2015 Football Season Post Mortem

[ml]

Genuinely interested, what do you believe a commitment for success in football looks like?

[usc4valpo]

I have to be honest - better football facilities, overall university empathy for the program, more students at the game, providing a reason for fans to attend. If student athletes are paying to play, and we are trying to represent Division I football, I think the university, and not just the athletic department and player parents, needs to get more engaged.

I was at the Drake game with my family I felt like we were the only Valpo supporters that were not football parents. There were few Valpo alums at the game, and Des Moines is not that distant.  It was kind of disappointing.

Also, I support the coaching staff and I think they are going through difficult hurdles but will hopefully get through the storm.

[IndyValpo]

Yet no attempt was made to try and use other players who had played last year, won a few games, are mentally tougher and came to VALPO trying to revive the program. I am objective enough to know there were a few impact players from the freshman class that deserved major reps, however, I feel that the team could of mixed in upper classmen and made more adjustments week to week to find the right mixes( IE not subbing 4 RB's per game) and game palns. Will see what happens.                 

Still waiting on a list of these players we did not play causing the bad season.

[ml]

While we do need to continue to improve I believe we have been making progress in both those areas.

Since Coach Cecchini has arrived we have renovated and expanded the football weight room and completely renovated the football locker room.

The Alumni Association had events at both the Butler and Jacksonville games.  The tailgating event at Butler was very well attended and I believe the Jacksonville event sold out.  The Alumni Association has been instrumental in changing the way that Homecoming is organized so that most of Saturday's activity is adjacent to Brown Field.  This includes a beer garden.  This year there was a hospitality area adjacent to the east endzone during the Homecoming game.  VUPD is much more thoughtful about the way that alcohol consumption is monitored.  The University's Student Affairs staff has been proactive in helping engage fraternities and sororities in football games.

The challenge at this point is putting a team on the field that is not only competitive but wins games.  Students, like all fans, want to see their team win.  The best plan for growing attendance is to win games.

The University is committed to having a successful football program.  Appreciate your support for Coach Cecchini and his staff.  Thanks for your continuing interest.     

[VU2624]

According to Brandon Vickery, Paliga is transferring to Purdue at semester. With the injury to Stokes, Valpo is left with one quarterback for the spring. Shaping up like last offseason all over again.

Saw that. Unfortunatley this rumor turns out to be accurate although it's been out there for months.

Wonder if Connor Smith takes snaps at QB in the spring. I have not idea how you hold spring practice with one QB. Last year it was the WR group which ended up with punters and DBs playing WR. This year they have one guy throwing to them.

Naturally, with the WR group having more than enough guys returning, the first announced recruit is a WR. 

[dime life]

Geez, a list???

Yeah, ummm let's see, the 4 starting WR's coming out of Spring, per the HC...Morgan, Catrine, Shea and Foley, rarely a snap with 2 of those 4 out there at once, let alone all 4. Jean Rene played well, other than that the WR's could not get off a press or block. Going "power" with 2 TE's and expecting them to open up holes? Stetson anyone? At RB, tried over and over all year to get Legend reps, in the end, he averaged 2 yds per carry. Should of been red-shirted. We had Bastin, Jake and B-Hall ready to go. The O-Line...jumbled and juggled all season to get freshman reps. and they were "monstered". Lead to some concussions, no running game and a weekly debate internally on who was going to start or not. So, this all helped to lead VALPO to a whopping 1 win. Now the red=shirt QB quit, more to follow. You have a roster of 90+, you make changes, you make players earn their spots. The entitlement plan for 2015 was a disaster.       

[IndyValpo]

Geez, a list???

Yeah, ummm let's see, the 4 starting WR's coming out of Spring, per the HC...Morgan, Catrine, Shea and Foley, rarely a snap with 2 of those 4 out there at once, let alone all 4. Jean Rene played well, other than that the WR's could not get off a press or block. Going "power" with 2 TE's and expecting them to open up holes? Stetson anyone? At RB, tried over and over all year to get Legend reps, in the end, he averaged 2 yds per carry. Should of been red-shirted. We had Bastin, Jake and B-Hall ready to go. The O-Line...jumbled and juggled all season to get freshman reps. and they were "monstered". Lead to some concussions, no running game and a weekly debate internally on who was going to start or not. So, this all helped to lead VALPO to a whopping 1 win. Now the red=shirt QB quit, more to follow. You have a roster of 90+, you make changes, you make players earn their spots. The entitlement plan for 2015 was a disaster.       

You do realize that we only had 6 upper class offensive linemen.  2 or more of those had a game suspension. 3 of those guys did not play in the second half of the season due to injuries. Who was supposed to play?

You love to hit the 4 RB thing. In reality Bastin did not play past week 4 and Hall missed multiple games. See my note above. it all starts there.

We had QB's get hurt, see above.

We started the season with one returning WR and he was #5 on the depth chart. We shoehorned 2 RB's and a DB in for the spring game so we would have enough to play. Some of those worked out, some apparently did not.

[VU2624]

Geez, a list??? Yeah, ummm let's see, the 4 starting WR's coming out of Spring, per the HC...Morgan, Catrine, Shea and Foley, rarely a snap with 2 of those 4 out there at once, let alone all 4. Jean Rene played well, other than that the WR's could not get off a press or block. Going "power" with 2 TE's and expecting them to open up holes? Stetson anyone? At RB, tried over and over all year to get Legend reps, in the end, he averaged 2 yds per carry. Should of been red-shirted. We had Bastin, Jake and B-Hall ready to go. The O-Line...jumbled and juggled all season to get freshman reps. and they were "monstered". Lead to some concussions, no running game and a weekly debate internally on who was going to start or not. So, this all helped to lead VALPO to a whopping 1 win. Now the red=shirt QB quit, more to follow. You have a roster of 90+, you make changes, you make players earn their spots. The entitlement plan for 2015 was a disaster.

You do realize that we only had 6 upper class offensive linemen.  2 or more of those had a game suspension. 3 of those guys did not play in the second half of the season due to injuries. Who was supposed to play? You love to hit the 4 RB thing. In reality Bastin did not play past week 4 and Hall missed multiple games. See my note above. it all starts there. We had QB's get hurt, see above. We started the season with one returning WR and he was #5 on the depth chart. We shoehorned 2 RB's and a DB in for the spring game so we would have enough to play. Some of those worked out, some apparently did not.

I don't disagree with the overall point but the WRs who returned, Catrine, Shea and Morgan all played WR last season '(14). Shea was #4 the previous year. Catrine took over for him late in the year when he was injured. Morgan was spotted in the slot also late in the season. For spring '15 they used Koz and Foley at WR along with a transfer who I think may have eventually left the team after starting the fall with the team in '15. The only real issue at WR was the z receiver which was all freshmen and none who stood out and who didn't step up when Catrine was out the last 2 or 3 games. The good news is they become sophomores. As to Jarret, it took too long to figure out he's a better fit at RB imho so having him out there with Catrine, et al, would have been a mistake anyway. He's fully recovered from his injury btw as it was not a long term injury.

I think some of the complaining I heard came out of the OL group but maybe it was more Sophs. I did hear of one or two leaving the team because of the whole "freshman" issue. I think the other spot was DB.

[usc4valpo]

ml -

Thank you very much for your response and explanation. I have been critical of the football program and watching them this season was frustrating and challenging. When we were at the Drake game in Des Moines this year, my wife and pre-teen daughters attended and I thanked then and gave them kudos for making it through 4 quarters of football. At least the BBQ across the street before the game was good and the parents were friendly.

I heard from 62 and others about the efforts to boost the football experience, which helps. I hope to make it Valpo for a game, job fair or homecoming in the future.

Coach Cecchini and his staff are learning but I think they are building this program to win in a sustainable manner.

IMO, the team needs more overall talent.

[VU2624]

While we do need to continue to improve I believe we have been making progress in both those areas. Since Coach Cecchini has arrived we have renovated and expanded the football weight room and completely renovated the football locker room. The Alumni Association had events at both the Butler and Jacksonville games.  The tailgating event at Butler was very well attended and I believe the Jacksonville event sold out.  The Alumni Association has been instrumental in changing the way that Homecoming is organized so that most of Saturday's activity is adjacent to Brown Field.  This includes a beer garden.  This year there was a hospitality area adjacent to the east endzone during the Homecoming game.  VUPD is much more thoughtful about the way that alcohol consumption is monitored.  The University's Student Affairs staff has been proactive in helping engage fraternities and sororities in football games. The challenge at this point is putting a team on the field that is not only competitive but wins games.  Students, like all fans, want to see their team win.  The best plan for growing attendance is to win games. The University is committed to having a successful football program.  Appreciate your support for Coach Cecchini and his staff.  Thanks for your continuing interest.

Thanks ml. I agree that it's tough generating campus enthusiasm for a program that is not winning and often not competitive. Next year could be a challenge as well because of some of the personnel issues discussed elsewhere in this thread. Hopefully the staff can put together a plan which gets around these challenges.

The Jacksonville Alumni event was, apparently, away from the field. The parent and family friend/high school teammate portion of the crowd, which was substantial with a fair sum of players being from Florida and travelling home from the game, was away from the Alumni event. I'm not sure if that is typical or not but we friends and family found it a little odd.

[VULB#62]

While we do need to continue to improve I believe we have been making progress in both those areas. Since Coach Cecchini has arrived we have renovated and expanded the football weight room and completely renovated the football locker room. The Alumni Association had events at both the Butler and Jacksonville games.  The tailgating event at Butler was very well attended and I believe the Jacksonville event sold out.  The Alumni Association has been instrumental in changing the way that Homecoming is organized so that most of Saturday's activity is adjacent to Brown Field.  This includes a beer garden.  This year there was a hospitality area adjacent to the east endzone during the Homecoming game.  VUPD is much more thoughtful about the way that alcohol consumption is monitored.  The University's Student Affairs staff has been proactive in helping engage fraternities and sororities in football games. The challenge at this point is putting a team on the field that is not only competitive but wins games.  Students, like all fans, want to see their team win.  The best plan for growing attendance is to win games. The University is committed to having a successful football program.  Appreciate your support for Coach Cecchini and his staff.  Thanks for your continuing interest.

Thanks ml. I agree that it's tough generating campus enthusiasm for a program that is not winning and often not competitive. Next year could be a challenge as well because of some of the personnel issues discussed elsewhere in this thread. Hopefully the staff can put together a plan which gets around these challenges.

The Jacksonville Alumni event was, apparently, away from the field. The parent and family friend/high school teammate portion of the crowd, which was substantial with a fair sum of players being from Florida and travelling home from the game, was away from the Alumni event. I'm not sure if that is typical or not but we friends and family found it a little odd.

Thanks ML for posting the response yesterday.  Everything that has transpired over the last two years, IMO, has indicated commitment to the program.  However, I emboldened your key statement above that is, of course, obvious and supported by everyone on this board.  I don't think there are any posters who don't want Valpo FB to win games, thus the frustration and emotions that sneak out every now and again. People want to help.  Perhaps the athletic department could send out more information about how we specifically can help the football staff achieve their player recruitment and training objectives.  Once the whistle blows its up to Coach Cecchini and his coaches to do the winning part, but if the program needs other specific things to get to where they want to be, football supporters need to know so they can help.

USC and 2624 have good points about the atmosphere at away games -- player parents' and alumni activities are not very well coordinated (and they could be better coordinated at home as well).  We do need to promote (via the athletics website??) a single tailgate location for all in attendance and then co-mingle parents, students, alumni and fans somehow on a regular basis.  Butler, for me, was a good example. I heard about the sponsored tailgate through the Fan Board, registered as an alum, but I spoke to a few player parents at the game, and they knew nothing about it.  Students who drove down to cheer on the team also didn't get involved.

I would add that an effort to expand the pep band (especially drums and symbols) would help with home game atmosphere.  The students who do it now try, but some leadership would help. If a tailgate area was setup and promoted, an enhanced pep band could come through and play on their way to setting up in the grandstands -- increases atmosphere immediately.  See the video of the Packer and U of Wisconsin drumlines at Lambeau Field.  BTW a good drumline would be kicka$$ inside the ARC for BB games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVsd9RMJcxg

[usc4valpo]

Excellent post 62! I agree with ml about winning solves everything, and Valpo needs talent and raw materials to mold that piece of clay into a masterpiece. In reality, the talent level is below that of San Diego, Drake, Dayton or Jacksonville, and the recruiting and maturing of talent must improve.

ml mentioned the university is committed to football, and I believe Valpo needs to set their standards to those schools listed above and not be satisfied with 3 or 4 win seasons. I would like to know what obstacles must be overcome to reach these standards.

[VULB#62]

Excellent post 62! I agree with ml about winning solves everything, and Valpo needs talent and raw materials to mold that piece of clay into a masterpiece. In reality, the talent level is below that of San Diego, Drake, Dayton or Jacksonville, and the recruiting and maturing of talent must improve.

ml mentioned the university is committed to football, and I believe Valpo needs to set their standards to those schools listed above and not be satisfied with 3 or 4 win seasons. I would like to know what obstacles must be overcome to reach these standards.

Me too. 

Make sure you watch the drumlines video if you haven't yet. I was at a Packer game when the Tundraline performed all over the stadium parking lot.  Those kids were real showmen and women (PC: show persons?  )  Throughout the game they showed up at various spots in the stadium and cranked out numbers that got 78,000 fans buzzed.

[usc4valpo]

Cool!!

Also, check Stanford's marching band at halftime at the Rose Bowl. Let's just say they are atypical Big Ten.

[VULB#62]

Check out Brandon Vickrey's Twitter site for info on players who will not return next season.

https://mobile.twitter.com/BrandonVickrey

Note that I also posted this on 2016 Changes.  There are more related posts there

[VULB#62]

Here is a really nice article about Conner Smith. Connor,  if you remember, was a top QB recruit in the first Cecchini class. He never enrolled that year. But he did enroll later in the year and was one of the QBs competing to start in 2015. Brandon Vickrey tells us "the rest of the stoory."

http://www.valpotorch.com/sports/article_8df0c3b8-bbb2-11e5-af83-f78b7feaa9f8.html

I wish Connor all the best in his studies and his coaching at Valpo.

[bbtds]

Even at Butler, Smith watched every Valparaiso game and Cecchini's video interviews online. When the Crusaders upset the rival Bulldogs that season, he wore Valparaiso gear to his Butler classes.

I knew I liked this guy a lot.

[VU2624]

Thanks for posting that article. Very nice to read.