FB: Northwest Conference

[coco]

First off, what a great day for football in the Pacific Northwest on Saturday!  The atmosphere was fantastic.

Secondly, a special thanks to WC11 and Mr. & Mrs. Coco for their generous hospitality during my stay.  Great to see old friends and catch up.

Thirdly, I had one of the bigger highlights in my D3 writing career happen last night.  I'm in Portland for a convention for my real job and went out to dinner with two friends from the industry from Jacksonville.

We went to Jake's on recommendation from Salim, our town car driver.  (It's the name of a strip club in Minnesota but a fine seafood joint in Portland)

We get seated and our waiter comes by to take our drink order.  He returns with the drinks and says to me, "I'm gonna throw a curve ball at you."

I said, "Ok, I'll hit it out of the park"

He says, "Are you a writer?"

It through me for a while because even though I've written for D3 since 02, I have never really considered myself a writer.

He says, "For that D3 stuff?"

All I could muster was a "Wow, this is crazy!"

Turns out he knew (maybe was his brother) the Bennett offensive lineman from Willamette last year who had spotted me when I walked in.  

I can only imagine my following if I wrote for ESPN.  Ha.

Thanks again for a great trip.

oAs.

That's a great story, oAs. Your friends must have been impressed with your celebrity status.

It was good to see you again this past weekend. Sorry you didn't get to see a Wildcat win like you have the last couple times, but if Willamette goes deep into the playoffs, it will show the overall strength of the NWC.

[bbaddict]

onearmedscot,

Your article on the Willamette/Linfield game is interesting and well written, but needs one minor tweak.  Grant Leslie took BACK the reigns (not over) from Ryan Whitcomb as he & Ryan shared the QB position until Grant suffered a knee injury in the 2007 Linfield/WU game.  In fact, it took him out of basketball for the year as well.   Kind of poetic justice that he had such a great game, don't you think?  Outcome was the same:  WU won both years against Linfield -- man I love saying that!

Looking forward to seeing a healthy Ryan Whitcomb again, as well. 

[MonroviaCat]

onearmedscot,


Looking forward to seeing a healthy Ryan Whitcomb again, as well. 

Yeah--he has another year and would be the presumed starter for next year, correct?

[d-train]

Yeah--he has another year and would be the presumed starter for next year, correct?

The rumor was he'd get a medical redshirt for this year and have two more seasons to call the signals.

After reading OAS' mention of young Willamette contributers in his Around the West piece, I spent a little time looking over the Bearcat roster. If anything, I think Adam understated the depth and youth of Willamette. They'll be in the thick of things for the next few years.

[fwgis]

onearmedscot,


Looking forward to seeing a healthy Ryan Whitcomb again, as well. 

Yeah--he has another year and would be the presumed starter for next year, correct?

officially, yes.

[Bearcat Press]

onearmedscot,


Looking forward to seeing a healthy Ryan Whitcomb again, as well. 

Yeah--he has another year and would be the presumed starter for next year, correct?

Whitcomb has at least one more year here - two if he takes a medical redshirt.  I haven't had a chance to ask Speckman about it yet.

[MonroviaCat]

Yeah--he has another year and would be the presumed starter for next year, correct?

The rumor was he'd get a medical redshirt for this year and have two more seasons to call the signals.

After reading OAS' mention of young Willamette contributers in his Around the West piece, I spent a little time looking over the Bearcat roster. If anything, I think Adam understated the depth and youth of Willamette. They'll be in the thick of things for the next few years.

Yeah--I was thinking about that too.  I think this year they will lose a few of the skill guys (Woo and Leslie if I'm not mistaken) but most of those guys will be back.  Should be interesting to see things next year as a lot of teams have young guys this year.

[(509)Rat]

Yeah--I was thinking about that too.  I think this year they will lose a few of the skill guys (Woo and Leslie if I'm not mistaken) but most of those guys will be back.  Should be interesting to see things next year as a lot of teams have young guys this year.

Not exactly true...they lose about half of their starters. This was the topic of discussion after the Cat/Rat game so I did a little digging.  I'll just quote my previous post so you don't have to go searching...

Willamette is interesting because they do lose a lot but have a good size program and IMO will be better suited to replace seniors than programs like UPS, PLU, and Menlo.

Willamette loses 10 players who have started at least 4 of their 5 games listed (their stats on the website does not list starts for the La Verne game) including...1 FB, 1 CB, 2 ILB, 1 DE, 2 OL, 1 TE, 1 QB, and the all important fly guy Woo.  That's 6 offensive players and 4 defensive guys.  Although you could say the QB position is a wash since I'm assuming Whitcomb will be back so you don't really lose much.  That being said the rest of the starters appear to be mostly Fr and So giving Willamette some talent that'll be around for another couple of years.

[MonroviaCat]

Yeah--I was thinking about that too.  I think this year they will lose a few of the skill guys (Woo and Leslie if I'm not mistaken) but most of those guys will be back.  Should be interesting to see things next year as a lot of teams have young guys this year.

Not exactly true...they lose about half of their starters. This was the topic of discussion after the Cat/Rat game so I did a little digging.  I'll just quote my previous post so you don't have to go searching...

Willamette is interesting because they do lose a lot but have a good size program and IMO will be better suited to replace seniors than programs like UPS, PLU, and Menlo.

Willamette loses 10 players who have started at least 4 of their 5 games listed (their stats on the website does not list starts for the La Verne game) including...1 FB, 1 CB, 2 ILB, 1 DE, 2 OL, 1 TE, 1 QB, and the all important fly guy Woo.  That's 6 offensive players and 4 defensive guys.  Although you could say the QB position is a wash since I'm assuming Whitcomb will be back so you don't really lose much.  That being said the rest of the starters appear to be mostly Fr and So giving Willamette some talent that'll be around for another couple of years.

I stand corrected.  I somehow missed the 2 OL guys that were Srs. when I looked earlier (and my previous statement was meant to be about their offense).  Anyway, they still have a very solid foundation for next years team with Whitcomb coming back and Horne in the backfield and 3/5s of a very good line returning.  Same goes for the D.

[D O.C.]

Allow me to take any conversation and direct it back to LINFIELD.    8)

Yeah--he has another year and would be the presumed starter for next year, correct?

2004 Stagg Bowl MVP, Riley Jenkins, had another year and was presumed starter – until he did not return to the team. 2005 LINFIELD could not get 3-4 yards to control the ball in the final 90 seconds of the UWW game and..........

[(509)Rat]

D.O.C has a point...The beauty of DIII athletics is that most schools offer huge academic scholarship awards that essentially bring the cost of the school down to that of a state school for many kids.  The problem is that most of those scholarships last only 4 years.  If you want to come back for a 5th year, financially, you are on your own.  When the redshirt rule was in place incoming players could adjust their schedules to leave a simple 1 credit class for that last fall semester, pay for the 1 credit (just above or below $1,000 dollars at our NWC institutions) and be eligible without having to be a full-time student since they would have fulfilled their grad requirements  with that 1 class during their last fall semester.  If Whitcomb has been at Willamette for four years and wants to come back for a 5th and 6th, he would have to pay a much larger chunk of Willamette's $42,810 cost for his 5th year and then pay for at least a class or two that last fall semester (assuming he still has that option available).  There is a possibility he would have to take a full load (12 credits minimum to be considered a full time student at Whitworth) and pay for nearly all of it out of his own pocket for that 6th year...a grand total of (about) $63,000 of debt on top of whatever he may have acuumulated in his previous 4 years. 

All that being said, maybe his Dad is an exec. at Nike and the whole money issue is no big deal...if that's the case then more power to him, glad he'll get the chance to play football a few more years.  Everyone should have that kind of opportunity.

[d-train]

Yeah--I was thinking about that too.  I think this year they will lose a few of the skill guys (Woo and Leslie if I'm not mistaken) but most of those guys will be back.  Should be interesting to see things next year as a lot of teams have young guys this year.

Not exactly true...they lose about half of their starters. This was the topic of discussion after the Cat/Rat game so I did a little digging.  I'll just quote my previous post so you don't have to go searching...

Willamette is interesting because they do lose a lot but have a good size program and IMO will be better suited to replace seniors than programs like UPS, PLU, and Menlo.

Willamette loses 10 players who have started at least 4 of their 5 games listed (their stats on the website does not list starts for the La Verne game) including...1 FB, 1 CB, 2 ILB, 1 DE, 2 OL, 1 TE, 1 QB, and the all important fly guy Woo.  That's 6 offensive players and 4 defensive guys.  Although you could say the QB position is a wash since I'm assuming Whitcomb will be back so you don't really lose much.  That being said the rest of the starters appear to be mostly Fr and So giving Willamette some talent that'll be around for another couple of years.

Good point. Willamette will lose more than just a couple guys. Their depth at O-line and Linebacker will be tested a bit. And they'll need to groom a new fly sweep flanker.

But you made other good points as well about overall numbers/depth and young talent that is already contributing. I saw a ton of plays made on Saturday by guys that have two years (or more) remaining. [For example, I could have sworn by his play that Bruno (LB) was a junior or senior.] With how long it has been since Willamette won the conference, I'm very impressed with their recruiting results. They aren't simply going to yield the conference to the younger Linfield and Whitworth clubs.

PLU recruiting and contributions from underclassmen? ...well there's Ford (WR) and...you get the idea...graduation made real quick work of last year's 7-2 season.

[MonroviaCat]

Great point by both of you.  I believe Whitcomb will be a true Sr. next season but the red-shirt/scholarship/etc. issue might come into play the following year.  Obviously we don't who will be back next year (people drop out, transfer, get injured, etc. all the time.  I was looking at the Linfield Roster and it appears that they are in a similar boat to that of Willamette though because of injuries this year I'm not sure which guys are the "official" starters and which guys may qualify for medical red-shirts etc.  It might be interesting to get a NWC team-by team breakdown of potential returners for next year....

[MonroviaCat]

Yeah--I was thinking about that too.  I think this year they will lose a few of the skill guys (Woo and Leslie if I'm not mistaken) but most of those guys will be back.  Should be interesting to see things next year as a lot of teams have young guys this year.

Not exactly true...they lose about half of their starters. This was the topic of discussion after the Cat/Rat game so I did a little digging.  I'll just quote my previous post so you don't have to go searching...

Willamette is interesting because they do lose a lot but have a good size program and IMO will be better suited to replace seniors than programs like UPS, PLU, and Menlo.

Willamette loses 10 players who have started at least 4 of their 5 games listed (their stats on the website does not list starts for the La Verne game) including...1 FB, 1 CB, 2 ILB, 1 DE, 2 OL, 1 TE, 1 QB, and the all important fly guy Woo.  That's 6 offensive players and 4 defensive guys.  Although you could say the QB position is a wash since I'm assuming Whitcomb will be back so you don't really lose much.  That being said the rest of the starters appear to be mostly Fr and So giving Willamette some talent that'll be around for another couple of years.

Good point. Willamette will lose more than just a couple guys. Their depth at O-line and Linebacker will be tested a bit. And they'll need to groom a new fly sweep flanker.

But you made other good points as well about overall numbers/depth and young talent that is already contributing. I saw a ton of plays made on Saturday by guys that have two years (or more) remaining. [For example, I could have sworn by his play that Bruno (LB) was a junior or senior.] With how long it has been since Willamette won the conference, I'm very impressed with their recruiting results. They aren't simply going to yield the conference to the younger Linfield and Whitworth clubs.

PLU recruiting and contributions from underclassmen? ...well there's Ford (WR) and...you get the idea...graduation made real quick work of last year's 7-2 season.

Are you saying that PLU doesn't have a lot good young guys coming up or that this years team is young and thus not very successful?  I was under the impression that they are a young team, and as such, we might expect good things from them in the coming years....

[d-train]

D.O.C has a point...The beauty of DIII athletics is that most schools offer huge academic scholarship awards that essentially bring the cost of the school down to that of a state school for many kids.  The problem is that most of those scholarships last only 4 years.  If you want to come back for a 5th year, financially, you are on your own.  When the redshirt rule was in place incoming players could adjust their schedules to leave a simple 1 credit class for that last fall semester, pay for the 1 credit (just above or below $1,000 dollars at our NWC institutions) and be eligible without having to be a full-time student since they would have fulfilled their grad requirements  with that 1 class during their last fall semester.  If Whitcomb has been at Willamette for four years and wants to come back for a 5th and 6th, he would have to pay a much larger chunk of Willamette's $42,810 cost for his 5th year and then pay for at least a class or two that last fall semester (assuming he still has that option available).  There is a possibility he would have to take a full load (12 credits minimum to be considered a full time student at Whitworth) and pay for nearly all of it out of his own pocket for that 6th year...a grand total of (about) $63,000 of debt on top of whatever he may have acuumulated in his previous 4 years. 

All that being said, maybe his Dad is an exec. at Nike and the whole money issue is no big deal...if that's the case then more power to him, glad he'll get the chance to play football a few more years.  Everyone should have that kind of opportunity.

Wouldn't be a 5th and 6th at Willamette. That assumes he had a traditional redshirt year there (which isn't possible) or another injury year.