Valpo @ Mercer:

[usc4valpo]

Drake did lose to Grandview who is in the NAIA Top 5.
Drake also beat Indianapolis 31-14 who is in the NCAA Div II Top 20.

[vu72]

Drake did lose to Grandview who is in the NAIA Top 5.
Drake also beat Indianapolis 31-14 who is in the NCAA Div II Top 20.

Fair enough.  Here's another point.  Our staff can't attract players who were capable of beating Drake.  So they picked Grandview(?--seriously, no disrespect,  but a degree from Grandview versus Valpo?  Something is way off in this picture.

[usc4valpo]

just giving you the facts.

Be careful with the academic excuse:  any Ivy League school would smack Valpo.  Please do not compare Valpo academically with the Ivy League schools.

[vu72]

just giving you the facts.

Be careful with the academic excuse:  any Ivy League school would smack Valpo.  Please do not compare Valpo academically with the Ivy League schools.

Huh??  Excuse me?  I was comparing Grandview to Valpo.  Read my post again slowly.  Look, this is a quote from the Grandview admissions page..."Grandview offers 40 majors, 16 of which are accredited" The only thing in common is they both have a Lutheran affiliation.

My point is:  The whole experience at Valpo is way different and (sorry if you disagree for some reason) superior on many fronts.  Still, our coaches find a way to not find them when Grandview does and puts together a squad that beat Drake.  Why is that??

[usc4valpo]

My bad, I am an idiot.  I totally misinterpreted that.  Sorry.

[vu72]

My bad, I am an idiot.

Nope. You are a Valpo grad wanting the same thing as the rest of us.  Sorry if I jumped on you a little hard!   

[usc4valpo]

no problem. You were not giving me grief.  Running simulations for work at the same time as surfing and writing is making me brain dead.  I just want to see a football program we can at least respect.  Drake gets decent fan support and they play in a historic, classic stadium near beautiful downtown Des Moines and some decent BBQ joints.  I would love to see Valpo have the same financial and fan support as Drake.

[usc4valpo]

If you go by the Sagarin ratings, with an additonal 3 pt home field advantage, Mercer is a 14 point favorite.

Also, USC is playing a lot looser and had fun with interim Coach O and was successful.  Has Carlson shown tendencies of being a control freak?

[valporun]

I missed the first half of the game, and didn't follow the second half that well, but IS FOOTBALL SEASON OVER YET??? They couldn't even beat Mercer... Bye Bye Dale Carlson!!

[milanmiracle]

To review:

Mercer is a first year program
Mercer has more wins in 1 year than Valpo does in 4 years 
And to the surprise of nobody (well, the kool aid drinkers are surprised) Mercer goes out and beats Valpo

But hey, Valpo does have plenty of Joel Osteen quotes

Here's one from TV...Dale Carlson, you are the weakest link...

[usc4valpo]

brutal.  Maybe they need an Ed Odgeron type coach next week and have a little fun...they lost by 14 to a first year team.

But in reality, Carlson is 3-36, right?  and Valpo administrators are smoking their pipes, drinking scotch, appreciating their mahagony furniture and do not give a crap.

[FloridaFootball]

I was at the game today. The team played well. Two missed coverage plays on the back side of the D were the difference. Mercer's 3 early wins were against cupcakes. They are overrated! Our team is banged up big time with injuries that many people don't know about. Kids are playing hurt. No excuses for not winning, but its reality. Many predicted that we would lose by 25 or 30.  We had a chance to cut it to 7 with 5 minutes left but could not convert on 3rd and 4th down. Bad play calling at a critical time. Actually, the same play called twice, a fade in the back corner to a receiver that was doubled up! Nice to see Devan Gadson back in the starting lineup. I am biased, he is my son! Big loss today with Fred Gladney going down with an injury. He will be missed.

Morehead State cam be beaten!They are a shade of what they were last year. Its a winnable game.


I have enjoyed the commentary on the board over the last few years, but its time to go. There are some knowledgeable fans and former players like myself (not at Valpo) on the board. I will remain positive and see how this season plays out. Keep the passion! We all want the same thing. A winning respectable football program.

Best wishes to you all! 

[IndyValpo]

I was at the game today. The team played well. Two missed coverage plays on the back side of the D were the difference. Mercer's 3 early wins were against cupcakes. They are overrated! Our team is banged up big time with injuries that many people don't know about. Kids are playing hurt. No excuses for not winning, but its reality. Many predicted that we would lose by 25 or 30.  We had a chance to cut it to 7 with 5 minutes left but could not convert on 3rd and 4th down. Bad play calling at a critical time. Actually, the same play called twice, a fade in the back corner to a receiver that was doubled up! Nice to see Devan Gadson back in the starting lineup. I am biased, he is my son! Big loss today with Fred Gladney going down with an injury. He will be missed.

Morehead State cam be beaten!They are a shade of what they were last year. Its a winnable game.


I have enjoyed the commentary on the board over the last few years, but its time to go. There are some knowledgeable fans and former players like myself (not at Valpo) on the board. I will remain positive and see how this season plays out. Keep the passion! We all want the same thing. A winning respectable football program.

Best wishes to you all! 

Injuries we don't know about, nothing is ever published with injuries so how is anyone to know.  This group can't even get the starting lineups published correctly. Have you noticed that we list Brandon Hall as the starting safety each week?

You are correct about bad play calling yesterday. 3 times yesterday on third down and under 5 we tried running plays when running was seldom successful.

[VULB#62]

In checking to see if UMass won a game yet this season (can't let go of my New England roots I guess), I saw where they beat Miami (OH).  In reading further I noted that Miami just went through a week of turmoil coming into the UMass game -- they had just fired the HFBC as well as the OC after a 0-6 start.  MU was 4-8 the past two seasons.

Just sayin..............

[usc4valpo]

In checking to see if UMass won a game yet this season (can't let go of my New England roots I guess), I saw where they beat Miami (OH). In reading further I noted that Miami just went through a week of turmoil coming into the UMass game -- they had just fired the HFBC as well as the OC after a 0-6 start. MU was 4-8 the past two seasons. Just sayin..............

I think I understand what you are saying 62, but the administration does not have the guts or the caring to make a move right now.  As pledge Chip Diller said in Animal House, "all is well."  The problem is beyond MLB's control.

[VULB#62]

Spot on.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

yw
Animal House - All Is Well!

[Lurking Dog]

So they picked Grandview(?--seriously, no disrespect,  but a degree from Grandview versus Valpo?  Something is way off in this picture.

There are all kinds of schools, including those with admission standards different from Valparaiso's.  Also, Grand View has a relatively large recruiting budget (recruits places Valpo does not) and they offer football scholarships.  Different strokes for different folks.

[bbtds]

So they picked Grandview(?--seriously, no disrespect,  but a degree from Grandview versus Valpo?  Something is way off in this picture.

There are all kinds of schools, including those with admission standards different from Valparaiso's.  Also, Grand View has a relatively large recruiting budget (recruits places Valpo does not) and they offer football scholarships.  Different strokes for different folks.

The operative words there are "large recruiting budget." A Lutheran school with a large recruiting budget which allows the coaches to recruit in places that Valpo does not. Here, I see the only difference is the commitment that those in power at Grand View put towards football and the commitment that the Valpo board of directors puts towards football. There is a difference between the schools in academics that should encourage good student athletes to pick Valpo. Yet better athletes pick Grand View because they have a built a tradition of "winning football" or at least not "losing football" and award athletic scholarships to student athletes which is all part of a commitment Grand View makes to their football program.

[vu72]

So they picked Grandview(?--seriously, no disrespect,  but a degree from Grandview versus Valpo?  Something is way off in this picture.

There are all kinds of schools, including those with admission standards different from Valparaiso's.  Also, Grand View has a relatively large recruiting budget (recruits places Valpo does not) and they offer football scholarships.  Different strokes for different folks.

The operative words there are "large recruiting budget." A Lutheran school with a large recruiting budget which allows the coaches to recruit in places that Valpo does not. Here, I see the only difference is the commitment that those in power at Grand View put towards football and the commitment that the Valpo board of directors puts towards football. There is a difference between the schools in academics that should encourage good student athletes to pick Valpo. Yet better athletes pick Grand View because they have a built a tradition of "winning football" or at least not "losing football" and award athletic scholarships to student athletes which is all part of a commitment Grand View makes to their football program.

I had no idea NAIA schools offered scholarships.  In any event I just wasted about 30 minutes comparing the rosters of Valpo v. Grandview.  You might be right about the quality of player being attracted but not about the ability to recruit in more places.

Grandview has players from 9 states with over half of their team coming from Iowa.  Other than Texas, at 22, there are only 16 players from other states.
Valpo on the other hand has players from 20 states with 15 from Indiana and 32 from Illinois.  That's about one-half from the Ind-Illinois. However, we have one-half our players from other places beyond Indiana and Illinois. As an example, they have 1 player from Florida, we have 10.

The academic profile may be the difference.  I don't know about Grandview, but Valpo's current freshman class averaged a 3.3 GPA and 24 ACT score.  The staff wants to get that to 3.5 and 26.  That will limit the available players to some degree but shouldn't be an excuse in any way.

[valpotx]

Geez, everybody is mining this state it seems!

[bbtds]

I had no idea NAIA schools offered scholarships.  In any event I just wasted about 30 minutes comparing the rosters of Valpo v. Grandview.  You might be right about the quality of player being attracted but not about the ability to recruit in more places.

Grandview has players from 9 states with over half of their team coming from Iowa.  Other than Texas, at 22, there are only 16 players from other states.
Valpo on the other hand has players from 20 states with 15 from Indiana and 32 from Illinois.  That's about one-half from the Ind-Illinois. However, we have one-half our players from other places beyond Indiana and Illinois. As an example, they have 1 player from Florida, we have 10.

The academic profile may be the difference.  I don't know about Grandview, but Valpo's current freshman class averaged a 3.3 GPA and 24 ACT score.  The staff wants to get that to 3.5 and 26.  That will limit the available players to some degree but shouldn't be an excuse in any way.

I can't speak for Lurking Dog as to what he means when he says "which allows the coaches to recruit in places that Valpo does not." I took it to mean, maybe incorrectly, at places with good students that also happen to be very good athletes, not just in a wider range of states. Just because you recruit in Florida or Texas or California doesn't mean you are getting the best of the good students who are very good athletes. It seems Valpo gets excellent students who are good to average athletes from those football hotbed states. I think Valpo's losing tradition impacts this greatly. It will never be an easy task to resurrect a football program that has had a losing tradition for so long as Valpo has had. I do believe there is a coach out there who can do it. I just don't believe Dale Carlson is the person for the job. He's had 3.5 years to move Valpo forward and if anything the football program has only moved slightly forward if at all and in some areas has taken some steps backward.

[usc4valpo]

First of all, I never thought Grandview, a small college out of Des Moines, would ever be part of this forum discussion.  They get a lot of local Iowa athletes and have a good story with their football program.

Valpo's primary problem is not getting quality student athletes - it is bigger than that.  Valpo's problem is that they are not committed to a quality football program.  I find it interesting that the administration has never discussed or commented on the status of the football program.  I also understand people on this forum support MLB and he has done an admirable job.  However, we have never heard his perspective of the football program and what actions will be made to improve.

My questions to those closer to the Valpo community are:
       1.  What is the student apathy or response to football at Valpo?
       2.  Has MLB ever discussed an action plan to improve football at Valpo?
       3.  Has the Valpo administration expressed any concerns on the football program at Valpo?

[IndyValpo]

Nice to see Devan Gadson back in the starting lineup. I am biased, he is my son! Big loss today with Fred Gladney going down with an injury. He will be missed.

I am pretty sure a father knows so to keep with a pet peeve of mine....Devan was not listed as a starter last week on the official book nor was he on the two deep.  He is not on the two deep this week either.
Gladney is still listed as a starter for this week.

[vu72]

First of all, I never thought Grandview, a small college out of Des Moines, would ever be part of this forum discussion.  They get a lot of local Iowa athletes and have a good story with their football program.

Valpo's primary problem is not getting quality student athletes - it is bigger than that.  Valpo's problem is that they are not committed to a quality football program.  I find it interesting that the administration has never discussed or commented on the status of the football program.  I also understand people on this forum support MLB and he has done an admirable job.  However, we have never heard his perspective of the football program and what actions will be made to improve.

My questions to those closer to the Valpo community are:
       1.  What is the student apathy or response to football at Valpo?
       2. Has MLB ever discussed an action plan to improve football at Valpo?
       3.  Has the Valpo administration expressed any concerns on the football program at Valpo?

The answer is yes to an action plan.  This is from the strategic athletic plan relative to football, the plan covers 2012-2017:

Goal 2.4: Finish in the top 3 in the Pioneer Football League while winning
the Championship at least once every four years.


Here is the site for the entire plan:

http://www.valpoathletics.com/media/miscellaneous/2012-13/Valparaiso%20Athletics%20Strategic%20Plan.pdf

We've got to hurry to finish in the top 3, let alone win a title.