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Messages - unionpalooza

#1
Quote from: IC798891 on March 07, 2024, 11:25:41 AM
Quote from: stlawus on March 06, 2024, 11:23:43 PMI'm hoping sometime in the near future SLU will be relevant to these conversations again. It's been a tough stretch the past few years. The team has played some tough teams really close on occasion during this time, but hasn't had the depth. With the millions being poured into facility upgrades the last year I think there will be some improvements on the recruiting side. I've seen with my own eyes the recruiting process this winter and while I'm about as biased and conflicted as possible, they looked like pretty good recruiting pitches. They obviously included the aforementioned facilities investments, which combined with the looming enrollment cliff seems to be a two birds one stone thing for attracting talent and retaining a healthy campus enrollment.

In the context of SLU football history (at least relative to my age) anything near a .500 record would normally be seen as a success. We were quite spoiled in the Raymond years. I'm a big fan of Coach Puck, especially after all the personal adversity him and his family have endured the last few years. The staff have seen the standards for success in the Liberty League with the usual perennial powers of Ithaca, Union, Hobart etc so I'm optimistic SLU football is on track to rebuild into a competitive program again.

I have to be honest, I was stunned by SLU's dropoff. They weren't just a one year wonder. They had a really strong four year run and then it just went away. Was it just an especially strong group of players who all graduated after 2016?

SLU's rapid rise and fall seems to perfectly coincide with Raymond's recruiting prowess, so I've always assumed that was the main driver.  Per stlawus, you also can't overstate the impact of just a few major difference makers.  (For example, the 2022 and 2023 Union teams were actually very similar in terms of talent, even though records were 6-4 v. 9-2.  The main difference in 2023 was the return of Jimaar Edwards at nose, who was a transformational player on defense.)

I think SLU has a tough road ahead.  Puck's a good coach, and last year's team struck me as 4 or 5 better O and D linemen from being a .500 squad.  But it's very hard to get today's 18-year olds to move up to the middle of nowhere on the Canadian border.  Watching the admissions trends these days, it's amazing how much student preferences have shifted towards "cool" locations.  Just look at the Boston schools - their acceptance rates have absolutely plummeted as demand for a college experience in Boston has rocketed.  This trend also does Union, RPI, and UofR no favors, though is doesn't seem to have been much of an obstacle in athletics so far.
#2
Quote from: IC798891 on March 06, 2024, 11:36:51 AMUltimately, I just don't know how I feel about a six-week postseason — acknowledging that no one will likely play an actual 6th game in the playoffs. I know it gets at the access ratio problems, but it also makes the football playoffs, which is already D3s longest NCAA playoff relative to the length of the regular season, even longer. So while it some ways it brings it more in line with the rest of the division, in other ways to moves it further apart.

I'm also not really sure it's in line with the D3 philosophy.

Yes, more playoff bids for more student athletes is a positive. But D3s philosophy statement emphasizes conference championships and providing opportunity broad based athletics participation, and this merely adds at large bids while extending a season in a way that could impact on multi-sport participation among football players, even if it's not a question of "the longer football season literally cuts into my track schedule" but just the general physical wear and tear, and overall commitment to a bigger football footprint.

It seems pretty obvious it's going to happen, so I'm just kind of shouting at the rain. But that's what the offseason is for anyway

It's definitely a little weird, but I've basically come to the view that D3 college football is a just a strange outlier altogether - twice the kids of any other sport (and at some schools, 3 or 4x), hundreds of schools but the ability to play no more than 10 games a regular season, etc.  There are no real good solutions to reconcile a tournament format with standard D3 principles.  A 40-team format will be a serious boon to the LL (as most years there is a LL team that's in ~5-12 in the Pool C hierarchy), so ultimately I'm for it.  But I'd frankly prefer that they stick with 32 and get rid of all the AQs altogether, and seed the best 8 teams in each of four regions.  You don't get the best 32 teams that way, but you don't today, and you'd at least get closer, and it's a lot easier to make credible at large distinctions between teams in a region than across the country.  So basically, go back to the 1990s, but double the number to expand access and reflect the growth in number of programs.
#3
Quote from: Oline89 on March 04, 2024, 12:50:59 PMHobart schedule released today.  Some nice OOC games, away at Randolph Macon, then home against Moravian.  Going to be nice to see teams from conferences other than the E8.



Kudos to RPI and Hobart for adding an out-of-region Top 10 teams to their schedules for 2024; I sense that upstate NY football is feeling its oats and ready to make new steps forward.  (Thanks, Cortland!)

I'd love to see Union do something similar (JCU, anyone?), but not in the cards for this year.  But the nonconference schedule will definitely improve, with Hilbert and Worcester St. being replaced with a 9 win and 5 win squad, respectively.  (Won't name names just yet, since schedule is not out.) That should put Union's 2024 SOS well over .600, which doesn't hurt come playoff time.

Coach Drach continues to rack up recruiting wins; I'm frankly astonished at how well he's done notwithstanding the HC changeover and the late start.  You never know til the kids get on the field, but the numbers and quality this cycle are as good as they've ever been.

Speaking of playoff time, any word on whether we'll get a 40-team field this year?  My sense from the TWitter dialogue was that this was now quite likely, but not yet formally decided; and that a change to a RPI/PairWise-eqsue formula for playoff selection and seeding was becoming likely, but a year or two off.

If you look at some of the great work that Logan Hansen has done, it's pretty clear that a shift to that type of formula would GREATLY benefit R1 and R2 teams, who would see more Pool C selections and better seeding. He put up retroactive brackets for the past few years under the possible new approach on Twitter; for example, last year, under the new criteria with a 40-team bracket, Union and Ithaca both would have been 3 seeds, and Hobart would have made the field as a 7 seed. In 2019, Union would have been a 2, and both Hobart and Ithaca would have made the tournament as a 7; in 2021, all FOUR of RPI, Ithaca, Union and Hobart would have made the tournament, at 4, 5, 6 and 7 seed respectively.

My main concern is that these mock brackets prove too much; in 2023, all FOUR #1 seeds would have been R2 teams. That's not actually completely crazy, as three of them would be Cortland, Susq, and Grove City; Cortland won the natty, and the other two were obviously right there with them.
#4
Quote from: IC798891 on February 28, 2024, 10:29:46 AMWith the boards back, we can turn our attention to 2024, and a more wide open LL than I can remember.

Ithaca is probably the favorite by default — back to back conference championships will do that. But lots of questions remain.

1. Is Colin Schumm the QB1 of the future? He showed flashes — in fact, I would argue that his second half against Cortland was arguably the best performance by a LL QB all season: 11-of-15, 160 yards and a TD all while his team was down multiple scores and forced to pass against the eventual national champions. But he threw for just 92 yards in two playoff games.

2. Does Jalen Leonard-Osborne, last season's top offensive performer, return for another year? This will be a question a lot of teams have, as we deal with the final season of extra COVID time. Jake Williams should be returning after missing most of 2023 with an injury.

3. How do the Bombers replace two elite defenders in Stola and Slywka? The latter especially was one of Ithaca's all-time great players.

The rest of the LL shakes out as follows to me:

Union has the most dominant ground game in the conference, but struggled in the pass game against the other top teams in the LL, failing to produce a passing touchdown against IC or RPI. If Flanagan is the guy, he's going to need to make some plays.

RPI has the top returning QB, by what I believe is a sizable margin, and should have the strangest passing game. They probably should have beaten Ithaca last year, but inexplicably bad execution in the 4th quarter and OT doomed them, before Kazanowsky's injury finished them off

I think these are the Top 3 programs in the conference, and I could see any order of finish between all of them.

Hobart is accustomed to being in the running with this trio, but I saw a clear step back from them last year. Colombi threw for 8 touchdowns against Keystone, Hilbert, and Buff State and three against everyone else. With Denham and Boswell graduating after completing their 17th seasons of eligibility, I think a lot is going to fall on him. But honestly, I like the kid a lot. Super tough player. Reminds me of A.J. Wingfield in a lot of ways. But can he carry their offense to the needed heights?

I think Rochester is the sort of plucky team you kinda have to survive. Ryan Rose got a lot better in 2023. If they wound up as the 4th best team in the conference, I would not be surprised. Nor would I be surprised if they caught one of the big 3 on a bad day.

St. Lawrence and Buff State...the talent just isn't there.

Weird, I posted a response to this yesterday, on which Bartman commented, but those posts seemed to have disappeared.  I am too lazy to write it again, but was just chiming in with some Union thoughts - big question of who will step up at QB (and whether they can be more successful passing than last year, where they struggled against good times); otherwise, almost all the offense returns (4/5 OL, TEs, most WRs, and at least and maybe both of their RB tandem); have to replace all of most of the front seven on defense, but entire secondary returns.  Basically, with the more experience at HC and better playcalling coming in, I could see Union take another step forward, have a similar year, or take a step back, all depending on whether the defensive front can reload and whether a new QB brings needed versatility to the offense.
#5
Quote from: Bartman on February 23, 2024, 11:46:14 AM
Quote from: unionpalooza on February 23, 2024, 11:10:10 AMThe boards are back!  So much to discuss!  In Union's world, the big news is the hire of Coach Drach, who looks like a great fit and is off to a great start by all accounts.  Should make for some very special Union-Hobart tilts down the line.  I can't wait to see how Drach does - he is a major upgrade in terms of head coaching experience/maturity and playcalling over last year's staff, and he'll inherit a talented, experienced offense and strong overall roster.  Bigger holes to fill on defense with the retirement of DC Flanders and the loss of most of last year's elite front seven.  Apparently recruiting has gone very well notwithstanding the second head coach transition in as many years.  Only one real transfer that I know of (Landers Green, per above); a couple of graduating seniors are going to play their fifth year at D2s/elsewhere, but that was expected as Union does not have graduate programs, so harder to keep them around post-COVID.

What's the word elsewhere?
Coach Drach was a very good Offensive Coordinator at Hobart. He will take a special interest in the QB position based on his personal playing experience. He is a bit on the "arrogant" side, so he should fit in very well at Union ;D

Yeah, I'm very interested to see how he approaches the QB room.  Patch Flanagan has the inside track, and is a fast, athletic QB who can both throw and run, and there are a couple of well-regarded younger guys who are more pure passers.  For the past few coaches, Union's passing game was successful but pretty limited to sideline outs, WR screens and deep balls, which is not enough to get the job done against the best teams.  I am hoping Drach can develop a broader passing game with more throws over the middle, a QB who can patiently get to his third or fourth read, etc.

I'm confident that, whatever he does, play calling will be much improved.  (Last year it was a mess, often forcing things that weren't working and failing to recognize what was; never gave the offense a real chance at Ithaca or Hopkins.)
#6
The boards are back!  So much to discuss!  In Union's world, the big news is the hire of Coach Drach, who looks like a great fit and is off to a great start by all accounts.  Should make for some very special Union-Hobart tilts down the line.  I can't wait to see how Drach does - he is a major upgrade in terms of head coaching experience/maturity and playcalling over last year's staff, and he'll inherit a talented, experienced offense and strong overall roster.  Bigger holes to fill on defense with the retirement of DC Flanders and the loss of most of last year's elite front seven.  Apparently recruiting has gone very well notwithstanding the second head coach transition in as many years.  Only one real transfer that I know of (Landers Green, per above); a couple of graduating seniors are going to play their fifth year at D2s/elsewhere, but that was expected as Union does not have graduate programs, so harder to keep them around post-COVID.

What's the word elsewhere?
#7
Just incredible - congrats Red Dragons!  You made NY proud.  Incredible gutty effort, and there is no doubt Boyes is the best player in the country. 

Also, that was the most entertaining game I've watched in years.  Wow. 
#8
Quote from: Jonny Utah on December 13, 2023, 09:02:13 AM
Just read the piece on Cole Burgess on the front page.  He was suspended for a YEAR for having an off campus party during COVID?  That seems insane.

This was my reaction too - just bonkers.  A testament to the mess that is today's higher education nanny state culture; college and university administrators decided they wanted to control every aspect of students' live, and are now reaping the whirlwind.

Good for Burgess for sticking it out, and good for the football program for giving him something worth coming back for.  I imagine plenty of other kids would have been thrown off track, never making it back to school, and ending up with a very different life trajectory.
#9
Lots of really interesting discussion here about important money is in the coaching game.  I get that money is really important to everyone, coaches included.  But I guess I sometimes still scratch my head a little; most people who get into coaching do it in spite of the money, not for it.  I think it's one of those odd professions that initially draws people who value all sorts of things above money (passion for the game, for the rare shot at real mentorship at scale, etc.) but then as you go along, more money always seems like to the answer to life's problems. 

If I were a coach, I would absolutely rather be winning games at a D3 school for 25 years, deeply entwined in college community and a web of 600 young men who I got to see grow up around me, than to be making twice or three times the money but moving town every 5-10 years and struggling to go .500 at the FCS level.  I think of Poppe, and I just sort of feel bad at the prospect of him losing 7 or 8 games a year in an empty stadium at a university where almost no one care about athletics. That doesn't sound like much fun at all.

But as is well-established here, I am old-fashioned and a romantic, so I get that's not the normal perspective on this one.
#10
Huge kudos to Cortland for a dominant win; way to represent upstate NY football. 

NCC is a beast, but if any team is capable of out scoring them on their best day, it might just be the Red Dragons.  That offense is a MACHINE.  And really fun to watch. 
#11
Quote from: BantChamps on December 04, 2023, 10:30:35 AM
Quote from: unionpalooza on December 04, 2023, 06:39:52 AM
Quote from: BantChamps on December 04, 2023, 02:58:29 AM
Quote from: unionpalooza on December 03, 2023, 07:56:03 PM
Quote from: Charlie on December 03, 2023, 07:29:16 PM
Quote from: unionpalooza on December 03, 2023, 05:54:47 PM
As an independent observer, this whole debate seems baffling.  You had two 8-1 teams and one of them beat the other. Figuring out which team was the "best" or de facto "champion" is not rocket science.

There is a difference since there is no playoffs. This is why the NESCAC has to adjust this insanity and have a playoff. They can easliy do this just start the season one week earlier it is not difficult.

A playoff for what - so Midd and Trinity could play?  They did; one of them won.  You don't need a playoff.

This who won what is fun conjecture. However, the fact is Trinity and Middlebury are Co Champions. There will be no asterisk about week 5 In the record books. Yes, there could be a conference championship game. Yes, there could be an outright winner determined by tie breakers. As it stands though there is not. That being said, based off Midd's loss to a very subpar Wesleyan team, I'd have to discern the Panther's ring as a LeBron James bubble-esque "Mickey Mouse" ring. If you see issue with that I suggest you take it up with the "woke" presidents of certain nescac schools who disallow competitiveness when it comes to football.

Dude, in any normal league, you're the runner-up.  Seems weird to be defending your participation trophy co-championship and then blather about competitiveness. I could literally care less if either of these schools was fired into the sun. But one of them clearly needs to learn how to take the L.

I can think of a few leagues where this is not the case, one in paticular comes to mind. So no, not every league. In a league that begs perfection, both teams fell short. We cannot pretend Middlebury did not lose to Wesleyan. So I will say again - take it up with the Presidents and ADs that do not allow the same level of competition in football as the rest of NESCAC sports.

You're missing my point. If you had the same level of competition in football - that is, access to the NCAA championship - you would almost certainly have a tiebreaker that sent Midd to the playoffs, not Trinity.  Trinity is the one benefitting from the lack of competition you seem to be complaining about.

I'm just trying to give you all a sense of how dumb this argument sounds to anyone on the outside.
#12
Quote from: BantChamps on December 04, 2023, 02:58:29 AM
Quote from: unionpalooza on December 03, 2023, 07:56:03 PM
Quote from: Charlie on December 03, 2023, 07:29:16 PM
Quote from: unionpalooza on December 03, 2023, 05:54:47 PM
As an independent observer, this whole debate seems baffling.  You had two 8-1 teams and one of them beat the other. Figuring out which team was the "best" or de facto "champion" is not rocket science.

There is a difference since there is no playoffs. This is why the NESCAC has to adjust this insanity and have a playoff. They can easliy do this just start the season one week earlier it is not difficult.

A playoff for what - so Midd and Trinity could play?  They did; one of them won.  You don't need a playoff.

This who won what is fun conjecture. However, the fact is Trinity and Middlebury are Co Champions. There will be no asterisk about week 5 In the record books. Yes, there could be a conference championship game. Yes, there could be an outright winner determined by tie breakers. As it stands though there is not. That being said, based off Midd's loss to a very subpar Wesleyan team, I'd have to discern the Panther's ring as a LeBron James bubble-esque "Mickey Mouse" ring. If you see issue with that I suggest you take it up with the "woke" presidents of certain nescac schools who disallow competitiveness when it comes to football.

Dude, in any normal league, you're the runner-up.  Seems weird to be defending your participation trophy co-championship and then blather about competitiveness. I could literally care less if either of these schools was fired into the sun. But one of them clearly needs to learn how to take the L. 
#13
Quote from: Charlie on December 03, 2023, 07:29:16 PM
Quote from: unionpalooza on December 03, 2023, 05:54:47 PM
As an independent observer, this whole debate seems baffling.  You had two 8-1 teams and one of them beat the other. Figuring out which team was the "best" or de facto "champion" is not rocket science.

There is a difference since there is no playoffs. This is why the NESCAC has to adjust this insanity and have a playoff. They can easliy do this just start the season one week earlier it is not difficult.

A playoff for what - so Midd and Trinity could play?  They did; one of them won.  You don't need a playoff.
#14
I agree with all of the wise takes above.  This is the new way of the world, though I'm still hoping that in the next search, Union can find someone more interested in building a deep program than in job hopping to the next shiny thing.

Having had a few days to reflect, I'm mostly just amazed Poppe got the job.  A year ago, he was an Ivy special teams and secondary coach; that's quite a leap, and though Union had a great year this year, there's not much a track record there - never brought in his own players, and inherited a great defensive coaching staff that was the backbone of Union's success this year.  What you can actually judge was a mixed bag - lots of energy and excitement, good recruiting prospects, but some very green in-game coaching and game planning, a big whiff on bringing in a rookie OC that struggled mightily in gamelan/playcalling against better teams.  As others have mentioned, Columbia is a very tough place to win, so maybe they didn't feel like they better options. Or maybe, given the struggles, they're willing to take a bog gamble and hope it pays off.  But there are a least two coaches in LL better qualified for the Columbia gig (Isernia and Toerper), so you have to think there are lots of options out there.  But again, maybe others would be more circumspect about jumping into as a tough a situation as Columbia is.
#15
As an independent observer, this whole debate seems baffling.  You had two 8-1 teams and one of them beat the other. Figuring out which team was the "best" or de facto "champion" is not rocket science.