at USF as a walk on. He sat out 2008 as a sophomore but attended classes as a full time student at USF. Then he transferred to Mount Union in 2009. So now, you all know the whole truth.

[formerd3db]

trafficman:

If that is true (and I have no reason to doubt you), then "someone dropped the ball somewhere".  I am not sure how that happens; I recall something similar (although not the exact same situation) happened back in the 1990's at our Olivet College, which cost them their share of the MIAA football title with Albion, which they had to vacate.  It seems to me, that if the NCAA rules are not spelled out clearly to compliance departments at any college or university, shouldn't they be?

It is too bad for this young man.  Again, if that is the way it happened, then I would agree that he should be given an exception by the NCAA.  However, I think we all know what the chances of that are...nil, none, nada, zero, etc., etc., unfortunately. 

[trafficman]

In response to the post that suggested Matthew quit because he projected being placed behind the remaining QB's, you obviously do not know Matthew well enough. Ask is teammates if they think Matthew is a quitter. One has to wonder, if what occurred two weeks before the start of football camp was not accidental.

The only thing keeping Matthew's family from filing a full blown inquiry and grievance into the events and the manner it was delivered, is Matthew's respect and admiration to his coaches and his fellow teammates who remain on the team.