FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Hiring a successful HS coach may be your playbook, but in the pre-Thorne era, North Park's hiring of the Elgin HS coach (Elgin?) was a complete debacle.  Player flaunting a gun in front of a dorm and other recruits with issues led to a quick departure.  The breadth and depth of North Park's 50+ years of utter futility go well beyond geography.  I suspect this is the current case at Elmhurst as well.  Remember the pre-sanction Scottie Williams' years?

Ron Ellett maybe?  Jacobs HS

No, Hampshire HS. Ellett won two state titles there and was also state runner-up once, and after leaving Hampshire he spent one year running the Elgin HS program before coming to NPC. He's a member of the Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame.

I'm sure that Ellett was a good guy, but as a college football head coach he was a disaster. He, or whoever was in charge of recruiting under him, apparently had seen The Dirty Dozen one too many times and thought that he had to put together a football team the same way that Lee Marvin put together his commando squad. The whole campus was in an uproar over that particular incoming football class. Good thing he only lasted one year.

Mark is correct that the problems with NPU's football recruiting go beyond geography. North Park is by no means a school with a lot of financial wherewithal, so the resources available to the football program are not on a par with some of its peers. It's better than it used to be, but if a kid is gauging his school choices by the football program's bells and whistles, he's not going to pick the Park. The public perception of NPU being a perennial loser on the gridiron certainly doesn't help recruiting, either, although that problem is mitigated by recruiting in places such as Texas and Florida where people have never heard of North Park (or of North Central, Wash U, Illinois Wesleyan, etc., either). But North Park's location is, nevertheless, the school's biggest stumbling block in terms of football recruiting.

[79jaybird]

Ever school has stumbling blocks.  Other than a handful of years Elmhurst has never been known as a football power.
Hiring a HS coach is a big risk.   
IMO,  Elmhurst would benefit from a seasoned college coach who has some knowledge of the DIII and the CCIW and wants to get involved with Elmhurst on and off the fields.

[CardinalAlum]

Hiring a successful HS coach may be your playbook, but in the pre-Thorne era, North Park's hiring of the Elgin HS coach (Elgin?) was a complete debacle.  Player flaunting a gun in front of a dorm and other recruits with issues led to a quick departure.  The breadth and depth of North Park's 50+ years of utter futility go well beyond geography.  I suspect this is the current case at Elmhurst as well.  Remember the pre-sanction Scottie Williams' years?

Ron Ellett maybe?  Jacobs HS

No, Hampshire HS. Ellett won two state titles there and was also state runner-up once, and after leaving Hampshire he spent one year running the Elgin HS program before coming to NPC. He's a member of the Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame.

I'm sure that Ellett was a good guy, but as a college football head coach he was a disaster. He, or whoever was in charge of recruiting under him, apparently had seen The Dirty Dozen one too many times and thought that he had to put together a football team the same way that Lee Marvin put together his commando squad. The whole campus was in an uproar over that particular incoming football class. Good thing he only lasted one year.

Mark is correct that the problems with NPU's football recruiting go beyond geography. North Park is by no means a school with a lot of financial wherewithal, so the resources available to the football program are not on a par with some of its peers. It's better than it used to be, but if a kid is gauging his school choices by the football program's bells and whistles, he's not going to pick the Park. The public perception of NPU being a perennial loser on the gridiron certainly doesn't help recruiting, either, although that problem is mitigated by recruiting in places such as Texas and Florida where people have never heard of North Park (or of North Central, Wash U, Illinois Wesleyan, etc., either). But North Park's location is, nevertheless, the school's biggest stumbling block in terms of football recruiting.

I am going to respectfully disagree with you Mr. Sager!  I am positive he was the coach at Jacobs for a year before going to the Park. Charcoal Delights lunch bet on it next year when the Cards visit Foster Avenue?

[WUPHF]

The all-CCIW team has been released.

In the debate over quarterbacks, the CCIW coaches had Bowers on the first team and Lehnen and Rush on the second team.

https://cciw.org/news/2022/11/15/2022-all-cciw-football-team-announced.aspx

[Gregory Sager]

Hiring a successful HS coach may be your playbook, but in the pre-Thorne era, North Park's hiring of the Elgin HS coach (Elgin?) was a complete debacle.  Player flaunting a gun in front of a dorm and other recruits with issues led to a quick departure.  The breadth and depth of North Park's 50+ years of utter futility go well beyond geography.  I suspect this is the current case at Elmhurst as well.  Remember the pre-sanction Scottie Williams' years?

Ron Ellett maybe?  Jacobs HS

No, Hampshire HS. Ellett won two state titles there and was also state runner-up once, and after leaving Hampshire he spent one year running the Elgin HS program before coming to NPC. He's a member of the Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame.

I'm sure that Ellett was a good guy, but as a college football head coach he was a disaster. He, or whoever was in charge of recruiting under him, apparently had seen The Dirty Dozen one too many times and thought that he had to put together a football team the same way that Lee Marvin put together his commando squad. The whole campus was in an uproar over that particular incoming football class. Good thing he only lasted one year.

Mark is correct that the problems with NPU's football recruiting go beyond geography. North Park is by no means a school with a lot of financial wherewithal, so the resources available to the football program are not on a par with some of its peers. It's better than it used to be, but if a kid is gauging his school choices by the football program's bells and whistles, he's not going to pick the Park. The public perception of NPU being a perennial loser on the gridiron certainly doesn't help recruiting, either, although that problem is mitigated by recruiting in places such as Texas and Florida where people have never heard of North Park (or of North Central, Wash U, Illinois Wesleyan, etc., either). But North Park's location is, nevertheless, the school's biggest stumbling block in terms of football recruiting.

I am going to respectfully disagree with you Mr. Sager!  I am positive he was the coach at Jacobs for a year before going to the Park. Charcoal Delights lunch bet on it next year when the Cards visit Foster Avenue?

I'm not going to bet on it, because I'm relying upon his Wikipedia entry, and we all know how trustworthy Wikipedia is. I will say this, though: in this instance the wiki article is linked to an active footnote. The footnote cites a 2009 article in the Champaign-Urbana newspaper, the News-Gazette, which contains a brief biography of Ellett. The timeline that the wiki article and the News-Gazette article lay out for Ellett's coaching career -- first season at Hampshire HS was 1964, he stayed at Hampshire for 21 seasons, and then coached one season at Elgin HS before going to North Park -- doesn't leave him room to be at Jacobs or anywhere else prior to his one-year stint at NPC in the fall of 1986. In fact, the News-Gazette article maintains that he spent two seasons on the North Park football staff, the first as an assistant under Bill "Goose" Anderson in Goose's last season as head coach of the Vikings. I've never heard that before about Ellett, whom I've always thought was an outside hire to be NPC's head coach, and he does not appear in the team picture in the 1985-86 Cupola (North Park's yearbook). But if it is true, it squeezes his timeline even further, and thus raises an altogether different bunch of questions.

[Gregory Sager]

The all-CCIW team has been released.

In the debate over quarterbacks, the CCIW coaches had Bowers on the first team and Lehnen and Rush on the second team.

https://cciw.org/news/2022/11/15/2022-all-cciw-football-team-announced.aspx

Congrats to North Park punter Carson Blatchford and return specialist Juan Nieves for making All-CCIW first team, and to LB Jaydin Miller and DB Juan Nieves (again) for making All-CCIW second team. All three are sophomores. In fact, Nieves, who was likewise All-CCIW second team last season as a freshman, is the first North Park player that I can remember who made All-CCIW in two different spots, one on first team and the other on second. He's the first All-CCIW player to double-dip since Wash U's Johnny Davidson was first-team punter and second-team quarterback in 2019.

[markerickson]

David Bridges played for some woeful (redundant) North Park teams during my undergrad years.  Dude was a specimen full of muscle even before hitting the weight room.  I believe he became a member of the CPD.  He started as an LB before shifting to FB.  MAYBE him, would be my choice...no one need to research this.  Just my .02.

[Gregory Sager]

Bridges never made All-CCIW as a linebacker, or at any other defensive position. But he did double-dip on the All-CCIW team as a senior in 1985, earning first-teamer status as a kick returner while placing on the second team (as did USee, I might add) as a RB.

Nice catch, Mark!

[omaha]

Both Mark and Sager are right.  Ron Ellett started the football program at Hampshire High School in 1964 and compiled a 143-57 record in 20 seasons. He had a 9-2 record at Elgin High School in 1984. He coached at Jacobs in Algonquin the following year where he had a 5-4 record. 

He was never an assistant at North Park.  He became North Park's head coach in 1986 and had a 0-9 record

[Gregory Sager]

So the News-Gazette article was wrong. Interesting.

Thanks for the 411, John! Good to hear from you!

[kiko]

Both Mark and Sager are right.  Ron Ellett started the football program at Hampshire High School in 1964 and compiled a 143-57 record in 20 seasons. He had a 9-2 record at Elgin High School in 1984. He coached at Jacobs in Algonquin the following year where he had a 5-4 record. 

He was never an assistant at North Park.  He became North Park's head coach in 1986 and had a 0-9 record

In three parts:

1. Leaving Elgin (March 1985)
2. Coaching at Jacobs (August 1985)
3. Announced as North Park coach (December 1985)

[CardinalAlum]

Both Mark and Sager are right.  Ron Ellett started the football program at Hampshire High School in 1964 and compiled a 143-57 record in 20 seasons. He had a 9-2 record at Elgin High School in 1984. He coached at Jacobs in Algonquin the following year where he had a 5-4 record. 

He was never an assistant at North Park.  He became North Park's head coach in 1986 and had a 0-9 record

In three parts:

1. Leaving Elgin (March 1985)
2. Coaching at Jacobs (August 1985)
3. Announced as North Park coach (December 1985)

This thread is now officially longer than Ron Ellett's NP coaching career! 

[Gregory Sager]

... and more productive as well.

[USee]

Bridges never made All-CCIW as a linebacker, or at any other defensive position. But he did double-dip on the All-CCIW team as a senior in 1985, earning first-teamer status as a kick returner while placing on the second team (as did USee, I might add) as a RB.

Nice catch, Mark!

I was a much worse RB than I was a kick returner if I am being honest.

[bleedpurple]

Bridges never made All-CCIW as a linebacker, or at any other defensive position. But he did double-dip on the All-CCIW team as a senior in 1985, earning first-teamer status as a kick returner while placing on the second team (as did USee, I might add) as a RB.

Nice catch, Mark!

I was a much worse RB than I was a kick returner if I am being honest.

I never saw you play, but if you were both 1st and 2nd team All CCIW, you were....good! That's awesome! Always love your analysis of CCIW and WC.