Different Perspective on Football

[valpogal]

I have worked at VU for 17 years and observed the changes in our student athletes under the tutelage of Tom Horn, Stacy Adams, and Dale Carlson. I don't know if other folks have noticed the change in our student athletes since the Dale Carlson era, but I certainly have.  Finally, the belligerent, unhappy, lethargic and semi-students of past eras have moved on. Coach Carlson has managed to recruit and keep a group of young men who are dedicated as much to the classroom as to the football field.  It would be a shame, at this point in time, in my opinion at least, to get rid of our current coaching staff and watch someone have to start over again. Carlson had a very deep hole to dig his team out of. He, and his staff, deserve another year.
BTW, I am one of the women who didn't find her way here getting lost on my way to Pintrest!

[IndyValpo]

Ok, let's say they get another year, what do we do after that 1-10 season? Then do we move on?

[milanmiracle]

Ok, let's say they get another year, what do we do after that 1-10 season? Then do we move on?

I think Valpogal is helping to prove my point. The university is MUCH more concerned with attracting male students and increasing the enrollment than actually being competitive on the football field.

[valpogal]

Actually, I am not a big proponent of keeping football for enrollment and having more males on campus. Smarter students usually mean smarter athletes.  Another year, 1-10, yes, Carlson should go. But, again, he had a huge task ahead of him when he started here. I am not sure anyone could turn the program around any faster. The administration can't suddenly decide they want to support the sport and expect immediate results. That, unfortunately, is not the way it works.

[usc4valpo]

valpogal - you have a different perspective that is good for this conversation and pathetic football situation.  They are bringing in student with good academic credentials in which is nice, but do you need football to do that?    Perhaps you don't need football to bring in quality students.  INteresting discussion here.

I agree that ML may care about football, but the Valpo administration, while smoking their pipes and appreciating their mahogany furniture, don't care. In the words of Bill Parcells, you are what your record says you are.   Valpo is 3 and 35 under Carlson.   This is obviously unacceptable.

Sorry, the hole Carlson came into back in 2010 is bigger and worse than it is today.  The numbers show this.  Also, a lot of players have come and gone during these four years.  Patience has runeth out.  A change was required months ago.

[VULB#62]

And I would agree that we are seeing a better class of student athletes coming in through football, no doubt.  As I have mentioned many times, the infrastructure and processes Carlson has instituted have actually reflected the attributes of a good "program."  That's on the plus side.  But schools like Stanford and Northwestern and Vanderbilt, not to mention the Patriot League and the Ivy League, can recruit great student-athletes AND be competitive.  Something happens between the door from the VU locker room and the practice/game field that isn't working.  Like many of us have said repeatedly, it's not that we're getting beat, it's that we consistently, year to year, remain non-competitive despite obvious upgrades in player talent.

[BallMom00]

My kids have played on a lot of different sports teams over the years and never once have I felt the need to join a forum or post a comment... until now. 

There were options for my son to play elsewhere, but he chose Valpo (a university with tuition well outside our means) first for the degree and second to be a part of (what was sold to us as) a "turnaround" program ... the talent was here, the commitment and determination was here - this was going to be that season.

Yet, to this day, the only turnaround we've seen is how many of these student athletes are actively considering leaving the program (and the university) because they have had enough. 

You're right!! We have an outstanding group of young men -- both athletically and academically -- who've come into VU via football and who want to bring the pride back to the program. They have made an active decision to commit their time and energies outside the very stringent, demanding VU courseload to a program that is publically degraded because of its continued losing record.  (Don't believe me? check social media!) At some point, enough is enough is enough.

There is no doubt, it is very hard to be fan of a program like this! Trust me, it's even harder when you have skin in the game.

[usc4valpo]

BallMom - if your son is getting a decent education, getting good grades and on his way to graduate, then your son is doing the right thing nand he will be just fine.  Getting an education and learning is what it is about.  Don't let the football futility derail you from what is important.

[vu72]

My kids have played on a lot of different sports teams over the years and never once have I felt the need to join a forum or post a comment... until now. 

There were options for my son to play elsewhere, but he chose Valpo (a university with tuition well outside our means) first for the degree and second to be a part of (what was sold to us as) a "turnaround" program ... the talent was here, the commitment and determination was here - this was going to be that season.

Yet, to this day, the only turnaround we've seen is how many of these student athletes are actively considering leaving the program (and the university) because they have had enough. 

You're right!! We have an outstanding group of young men -- both athletically and academically -- who've come into VU via football and who want to bring the pride back to the program. They have made an active decision to commit their time and energies outside the very stringent, demanding VU courseload to a program that is publically degraded because of its continued losing record.  (Don't believe me? check social media!) At some point, enough is enough is enough.

There is no doubt, it is very hard to be fan of a program like this! Trust me, it's even harder when you have skin in the game.

Thank you for your brave words.  I can "hear" the pain and disappointment in your words.  Thanks also to valpogal, loyalty is a fine attitude but, the "deep hole" is much the same as Obama's continued struggles with the economy. When is it not Bush's mess?  When is it "your" responsibility for what "you" did, not someone elses?

Valpo is such a fabulous place that I for one would never want a kid miss out on finishing his degree for the sake of "one more year" for a group of coaches that have certainly had their chance.  All the kids are Carlson recruits.  The talent is there, the coaching clearly isn't.

[valpotx]

I have worked at VU for 17 years and observed the changes in our student athletes under the tutelage of Tom Horn, Stacy Adams, and Dale Carlson. I don't know if other folks have noticed the change in our student athletes since the Dale Carlson era, but I certainly have.  Finally, the belligerent, unhappy, lethargic and semi-students of past eras have moved on. Coach Carlson has managed to recruit and keep a group of young men who are dedicated as much to the classroom as to the football field.  It would be a shame, at this point in time, in my opinion at least, to get rid of our current coaching staff and watch someone have to start over again. Carlson had a very deep hole to dig his team out of. He, and his staff, deserve another year.
BTW, I am one of the women who didn't find her way here getting lost on my way to Pintrest!

What past eras are you speaking about that were belligerent, unhappy, lethargic and semi-students?  I don't know if you mean before Horn/Adams/Carlson, but wanted to at least say that I wouldn't categorize the football teams that played when I was in school 1999-2000 to 2003-2004 in this manner at all.  Hopefully you are speaking of teams before this time, as these football players were definitely committed to their educations.

[KL31NY]

I am heading to Evansville and Southern Illinois on a volleyball broadcasting trip this weekend and found some great quotes from UE's new volleyball coach that could be something to think about from the perspective of our football team.

For those that don't follow UE volleyball (a lot of you, probably), they been in a "rebuilding phase" of sorts for more than a decade. They continually lose most of their conference matches and finish in the bottom half of the league. They hired a new head coach, Manolo Concepcion, after Mike Swan resigned to go to Valdosta State. The follow quotes come from a UE release about the 2013 volleyball schedule where Concepcion talks about the challenge of competing with an active non-conference schedule on top of an already challenging MVC slate:

"The most important opponent will be ourselves; we need to learn how to win again. In order to achieve such goal, our character, work ethic, and passion for competing has to remain consistent with the ultimate objective: maximize the potential that we have as a team," Concepcion continued.
"There will be a lot more focus on the process. The small details will determine our long term results, meaning that expectations will be as high as our willingness to improve and determination to push ourselves harder than ever before."

I forget how this compares to any of Dale's first-year quotes (the only one I remember is, "From this day forth, we aspire to nothing but greatness"), but just wanted to throw this out because it caught my attention and made me think of a comparison

[valpotx]

You know a situation is bad if your head coach at a D-1 program leaves for another job at the D-2 level...