FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[SaintsFAN]

JK,
Interesting developments...hopefully the people you speak of can show how important life lessons can be learned outside of the classroom also.  

Keep us updated...

[has been coach 1]

It is a done deal Jim collins will be named the new Head Coach at Saginaw Valley State univ on friday.

Just heard that from a candidate that interviewed also and he was told late last night from the AD at Saginaw.

Congrats to Jim>>>>>

Wonder who he is going to take with him??

[cufan]

Congrats to Jim Collins for being named the head football coach at SVSC.  Bad news for CU fans but a great opportunity for Collins.  

[JK]

Wonder who he is going to take with him??

I hope NOT Coach Bickel.  If this is true, I hope he succeeds Collins.

[pradierguy]

Congrats to Coach Collins.


Merry Christmas Late and Happy New Year Early!!!!

[crusader26]

It is a done deal Jim collins will be named the new Head Coach at Saginaw Valley State univ on friday.

Just heard that from a candidate that interviewed also and he was told late last night from the AD at Saginaw.

Congrats to Jim>>>>>

Wonder who he is going to take with him??

Will he take any players??  What about any of his assistants??  What about any of his former assistants??

[tdubs]

Congrats Coach Collins.....we'll be visiting you up in Flynt!  Well deserved and definitely a step in the right direction.

I sure hope the jealousy of other coaches not associated with football didn't influence the decision. You deserved all of the accolades you were awarded and did nothing but great things for the program.

I hope they hire Coach Bickel.....keep the coaching staff in tact and just hire an offensive coordinator that can try to fill the shoes of JimCo. Let's keep this train on the tracks and make the right decision.

[TheeBuffaloSabres]

Collins is a very nice man. Hopefully hes in line for a $$$$$$ hike.

[JK]

I have been sitting on this half the day, and can't stand it anymore.  Since it will be official tomorrow, I thought I would post it now.

Got an email from Coach Collins today confirming the rumor.  He has accepted the position at SVSU.  Very, very sorry to see him go.  Here is a quote from him:

"I am excited about the opportunity but will truly miss everyone associated with our program over the last 11 years.  I too am proud of the things that we were able to accomplish.  The only people that really believed were us.  I just hope that I can be associated with the same type of people at SVSU.  If so, we will be champs."

Like I told him in my email, Congrats, best of luck, and most of all THANK YOU for 11 great years.

If you don't know, Coach Collins has a history in Michigan.  He was a graduate assistant and later a full time assistant at Central Michigan.

Of course, I have said from the start that I think Coach Bickel would be great as a replacement.  Here is what I HOPE happens.  I hope they hire Bickel and lure Kevin Daugherty back to Columbus.  Kevin is Coach Collins protoge and was an assistant coach in Collins first few seasons before moving on.  He is now the HC at Lakeland.  Much like Zebrowski did in moving from a HC position to be the OC at UWW, it would be nice if Kevin would consider it.  The offense wouldn't miss a beat.

[section13raiderfan]

Maybe Rocky Pentello will apply for a coaching position at Cap. Offensive coordinator perhaps? I know he would receive a warm reception at MUC every year on the sidelines.

[tdubs]

Rocky was an assistant coach this past season at Cap.

I wonder if Matt Collins is still in the area?

[usee]

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!   

skunks,

were you there for this interaction? obviously you heard this from the source? I am not a wabash guy but I do know chris creighton and I find this very surprising. I would be careful passing on information unless of course it is first hand. I have no dog in this fight but if creighton did in fact do this it would be extremely out of character.

[formerd3db]

Pat:
I guess SVSU was a little farther along in their search process than we though!   Oh well.  Anyway, sorry that Collins will be leaving Capital as he did some great things there, but I guess with his previous Michigan ties and the challenge that this new opportunity presents, those were factors in his decision.  Still, making such decisions is not an easy process for anyone - I'm sure it was difficult for him in some respects.  I wish him well, but also wish the Capital program well in whomever they end up choosing as his successor.  Obviously, Capital and Wabash are in the same situation now in that regard and the challenge of continuing to build on both their recent successes.

[e_lee]

I wouldnt be surprised to see Matt Collins end up in Flint with JimCo. 

To me Jim Bickel is the only choice to succeed.  It would appear that he and his wife really have strong ties to Columbus and don't desire to leave.  Capital pretty much received a gift when Otterbein went with Rocky Alt to replace Hood at Otterbein and Bickel came to Cap bringing along defensive assistants Todd Stepsis and Tim Boynton.  I hope Capital does not make a similar mistake as Otterbein did back then.

[reality check]

I'll wait to send my congratulations until it is official.  I wonder if the NCAA infractions SVSU took action on will have much of an impact as well.  Collins will have to deal with a new dimension in recruiting with athletic scholarships coming into play.  And having less than the competition for at least two years presents another small hurdle. 

One of my high school coach's kids played at SVSU so I've followed the program in limited fashion since I was in junior high and I think he's in an interesting situation.  He goes from challenging the Machine of DIII on a yearly basis as a conference foe to battling the closest thing to MUC Division II has to offer in GVSU.  And he's competing over a lot of the same talent as well.  So maybe as much as things will be different, they'll remain the same.

We will see.  Technically if the announcement does come Friday, SVSU will have two head coaches (for three days anyways) as the old head coach's contract doesn't expire until 12/31.  And I would not mind seeing Bickel heading up I-75 to join JimCo at SVSU.  I miss the CAP of old and wouldn't mind that nasty defense and Collins' offense falling back to the middle of the pack; but that's just me and my Polar Bear roots talking.