FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Spurrier]

That's a picture of polar bears about to get their freak on!  Party in Ada!

[02 Warhawk]

It's

Reading an email I got about 38 perfectly photographed disasters....this was #8

I found the pic online...hoping to see the school...no luck. The colors fit, the paw on the back seems to fit...please say it's Ohio Northern. If so - it helps to answer "where my polar bears at?" If not - aw heck with it, it still works!

It's Ohio Northern...just search "Ohio Northern cheerleaders" and you'll see the same outfit. I did my homework before posting this. 

[Craft_Beermeister]

From what I see from various internet postings it looks like Mount union is doing a great job on reloading.  below are some signings i found plus Mount already signed a few studs that started school in January.


David Pawelczyk WR  FL
Kennedy Sanders DB  TN
Adam Pastor  DT  Walsh Jesuit OH
Austin Morrison LB  Tunnel Hill, GA
Kyle Zies  QB  Granville, OH
Myles Eanes LB   Penn Hills, Pittsburgh, PA
Ian Meacham  NG DE  Central Catholic, Toledo, OH
Mickey O'Neil  DT T   Elyria Catholic, Elyria, OH
Keoate Davis  LaGrange
Nate Holmgren  QB  Carlson High School, Gibraltar, MI
Trevor Thome  WR   Buckeye Local, Medina, OH
Tyler Glanton  DT  Penn Hills, Pittsburgh, PA
Alex Feldman  WR   Springboro, OH
Cale Bogges   C DT G   New Port Richey, FL
Joe Bauhof  WR CB  York Catholic, York, PA
Kennedy Sanders CB  Memphis, TN
Trey Williams  MLB RB  Cardington-Lincoln, Cardington, OH

[CANDOCRU]

Any one hearing about candidates Capital is looking at for the head coaching job?  Seems to be very tight lipped at the moment.  Why have they fallen back to the bottom half of the league?

[Dr. Acula]

I'll be interested to see who Cap gets.  It's been a topic for years regarding the questions around Dr. Bowman and the University's support of athletics.  I've posted before on the baseball board that an example was that as recently as a few years ago the head baseball coach at Cap made less than the asst. baseball coach at Mount.  And Cap did not have any full-time assistant for baseball.  The conference is divided into the haves and have nots to a large degree. 

In football they at least have some positive things in the location and Bernlohr/the Capital Center.  Those are solid facilities.  But if football faces the same issues as the other sports it may not be the HC where it's an issue.  It may be not being able to hire the same quality of coordinators/assts as other OAC schools.  Plus throw in the fact that you have a roster built for the option offensively and you have quite a job in front of you if you're not an option coach. 

[Dr. Acula]

Freshman DB Louis Berry is running track also.  He won the 60m dash at the OAC split meet in 7.01 seconds.  He also finished 6th in the 200.

Berry won the 60m dash today in 6.89 seconds.  4th best time in D3 this year.  It's definitely not a bad thing for your freshman corner to have wheels like that.

Louis Berry is having a heck of an indoor track season.  He won the 60m dash and placed 10th in the 200m at the All-Ohio meet at Ott.  The meet features 17 D3 schools in Ohio so that's a nice win for Berry.  The men's track team won the team title for the 5th straight year while the ladies repeated as champs. 

Other football players that scored team points (that I noticed):

Jr. DB Darrell Sullins, 6th place in the 60m hurdles
So. WR Jalen McGill, 5th place in the 4x200 relay
Fr. WR Clark Etzler, 7th place in the 400m dash, 5th place in the 4x400 relay
Fr. DL Lucas Cooper, 7th place in the shot put

[hsbsballcoach7]

Freshman DB Louis Berry is running track also.  He won the 60m dash at the OAC split meet in 7.01 seconds.  He also finished 6th in the 200.

Berry won the 60m dash today in 6.89 seconds.  4th best time in D3 this year.  It's definitely not a bad thing for your freshman corner to have wheels like that.

Louis Berry is having a heck of an indoor track season.  He won the 60m dash and placed 10th in the 200m at the All-Ohio meet at Ott.  The meet features 17 D3 schools in Ohio so that's a nice win for Berry.  The men's track team won the team title for the 5th straight year while the ladies repeated as champs. 

Other football players that scored team points (that I noticed):

Jr. DB Darrell Sullins, 6th place in the 60m hurdles
So. WR Jalen McGill, 5th place in the 4x200 relay
Fr. WR Clark Etzler, 7th place in the 400m dash, 5th place in the 4x400 relay
Fr. DL Lucas Cooper, 7th place in the shot put

I could definitely see the Mount Union staff using Louis Berry both ways next season. They did use him at slot WR a couple of times in the playoffs. You can tell his speed is about quickness, hence the success at the 60m and less success at 200m. He would even fit in with D1 runners around Ohio.

I liked a stat before the Super Bowl that mentioned 87% of the players in the game were multisport athletes in high school. I try to encourage my high school athletes to do as much as possible while they can. Mount Union has done well sharing athletes as well mainly through football and track
K. I was also reading an article written by Bill Greene, Scout.com for Ohio area. He usually writes about the big time kids in Ohio, but he was mentioning the explosive athletes do well in 60m (100m outdoor) and especially the hurdles. Looking back, I forgot that Cecil ran the hurdles pretty well and he's making a decent living right now...haha

[e_lee]

I'll be interested to see who Cap gets.  It's been a topic for years regarding the questions around Dr. Bowman and the University's support of athletics.  I've posted before on the baseball board that an example was that as recently as a few years ago the head baseball coach at Cap made less than the asst. baseball coach at Mount.  And Cap did not have any full-time assistant for baseball.  The conference is divided into the haves and have nots to a large degree. 

In football they at least have some positive things in the location and Bernlohr/the Capital Center.  Those are solid facilities.  But if football faces the same issues as the other sports it may not be the HC where it's an issue.  It may be not being able to hire the same quality of coordinators/assts as other OAC schools.  Plus throw in the fact that you have a roster built for the option offensively and you have quite a job in front of you if you're not an option coach.

I'm not sure there is anyone on that campus who I would trust to make that hire.  I am not sure football is important there anymore.  I get the impression they want to be like Kenyon, Oberlin, Dennison, etc.  Football and athletics in general seem to be an annoyance to the current campus culture. 

Hoping the newly selected President values successful athletics, but not holding my breath.

[Craft_Beermeister]

Another mount Union recruit announced.

Angelo Marzullo  RB  from Clarence Senior High School East Amhearst, NY

4.4 40 Yard Dash

[formerd3db]

I'll be interested to see who Cap gets.  It's been a topic for years regarding the questions around Dr. Bowman and the University's support of athletics.  I've posted before on the baseball board that an example was that as recently as a few years ago the head baseball coach at Cap made less than the asst. baseball coach at Mount.  And Cap did not have any full-time assistant for baseball.  The conference is divided into the haves and have nots to a large degree. 

In football they at least have some positive things in the location and Bernlohr/the Capital Center.  Those are solid facilities.  But if football faces the same issues as the other sports it may not be the HC where it's an issue.  It may be not being able to hire the same quality of coordinators/assts as other OAC schools.  Plus throw in the fact that you have a roster built for the option offensively and you have quite a job in front of you if you're not an option coach.

I'm not sure there is anyone on that campus who I would trust to make that hire.  I am not sure football is important there anymore.  I get the impression they want to be like Kenyon, Oberlin, Dennison, etc.  Football and athletics in general seem to be an annoyance to the current campus culture. 

Hoping the newly selected President values successful athletics, but not holding my breath.

That is sad and unfortunate, IMO.  All of those schools have such a storied tradition regarding college football.  However, if that is the way those schools want to be both with regard to the administrations and student body culture (I'm not including the football student-athletes in that sentiment, of course), obviously that is their choice.  Yet, by doing so, they will essentially "go by the wayside" and continue to be overshadowed by the other schools in DIII which have made the commitment to support solid football programs and being able to do so still in keeping with high academic standards.  It is a shame, IMO, but that's just the way it is.   

[Desertraider]

Please don't read this as "if you're not Mount then why have football" - however, I have wondered for a very long time why schools like Earlham, Hiram, Etta, Wilma, etc. even bother having football programs. These teams have had no success for a very long time and do not seem to be headed toward success at any point in the future. The administrations seem to tolerate football but not try to make it better. So what is the point of having them? Surplus cash lying around that they can't find another use for? If the OAC lost wilma, etta, and cap - and the NCAC lost hiram, dennison and oberlin, maybe the remaining NCAC and OAC teams could merge into a new conference with 2 divisions. Just my take.

[Dr. Acula]

I would assume those schools have football because it's a way to attract 100 kids to pay tuition (or in Mount's case, 200).  And I wouldn't lump Denison in with the rest of that group.  They're not great, but they definitely aren't bad either.  Denison has solid athletics including football.

[badgerwarhawk]

I don't know the answer to your question desertraider but one thing I've noticed is that some private schools see football as another avenue to increase enrollment.  Perhaps that one of the reasons they continue to "tolerate" their programs despite a lack of success.  We don't see that sort of thing in the WIAC where until the recent past roster sizes were limited by the league.  While the league mandated limits no longer exist Title IX influences the size at all of our institutions. 

[bluestreak66]

I actually wouldn't lump Marietta and Cappy with Wilmington either. Marietta is good at a lot of other (non football) sports that gives them value to the conference as a whole, and Capital has a solid athletic program. I've often thought losing Wilmington and Muskingum would help the OAC as a whole. Neither really adds anything, and as far as football is concerned, that would give each team two extra non conference games

[formerd3db]

Indeed, it is the "aged" philosophical question that will never be answered.  There will always be the "have" and "have nots" at any level of college football.  Certainly one can argue that in having football, it benefits only a small segment of the student enrollment (and particularly at the small college level), however, the same can be said then for any student activity or organization at any school (theater, fraternity system, academic clubs and organizations, etc., etc., etc.).  And what does football actually then bring to any small college?  I'm sure we all agree as to all the significant attributes it provides in the long-term well being, education and personal development in later life overall to those who played college football, well beyond the simple "real time" attributes of enjoyment and personal challenges/goals anyone has in playing the game from the physical to the personal and collective school recognition standpoints. 

Yet, then if we question why those schools (or for that matter any school) continue to have football, then in a more broader sense, one could ask why have college football at all?  If that is the case, then most schools should have abandoned college football even back in the formative years (certainly, the value and idea of college football was argued even at its beginning in the late 19th century as we all know).   What benefit does, for example, even the University of Chicago (and this in no way is intended as any slight towards U of C) get from having college football at the DIII, particularly after their long ago storied history?  We could argue that for even small colleges, such as Olivet, Kalamazoo, Manchester and Wilimington, etc., etc., (you fill in the blank/pick the name), football provides many aspects such as a sense of pride and school spirit among the student body in relation to the tradition of the past college football history among the student body as well as community pride in the same and the region, especially in such small communities, despite its short time frame of a season.  But, of course, all you guys know all of this.  And you have already mentioned the tangibles for some of the small schools in having football i.e. in helping enrollment.

However, if we suggest such schools simply drop the sport because of less success in the long term, none of the above matters.  For that matter, why not just drop college football for all the colleges at this level?  What benefit does, for example, even the University of Chicago get from having college football at the DIII level, particularly after their long ago storied history?  (and this in no way is intended as any slight towards U of C as I love their college football history, from Stagg and the beginning to Berwanger and all).  Also, for years, people cried for schools such as Olivet, Northwestern and Kansas to drop their programs (just to cite those as examples and yes, I realize one can argue that this is not an equal comparison due to their being at different levels of college football and the "unequal" aspects in that regard) due to their horrendous overall all-time records in football.  However, they eventually made it work for themselves in their own way and while they will never be powerhouses and have some decent seasons periodically, they are now respectable programs.  Without question, another factor, as you mentioned, is the $ involved in running a program.  If it becomes an overwhelming financial burden (that may threaten the viability of the school), then, certainly dropping the program is a legit consideration/choice.  Yet, the small schools, i.e. the DIIIs we're talking about, do make it work within their budgets and see it viable all these varied reasons, and that despite opposition at times from non-athletic minded faculty and administrations.  The latter i.e. supportive administrations versus non-supportive is always "cyclic" over periods of years, just as almost anything is.

The bottom line, obviously, is that each of the schools make their own choice as to the why, how and value of keeping their football programs.  I think we all agree that there is value to the game for their institution's students and respective communities in varied aspects as we have discussed.  I also think that most administrators will deep down admit that, even if they are not overly fond of athletics (and, of course, assuming it doesn't "tank" the budget as well as assuming they are not of the die-hard Swarthemore or R. Hutchins type )   

All of the above is not meant to disagree with anything all of you have posted, but rather just to add my thoughts and some general comments to the discussion for consideration.  And my apologies for a generalized (and perhaps rambling) response.  You posed a legit question and everyone responded with good points for discussion.  I always enjoy these and particularly in this off-season!  Thanks.