FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

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CNU85

#14100
More good insight, MRSmith. I was wondering what was going on with SU. Things just seem "different". Fortunately at CNU, athletics is a focus of both the old administration and with the new President. Of course, it helps when the new guy was a QB at Coast Guard back in the day. Nice to have a D3 athlete at the helm.

I know the CNU coach is tired of hearing that last year, every CNU team was nationally ranked at one point except football. I think we have the right guy to change that, but it will take time.

Community engagement is huge for athletics and I believe CNU is doing it better than most. We still have some things to learn. It is nice to be the top public school in the Learfield standings last year!

Currently, Women's soccer is ranked #1, Field Hockey #3, preseason rankings have defending men's basketball champs #1 and the National runners-up women's team is #3. Men's Lacrosse was #4 last year. Women were #24.

A major issue now to keep all of this going is funding. A women's soccer bus trip to UMW a few years ago was $900. Today it is $4,000. Being in this weird C2C conference only adds to the craziness. Trying to schedule games in some sports during a time when everyone else is in conference play is difficult to say the least. So for hoops and some other sports you can hold tournaments. But you need guarantees of cash and hotel rooms to get teams to commit.

We have an Athletics Advisory Council to help with "Advancement". The first goal of that committee a few years ago was to raise a certain amount in order to start construction on a new Field Hockey/Lacrosse stadium. We met the goal in 4 months. And I believe this year we are hosting the NCAA Final Four in Field Hockey.

I started a QB Club this year and we meet once a week. I challenged the folks who paid to be members to raise even more money. Tomorrow I have to bring a check as I agreed to a certain level of matching funds! Yikes! I challenged everyone to raise a certain amount in 5 weeks. They did it in 2.

Sponsorship opportunities are being taken up by alum and the community. CNU has annual CNU Day and promotes it widely on social media. In past years, we have topped the $1Million mark in total. And more than half of that (maybe 65-70%) were gifts to athletics.

BUT - budget cuts! Everyone is experiencing budget cuts. It is more important now to keep the "Advancement" team rolling and keep people engaged at CNU.

I believe other schools, and in particular Salisbury, have/has the ability to do similar things. I think the alum, fans and community would respond. SU just needs an environment that encourages engagement. I hope someone at SU can step up and be the champion of an engagement push and things pick up again for you guys. I only cheer against the Skyrats when playing CNU.

Cheers!



jmcozenlaw

Quote from: phil on October 31, 2023, 03:23:28 PM
Quote from: jmcozenlaw on October 28, 2023, 08:30:41 PM
TCNJ???????

Damn!!!!!!!!

As good as it is for Salisbury to have Frostburg and Wesley out of the conference, I am at a loss as to where they go from here as well as where the NJAC is and where it goes from here. It is an oddly constructed conference for football, but a couple of schools, at this moment, have no other choices.

With the size of a couple of these schools (Rowan and Montclair) and there distinct advantages from a tuition and fees perspective, I'm stunned the conference can't produce one or two perennial Top 20 programs. The conference needs to really look at itself and address what is a strange football complexion with the mish mash of schools. IMO.

In a Bizarro World NJAC finish – with CNU still having to play Montclair and TCNJ – and every other 2-loss team having games with either William Paterson or Kean... imagine Montclair taking down CNU, while TCNJ, Rowan and Salisbury take care of business in their games... That would lead to a nightmare scenario of TCNJ playing a one-NJAC-loss CNU team with Rowan, Montclair, Salisbury and TCNJ each having two losses. A five-way tie anyone? Not at all likely – but it would be funny as hell!

The NJAC was a two-headed monster with Glassboro State (Rowan), Montclair State, and sometimes a three-headed monster with Trenton State (TCNJ) through the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Sometime around 1987, Ramapo College - tired of going 1-25-1 over the previous seasons - hired a new coach (who will remain nameless) - and 'miraculously' turned a doormat program into an NJAC power with athletes in the skill positions whom you rarely would ever see on a D3 level. After four consecutive winning seasons the Ramapo administration disbanded the football program citing funding issues (in 1990 they only lost one game - and their NCAA birth - in the season finale to Trenton State as their field was turned into a swamp by a game time storm which rendered their QB, backs, and wideouts useless). Back then I heard from a very (VERY), good source it was either disband the football program or face the NCAA death penalty. That was the end of the NJAC as a seven team conference of NJ schools.

In 1999 the NCAA began awarding automatic bids to 7-team conferences - which necessitated the NJAC finding their 7th team in Cortland State for the 2000 season. Then in 2003 Jersey City State (NJCU), disbanded its football program. Thus began the NJAC game of musical chairs... Western Connecticut, Buffalo State, Brockport State, Morrisville State... all came and left by 2015. Southern Virginia joined in 2014, left in 2019... and along the way Christopher Newport, Frostburg State, Salisbury University and Wesley College all came - with only Salisbury and CNU remaining.

Along the way, head coaches K.C. Keeler left Rowan in 2001, Eric Hamilton left TCNJ in 2012, and Rick Giancola - Montclair 2022. That was 85 years of head coaching at their respective schools – with K.C. only coaching 9 years while possibly inventing the transfer portal before there was a transfer portal while he was in Glassboro.

Also, as Rowan, TCNJ, and Montclair declined as regional powers, Salisbury, Wesley, and Delaware Valley (a horrible football school until 2003), began to emerge – Salisbury in 2002 and beyond – and Wesley since Mike Drass became head coach in '93.

I also know for a fact that Salisbury started using the same model that TCNJ (who emulated William & Mary), used throughout the 80's and 90's – use athletics as a "window upon the institution". It was highly successful for TCNJ as their admission requirements rose and they started to collect national championships until subsequent administrations put less emphasis into athletics. I also know that, given a choice, TCNJ would have liked to have joined the Centennial Conference in the 90's.

So, I don't know if there's anything in what I wrote that gives any insight into what has happened to NJAC football... maybe there's a few contributing factors. I agree with you that I don't understand – given the size of Rowan with its in-state tuition advantages – as well as Montclair with an enrollment of 23,000 and a short term strategic plan to grow to 25,000 students – why one, the other, or both schools are not more successful on the gridiron. Hell, Montclair's only managed a .500 football record over the last decade.

Will Rowan go D1? Is TCNJ and their enrollment of 7,000 still looking to find a conference with a better academic and athletic fit? What the heck is Montclair doing up there? Will William Paterson and Kean continue to be happy with football programs that have shown very little success over the last 50+ years? Will CNU and Salisbury up and leave like every out of state NJAC team before them? It seems more of a conference of schools that lack any other choices than a conference which has been built from like-minded institutions.

Phil - Great information!! I would say that DelVal was horrible from the late 1980's-early 1990's thru 2003 and have been on a roll for 2 decades. Most of the teams in the 80's (when the MAC had a zillion teams) were more than competitive. Back then the wrestling program was top 5 in the country and was THE program.

It was funny to see what you wrote about K.C. and the portal before the portal. I know some stories that would make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. He was an original and the NCAA became aware of some of his shenanigans........and admin could no longer turn a blind eye.

I do know that Rowan's ultimate goal is to be a Delaware/Villanova/Towson/Lehigh/Lafayette/Bucknell, more so athletically. Will it ever happen? Who knows. I know that TCNJ continues to sniff around the borders and makes the occasional reach out to the Centennial and has also had a conversation or two with the 'new' Landmark.

I remember when we used to call the place Trenton State Penetentiary. My how times have changed!!

I don't know the future of NJAC Football........but I think the shelf life is closing in and a couple of schools (distance, academics) want to move on before it collapses and their are no more chairs remaining at any conference table!

phil


Quote from: jmcozenlaw on October 28, 2023, 08:30:41 PM
Phil - Great information!! I would say that DelVal was horrible from the late 1980's-early 1990's thru 2003 and have been on a roll for 2 decades. Most of the teams in the 80's (when the MAC had a zillion teams) were more than competitive. Back then the wrestling program was top 5 in the country and was THE program.

It was funny to see what you wrote about K.C. and the portal before the portal. I know some stories that would make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. He was an original and the NCAA became aware of some of his shenanigans........and admin could no longer turn a blind eye.

I do know that Rowan's ultimate goal is to be a Delaware/Villanova/Towson/Lehigh/Lafayette/Bucknell, more so athletically. Will it ever happen? Who knows. I know that TCNJ continues to sniff around the borders and makes the occasional reach out to the Centennial and has also had a conversation or two with the 'new' Landmark.

I remember when we used to call the place Trenton State Penetentiary. My how times have changed!!

I don't know the future of NJAC Football........but I think the shelf life is closing in and a couple of schools (distance, academics) want to move on before it collapses and their are no more chairs remaining at any conference table!

I've been "around" the NJAC since the mid-70's. I know what you mean regarding Mr. Keeler. At one time I thought he might be on track to take Rowan's football team in the same direction as Ramapo's ill-fated program. If nothing else, he made the chat around these parts very lively - along with a 'gentleman' from Western Connecticut and a collection of MAC folks. I do have one story for you which I can share as it's roughly 25+ years ago and involved two of the usual NJAC powers who were battling it out for the NJAC title at the end of the season. I had no skin in the game, but went to watch anyway - and sat on the home side and wound up sitting next to an assistant H.S. coach of one of the star running backs. This kid was a sure thing D1 athlete and I couldn't understand how he wound up playing at the DIII level. As the afternoon wore on, and as this kid collected 100+ rushing yards, the assistant coach finally shared with me what kept him from playing D1... "Simple", he said. "He never learned how to read". Ouch.

Ironically, K.C. Keeler is about 45 minutes up the road from me now, coaching at Sam Houston. When you have University of Texas, Texas A&M, and the University of Houston–plus high school football... and Sam Houston is sitting at 0-8 this season... that pretty much guarantees K.C. is toiling away in anonymity. We moved from NJ to The Woodlands, TX - near Houston - about 17 years ago. It's been interesting watching our local high school games being played in front of 10,000 people (same venue as the Stagg Bowl a couple years ago), with a band, high-steppers and cheerleaders accounting for as many people as spectators who might attend a Kean–William Paterson game.

I think the NJAC is destined to always be a five team conference searching for its last two teams – unless Rowan and TCNJ do something unexpected.

MRMIKESMITH

#14103
I won't give a Good, Bad, and Ugly. I didn't travel to the game and was unable to watch the game online due to McDaniel technical issues (not sure if they have video or not for football). Looking at the box score, it appears Salisbury was able dominate in the run game while capitalizing in the passing game as well. Defense kept the run game at bay and got some turnovers. Only concern, which at this point of the season really doesn't matter too much, is the long td drives by McDaniel, which appeared to be aided by some penalties here and there. Also, not sure if McDaniel is known for it, but they passed for 307 yards, which is never a good thing regardless of blowout or not.

Now, regarding the NJAC potential 5-way tie, it appears that it comes down to TCNJ and CNU, I couldn't jest from this mornings podcast if other teams outside of TCNJ and CNU had a chance to win with the 1st half score scenarios. It's going to be a tough one, CNU escaped last year by 3 at CNU. However, I don't think TCNJ scores enough points in the 1st half to change the point total. Regardless, the NJAC champ will be on the road the following week to either Johns Hopkins, Susquehanna, R-MC, or worst case scenario to Mount Union.

phil

I'm sure TCNJ is looking back at the Rowan game with a certain amount of disgust – as the Profs scored the game winner – and their only TD of the day – on a 30 yard TD toss that deflected off a defender's hands and into the receiver's arms on the last play of the game.

MRMIKESMITH

#14105
I just saw a post from D3Football regarding the 5-Way tie. If by good fortune Salisbury does have the opportunity to play in the playoffs, it would be great to be a playoff participant and something the program can add to its tally of post-season births. However, I think based upon the product that has been displayed throughout the season that a bowl game would be much more beneficial for both player and coaches morale standpoint. I think playing a more competitive game would allow for better review going into offseason. Now, if Salisbury does make the playoff, I can definitely see them going back to Alliance. It's projected that Johns Hopkins, NCC, Mount Union, and Wartburg/UW-L will most likely be #1 seeds. A 7-3/6-4 NJAC tea  will most likely be #8 seed and no higher than #7 (solely for regional purposes), so based upon those #1 seeds, Salisbury and CNU both having played Johns Hopkins will likely get ship to Alliance. TCNJ or Montclair could reasonably be sent to Johns Hopkins. Best Case scenarios would be to play possible #2 seeds in the winner of Cortaca, R-MC, and Susquehanna.

CNU85

Congrats to the Captains! NJAC Champions and gave RMC a run for their money in the first round. Crowley and his staff Co-Coach of the year. Gunner White offensive POY in NJAC. He was injured late in 1st half against RMC and never returned. That had a huge impact on the game.

We Played JHU and RMC very close. One score games. In fact all of CNU losses were within 1 score. Crowley has these guys heading in the right direction on the field and on campus. It is good to see the re-emergence of CNU football.

Cheers y'all!

And.....when you say "CNU" to my 2 yr old grandson he replies "Go Captains!"


unionpalooza

Quote from: MRMIKESMITH on November 08, 2023, 11:49:30 AM
I just saw a post from D3Football regarding the 5-Way tie. If by good fortune Salisbury does have the opportunity to play in the playoffs, it would be great to be a playoff participant and something the program can add to its tally of post-season births. However, I think based upon the product that has been displayed throughout the season that a bowl game would be much more beneficial for both player and coaches morale standpoint. I think playing a more competitive game would allow for better review going into offseason. Now, if Salisbury does make the playoff, I can definitely see them going back to Alliance. It's projected that Johns Hopkins, NCC, Mount Union, and Wartburg/UW-L will most likely be #1 seeds. A 7-3/6-4 NJAC tea  will most likely be #8 seed and no higher than #7 (solely for regional purposes), so based upon those #1 seeds, Salisbury and CNU both having played Johns Hopkins will likely get ship to Alliance. TCNJ or Montclair could reasonably be sent to Johns Hopkins. Best Case scenarios would be to play possible #2 seeds in the winner of Cortaca, R-MC, and Susquehanna.

Mike, any color from the JHU game?  CNU looks like one of the best defenses they faced and obviously gave them a real test. 

Ice Bear

Quote from: CNU85 on November 22, 2023, 08:26:11 AM
Congrats to the Captains! NJAC Champions and gave RMC a run for their money in the first round. Crowley and his staff Co-Coach of the year. Gunner White offensive POY in NJAC. He was injured late in 1st half against RMC and never returned. That had a huge impact on the game.

We Played JHU and RMC very close. One score games. In fact all of CNU losses were within 1 score. Crowley has these guys heading in the right direction on the field and on campus. It is good to see the re-emergence of CNU football.

Cheers y'all!

And.....when you say "CNU" to my 2 yr old grandson he replies "Go Captains!"

Absolutely great season for the Captains CNU85! Big W over Salisbury and a very close game against JHU. Congratulations! +k
A long time fan of DIII Football!

CNU85

Quote from: Ice Bear on November 22, 2023, 12:01:54 PM
Quote from: CNU85 on November 22, 2023, 08:26:11 AM
Congrats to the Captains! NJAC Champions and gave RMC a run for their money in the first round. Crowley and his staff Co-Coach of the year. Gunner White offensive POY in NJAC. He was injured late in 1st half against RMC and never returned. That had a huge impact on the game.

We Played JHU and RMC very close. One score games. In fact all of CNU losses were within 1 score. Crowley has these guys heading in the right direction on the field and on campus. It is good to see the re-emergence of CNU football.

Cheers y'all!

And.....when you say "CNU" to my 2 yr old grandson he replies "Go Captains!"

Absolutely great season for the Captains CNU85! Big W over Salisbury and a very close game against JHU. Congratulations! +k

Whew - I thought I posted a reply to this....but I don't see it. Wow.....in the words of comedian Bob Nelson in his football skit, "The mind is a terrible thing"

In my thoughts I posted - thanks Ice! It was a good season and to think that CNU was within 1 score of both Hopkins and RMC, which was not the fate of teams last weekend, makes one wonder!

Cheers!

Cheers Ice - I always enjoy your posts on all the boards

Ice Bear

Quote from: CNU85 on November 28, 2023, 11:50:56 AM
Quote from: Ice Bear on November 22, 2023, 12:01:54 PM
Quote from: CNU85 on November 22, 2023, 08:26:11 AM
Congrats to the Captains! NJAC Champions and gave RMC a run for their money in the first round. Crowley and his staff Co-Coach of the year. Gunner White offensive POY in NJAC. He was injured late in 1st half against RMC and never returned. That had a huge impact on the game.

We Played JHU and RMC very close. One score games. In fact all of CNU losses were within 1 score. Crowley has these guys heading in the right direction on the field and on campus. It is good to see the re-emergence of CNU football.

Cheers y'all!

And.....when you say "CNU" to my 2 yr old grandson he replies "Go Captains!"

Absolutely great season for the Captains CNU85! Big W over Salisbury and a very close game against JHU. Congratulations! +k

Whew - I thought I posted a reply to this....but I don't see it. Wow.....in the words of comedian Bob Nelson in his football skit, "The mind is a terrible thing"

In my thoughts I posted - thanks Ice! It was a good season and to think that CNU was within 1 score of both Hopkins and RMC, which was not the fate of teams last weekend, makes one wonder!

Cheers!

Cheers Ice - I always enjoy your posts on all the boards

Thanks CNU85! +k
A long time fan of DIII Football!

MRMIKESMITH

#14111
With Cortland winning it all with 90% of their players from the State of NY and having Freshman playing at key positions. It's no excuse for the rest of the Region to step their game up. No complaining about administration, roster limits, etc. It's up to the program to recruit better, remove complacency and do a full system recheck. What we currently have is clearly not good enough, the standard and bar are not good enough. Salisbury has to recruit better, Salisbury has to get back to recruiting at a minimum the great Wesley teams, however that's not enough, Salisbury has to recruit to the level of National Championship. Cortland proved it, no more excuses. Revaluate players, coaches, scheme. These last 3 years, we been coasting and boasting based on winning a conference that is in the bottom 3rd of the division. We didn't make the post-season this past year, the previous two years prior, we got our doors blown out in the first round. We can't do that no more!!! It's not okay.  I'm envious, I want Salisbury to have what Cortland have. If players and coaches don't have that drive, then I don't want it part of the program. We have the recruiting area, we have the facilities. We need better players, better coaching, and better administration support. Everyone has to be on board to get to National Championship level. Trying to be regionally good is not going to cut it.

thewaterboy

#14112
Quote from: MRMIKESMITH on December 17, 2023, 05:29:13 PM
With Cortland winning it all with 90% of their players from the State of NY and having Freshman playing at key positions. It's no excuse for the rest of the Region to step their game up. No complaining about administration, roster limits, etc. It's up to the program to recruit better, remove complacency and do a full system recheck. What we currently have is clearly not good enough, the standard and bar are not good enough. Salisbury has to recruit better, Salisbury has to get back to recruiting at a minimum the great Wesley teams, however that's not enough, Salisbury has to recruit to the level of National Championship. Cortland proved it, no more excuses. Revaluate players, coaches, scheme. These last 3 years, we been coasting and boasting based on winning a conference that is in the bottom 3rd of the division. We didn't make the post-season this past year, the previous two years prior, we got our doors blown out in the first round. We can't do that no more!!! It's not okay.  I'm envious, I want Salisbury to have what Cortland have. If players and coaches don't have that drive, then I don't want it part of the program. We have the recruiting area, we have the facilities. We need better players, better coaching, and better administration support. Everyone has to be on board to get to National Championship level. Trying to be regionally good is not going to cut it.
Hmmm... there's a guy who boasted one of the top offenses in Division III for the better part of the 2000s and 2010s coaching at Dover High right now.... if the football program at Salisbury is serious about contending, would Sherman Wood pay him a visit?

MRMIKESMITH