FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[reality check]

Wishing all you yahoos a Merry Christmas from sunny Arizona.

Moving into a new house as I type this but I had to get caught up on the couple days of nothingness I had missed but I wanted to pass on holiday wishes to all the OAC posters (even CAP guys).

Safe travels for the remainder of the holidays and may our off-season pass by quicker than ever.

[crusader26]

just heard from a very reliable source that Capital Football Coach Jim Collins will be offered the Saginaw Valley State Football Job later this week after he meets with the president .....................Stay Tuned........

Now that is interesting news...heard hear first!!  Throughout the past few years, my sources have informed me he was looking elsewhere...I was informed he interviewed for a D1 Ivy League School two years ago, but did not get the job...so, with these rumblings, this could be true...but until I hear it from someone affiliated with Capital University, SVSU, or JimCo. himself, he remains the Crusaders Head Coach!!

Merry Christmas to all, and have a Safe & Happy Holiday!!

[Toph]

Happy holidays and happy new year to all!

[JK]

Hope everyone had a great Christmas yesterday.  I hope that everyone on this board gets to enjoy the holidays like I got to yesterday.  After several years of Christmas being a "chore," with trying to find the time to go see the in-laws as well as my family (on opposite ends of the state), and dealing with the inevitable guilt trips because we "spent more time with" one or the other, I had gotten kind of jaded.  Even last year, our son was only 6 months old, so he didn't really know what was going on.  This year, however, at 18 months, he sure did.  We made the decision to stay home so he could have christmas at his house, and he had a great time.  Smiles and laughing each time he opened a new present, wide eyes for every new toy he saw when he got the paper off.  He played himself to sleep yesterday, and when he got up this morning, it was like he saw all those new toys again for the first time.  When I left for work this morning, he hardly noticed me leave, he was so busy playing.  Children are definitely the greatest gift of all, and mine gave me something of far greater value than anything else I could have received, a restored belief in the "Christmas Spirit."

To further this, had I chosen to stay in the Army, I might have missed yesterday.  I was supposed to deploy one month ago yesterday, on November 25th.  I would still have been in Kansas for training and probably could have come home on leave, but I don't think it would have had the same effect.  I have already missed two Christmases, once before I was married and once after.  They sucked then, but I can't imagine even possibly missing yesterday, or having to go back and leave my family again.  It affirmed my decision to get out.  Now, I won't even have to deal with the possibility of not seeing my sons face when he sees the presents under the tree or the gleam in his eyes when he plays with a new toy.

Again, I hope you had as enjoyable a Christmas as I did.  Those of you with kids, I'm sure you know what I mean.  Those of you who do not, it is my most sincere wish that you get to experience it one day, if you so choose.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday season, and may the new year bring you good health and much success.

[JK]

Posted the last without reading through what I had missed...

Interesting about Coach Collins.  I hope he doesn't go.  He would certainly be missed if he does.  I'm sure he will make the decision that is best for his career and his family, however.  If he does go, I'm sure success will follow him.  He is too good a coach and person for it not to.  He has brought Cap to national prominence and I would think it would continue if he stayed.

I would guess, if he does leave, that Bickel would be the front runner to replace him?  He has been the mastermind behind the Cap D and knows the system and players.  I would think he would be able to continue the recent run of success at Cap as well as anyone.

[crusader26]

Posted the last without reading through what I had missed...

Interesting about Coach Collins.  I hope he doesn't go.  He would certainly be missed if he does.  I'm sure he will make the decision that is best for his career and his family, however.  If he does go, I'm sure success will follow him.  He is too good a coach and person for it not to.  He has brought Cap to national prominence and I would think it would continue if he stayed.

I would guess, if he does leave, that Bickel would be the front runner to replace him?  He has been the mastermind behind the Cap D and knows the system and players.  I would think he would be able to continue the recent run of success at Cap as well as anyone.

This is very weird talking about this...but, does Bickel stay or go with him??  I am sure he will get a chance to interview, but can he recruit as well as Collins did??  Collins is a young & energetic coach, just as the newly hired OAC Coaches, that gets out and does a pretty good job of recruiting the players he wants to fit into his offensive system!!

[JK]

That's my question too.  Much of Collins and Capital's success has been because they have been able to recruit well.  Collins was an energetic and easygoing guy, which made him a great recruiter.  I personally saw him in action with recruits.  I don't know Coach Bickel very well, have never seen him recruit, so I don't have any idea.  Of course, recruiting is as much about the entire staff as anything, so if there is still a great recruiter on Cap's staff IF Collins leaves, then maybe they can continue to get great players.

I hope we don't have to find out.

[HScoach]

Is all this talk about Collins leaving tied into the rumblings about the Cap President wanting to "de-emphasize athletics"?

A factor that is often overlooked in successful D3 programs is the relationship between the College President and the coach.  Word on the street during the Dr. Ewing years at MUC was a strained relationship at best between him and the athletic dept.  Lucky for us in Alliance, President Giese "gets it". 

[Pat Coleman]

I think Sag Valley isn't nearly as far along in the hiring process as the original post would suggest. He might get the job but we're not there yet.

[section13raiderfan]

Its a good thing the CAP job wasnt available last year. I like having the OAC coach of the year winner comming from Heidelberg rather than Capital. I bet Hallett would have applied for that job also. What do you think the chances of another former MUC player/coach landing this job are? I wonder who might be ready to move up from the assistants rank to Head Coach? Maybe VK and LK can be the fist father/son OAC rivals. Nah.

[muc-raider]

Is all this talk about Collins leaving tied into the rumblings about the Cap President wanting to "de-emphasize athletics"?

A factor that is often overlooked in successful D3 programs is the relationship between the College President and the coach.  Word on the street during the Dr. Ewing years at MUC was a strained relationship at best between him and the athletic dept.  Lucky for us in Alliance, President Giese "gets it". 

If Giese didn't "get it", he wouldn't have gotten it  (the job as president).

[JK]

Is all this talk about Collins leaving tied into the rumblings about the Cap President wanting to "de-emphasize athletics"?

A factor that is often overlooked in successful D3 programs is the relationship between the College President and the coach.  Word on the street during the Dr. Ewing years at MUC was a strained relationship at best between him and the athletic dept.  Lucky for us in Alliance, President Giese "gets it". 

You are right.  It is no coincidence that the rise of Capital's athletic program as a whole (not just football, in case you had missed it, but Volleyball, M/W soccer, M basketball (the women were always good), Baseball, and Softball all have been top half OAC programs for the last 4-5 years or so) occurred during the Ted Fredrickson presidency at Cap.  Coach Welsh said to me once that Dr. Fredrickson was the "best president in terms of athletics that Capital has had since [he] had been there,"  which was 30 years or so and three presidents.

It would be a shame if Dr. Bowman really does "de-emphasize" athletics as the rumor goes and chases away a coach and a man the caliber of Jim Collins, as well as potentially end this recent run of success throughout the entire Cap athletic department.  You wonder if he realizes (or cares about) the pride it brings some of us "old-timers" to be able to puff out our chests a little and talk about Capital football being an OAC contender now. 

[Pat Coleman]

Perhaps it would behoove you as an alumnus to make that sentiment known.

[JK]

Perhaps it would behoove you as an alumnus to make that sentiment known.

A group of older guys with much more time and money than I started a Capital Football Association (CFA) a couple of years ago.  I have expressed my "concerns" to the president of the CFA, and was told, basically, to wait.  Also, the Capital "Varsity C" pretty much said the same thing.  I tried to frame my comments only in response to hscoach's post.  I am sure both groups will "mobilize" if necessary.  Strength in numbers as opposed to one person.

Like one of the Johnnies is apt to say, "developing..."

[skunks_sidekick]

I was waiting for the right time to post this story, but with recent events I guess what I thought was the right time will never come.  With Creighton moving on to Drake from Wabash, Mount will never get a chance to play Wabash again with him as the head coach.  As much as he is held in high regard by the Wabash/NCAC faithful (and rightfully so), he is held in much lower regard in certain circles at Mount.  If there is one team I believe LK would have "put on the gas and never let up", it would have been Wabash if Creighton was the head coach.  I think this story shows that everyone out there is shades of gray.  No one is all good, or all bad.  Plus I think it also shows that we are all human, and hopefully learn from our mistakes.  I hold out that hope for Vince after his recent "charge of the Kehres brigade" at the Stagg.  Anyway, the story goes like this........

Eric Raeburn was at a coaching conference in/around 2003.  As most of you know he is a Mount grad, and his ties to LK and Dan Pugh are deep.  He bumps into Creighton during a break in the conference.  They start chit-chatting, and Creighton proceeds to run down the Mount program, LK, and references Mount's willingness and/or ability to get D-I/D-II transfers to end up at Mount to play football and finish their education.  He specifically mentions Pugh, and makes a disparaging remark regarding his play at Mount. 

Well Raeburn is beside himself, and basically said if he hadn't been at a coach's conference, he would have let Creighton know in a more demonstrative way that he was full of crap, and should be careful who he is talking to.  Instead, he vehemently rebutted everything Creighton had spewed, and told him to take his bullcrap down the road.  Word is when LK found this out, he laughed and said Mr. Creighton was lucky to still have all his teeth. 

After reading this board for a few years now, I have grown to respect the NCAC posters for their insight and passion for the D-III game.  Wabash in particular has loyal and intense fans that support their team and coach through thick and thin.  I get that, and applaud it.  However, Creighton wasn't the unblemished man he is painted to be.  Mind you, no one ever is.  Well, except for that crazy old man in Minnesota!