New Football Head Coach announced

[VUDad]

Meanwhile, most of the team is back and already working out together in organized sessions, the weight room, and in smaller groups getting extra reps catching passes. Would they like new equipment, new cleats, new facilities, etc.? Of course; they are 19-22 year old young men! They receive a fair amount of stuff now.  Does it matter to them right now? Nope. Only doing what it takes to get wins does. I'll post updates when I can.

[valpotx]

Thanks for the update VUDad.  Everyone wants the program to be successful, and knows that the guys will put in the work to do so, as that has never been questioned.  Now, it appears that we will have an excellent coaching staff to make key decisions in games.  I really hope this staff prepares our guys to be successful, as it seemed like the last HC didn't have them prepared with some of the fundamentals necessary to close out games, hold a lead, or not give up the big plays. 

[vu72]

Have the locker room facilities changed since the early 80's

Yes, the football locker room has been redone in the last couple of years.  The turf, lights and scoreboard are all within the last 5 and new uniforms coincided with the Nike deal a couple of years ago.  Now, go do some coaching and win a few games.

[willy]

Have the locker room facilities changed since the early 80's

Yes, the football locker room has been redone in the last couple of years. The turf, lights and scoreboard are all within the last 5 and new uniforms coincided with the Nike deal a couple of years ago. Now, go do some coaching and win a few games.

I don't think the football locker room has been redone in the last couple years, unless your calling twenty years a couple. The football locker room is really bad!  The lockers are old and rusted, some of the showers are inoperable, the entire football team can not dress together on game day, recruits are not shown the locker room on visits because its embaressing.

[vu72]

Have the locker room facilities changed since the early 80's

Yes, the football locker room has been redone in the last couple of years. The turf, lights and scoreboard are all within the last 5 and new uniforms coincided with the Nike deal a couple of years ago. Now, go do some coaching and win a few games.

I don't think the football locker room has been redone in the last couple years, unless your calling twenty years a couple. The football locker room is really bad!  The lockers are old and rusted, some of the showers are inoperable, the entire football team can not dress together on game day, recruits are not shown the locker room on visits because its embaressing.

My mistake.  I would have sworn that someone had posted pictures of the locker room and it looked pretty good.  I can't find them so I guess I was wrong.

[VULB#62]

I was at the the alumni reception in Milwaukee and met Coach Cecchini.  I am impressed with his presence.  He had a few words to say to the assembled group.  He's a midwesterner actually (Iowa/MN).  He said right away that the past is the past and that his focus is the future.  He stressed two things that are being strengthened immediately:  facilities and recruiting. He cited the expanded (triple in size) weight and performance center ($250K investment -- over half of which is already raised) as the first step on the facilities side and mentioned that a $25K gift has helped the recruiting budget to compensate for the lost early December recruiting period.  He mention that the state that is providing (so far) the most commits is Florida.  One alumnus asked whether Valpo was lowering academic standards to get them, because who in their right mind would leave Florida for snowy Indiana     

I asked him how he would compare the Lehigh players to Valpo players.  He said side-by-side the first 11-22 would compare favorably in size/body type and to a degree athleticism (they have just begun to evaluate that element with the first offseason conditioning session yesterday morning).  The big difference he said was after #22 -- that's where Valpo tails off.  He also mentioned that Valpo carries more on the roster right now (without the graduated seniors or players who left the program) than Lehigh carried on their entire roster last season.  Interesting.

I also asked ML about the track.  It should be a pretty nice addition to the overall atmosphere (fencing and landscaping along with the track itself).  So the fan experience (at least visually)  at the home opener against St. Joe's should be a good one.

[vu72]

Some of us football alums are part of a facebook page.  One of the guys was at Valpo recently and posted some pictures from inside the football offices.

Here you go:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ValparaisoUniversityFootballAlumniAssociation/permalink/283966125085310/

[VUOR63]

I did not hear about the capital campaign to fund a new weight room/performance center.  Is the program giving anything away with certain levels of donation?  How much do I have to donate to get my name engraved on a couple of 45 lb bumper plates?

[VULB#62]

As I understand it, there isn't a formal campaign .... yet.  The first wave of donations were targeted appeals to some individuals.  I would think that a second wave is going to happen, but I don't know much more than that.  I'd love for the first formal campaign to former players like myself to start soon.

[VULB#62]

I was surfing around and landed on the VUFB Twitter site and saw that they got a top recruit from Georgia (4.34 40 and a 10.73 100 meters).  One thing led to another and I eventually got over to the Lehigh athletic website.  I pasted the Lehigh facilities page here too show what Dave Cecchini gave up in order to come to Valpo. 

http://www.lehighsports.com/sports/2013/6/4/GEN_0604131610.aspx?

We need to make his stay here a good one by supporting his program both financially and in attendance at games.  I know I will make the drive down from the Green Bay area for the home opener against St. Joe's  and then after that I hope to get in a few more.   

[usc4valpo]

maybe this can be a wakeup call where Valpo need to step up on their athletic facilities.

[valpotx]

What position is the 4.34 guy?  I can't imagine that we have ever had a guy legitimately run that fast before...

[vu72]

What position is the 4.34 guy?  I can't imagine that we have ever had a guy legitimately run that fast before...

His name is Christian Coleman and he is listed as a DB at 5'8" 155#.  He was an All State Class A player.  "A" is the smallest schools. AAAAA is the big ones.  I'm pretty sure the 24 foot long jump would be WAY past our school record.

Here is a pretty bad high lite video (blurry).  At the very end you can see him running some sprints.  He is a jet and no doubt will be a two sport athlete for us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSa5uZ-NVME

[VULB#62]

Almost but just a shade off the VU records:

Jarred Minkens set both the indoor LJ record (24' 2 ¼") and the outdoor LJ record (24' 6 ½") in 2011.  Christian Coleman is ¼" behind on the former and would need 4 ½" for the latter. It's pretty safe to say with some additional strength and maturity and just even adequate coaching he's a lock to break both.

I liked the Hudl highlight clip I saw of him.  He played both ways as a CB and a slot/motion receiver.  I especially liked his aggressiveness and tackling form in stuffing the run. Lots of times tracksters are not ones to stick their noses into contact, but it appears Christian is not one of those.   5'8" is not all that tall for a CB but he has a 34" vertical leap.

[vu72]

Don't think this has been posted. Valpo gets another kid from Florida and this time he's a "headhunter".

http://www.aroundosceola.com/?p=6769

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/o/1024043/highlights/63344375

[valpopal]

Don't think this has been posted. Valpo gets another kid from Florida and this time he's a "headhunter".

http://www.aroundosceola.com/?p=6769

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/o/1024043/highlights/63344375

Mentioned it a month ago over in "Football Recruiting":

A family friend who played linebacker on the high school team with my nephew (one of the defensive lineman in this old video who unfortunately is going to play at another university) visited campus this weekend and says he committed to Valpo today. The new recruit's name is Colton Keene:

Colton Keene, LB, Class of 2014, Highight Video

[VUDad]

Interesting PFL preview:
http://www.wearecentralpa.com/story/d/story/in-the-fcs-huddle-pioneer-football-league-spring-p/27443/h2hQIcM3vEejVrWsP-j1rQ

[VULB#62]

Thanks Dad. Marist and Davidson grace our schedule, so if there is any Crusader improvement we could be competitive and even with Butler on our field -- didn't realize Butler lost so much.