FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[HSCTiger fan]

HSC can beat Wesley.  Just look at common opponents!

Div III   Hampden-Sydney beat Chris Newport   35 - 30
Div III   Chris Newport   beat   LaGrange           45 - 26
Div III   LaGrange   beat   Birmingham So       34 - 28
Div III   Birmingham So   beat   Millsaps           16 - 14
Div III   Millsaps   beat   Mt St Joseph           30 - 22
Div III   Mt St Joseph   beat   Augustana IL   58 - 25
Div III   Augustana IL   beat   Loras                   34 - 17
Div III   Loras           beat     Simpson IA           27 - 24
Div III   Simpson IA   beat   WI River Falls   22 - 6
Div III   WI River Falls   beat   S Dakota Tech   43 - 28
Div II   S Dakota Tech   beat   Wm Jewell           62 - 44
Div II   Wm Jewell   beat   Missouri S&T           34 - 27
Div II   Missouri S&T   beat   St Joseph's IN   14 - 13
Div II   St Joseph's IN   beat   Siena Hts           27 - 7
Div III   Siena Hts   beat   R Morris Chi           31 - 14
NAIA      R Morris Chi   beat   Marian IN                   20 - 7
NAIA      Marian IN   beat   Grandview                   31 - 18
NAIA      Grandview   beat   Drake                   45 - 22
Div I - FCS    Drake   beat   Dayton                   34 - 30
Div I - FCS Dayton   beat   Robert Morris           31 - 7
Div I - FCS    Robert Morris   beat   Central Conn   27 - 24
Div I - FCS    Central Conn   beat   Towson           31 - 27
Div I - FCS    Towson beat   Elon                           21 - 19
Div I - FCS Elon beat  Charlotte                           20 - 13
Div I - FCS Charlotte beat Wesley            38 - 33

[wesleydad]

HSC can beat Wesley.  Just look at common opponents!

Div III   Hampden-Sydney beat Chris Newport   35 - 30
Div III   Chris Newport   beat   LaGrange           45 - 26
Div III   LaGrange   beat   Birmingham So       34 - 28
Div III   Birmingham So   beat   Millsaps           16 - 14
Div III   Millsaps   beat   Mt St Joseph           30 - 22
Div III   Mt St Joseph   beat   Augustana IL   58 - 25
Div III   Augustana IL   beat   Loras                   34 - 17
Div III   Loras           beat     Simpson IA           27 - 24
Div III   Simpson IA   beat   WI River Falls   22 - 6
Div III   WI River Falls   beat   S Dakota Tech   43 - 28
Div II   S Dakota Tech   beat   Wm Jewell           62 - 44
Div II   Wm Jewell   beat   Missouri S&T           34 - 27
Div II   Missouri S&T   beat   St Joseph's IN   14 - 13
Div II   St Joseph's IN   beat   Siena Hts           27 - 7
Div III   Siena Hts   beat   R Morris Chi           31 - 14
NAIA      R Morris Chi   beat   Marian IN                   20 - 7
NAIA      Marian IN   beat   Grandview                   31 - 18
NAIA      Grandview   beat   Drake                   45 - 22
Div I - FCS    Drake   beat   Dayton                   34 - 30
Div I - FCS Dayton   beat   Robert Morris           31 - 7
Div I - FCS    Robert Morris   beat   Central Conn   27 - 24
Div I - FCS    Central Conn   beat   Towson           31 - 27
Div I - FCS    Towson beat   Elon                           21 - 19
Div I - FCS Elon beat  Charlotte                           20 - 13
Div I - FCS Charlotte beat Wesley            38 - 33

Plus 1, that is a lot of work.

[HSCTiger fan]

rather easy - myteamisbetterthanyourteam.com

[HSCTiger74]

rather easy - myteamisbetterthanyourteam.com

Still ... at least you proved it's possible.   
+k for an imaginative post.

[HSCTiger fan]

Please stop you guys are ruining my reputation!

[Bwana]

I think part of it is that Wesley is one of those programs that keeps winning and that becomes a draw. Probably lack of D-II programs in the state helps a little, although there are two strong FCS programs and Delaware is small, with good proximity to the PSAC schools.

Surely there are other factors which could play in as well.

You are exactly right-I have heard the same sort of thing said about Mount Union.  If you cannot get a scholarship bid someplace, and want to keep playing football, where better than a school where you have a shot at winning a national championship?

[tigerfanalso]

I hear you about going to play at a school that has a chance to win national championship and I get that, but there has to more to the story. A small school like Wesley having the talent to compete with UNCC really impresses me. I look forward to watching them play. Sounds like the talent level is far above what HSC saw at Linfield last year; if that is correct, I'm impressed.

[dedragon]

In my opinion, the biggest reason Wesley continues to reload with great talent, is the recruiting philosophy and team philosophy that Coach Drass and staff use.

Kudos to Coach Azz, because he is the road face of Wesley College recruiting. If you were a parent talking to a potential college coach, you would want to talk with Azz. Everything is just so positive with him and it isn't an act.

Over the years, I find that kids come back to Wesley. These are kids who went somewhere else and it didn't work out. Well the come back to Wesley because the coaches developed a real relationship with the kid and didn't just sell them. That has paved the way for some pretty good talent.

Also, @Pat Coleman, since I did the home stats for Del State too this season, Delaware has only 1 quality FCS team. I would put Wesley on that field this year and expect a victory hands down.

[jknezek]

I hear you about going to play at a school that has a chance to win national championship and I get that, but there has to more to the story. A small school like Wesley having the talent to compete with UNCC really impresses me. I look forward to watching them play. Sounds like the talent level is far above what HSC saw at Linfield last year; if that is correct, I'm impressed.

Linfield gave UWW a heck of a game in Wisconsin last year. I don't expect Wesley to be "far above" but I would expect them to be better.

[Swish3]

I'm not positive about this, but I don't think Wesley has the most stringent academic requirements, which would be one of the pieces to the puzzle.

[jknezek]

I'm not positive about this, but I don't think Wesley has the most stringent academic requirements, which would be one of the pieces to the puzzle.

Wesley's overall academic profile is not significantly different from the lower middle ODAC schools. Whether it is different for football players I don't know, but there are a lot of D3 schools that put a lot of weight on whether the check arrives on time. There isn't anything unusual about that.

While having lower admission standards can help, it's not really an answer. UMU's academic profile has steadily improved during their 20+ year run.

[tigerfanalso]

Jk

Maybe we should have gotten Wesley into the odac; perhaps that would have/could have improved odac football from top to bottom and helped the odac schools increase enrollment while improving overall academic profiles at the same time !!!

[Teamski]

I'm not positive about this, but I don't think Wesley has the most stringent academic requirements, which would be one of the pieces to the puzzle.

Wesley's overall academic profile is not significantly different from the lower middle ODAC schools. Whether it is different for football players I don't know, but there are a lot of D3 schools that put a lot of weight on whether the check arrives on time. There isn't anything unusual about that.

While having lower admission standards can help, it's not really an answer. UMU's academic profile has steadily improved during their 20+ year run.

I think it has more to do with how effective Wesley's recruiting is than anything else.  It doesn't hurt having a playoff pedigree either.  Wesley can back its promises.   Having two players play preseason in the NFL (Robinson, Beavers) and many others having success in other leagues is proof of that.  If you work hard, you will be rewarded for your toils.  Remember that Coach Drass and Coach Knapp are D-I/NFL level coaches happy to stick with their small program for the last 25+ years and the results show it.   

-Ski

[HSCTiger74]

   Another factor which hasn't been mentioned yet is that Wesley is in very good position to recruit. Delaware itself is certainly not that big, but Dover is within easy driving distance of the Philadelphia, D.C., and Baltimore metro areas, plus southern New Jersey and the Tidewater area. You can get a lot of good football players out of them even after the bigger schools have skimmed off the cream. Added to the previously mentioned factors, you've got the recipe for a really good football program.

[jknezek]

Jk

Maybe we should have gotten Wesley into the odac; perhaps that would have/could have improved odac football from top to bottom and helped the odac schools increase enrollment while improving overall academic profiles at the same time !!!

Wesley fits better into the ODAC than the NJAC. However, the ODAC doesn't need members for anything. Football is nicely set for a round robin and other sports are simply bursting at the seams. Especially some of the women's sports.

Besides, why add a trip? As it stands now, outside football, the longest trips are Shenandoah to Guilford (Catholic to Guilford in football is marginally farther). The ODAC is one of D3's most compact conferences.