FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[CobberHawkeye]

Bielema to Arkansas...WOW.

Interesting....hope he doesn't hope that 5 losses will get him to a BCS bowl in the SEC.

[CobberHawkeye]

Bielema to Arkansas...WOW.

That's a story that was leaked to cover for the truth.  He's moving to St. John's.  He's already got the correct color wardrobe.

Last I checked, that same wardrobe fits nicely in Fayetteville.

[MadRedFan]

One could say Mike Grant has NFL ties.

My thoughts exactly ROR

Didn't someone post this link on the board for this ex-St. Olaf coach?  This would be logical.  Canned from the Redskins, now working at Wal-Mart in Wisconsin.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/locked-out-former-redskins-assistant-chris-meidt-is-called-down-another-aisle-in-life/2011/03/10/AFpRmDAD_story_1.html

[Redtooth]

I hope the folks on the committee were able to able to check off the box in their process that called for having a luncheon to discuss the next HC, because not another program around would have added that step.  That being said, the real gem today came from AD Tom Stock and his statement regarding recruiting more nationally.......as though that is what the competition (read UST) is doing in St. Paul.  A real quick search of the UST roster indicates 18 of 22 starters from MN with the other 4 being from WI and zero from the other 48 states.  A DIII football powerhouse will never win consistently with kids from greater than 300 miles at more than a handful of positions.....it is even tough to do at the DI FBS level.

SJU needs to be more competitive recruiting in Mahtomedi(2), Cretin(3), STA(3), EP, Edina, Wayzata(2), Apple Valley, Woodbury, Brainerd, Andover, Irondale and Lakeville North.

[Pat Coleman]

Looking at the UST playoff roster rather than the starting lineup presents a slightly different picture: Four from California, four from Florida, three from Illinois, nine from Wisconsin and one from South Dakota. You don't want me to do the same for Mount Union's roster, I'm guessing, because it does not make your point. This is out of 76 kids, more than can suit up for a playoff game, but it's a measure of who their top 76 were at the time they had to submit rosters for the NCAA game program.

Agreed that SJU needs to compete in the places you mentioned, but recruiting in other states is also a key component. Not enough kids in Minnesota to stock elite programs at UST and SJU (not to mention other quality MIAC programs), I'd say.

[Retired Old Rat]

I'm too lazy to do a count, but I think the SJU roster would show some similar geographic diversity. No Floridians, but a fair number from California.

But, I agree with Redtooth.  Got to win the kids close to home.  UWW did it with Wisconsin and IL kids.  UWO, same thing this year.

Any national recruiting that St. John's does must, in my opinion, be tied in with other institutional goals, such as a more diverse student population.

No offense to Mount Union and some of the other schools out east, but I don't want to see St. John's putting an emphasis on going to Florida looking for football players.  Our traditions and values are different (not better or worse, just different).  I'd love to see more kids from around the country with different backgrounds so that the student body better reflects the diverse society the kids will be living in after graduation.  I don't care if we never have a player get an NFL try out ever again. 

I'll shut up and listen.

[Pat Coleman]

I think state schools are different, ROR.

[joelmama]

I am not the most in the know about Mount Union recruiting but one of the first was Pierre Garcon to come from Florida.  He transferred from a school in New England and cold called the coach after seeing MUC in the Stagg.  Since then it has been mostly kids from a couple of areas of Florida that have latched on and convinced others in the area that didn't get D1 looks to go to Ohio to join a premier program so no I don't think Mount Union  recruits for football in Ohio (or at least didn't until very recently).  The numbers have increased a lot in the last couple of years so I could be wrong now but I am pretty sure in the previous decade or so that I am correct.  If you look at the other states mentioned in their roster a lot are from PA and western New York.  That is not very far and is reflective of the general population of Mount Union (married a great girl from Rochester myself).   I think most of the other very good players they get form other places are drawn by the reputation that Mount Union has developed over the past 20-25 years.  Also it doesn't hurt that they have two other things going for them.  As far as private instutions go the price is in the lower half, and they have decent endowments and give generous need based aid and academic scholarships.  THey also have a number of majors that appeal to athletes in general such as Athletic training, Sports Management etc.

Out of 86 listed on the roster at Mount's Website (dont know the playoff roster)  86 total players

Ohio        46
PA            8
Indiana      6
TSUN        5  (that state up north, we are not allowed to say the name)
WV           1
Total of Ohio and Contiguous states 66
Others
FLA           9
Texas        1
Maryland    1
Virginia       4
Cal.           2
NY            2
Bahamas    1   (really?)

[hazzben]

Bielema to Arkansas...WOW.

That's a story that was leaked to cover for the truth.  He's moving to St. John's.  He's already got the correct color wardrobe.

Last I checked, that same wardrobe fits nicely in Fayetteville.

Only if you can't differentiate between different shades of red. 

[CobberHawkeye]

Bielema to Arkansas...WOW.

That's a story that was leaked to cover for the truth.  He's moving to St. John's.  He's already got the correct color wardrobe.

Last I checked, that same wardrobe fits nicely in Fayetteville.

Only if you can't differentiate between different shades of red. 

It's Arkansas...they have trouble differentiating whether they're related by blood, marriage, or both

[sjusection105]

Bielema to Arkansas...WOW.

That's a story that was leaked to cover for the truth.  He's moving to St. John's.  He's already got the correct color wardrobe.

Last I checked, that same wardrobe fits nicely in Fayetteville.

Only if you can't differentiate between different shades of red. 

It's Arkansas...they have trouble differentiating whether they're related by blood, marriage, or both

If two natives of Arkansas get divorced,are they still cousins? 

[Redtooth]

105,

The schools I selected were not indicative of the only schools, but rather they represented the high schools of 18 of the 22 starters at UST.  Pat, the starters have more significance to me than the out of state role players.  I also want to thank joelmama for counting through the Mount Union roster to dispel the myth that it takes imported talent to win. 

Did anyone on this board attend the lunch today?  If so, what was your take away?

[DustySJU]

One could say Mike Grant has NFL ties.

One could also say Chris Meidt has NFL ties.


Developing......

[OzJohnnie]

Frank Rajkowski ‏@rajko1973


Joe Mucha: We're seeking 20 million to sink into our athletic facilities and we expect a payback equal to ST and they spent 60

Lots of pointed questions on financial resources, facilities, new coaches' role

Mucha: We were the best practice. We need to take a complete relook at our program and we 're looking for a coach willing to do that

AD Tom Stock: We have to be tireless and change the way we recruit ... Ratchet up staff ... Recruit more nationally


Linnemann: It starts with the head coach. But that's just one aspect. head cIt's not like we can expect different results operating at net zero ..and just plugging in new head oach


Becker: We'll find a great coach but we have to back it up

Scott Becker: If nothing had changed in the MIAC in the past 35 years, it would be fine. But things have changed, especially at (UST)

It sounds as if this was a lively discussion, let's hope the committee takes these concerns into account and finds the best guy for the job- this is no time for nepotism.

Hmm... Yes, too lively for me.  I'm not sure who the players and decision makers are in this process, but there was a whole lot of discussion about a whole lot of completely different perspectives.  I don't know much about football but I have made a career out of achieving the completely different and conversations like this at the beginning of the journey do not give me confidence.

There has to be a whole lot of clarity and commitment to the completely different in order to get there.  And my reading of Stock's and Linneman's comments (I think they are both selection committee members) is that they are waiting to see what is on offer from the applicants.  And then they'll see where that leads the program.

Linneman's comment about the HC being just one aspect (obviously very important) to success is the most interesting to me.  So... what is happening with the other aspects?  What are they?  Who's managing them?  The selection committee or someone else?  How can I find out what they are?  Because that picture will make clear what the answer for the HC is - and narrow the range from the raft of applications coming in.

Yeah, these tweets didn't increase my confidence, I'm afraid.  If we're picking our vision based on the coach we hire, rather than picking our coach by the vision we have, then I think we're all in for a bit of disappointment.  Leadership.  It's a pretty simple formula that's damned hard to execute.

[johnnie_esq]

I wasn't at the event but my law firm partner was.

He mentioned that Bernie Kukar had some pointed but appropriate questions to the committee, including whether or not this search was truly intended to be a national search-- essentially, that SJU is doing the same thing with this coaching search as Stock, Mucha and the rest of the committee were complaining about in terms of our recruiting of players: waiting for the someone to show up in Collegeville instead of going out and getting who we want. 

Given our connection to Sports Illustrated and Austin Murphy, would it have been so hard to approach him and ask whether he knew of any big named coaches who wanted to try for the Sweet Season on their own?  Bernie seemed to indicate there were a number of contacts he had in the Big Ten and NFL who would have been interested had they been approached privately.  But we'll never know because that tactic likely wasn't even taken (And considering that SJU wouldn't be subject to a Data Privacy Act, it could even have stayed quiet!).

Not that we need to necessarily be national for recruiting-- you need to have a base nearby, but getting a few kids from miles away can really compliment your weak spots (i.e. speed!). But we desperately need to do a better job of recruiting the cities and high school coaches in the cities.  UST has changed the game in recruiting the cities like a D-I school would-- and we still protest that we are no longer the best practices (but we should be!).