FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[TailGate]

Seth Gibbs, OL, Newton Falls

[bceagle80]

The freshmen roster is posted in record time this year.  101 total with a noticeable emphasis on PA which is a good thing IMO. 

I was just looking at the Mount Union Freshman list and it is down to 100. 
bceagle has your son told you about practices, they can't be that hard for someone to quit so soon?
I did not print the list before so I can not figure out who it is.

Knight Raider,

I was sorry to hear that news. Thank you to TailGate for figuring out who it was.

My heart goes out to this young man, Seth Gibbs. I am sure he did not quit because the practices were too hard. I believe he looked at the volume of offensive linemen who are freshman and figured looked at the number of O-linemen on the Varsity and probably saw his dream of playing college football fading away. He saw the level of dedication necessary to play at Mount Union and was unsure of his ability to deliver. That is one possibility. Another more pragmatic reason would be he saw himself as having ability greater than what he had. When he realized he would have trouble starting on the Junior Varsity let alone the Varsity, he decided to change schools at the last minute and have a chance to play somewhere else. A third reason would be he was really unsure of whether or not he wanted to play college football but he wants to stay at Mount Union and not play football.

Ironically, due to practice times and other time commitments and his 18th birthday on Saturday, my son and I did not have much time to talk. Whenever we do talk more, I will hear about the practices. I am sure they are tough, hard nosed, focused, fast paced. The spring practice we attended was very much so albeit without pads.

[HScoach]

Quoting lessons start soon.   $75 session fee.

[Blutarsky]

Quoting lessons start soon.   $75 session fee.

Great idea.....the season is beginning.  This should be a required course.

[ExTartanPlayer]

My heart goes out to this young man, Seth Gibbs. I am sure he did not quit because the practices were too hard. I believe he looked at the volume of offensive linemen who are freshman and figured looked at the number of O-linemen on the Varsity and probably saw his dream of playing college football fading away. He saw the level of dedication necessary to play at Mount Union and was unsure of his ability to deliver. That is one possibility. Another more pragmatic reason would be he saw himself as having ability greater than what he had. When he realized he would have trouble starting on the Junior Varsity let alone the Varsity, he decided to change schools at the last minute and have a chance to play somewhere else. A third reason would be he was really unsure of whether or not he wanted to play college football but he wants to stay at Mount Union and not play football.

Well said.  An incoming freshman quitting basically as soon as camp opens is not that rare.  Every year that I was in college, 1-3 incoming freshman quit within the first week, usually for one of the reasons listed by bceagle in this post, or some combination of them all: a kid whose heart wasn't really into playing college football shows up, sees how many kids there are, realizes that this is going to be harder than HS football, and decides that he'd rather be a "college guy" than a college football player.

There's nothing wrong with that, either; I'd much prefer that a guy whose heart is no longer in it leave the team than go through the motions and bring a destructive attitude to practice every day.  One of my best friends, to this day, is a guy that played our whole freshman season, decided college football was no longer for him after going through spring weight training, and quit the team before we went to camp as sophomores.  We didn't see each other much for awhile, but eventually became pretty good pals again & now he's arguably my closest friend from college.

The only "quitters" that I found particularly annoying were those that continued hanging around the team and being purposely destructive; i.e. kids that showed up drunk at the games and heckled their former teammates and/or coaches from the stands, or who encouraged their ex-teammates to drink the night before games, etc.

[ADL70]

per his hudl profile 5'11 232#  5.7 40

[TailGate]

Two more dropped off roster.  Jeffrey Jurgenmeister (RB)-Nevada and Brian May (OL)-PA

[bceagle80]

Two more dropped off roster.  Jeffrey Jurgenmeister (RB)-Nevada and Brian May (OL)-PA

I imagine there will be a few more. My experience is that if a kid makes it through 2 a days , they tend to stick with the team. My son has had two competitors leave who were on the O-Line.  Only sixteen more to wade through to get to Varsity.  Seriously though, it is too bad these guys get all the way to college and then figure out, for some reason, they do not wish to play for Mount Union. Alliance is a long way from Sparks, Nevada. Erie, PA not so much.

[HScoach]

I think most common is the realization that college ball is a LOT different than high school and significantly more competitive than they expect.

[Dr. Acula]

The fall from being among the best players on your HS team to "Holy sh*t, I'm getting 4th team reps...on the freshmen team!" can be jarring I'm sure.  It gives you greater appreciation for guys like Jack Nicholls that bust their butt for 3 yrs and wait their turn and take advantage as seniors.

[Pat Coleman]

Seriously though, it is too bad these guys get all the way to college and then figure out, for some reason, they do not wish to play for Mount Union.

I think most common is the realization that college ball is a LOT different than high school and significantly more competitive than they expect.

I think it's not that they don't wish to play for Mount Union, but that they find they can't play for Mount Union. This isn't intramurals, son!

[wally_wabash]

Seriously though, it is too bad these guys get all the way to college and then figure out, for some reason, they do not wish to play for Mount Union.

I think most common is the realization that college ball is a LOT different than high school and significantly more competitive than they expect.

I think it's not that they don't wish to play for Mount Union, but that they find they can't play for Mount Union. This isn't intramurals, son!

They probably could have played on some of those Dan Hawkins Colorado teams.  They were not so good. 

[@d3jason]

The freshmen roster is posted in record time this year.  101 total with a noticeable emphasis on PA which is a good thing IMO. 

Geographic breakdown:

OH = 43
FL = 17
PA = 14
MI = 5
NY = 4
IN = 3
NC = 2
GA = 2
DE = 2
1 each from CO, CT, MD, NJ, NV, SC, TN, TX, WI


Positional breakdown:

DL = 11
LB = 12
DB = 19

QB = 7
RB = 8
WR = 17
TE = 4
OL = 19

K = 3
LS = 1

Delaware? What are you guys doing returning our neck of the woods?

[bceagle80]

I think most common is the realization that college ball is a LOT different than high school and significantly more competitive than they expect.

I got a chance to talk with my son last night. He confirmed that some of the guys had quit. He also confirmed practices have been tough and he has not had much time to himself with loads of activity happening in and around the practices. The guys are continuing their lifting program and will stay strong for the season. He has been involved in team building exercises  and had a chance to meet Kevin Burke directly.

My son is adjusting to college life well, appears to be well liked from the seniors on down and knows this week is going to be what he called "Hell Week" meaning it will be the toughest of the year most likely. Today they start 2 a days (at 8:00 a.m.) and all practices are going to be high intensity. He said the Junior Varsity and Varsity would be practicing together this afternoon for the first time.

[Dr. Acula]

Delaware? What are you guys doing returning our neck of the woods?

The magic of the internet knows no bounds!

Honestly, I don't recall any kids from DE in the past so this may be new.  One of the kids from NY is from Long Island which I also don't recall ever.  CT is also an outlier.  Perhaps VK has some sort of east coast invasion plan?