FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Small but Slow]

Word on the street is that the OAC is now allowing coaches to make home and school visits of student-athletes.  Any thoughts on how this will help OAC teams?

It's hard to tell how much it will help the teams, but off campus recruiting will require more time of the coaches and more travel money from the programs.  The old way seemed pretty effective.  Mount Union seemed to be able to recruit well enough to occasionally field a competitive squad.  I'm certain the MUC staff will have a plan to utilize this to the fullest benefit.  I can't see how this will truly help any other conference schools unless the coaches are willing to hit the road and schmooze it up in living rooms with recruits and their parents. 

[OldOtter]

I had heard that they could now make school visits but i didn't realize they could make house visits, too. Is that true?

[Small but Slow]

The last information I heard regarding off campus recruiting in the OAC was that coaches could visit schools and talk to coaches about players and with the student in the presence of either a coach or administrator (can't remember the exact wording).  How do the OAC rules compare to other DIII conferences?

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

They haven't updated their General Regulations on their webpage yet:

Section 2.  Recruiting.  OAC coaches and staff shall follow NCAA Division III Recruiting Guidelines 
(Bylaw 13) with the exception of the following added restrictions:

  a. There shall be no home visits.

  b. Attendance at high school practices is prohibited.

  c. There shall be no visits to high schools, except to attend the following events:

   1. Regulation contest
   2. Sports banquet at which a staff member has been asked to speak
   3. Sports camp or clinic open to numerous high school prospects and college coaches.
   4. College Fair, film night or recruiting night whereby numerous other college coaches are 
    in attendance

  d. Transportation for campus visitation of a prospective athlete can only be arranged and 
   financed by the admissions department of the college.

[theaprof]

The last information I heard regarding off campus recruiting in the OAC was that coaches could visit schools and talk to coaches about players and with the student in the presence of either a coach or administrator (can't remember the exact wording). 

Just got off the phone with our OAC faculty rep--What Small but Slow said is true--visits to practices--talking with a student in the presence of their coach or an administrator--are both okay as of November 20 somethingth.  Still no home visits allowed.

[Small but Slow]

SUNY Cortland appears to be a solid team with a better than average offense and serviceable defense.  One of their closest games was against a Morrisson College team that won only one game.  By all statistical appearance they are a run oriented team.  Giuliani, their leading rusher appears to be a threat, and sets up the passing game.   (I wonder if he's a relative of former NYC mayor Rudolph?)  Just wondering what Mount can expect Saturday.

I also checked the OAC site regarding recruiting and found no changes in the policy.  Personally, I feel the disadvantages (time and expense) of off campus in home visitation far outweighs the benefits at the DIII level.  I've become fairly well acquainted with a DI assistant over the past few years.  The least favorite part of his job is the travel and pressure of visiting recruits.  At one point, prior to the limits on text messaging, he was sending up to 5,000 text messages per month to his recruits.  He was having dreams about texting recruits in his sleep.  He also had stories about showing up at houses or high schools while other coaches were present, which became extremely uncomfortable, since the coach or parents had arranged this to pit the two coaches against one another.

[JT]

Word on the street is that the OAC is now allowing coaches to make home and school visits of student-athletes.  Any thoughts on how this will help OAC teams?

It's hard to tell how much it will help the teams, but off campus recruiting will require more time of the coaches and more travel money from the programs.  The old way seemed pretty effective.  Mount Union seemed to be able to recruit well enough to occasionally field a competitive squad. 

Occasionally?

Seems to be a simple process from what I've read in the past:  Be a good person, go to class, go to practice, get at least two rings in four years. 

Not a bad sales pitch.

[HScoach]

Cortland is very big along both lines of scrimmage and REALLY takes seriously the need to stop the opponents running game.  Per the press tele-conference earlier this week, their coach said multiple times that their goal is to stop the run and make the opponent one dimensional and if you're going to beat them, you're going to have to do it via the passing game.

Scheme wise, expect a lot of man coverage with 8 in the box with a ton of blitzing to stop the run and to force quick pressure on the QB. 

They've given up some big plays and yardage via the pass, but I don't know if that is because they're so focused on stopping the run, or whether they're just weak against the pass.  I'm guessing the former.

If the weather cooperates (i.e. no 20+ mph wind and sleet) and if Mount can protect Micheli from the blitzes, expect some HUGE pass plays from the Raiders.  If not, expect a real slugfest.

Offensively, they've typically been pretty balanced between the run & pass, but have the ability to stick with either style if the situtation presents itself.  Scheme-wise on O, they're a lot like Mount.  Will run 4 or 5 wide shotgun one play and then tightend with the I-formation the next.  Extremely variable in their formations and attack. 

From looking at their size up front, I expect a real physical battle at the point of attack.  However I question whether they handle Mount's speed on either side of the ball.  If they can run with Shorts, Petruziello and Claycomb in man coverage, handle Kmic's cuts with fast OLB's, and block Herbert & Millings then this one could be a fun one to watch.  If not, it's over early.

[JT]

RC,

My sympathies on your loss.  Lost my grandfather in Nov.  It was a blessing and his time at 92.  Thankfully, he had a good retirement and was basically fully functional until about 89.

[reality check]

Under the new rules I think the OAC will benefit.  There may be a little more local competition because now a coach may show up in another OAC institution's backyard and get some face time.  Sure they could go after kids like this before but now they can be in that student athlete's school meeting with coaches, etc.  Allowing coaches to travel to schools now makes all of Ohio fair ground as opposed to the old ways.  Sure schools get kids from all over the state but traditionally Wilmington fields a team based primarily from southwest Ohio.  Marietta and Musky get a lot of kids from south central and southeastern Ohio.  ONU and the Berg get a lot of northwest Ohio kids.  But now a coach from Wilmington will be on campus at schools in northeast Ohio and have a little face time to sell their program.  It may not work, but it will show who the good recruiters are and will make all OAC schools have to work harder to land good athletes.  

And it will help keep kids in the OAC too.  I was visited by a couple NCAC schools during my recruitment.  Now I didn't choose those schools but don't think they didn't have an impact on me as they came to MY school to speak to ME.  Certainly, I still went where I thought I fit best but I like the fact that the OAC schools can now have the same presence in-person that HCAC and NCAC schools have in Ohio.  It may not help but it certainly can't hurt.  That's good enough for me.

[JT]

Hey Ric,

How are things?  How's the family?  Hope all is well.  I've been very busy fighting to keep business.  I was only able to attend two Rowan games.  It is the least amount of football that I've seen in years.  I've even sold my Rutgers tix, having only gone to opening day.

I'm hoping that my football life returns to normal in 2009.

[pumkinattack]

Hey all MUC fans.  I wanted to come on, but had to take a while a lick my wounds.  Mount really gave us a beating, particularly the depth/conditioning/whatever where it appears we just wore down in the second half.  Someone correctly called that here before the game and particuarly when we got behind and started throwing for a number of three and outs on offense.  Kmic is a beast.  I am kind of heartened that, notwithstanding the total yards, we held him in check on a number of runs.

I'm also happy to hear you guys were impressed with Hager (40), Sanders (9), Aruck (75) and Woodard (1 - CB).  The first three have given us for great years of play and Woodard has three more to look forward to.  We have a lot coming back and the backup QB is a FR who played an incredible 4th quarter against RPI (our main rival for the conf. championship this year) to win that game when Doyle went out.  So maybe we'll get our shot next year. 

I'd like to hear your thoughts on a comparison of Cortland and us after the game Saturday.  It's kind of a NY State/East Region thing. 

Again, congrats, I always root for the team that beats us to go all the way, although I doubt you need my support. 

Lastly, on the daily dose, I humbly apologize for the one poster talking junk.  I love my school and because I love it would never demean any other institution and think its bush league.  I probably should post it there, but am too lazy/busy to register there so it goes here since I wanted to post here after the game anyway. 

[Pat Coleman]

Small but Slow: Since the kid's name is actually Giuliano I doubt there's much of a relation.

[seventiesraider]

Pumkin - Couldn't agree with you more. I always thought what set Mount apart from a lot of programs was conditioning, and depth, as well as the level of talent at all positions. Sure we have Nate Kmic, but I'm sure he'll tell about the talent around him. Also, there are very few frosh and sophs on the field for Mount this time of year. Only the exceptional talents start before their junior year. I know from coaching
hs sports, that there is a huge diffence in kids in two years. You should be proud of the way Hobart played.

[reality check]

Seventies

There are more freshmen and sophomores on the field at the end of the year than the beginning in most cases in college football.  I don't follow your logic but then again, I didn't follow your logic the last time we talked about the average age of teams competing between DIII and DI.   

Jordan, Kershaw, Claycomb and Ferrara are all contributors that are being counted on more now then they would have been called on in the beginning of the season.  They say in both NCAA basketball and football that by the time you get to the playoffs and tourney that there are no freshmen.  These kids are seasoned by the time they get to game 13.