FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Dennis_Prikkel]

How did North Central become such a force in the CCIW?  Did a new coaching staff somehow magically transform the environment such that better players suited up and benefitted from better coaching, and then the ball got rolling so higher quality recruits started to take notice?  Has the coaching staff remained intact?  Did NCC increase the football budget to allow for more FT coaches and recruiting visits?

At the D3 level its all about coaching.
Good coaches attract good players.
Thorne had the high school contacts.
THorne had a great high school coaching record.
Thorne's put a winner on the field in Naperville.

[New Tradition]

The DVC is one of the toughest conferences in all of Illinois, minus the Catholic leagues with Joliet Catholic, Providence, Mt. Carmel, St. Rita, etc...

Actually, since the institution of the multiplier rule in determining the class that each football team will compete in during the IHSA playoffs, the DVC has gotten the better of the Catholic leagues in recent years, a la 2006 Wheaton Warrenville South and 2007 Glenbard North both defeating Mt. Carmel in the state title game and semifinals, respectively.

[New Tradition]

How did North Central become such a force in the CCIW?  Did a new coaching staff somehow magically transform the environment such that better players suited up and benefitted from better coaching, and then the ball got rolling so higher quality recruits started to take notice?  Has the coaching staff remained intact?  Did NCC increase the football budget to allow for more FT coaches and recruiting visits?

Obviously I'm not as close to the program as CardinalAlum, FormerCard, etc..., but I'd say all of the above.

It started with the hiring of Coach Thorne.  He is an absolute outstanding coach with a track record of success.  A brillant hire.  He coached at Wheaton Central and then Wheaton Warrenville South (when Central closed) for 20+ years.  He had 4 state championships and more DVC conference championships than I'd like to count (as a Wheaton North alum).  The DVC is one of the toughest conferences in all of Illinois, minus the Catholic leagues with Joliet Catholic, Providence, Mt. Carmel, St. Rita, etc...

Coach Thorne has soooo many tight relationships with high school coaches from all over Illinois from which he can leverage during the recruiting process.  This has been a significant advantage for recruiting.  I also believe the NCC administration has made the commitment to succeed, to give Coach Thorne what he needs.

Coach Thorne brought in a very strong coaching staff.  By-in-large the staff has remained intact, though when you have a strong staff you typically lose coordinators to other head coaching opportunities.  Case in point Coach Lester left his coordinator position at NCC to become the head coach at Elmhurst.

As the NCC program began to succeed more each year, everything snowballed... Recruits are more aware of the program, the administration continues to support what is needed, alumni became much more active in supporting and promoting the program.

Really quite a remarkable turnaround.  IMO it all started with the hiring of Coach Thorne.

As a member of Coach Thorne's first recruiting class, I can't agree with this statement more.  Formercard also has a fantastic point about who Coach Thorne has chosen to assist him.  The entire staff is brilliant and works exceptionally hard, year-round.  As a player, when you see a staff that is that committed to excellence, and who won't expect anything less than excellence from the players, I feel that it has an immense impact on the creation of a positive team atmosphere.  Coach Thorne has experienced an incredible amount of success throughout his career, and as my father always says: winning begets winning. 

[79jaybird]

FYI)- We hope to have the Elmhurst/Benedictine game on the radio 88.7 FM locally

Hope the Jays can end the EC/Ben matchup on a high.  Next year EC will have Loras instead of Benedictine

Looking forward to seeing some of the new Bluejay RB's in action. They looked pretty sharp in their scrimmage vs. Lakeland.  Now it's time to play for keeps.

Good luck to all CCIWsters this weekend.  Should be great weather 

[Tailgater]

Is anyone still alive on Post Patterns?  It's opening week and all the pages are DEAD.  The OAC page is really quiet and hoped there would be something in here with NCC/ONU. 

No comments on my 19.5 spread?

FYI, I picked NCC too

I've been wondering the same thing.  Seems like this season is sneaking up on us.  Very little discussion to this point on where teams are at in preparation.  Very little speculation... Very little news from camps...

Hopefully it'll pick up soon.

Been laying low at the start of this season as Carthage started camp a week later than most CCIW teams because of the bye first week of the 2009 schedule. There are some very positive feelings and excitement from the coaching staff having such a large number of returning and new players reporting to camp. Somewhere in the 160's. Hopefully this will produce some significant depth on both sides of the ball. Carthage has been hit hard by the injury bug the past few years (which is expected in a high speed collision game). I anticipate Carthage will be a team for all opponents to contend with every week.

[themadswede]

I'm thinking about doing the same thing in order to turn myself into an elite CCIW Post Patterns poster. I am going to hire a very successful former poster who had the respect from everyone on this board to post for me and build my post count and reputation. then, once he has generated the excitement from the board alumni, I will take over the reigns. I think this would allow me to give Mugsy a run for his money as the MVP of CCIW Post Patterns.

Goulet -

First of all, love the mustache.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Secondly, here's some unsolicited advice:

As a general has-been in many different aspects of the term, including poster on this bored...oh sorry...board, my advice would be to go for as many insults as possible.  Get people riled up.  Mock programs if need be.   Stir the pot.  The self-appointed Rodney Kings and bright smiles of the board will try to bring you down and do stuff like question your maturity, but it's all about focus and discipline.  As Rob Schneider would say, "You can do it". 

I was around in the early days of merriment and revelry here and it was a lot more enjoyable to have to wade through a bunch of smack and B.S. than it is to wade through people boringly analyzing (might I add, poorly analyzing) the game of football to the point where you'd rather shave your eyes with a potato peeler than have to read any more of it.

[Gregory Sager]

I'm thinking about doing the same thing in order to turn myself into an elite CCIW Post Patterns poster. I am going to hire a very successful former poster who had the respect from everyone on this board to post for me and build my post count and reputation. then, once he has generated the excitement from the board alumni, I will take over the reigns. I think this would allow me to give Mugsy a run for his money as the MVP of CCIW Post Patterns.

Goulet -

First of all, love the mustache.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Secondly, here's some unsolicited advice:

As a general has-been in many different aspects of the term, including poster on this bored...oh sorry...board, my advice would be to go for as many insults as possible.  Get people riled up.  Mock programs if need be.   Stir the pot.  The self-appointed Rodney Kings and bright smiles of the board will try to bring you down and do stuff like question your maturity, but it's all about focus and discipline.  As Rob Schneider would say, "You can do it". 

I was around in the early days of merriment and revelry here and it was a lot more enjoyable to have to wade through a bunch of smack and B.S. than it is to wade through people boringly analyzing (might I add, poorly analyzing) the game of football to the point where you'd rather shave your eyes with a potato peeler than have to read any more of it.

... or you could just bypass all that advice, concoct a mythical coach for your favorite school and give him a name like, oh, I don't know, Schmitty Torkelson or something, and then praise him in pithy one-line non sequiturs at odd intervals.

[matblake]

As things get kicked off this year, I hope all teams remain safe on the field and in their travels, whether or not I like your coach, real or mythical. My pick for the closest game scorewise is Coe v Augie.  The game with the largest difference in score will be Elmhurst v Benedictine. 

[washdupcard]

Looks like NCC is going to drop their opener.  28-19 ONU...Onu has ball with under 4 minutes left and driving.

[fightintitan]

IWU 21
Hope 18
15:00 4th Q

[fightintitan]

72yd TD run by Eli Williams


IWU  28
Hope 18
12:14 4th Q

[fightintitan]

TD pass by Hope with 4:30 remaining

Titan ball at Hope 46yd line, 4th and 1.

Titans will go!

QB sneak gets the first down.

IWU  28
Hope 25
2:03  4th Q

[fightintitan]

IWU  28
Hope 25
Final


I didn't get to listen to all of it, but what I did hear and looking at the stats indicate it was a pretty good showing on both sides of the ball for IWU. They put up 225+ yds passing and 250+ yds rushing, and the defense made the plays at the right time.

[Mugsy]

Nice article in the Naperville Sun about NCC. Sounds like the pre-season scrimmage vs. Harper was pretty lopsided!


http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/sports/1752772,6_2_NA04_NCCFB_S1-090904.article

I'm really looking forward to the season, hopefully they can take care of business vs. ONU!

Twice last night I started typing a response to this only to cancel it for fear of sound "alarmist"...

I thought this scrimmage had the potential to be problematic.  You have NCC loaded with seniors & juniors with a bunch of experience scrimmaging a JC school in Harper, made up of 18-19 year olds.  I would have fully expected a severe thrashing at the hands of NCC. 

That has the potential of getting them too hyped or over confident.  Then you go up against a tough OAC team.  That is a pretty significant difference in competition between 2 weeks.  I don't know... it just had me thinking after reading the results of the scrimmage, knowing they had ONU coming up. 

Not a good day for the CCIW...

[Tailgater]

Sorry to see NCC and Augie drop their openers. What's up with that? ONU is a pretty solid program so not a total shocker being a home opener for them. I'd hate to be Benedictine next week. Cardinals will be taking out some frustration on them. Not real familiar with Coe, but from the score (7-9) defenses must of ruled the day. Good to see IWU put up a W for the CCIW. Did I say that out load Kidding.