Rumoro looked decent. If there are any young guns on offense waiting their turn/redshirting that can help the state of things. May want to get them out there.
As to the fans/alum at the game. Hosmer not extending Fox (winningest PFL Valpo coach in 25 years), and hiring a Division 3 Coach (Butler got Ball States OC, Drake the reigning NAIA champions coach) has shown where we are at as a program at the moment.
At were were able to provide the funds to keep our two best players from last years basketball team
As to the fans/alum at the game. Hosmer not extending Fox (winningest PFL Valpo coach in 25 years), and hiring a Division 3 Coach (Butler got Ball States OC, Drake the reigning NAIA champions coach) has shown where we are at as a program at the moment.
Why are we still hell bent on claiming that letting go of Fox was a bad move? Valpo had a singular winning season under Fox. And that was the shortened 2020 season. I understand he was the "winningest coach in 25 years" but still only having 1 winning season, which was barely a winning season considering it was shortened, is the true indicator of the state of the program. Not the lack of a Fox extension(which he did not deserve)
Agreed. We are stuck with a very young group of Fox holdovers as Andy came in late and had much to do just to get his staff moved.
He ran a D 3 program that would have not been very easy on Valpo.
Because.
Valpo was largely uncompetitive under Adams. Extremely uncompetitive under Carlson. Took Cecchini 3 years to be consistently competitive then it went off rails. Fox was consistently competitive within the PFL.
With Valpos price tag, location, transient/dwindling enrollments, lack of NIL. It is much easier for the program to revert back to uncompetitiveness than to become a winning program. It’s the Akron of the PFL. .500 in conference play is a large success.
Look no further than our previous two coaches getting better jobs with losing records
Except fox wasnt competitive in the pfl. His crowning achievement was winning in a shortened season. I guess if you want improvement he took a program from uncompetitive to mediocre. But even then that's
1. A stretch
2. Not something you should view as a positive. Especially a positive with enough weight to keep the man. Fox was good with talking to alumni. The problem with a coach who is a people pleaser but not productive in the field, is exactly this. The alumni are willing to give the coach as many chances as they want. Even with less than stellar results
.I also take issue with calling .500 a crowning achievement for any program especially an achievement of the parameters #2 describes
1.47% of Fox’s games were one score games in the PFL
2. Fox had a .500 or better record in PFL seasons in 2021-22-23
3. Fox rarely spoke to the alumni but the alumni have a very firm understanding of Valpo football and the realities of its ceiling
1.47% of Fox’s games were one score games in the PFL
2. Fox had a .500 or better record in PFL seasons in 2021-22-23
3. Fox rarely spoke to the alumni but the alumni have a very firm understanding of Valpo football and the realities of its ceiling
try selling a program/University with our facilities/geographic location over Drake, Dayton, San Diego, Saint Thomas, Presbyterian, Butler, Davidson. It’s the reality of the situation
Then if they have success try keeping them over scholarship opportunities with Valpos price tag
Interesting. I have conflicting information describing fox. He was described to me as someone who regularly talked with and pleased alumi and donors.
Cool that Fox was able to get 47% of his games as 1 score. But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. A loss is still a loss. Just as much as a win is still a win.
Fox had only 1 winning season in all of his years. Said winning season was the shortened season I discussed. Having that as a "crowning" achievement with enough weight to keep the guy is not a good decision. That goes for any program. Most places .500 avg and 1 winning season is grounds for your job to be questioned. Doesn't matter if you are ivy league or PFL
Leavers was always an issue. If a kid is giving the chance for success at higher levels of D1 they will(and have) always taken that opportunity. The portal has just made a ln already very real problem worse by making. That CFB dream more attainable
I also think it's weak to use the excuse of facilities and such as grounds for tolerating mediocrity. Should northwestern be ok with not having a good football team given their current situation with football. Should wake forest be ok with a bad football team just because of their geographic location and small enrollment numbers?
Valpo isn’t most places in college football. It’s got bottom 5 resources in division 1 and forced to play a division 1 schedule at a University that’s having its own unrelated set of problems financially.
No but Northwestern and Wake Forest are near the bottom of their conference consistently due to those realities
Hate to break it to you, but most of the PFL is bottom of the barrel in resources. That's why the conference exists in the first place. Schools who couldn't support D1 scholarship football have an opportunity to play the sport because the NCAA took away the opportunity to have mixed divisions for football and basketball. The PFL is entirely constructed of schools who arent "most places"
So you are saying it is OK to be OK with bad sports and less than stellar performances just because of "thats the way it is" 🤣
Try selling that reasoning to potential donors and boosters and let me know how that conversation goes
No but you need resources to get players and people to want to come to your school when they have options to go to other schools. That is college athletics 101. You’re saying to disregard facilities and geographic location in recruiting. That’s negligent thinking to how this actually takes place.
Hey. I'm not the one telling those same recruits that you aren't willing to try your best to provide a home to develop your skills and win games because "thats the reality of our situation". Sure seems like you are content to tell recruits that.
You absolutely need resources to get players. The PFL doesnt allow scholarships for a reason. All of the PFL schools do not have the resources to support that level of play. Hence the reason for the league existing. Also, it doesnt matter how nice your house is if no one ever shows up to your gatherings. Other PFL schools may have bigger and better houses, but their matches are quite empty and lifeless on TV and in person. Very few PFL schools provide good atmospheres for gameday. Valpo doesnt have the resources and facilities for 5 star Johnny Footballs. neither does the rest of the PFL. Should they be content to keep staff members who arent pulling their weight just because of that fact?
Its not like Valpo provides bottom of the barrel facilities to improve your game either. The strength and conditioning staff as well as the weight center are something I have heard recruits enjoy quite well. Brown Field isnt great. We all can accept that, but lets not claim that everything Valpo has to offer is of a poor quality. Valpo has had its fair share of players go on to perform quite well at higher levels. If they truly werent provided the necessary tools to improve and maintain their performance, they wouldn't be able to sniff higher levels
I agree on Rez on a few comments. First, throw the abbreviated winning season during Covid as an outlier - those games were in reality very scrimmage like. Games were being played with nothing significant at stake. Second, we are in a conference with schools in similar financial situation. Third, Fox’s winning record was around 33 percent, which certainly does not justify an extension. The women’s hoop coach got fired because of a poor record, and it was the right decision. For D1, to be successful you have to win.
However, I wonder if Hosmer is current AD because the former AD Small would not kiss Padilla’s ring. I am not impressed with her so far.
Please explain to me how Valpo’s geographic location is a detriment compared to Drake, Butler and St. Thomas. Valpo these days is a Chicago suburb with a lot of activity all about!
Have you been to Drake, Butler , Saint Thomas? Cities/Campus aren’t even close. In terms of Chicago, it’s fun in idea but in actuality most freshman/sophomores don’t have cars and most athletes don’t have free time to go there except a few times a year. Btw Drake and Butler dominate us in Chicagoland recruiting
Fox had a winning record against lower level opponents and never took a 41-0 L, even when taking over a roster post signing day with 4 OL on roster.
Drake has already stomped D2 Upper Iowa/Valpo, Stetson has beaten Davison, Butler has beaten Marist and D3 top 25 Hanover, All with new coaches, one of which applied to Valpo.
I get it, grass is always greener. Just in this case so far the early returns was it’s not. 41-0 to another coach coaching their first game in the league as well does not scream positive results.
But let’s agree to disagree
