FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

formerd3db · January 26, 2006, 04:35:05 PM

Guys:
You are correct re: Olivet. This will be Lividotti's second season as Head Coach (i.e. in his second stint as Head Coach as he was there before serving as Head Coach at DII Wayne State in the GLIAC before returning as OC at OC! FYI, he is also an ALL-MIAA and Olivet Hall of Famer at his alma mater Olivet!) Anyway, he did "junk" the Wing-T that Irv Siegler, the former head coach there ran as you noted. While some do not like the Wing-T (and many of our colleagues have posted their opinions on that i.e. Ohio Wesleyan runs it also), it seemed to work very well for Olivet. Anyway, we'll see what happens in their second year under this different offense.

The Olivet/CCIW matchups will be good and of course, the continuance of the Hope CCIW's as well. Talk to you later.

irish21 · January 26, 2006, 04:41:12 PM

The new coach at NP cleaned house. My favorite Redman heard from the defensive coordinator that they were all let go.

IMO, Charlie Weis couldn't turn around the NP program. They have put in a top notch facility but I don't think the location and tuition are going to attract too many top DIII caliber players. I personally love the city of Chicago but I don't think the urban setting is very attractive for recruiting.

I thought Coach Cooper and his staff did the best they could with what they had. My son coached the WR's there in 2003. He told me about all the effort the staff put into practice's and game plan's but unless you have the players, it doesn't make much difference.

I don't think a new coaching staff is going to make that much difference. I remember when Dan Galante was the recruiting coordinator at NP telling my son that he could turn the program around if he came there. I know he was very sincere with his intentions but I don't think you are going to get many 18 year olds to buy into that concept. Dan left a year later and has been very successful at St. Patrick's High School.

It's not the coaches.

79jaybird · January 26, 2006, 07:28:26 PM

Irish21-- I have to agree with you about it's not the coaching. Look at Tim Rucks. He proved last year that he can build a CCIW Champ Team and has consisently put Carthage in a great position to win. NPU is unfortunately in a tough position. Beautiful town, great attractions, great scholastic school, etc. however when it comes to football... What can they present? Or better question is What will be that deciding feature to attract somebody to come and play for NPU as opposed to EC/NC/Carthage which are relatively close by?

zorbadagreek · January 26, 2006, 10:44:20 PM

This might sound assanine, but I think theres just such a bad stigma about NP that there is just no hope for it. Its not the coaching staff, its the athletes. Compare their guys to everyone else in the conference, there is just a big difference!!

79jaybird · January 27, 2006, 12:49:34 AM

Zorba- I agree that North Park ( especially football) doesn't have any weight and substantial factors to recruit. I am a Vikings fan and would like to see NPU become a worthy opponent, but I don't see that happening in the near future.
I disagree somewhat with the athletes topic that you mention. Tim Rotenberry could be a starter on any of the CCIW Teams, I thought he was a GREAT linebacker. Haehn is decent as is Sherman Gant. The Vikes have had players, just not 11 of them to be able to compete at one time. I don't know, it's one of those situations where it is tough to point a finger at what is the main reason for NPU's lack of success.

redman04 · January 27, 2006, 10:23:29 AM

Quote from: 79jaybird on January 26, 2006, 07:28:26 PM
NPU is unfortunately in a tough position. Beautiful town, great attractions, great scholastic school, etc. however when it comes to football... What can they present? Or better question is What will be that deciding feature to attract somebody to come and play for NPU as opposed to EC/NC/Carthage which are relatively close by?

When some of us started at carthage it was not much better than NPU. Before rucks got there the redmen won two games in three years and they did not have the facilities that they have now. He was able to do it at Carthage, why can't it be done at NPU.

I think that the right plan is needed. I do not know what that plan is or why the past couple of coaches haven't been able to do it. They have had some good coaches in the past couple of years, Liljigren ect.. My guess would be that the biggest problem at Npu is the administration.

79jaybird · January 27, 2006, 02:06:26 PM

I think A) the Administration and the Alumni have to promote the school, promote the involvement in the sport(s) and give the prosperous student a valid reason for playing
B) The school and the curriculum ( Major) have to be a great fit for the student, because you do choose a school to get that degree.
C) I think the school needs a ring to it i.e. Augie-Football EC Volleyball IWU-Basketball NC-Track etc. where the student's peers know about the history of a program.. thus the student says, "I want to apart of this program and keep the legacy going"
D) The Coach and really the coach could be A-D... the student athlete has to like the coach. Krohn was the selling point for me. I have never heard anybody say anything negative about Swider, Thorne, and Neibuhr
That's my take on it.. let me know what you think.

zorbadagreek · January 29, 2006, 09:56:41 AM

So is Ratke gonna get a look as a free agent in the NFL or is he gonna end up in europe or arena?? I dont see him suitin up on sundays and chasin down Ladanian Tomlinson. True, Eric Luna and Holden are no LT's, but I just dont see him rockin Bettis or Thomas Jones for that matter! Anyone have any comments??

robertgoulet · January 29, 2006, 01:45:28 PM

one of the articles about the hula bowl (http://starbulletin.com/2006/01/21/sports/story03.html) and their D3 players mentioned that the jacksonville jaguars were showing some interest. i would guess he has a shot.....how much of a shot? probably not much. it would be great to see him get a shot in a camp tho.

i would bet that brett elliot from linfield has a very legit shot at getting an invite.....2nd day draft pick?

CardinalAlum · January 29, 2006, 02:17:18 PM

Nice article on Radtke in Friday's Daily Herald.

http://www.dailyherald.com/prepsports/beatwriters.asp?column=schmit&id=147444

CardinalAlum · January 29, 2006, 02:24:47 PM

Ok, I'll start up a discussion for you. What high schools do you think CCIW coaches should be camped out on the first day of recruiting? Glenbard North(Radtke, Earnest, Brogan, Brady, Evans and others) is a solid choice. Naperville Central(Both Spencers, Both Tumiltys and others) is a can't miss. What are some of the others?

robertgoulet · January 29, 2006, 03:02:51 PM

cardalum -

kind of on the same topic.....i noticed that North Central's roster doesnt contain many players from the south suburbs.....is this a trend within the CCIW? it seems like the south burbs have some good HS teams (joliet catholic, morris, lincoln way, bolingbrook, etc.)......why arent many players going to D3 CCIW schools?

vikes35 · January 29, 2006, 10:03:08 PM

jaybird,

I have to respectfully disagree about Haehn. That game against Augie this year showed me nothing but a guy who had a weak arm and was very tentative in the pocket. He was getting a lot of pressure put on him, but so did Kniss and Kudyba (Elmhurst) and they were still able to make something out of it. Even the QB for Central (Iowa) was making decisions that helped his team get yardage out of broken plays. NPU is just in a bad situation, they play in a tough conference, that is getting tougher as the years go on, and they just don't have anything to go off of. The fact that we have 5 playoff caliber teams in the conference next year (Augie, Elm, Wheaton, NCC, and Carthage as a sleeper) means that NPU is going to have another tough year to find a conference win. This is just one of those no-win (no pun intended) situations for a college football team.

My take on why a lot of the schools from the south burbs, and the burbs in general, don't draw D3 players from them is because a lot of the players from big high schools want to play for big colleges. I know looking at the Lockport players from last year, a lot of them were very interested in Iowa and other Big 10 schools, and if they don't go there, maybe they just decide not to play for the smaller schools. I know going to a school that was classified 8A in the IHSA playoff system, most of the students wanted to go to bigger schools because that is what they were used to when they were in high school. That is just my take on the situation.

79jaybird · January 30, 2006, 09:16:25 AM

Vikes35-- great points. Yes I don't know what to say/do for North Park in the football world.
Elmhurst usually gets 5-10 kids from the south suburbs Oak Forest, Midlothian, Tinley Park, Evergreen Park, etc. some Southern Catholic Schools.
As Vikes35 pointed out, many larger schools Lockport, Stevenson, the larger DUPage Valley Conf. teams have their kids go D-1 or D 1 AA. Irish21 and I were discussing this over the weekend. Many will go to a large D-1 school and ride the pines for 2-3 years. Why not go D-3 and play right away??

zorbadagreek · January 30, 2006, 09:16:36 AM

I agree with Vikes35. The Joliet Catholics, Lockports and Morris' are going to D1 and D2 schools. Some even opt for JUCO in hopes of getting some D1 attention. I also think that on the first day of recruiting, the CCIW should not forget to check out the North Shore and the private schools, Luna, that OL from Auggie that attended Carmel HS, Roe, Brett Barnes (Mount Carmel), etc. As far as Haehn goes, I saw him play twice last year. Helluva an arm, just not very bright. He threw a couple of passes that should not have been thrown and it cost his team.