FB: American Rivers Conference

[FishHack76]

Thank you so much for the insights, Logan. I appreciate it.

/quote]
There's no way DePauw and Wabash both make the field. Swap in a 4th WIAC school in that place (assuming UWW wins vs. UWO).

If DePauw or Wabash makes the field, they'll also be 7 or 8 seeds better than Wheaton, and will be one of the teams in line for a first round bye (the winner of Wabash/DePauw will get a good NPI boost when they win this week). DePauw is also one of the very few teams who can drive to Berry (Hanover and LaGrange being the other two). I suspect there is at least a chance they end up in that pod. Wabash cannot drive to Berry.

Another domino is the Central/Coe game. If Coe makes the field instead of Central, they'll probably be in one of the pigtail games, whereas Central would likely get a first round bye.

[Schipper Strong]

Colin Kerndt to get his first collegiate start against Coe today. Go Dutch!

[Schipper Strong]

Congratulations to Coe on the 13-7 win at Central. They certainly had our top two rushers nailed down. Grunder and Klein finished with 21 and 20 yards rushing. They just could not break free. Yet in the last minute it was the Coe players desperately trying to get their fans to make some noise. The excitement went down to the final 6 seconds when Coe finally managed to snag an interception. The defense for Central really stepped up today. One huge rushing TD was the difference in the game. I knew that Kerndt would rise to the big game challenge and he did. He really played outstanding. Had the coaches let him pass downfield before it became an absolute requirement we might have won. They did not have the faith I did. This loss probably ended our season, but we are in great hands for the future. I am extremely excited to see what the future holds.

[hazzben]

The consistency with which you second guess the Central coaches on here is something else Schipper. In my experience most fans don't know the difference between cover 2 and cover 4. And they certainly couldn't draw it up on a board, much less scheme to stop an opponent.

[Schipper Strong]

Well I don't claim to know the differences between coverages. I also said I was old and grumpy, so consider the source. 🤣

I wasn't the only one second guessing the coaches though. I watched the replay to see if I was being too judgmental. The announcers were saying the same thing already early in the first quarter and throughout the game. "You have a freshman QB thrown into a big game and you want to protect him so you play it safe. Coe is practically daring you to throw the ball downfield with their coverage. At some point you have to let him play." Maybe not exact words, but extremely close. Those coming from a fellow very successful Central coach. When did Central score? On a free play where he could do whatever he wanted with no consequences.

By not letting him take deep shots that he is very capable of our rushing offense did not work. They stacked the defense with no fear of us taking a deep shot. Once we were forced to do so, the rushing plays started to work. I think Centrsl has fantastic coaches. Very caring if their concern was protecting Kerndt from criticism. I stand by having more faith in him though.

[Alfred E. Neumann]

Dubuque concludes their season with a 27-20 victory over Luther.  Good luck to Luther next year in their move to the MWC. 

Good and Luther football are rarely used together lately.😁 3 straight ZERO win conference seasons to end their time as a member. I remember the good ol' days of Norse football went you would pencil them in as 4-4 in conference.🙁

[Captain_Joe08]

Wartburg gets a first round bye in the playoffs while Coe gets in as at-large and travels to NACC Champ Concordia Wisconsin (9-1) in the first round. Winner plays Bethel in the second round.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Loras finishes the season with a big win over Luther 45-12 on Saturday. Unfortunately, it will be the last win at Loras for Steve Helminiak as the head coach as he and his staff were informed they will not be returning for the next season. H will leave Loras with a 42-70 overall in his 12 years at the top of the program.

As a former player who played under H, I love that man and wish him nothing but the best. He, and his staff, changed my life for the better and I could not be more thankful for that. I'm told the new administration at Loras has decided to move in a different direction and they are starting the process to look for a new head coach immediately.

[MediaGuy]

This is more of a question for Pat, but i'd also like some input from you guys as well...What is stopping the ARC from putting in a bid to host the National Championship game at the UNI-Dome?  I have heard a few objections, but I think that the venue is honestly better than the places we've played the game recently (Texas and Maryland)

Here are reasons why I think its a great place to host...
1.  Indoor facility that isn't too big.  Let's be honest, this year's game could draw the biggest crowd in Championship history and Hall of Fame Stadium (seats 22,000) would still be half full.  It's so hard to play with energy in a 1/3 full stadium, and it's not the best look on TV.  UNI-Dome seats a little over 16,000 and if you watch the Iowa High School Playoffs, even a crowd of 5000-6000 can look pretty full and get really loud in the stadium.  One of the best parts of playing at D3 is the intimate stadiums, with crowds that are loud and a part of the game.  When you play in an over-sized stadium, you lose the crowd involvement and also it looks bad to see a (relatively) small number of fans surrounded by a sea of empty seats.

2. Waterloo/Cedar Falls has a local airport which can handle large aircraft and is also only 45 minutes from the Cedar Rapids Airport and metro area.  Fans and teams should be able to get affordable flights and plenty of hotels and food/entertainment within an 15-60 min drive of the UNI-Dome. 

3. UNI-Dome is an FCS facility, so they already have the media/pressbox/power and multimedia set-up to accommodate the needs of D3 football.

4. UNI-Dome is easily drive-able for ARC, Midwest, WIAC, MIAA and CCIW fan bases.  I think there would be a great crowd of people who would attend an indoor game, within a 4-5 hr drive around xmas break from all those conferences, along with the fact that there would be a pretty good chance that a team from one or more of those conferences could be playing in the game.  I know that even if Johns Hopkins was playing UMU, or Cortland was playing Berry, fans from the midwest conferences listed above and the ARC in particular, would love to see a high level football game, and see how these teams "from out east" look compared to the teams around here.

The only reason I can think of for UNI to not want to host it would be if there would be a possible scheduling issue with an FCS playoff game, or if they don't want to cover-up/change the midfield logo (which runs from 35 yard line-35 yard line).

I just think it's a good sized field, indoors and has access to all the other outside things you need to host a big game like that and would draw a larger (local) crowd than the recent games in Texas and Maryland and make for a more impressive final game experience for players, fans and TV viewers.

PS...I still like the old Salem stadium for the historic aspect, but I also like that the UNI-Dome is indoors and weather would not be a factor.

Thoughts...?

[Pat Coleman]

This is more of a question for Pat, but i'd also like some input from you guys as well...What is stopping the ARC from putting in a bid to host the National Championship game at the UNI-Dome?  I have heard a few objections, but I think that the venue is honestly better than the places we've played the game recently (Texas and Maryland)

Nothing, aside from the availability of the venue. I've heard the price per seat that they want for their venue is a little pricey but who knows.

The ARC has bid on championships previously and has hosted them, pretty well received. Seems like the post-Chuck Yrigoyen administration is just as interested in hosting.

For all we know, maybe they have already bid.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Nothing, aside from the availability of the venue. I've heard the price per seat that they want for their venue is a little pricey but who knows.

The ARC has bid on championships previously and has hosted them, pretty well received. Seems like the post-Chuck Yrigoyen administration is just as interested in hosting.

For all we know, maybe they have already bid.

The ARC is hosting the women's basketball final four in Cedar Rapids at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse down town in two years. I am not sure when that bid was placed and if it was done before or after the change in commissioner.

[doolittledog]

DriftlessDuhawk with the scoop that Coach Helminiak has been let go at Loras.  Earlier it came out that Coach Keller at NWU is retiring at the end of this season.  When there was decent turnover in the coaching ranks back in 2008-2009 era there was some discussion on here about HC pay in the conference. 

The story went the conference had a lower tier, a middle tier, and an upper tier.  I think when Osterberger left BVU to take over at Loras it was said he went from 40k to 60k. That same year, Luther noted when they hired Mike Durnin the conference average was 65k and they were competitive.  The word was when Simpson was hiring that same year they offered 80k to either the Dowling or Valley HC (I can't remember which) and he turned them down because he was making more at the high school.  Cornell had been paying in the 45K range that time as well. 

With that information being almost 20 years old, I would be curious to know what typical HC or coordinator pay in the conference is these days.

MediaGuy brought up the possibility of the conference using the UNI-Dome in a bid to the the D3 championship game, I believe with the recent renovation the capacity has been reduced to the 12,500 range.  Which would work even better.

And I see we have the reincarnation of Alfred E. Neumann.  Welcome back!   

[hazzben]

UNI Dome would be a phenomenal location. Great size, weather isn't a factor and right in the midst of a significant D3 footprint.

[HansenRatings]

With that information being almost 20 years old, I would be curious to know what typical HC or coordinator pay in the conference is these days.

This is 2023 data from the US Dept of Ed for all sports (not just football). This also only includes salaries paid directly via athletics. I know a lot of schools offset coaching salaries by having the coaches wear a lot of different hats in the offseason (teaching courses, administrative/managerial roles, etc.), and income from those sources aren't included in this data.

Institution_______	Avg HC Salary_	Avg Asst Salary_	Football Expenses_
Buena Vista	$48,385	$15,846	$425,052
Central	$53,390	$11,341	$454,055
Coe	$39,577	$8,585	$798,807
Dubuque	$64,178	$33,911	$574,264
Loras	$37,157	$10,678	$604,267
Luther	$38,144	$16,795	$554,695
Neb. Wesleyan	$49,304	$8,385	$387,039
Simpson	$38,458	$12,417	$572,205
Wartburg	$37,581	$13,641	$519,083

One thing I learned by perusing this data this morning was that Wartburg has 11 assistant wrestling coaches and "only" 10 assistants for football.

[WLCALUM83]

Coe/Concordia-WI:  "How the Numbers Stack Up"

https://kohawkathletics.com/sports/football/stats
https://cuwfalcons.com/sports/football/stats

Coe routed Buena Vista 3 weeks after Wisconsin Lutheran lost to Buena Vista. The Warriors were still in the throes of a slow start at that time, but righted the ship enough to finish 5-5 on the year. The Falcons took early control at the top of the NACC and never looked back. This will be their last NACC game as they move to the CCIW-leaving '26 on-paper favorites Aurora and St. Norbert to jockey at the top in the future.