FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

Started by admin, August 16, 2005, 05:05:38 AM

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ADL70

Over the previous seven school years Capital hasn't been out of the bottom 5 in the OAC All-Sports for either men or women except for one year when the women finished fourth. So it's not just football.

Joining them at the bottom consistently have been Wilma and Musky. Marietta has been in the bottom frequently as well, but at least MBB and WBB have been good. Baseball historically was good, but seems on the decline the last few years.

Hiram is consistently at the bottom of the NCAC.

Bluffton and Earlham have been at the bottom of the HCAC.

Thiel. Bethany, and Geneva are at the PAC bottom consistently.

There's an eight team conference for them  Even if three leave, PAC would still have seven teams when Franciscan joins.
SPARTANS...PREPARE FOR GLORY
HA-WOO, HA-WOO, HA-WOO
Think beyond the possible.
Compete, Win, Respect, Unite

wabashcpa

Quote from: e_lee on October 15, 2019, 01:37:38 PM
Quote from: jam40jeff on October 14, 2019, 09:52:59 AM
Quote from: e_lee on October 13, 2019, 04:02:10 PM
That being said, get into the NCAC, PAC or some other more appropriate conference. I'm okay with that if that's where the university wants.

Capital would likely be one of the worst (if not the worst) teams in those conferences as well.  I noticed you mentioned Capital trying to be "a Denison," but Denison would demolish Capital in football.  Denison beat Ohio Northern 42-13 to open the season, and I'm betting Ohio Northern beats Capital by 40+.

And as far as the PAC goes, I know I will get flamed for saying this, but if you take out Mount Union, is the OAC of today all that much different?  Unless JCU is having a "top 10" year (of which they've had a few recently, but surely not this year), I would put CWRU on the same level as them.  W&J and Westminster would probably be very competitive with OAC teams like BW and Heidelberg.  The rest of the OAC?  Mostly bottom feeders.  Otterbein, Musky, Wilmington, Capital aren't much different from Thiel, Bethany, St. Vincent, Geneva, and Waynesburg.  It says a lot about the conference when Marietta (who still isn't very good) is considered a "mid-tier" team, as well as an ONU team that got pounded by Denison.

This isn't the OAC from 20 years ago anymore.

Admittedly i haven't followed D3 football as much the last 10 years or so, i was just going with the schools i remember not being very good, having small rosters, et al.

Here's hoping Cap forms a conference with Hiram, Earlham, Wilmington, etc.

Hot take: it wouldn't surprise me to see Cap drop football within the decade. Looks like they did Saturday.

Earlham program currently suspended, time will tell if they ever get up off the mat.  Would not be surprised in the least if more programs follow in those footsteps, considering decline in participation combined with financial concerns at many institutions.

formerd3db

#59837
Quote from: wabashcpa on October 15, 2019, 03:35:37 PM
Quote from: e_lee on October 15, 2019, 01:37:38 PM
Quote from: jam40jeff on October 14, 2019, 09:52:59 AM
Quote from: e_lee on October 13, 2019, 04:02:10 PM
That being said, get into the NCAC, PAC or some other more appropriate conference. I'm okay with that if that's where the university wants.

Capital would likely be one of the worst (if not the worst) teams in those conferences as well.  I noticed you mentioned Capital trying to be "a Denison," but Denison would demolish Capital in football.  Denison beat Ohio Northern 42-13 to open the season, and I'm betting Ohio Northern beats Capital by 40+.

And as far as the PAC goes, I know I will get flamed for saying this, but if you take out Mount Union, is the OAC of today all that much different?  Unless JCU is having a "top 10" year (of which they've had a few recently, but surely not this year), I would put CWRU on the same level as them.  W&J and Westminster would probably be very competitive with OAC teams like BW and Heidelberg.  The rest of the OAC?  Mostly bottom feeders.  Otterbein, Musky, Wilmington, Capital aren't much different from Thiel, Bethany, St. Vincent, Geneva, and Waynesburg.  It says a lot about the conference when Marietta (who still isn't very good) is considered a "mid-tier" team, as well as an ONU team that got pounded by Denison.

This isn't the OAC from 20 years ago anymore.

Admittedly i haven't followed D3 football as much the last 10 years or so, i was just going with the schools i remember not being very good, having small rosters, et al.

Here's hoping Cap forms a conference with Hiram, Earlham, Wilmington, etc.

Hot take: it wouldn't surprise me to see Cap drop football within the decade. Looks like they did Saturday.

Earlham program currently suspended, time will tell if they ever get up off the mat.  Would not be surprised in the least if more programs follow in those footsteps, considering decline in participation combined with financial concerns at many institutions.

That is the situation for many of these schools (Earlham, Grinnell, Occidental, to name some that have been in the news more recently, not to forget mentioning Maranatha Baptist of 2017, and I had not been aware that Beloit was struggling as much as it is, being recently informed by one of our posting colleagues on these boards.)  I'm sure everyone will agree that each school's situation is different with regard to some of the underlying problems and how to resolve those.  That said, what I have a difficult time understanding is why some schools have been able to overcome these challenges and others not (other than perhaps some alumni in a collective whole just do not step up to save the program.) I am of the opinion and believer in that old saying, "Where there is a true will, there is a way." As has been mentioned, there are schools which have gone for years with non-winning seasons, some with consecutive no win seasons at all, yet have one way or another found ways to save the football program as well as enrollment totals.  For many years, our Olivet struggled in these aspects, so much so, that some "outsiders" called for them to dissolve the program, leave the conference, and some even questioned if the school would even survive.  They had under well under a thousand students, however, now have been above that total for the past several years.  They found ways to solve the problems and are now stable as well as competitive in football. 

So those are just some of my general thoughts and my question after those is...do you really think that Capital would drop football?
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

purple

  Mount Union quarterback D'Angelo Fulford is the leading passer in all of college football going into the Capital game this week.

DuffMan

Quote from: formerd3db on October 14, 2019, 05:41:19 PM
The rise in DII schools and new NAIA programs has definitely had an effect.

In MN alone:

NCAA DII: Bemidji State, Concordia U, U of MN Crookston, U of MN Duluth, MN State Mankato, MN State Moorhead, SW MN State, St Cloud State, Winona State.
NCAA DIII: Augsburg, Bethel, Carleton, Concordia, Crown, Gustavus, Hamline, Macalaster, Martin Luther, U of MN Morris, Northwestern, St. John's, St. Olaf, St. Scholastica, St. Thomas.

There are a lot of college football opportunities in MN (albeit there are some terrible ones, but there are quite a few good ones, too).  Not sure if Ohio is similar.

A tradition unrivaled...
MIAC Champions: 1932, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1953, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
National Champions: 1963, 1965, 1976, 2003

hazzben

Quote from: DuffMan on October 16, 2019, 09:08:05 AM
Quote from: formerd3db on October 14, 2019, 05:41:19 PM
The rise in DII schools and new NAIA programs has definitely had an effect.

In MN alone:

NCAA DII: Bemidji State, Concordia U, U of MN Crookston, U of MN Duluth, MN State Mankato, MN State Moorhead, SW MN State, St Cloud State, Winona State.
NCAA DIII: Augsburg, Bethel, Carleton, Concordia, Crown, Gustavus, Hamline, Macalaster, Martin Luther, U of MN Morris, Northwestern, St. John's, St. Olaf, St. Scholastica, St. Thomas.

There are a lot of college football opportunities in MN (albeit there are some terrible ones, but there are quite a few good ones, too).  Not sure if Ohio is similar.

I'd add in the DII & FCS schools literally just across the border: Univ of Sioux Falls, Augustana, USD, SDSU, NDSU, and UND all recruit MN in the Twin Cities very heavily. The population centers (aka fertile recruiting grounds) for all those schools lies East into MN and Iowa. NDSU's national title teams have been stocked with talented MN players.

bluenote

Which team in your conference has the best cafeteria? or food pod?  :P

Walt

#59842
Quote from: formerd3db on October 13, 2019, 04:45:46 PM
Quote from: Dr. Acula on October 13, 2019, 01:27:52 PM
Quote from: e_lee on October 13, 2019, 12:19:48 PM
As a Cap alum/former player under Jim Collins, yesterday is embarrassing.  Taking a look at stats, it seems JCU did their part as far as not passing.  But as mentioned earlier when on the road you can can only unload benches so much.

If Cap is going to try to be an Oberlin, Dennison, Amherst, Kenyon et al. they need to get in a conference with them.

I can't even imagine how upset you guys that played under Collins must be.  That Collins era transformed Cap and to see it all undone has to be frustrating.  Dr. Bowman made no secret of his indifference towards athletics.  Dr. Paul seemed to be in the same mold.  It's tough to have that attitude in this conference.  With Dr. Paul leaving in 2020 maybe the next president will be more supportive of athletics.
Quote from: e_lee on October 13, 2019, 04:02:10 PM
Quote from: formerd3db on October 13, 2019, 12:50:04 PM
Quote from: e_lee on October 13, 2019, 12:19:48 PM
As a Cap alum/former player under Jim Collins, yesterday is embarrassing.  Taking a look at stats, it seems JCU did their part as far as not passing.  But as mentioned earlier when on the road you can can only unload benches so much.

If Cap is going to try to be an Oberlin, Dennison, Amherst, Kenyon et al. they need to get in a conference with them.

e_lee:

Haven't seen you posting much recently, however, glad to see you back.

So, what is your assessment as to why the current dismal status of your alma mater's football program?  Multiple reasons?

Biggest thing to me is the university's identity.  When i played there(98-01), most of my teammates were from Ohio, and middle class public education kids.  We got a pretty good private school education.  Now while Ohio is still the primary base of student body it seems they are going after the same students as the aforementioned schools which are often from elite private high schools, in the Midwest and nationally.  And I get it, there were budget issues for years, probably still are.  Wealthier, higher academically achieving students are likely to need less aid, more likely to contribute to the school.

That being said, get into the NCAC, PAC or some other more appropriate conference. I'm okay with that if that's where the university wants.

As far as internal problems.  I think President Paul and the current AD are doing the right things, with the resources available. Hate to see her go.

President Bowman seemed interested in destroying athletics and Steve Bruning was a speech professor who they decided to make AD.  In over his head.  Screwed up hiring Candeto.  He changed
Personnel to fit his offense and got out as soon as he could, leaving Rogo with bad personnel. He's got a tough job ahead of him.

Plus it's my belief that a certain tenured women's coach worked actively against football.  This person in my opinion was jealous of Collins success.  But I think current admin won't let her get more power than she should have, which is over her once great program.

For sure, there are a number of problems and challenges all these DIII schools have been facing in recent years and will continue to face with regard to financial aspects and maintaining enrollment, the football programs notwithstanding (Grinnell, Beloit recent examoles, we can add Finlandia in there as well.). However, it also doesn't help when opposing factions i.e. administration, faculty, etc., versus the athletic administrators is going on. Such subterfuge is more than frustrating.

I hope things will improve for Capital both on football and the other areas as you mention.

I don't think hiring Candeto was the problem.  Candeo wasn't a great fit for D3 b/c he came from a D1 background but he wasn't destroying the program.  I think hiring Rogo was a mistake.  They hired a guy whose resume was being a GA Ohio State under Tressel and then being a HC at a D3 school in Minnesota where he had 3-4 consecutive losing seasons.  He "turned the program around" in Minn b/c they had only won one game in like 3 years and he got them up to 2 or 3 wins a year.   

He was 4-6 here his first year (with Candeto's guys) and has gotten progressively worse each season as Candeto's guys have left/graduated and his own recruits have taken over.  This is his 4th season meaning he has all of "his guys" and he's taken them from the 7th best team in a 10 team conference to 10th. 

They need to get rid of him ASAP.  And it's going to take a few years to undo the damage he's done. 

But that aside, it seems to me from what I hear Capital's president and prior president do not care about sports and maybe even dislike sports. 

I don't understand that mentality at the D3 level.   It's hard enough for small private schools to compete with the state schools for students, especially in Ohio where there is so much competition.   Sports bring in kids who otherwise probably wouldn't be there.   Of the 75 to 100 kids on a football team there are maybe 10 who would have attended that school if they didn't have a football team.   Same with basketball, lacrosse, soccer, etc.   Why do you think all the Ohio schools added lacrosse in the past 10 years.   High school lacrosse is growing and that gives them a new group to go after.   Capital has 40+ kids on their men's lacrosse team.  I doubt any of them would be at Capital if it weren't for lacrosse.     

And it's not like D3 schools are giving athletic scholarships.  There are a couple hundred student athletes at Capital who are paying to play sports.  Get rid of or cut sports and watch enrollment drop like a rock.

formerd3db

#59843
Quote from: Walt on October 17, 2019, 09:08:58 AM
Quote from: formerd3db on October 13, 2019, 04:45:46 PM
Quote from: Dr. Acula on October 13, 2019, 01:27:52 PM
Quote from: e_lee on October 13, 2019, 12:19:48 PM
As a Cap alum/former player under Jim Collins, yesterday is embarrassing.  Taking a look at stats, it seems JCU did their part as far as not passing.  But as mentioned earlier when on the road you can can only unload benches so much.

If Cap is going to try to be an Oberlin, Dennison, Amherst, Kenyon et al. they need to get in a conference with them.

I can't even imagine how upset you guys that played under Collins must be.  That Collins era transformed Cap and to see it all undone has to be frustrating.  Dr. Bowman made no secret of his indifference towards athletics.  Dr. Paul seemed to be in the same mold.  It's tough to have that attitude in this conference.  With Dr. Paul leaving in 2020 maybe the next president will be more supportive of athletics.
Quote from: e_lee on October 13, 2019, 04:02:10 PM
Quote from: formerd3db on October 13, 2019, 12:50:04 PM
Quote from: e_lee on October 13, 2019, 12:19:48 PM
As a Cap alum/former player under Jim Collins, yesterday is embarrassing.  Taking a look at stats, it seems JCU did their part as far as not passing.  But as mentioned earlier when on the road you can can only unload benches so much.

If Cap is going to try to be an Oberlin, Dennison, Amherst, Kenyon et al. they need to get in a conference with them.

e_lee:

Haven't seen you posting much recently, however, glad to see you back.

So, what is your assessment as to why the current dismal status of your alma mater's football program?  Multiple reasons?

Biggest thing to me is the university's identity.  When i played there(98-01), most of my teammates were from Ohio, and middle class public education kids.  We got a pretty good private school education.  Now while Ohio is still the primary base of student body it seems they are going after the same students as the aforementioned schools which are often from elite private high schools, in the Midwest and nationally.  And I get it, there were budget issues for years, probably still are.  Wealthier, higher academically achieving students are likely to need less aid, more likely to contribute to the school.

That being said, get into the NCAC, PAC or some other more appropriate conference. I'm okay with that if that's where the university wants.

As far as internal problems.  I think President Paul and the current AD are doing the right things, with the resources available. Hate to see her go.

President Bowman seemed interested in destroying athletics and Steve Bruning was a speech professor who they decided to make AD.  In over his head.  Screwed up hiring Candeto.  He changed
Personnel to fit his offense and got out as soon as he could, leaving Rogo with bad personnel. He's got a tough job ahead of him.

Plus it's my belief that a certain tenured women's coach worked actively against football.  This person in my opinion was jealous of Collins success.  But I think current admin won't let her get more power than she should have, which is over her once great program.

For sure, there are a number of problems and challenges all these DIII schools have been facing in recent years and will continue to face with regard to financial aspects and maintaining enrollment, the football programs notwithstanding (Grinnell, Beloit recent examoles, we can add Finlandia in there as well.). However, it also doesn't help when opposing factions i.e. administration, faculty, etc., versus the athletic administrators is going on. Such subterfuge is more than frustrating.

I hope things will improve for Capital both on football and the other areas as you mention.

I don't think hiring Candeto was the problem.  Candeo wasn't a great fit for D3 b/c he came from a D1 background but he wasn't destroying the program.  I think hiring Rogo was a mistake.  They hired a guy whose resume was being a glorified water boy at Ohio State under Tressel and then being a HC at a D3 school in Minnesota where he had 3-4 consecutive losing seasons.  He "turned the program around" in Minn b/c they had only won one game in like 3 years and he got them up to 2 or 3 wins a year.   

He was 4-6 here his first year (with Candeto's guys) and has gotten progressively worse each season as Candeto's guys have left/graduated and his own recruits have taken over.  This is his 4th season meaning he has all of "his guys" and he's taken them from the 7th best team in a 10 team conference to 10th. 

They need to get rid of him ASAP.  And it's going to take a few years to undo the damage he's done. 

But that aside, it seems to me from what I hear Capital's president and prior president do not care about sports and maybe even dislike sports. 

I don't understand that mentality at the D3 level.   It's hard enough for small private schools to compete with the state schools for students, especially in Ohio where there is so much competition.   Sports bring in kids who otherwise probably wouldn't be there.   Of the 75 to 100 kids on a football team there are maybe 10 who would have attended that school if they didn't have a football team.   Same with basketball, lacrosse, soccer, etc.   Why do you think all the Ohio schools added lacrosse in the past 10 years.   High school lacrosse is growing and that gives them a new group to go after.   Capital has 40+ kids on their men's lacrosse team.  I doubt any of them would be at Capital if it weren't for lacrosse.     

And it's not like D3 schools are giving athletic scholarships.  There are a couple hundred student athletes at Capital who are paying to play sports.  Get rid of or cut sports and watch enrollment drop like a rock.

Not knowing the full inside story at the school, your points make sense and, actually, in general, are applicable to many schools. I agree that when you have a the "academics" i.e. a president and administrators who simply don't like football or athletics in general, that is destructive to a school.  We've seen that at many places.  As far as the coach, while I realize you are being truthful about your opinion and "calling it like it is" as you see it, you could be a little nicer..."a glorified water boy at OSU? Diplomatic discussion can still have the desired effect. ;)
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

Captainred81

It's funny, I remember beating Cap. 73-19 when I played, after I graduated, they started to win games and I was like "Geeze they really turned it around."  Now they are back to losing.  It's totally a team effort between school officials, coaches, students, professors.  I think one of the reasons that Mount has been so successful, is the teamwork displayed by the college.  There is a ton of support from the top down for the football program and for all of athletics.  I don't know the numbers any more, but at one point Mount had some 80% of the student body playing varsity sports.  If that doesn't scream "Sports drive enrollment" i don't know what does. 

On another note, Grove City College ended a 30 game losing streak recently and has now become a minor contender in the PAC.  I think that school could be a road map for other schools in a similar situation.  I'm guessing that the school admin and the coaches got together at some point to discuss the future of the program and developed a plan, put in to place and now it is working. 

Also, I have noticed that for the past several years that Mount has had many players on their roster from Florida.  I thought wow that's smart.  There are no D3 schools in Florida and there is probably a ton of D3 talent there (as evidenced by some of Mount's players) that goes untapped because there are no schools.  That probably also means that the kids that want to play football in college and cannot make the team at Florida, Miami, Florida State etc... have no exposure to D3, and are not being recruited.  Out of curiosity, I went and looked at some of the other schools rosters in the OAC and other successful programs and it seems that many of them have gotten on that train.  Schools like CWRU, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, John Carroll, B-W, Denison all have players from the Southeast.  A lot of the D3 schools are expanding their recruiting areas, and it shows.  Obviously, if you finish a season 0-10, it will be harder to convince a kid to travel far to come to your school, but I think it's worth a shot. Anyone else have thoughts on the diversity of the states that are filling the rosters in D3?

Lastly, I hope Capital does not dissolve the football program and I hope they do not leave the OAC. 
Any W.I.N is a B.F.D

raiderpa

If eight bottom feeders from a few conferences got together, the top teams from the conferences they leave could schedule each other for more competitive balance?

I like the idea of a Division IV.  Schools could decide, then take a couple years to put conferences together.  A major undertaking, but an interesting proposal.

Kira & Jaxon's Dad

Quote from: Captainred81 on October 17, 2019, 10:30:17 AM
It's funny, I remember beating Cap. 73-19 when I played, after I graduated, they started to win games and I was like "Geeze they really turned it around."  Now they are back to losing.  It's totally a team effort between school officials, coaches, students, professors.  I think one of the reasons that Mount has been so successful, is the teamwork displayed by the college.  There is a ton of support from the top down for the football program and for all of athletics.  I don't know the numbers any more, but at one point Mount had some 80% of the student body playing varsity sports.  If that doesn't scream "Sports drive enrollment" i don't know what does. 

On another note, Grove City College ended a 30 game losing streak recently and has now become a minor contender in the PAC.  I think that school could be a road map for other schools in a similar situation.  I'm guessing that the school admin and the coaches got together at some point to discuss the future of the program and developed a plan, put in to place and now it is working. 

Also, I have noticed that for the past several years that Mount has had many players on their roster from Florida.  I thought wow that's smart.  There are no D3 schools in Florida and there is probably a ton of D3 talent there (as evidenced by some of Mount's players) that goes untapped because there are no schools.  That probably also means that the kids that want to play football in college and cannot make the team at Florida, Miami, Florida State etc... have no exposure to D3, and are not being recruited.  Out of curiosity, I went and looked at some of the other schools rosters in the OAC and other successful programs and it seems that many of them have gotten on that train.  Schools like CWRU, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, John Carroll, B-W, Denison all have players from the Southeast.  A lot of the D3 schools are expanding their recruiting areas, and it shows.  Obviously, if you finish a season 0-10, it will be harder to convince a kid to travel far to come to your school, but I think it's worth a shot. Anyone else have thoughts on the diversity of the states that are filling the rosters in D3?

Lastly, I hope Capital does not dissolve the football program and I hope they do not leave the OAC.

I am a HS Football Coach in Florida (Just North of Tampa) and each year there are 4 Small College Recruiting Fairs held throughout the state.  They start in the Miami Area and work their way north.  That way Colleges can send recruiters down here for 2-3 weeks and have contact with a TON of kids.

Here's a recent Tweet from the OC at BWU:  https://twitter.com/BWYJFootball/status/1184617644378460162?s=20
National Champions - 13: 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017

formerd3db

Quote from: Captainred81 on October 17, 2019, 10:30:17 AM
It's funny, I remember beating Cap. 73-19 when I played, after I graduated, they started to win games and I was like "Geeze they really turned it around."  Now they are back to losing.  It's totally a team effort between school officials, coaches, students, professors.  I think one of the reasons that Mount has been so successful, is the teamwork displayed by the college.  There is a ton of support from the top down for the football program and for all of athletics.  I don't know the numbers any more, but at one point Mount had some 80% of the student body playing varsity sports.  If that doesn't scream "Sports drive enrollment" i don't know what does. 

On another note, Grove City College ended a 30 game losing streak recently and has now become a minor contender in the PAC.  I think that school could be a road map for other schools in a similar situation.  I'm guessing that the school admin and the coaches got together at some point to discuss the future of the program and developed a plan, put in to place and now it is working. 

Also, I have noticed that for the past several years that Mount has had many players on their roster from Florida.  I thought wow that's smart.  There are no D3 schools in Florida and there is probably a ton of D3 talent there (as evidenced by some of Mount's players) that goes untapped because there are no schools.  That probably also means that the kids that want to play football in college and cannot make the team at Florida, Miami, Florida State etc... have no exposure to D3, and are not being recruited.  Out of curiosity, I went and looked at some of the other schools rosters in the OAC and other successful programs and it seems that many of them have gotten on that train.  Schools like CWRU, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, John Carroll, B-W, Denison all have players from the Southeast.  A lot of the D3 schools are expanding their recruiting areas, and it shows.  Obviously, if you finish a season 0-10, it will be harder to convince a kid to travel far to come to your school, but I think it's worth a shot. Anyone else have thoughts on the diversity of the states that are filling the rosters in D3?

Lastly, I hope Capital does not dissolve the football program and I hope they do not leave the OAC. 
Quote from: Kira & Jaxon's Dad on October 17, 2019, 11:14:46 AM
Quote from: Captainred81 on October 17, 2019, 10:30:17 AM
It's funny, I remember beating Cap. 73-19 when I played, after I graduated, they started to win games and I was like "Geeze they really turned it around."  Now they are back to losing.  It's totally a team effort between school officials, coaches, students, professors.  I think one of the reasons that Mount has been so successful, is the teamwork displayed by the college.  There is a ton of support from the top down for the football program and for all of athletics.  I don't know the numbers any more, but at one point Mount had some 80% of the student body playing varsity sports.  If that doesn't scream "Sports drive enrollment" i don't know what does. 

On another note, Grove City College ended a 30 game losing streak recently and has now become a minor contender in the PAC.  I think that school could be a road map for other schools in a similar situation.  I'm guessing that the school admin and the coaches got together at some point to discuss the future of the program and developed a plan, put in to place and now it is working. 

Also, I have noticed that for the past several years that Mount has had many players on their roster from Florida.  I thought wow that's smart.  There are no D3 schools in Florida and there is probably a ton of D3 talent there (as evidenced by some of Mount's players) that goes untapped because there are no schools.  That probably also means that the kids that want to play football in college and cannot make the team at Florida, Miami, Florida State etc... have no exposure to D3, and are not being recruited.  Out of curiosity, I went and looked at some of the other schools rosters in the OAC and other successful programs and it seems that many of them have gotten on that train.  Schools like CWRU, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, John Carroll, B-W, Denison all have players from the Southeast.  A lot of the D3 schools are expanding their recruiting areas, and it shows.  Obviously, if you finish a season 0-10, it will be harder to convince a kid to travel far to come to your school, but I think it's worth a shot. Anyone else have thoughts on the diversity of the states that are filling the rosters in D3?

Lastly, I hope Capital does not dissolve the football program and I hope they do not leave the OAC.

I am a HS Football Coach in Florida (Just North of Tampa) and each year there are 4 Small College Recruiting Fairs held throughout the state.  They start in the Miami Area and work their way north.  That way Colleges can send recruiters down here for 2-3 weeks and have contact with a TON of kids.

Here's a recent Tweet from the OC at BWU:  https://twitter.com/BWYJFootball/status/1184617644378460162?s=20

Although there are no DIII schools in Florida, there are six NAIA football programs in the state according to the website:

Webber University, Babson Park, FL
Southeastern University, Lakeland, FL
Warner University, Wales, FL
Keiser University, West Palm Beach, FL
Edward Wales College, Jacksonville, FL
Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, FL

What can you tell us about any of these programs, K&J's Dad?
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

Walt

Quote from: formerd3db on October 17, 2019, 10:02:55 AM
Not knowing the full inside story at the school, your points make sense and, actually, in general, are applicable to many schools. I agree that when you have a the "academics" i.e. a president and administrators who simply don't like football or athletics in general, that is destructive to a school.  We've seen that at many places.  As far as the coach, while I realize you are being truthful about your opinion and "calling it like it is" as you see it, you could be a little nicer..."a glorified water boy at OSU? Diplomatic discussion can still have the desired effect. ;)

You're right.  That wasn't cool.  I apologize and have edited my original post.  My post was written in frustration with the state of the program and the decisions that have been made the last few years.   

Captainred81

Is the talent level at NAIA typically comparable to D3?  Are there benefits to NAIA?  I know they can offer partial scholarships, but I wonder why they're separate from NCAA? 

Also, a DIV seems out of reach.  What would the criteria be?  Would it just be to have a non-scholarship football team for a school that doesn't necessarily support the program?  Is it just for small private schools whose academic requirements sometimes limit that type of athletes they can recruit?  Also, putting the lower tier teams in a conference together seems to be another setting for disaster, unless they are not going to play out of conference games or participate in the playoffs, like the MASCAC.  Also, what do they do with the other sports at the school?  Women's sports? etc... There will always be teams that are not very good, and there will always be teams that rise to the top.  There will always be big upsets and blow out games.  I hate to say it, but even Mount Union will eventually have a losing season.  When Hiram was in the OAC they weren't very competitive and they moved to the NCAC.  They are still not very competitive.  When Wilmington first came to the OAC, they finished 7-3 and went down hill ever since.  I think these teams will find a way in their respective conferences to either win, or keep trying. 
Any W.I.N is a B.F.D