FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Knightstalker]

All sports have their little rituals that annoy. But football's "let's all put four fingers up at the end of the third quarter to indicate that we're going to dominate and really, really try hard this last quarter and if we're really feeling inspirational we'll hold up both hands with four fingers each to double the dominance" has to be among the most annoying. Having not really seen many SJU games in person the past decade or since that became a big trend, can I assume that was another no for Gagliardi? I hope.

Also: Softball cheers. The worst.

When I was a senior, and Robert Zimmerman will remember this, at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton, we played mighty Alden-Conger. For their intros, they turned off the lights and did the Bulls intro music (this being 1993, it was huge then), complete with a shaky spotlight held by a high school kid who probably spent his days sniffing or eating glue. It was so, so corny -- AC was really bad at basketball and they also had 38 fans there -- but it was also kind of cool. And no one else was really doing it at that level then.

Yes, and then after those hideous introductions, they would play Whitney Houston's "Star Spangled Banner" and although amazing singing, it seemed like it took forever.  With a long night on the bench ahead of me, I didn't need to draw the night out longer!

I have always hated that version of the National Anthem.  Too many runs and too much vibrato for my taste.  That much vibrato is usually to cover up difficulty hitting notes.  But then I was never a big crack head Whitney fan.

[sjusection105]

Fair words from Keith today:

But to hear his men say they love each other, to refer to their teammates as family members, and to listen to coaches and parents who have no connection to St. Thomas praise the man -- He's doing something right."

It's not all praise. I admit I've never met the man. He seems to genuinely care about his players...at least the ones who play. And the guy can obviously coach.

My issue is the D3 version of 'over-signing' that Caruso has made his trademark. There are multiple examples now of Caruso over recruiting a class. Going into the home/school of a player, making his pitch, selling the kid on playing football at UST, often instead of playing at other d3 schools in the region. No harm so far. That's the name of the recruiting game. Out pitch/sell/recruit the opposition.

What gets shady is when, two weeks before fall camp, some of these recruits receive a letter in the mail from the UST football department. In essence: Hey buddy, we know we recruited you hard in the Spring, convinced you to enroll in our school, register for classes, pay enrollment and housing deposits and spend the summer working/dreaming of playing college football. Unfortunately for you, we don't want you to come to fall camp (READ: we sold you a bill of goods. There were other players we got who we suspect are better than you. At the end of the day, they get a spot/shot to compete, you don't). In fact, it's not that we don't want you to come to camp, we aren't going to let you come. You are welcome to participate in practice after the first game. We realize you expected to be a part of the team...too bad, so sad. But hey, know that I love you, care about you, and after we give the real players a chance, we'd love to invite you to be the sloppy seconds of our program. Of course, if you don't come out, we don't care either.

You get the gist. That is dirty pool. It's a nasty thing to do to the kid and family. They are left blowing in the wind, late in the summer, with little option but to still attend UST. Maybe they can transfer at semester, but they've gotten robbed of their first year of eligibility or have to switch schools. It's dirty pool to the opposing coaches. We all see what he's doing. The more kids UST gobbles up, the fewer kids that can play for the competition. Better yet, if UST lets the kids know this late in the game, they don't have to worry about coaching them but can probably make sure that no else gets to either. That way, even if this kid is better than they originally deduced (i.e. Ross Petterson v. Tommy Becker) the other teams won't benefit from the oversight.

You can only do this for so long. There are already a growing list of families, coaches (HS and college) who are sick of it. When a HS coach watches one of his kids get burned like this, he's not likely to sit idly by the next time Caruso & Co. swing by. Caruso probably does care deeply about some of his players. He seems to have legitimate affection for the Waldvogels, Beckers and Tracys of the program. But that is a load of garbage to the kids he pulls the other stunts on. He doesn't give a rodents posterior about them. Not to mention that it's a total manipulation of the athletic scholarship free ethos of D3. You couldn't pull this stunt, with signed letters of intent, at the other levels. Glenn would be committed, contractually, to honor the offer.

I could care less if he wants to legitimately stockpile talent. If you can recruit 50 kids per class, good for you, and onus on the other coaches to step up their game. But if you convince 60 kids to come to UST, then you should invite all 60 to camp, not just the 45 or 50 that you're really high on. And if you feel like a handful of guys won't be invited to camp, let them know early enough that they can still look to pursue their dream of playing college football somewhere else.

Very interesting. I had a conversation this past Friday with the father of a current St. Olaf player. The son's (St. Olaf player) high school teammate had almost the exact situation that you described above happen to him at U$T. I had no reason to doubt the dad, as I have known him & his father (grandpa to the St, Olaf player) for many years. Hearing this account from you makes me feel bad for the unsuspecting kids makes me want to root harder against the Tom Cats. Sounds similar to what lane Kiffin did last week to the kid who graduated early from HS in Redlands CA, and was going to enroll for spring semester at USC___Kiffin "deferred" his scholarship until fall,so now this kid has to sit as he is done with HS,but can't begin college early,which was his original intention.

[faunch]

Fair words from Keith today:

But to hear his men say they love each other, to refer to their teammates as family members, and to listen to coaches and parents who have no connection to St. Thomas praise the man -- He's doing something right."

It's not all praise. I admit I've never met the man. He seems to genuinely care about his players...at least the ones who play. And the guy can obviously coach.

My issue is the D3 version of 'over-signing' that Caruso has made his trademark. There are multiple examples now of Caruso over recruiting a class. Going into the home/school of a player, making his pitch, selling the kid on playing football at UST, often instead of playing at other d3 schools in the region. No harm so far. That's the name of the recruiting game. Out pitch/sell/recruit the opposition.

What gets shady is when, two weeks before fall camp, some of these recruits receive a letter in the mail from the UST football department. In essence: Hey buddy, we know we recruited you hard in the Spring, convinced you to enroll in our school, register for classes, pay enrollment and housing deposits and spend the summer working/dreaming of playing college football. Unfortunately for you, we don't want you to come to fall camp (READ: we sold you a bill of goods. There were other players we got who we suspect are better than you. At the end of the day, they get a spot/shot to compete, you don't). In fact, it's not that we don't want you to come to camp, we aren't going to let you come. You are welcome to participate in practice after the first game. We realize you expected to be a part of the team...too bad, so sad. But hey, know that I love you, care about you, and after we give the real players a chance, we'd love to invite you to be the sloppy seconds of our program. Of course, if you don't come out, we don't care either.

You get the gist. That is dirty pool. It's a nasty thing to do to the kid and family. They are left blowing in the wind, late in the summer, with little option but to still attend UST. Maybe they can transfer at semester, but they've gotten robbed of their first year of eligibility or have to switch schools. It's dirty pool to the opposing coaches. We all see what he's doing. The more kids UST gobbles up, the fewer kids that can play for the competition. Better yet, if UST lets the kids know this late in the game, they don't have to worry about coaching them but can probably make sure that no else gets to either. That way, even if this kid is better than they originally deduced (i.e. Ross Petterson v. Tommy Becker) the other teams won't benefit from the oversight.

You can only do this for so long. There are already a growing list of families, coaches (HS and college) who are sick of it. When a HS coach watches one of his kids get burned like this, he's not likely to sit idly by the next time Caruso & Co. swing by. Caruso probably does care deeply about some of his players. He seems to have legitimate affection for the Waldvogels, Beckers and Tracys of the program. But that is a load of garbage to the kids he pulls the other stunts on. He doesn't give a rodents posterior about them. Not to mention that it's a total manipulation of the athletic scholarship free ethos of D3. You couldn't pull this stunt, with signed letters of intent, at the other levels. Glenn would be committed, contractually, to honor the offer.

I could care less if he wants to legitimately stockpile talent. If you can recruit 50 kids per class, good for you, and onus on the other coaches to step up their game. But if you convince 60 kids to come to UST, then you should invite all 60 to camp, not just the 45 or 50 that you're really high on. And if you feel like a handful of guys won't be invited to camp, let them know early enough that they can still look to pursue their dream of playing college football somewhere else.

Another example of U$T not playing to the true ethos of D3. 

[SagatagSam]

Fair words from Keith today:

But to hear his men say they love each other, to refer to their teammates as family members, and to listen to coaches and parents who have no connection to St. Thomas praise the man -- He's doing something right."

It's not all praise. I admit I've never met the man. He seems to genuinely care about his players...at least the ones who play. And the guy can obviously coach.

My issue is the D3 version of 'over-signing' that Caruso has made his trademark. There are multiple examples now of Caruso over recruiting a class. Going into the home/school of a player, making his pitch, selling the kid on playing football at UST, often instead of playing at other d3 schools in the region. No harm so far. That's the name of the recruiting game. Out pitch/sell/recruit the opposition.

What gets shady is when, two weeks before fall camp, some of these recruits receive a letter in the mail from the UST football department. In essence: Hey buddy, we know we recruited you hard in the Spring, convinced you to enroll in our school, register for classes, pay enrollment and housing deposits and spend the summer working/dreaming of playing college football. Unfortunately for you, we don't want you to come to fall camp (READ: we sold you a bill of goods. There were other players we got who we suspect are better than you. At the end of the day, they get a spot/shot to compete, you don't). In fact, it's not that we don't want you to come to camp, we aren't going to let you come. You are welcome to participate in practice after the first game. We realize you expected to be a part of the team...too bad, so sad. But hey, know that I love you, care about you, and after we give the real players a chance, we'd love to invite you to be the sloppy seconds of our program. Of course, if you don't come out, we don't care either.

You get the gist. That is dirty pool. It's a nasty thing to do to the kid and family. They are left blowing in the wind, late in the summer, with little option but to still attend UST. Maybe they can transfer at semester, but they've gotten robbed of their first year of eligibility or have to switch schools. It's dirty pool to the opposing coaches. We all see what he's doing. The more kids UST gobbles up, the fewer kids that can play for the competition. Better yet, if UST lets the kids know this late in the game, they don't have to worry about coaching them but can probably make sure that no else gets to either. That way, even if this kid is better than they originally deduced (i.e. Ross Petterson v. Tommy Becker) the other teams won't benefit from the oversight.

You can only do this for so long. There are already a growing list of families, coaches (HS and college) who are sick of it. When a HS coach watches one of his kids get burned like this, he's not likely to sit idly by the next time Caruso & Co. swing by. Caruso probably does care deeply about some of his players. He seems to have legitimate affection for the Waldvogels, Beckers and Tracys of the program. But that is a load of garbage to the kids he pulls the other stunts on. He doesn't give a rodents posterior about them. Not to mention that it's a total manipulation of the athletic scholarship free ethos of D3. You couldn't pull this stunt, with signed letters of intent, at the other levels. Glenn would be committed, contractually, to honor the offer.

I could care less if he wants to legitimately stockpile talent. If you can recruit 50 kids per class, good for you, and onus on the other coaches to step up their game. But if you convince 60 kids to come to UST, then you should invite all 60 to camp, not just the 45 or 50 that you're really high on. And if you feel like a handful of guys won't be invited to camp, let them know early enough that they can still look to pursue their dream of playing college football somewhere else.

Sounds like a recruiting philosophy with an expiration date.

Eventually, Caruso is going to have to go back into a high school head coach's office whose player got burned by U$T in the past. If all of this is 100% accurate, I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that encounter.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Don't worry about Maniac.  I'm sure he's still celebrating the beat down administered this past Saturday.  Testament to how hoops is not even considered a rivalry at this point is the fact that there is not one post from either side on the hoops board subsequent that exhibition talking about the game.  Only posts are reviews of the Tommy infomercial that aired on KSTC.

True....no need to worry. Betwen the volleyball title, football reaching the finals, mens and womens hoops in the top 10, baseball and softball each gearing for a 3rd national title....life is good 

As far as the "informercial" goes-- maybe if the visiting team had been even remotely competitive, the small group of SJU faithful in attendance wouldnt have rushed for the exits at halftime (no names). The potential free PR for SJU was there for the taking- instead, the boys in the pale blue shorts applied large doses of egg on their faces.  I was actually starting to feel sorry for the Johnnies but quickly shook that notion out of my mind. 

[ron doney]

Fair words from Keith today:

But to hear his men say they love each other, to refer to their teammates as family members, and to listen to coaches and parents who have no connection to St. Thomas praise the man -- He's doing something right."

It's not all praise. I admit I've never met the man. He seems to genuinely care about his players...at least the ones who play. And the guy can obviously coach.

My issue is the D3 version of 'over-signing' that Caruso has made his trademark. There are multiple examples now of Caruso over recruiting a class. Going into the home/school of a player, making his pitch, selling the kid on playing football at UST, often instead of playing at other d3 schools in the region. No harm so far. That's the name of the recruiting game. Out pitch/sell/recruit the opposition.

What gets shady is when, two weeks before fall camp, some of these recruits receive a letter in the mail from the UST football department. In essence: Hey buddy, we know we recruited you hard in the Spring, convinced you to enroll in our school, register for classes, pay enrollment and housing deposits and spend the summer working/dreaming of playing college football. Unfortunately for you, we don't want you to come to fall camp (READ: we sold you a bill of goods. There were other players we got who we suspect are better than you. At the end of the day, they get a spot/shot to compete, you don't). In fact, it's not that we don't want you to come to camp, we aren't going to let you come. You are welcome to participate in practice after the first game. We realize you expected to be a part of the team...too bad, so sad. But hey, know that I love you, care about you, and after we give the real players a chance, we'd love to invite you to be the sloppy seconds of our program. Of course, if you don't come out, we don't care either.

You get the gist. That is dirty pool. It's a nasty thing to do to the kid and family. They are left blowing in the wind, late in the summer, with little option but to still attend UST. Maybe they can transfer at semester, but they've gotten robbed of their first year of eligibility or have to switch schools. It's dirty pool to the opposing coaches. We all see what he's doing. The more kids UST gobbles up, the fewer kids that can play for the competition. Better yet, if UST lets the kids know this late in the game, they don't have to worry about coaching them but can probably make sure that no else gets to either. That way, even if this kid is better than they originally deduced (i.e. Ross Petterson v. Tommy Becker) the other teams won't benefit from the oversight.

You can only do this for so long. There are already a growing list of families, coaches (HS and college) who are sick of it. When a HS coach watches one of his kids get burned like this, he's not likely to sit idly by the next time Caruso & Co. swing by. Caruso probably does care deeply about some of his players. He seems to have legitimate affection for the Waldvogels, Beckers and Tracys of the program. But that is a load of garbage to the kids he pulls the other stunts on. He doesn't give a rodents posterior about them. Not to mention that it's a total manipulation of the athletic scholarship free ethos of D3. You couldn't pull this stunt, with signed letters of intent, at the other levels. Glenn would be committed, contractually, to honor the offer.

I could care less if he wants to legitimately stockpile talent. If you can recruit 50 kids per class, good for you, and onus on the other coaches to step up their game. But if you convince 60 kids to come to UST, then you should invite all 60 to camp, not just the 45 or 50 that you're really high on. And if you feel like a handful of guys won't be invited to camp, let them know early enough that they can still look to pursue their dream of playing college football somewhere else.

Another example of U$T not playing to the true ethos of D3.

What's been said is that the situation was handled inappropriately, i.e. too late of notice. My guess is that the reason not more than ~45 invited is because of cost and/or size of facilities.  I wouldnt expect a pissed off kid/parent to remember that detail from these letters.  Both of these reasons are certainly true to the ethos of D3. 

Anyhow, because I'm curious, I'll offer a $20 iTunes card to the first person to send me a PDF of one of these letters.

[SagatagSam]

There are multiple examples now of Caruso over recruiting a class.

Anyhow, because I'm curious, I'll offer a $20 iTunes card to the first person to send me a PDF of one of these letters.

Should there be such a letter that exists and it is accessible to anyone on this board, please do the right thing and redact the name and any other information that would personally identify the player. The kid(s) got embarrassed bad enough once; we don't need to do it again in a public forum.

(Plus, we don't want Pat to get sued over something stupid happening on his message boards)

[OzJohnnie]

Hold on for a minute, RD, I'm just makin' me one of them letters now.

[Jonny Utah]

Do MIAC schools have JV squads?  A quick look at a few websites doesn't show any JV teams.

[faunch]

Fair words from Keith today:

But to hear his men say they love each other, to refer to their teammates as family members, and to listen to coaches and parents who have no connection to St. Thomas praise the man -- He's doing something right."

It's not all praise. I admit I've never met the man. He seems to genuinely care about his players...at least the ones who play. And the guy can obviously coach.

My issue is the D3 version of 'over-signing' that Caruso has made his trademark. There are multiple examples now of Caruso over recruiting a class. Going into the home/school of a player, making his pitch, selling the kid on playing football at UST, often instead of playing at other d3 schools in the region. No harm so far. That's the name of the recruiting game. Out pitch/sell/recruit the opposition.

What gets shady is when, two weeks before fall camp, some of these recruits receive a letter in the mail from the UST football department. In essence: Hey buddy, we know we recruited you hard in the Spring, convinced you to enroll in our school, register for classes, pay enrollment and housing deposits and spend the summer working/dreaming of playing college football. Unfortunately for you, we don't want you to come to fall camp (READ: we sold you a bill of goods. There were other players we got who we suspect are better than you. At the end of the day, they get a spot/shot to compete, you don't). In fact, it's not that we don't want you to come to camp, we aren't going to let you come. You are welcome to participate in practice after the first game. We realize you expected to be a part of the team...too bad, so sad. But hey, know that I love you, care about you, and after we give the real players a chance, we'd love to invite you to be the sloppy seconds of our program. Of course, if you don't come out, we don't care either.

You get the gist. That is dirty pool. It's a nasty thing to do to the kid and family. They are left blowing in the wind, late in the summer, with little option but to still attend UST. Maybe they can transfer at semester, but they've gotten robbed of their first year of eligibility or have to switch schools. It's dirty pool to the opposing coaches. We all see what he's doing. The more kids UST gobbles up, the fewer kids that can play for the competition. Better yet, if UST lets the kids know this late in the game, they don't have to worry about coaching them but can probably make sure that no else gets to either. That way, even if this kid is better than they originally deduced (i.e. Ross Petterson v. Tommy Becker) the other teams won't benefit from the oversight.

You can only do this for so long. There are already a growing list of families, coaches (HS and college) who are sick of it. When a HS coach watches one of his kids get burned like this, he's not likely to sit idly by the next time Caruso & Co. swing by. Caruso probably does care deeply about some of his players. He seems to have legitimate affection for the Waldvogels, Beckers and Tracys of the program. But that is a load of garbage to the kids he pulls the other stunts on. He doesn't give a rodents posterior about them. Not to mention that it's a total manipulation of the athletic scholarship free ethos of D3. You couldn't pull this stunt, with signed letters of intent, at the other levels. Glenn would be committed, contractually, to honor the offer.

I could care less if he wants to legitimately stockpile talent. If you can recruit 50 kids per class, good for you, and onus on the other coaches to step up their game. But if you convince 60 kids to come to UST, then you should invite all 60 to camp, not just the 45 or 50 that you're really high on. And if you feel like a handful of guys won't be invited to camp, let them know early enough that they can still look to pursue their dream of playing college football somewhere else.

Another example of U$T not playing to the true ethos of D3.

What's been said is that the situation was handled inappropriately, i.e. too late of notice. My guess is that the reason not more than ~45 invited is because of cost and/or size of facilities.  I wouldnt expect a pissed off kid/parent to remember that detail from these letters.  Both of these reasons are certainly true to the ethos of D3. 

Anyhow, because I'm curious, I'll offer a $20 iTunes card to the first person to send me a PDF of one of these letters.

Cost being a barrier to U$T bringing an extra 20-45 kids to camp???  All evidence would be to the contrary.

[DuffMan]

Do MIAC schools have JV squads?  A quick look at a few websites doesn't show any JV teams.

Many do.  SJU does not currently...

[Boys of Fall]

There's also another view on Caruso's methods and the players he attracts.  I don't think there's any doubt that he "over-recruits", and has built a program more about him than other MIAC coaches.  He does recruit more players than can start in any game, and he does place more focus on himself than his players (do you see any other MIAC coach locking arms with his players entering the field so that everyone is looking at him), but it's successful for him so it's difficult to knock him.  A great deal of the responsibility needs to go to the recruits and their parents to understand the type of program they're going to.  There are definitely different "personailities" at each of the MIAC football programs.  On top of this, and this is no disrepect to any of these players, these ar D3 kids - none are going to the NFL.  Each of these players should feel comfortable with the school, football aside.  There are no guarantees any kid will play in college, there is always someone better and there is always an injury that could take your chance away.

[ron doney]

Fair words from Keith today:

But to hear his men say they love each other, to refer to their teammates as family members, and to listen to coaches and parents who have no connection to St. Thomas praise the man -- He's doing something right."

It's not all praise. I admit I've never met the man. He seems to genuinely care about his players...at least the ones who play. And the guy can obviously coach.

My issue is the D3 version of 'over-signing' that Caruso has made his trademark. There are multiple examples now of Caruso over recruiting a class. Going into the home/school of a player, making his pitch, selling the kid on playing football at UST, often instead of playing at other d3 schools in the region. No harm so far. That's the name of the recruiting game. Out pitch/sell/recruit the opposition.

What gets shady is when, two weeks before fall camp, some of these recruits receive a letter in the mail from the UST football department. In essence: Hey buddy, we know we recruited you hard in the Spring, convinced you to enroll in our school, register for classes, pay enrollment and housing deposits and spend the summer working/dreaming of playing college football. Unfortunately for you, we don't want you to come to fall camp (READ: we sold you a bill of goods. There were other players we got who we suspect are better than you. At the end of the day, they get a spot/shot to compete, you don't). In fact, it's not that we don't want you to come to camp, we aren't going to let you come. You are welcome to participate in practice after the first game. We realize you expected to be a part of the team...too bad, so sad. But hey, know that I love you, care about you, and after we give the real players a chance, we'd love to invite you to be the sloppy seconds of our program. Of course, if you don't come out, we don't care either.

You get the gist. That is dirty pool. It's a nasty thing to do to the kid and family. They are left blowing in the wind, late in the summer, with little option but to still attend UST. Maybe they can transfer at semester, but they've gotten robbed of their first year of eligibility or have to switch schools. It's dirty pool to the opposing coaches. We all see what he's doing. The more kids UST gobbles up, the fewer kids that can play for the competition. Better yet, if UST lets the kids know this late in the game, they don't have to worry about coaching them but can probably make sure that no else gets to either. That way, even if this kid is better than they originally deduced (i.e. Ross Petterson v. Tommy Becker) the other teams won't benefit from the oversight.

You can only do this for so long. There are already a growing list of families, coaches (HS and college) who are sick of it. When a HS coach watches one of his kids get burned like this, he's not likely to sit idly by the next time Caruso & Co. swing by. Caruso probably does care deeply about some of his players. He seems to have legitimate affection for the Waldvogels, Beckers and Tracys of the program. But that is a load of garbage to the kids he pulls the other stunts on. He doesn't give a rodents posterior about them. Not to mention that it's a total manipulation of the athletic scholarship free ethos of D3. You couldn't pull this stunt, with signed letters of intent, at the other levels. Glenn would be committed, contractually, to honor the offer.

I could care less if he wants to legitimately stockpile talent. If you can recruit 50 kids per class, good for you, and onus on the other coaches to step up their game. But if you convince 60 kids to come to UST, then you should invite all 60 to camp, not just the 45 or 50 that you're really high on. And if you feel like a handful of guys won't be invited to camp, let them know early enough that they can still look to pursue their dream of playing college football somewhere else.

Another example of U$T not playing to the true ethos of D3.

What's been said is that the situation was handled inappropriately, i.e. too late of notice. My guess is that the reason not more than ~45 invited is because of cost and/or size of facilities.  I wouldnt expect a pissed off kid/parent to remember that detail from these letters.  Both of these reasons are certainly true to the ethos of D3. 

Anyhow, because I'm curious, I'll offer a $20 iTunes card to the first person to send me a PDF of one of these letters.

Cost being a barrier to U$T bringing an extra 20-45 kids to camp???  All evidence would be to the contrary.

Can you give me an example to the contrary other than those expenditures funded by gifts (facilities, field, score board, etc)?  Correct me if I am wrong, but I'm guessing costs associated with camp come out of the teams operating budget. 

Having a player in camp might cost what, a $1,000 for the two weeks?  Costs include room & board, janitorial staff, cooks, trainers, etc.  Maybe more?  Marginally speaking, if having this last 20-45 players meant opening up a second/third dorm on campus, then I could see why they drew the line there.  All in all, these costs add up pretty quickly and are not a drop in the bucket for the operating budget. 

Stepping back for a moment, you don't hear me say the following:  If St. John's has been too cheap to pay a second full time coach in the last ten years, then why did they get a new field in 2002, expand reserved seating in 2003 and 2005, add more bleachers in 2004, and finally in 2009 a new press box addition that included five new suites, two bathrooms, elevator, expanded radio, coaching, and press boxes and a Legends Room?  I haven't said it because I understand the difference between an operating budget and capital improvements.

__________

No doubt UST's football budget has grown during Caruso's era.  New facilities and success generate greater revenues to fund the higher budget.  What you do with the money is just as important as how much you have.  Caruso proved he could get the most of his budget while a Macalaster.  With more to spend at UST, he's proven to be just as effective with how he uses it.  I can't fault him for deciding to put a cap on the number of kids in camp - especially if it means those monies can be spent on another coach, video and recruiting software or a quality game day video broadcast, etc. 

Having said that the way in which the cap on camp situation has been described here is embarrassing.  The communication/letters to the players were short of what was necessary.  I can understand why parents and coaches were upset.  I'm hoping it only occurred once before a season (haven't heard otherwise) and was done in haste as the administration came to grips with how much camp was going to be costing them. 

To Boys of the Fall's point...the recruits need to understand the situation.  Playing time in a program on the rise becomes more difficult.  Especially when the rise if as fast as USTs.  A kid who committed the summer before his senior year expecting to play can quickly find themselves amongst a very strong class 6 months later after UST has been in the national semifinals.  The cap on camp policy at UST should not be a surprise, but the way it was handled, as described, is unfortunate. 

[Knightstalker]

There's also another view on Caruso's methods and the players he attracts.  I don't think there's any doubt that he "over-recruits", and has built a program more about him than other MIAC coaches.  He does recruit more players than can start in any game, and he does place more focus on himself than his players (do you see any other MIAC coach locking arms with his players entering the field so that everyone is looking at him), but it's successful for him so it's difficult to knock him.  A great deal of the responsibility needs to go to the recruits and their parents to understand the type of program they're going to.  There are definitely different "personailities" at each of the MIAC football programs.  On top of this, and this is no disrepect to any of these players, these ar D3 kids - none are going to the NFL.  Each of these players should feel comfortable with the school, football aside.  There are no guarantees any kid will play in college, there is always someone better and there is always an injury that could take your chance away.

15. How many Division III players are in the NFL?

This is a difficult question because it requires one to define what you mean by "in the NFL."

In the 2012 season, here are the D-III NFL players:

Active roster

Buffalo: Fred Jackson, RB, Coe
Indianapolis: Jerrell Freeman, LB, Mary Hardin-Baylor
Jacksonville: Cecil Shorts III, WR/RET, Mount Union
Kansas City: Andy Studebaker, LB, Wheaton
Miami: Jason Trusnik, LB, Ohio Northern; Kyle Miller, TE/S, Mount Union
Philadelphia: Nate Menkin, OL, Mary Hardin-Baylor
Seattle: Steven Hauschka, K, Middlebury
Tennessee: Mike Preston, WR, Heidelberg
Washington: London Fletcher, LB, John Carroll; Pierre Garcon, WR/RET, Mount Union

Physically unable to perform list

Detroit: Chris Greenwood, CB, Albion

Practice squad

Chicago: Matt Blanchard, QB, UW-Whitewater (was released)
Philadelphia: Derek Carrier, TE, Beloit

Injured reserve

Kansas City: Alex Tanney, QB, Monmouth

Hauschka was drafted out of grad school at N.C. State.

Matt Turk (P, UW-Whitewater) may have reached the end of his long NFL career. Jerheme Urban (WR, Trinity, Texas) was not picked up for the 2012 season after nine seasons in the league. Byron Westbrook (CB/ST, Salisbury) was not picked up for the 2012 season. Nate Jackson was in the Browns camp in 2009 after several years with the Denver Broncos and was cut. Michael Allan (Whitworth/Chiefs) was cut at the end of camp.

[DuffMan]

I can't fault him for deciding to put a cap on the number of kids in camp...

I don't think anyone faults him for putting a cap on the # of kids in camp.  The problem arises when he recruits more than he can handle and then screws kids over last-minute.  I know I would be irate if that happened to me.  I hope this was an isolated incident because that is completely HS.