FB: USA South Athletic Conference

[ProudFightingScot]

Like I said before, if Keeping It Real wasn't his agent, then Tunde would be playing right now.......

[crazylegs33]

I haven't been able to make it to CNU's games this year. I think it is the first time I have away from it this long. From what I read, I haven't missed much.

I feel for Matt Long and the rest of the seniors. No one wants to be part of a losing team. I know Long is a good leader and I like him in the mix on offense. It seems the D really needs help though. With the talent so thin this year, why not start him both ways. Defense is like riding a bike. Some players just have a nose for the ball.

It's hard to win games letting up 40 points a game.

[cnusfinest54]

I was a 3 sport star athlete in high school, maintained good grades, and worked ever since I was 15. I was D ROY my freshmen year at CNU, all conference all 4 years including several other post season awards, worked off campus immediately following every season, graduated with a decent gpa, and never got in trouble on campus. In the professional arena I have been fortunate to climb the corporate ladder extremely fast and start my own financial services company part time. Now this is not a tap myself on the back rant but the point of my argument is if I applied to attend CNU in 2010 I would NOT have been accepted.

CNU has aggressively changed their academic standards in a short period of time and you would be naive to think that has not affected their results on the field. CNU's coaching staff does not overnight go from a staff that put together a South Region contender in 6 years to a staff that finished 5-5 and can't beat a 1-11 program now. I think we all can agree that football is a totally different sport than any other sport played. Due to not many kids playing both ways you have 22 starters minimum and you need at least 40-50 real good players if you want to be competitive on the national level due to how often starters get hurt. Looking at CNU's roster now you might have 10 kids that could have played from 01-06 and I am not saying that because I played during that era but even with the eye test we do not have the same type of athletes wearing our uniform. I personally feel sorry for coach K and staff because they have remained the same but their talent has vastly changed and they are still and will always be great coaches. Coach Legg used to tell me Holmes I'll sit your a$$ on the bench in a hot minute if you don't make plays because I got great players just waiting to take your reps. When you give up 30 plus week in and week out and the same kids are starting they continue to start because you don't want to give up 50 plus per week if you take them out. There is no competition on CNU's roster a to some of the kids like Diggs or Long and maybe a select few others take solace in knowing that you have the veterans respect because that old CNU pride comes out in your play every Saturday.

[CNU85]

Finest,

Nicely put. I've said this before. I couldn't get into CNU today and I have an MBA from William and Mary. Recently, I have been appointed to the Luter School of Business Board of Advisors at CNU. Last week I attended 2 functions. At both functions Trible was there and spoke. Interesting facts:

last 10 years.....$500 million in facility improvements
Goal for next ten years.....another $500 million. $84 million science building almost complete. Chapel breaks ground later this year. Luter business building to break ground next year ($70 million). Take the world class facilities and the increased level of professors, and you can up the academic standards. Out of all public schools in Virginia, CNU ranks 3rd in average GPA (slightly above (3.7) and SAT (over 1200) scores for incoming freshmen- behind William and Mary and UVA.

All of this makes it very difficult to recruit a large number of talented athletes for one team. Only when it is brought to Trible's attention that Football and Basketball bring alum and their wallets to the University and that there is a direct correlation to winning and $$, will Trible make any concessions to student athletes. I think it will happen, but first we will feel the pain. Hey - who would have thought he would have agreed to alcohol at tailgates? There was an actual Alcohol Committee that studied that! Maybe another committee is coming?? 

[abnrgr]

Can someone tell me what the heck is going on with flying helmets this year. Is it because of the long hair. Is it that they are not cranking down the chin straps? I am waiting for the time when a head will be in the helmet. I wached 8 hats come off in one game today. Someobdoy is going to get KILT. Did anyone see this, this past weekend. I have never seen the number of helmet fly off like this year

[narch]

Can someone tell me what the heck is going on with flying helmets this year. Is it because of the long hair. Is it that they are not cranking down the chin straps? I am waiting for the time when a head will be in the helmet. I wached 8 hats come off in one game today. Someobdoy is going to get KILT. Did anyone see this, this past weekend. I have never seen the number of helmet fly off like this year

heard some discussion of this on sirius nfl radio last week...long hair and unstrapped chinstraps were the main culprits put forth by the hosts - the other was bigger, faster, stronger athletes, which is what i'm buying...i'm not sure that helmet technology has kept up with the athletes' development over the years

the monarchs sure could use a couple of helmet poppers...they had no answers for ehc this weekend

[narch]

last 10 years.....$500 million in facility improvements
Goal for next ten years.....another $500 million.

sounds like cnu should be an easy sell for recruits, to me...i'm not sure that if you combined ALL of the facility improvements on ALL of the usasac campuses over the last decade that you would get $500 million worth of improvements

if my paycheck were dependent upon recruiting football players and winning games, i'd prefer to work at the place that has the ability to finance such facility growth AND costs about 1/2 to 1/3 of any school they are directly competing with (even if it is marginally more difficult to get said football players admitted), but that's just me

[cnusfinest54]

Narch I had a 3.0 coming out of high school but did not do well on my SAT's and did not take the ACT until late my senior year and faired far better. I grew up in a small town and played single A football so while it was big in my home town I was not taught much about the recruiting process until after I got to college. Bottom line is if I had the SAT scores of the players on the team now then I would have went to a D1 or D1aa school. CNU was a great second option because it was close to home and I would not have to go to Fork Union etc before I could go to school. Also Coach K promised me that although it was D3 I would play in big/championship games had the opportunity to fight for a starting job, and play against some of the top teams in d3. He fulfilled his end of the bargain and I think I was worth 1 of his roster spots although you would have to ask him that question to get the most accurate answer. 

And by no means am I saying that CNU should be allowed to recruit idiots that are just good football players but seriously if I am good enough to be recruited on scholarship by D1/FBS schools and my GPA/SAT scores allow me to get accepted, then why the hell would I pay to play at CNU?  Make a case for that UVA, W&M, and CNU hmmmm if I want to get a good education and play football who should I choose? The great athlete & great student will pick UVA, good athlete & great student will pick W&M, and average athlete who was not recruited by the other 2 schools but a great student will pick CNU. And don't forget the great athlete with good grades in Va also can opt go to ODU or Hampton.

Now I'm not asking for anyones sympathy in the conference but there is a reason why CNU's football program is on the decline and it is not due to coaching at all. CNU has Phoebus ex head coach on the staff so in terms of recruiting how well respected is this guy by local high school kids. But how many top Phantoms or Crabbers etc do you see on CNU's roster none. CNU85 do what you can but I hope someone realizes it's ok to let good well rounded student athletes into school.

[narch]

Now I'm not asking for anyones sympathy in the conference but there is a reason why CNU's football program is on the decline and it is not due to coaching at all.

and you won't get any...

your earlier points are all fine and dandy, and i understand that perhaps cnu has raised its admissions standards some since the early days, but we aren't talking about a roster full of norman einstein's (joe theismann reference)...being a good football player and being intelligent are not mutally exclusive...there are lots of good student-athletes out there, and cnu should be MORE attractive to those good student-athletes BECAUSE of their facilities (academic and athletic) and cost...

[CNUALUM9]

Everybody agrees that CNU is attractive to prospective student-athletes, but the simple fact is that they cannot get kids into school.  When I applied to CNU (2003), with a 3.2 GPA and an 1130 SAT, I was accepted without the help of playing football getting me into school.  If I were to apply to CNU today, I would probably need the help of the football coaches to get into school.  That goes for a majority of former players.  My GPA/SAT score were in the higher percentile for football players when I played and now I would be in the lower-mid percentile.

To me, it seems like there are 2 separate arguments.  Narch, you seem to be arguing that the cost to attend CNU and the campus/facilities should attract more student-athletes. Whereas, finest is arguing that although it is more attractive to attend CNU, a majority of those kids cannot get in. 

The big example I have on this is Teron Bush from NCWC.  He is a great RB and used to come to CNU to work-out over the summer with CNU players.  He is a local kid that wanted to go to CNU and was recruited heavily by CNU but couldn't get in.  I'm sure there are numerous cases like this that the CNU coaching staff has to deal with every year.

[abnrgr]

CNUALUM? Humm....sound like a homer to me. 

CNU = GC-Q. Winning is a "invita Minerva" at both places

[Bishop64]

Can talk be about something else for a while?

[CNUALUM9]

Yeah the CNUALUM probably gave it away or the fact that I said I attended CNU might have showed I was a homer a bit.    But at the same time, I refuse to use it as an excuse.  My argument was simply to say that it is harder to get kids in.  But I'm a firm believer in playing with the hand you are dealt and to work around obstacles.  Every school in the nation has some obstacles in recruiting but the great schools can overcome them.  As somebody else pointed out, 3 other fall sports at CNU are ranked nationally in the top 10 (including the men's soccer team that is ranked #1), so it's really just time for the football team to man up.

[CNUALUM9]

Can talk be about something else for a while?

I'm not sure anybody wants to talk about the games seeing as a week just went by without a mention on this board of how any of the games went. 

[Uncle Jessie]

I thought you guys would want to know this. In today's Winchester Star paper it said that a major announcement will be made on Wednesday and sources to the paper said it will be about expansion into the ODAC. It also said that ODAC commissioner Brad Bankston told the paper that a decision would be made Wednesday regarding SU's status. We have been down this road before but it looks like the ODAC has finally invited all of SU's teams into the league and not just football. It wont make much sense if SU goes into the ODAC as just football members for it would force the other teams to be without a home as the USAC has said it would not grant such a move.