FB: Liberty League

[Boxer7806]

What Dlip found interesting about this article was that it was the first, at least that Dlip has seen, where the coaching has been brought up outside of these boards in a publicized manner. Dlip loves Audino's response, one of class and pride, and expects nothing less from the coach a who Dlip thinks the world of. As someone who has been around both programs (hockey and football) since 82-83 (where his first memories began)  he can't believe how they have completely changed places. It has been a very tough couple of seasons for those of us whose hearts sit so close to the football team.

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2014/oct/12/1012_maccolumn/

Article in the Schenectady Gazette about how football and hockey have switched places at Union. It also addressing a bit of the coaching situation that many have been talking about.

Interesting article. Seems like they never really tried to answer the big question of why exactly football has struggled so much, though, which kind of makes it un-interesting.

One thing I've noticed is that Audino's staff has been in the sport for a long time. These are the grad dates/approximate ages for his staff:

2014 (~ 22)
2012 (~ 24)
1995 (~ 40)
1983 (~ 52)
1979 (~ 56)
1976 (~ 59)
1971 (~ 64)
1969 (~ 66)
1964 (~ 71)

I'm not ageist, and I think there's some value in having experience around on a staff. Still, I can't help but wonder if maybe something to this. It just seems like, going by ballpark ages, there aren't a lot of guys who might be nearing the end of their careers, and two guys who haven't really started theirs. I also wonder how the age of a staff affects recruiting.

Certainly a tough sport for a proud program, BUT recruiting without a doubt has something to do with their downfall just by looking at the results of the team going back the last 4-5 years. Everyone on here who played remembers their recruitment and IMHO, I had more of connection/comfortableness with recruiters who were younger (30-40's) then I did who were older (50's). Looking at Union's staff, it is primarily filled with coaches above 50 plus and the older you get, the less time/energy you probably want to put into recruiting, but also the less you have in common with a 17-18 year old kid. Also the game is changing, and I don't want to say Audino isn't adapting with the times, because I have only seen Union play on a live feed 2-3 times the past 4-5 years I've been on the site, but older coaches are usually less willing to change any scheme, especially if you have been as good as Union has been in the past. If you combine weaker recruiting classes with stagnant schemes, it usually results in more L's then W's.
As far this week, I'm pulling for WNEC since I'm a NEFC/MASCAC guy, and a loss to Union, especially after their play against WPI, would be a huge blow to a conference which needs all the credibility it can get. I believe WNEC is the better of the two teams and they should get the W based on their body of work right now. I just don't think Union is that good, despite their close results against good competition, mainly because of that clunker last week against WPI. I will probably be splitting my time watching WNEC vs Union and West Conn vs Fitchburg St on the live feeds just so I can have a little more knowledge of what Union is like compared to the other NEFC/MASCAC teams I have seen this year.

[dlippiel]

Great post Boxer! Dlip will agree WNEC is the better team coming in and to Dlip, as of right now, a two TD favorite. +k

[dlippiel]

Dlip, I know Union's game against Springfield was on TW3 a couple weeks ago, do you know if any of the other games this season will be on tv?

Dlip thinks the only other game that will be televised (TW3) will be the Dutchmen shoes game (vs RPI) on 11/15.

[jackson5]

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2014/oct/12/1012_maccolumn/

Article in the Schenectady Gazette about how football and hockey have switched places at Union. It also addressing a bit of the coaching situation that many have been talking about.

Interesting article. Seems like they never really tried to answer the big question of why exactly football has struggled so much, though, which kind of makes it un-interesting.

One thing I've noticed is that Audino's staff has been in the sport for a long time. These are the grad dates/approximate ages for his staff:

2014 (~ 22)
2012 (~ 24)
1995 (~ 40)
1983 (~ 52)
1979 (~ 56)
1976 (~ 59)
1971 (~ 64)
1969 (~ 66)
1964 (~ 71)

I'm not ageist, and I think there's some value in having experience around on a staff. Still, I can't help but wonder if maybe something to this. It just seems like, going by ballpark ages, there aren't a lot of guys who might be nearing the end of their careers, and two guys who haven't really started theirs. I also wonder how the age of a staff affects recruiting.

This shows indirectly the funding the program receives that a couple of you were asking for. The assistants in the 80's and 90's were probably making enough money to live off of. Combine inflation with decreased budgets, and that doesn't appear to be the case anymore. Instead of having 40 and 50 year olds with families to support helping you out, you have a bunch of 20 year old kids who are looking for experience and don't mind having a day job, living in an apartment with 2 or 3 other people and moonlighting as a football coach.

[lewdogg11]

Union Shmoonion. 

Is St. Lawrence actually good or does RPI stink?  I watched some of the game and I was surprised at how athletic some of the guys on St. Lawrence are.  QB was pretty talented and they had some speed and a little size for your typical St. Lawrence.  The Norwich loss makes me scratch my head until it bleeds so I don't know what to think.  RPI lost their QB early so it was a tough transition and a lot of turnovers hurt them.  It was a close first half with the only TD from St. Lawrence coming off of a kickoff fumble so defense held it together until the turnovers kicked into high gear in the 2nd half.  Maybe St. Lawrence scored some of the recruits that the Union coaches didn't call back.

I think RPI still has a better shot than St. Lawrence at beating Hobart if they can get healthy.  I just feel like Hobart intimidates St. Lawrence more than RPI.  It's a 4 team league at this rate.  I could see both St. Lawrence and RPI realistically losing 2 more games each but you never know.  Springfield has already played Hobart but they have RPI and St. Lawrence still to go which are both winnable or lose-able.  Hobart could either run the table and it will be ho-hum or if they drop a game it could be very interesting. 

For Union unfortunately(or fortunately), WPI was their game to turn it around and at least get in the W column.  Likely the most winnable game on their schedule.  WNEC looks half decent and MUCH better than WPI so this week probably won't be it.  I think 2-8 at this rate will be a reach.

[dlippiel]

Lew Dlip was very impressed with SLU. He was actually surprised at just how athletics their defense was/is. Leondre Simmons goes two ways and is nasty. Dlip thinks they are good, but not great. The Bart and Springfield games will tell us a lot more about them. Dlip really thought RPI was going to win Saturday. Tough break with the QB loss. Will he be back soon? Last, after watching SLU in person Dlip was **** on himself silly confused about the Norwich loss as well. Doesn't seem possible to Dlip. He knows the weather was inclement when the played.

[lewdogg11]

Lew Dlip was very impressed with SLU. He was actually surprised at just how athletics their defense was/is. Leondre Simmons goes two ways and is nasty. Dlip thinks they are good, but not great. The Bart and Springfield games will tell us a lot more about them. Dlip really thought RPI was going to win Saturday. Tough break with the QB loss. Will he be back soon? Last, after watching SLU in person Dlip was **** on himself silly confused about the Norwich loss as well. Doesn't seem possible to Dlip. He knows the weather was inclement when the played.

I just don't buy inclement weather unless it's a blizzard or something. Injuries make the playing field uneven but the field is even in the rain. Just a bad loss on that resume.

[ITH radio]

We talked about SLU a decent amount on the show last Sunday (shameless plug). Pat gave them a mention on ATN around the 22 min mark too.

They are a good looking FB team from what I saw on RPI's webcast (really nice HD quality btw). OL and DL are big. CBW is a presence inside like Obi was last season. ILBs can move and tackle well. Receivers (Gallagher, Gardiner, Simmon) are all tall and athletic - kind of like power forwards in BB.

Lefflbine can move and has a good arm. Secondary is solid in coverage and can make plays. JHG might be the best DB in the LL. Even Irby, while small in size, is a tough runner and can mix it up.

Overall while I don't see SLU beating Hobart, they seem like a 8-2 type team. SC will give them some trouble but I think their DL will hold up and their offense will be able to exploit the Pride secondary. Helps that the Larries have two weeks to prep and that game is at home. If only they didn't overlook / drop that game vs Norwich they probably could end up 9-1 (which probably wouldn't have gotten a Pool C, but you never know. 8-2 with a Norwich loss definitely won't).

RPI is a different offense w/o Avery. If he can't play vs UofR that game could be interesting. This new FY QB Bronson can run and pass, but having watched the MMA-UofR game a little, I don't think either of those teams are 6-7 win type teams, which I do think RPI has been and will end up.

[Doid23]

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2014/oct/12/1012_maccolumn/

Article in the Schenectady Gazette about how football and hockey have switched places at Union. It also addressing a bit of the coaching situation that many have been talking about.

Interesting article. Seems like they never really tried to answer the big question of why exactly football has struggled so much, though, which kind of makes it un-interesting.

One thing I've noticed is that Audino's staff has been in the sport for a long time. These are the grad dates/approximate ages for his staff:

2014 (~ 22)
2012 (~ 24)
1995 (~ 40)
1983 (~ 52)
1979 (~ 56)
1976 (~ 59)
1971 (~ 64)
1969 (~ 66)
1964 (~ 71)

I'm not ageist, and I think there's some value in having experience around on a staff. Still, I can't help but wonder if maybe something to this. It just seems like, going by ballpark ages, there aren't a lot of guys who might be nearing the end of their careers, and two guys who haven't really started theirs. I also wonder how the age of a staff affects recruiting.

This shows indirectly the funding the program receives that a couple of you were asking for. The assistants in the 80's and 90's were probably making enough money to live off of. Combine inflation with decreased budgets, and that doesn't appear to be the case anymore. Instead of having 40 and 50 year olds with families to support helping you out, you have a bunch of 20 year old kids who are looking for experience and don't mind having a day job, living in an apartment with 2 or 3 other people and moonlighting as a football coach.

I think you're reading the data wrong. Those are the birthdates of the coaches, and how old they are. The staff skews old, not young, so that opposite of your assertion would be true.

Or maybe I'm reading the data wrong?

[Bombers798891]

I think you're reading the data wrong. Those are the birthdates of the coaches, and how old they are. The staff skews old, not young, so that opposite of your assertion would be true.

Or maybe I'm reading the data wrong?

Sorry, that was a typo. I meant to say these guys *are* at the end of their careers, not aren't

[jackson5]

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2014/oct/12/1012_maccolumn/

Article in the Schenectady Gazette about how football and hockey have switched places at Union. It also addressing a bit of the coaching situation that many have been talking about.

Interesting article. Seems like they never really tried to answer the big question of why exactly football has struggled so much, though, which kind of makes it un-interesting.

One thing I've noticed is that Audino's staff has been in the sport for a long time. These are the grad dates/approximate ages for his staff:

2014 (~ 22)
2012 (~ 24)
1995 (~ 40)
1983 (~ 52)
1979 (~ 56)
1976 (~ 59)
1971 (~ 64)
1969 (~ 66)
1964 (~ 71)

I'm not ageist, and I think there's some value in having experience around on a staff. Still, I can't help but wonder if maybe something to this. It just seems like, going by ballpark ages, there aren't a lot of guys who might be nearing the end of their careers, and two guys who haven't really started theirs. I also wonder how the age of a staff affects recruiting.

This shows indirectly the funding the program receives that a couple of you were asking for. The assistants in the 80's and 90's were probably making enough money to live off of. Combine inflation with decreased budgets, and that doesn't appear to be the case anymore. Instead of having 40 and 50 year olds with families to support helping you out, you have a bunch of 20 year old kids who are looking for experience and don't mind having a day job, living in an apartment with 2 or 3 other people and moonlighting as a football coach.

I think you're reading the data wrong. Those are the birthdates of the coaches, and how old they are. The staff skews old, not young, so that opposite of your assertion would be true.

Or maybe I'm reading the data wrong?

Ohh that makes sense. I read it wrong. I thought that was the average age of the staff during those seasons.  There goes my theory.

[Boxer7806]

Union Shmoonion. 

Is St. Lawrence actually good or does RPI stink?  I watched some of the game and I was surprised at how athletic some of the guys on St. Lawrence are.  QB was pretty talented and they had some speed and a little size for your typical St. Lawrence.  The Norwich loss makes me scratch my head until it bleeds so I don't know what to think.  RPI lost their QB early so it was a tough transition and a lot of turnovers hurt them.  It was a close first half with the only TD from St. Lawrence coming off of a kickoff fumble so defense held it together until the turnovers kicked into high gear in the 2nd half.  Maybe St. Lawrence scored some of the recruits that the Union coaches didn't call back.

I think RPI still has a better shot than St. Lawrence at beating Hobart if they can get healthy.  I just feel like Hobart intimidates St. Lawrence more than RPI.  It's a 4 team league at this rate.  I could see both St. Lawrence and RPI realistically losing 2 more games each but you never know.  Springfield has already played Hobart but they have RPI and St. Lawrence still to go which are both winnable or lose-able.  Hobart could either run the table and it will be ho-hum or if they drop a game it could be very interesting. 

For Union unfortunately(or fortunately), WPI was their game to turn it around and at least get in the W column.  Likely the most winnable game on their schedule.  WNEC looks half decent and MUCH better than WPI so this week probably won't be it.  I think 2-8 at this rate will be a reach.

To be honest, I think St. Lawrence is just actually really good this year. Some years it just all comes together and but we now have to start to look at that loss to Norwich as just a clunker which you referred to earlier. It was their second game of the season and I think that Norwich game for St.Lawrence will be looked at the same way the Salisbury loss will look for Fisher. With that said, top contender to Hobart has to be St. Lawrence, more so than RPI just based on this weekends results. But even if you throw that result out, I still think St.Lawrence is the better hope to beat Hobart because of their defense. Even in the loss to Norwich, they only gave up 152 yards of total offense, and I think the blueprint to beat any contender is to play solid defense and force games into the 4th quarter, and make the favorite start to feel pressure they normally don't face. I believe St. Lawrence will be able to do that against Hobart more so than RPI. Nothing against RPI's D, they are good, but just not as good as St. Lawrence.

[Bombers798891]

To be honest, I think St. Lawrence is just actually really good this year. Some years it just all comes together and but we now have to start to look at that loss to Norwich as just a clunker which you referred to earlier. It was their second game of the season and I think that Norwich game for St.Lawrence will be looked at the same way the Salisbury loss will look for Fisher. With that said, top contender to Hobart has to be St. Lawrence, more so than RPI just based on this weekends results. But even if you throw that result out, I still think St.Lawrence is the better hope to beat Hobart because of their defense. Even in the loss to Norwich, they only gave up 152 yards of total offense, and I think the blueprint to beat any contender is to play solid defense and force games into the 4th quarter, and make the favorite start to feel pressure they normally don't face. I believe St. Lawrence will be able to do that against Hobart more so than RPI. Nothing against RPI's D, they are good, but just not as good as St. Lawrence.

I'm also going to buy into the "St. Lawrence is good" thing. Morrisville's put up at least 37 points in all their games...except for St. Lawrence, where they put up 14, and SLU had 5 sacks and 10 TFL. RPI's also put up points all year, and they were held out of the end zone until garbage time. 

[dlippiel]

Two things to note. Dlip does believe after Saturday that SLU is the stronger team (in comparison to RPI) however it is important to note that the Engineers lost their QB early and he seems to really be the difference make for that O. With that said Dlip can attest to SLU's defensive prowess. They are very athletic and disciplined. This team is quite good and Dlip believes they will be the Pumpkin Head's biggest challenge of the reg season.

Dlip was impressed with Bart, for the first time last week when they rolled a decent Pride team. Dlip is really hoping his earlier assertions that Bart is way over rated are way off. He would've to see this team go into the quarters as opposed to being ousted in the first or second round as Dlip predicted. Dlip is enjoying Bart's, SLU's, and RPI's success so far this season.

[ITH radio]

Only 3 games this wkd. Most interested in seeing how RPI vs. UofR pans out.

Think SC will roll MMA and WNEC will beat Union. Frank looking to have the reporter who wrote the article questioning Audino on his halftime show. Kickoff for that one is at 4.