Quote from: D3fanboy on December 15, 2025, 08:34:03 PMBig time hiring cycle for Etta.  Do they take advantage of a weakened OAC? Or do they fall even further back after a pretty disappointing '25? 

Edit:
https://pioneers.marietta.edu/news/2025/12/15/hinkle-promoted-to-marietta-college-head-football-coach.aspx

Hinkle was tremendous in keeping the team mostly intact after Waddle's departure last season. He was really the only choice to make. We couldn't afford another offseason of getting way behind on the recruiting front.

Kaufman has been at 15 different places since his career began in 2003. Can't say that I'm too surprised that this happened after looking at his resume. He did an admirable job and was, by all accounts, assembling a formidable recruiting class. I don't see too many on his staff (mostly young coaches with college coaching aspirations) following him to the high school level.

The Kaufman tenure will be seen as an interesting interlude. Hinkle adds stability and bring someone who wants to be here. Hope he can hold off too many portal defectors and continue building an important recruiting class.

Quote from: Captainred81 on November 10, 2025, 04:10:24 PMShould Mount be beating Otterbein and Capital and Marietta by 50+... yes...

It's been a tough year for Marietta. But, c'mon, I don't think we're quite in that group yet... 

Seriously, though, there was a consensus among some of the Marietta parents and fans that "something" got figured out at the Wilmington game. We finally looked a bit like last year's team, particularly playing faster on defense and stopping the run.

I know that all of the Mount fans here think that the Raiders played poorly (and they did), but Marietta had a lot to do with it. Tenta is going to be a good QB in this league. I think that the new Marietta staff is figuring out how best to use the personnel. Big offseason for recruiting, but the Pioneers are not done yet. There were a lot of recruits in the house on Saturday. Taking Mount to the wire was important to show that we aren't far away from being nationally competitive again.

Quote from: Dr. Acula on October 20, 2025, 12:05:04 PMLooking at the 2024-25 All-OAC teams to see who is potentially returning:

1st team: 
          G - Duane Davis (Muskie)

2nd team: 
          G - Elijah Harden (Etta)
          G - Ray Ellington* (BW)
          G - Jadi Cunningham (ONU)
          G - Markell Johnson-Nichols (Berg)
          PG - McKane Finkenbine* (Cap)
          F - Elijah Farrington (Mount)

HM:       
          G - Owen Emig (Muskie)
          G - Wes Miller (ONU)
          G - Chance Casenhiser (Mount)
          F - Chase Garito* (Ott)


* confirmed on 25-26 roster posted
       

Jadi Cunningham transferred to Walsh: https://athletics.walsh.edu/sports/mens-basketball/roster

Quote from: D3fanboy on October 20, 2025, 11:08:05 AMI hate to harp on Marietta, but this fall from grace (top 25 team, sniffing playoffs) has been something else to witness. 

Ott game (W):

Otterbein scores to cut it to 33-31 with 9 mins in the 4th.  Etta puts up 2 late TD's

Cap game (W):

outscored 21-10 in the 2nd half, kick a FG with no time left to win 24-21. 

Berg game (L):

outscored 16-6 in the 2nd half, including 13-0 in the 4th quarter

Muskie game (L):

up by 10 with 9 mins to go, outscored 14-0 in the 4th quarter.  gave up 17 play 80 yard and 8 play 99 yard drives for the 4th quarter TD's.  ouch.

with Mount and BW still on the schedule, barring a big time upset, it looks like 5-5 is the best case scenario and they are one major slip up from a losing season.  It seemed like the Pios were building something down on the river and with JCU running away scared, they were primed to take the next step.

Lots of graduation losses + a new coaching staff has been too much change to overcome. The new QB (Tenta) has shown promise and I think is the QB of the future. Biggest issue at the moment is defense - which is a bit astonishing, given two All-American linebackers. But the line isn't getting a push up front and the secondary is very young. Recruiting will be crucial this offseason for the new staff. Would like to see them make more of a play in the portal than the prior regime. I wouldn't write the Marietta obituary just yet, but there's no doubt the season has been disappointing.

Quote from: D3fanboy on October 04, 2025, 06:37:43 PMMarietta...woof

Incredibly shocking and disappointing result in yesterday's game. I think a lot of Marietta fans were hoping that the close games vs. Otterbein and Capital were flukes. Not the case. Hard to believe that this team beat Westminster in week one (who may very well win the PAC).

Marietta has major issues at QB and in the secondary. Two All-American linebackers will only take you so far on defense.

Seems like the switch flipped from playing for playoffs to playing for pride real quick. New staff needs a monster recruiting class and may need to hit the portal for a QB.

Quote from: Dr. Acula on September 27, 2025, 04:12:30 PMEtta had to stop Cap on 4th down from the 2 yd line to keep it 21-21.  WTF is going on in Bexley?

Marietta certainly didn't play well (and the passing offense is a major issue), but Capital is much improved. Watch for them to get better as the season progresses. Coach who is willing to take some risks (fake punt, going on 4th downs, etc.) and it paid off yesterday. They'll get some wins in conference play.

Quote from: Dr. Acula on September 07, 2025, 01:03:29 PMONU gave up an 84 yd TD pass on the first play from scrimmage against Franklin.  At one point they were down 27-6, but they battled back and cut it to 27-20.  Bears had the ball 1st and 10 on their own 44 at the 2:00 timeout so they had a shot to tie it. 

This was the most surprising result to me. ONU beat Franklin last season, 45-7. While ONU returns a lot of skill guys, it appears that most of their Oline graduated. They only put up 96 yards rushing on Franklin. Last season, they had 290 yards in the game! Will be a tough season if they can't get the running game going.

Quote from: D3fanboy on September 05, 2025, 01:32:39 PMwith Bluffton as the only other OOC game for Marietta, as long as the Pios dont really take a dive in the new OAC, they are looking like a playoff participant.  9-1 is basically a lock, 8-2 there's a chance.  The BW-Etta game is looking like a play-in game for the NCAA tourney

BW will be a big one. Will be curious to see if they easily handle Wittenberg this weekend. Lots of returning production for the Jackets. Certainly also can't overlook the game @ONU or Heidelberg at home.

Quote from: D3 Poster on September 04, 2025, 10:11:43 PMTitans had 77 yards rushing tonight and 78 yards rushing last year vs Marietta. Couldn't get the big turnovers this year.  Both teams look tough defensively, offenses works in progress.

It was funny how the stats between the two games mirrored each other. The only big difference was Marietta taking care of the ball. Both teams seemed to match up similarly, despite graduation losses.

Quote from: BergAlum2 on September 04, 2025, 10:37:37 PMMarietta's defense still looks great,  Westminiter went nowhere until like their last drive of the first half, I have them as the #2 OAC team this year 

Breaks me to have to pay to watch my OAC games, got the subscription 5 minutes before kickoff

Marietta defense hasn't missed a beat from last year, despite 4 new guys up front. Very similar story to what we've seen in that teams can generally not gain much of anything on the ground.

A bit concerned about our offense, but Westminster was a very good defensive team last year and returned a lot of guys. Marietta's senior QB threw 3 picks against them last season, so I think playcalling was intentionally to ground and pound.

Congrats to Heidelberg on the blowout. Was a bit surprised to see Hiram put up 400+ yards. Assuming most of that was against back-ups?

Quote from: Dr. Acula on July 28, 2025, 06:22:18 PMI was reading up on the Berg hire of Mike Summey and I'm not sure what to think.  Almost no HC experience, but a lot of D1 experience at a lot of places.  I guess we'll see how it goes.  Here's his resume I pieced together since the Berg bio has some holes in it: 

97-99  Graduate manager, NC State
99-03  Asst. coach, St. Francis (PA)
03-04  Asst. coach, Queens University
04-06  Asst. coach, The Citadel
06-08  Asst. coach, North Florida
08-09  Head coach, Bethany
09-13  Dir. of ops, Miami (FL)
13-15  Assoc HC, St. Francis (PA)
15-20  Asst. coach, BGSU
20-22  Asst. coach, NC State
22-24  Asst. coach, Campbell
24-25  GM, Utah

He's been placed in a difficult spot just trying to field a roster. Between transfers and graduation, there's not much left. Markell Johnson-Nichols appears to be staying. But otherwise, the team looks to be very young. Bucheit brought almost all of his freshman recruits to Marietta.

Bucheit has overhauled the Marietta roster in short order. Impressive list of incoming transfers that are now confirmed on social media (with some additional ones rumored):

BJ Busbee - Mount Aloysius to Marietta
Elijah Harden - Heidelberg to Marietta
Jaiden Guerra-Howard - Heidelberg to Marietta
Jackson Beasley - Heidelberg to Marietta
Kevin Reynald Jr. - Heidelberg to Marietta
Mason Wisniewski - Heidelberg to Marietta
Sky Thomas - Penn State York (USCAA) to Marietta
John Castrilla - Bryant & Stratton (JUCO) to Marietta
Deuce Blake - Iowa Central (JUCO) to Marietta

Social media confirmed incoming transfers to Marietta:

BJ Busbee - Mount Aloysius to Marietta
Elijah Harden - Heidelberg to Marietta
Jaiden Guerra-Howard - Heidelberg to Marietta
Jackson Beasley - Heidelberg to Marietta
Kevin Reynald Jr. - Heidelberg to Marietta
Mason Wisniewski - Heidelberg to Marietta
Sky Thomas - Penn State York (USCAA) to Marietta
John Castrilla - Bryant & Stratton (JUCO) to Marietta
Deuce Blake - Iowa Central (JUCO) to Marietta

Outgoing transfers:
Danny Flood - Marietta to Trine
Jayden Bradshaw - Marietta to Trine
Michael Roberson - Marietta to Trine

I truly do not understand the economics of this. $30,000 - even for the smallest of D3s - is not "game changing" money. Add in the possibility of increased production costs, and the net profit is even less. Is that worth alienating parents and donors, all while limiting the overall exposure for your program?

If we're talking $100,000/year, maybe I'd understand. But this is selling your soul for a ridiculously low price. The fact that entire conferences are willing to go along with this is mind-boggling.

If I were a president or AD, I would literally laugh at the offer.

Carter Reese from Ohio Northern transferring to D1 Ohio: https://x.com/WNWarriorHoops/status/1918736046671507503