FB: Liberty League

[ICAlum16]

Yea that totally makes sense and I agree. There are a lot of Bomber alum from the last 10-15 years out there in the coaching world starting to make waves so it would be interesting to see if any of them get a chance.

This is also the first time we are doing a coaching search with a new AD who doesn't have ties to the program beyond being the new AD. I tried to use chatgpt to get a list of Ithaca grads in the college coaching ranks but it wasn't able to pull anything substantial. We definitely need someone who focuses on the trenches and can make us tougher up front.

Re: Faggiano

Utica's always going to have an uphill battle in the E8. Their cost of attendance is about double that of Cortland and Brockport, and their most recent four-year graduation rate is 44%. They don't have a ton of football history to lean on either.

I could be wrong, but I suspect that like Boyes at Buff State, Faggiano is getting absolutely the most that could be reasonably expected out of them, and most other coaches would be much worse.

[Jonny Utah]

Yea that totally makes sense and I agree. There are a lot of Bomber alum from the last 10-15 years out there in the coaching world starting to make waves so it would be interesting to see if any of them get a chance.

This is also the first time we are doing a coaching search with a new AD who doesn't have ties to the program beyond being the new AD. I tried to use chatgpt to get a list of Ithaca grads in the college coaching ranks but it wasn't able to pull anything substantial. We definitely need someone who focuses on the trenches and can make us tougher up front.

Re: Faggiano

Utica's always going to have an uphill battle in the E8. Their cost of attendance is about double that of Cortland and Brockport, and their most recent four-year graduation rate is 44%. They don't have a ton of football history to lean on either.

I could be wrong, but I suspect that like Boyes at Buff State, Faggiano is getting absolutely the most that could be reasonably expected out of them, and most other coaches would be much worse.

Still don't think Faggiano is going anywhere but I've noticed that he is a defensive coach, but Utica always has stud QB's and potent offenses.  Utica also ranked 16th in the nation in TOP 

But the days of finding someone who is going to be your coach for 40 years with 3 national championships are gone I think.  So get the quality person that can lead young men and win games at the same time and leave the program in a better place than you found it.  Hell, even d1 football is this way.  There are 10 prize jobs and eveywhere else is a stepping stone. 

[IC798891]

But the days of finding someone who is going to be your coach for 40 years with 3 national championships are gone I think

I bolded this because I think this word is the schism.

For almost everyone, you get a choice. If you want a coach who sticks with you for 30 years, they're probably not going to be putting you in National Title contention for three decades.

The odds of a Butterfield-type lifer who basically has you as a national power just up to retirement is slim to none. Mike Welch was a lifer, but while IC scratched and clawed its was to the 2013/2014 E8 titles, it didn't end especially well*. After 40 years with no losing seasons, Ithaca had two in Welch's last six years, with a .500 season to boot, and an 0-6 record in Cortaca.

*At the risk of sounding like Frank, I mean strictly in the W/L column. Everyone loved Welch at IC. There's a reason he got carried off the field after his last home game

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Brad Spencer is going to stick around Naperville for the next 25-30 years. Maybe Dan Wodicka sees himself as a Hopkins lifer.

But when the bigger names come calling actively, I imagine you can only resist for so long. Especially with the money involved -- though obviously no coach ever says that publicly.

Look at Curt Fitzpatrick. He'd spent nearly two decades as a D3 guy. His success at Cortland basically assured he had a job for life, with a NY State pension waiting for him after retiring. But winning it all probably put him on a lot of radars, and he didn't stick around.

[Jonny Utah]

But the days of finding someone who is going to be your coach for 40 years with 3 national championships are gone I think

I bolded this because I think this word is the schism.

For almost everyone, you get a choice. If you want a coach who sticks with you for 30 years, they're probably not going to be putting you in National Title contention for three decades.

The odds of a Butterfield-type lifer who basically has you as a national power just up to retirement is slim to none. Mike Welch was a lifer, but while IC scratched and clawed its was to the 2013/2014 E8 titles, it didn't end especially well*. After 40 years with no losing seasons, Ithaca had two in Welch's last six years, with a .500 season to boot, and an 0-6 record in Cortaca.

*At the risk of sounding like Frank, I mean strictly in the W/L column. Everyone loved Welch at IC. There's a reason he got carried off the field after his last home game

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Brad Spencer is going to stick around Naperville for the next 25-30 years. Maybe Dan Wodicka sees himself as a Hopkins lifer.

But when the bigger names come calling actively, I imagine you can only resist for so long. Especially with the money involved -- though obviously no coach ever says that publicly.

Look at Curt Fitzpatrick. He'd spent nearly two decades as a D3 guy. His success at Cortland basically assured he had a job for life, with a NY State pension waiting for him after retiring. But winning it all probably put him on a lot of radars, and he didn't stick around.

Yea I think chasing the money with your family is the question every coach has to ask themselves. At some point I think a lot of coaches realize their ceiling and base their decisions on that.

And I think it is impossible to predict who gets the IC job.  RPI and Union's coaches have backgrounds with zero ties to either school and Swanstrom was the same.  All three are good coaches.  Include Behrman in there as well. 

[IC798891]

And you don't know where success is going to come from.

I joke with our PR guy all the time that he delivered the 2023 Stagg Bowl to Cortland back in 1994 when he was part of the hiring committee that didn't hire Boyes.

But imagine going back to 2016 and telling people the guy who just led SUNY Morrisville to a 1-9 season was going to deliver the East a Stagg Bowl by knocking off North Central. It's easy to go around pulling resumes from guys who look good, but life has a way of working out

[UfanBill]

Enough talk about Ithaca coaches  ...Today's D3 Football headliner is a story about the Johns Hopkins offensive line... https://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2025/johns-hopkins-blue-jays-offensive-line-keeping-it-cool ...Immediately on looking at the accompanying photo I recognized a name, O-line coach Steve Crevani.  Crevani was an offensive lineman on the Union 2019 LL Championship squad. Mostly a backup he was not a star for his play. As a center he was stuck behind All American Ryan Ehrets until starting his senior year,2021. He was evidently a student of the game and a star in the classroom...4 time LL All Academic and CoSIDA All District First team his senior year. Congratulations to Steve for the recognition he and his guys are getting at Johns Hopkins.     

[unionpalooza]

Man, the NCC fans seem to be running hard to keep up with the Mt. Union guys in the joyless department.  They've hit Twitter to express their outrage that ESPN+ has brought in two outside players by play guys, one of whom is a John Carroll alum, instead of using NCC's house guys, for Saturday's game. Putting aside the fact that (i) of course ESPN+ is going to use guys who have worked with ESPN+ crews instead of guys who have never done so and (ii) you can't coherently complain the JCU guy will bring bias and then argue it should be two NCC guys instead, it just baffles me that NCC fans can watch their teams win a bunch of nattys and still whine about stuff this small and dumb.

[Machiavelli]

Man, the NCC fans seem to be running hard to keep up with the Mt. Union guys in the joyless department.  They've hit Twitter to express their outrage that ESPN+ has brought in two outside players by play guys, one of whom is a John Carroll alum, instead of using NCC's house guys, for Saturday's game. Putting aside the fact that (i) of course ESPN+ is going to use guys who have worked with ESPN+ crews instead of guys who have never done so and (ii) you can't coherently complain the JCU guy will bring bias and then argue it should be two NCC guys instead, it just baffles me that NCC fans can watch their teams win a bunch of nattys and still whine about stuff this small and dumb.

I saw our boy FR going off about this on Twitter, basically making some pretty serious slanderous comments towards one particular individual. It's pretty sad seeing how this dude navigates life.

[Pat Coleman]

Man, the NCC fans seem to be running hard to keep up with the Mt. Union guys in the joyless department.  They've hit Twitter to express their outrage that ESPN+ has brought in two outside players by play guys, one of whom is a John Carroll alum, instead of using NCC's house guys, for Saturday's game. Putting aside the fact that (i) of course ESPN+ is going to use guys who have worked with ESPN+ crews instead of guys who have never done so and (ii) you can't coherently complain the JCU guy will bring bias and then argue it should be two NCC guys instead, it just baffles me that NCC fans can watch their teams win a bunch of nattys and still whine about stuff this small and dumb.

I know the NCC broadcasters know how it works. Fans will be fans everywhere, though, for sure.

Agreed the optics of two JCU guys calling that game aren't great but they are super qualified and will be SO MUCH BETTER than the alternative we've had from ESPN on some of these games in the past, including other Cleveland-area broadcasters.

[NCC2010]

Man, the NCC fans seem to be running hard to keep up with the Mt. Union guys in the joyless department.  They've hit Twitter to express their outrage that ESPN+ has brought in two outside players by play guys, one of whom is a John Carroll alum, instead of using NCC's house guys, for Saturday's game. Putting aside the fact that (i) of course ESPN+ is going to use guys who have worked with ESPN+ crews instead of guys who have never done so and (ii) you can't coherently complain the JCU guy will bring bias and then argue it should be two NCC guys instead, it just baffles me that NCC fans can watch their teams win a bunch of nattys and still whine about stuff this small and dumb.

It's the same 3 or 4 NCC fans who constantly complain and troll about everything related to the team on X (one in particular who is the WORST). It's unfortunate that this poorly represents the rest of the fanbase, but not much can be done to stop them. The one who complains the most only became a fan in 2021, so he hasn't even been around for the entire program turnaround—it's frustrating, to say the least.

[ICGrad]

Yea.  Was talking offline with IC about this.  In the 1990s (and before) Ithaca's roster was made up of mostly education/athletic/Health/PT type majors for the most part.  5 of my teammates are doctors now.  There were a few (5?) business majors but that was it.  Looking at todays roster it appears that 75% of the roster are in business or finance.  I'm guessing Ithaca College as a whole is making this happen to attract students as "liberal arts" isn't getting the bang for its buck that it used to.  May also explain the lack of New England talent on the roster as well. 

I was shocked to learn a couple of years ago that Ithaca no longer has an education program/department. My guess is that many of the kids in the Athletic program were also receiving teaching certifications, so that explains the disappearance of students from those first two categories.

Both my brother and sister also graduated from IC, and each graduated with a teaching certification. My brother still teaches in the Albany area (sister is retired; taught just south of Ithaca for decades).

Not sure the economics of the education track ever really made sense at a school like IC; $30,000/year (more now) to graduate and make...$30,000/year. Doesn't work for most folks. My father taught at IC, so I guess it made sense for my siblings (free tuition and all).