2017 Valpo Football - Non-Game Thread

[VULB#62]

As good an explanation as any.  Hope we replace his enthusiasm and energy with a similar type of guy.

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/westfargo/status/877696251201978369

[VULB#62]

Hopefully we will be more competitive this time.

[VU2624]

Still no LBers coach announced. Wonder if they will use current staff. Maybe move Coach Greiner to the position.

[usc4valpo]

I am so ready for football - I think Valpo is going to show improvement with Seewald, and who knows what USC can do this year. Go Valpo and Fight On!

[VU2624]

I am so ready for football - I think Valpo is going to show improvement with Seewald

You may only get one out of the two.

[usc4valpo]

I am not sure what you meant here.

[vu72]

I am not sure what you meant here.

Pretty sure the inference was that Seewald may not be back, who knows. 

[VULB#62]

He was kept out of spring ball due to a shoulder injury which might be a factor in that inference.

[usc4valpo]

Well that stinks. He was looking really good.

[usc4valpo]

Who will start if Seward has his shoulder injury?

[bbtds]

Who will start if Se(e)war(l)d has his shoulder injury?

He's not from Concordia-Nebraska and he wasn't the Secretary of State that acquired Alaska.

[VU2624]

Who will start if Seward has his shoulder injury?

A reasonable assumption is that it would be one of the two QBs mentioned in the Spring Game article:

http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/2016-17/17341/countdown-to-2017-begins-after-successful-spring-game/#.WWI_3emQyM8

[IndyValpo]

The roster is out. Hughes, a starting safety, is not listed. Penn and Dugan who played a lot at DL and WR are gone as well. Looks like 6 incoming freshmen aren't coming. Finally two of the three Valparaiso High players are gone.

[VU2624]

I think Hughes was injured for the Spring game. Maybe it was a career ender. Good player. Too bad.

Some of these guys may have left or been uninvited prior to Spring. I didn't keep that roster.

Dickson, Penn DLs not listed

Reckards, Conway, Orlich, Reitz, Dugan WRs not listed

Crook, Dye, Hughes, Bender DBs not listed

Petrof, O'Brien, Sallis, Thomas, Welch, Farwick LBers not listed

RBs intact with some position changes (Petrie to LBer).

QB intact with Stokes and Clarke moved to other positions.

Didn't have time to go through the OL.

[vu72]

I quickly scanned the stats from last year and other than Dugan, who had 10 catches, and Hughs who has 2 interceptions, the other guys  didn't see the field very much.  DB Dye, as an example, had 2 tackles the full year. 

I think this is just a part of non-scholarship football and certainly a part of D1 football at all levels.  At our level guys are getting their brains beat out in practice and never seeing the field.  They decide having fun and having more study time is more important once they realize they aren't going pro.  At higher levels it is the transfer thing.  A player decides getting playing time at Ohio State isn't going to happen and decides Western Michigan isn't as bad as once thought.

The other thing impacting these things is the new guys coming in.  The word is out if a new guy has a great reputation and the chance for playing time just got that much worse.  Part of life on many levels.

[VULB#62]

I think Hughes was injured for the Spring game. Maybe it was a career ender. Good player. Too bad.

Some of these guys may have left or been uninvited prior to Spring. I didn't keep that roster.

Dickson, Penn DLs not listed

Reckards, Conway, Orlich, Reitz, Dugan WRs not listed

Crook, Dye, Hughes, Bender DBs not listed

Petrof, O'Brien, Sallis, Thomas, Welch, Farwick LBers not listed

RBs intact with some position changes (Petrie to LBer).

QB intact with Stokes and Clarke moved to other positions.

Didn't have time to go through the OL.

Kellan is a big loss for the secondary.  Good size (6'2") and had good range at safety.

[VU2624]

I quickly scanned the stats from last year and other than Dugan, who had 10 catches, and Hughs who has 2 interceptions, the other guys  didn't see the field very much.  DB Dye, as an example, had 2 tackles the full year. I think this is just a part of non-scholarship football and certainly a part of D1 football at all levels.  At our level guys are getting their brains beat out in practice and never seeing the field.  They decide having fun and having more study time is more important once they realize they aren't going pro.  At higher levels it is the transfer thing.  A player decides getting playing time at Ohio State isn't going to happen and decides Western Michigan isn't as bad as once thought. The other thing impacting these things is the new guys coming in.  The word is out if a new guy has a great reputation and the chance for playing time just got that much worse.  Part of life on many levels.

Most of these players were going into their second year so it's not surprising they haven't had a chance to get on the field. In fact, from the team's perspective that is a good thing since most teams with a bunch of freshman playing aren't successful (see 2015). A number of them were non invites and didn't make the choice to leave.

As VULB mentions, Hughes is a pretty big loss to the secondary. Not only from a starter's point of view but from a depth point of view. The key will be hanging on to those who are in the 2's and 3's who may end up with the 1's and 2's over the next couple of seasons but aren't there yet. Once some realize that they may not be on the game roster there could be some attrition even if those players have the potential of play at some point.

[VU2624]

New LBers coach. Another Lehigh alum.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/2017-18/17471/tulcin-added-to-valpo-football-coaching-staff/#.WWfY-OmQyM9

[VULB#62]

New LBers coach. Another Lehigh alum.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/2017-18/17471/tulcin-added-to-valpo-football-coaching-staff/#.WWfY-OmQyM9

Knowing Dave, this was well as hought out and the guy will be an immediate asset. Looks like we are morphing into Lehigh West. That ain't a bad thing.

Wecome coach Tulcin.

[VU2624]

PFL Preview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwmlifi937Y

[vu72]

Wow!  Thanks so much for finding that.  I don't think I've ever seen more than a small paragraph on each team in a couple of publications let alone a video analysis like that one.   

[VULB#62]

Wow!  Thanks so much for finding that.  I don't think I've ever seen more than a small paragraph on each team in a couple of publications let alone a video analysis like that one.   

Second that!

[vu72]

We continue to get no respect and probably well earned.  We need to have a breakout year.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/2017-18/17478/pioneer-football-league-releases-preseason-poll/#.WXc71IgrLIU

[VU2624]

Valpo can't pick up a win vs Davidson this season since they don't play each other and they are unlikely to beat either of the replacements of Marist or Campbell. Dayton and probably Drake are far fetched as well. That leaves Butler which handily beat Valpo last season, Jacksonville which think will be much better this upcoming season with a full year under their new coach running that offense, and MSU as potential victims other than Stetson. If they can't beat Stetson then a reassessment is needed since the coaching timeline is similar.