FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Capital has 16 freshmen from Florida and 6 from California.   Honestly, I don't how Ohio coaches are able to convince kids from warm weather states to come here... But I think it's an easier sell for Cap, Otterbein, JCU, and BW because they're in large cities and have easy access to airports.

How do you sell ONU and Burg to these kids?   "Come here.  Our campus is in the middle of no where and it's an hour or more from the nearest airport."  And for ONU...a friend of ours attended there 5 years ago and had to change cellular plans b/c only one carrier had service in Ada.  Has that changed???

Remember there is NO D3 football in FL and limited amount of NAIA and D2 Schools.  There are also no JC/CC Football programs in FL.  For some of these guys, heading to the Midwest is the only route if they want to play football in college.

[HSCTiger74]

Capital has 16 freshmen from Florida and 6 from California.   Honestly, I don't how Ohio coaches are able to convince kids from warm weather states to come here... But I think it's an easier sell for Cap, Otterbein, JCU, and BW because they're in large cities and have easy access to airports.

How do you sell ONU and Burg to these kids?   "Come here.  Our campus is in the middle of no where and it's an hour or more from the nearest airport."  And for ONU...a friend of ours attended there 5 years ago and had to change cellular plans b/c only one carrier had service in Ada.  Has that changed???

Remember there is NO D3 football in FL and limited amount of NAIA and D2 Schools.  There are also no JC/CC Football programs in FL.  For some of these guys, heading to the Midwest is the only route if they want to play football in college.

   Should I infer that you don't believe the D3 schools in GA, AL, MS, TN, NC and VA are really playing "college football"?

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Capital has 16 freshmen from Florida and 6 from California.   Honestly, I don't how Ohio coaches are able to convince kids from warm weather states to come here... But I think it's an easier sell for Cap, Otterbein, JCU, and BW because they're in large cities and have easy access to airports.

How do you sell ONU and Burg to these kids?   "Come here.  Our campus is in the middle of no where and it's an hour or more from the nearest airport."  And for ONU...a friend of ours attended there 5 years ago and had to change cellular plans b/c only one carrier had service in Ada.  Has that changed???

Remember there is NO D3 football in FL and limited amount of NAIA and D2 Schools.  There are also no JC/CC Football programs in FL.  For some of these guys, heading to the Midwest is the only route if they want to play football in college.

   Should I infer that you don't believe the D3 schools in GA, AL, MS, TN, NC and VA are really playing "college football"?

No, but if you are going to leave FL and the other Midwestern schools are recruiting very aggressively in FL at the Small College Recruiting Fairs, the odds are higher they will end up there.

[mr_mom]

   Should I infer that you don't believe the D3 schools in GA, AL, MS, TN, NC and VA are really playing "college football"?

Well, there have been few in the finals since 1973.  Our friends Wash & Jeff and Bridgewater.  And going back to when I graduated in 1982, West Georgia.  But that's about it.

D3 schools are not uniformly distributed across the United States.  It seems to be pretty much a Mid-West kind of thing.  Like 8-man HS Football.  Of the 245 D3 schools, the states you mention have:

- GA: 2
- AL: 2
- MS : 1
- TN : 3
- NC : 3
- VA : 10  [gotta love the ODAC]

Pretty thin.

On the other side of the coin:

- PA : 25
- OH : 21
- MA : 20  [Altho too many in a locked conference]
- IL : 19
- NY : 18   [Expecting big from the E8 this year]
- WI : 18   [Defending champs; strongest overall conference]
- MN : 15   [Rockin'!]
- IA : 10
- TX : 9   [When you red-shirt as HS freshmen, this happens]
- IN : 9
- CA : 8
- MI : 7
- NJ : 6
- MD : 5
- ME : 5

So ... if you are in Florida and you are the ugly girl waiting for the phone to ring on Friday night, you give up your D1 dreams and go to the D3 states.

And if you already have trouble with the law, then you go pro.  For Miami, UF, and FSU, that doesn't mean professional ... that means probation!   

[HSCTiger74]

   Should I infer that you don't believe the D3 schools in GA, AL, MS, TN, NC and VA are really playing "college football"?

Well, there have been few in the finals since 1973.  Our friends Wash & Jeff and Bridgewater.  And going back to when I graduated in 1982, West Georgia.  But that's about it.

D3 schools are not uniformly distributed across the United States.  It seems to be pretty much a Mid-West kind of thing.  Like 8-man HS Football.  Of the 245 D3 schools, the states you mention have:

- GA: 2
- AL: 2
- MS : 1
- TN : 3
- NC : 3
- VA : 10  [gotta love the ODAC]

Pretty thin.

On the other side of the coin:

- PA : 25
- OH : 21
- MA : 20  [Altho too many in a locked conference]
- IL : 19
- NY : 18   [Expecting big from the E8 this year]
- WI : 18   [Defending champs; strongest overall conference]
- MN : 15   [Rockin'!]
- IA : 10
- TX : 9   [When you red-shirt as HS freshmen, this happens]
- IN : 9
- CA : 8
- MI : 7
- NJ : 6
- MD : 5
- ME : 5

So ... if you are in Florida and you are the ugly girl waiting for the phone to ring on Friday night, you give up your D1 dreams and go to the D3 states.

And if you already have trouble with the law, then you go pro.  For Miami, UF, and FSU, that doesn't mean professional ... that means probation!   

  I really wasn't trying to start a big kerfuffle with my post, _mom, and in fact I agree with you and K&JD for the most part. My primary objection was to his use of the word only.
  Obviously the biggest concentration of our schools is in the Midwest, and I applaud them for recruiting aggressively in Florida (something that I wish my ODAC brethren did more of). I just know that if I was a kid from Florida who really wanted to play in college and no one was offering me a scholarship I would be doing some research to find a place to play where I wouldn't be freezing my tuchis off five months a year.   

[Walt]

I am a teacher, taught in the Anacostia area of Washington DC. Where I grew up, St. Mary, we left our keys in the car, but in DC we had security walk us to our cars. For many of these kids the last place they want to go is to another city. The entire town of Ada supports ONU football. ONU is academically ranked the 2nd best university in the midwest relative to size. 10 million dollar business school was built a few years ago, the performing arts center is regionally renown, for which my best friend still volunteers years after having graduated. The stadium and training facility are great, but we also have a head coach who loves his players. When I worked in DC, I genuinely felt like a foreigner in a foreign country, but I was genuine and that resonated with those kids. Coach Paul's genuine care for his players and the fact that a player can get a "great education, be safe and play high level competitive football" is why we a D1 player said he came to Ada. btw Lima and Findlay are both about 15 minutes away and very diverse demographically.

I didn't mean to come off like I was disparaging ONU, but it probably came across that way.  Just from personal experience I think it can be a hard sell to many.

I grew up in a small down and went to a small D2 school in a rural area and enjoyed my time there.  Both of my kids have been raised in a suburb of a large city.  They are used to having all their favorite restaurant & retail chains, cinemas, concerts by nationally known recording artists, and other entertainment options all within a very short drive, if not a walk, from home. 

My son visited Burg, and loved everything about it except Tiffin.  And not that he hated Tiffin but it wasn't what he had grown accustomed to.  One of the first questions out of his mouth when we got to Tiffin was "wonder where the nearest Chipotle is?"  ONU invited him for a visit and he didn't even respond because he heard negative reviews from the family friend whose son grew up in the same suburb and never felt at home in Ada. 

I could see how/why a kid who grew up in an urban area might like the change of pace.  But I also seen the location as a hurdle.  I commend the coaches at that school for being able to recruit and sell the merits of their school to these kids.

[Walt]

See...not seen.  My thumbs are too fat to type on an iPhone...

[02 Warhawk]

I'll just leave this here with you guys...



This is a handy map in discussions like these. I would say the biggest concentration of DIII football schools are in the Northeast, with the midwest right behind them.

[jknezek]

Two things on that map stick out. It's a long way from La College to Sul Ross State, which I knew, and the UMAC is really inconvenient, which I didn't. Greenville to St. Scholastica is a pretty awful road trip, especially at the end of the season. Two of the longest road trips disappeared in the last few years, with Mississippi College to Sul Ross State ending and Huntingdon to CNU wrapping up after just a few years.

[SaintsFAN]

There are also no JC/CC Football programs in FL.  For some of these guys, heading to the Midwest is the only route if they want to play football in college.

Definitely no D3 Football in FL, but apparently there is now a Juco in Miami sponsoring football, called ASA College.  I only know this because an ex-ND player is headed there this fall.

http://irish.nbcsports.com/2015/08/12/done-in-south-bend-greg-bryant-reportedly-lands-at-florida-juco/


Also:  I would push the small-town values of Ada before I admit the town is nearby Lima.  Lima is truly awful.

[Pat Coleman]

Two things on that map stick out. It's a long way from La College to Sul Ross State, which I knew, and the UMAC is really inconvenient, which I didn't. Greenville to St. Scholastica is a pretty awful road trip, especially at the end of the season. Two of the longest road trips disappeared in the last few years, with Mississippi College to Sul Ross State ending and Huntingdon to CNU wrapping up after just a few years.

Belhaven comes into that league this year and Belhaven to Sul Ross is just as far.

[jknezek]

Two things on that map stick out. It's a long way from La College to Sul Ross State, which I knew, and the UMAC is really inconvenient, which I didn't. Greenville to St. Scholastica is a pretty awful road trip, especially at the end of the season. Two of the longest road trips disappeared in the last few years, with Mississippi College to Sul Ross State ending and Huntingdon to CNU wrapping up after just a few years.

Belhaven comes into that league this year and Belhaven to Sul Ross is just as far.

That is a truly appalling road trip. In a bus that's got to be 14 or 15 hours plus stops. I pity those coaches. The players probably only do it once or twice, the coaches have it every other year for their tenure. Sul Ross State is just in a bear of a spot. I can't imagine how many hours those guys spend on buses every season.

[Blutarsky]

I am a teacher, taught in the Anacostia area of Washington DC. Where I grew up, St. Mary, we left our keys in the car, but in DC we had security walk us to our cars. For many of these kids the last place they want to go is to another city. The entire town of Ada supports ONU football. ONU is academically ranked the 2nd best university in the midwest relative to size. 10 million dollar business school was built a few years ago, the performing arts center is regionally renown, for which my best friend still volunteers years after having graduated. The stadium and training facility are great, but we also have a head coach who loves his players. When I worked in DC, I genuinely felt like a foreigner in a foreign country, but I was genuine and that resonated with those kids. Coach Paul's genuine care for his players and the fact that a player can get a "great education, be safe and play high level competitive football" is why we a D1 player said he came to Ada. btw Lima and Findlay are both about 15 minutes away and very diverse demographically.

I didn't mean to come off like I was disparaging ONU, but it probably came across that way.  Just from personal experience I think it can be a hard sell to many.

I grew up in a small down and went to a small D2 school in a rural area and enjoyed my time there.  Both of my kids have been raised in a suburb of a large city.  They are used to having all their favorite restaurant & retail chains, cinemas, concerts by nationally known recording artists, and other entertainment options all within a very short drive, if not a walk, from home. 

My son visited Burg, and loved everything about it except Tiffin.  And not that he hated Tiffin but it wasn't what he had grown accustomed to.  One of the first questions out of his mouth when we got to Tiffin was "wonder where the nearest Chipotle is?" ONU invited him for a visit and he didn't even respond because he heard negative reviews from the family friend whose son grew up in the same suburb and never felt at home in Ada. 

I could see how/why a kid who grew up in an urban area might like the change of pace.  But I also seen the location as a hurdle.  I commend the coaches at that school for being able to recruit and sell the merits of their school to these kids.

That would be Findlay......

[LadyBear]

I am a teacher, taught in the Anacostia area of Washington DC. Where I grew up, St. Mary, we left our keys in the car, but in DC we had security walk us to our cars. For many of these kids the last place they want to go is to another city. The entire town of Ada supports ONU football. ONU is academically ranked the 2nd best university in the midwest relative to size. 10 million dollar business school was built a few years ago, the performing arts center is regionally renown, for which my best friend still volunteers years after having graduated. The stadium and training facility are great, but we also have a head coach who loves his players. When I worked in DC, I genuinely felt like a foreigner in a foreign country, but I was genuine and that resonated with those kids. Coach Paul's genuine care for his players and the fact that a player can get a "great education, be safe and play high level competitive football" is why we a D1 player said he came to Ada. btw Lima and Findlay are both about 15 minutes away and very diverse demographically.

I didn't mean to come off like I was disparaging ONU, but it probably came across that way.  Just from personal experience I think it can be a hard sell to many.

I grew up in a small down and went to a small D2 school in a rural area and enjoyed my time there.  Both of my kids have been raised in a suburb of a large city.  They are used to having all their favorite restaurant & retail chains, cinemas, concerts by nationally known recording artists, and other entertainment options all within a very short drive, if not a walk, from home. 

My son visited Burg, and loved everything about it except Tiffin.  And not that he hated Tiffin but it wasn't what he had grown accustomed to.  One of the first questions out of his mouth when we got to Tiffin was "wonder where the nearest Chipotle is?"  ONU invited him for a visit and he didn't even respond because he heard negative reviews from the family friend whose son grew up in the same suburb and never felt at home in Ada. 

I could see how/why a kid who grew up in an urban area might like the change of pace.  But I also seen the location as a hurdle.  I commend the coaches at that school for being able to recruit and sell the merits of their school to these kids.

Walt - I may, too, have been just a little bit defensive 

[LadyBear]

P.S. My Uncle and Brother are on ONU's campus today. I hope to post an update on how the practice looks. Fingers crossed.