Changes for 2016

[VULB#62]

Yes, he was.  He's the "senior citizen" of the staff    I think he'll do well at ST.

[VU2624]

This has been out there for a few days on twitter but if you haven't seen the 2016 schedule here it is.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/schedule/2016-17/#.VqpkPln9mM9

back to back warm weather games mid Oct.

[VULB#62]

And back-to-back away crunchers against scholarship FCS programs in early September.  Ouch.

Illinois State went 10-3 last season and lost in the FCS third round to Richmond, at home, 39-27.  They finished the season ranked #4 in the country.  They killed WIU (who knocked out Dayton in the first round) in the second round of the FCS playoffs 36-19. 

SHU finished 6-5 last season, tied for 3rd in the NEC,  and beat us 56-3 at Brown Field.

[VULB#62]

We got ourselves a LB coach. He's out of the Michigan State coaching staff, played at Cincinnati and made it as far as the Buffalo Bills 53 man roster.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/2015-16/15190/cecchini-adds-manalac-to-coaching-staff/#.VquMja9OKrV

[vu72]

We got ourselves a LB coach. He's out of the Michigan State coaching staff, played at Cincinnati and made it as far as the Buffalo Bills 53 man roster.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/2015-16/15190/cecchini-adds-manalac-to-coaching-staff/#.VquMja9OKrV

Sounds like a very good hire!!

[VULB#62]

I have a good feeling about this. We have some young LBs and this young guy has both the playing experience and a varied coaching exposure to bring out their talent.

BUT....   We still need 4 studs up front to protect the LBs and stuff the A, B and C gaps.

[VU2624]

Didn't know where to put this one. I wonder if this was the potential transfer mentioned prior to the break. I think Brandon Vickrey mentioned it and there was talk about it among some of the players.

Quarterback Willy Pflug (Portland, Oregon) signed with Montana a year ago, taking the Grizzlies' scholarship offer over Eastern Washington. He graduated from high school early and enrolled at Montana for the spring 2015 semester.

One problem...Montana hired a new head coach who didn't want Pflug.

"It was unfortunate that the staff changed after I committed as it turned out not to be a fit for what this staff values and the direction they want to go," Pflug told the Missoulian. "We both tried to make it work but they want to focus in a different direction. I wish them luck."

As a high school senior, he threw for 1,666 yards and 20 touchdowns. Don't know how he'll adapt to an option offense, but he is reportedly headed to Jacksonville. Contrary to this article, Pflug will not have to sit out 2016...and he should have four years of eligibility remaining. See NCAA Bylaw 14.5.5.2.10 (a)

http://pflfan.proboards.com/post/18362

[VULB#62]

Probably should go on the 2016 Recruit string but WTH.  From this article it could be JU or JSU (AL).  Man, if he was a Griz offer, he could not do wrong by VU. The plane fare to ORD for his folks would be lower 

Shoot, we need QBs

This is me but I'd go go for JC QBs and transfers right now. A good one would actually make our youngsters even better.

[VU2624]

Not much can be done regarding spring ball but there's one available QB for spring.

Fall may not be much better. Stokes' injury is not one conducive to throwing anything.

[VULB#62]

I have a good feeling about this. We have some young LBs and this young guy has both the playing experience and a varied coaching exposure to bring out their talent.

BUT....   We still need 4 studs up front to protect the LBs and stuff the A, B and C gaps.

Here is Coach Manalac's twitter site.  It's now got the Valpo logo on it and, reading the chatter, he got a lot of love from current MSU players and coaches for the move to Valpo.  He's well respected which further supports that he'll be a good one for us.

https://twitter.com/Coach_Manalac

BTW, I noticed that he's been following Valpo sports and Valpo BB on Twitter since early January. 

[VULB#62]

Good article by Brandon on new LB coach Manalac.  Sounds like he is as hungry for success as his players. That's a good thing.


http://www.valpotorch.com/sports/vu_sports/article_b481306a-d1bc-11e5-a3c1-e36ebf21061f.html

[VU2624]

Tangentially related to Valpo but I read that Morehead St. DC moved on. That was an area of improvement for them last season and now we'll see if it falls back again after Wright's departure.

[VU2624]

More of a question than a comment:

On the PFL board there's talk of 5th year players at Dayton and Marist. Dayton has put out that there are 15 5th year seniors returning in 2016. My question is how do they do this? I know how they are eligible but how do 15 players afford to pay what amounts to full tuition? I assume their undergraduate academic and need based money would run out in 4 years. Is there typically funding available for 5th year players in some fashion. Valpo has one player they are or were trying to have return for a 5th year but how he is/was going to pay for that semester was an issue.

Any insight?

[VULB#62]

Good question. Some other thoughts to go along with that.

Nate Koeneman came back for his fifth season. Spoke with his mom before one of the earlier games. He could have graduated, but felt compelled to return for that 9th semester ( I felt so sorry for him when he went down as a result). I believe he arranged his courses to allow for that. Could be that tuition (and associated financial aid) can be prorated/distributed by course load so that there may be some "left over" for that 9th semester. Could be also that a redshirt might take a semester off so that they still only have 8 semesters for the first semester of year 5. Then there is graduate school for a graduated senior. He still may qualify for financial aid like any other student. Finally,  families might just be scraping the money together.

Btw, also on the PFL board related to this topic is the situation where guys who could be 5th year seniors opt to use their final year of eligibility playing as scholarship players for FCS teams. It happened this year going into next season for at least one OT on one of the better teams.
(Actually it was OT Zac Morgan of Dayton. He is playing as a graduate for U of Oregon -- that's FBS!).

[VU2624]

I don't think financial aid is distributed by course load (I know my kids didn't appear to be) but I guess it's possible that there's a hindsight look back and say the school was overpaid for certain semesters and the funds can be redistributed.

I thought that redshirt eligibility was contigent upon the athlete remaining in school through all semesters.

[VULB#62]

You coul be right on all counts. I was just doing some unresearched brainstorming. Regardless, that 9th semester can be a big financial burden for some. Don't blame any kid for graduating in 8 or fewer semesters in today's higher education environment. That 9th semester is truly "pay to play."