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RE: D-I Transfers

The "PIT" Prognosticator — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 00:42:38 GMT

Yeah, I guess that's the price of success. Actually, I've worried about Coach P leaving year after year regardless of how our season went. Maybe a NC would have attracted a bright new coach. Coach P sure hasn't had a problem with getting quality coaches. It's just too bad that he has had to spend so much time finding them.

RE: D-I Transfers

WWIRCoachP_Fan — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 18:20:46 GMT

The "PIT" Prognosticator (7/3/2006)

Ah yes, Archer was definitely an impact. I think he had as many tackles as Russell. He made it to the Pit last season. The last I knew he was on San Diego's roster. ISU will meet his younger brother, Brandon, against K-State this year. I think he has been the top tackler on the team the past couple of seasons. Just think if things had worked out with P. Archer's teammate, Bradley Vance from Minnesota in '03. His numbers at MN were similar to Archer's. Although, I don't think we needed Vance or any other transfer to get the NC in '03. What we needed was home-field advantage so that we didn't have to play a team in 2 foot of snow, who had already played in that stuff the week before. Montana lost to a D-II school and got it. I've been whining about that since then because Colgate was not better than WIU by any means.

My how that would have changed the landscape of Leatherneck Football. At the worst we would have been in the championship game. If they had won it would have been awesome. What would have been interesting is how WIU Football would have changed after that moment. Don Patterson would have most likely been gone to a Division I program (he's got lots of friends spread throughout the entire DI football nation). If he has left, who would have taken over from there. Would that have hurt WIU if Patterson had left? Look at YSU since Tressel took off. Things would be very different.

RE: D-I Transfers

The "PIT" Prognosticator — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 01:05:03 GMT

RE: D-I Transfers

IWUWIU16 — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 19:27:09 GMT

I was told that this board cannot be missed, and it has lived up to the hype. There has not been this much team buzz since the 03' season on "Thegatewayconnection" board. An impact transfer from the last couple of years who was also a solid member of the neck community was Phil Archer. Unfortunately, even with the talented O'Brien and Russell, it was a bend, don't break unit by the end of the year.
I love I-AA football.

RE: D-I Transfers

The "PIT" Prognosticator — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 00:46:04 GMT

I guess I'm just a super fan that tries to follow this team closely. I would like to begin my Saturday 4 hours before gametime but OPS kind of related to me one time that it wasn't acceptable behavior. I wanted to say that I'm an alumni, I drop alot of cash here, I don't get stupid and I have a designated wifer but I played it cooool and said, "right on."
It is definately true that many 1-A players can be instant impacts or impact players and I really like to see a few come in at times when it looks like all we need is a few holes filled to really do some damage, but I'd much rather watch them come up through the program. 71 sums up best, in his first post on page 1, what I was trying to say.

RE: D-I Transfers

Aspen — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 20:09:21 GMT

damn...end of thread. way to bring it pit. great stuff....a real in-depth look at the issues and how coach p and the staff are going to turn it around....

keep on coming back. are you a former player....or just a super-fan that spent lots of time just south of hanson field 4 hours until kickoff???

RE: D-I Transfers

The "PIT" Prognosticator — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 13:43:58 GMT

I will probably touch on everybody's insight here a bit.
It all started after the 2003 season. We lost a lot of studs. Time to re-load, right? Wrong. We need coaches. Solomon takes his many years of NFL experience out to the AZ Cardinals to join his buddy Dennis Green. Before Solomon left, we lost Vernon Dean and his NFL experience to the KC Chiefs. Solomon grabs D-Coord. Courtright for a Def. quality control position. Courtright was really coming around, shutting out WKU and YSU in the same season(02), not too bad. Holder leaves for Rutgers. McCall probably is or is turning into a very good coach but he doesn't have the ties that some others have had. Malloe takes off for, I think UTEP. It seemed like the players really liked this guy. Here comes Jamrog at DC...there goes Jamrog to Minn State. Okruch shows up a month before summer ball. After a rough 2004 season, which we knew it would be, Okruch installs a new defense in the spring...off he goes to ULM before summer ball. As you all know, it's a rarely used defense and we had to find someone who knows it and we now have him. Casey has shown he can recruit. These former coaches all had some pretty good ties for recruiting and/or credentials. It's got to be hard to recruit when you can't always introduce a kid to his position coach. The loss of coaches year in and year out is rampant in college football but we got hit hard. On the offensive side of the ball, we haven't really missed a beat in terms of putting points on the board. It's been great watching Steve improve every time he goes out there. I think it is safe to say that LaFalce has had some rough times but we saw Michna for two years. I've often read where many feel that Lafalce is indecisive, we got used to seeing Michna, one of the best, make throws that most QB's wouldn't. He threaded the needle many times and only ended up with 5 picks in 2002. At least two or three of those hit the WR in the chest and bounced into the hands of a defender. Patterson and Hendrickson have found stars in some extremely small and probably overlooked WR's in Coleman, Gray and Norris. Getting back to recruiting.
I think that winning may have some effect on attracting transfers, but the bottom line is that they want to play and if you want them bad enough, you can get the word out and they will come. A lot of them have one goal in mind and that is the next level. They haven't come up through the program, waiting for their turn. They don't feel the rivalries. I realize that there has been some great transfers who left it all out on the field and really wanted to win. You all know who those guys are and they are ussually the guys who have some years of eligibility left when they come to WIU. I've also seen transfers who probably never deserved a spot on 1-A roster and were lucky to get playing time at WIU when they came along. 1-A coaches make mistakes too, when they recruit. If you develope a reputation for re-loading at certain positions every season, like many teams are doing, what are you saying to the young guys who believe that they are next in line? A kid red-shirts, busts his tail for a couple of years, then by his sophomore or junior year, he thinks he has moved up to #2 on the depth chart then suddenly a transfer or two sends him right back to where he started. Could this maybe cause some morale problems, too? I'm sure most of you noticed the numerous true freshman who got PT lst year. It's good to see these kids out there getting knocked down and making mistakes, watch them 2 to 3 years from now. There are some guys from the 2000 defense who can attest to that. My opinion on the best way to recruit is to hit hard the kids who are getting serious 1-A attention. Glasford, Russell, Langan and Obrien fall into this category, I think. I know there has been many more. If you can snag 'em, there's a good chance that you can keep them for 4 or 5 years. This years class is a perfect example. There are SEVERAL of them who got some 1-A looks. This is one of the best classes that WIU has had since Coach P has arrived. There are a few positions where I would like to see a transfer or two but I like where we're headed. In '99 we had approx. 23 transfers on our roster, this year we have less than 5. I counted 13 on YSU's roster. Do you think they will win a national championship? Maybe, I'm not sure. They didn't blow anybody out last year with their 2 transfer RB's. Maybe they were a little banged up, I don't know, but Mason had a big game against us and a few others. I don't think YSU won their NC's with transfers. They won by playing disciplined football. Tressell's teams never beat themselves. I completely agree with B-Ball Fan about the revolving door of the DC being WIU's downfall the last two years. I don't think the offense will ever slip too much with P and Hendy around. This year the Necks need to focus on giving themselves a chance to win by cutting down on turnovers and penalties, the defense will be better. You shouldn't lose 6 games when you average over 30 pts/game.

RE: D-I Transfers

Neckfansince71 — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 08:20:35 GMT

Leathercy, I walked out to the stadium with the defense before the spring game. Initially said hello to a former student of mine and then walked along for the aviance! Having coached high school basketball, I still love the pregame environment, especially when players are psyched up, together and ready to play. The defense is basically built for "speed" and "attack" and the group is definitely built physically to do that. Good crop of corners and safeties, lean and mean LBS! They walked out really glued together. You can tell that they believe in each other and that goes along way when the season comes. With 3 down lineman, and the backers moving around, you never know where the pressure is going to come from. I just have a good feeling about these guys. The Douglas kid is really good too, and the O line is back to its old self. The center is Zeller, R Frosh who was a top 8 heavy weight wrestler from Fremd, smart, tough, will learn fast.

RE: D-I Transfers

WWIRCoachP_Fan — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 19:36:23 GMT

Some good points here. And yes, I totally realize what happened on the field was not a reflection of Dno Patterson. It was much more a reflection of Harbaugh and some of those thugs from WKU. Problem is, because it was on Coach P's watch, people that don't know him would assume something totally wrong about the Western Illinois program. That's where I was going with that. As far as our window of opportunity, agreed on the 02-03 window. Hell, 2001 was a big disappointment in my mind (5-5). We had some really great players and they didn't always show up. YSU game comes to mind that year.

RE: D-I Transfers

LeatherCy — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 14:51:02 GMT

'71 and others, great discussion board. Glad to see others think as much of Coach P as I do. I love reading '71's impressions of the Spring game. I live ten miles from the UNI-DOME and UNI will again be strong and the dome is always a tough place to place as we visit this fall. Having a D coordinator for more than a year will help. Losing O'Kruch was no loss whatsoever. I can't believe Zook fired a Mallory to hire O'Kruch!

RE: D-I Transfers

B-Ball Fan — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 12:14:45 GMT

I think the revolving door of Defensive Coordinator is the #1 reason for past 2 years down fall. but not only reason. No stud defensive players, way too many personal fouls by certain unnamed players who I would have benched completely after second one, and way too many fumbles. I would still love to get 4 - 5 D-1 transfers every year who are NOT head cases. I truly respect and appreciate Coach P and hope we can get above 5oo this year. Not sure that will be enough though. Hope we win conference and go to playoffs and Coach P is back. Fall will tell it all.

RE: D-I Transfers

Neckfansince71 — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 08:42:30 GMT

I would definitely agree about the instant charge a team gets from a D1 transfer. RJ Luke is a prime example. But, there are times when the baggage they are carrying is not worth the anxiety. I think the world of Coach P too. He has to be one of the most patient people on the planet even though I would think his West Point background would not allow him to be that. I am amazed that he let a few things go a little bit too long in a couple of cases such as in the case of our corner back brothers. I think throwing the LB off the team last year really got everybodies attention again and will serve the team well in the near future.

I was there for the WKU game! Just a very unfortunate event after a very tense ball game. Our free safety was the only one who truly got out of hand and he apparently had a bit of trouble controling his temper anyway. The fact that it happened is not a reflection on Coach P. Football is a game of physical, intense, on the edge play anyway. The fact that it didn't go any further is definitely a reflection on his disciplined nature.

Don't you think that basically the program was at its zenith in 2002 and 2003 and our best chance of going to Chat were those two years with the combination of D1 players and the experience we had!!! The fact that Coach P was rumored to be leaving and probably would have if we hadn't beaten Montana, the revolving door for the D coord etc. has not helped and did not help us in 04 and 05. Spring game was a totally different feeling almost like the difference between the WKU and Missouri State this last year. The Necks are back! Enough said!

RE: D-I Transfers

WWIRCoachP_Fan — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 20:10:40 GMT

Can I also say, I'm glad I started a thread with some real discussion. Lets keep this one going.

RE: D-I Transfers

WWIRCoachP_Fan — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 20:09:07 GMT

OK, I've got a couple things that may not be popular on this subject.

1. When WIU was at its best, we relied on our D1 Transfer stars. We had a solid base, but it was those transfers that made most of the big plays. They still do matter and I believe you have tohave good transfers to have a successful program in this type of division of football. Look at SIU. They've had an influx of D1 transfers over the past 4-5 years now and they are by far a better program than they were since 1983 (think thats when they won it all). Let's not turn our back at the importance of D1 transfers.

2. I have a hard problem believing our record killed our chances of gettin really good DI recruits. Again, I point to Sthern. They had crap records before they brought in studs from down south. At least WIU could point to recent history of players in the NFL.

I'm happy the high school recruiting has been better, but I just wonder if with recent history Coach P feels some of them might be more trouble than their worth (Icould use names, but I won't). I know Coach P and I know he works ahrder than no one I've ever met in my entire life. The guy is a freak. I also know how serious he takes bringing in good young men. Western has had some incidents in the past few years with players doing some dumb stuff off campus and of course, the fight with WKU was a black eye as well even though it was more of a result of the game and WKU's players than the character of his Laetherneck players. I just wonder if he really has to be sold on a DI transfer before they com to WIU now. Just a thought.

RE: D-I Transfers

WIU BB 31 — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 15:04:40 GMT

Hello to everyone. Glad someone finally came up with a spot where we can chat about all things Neck.

I had heard some rumors about a Joliet Catholic kid who may be transferring to WIU from Penn State. Has graduated from there but has a year of eligibility left. Anyone heard anything?

RE: D-I Transfers

Neckfansince71 — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 08:33:35 GMT

I have never been a big supporter of the quick fix! As a high school basketball coach, I constantly had kids transfer in but not really fit into what we were doing. A D1 with two or three (prefered) years of el is the only way to go. Anyone else just ends up being Hessian like! Some kids just go one step higher than they really can play, realize it, and then look to transfer. I think Ducey is an example of a kid who can really develop but was not quite ready to play especially with his leg injury. Transfers who have caused trouble or been in trouble are nothing but trouble. Just ask Randy Ball who each year brought in 30+ new players. Thats not a program! Seems like programs that did not take D1 kids are now doing it regularly. Delaware won the championship with a transfer from Michigan. But Don P said he was going to work at recruiting good freshman. A year of redshirt results in some kids who will play for four! We are about to witness the up swing that will be the result of 3 years of good recruiting, and two classes of redshirts. I was at the Spring game and the defense was flying around, the offense was very productive, and as far as I am concerned, the Necks are ready to again do some damage.

RE: D-I Transfers

Aspen — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:23:26 GMT

Football Dad (6/12/2006)

Ok guys this is my first post. The problem with getting in D1A players is WIU's record the last 2 seasons. The coaches reached out last year and grabed 2 key players that will be instumental in the next couple of years. Linebacker J. Bennet and QB W. Ducey. Bennet was not a starter at the 1st part of the season but ended up with 31 solo tackes and 52 overall. 5th on the team. Ducey with the limited play time averaged 4.8yrds per carry(tied with Glasford) 20yrds per pass and 166 passsing efficiency all while learning the offense. Another note of interest is both these players accomplished this playing with major shoulder injuries. Wins draw attention to football programs.

solid post....you don't see too many top D1A tranfers going to the Indiana States of the world...but you should see them taking a look at Western and other Gateway schools....a great first post...keep them coming!

RE: D-I Transfers

Football Dad — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 10:01:29 GMT

RE: D-I Transfers

LeatherCy — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 19:53:23 GMT

I discussed this very topic with Coach P two or three years ago. He made it very plain that his emphasis would be to build the program with high school players but especially with his connections and friendships in the Big Ten he would never turn down an opportunity to look at a D1 transfer. He also stated the player must have high character and no "baggage". Ball tried the same thing he did at WIU at SWMO and ended up getting fired.

As with all Neck fans I am not pleased with the results of the past two seasons but believe me NO ONE is more displeased than Coach P and Coach Hendrickson. Also as everyone knows the Gateway is the toughest DIAA conference in the country.

After Wisconsin I hope the Leathernecks can contend for the Gateway this year.

RE: D-I Transfers

Aspen — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 13:56:38 GMT

i'm with you in not really knowing what the strategy is for recruiting. its does seem to me like they are getting more and more high school kids year in and year out for the past 4 years. could it be that coach p is really settling in in macomb after rumors that he might make a move up to bigger job??? i don't know, i just think he's a great guy for the job and can have it for a long time to come by challenging for the GFC and playoff berths. only spec and MO on that stuff, heck....but it seems like a few years ago, the bigtime impact guys from d1s stopped.....could be because we had travis glasford in the backfield and didn't need someone....but who knows. my feeling is that d1 transfers are always going to be looked at and if it fills a need and you think they aren't going to be a distraction or have issues, then get them in camp....

D-I Transfers

WWIRCoachP_Fan — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 11:35:42 GMT

What happened to the good ol' days of real *** kicking D-I transfers? Is just not happening as much? Is Coach P leary of bringing in questionable off-the-field guys? This is the same university that brought in Aaron Stecker, Will Peterson, and Edgerton Hartwell. Peterson would disappoint in the end (rumors circulating it wasn't just an injury...no need to get further into that). Plus with other WIU black marks in the past few years off the field, i wonder if COach P has taken more of a no nonsense, we aren't here to give you a second chance approach? Am I way off base here? Or have we just not hit the jackpot on the DI transfers we've gotten since RJ Luke left? Very curious to see the replies on this one.