Greg Tonagel

tiny707 · December 21, 2018, 08:50:36 AM

So everyone keeps mentioning this name and I didn't know much about him so I decided to research him. Seems like an amazing person and very successful HEAD coach. I think he really changes kids lives with his I Am Third approach. The teams identity is I am Third. If he ever came to Valpo someday it would be like Roy Williams coming home. Bo Ryan had success coming from DIII to Wisconsin. Seems like he is recruiting DI players now for a DII school. Amazing story of growing up on a Dairy farm in Indiana and getting injured. Reminds me a John Wooden. Could be a movie. Still think you have to have patience with Matt Lottich though. Not even done with his third year yet.

VU2014 · December 21, 2018, 09:00:13 AM

I like Greg and think he's a great coach but as I said before I'm not sure there is a fit there. I don't think he'd be able to run a D1 program the same way he does his IWU program. A certain type of athletes flocks to IWU and I'm not sure D1 recruiting would go as well being run as devoutly religious as his program is run.

vu72 · December 21, 2018, 09:03:30 AM

Quote from: tiny707 on December 21, 2018, 08:50:36 AMStill think you have to have patience with Matt Lottich though. Not even done with his third year yet.
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Agree on Lottich. Here's the thing: Bryce isn't exactly lighting it up at Vandy. Things take time.

vu84v2 · December 21, 2018, 09:12:37 AM

Greg Tonagel is a great guy and has been a great coach at the NAIA level. If Valpo, at some point, were to search for a new coach, he should get strong consideration - but there is a major issue with Greg. My understanding is that he openly states that his religious beliefs are completely integrated with his coaching. This means that he expects his players to adhere to his view of Christian beliefs. If he cannot agree to keep his evangelism completely out of his coaching, and thus recruits players based on their playing ability, potential, and character and treats all players (regardless of their beliefs) with respect, then he should not be the coach at Valpo. One thing I do respect is that (again from what I understand) Greg will always be honest and forthcoming, so he would not deceive the university regarding his views on whether his religious beliefs would be imposed on players.

I do agree with you that the university needs to be patient with Matt Lottich, though I also believe that the athletic department and university need to understand his plans for achieving excellence on the court and need to take a critical look at whether he has the ability to turn things around. The effort and emphasis on team play has been sorely missing in many games this year.

vu84v2 · December 21, 2018, 09:15:27 AM

Quote from: vu72 on December 21, 2018, 09:03:30 AM
Quote from: tiny707 on December 21, 2018, 08:50:36 AMStill think you have to have patience with Matt Lottich though. Not even done with his third year yet.
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Agree on Lottich. Here's the thing: Bryce isn't exactly lighting it up at Vandy. Things take time.

Bryce has had some decimating injuries this year at Vanderbilt, but has not let that create any acceptance of not reaching goals for the program (there was a recent article on espn.com on this). On top of that, Vandy just beat a ranked Arizona State team this week.

valpolaw · December 21, 2018, 09:28:12 AM

Yeah, Bryce is on the verge of something special at Vandy. They just beat Az State who was ranked 18. He lost garland, a top recruit, to injury early this season. They are still currently 7-2....

Meanwhile we are discussing hiring a coach from IWU and I'll be shocked if we finish above .500 this year. How disappointing. I still think Lottich deserves another year. I'm expecting a brutal conference record this year though.

VU2014 · December 21, 2018, 10:03:27 AM

Yeah Bryce has his program in a much stronger position than w e're currently in. Bryce, Rodger, Casey, and Jake have recruited their @$$es off and have done a hell of a job.

They took over a imperfect squad their first season that still had some talent and made it to the tourney after a rough start to the season. Their second season was rough because the roster was in a bad spot in terms of graduations and roster construction. This season they had a Top 10 recruiting class and the stars have had injuries and they're still solid.

One thing I will say about Lottich's teams are that Bryce put us in a tough spot with these giant classes every 4 seasons. He left Lottich a corvette with AP, Jubril, Shane, etcbut we all know how that season ended. Lottich has hasn't hit on many recruits his first few seasons (when recruiting HS kids): Micah, Jay (solid, not special), Parker (busy) Marty (a transfer), Mileek (maybe he develops into a good player). He probably hit on this class with Freeman (he doesn't commit to VU without Coach Dildy), Sackey (Coach Gore recruit). He's landed some good Transfers. The roster probably isn't a great Valley roster though. It's probably avg to sub par.

If I were the AD coming up with a list of future candidates there is no way Jake Diebler doesn't get a interview. A young and bright coaching mind and is a proven recruiter with strong ties to the program.

elephtheria47 · December 21, 2018, 11:09:37 AM

Agree with everyone, Vandy is pulling talent and is trending upwards (and they have been historically okay with being "average"). I think he'll be there for a long time to come.

I'm not sure it's fair to the current coach or the team to be tossing other names around on the board at this point in the process. I know it's part of the job and we are fans and can discuss everything, but it appeared everyone was behind Lottich and the team at the beginning of the season and thought it was going to be a great year. The last few games have been disappointing, for sure, and yes the ship is unstable, but there's still plenty of time to get it righted. Might be a long time until the next game

Valpo89 · December 21, 2018, 01:14:10 PM

Quote from: VU2014 on December 21, 2018, 09:00:13 AM
I like Greg and think he's a great coach but as I said before I'm not sure there is a fit there. I don't think he'd be able to run a D1 program the same way he does his IWU program. A certain type of athletes flocks to IWU and I'm not sure D1 recruiting would go as well being run as devoutly religious as his program is run.

How do you think Homer coached?

vu84v2 · December 21, 2018, 01:22:59 PM

Quote from: Valpo89 on December 21, 2018, 01:14:10 PM
Quote from: VU2014 on December 21, 2018, 09:00:13 AM
I like Greg and think he's a great coach but as I said before I'm not sure there is a fit there. I don't think he'd be able to run a D1 program the same way he does his IWU program. A certain type of athletes flocks to IWU and I'm not sure D1 recruiting would go as well being run as devoutly religious as his program is run.
How do you think Homer coached?

He and Bryce both have strong religious convictions, but (at least from my perspective) they kept them appropriately separate from their coaching. The reason that I say this is there were definitely players with different religious beliefs than the Drews or agnostic/indifferent religious beliefs and there were never (to my knowledge) any problems.

VU2014 · December 21, 2018, 03:15:16 PM

Quote from: Valpo89 on December 21, 2018, 01:14:10 PM
Quote from: VU2014 on December 21, 2018, 09:00:13 AM
I like Greg and think he's a great coach but as I said before I'm not sure there is a fit there. I don't think he'd be able to run a D1 program the same way he does his IWU program. A certain type of athletes flocks to IWU and I'm not sure D1 recruiting would go as well being run as devoutly religious as his program is run.
How do you think Homer coached?

There is a difference. If you follow IWU a little bit you would know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm just saying he'd probably need to alter some things if he moved up to the D1 level and started having to recruit the caliber of players we would need to succeed. Don't get me wrong he's a great coach. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being religious and in fact most of our coaches have been open about their faith and I respect that and think it's a good thing.

oklahomamick · December 21, 2018, 03:32:52 PM

Would love to see Jake Diebler as coach of valpo.

mj · December 21, 2018, 08:10:12 PM

Quote from: oklahomamick on December 21, 2018, 03:32:52 PMWould love to see Jake Diebler as coach of valpo.

Agree

valpospartan · December 21, 2018, 10:43:26 PM

Quote from: oklahomamick on December 21, 2018, 03:32:52 PM
Would love to see Jake Diebler as coach of valpo.

I am a big Jake Diebler fan, but I don't think he is ready for a D1 coaching job, especially at a high mid major school.

VU2014 · December 21, 2018, 11:47:37 PM

Quote from: valpospartan on December 21, 2018, 10:43:26 PM
Quote from: oklahomamick on December 21, 2018, 03:32:52 PM
Would love to see Jake Diebler as coach of valpo.
I am a big Jake Diebler fan, but I don't think he is ready for a D1 coaching job, especially at a high mid major school.

Jake actually has more coaching experience right now then Coach Lottich had before getting the VU Head Coaching job (2013-2016). Jake's experience: Valpo assistant 2012-2013, Ohio State video coordinator 2013-2016, Vanderbilt assistant: April 2016-present. Coach Lottich was ironically Jake's replacement on the VU staff. One major difference in their experience level is that Coach Lottich played overseas for many years, which has to be some valuable experience. I can't argue that Jake might need more seasoning before getting his first HC job but he's getting some valuable experience.

I want to emphasize I'm not ready to give Coach Lottich the boot, but I think some criticism is warranted. No matter what he deserves 4 years, imo. ML is going to have a very tough decision when that contract comes up if there isn't marketable improvement or the arrow isn't clearly pointing up. That big 2020 class is critical and if you let a coach go before then it could set the program back for quite a while if a new coach has to start recruiting from scratch. I'm rooting for Coach Lottich but I'm not going to sugarcoat it. The team needs to perform at much higher level.

VU2010 · December 22, 2018, 09:12:45 AM

I would love to see Jake come back and take over the reigns. Or, it would also be cool to see Jake come in as Tonagel's assistant. Or, I woudn't mind the existing staff but under a more experienced coach with more energy. I'd love - for instance - to see someone like Greg Kampe come over to Valpo. He's a riot.

VUGrad1314 · December 22, 2018, 09:58:02 AM

Kampe can't win. Hard pass.

M · December 22, 2018, 10:00:26 AM

Troll post of the year goes to 2010....

I really want Lottich to succeed and this post to laughed at by the end of next year.

VUGrad1314 · December 22, 2018, 10:16:51 AM

Let there be a day where he becomes Coach Take No Ls. It would be awesome. I hope he makes us all eat every single negative comment.

bbtds · December 22, 2018, 11:09:46 AM

Quote from: VU2014 on December 21, 2018, 09:00:13 AM
I like Greg and think he's a great coach but as I said before I'm not sure there is a fit there. I don't think he'd be able to run a D1 program the same way he does his IWU program. A certain type of athletes flocks to IWU and I'm not sure D1 recruiting would go as well being run as devoutly religious as his program is run.

Please explain to me what the difference is between the successful program that Bryce Drew ran at Valpo and the successful program Greg Tonagel runs at Indiana Wesleyan as far as being run by an openly Christian coach. How is Tonagel so different than the way Bryce ran his Valpo program?

VU2010 · December 22, 2018, 01:02:34 PM

I *think* this is a compliment? Not quite sure. Either way, I do hope he succeeds. Don't we all? Isn't that why we watch? To see the team win? Win early, often, and all the time?

vu84v2 · December 22, 2018, 03:04:14 PM

Quote from: bbtds on December 22, 2018, 11:09:46 AM
Quote from: VU2014 on December 21, 2018, 09:00:13 AM
I like Greg and think he's a great coach but as I said before I'm not sure there is a fit there. I don't think he'd be able to run a D1 program the same way he does his IWU program. A certain type of athletes flocks to IWU and I'm not sure D1 recruiting would go as well being run as devoutly religious as his program is run.

Please explain to me what the difference is between the successful program that Bryce Drew ran at Valpo and the successful program Greg Tonagel runs at Indiana Wesleyan as far as being run by an openly Christian coach. How is Tonagel so different than the way Bryce ran his Valpo program?

Both clearly have strong religious convictions. That, of course, is not a problem. Bryce (to my knowledge) never evangelized to his players and never expected or required participation in any religious activities. He never prioritized recruiting players who shared his religious beliefs. From my understanding, Tonagel has done all of this quite a bit at IWU and would continue this at any place he coached.

If Tonagel could make everyone confident that he can separate his role as coach and his religious beliefs, he would be a strong candidate at such a time when there was an opening.

Valpo89 · December 22, 2018, 03:26:43 PM

I think Homer required his players to go to church/chapel on road games. I was with the team in Hawaii in 1995, and I think we went to church together on the Sunday before the tournament began.

Here's a dream staff: Tonagel, Diebler .... and CA!!

VU2014 · December 22, 2018, 03:40:35 PM

Quote from: bbtds on December 22, 2018, 11:09:46 AM
Quote from: VU2014 on December 21, 2018, 09:00:13 AM
I like Greg and think he's a great coach but as I said before I'm not sure there is a fit there. I don't think he'd be able to run a D1 program the same way he does his IWU program. A certain type of athletes flocks to IWU and I'm not sure D1 recruiting would go as well being run as devoutly religious as his program is run.

Please explain to me what the difference is between the successful program that Bryce Drew ran at Valpo and the successful program Greg Tonagel runs at Indiana Wesleyan as far as being run by an openly Christian coach. How is Tonagel so different than the way Bryce ran his Valpo program?

This podcast could probably give you a feel for what I'm talking about. This a faithbased sports podcast that Greg did. It's a good interview and he talks very highly about his time at Valpo and Homer. My only concern with Greg being our HC one day is that his style might be a little overbearing for some athletes and recruits. He's a proven and excellent coach. I'd love to have him as an assistant on Valpo's staff but he mentions that he feels best suited as a HC. Maybe I could be totally wrong about my assessment of Greg. He's an excellent coach but if he wants to move up to the D1 level it would have to be the right fit with the University.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-84-greg-tonagel-indiana-wesleyan-mens-basketball/id1214996827?i=1000403871767&mt=2

Valpo2013 · December 22, 2018, 04:03:27 PM

Quote from: bbtds on December 22, 2018, 11:09:46 AM
Quote from: VU2014 on December 21, 2018, 09:00:13 AM
I like Greg and think he's a great coach but as I said before I'm not sure there is a fit there. I don't think he'd be able to run a D1 program the same way he does his IWU program. A certain type of athletes flocks to IWU and I'm not sure D1 recruiting would go as well being run as devoutly religious as his program is run.

Please explain to me what the difference is between the successful program that Bryce Drew ran at Valpo and the successful program Greg Tonagel runs at Indiana Wesleyan as far as being run by an openly Christian coach. How is Tonagel so different than the way Bryce ran his Valpo program?

Division 1
Bryce played in the NBA
Bryce has a brother and father that have coached in BIG games
For starters

Greg Tonagel

VU2010

VU2010