FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[FormerCard]

How long has Coach Thorne been at North Central now?   Just a question which is probably a moot point because of the success North Central and Coach Thorne have had this year.  When you think about the place that the Cardinal football team has come from, it makes what Coach Thorne has done even more admirable.

matblake,    
This is his 4th year as Head Coach @ North Central and he came into the position in January of 2002.  

Year#
1     6-4    
2     7-3  
3     7-3
4     8-0

The year before he came.... 3-7 with our only wins being over Benedictine, North Park and Elmhurst

[Mugsy]

Not to take away ANYTHING from Coach Thorne, but NCC administration also has made a serious commitment to the athletic programs.  Just look at the facilities... I believe they have staff positions devoted to recruiting in the off season.  I'm willing to bet as a part of accepting the job, Thorne received assurances that the school would do what it could to give him what he needed to put together his vision for the program.

On the field it's all Coach Thorne and the players, but he is getting alot of assistance off the field to give him what he needs to succeed.  While this doesn't factor in nearly as much as what Coach Thorne has accomplished, it is still an important factor.

[matblake]

Good point Mugsy.  Without administration approval and support, you cannot have a winning program.  However, support from the administration doesn't always make a good program.  That's why coaching is so important. 

[FormerCard]

Not to take away ANYTHING from Coach Thorne, but NCC administration also has made a serious commitment to the athletic programs.  Just look at the facilities... I believe they have staff positions devoted to recruiting in the off season.  I'm willing to bet as a part of accepting the job, Thorne received assurances that the school would do what it could to give him what he needed to put together his vision for the program.

On the field it's all Coach Thorne and the players, but he is getting alot of assistance off the field to give him what he needs to succeed.  While this doesn't factor in nearly as much as what Coach Thorne has accomplished, it is still an important factor.

Not just the administration, but the Alumni as well.  There have been some GENEROUS gifts over the last 4 years that have contributed to nicer equipment and the opportunity to stay in a hotel the night before a road game which should help out a little bit in Rock Island this weekend.

[79jaybird]

Good point about the schools having to back up the Coach with recruiting.  If your upper management isn't on the same page and doesn't give your Coach all the appropriate weapons, you will be limited on what you can/cannot do.  That was one of the criticisms of Ragsdale at Elmhurst College, prior to Paul Krohn stepping in.  Those of you who know Krohn, know that he will do ANYTHING for his Athletic Teams.
Thorne deserves I would say 65% of the credit for the turnaround at NC.  The rest has to go the players, b/c in the end the players have to make the plays.

[washdupcard]

Former Card,

I am actually a big believer in DeGeorge's strength and conditioning program.  Personally, I feel like it really helped me.   

[augiefan]

Thorne is the best coach in the CCIW and one of the best DIII coachs in the nation. The success of NCC all started with his arrival. Coach Thorne insisted on the program upgrades as a condition of taking the job. Therefore, I give him 75% of the credit, as the other advances in facilities and talent all stem from his commitment to NCC's FB program.

[CardinalAlum]

Wash'd,

From what I understood, DeJoe's strength program was pretty solid.  I believe it was structured along the lines of the Nebraska system.  The program under DeJoe failed because #1 he was a lousy HEAD coach, #2, he hired 2 lousy offensive coordinators, #3 he couldn't recruit, #4 he didn't have the commitment from the school(admissions, financial aid, AD, alumni) that Thorne has.  He had a fairly talented staff otherwise, but he needed more than that.

Mugsy, you are right on as always.  I think the staff members dedicated to football is vital.  I think some of the other conference schools had killed us in the past recruiting with this valuable asset. 

[augiedogie]

cardinalalum:

I can agree with you about DeJorges' strength program. I never played football, but took a strength training course with him, and he was absolutly nuts in class. I can't imagine what he would be like with the players. It was always interesting talking to him last fall after the losses because he just had no clue about what went wrong other than the fact the secondary was consistently giving up 300+ yards in the air. Hopefully this isn't the case this upcoming weekend. I hope it rains and is a slowed down game.

[usee]

for your old time augie boys (augie 6, etc), interesting debate on the 'wing t' going on in ncac board. apparently some over there believe you "can't win" with the wing t. I wish those of us in the cciw had that experience.

[NCC_alum62]

As someone who played for both DeGeorge and Thorne I would say the facilities NCC has have definetly been upgraded under Thorne (the stadium weight room was built)  However it wasn't finished before my senior year and the field turf was put in under DeGeorge.  The reason the weight room took so long was because the Chicago Fire used the room as an office/storage space when Soldier Field was being renovated.  As far as facilities go they have improved but were allready in place before he came.

Thorne is also a tremendous fund raiser.  Al Benedettie and Dick Wherli have always been large contributers to the football program, but JT personally raised a ton of money for us to go to Colorado my Junior year and stay in a fantastic hotel ( and I mean a Hotel ....an Adam's Mark I believe)  He is a well respected coach in IL and expecially in Dupage County he is a legend in the community.  He is a passionate speaker and a charasmatic person in general.

I also think the new AD Jim Miller has been great for the football program.  He has done some coaching with the team and is the head wrestlying coach (not sure if he is still doing thta becasue he is the AD) so definetly the admin has backed Thorne better than they ever did DeGeorge 

[redman04]

I know 90% of you don't care about this but Carthage announced a change in their athletic logo and nick name.  They are going to continue the use of the name redmen, but now it will be the Red Men.  Big change there!  The worst part of it is that they are dropping the feathers from the logo!  I don't know about you all but I have always like the logo.  A big "C" in a circle is a pretty stupid looking logo without the feathers.  Why does the administration there keep pushing that stupid flame logo on everybody. It sucks.  They already have that ridiculous mascot "torchy" what's next.  We become the Carthage Flamers?  With a torch on the helmets?


here is the link that shows the PC logo and flaming wording.  It sucks!
http://www.carthage.edu/logoupdate

[79jaybird]

Redmen 04,  I'm sorry to hear this ( this coming from an EC arch rival)
I think in general society is taking this topic way too far.    How long has Carthage had the C with the feathers logo?
Personally, I think  Carthage has one of the best logos (on their football helmet) in the CCIW.

[washdupcard]

Yea that Carthage logo is pretty bad!

Cardalum,

Its very hard for me to comment on the old coaches...I know that many people associated with NCC think I had a problem with the offensive coaching staff, but that just isn't true.  I very much respected Coach Warren and wish he would have had a better opportunity to prove himself at NCC ( I think he has done fairly well at his new location).   I thought he was severely restrained in what he was allowed to do...you may now more about this than I.

I my be a little biased here, but I thought we had an excellent Defensive Coaching staff (including DeGeorge...who was a very good D-Coord...but had some issues with mid-game adjustments).  Coach Wayne and Coach Miller were absolutely top-notch...and its a shame that the current Cards do not have them as coaches.    All of you former Cards from that era will remember Wayne's "Pain train" and Miller's video clips during film sessions  ("How much ya bench," "Dragon fly Jones," "Nighttrain Lane,").

I would also venture to say that the DeGeorge Defenses at NCC were better than NCC's current D.  If Radke is playing this well in the current scheme...he would have been an absolute monster in the old one.

[redman04]

Redmen 04,  I'm sorry to hear this ( this coming from an EC arch rival)
I think in general society is taking this topic way too far.    How long has Carthage had the C with the feathers logo?
Personally, I think  Carthage has one of the best logos (on their football helmet) in the CCIW.

I think that they have had that logo since the early 80's or late 70's, but I am not sure.  I have seen pictures of Art Keller coached teams with that logo on their helmets and pictures of helmets with a "Florida State" type spear on it.  I am pretty sure that the had the spear before they switched to the "C" with feathers.