Coach Carlson's Third Season

[covufan]

How many wins will this years Valpo Football team achieve?

[NuPudge]

I will pick Valpo to win 4 or 5 gams this season.

[setshot]

If Carlson doesn't win at least 3 games,may his 3rd. season be his last season. FORWARD!

[bbtds]

If Carlson doesn't win at least 3 games,may his 3rd. season be his last season. FORWARD!

I think ml will give Carlson at least six seasons. He gave Adams that long so it would be fair to give Carlson six seasons too. If Carlson keeps improving the team, each year, he could be here for quite a while.

[VULB#62]

If Carlson doesn't win at least 3 games,may his 3rd. season be his last season. FORWARD!

I think ml will give Carlson at least six seasons. He gave Adams that long so it would be fair to give Carlson six seasons too. If Carlson keeps improving the team, each year, he could be here for quite a while.

Agreed, but maybe 5.  Even FBS football factories with great facilities and oodles of $$ usually give a coach 4 years, so setshot is being a bit overzealous.

Non-scholarship D-I is a difficult situation.  Today's FB player, if he is good enough for an FCS scholarship school, would be nuts to walk away from the financial package in today's economy.  If he is not quite good enough for a scholarship FCS program, the fallback is a FB scholarship to a D-II school.  Hard to compete with that as well.  It takes a special kid to play non-scholarship D-I, and finding talented ones is tough. 

So far, from all I can tell, the infrastructure, offseason programs, O and D systems and coaching are in place -- it now comes down to the talent.  It also appears that most of the talent is young -- and kids are still growing into their bodies and it takes time to mature. Coach C has had only two classes that he can really call his own (he came on board late in the first year's recruiting cycle) and the 2012 class seems to be the better of those two (yeah, that's a leap, and its based on what's on paper, cuz they haven't played a down yet).  By the time the 2011 class are seniors, we'll know the direction the program has taken.

[Valpo71]

Coach Carlson inherited a situation worse than Obama.  The Crusaders are and will be improving this year.  Carlson is going to convince all of us that he is a winner!

[LaPorteAveApostle]

yeah--win one game this fall and he'll be further along than Obama too.

[sectionee]

Oh good politics

[valpo04]

Oh good politics

+1

[VULB#62]

The second FB pre-season blog posting just went up.  Good reading to stay current.  I detect a spark of optimism and liked that the "D" was tweaked a bit.  Sounds like there is a more aggressive unit out there this year flying to the football.  Can't let opponents drive consistently for scores with no three-and-outs in the first half like in previous seasons.

http://blogs.valpo.edu/football/

[vuweathernerd]

Oh good politics

+1

+2

[VULB#62]

Scraped this from the VUFB Facebook post this AM.  Interesting that they've pulled Paul Oren in on social media. Looks like the FB program is covering some positive ground in addition to just Xs & Os.

"Started early this morning with lifting and conditioning. After breakfast we will have a team meeting led by VU Prof. Paul Oren. He will be discussing the proper use of social media with the team. Should be interesting."

This topic is a good one -- even for many (most?) adults.

[valporun]

I like the thought of having a professor and member of the local media come in to talk with the players about how social media can turn on them. I'm sure he's using examples from pro sports, the Olympics, and college athletes in their peer age groups that have inappropriately/misused Facebook, Twitter, and whatever other social media sources the kids have found to use these days. Good use of university faculty to bring this message across, Coach Carlson.

[VULB#62]

Stuff like this makes me think a program is being built.  Now if we could only get the track installed and the stands and press box upgraded (sigh).

[covufan]

Stuff like this makes me think a program is being built.

I think so as well.  A few wins and other improvement might just put this program into gear!

[NuPudge]

Here is a article I was posted somewhere else. I hope I am not double posting

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/14540146-556/valparaiso-hope-depth-on-offense-can-help-end-conference-skid.html

[covufan]

A little more than a week before the first VU Football game this year.  Under the lights and on a Thursday.  Will the students return to the Library after a victory?

[NuPudge]

He will need at least 4 or 5 wins to keep the wolves off his butt. If they don't do this he better start playing freshmens to turn toward rebuilding..

[covufan]

He will need at least 4 or 5 wins to keep the wolves off his butt. If they don't do this he better start playing freshmens to turn toward rebuilding..

I hear you.  I'm of the belief that if Carson shows improvement, even if only 2-3 wins, but more games that VU is within a TD in the fourth quarter, he'll be able to continue the rebuilding process.  I think this team is capable of winning 4 games at home this year - St Joe's, Butler, Marist and Davidson.  The road will be tough, but if this is improving, they might have a chance against Morehead.