Good Morning. I FINALLY found a place to express my 
regarding VU football. As this is my first reply/post, please forgive the long windedness.
As a former Crusader from back in the Walt Reiner era and living half-way across the country low these many years I have watched the ups and downs of the football program from afar. But I had not gone back to the campus in over 40 years, so I couldn't see how things were going for myself.... at least until the 2009 Marist game in Poughkeepsie that I finally was able to attend - a 0-24 loss. I've been back to campus since and attended the Marist game again yesterday. I got a chance to see things for myself, chat with some parents and draw some conclusions. It was a long drive home which gave me lots of time to organize my thoughts. Then, by accident, I found all of you guys. So here are my thoughts after reading through most of the FB posts with my morning coffee
I believe FB program success revolves around the following life-cycle:
Identify talented players
Attract talented players
Develop those players
Establish appropriate (O & D) systems for team competitive success
Coach up players within the chosen systems
Retain players
I believe the current program, in the last year and a half, has brought some strengths to bear on some of those elements, but in some areas it is still handicapped. I believe the identification process has improved and the process to get talented players to consider Valpo is much better than in the past. I also see an effort to get a consistent weight program in place for player development and a general structure that is more attuned to a DI program.
HOWEVER, I also compare VU with what I have observed and learned about other PFL programs. What I have concluded is that the rest of the league is pulling away from Valpo in terms of commitment. Existing facilities at the Drakes, Marists, Campbells, Daytons of this world were always better than Brown Field. Now Jacksonville just completed installation of their new track around their FB field to complete that facility and Butler has just opened a large, new press box and expanded the seating at Butler Bowl. The league is expanding to Stetson and Mercer, both located in the football crazy southeast which will make being competitive in the league, much less against FCS scholarship programs, even tougher. In the meantime some talented recent recruits have bailed on the program, the losses continue to pile up, and finger pointing has begun.
So where is VU at this point in terms of attracting and retaining talented players? I went to Brown Field for a game this year: No new track, puddles in the grass separating the playing field from the stands (where the track might go but now kind of isolates the game from the fans). The home side stands are not visually impressive, smaller than some HS stadiums, and getting rusty. The press box is kind of small. In short, it's not a DI FCS facility. While there is a weight training facility, I understand that there really is no weight training facility that can support a program that has nearly 100 players on the roster (note that the facilities section of the VU Athletics web site does NOT highlight any weight room). So if I'm a good football player, willing to pay my own way, and I visited VU facilities and - to select one close-by - Butler's, where would I go? There are kids on the VU roster from Florida: VU or Stetson or Jacksonville? Good Lutheran player from the northeast - VU or Marist? My son played at a DIII school in the northeast -- their facilities and the facilities of the other schools in the same league far surpass Valpo's.
In addition to academic reputation, course of study and campus culture and attractiveness, the attraction, development and retention of good football players is closely tied to facilities. Homer could recruit good BB players because he had the ARC and the connected basketball offices etc. to show. The turf field (sans track) and scoreboard are a start, but a new mascot and a blow-up arch isn't quite enough. Kroencke Hall is not quite enough. The current (as well as past) staff can only do so much with this handicap. Stacy Adams, in a local newspaper interview recently mentioned how his HS fb program at East Chicago (Central?) HS will have better weight training, practice and playing facilities than Valpo's.
Now as far as coaching systems and coaching the players within the system of choice -- that's another debate. But it is also noteworthy to remember that with good talent, any system can work and bad coaching decisions can be overcome.
I believe that if VU wants to be even marginally competitive in the PFL, it must invest more in the program including upgrading the facilities. The university cannot afford to wait until the hospital is demolished years down the road. It can't wait to finally install the track that has been on the drawing boards for a decade. It needs to expand and improve the weight training facility, and on and on. The reason it can't wait is that , as many of you have indicated, ESPN FCS FB score crawler is killing us in terms of public perception and it is embarrassing..
I wish that Mark LaBarbera and Coach Carlson (as well as T&F and MSO and WSO) would (a) bury FIT and (b) start all over immediately by pull together a comprehensive athletic alumi campaign to fund these things. By creating "Brown Field at Alumni Stadium" (sorry, my vision) expanding an upgraded training facility not only would FB benefit, but so would the track program as well as men's and women's soccer.
regarding VU football. As this is my first reply/post, please forgive the long windedness.As a former Crusader from back in the Walt Reiner era and living half-way across the country low these many years I have watched the ups and downs of the football program from afar. But I had not gone back to the campus in over 40 years, so I couldn't see how things were going for myself.... at least until the 2009 Marist game in Poughkeepsie that I finally was able to attend - a 0-24 loss. I've been back to campus since and attended the Marist game again yesterday. I got a chance to see things for myself, chat with some parents and draw some conclusions. It was a long drive home which gave me lots of time to organize my thoughts. Then, by accident, I found all of you guys. So here are my thoughts after reading through most of the FB posts with my morning coffee
I believe FB program success revolves around the following life-cycle:
Identify talented players
Attract talented players
Develop those players
Establish appropriate (O & D) systems for team competitive success
Coach up players within the chosen systems
Retain players
I believe the current program, in the last year and a half, has brought some strengths to bear on some of those elements, but in some areas it is still handicapped. I believe the identification process has improved and the process to get talented players to consider Valpo is much better than in the past. I also see an effort to get a consistent weight program in place for player development and a general structure that is more attuned to a DI program.
HOWEVER, I also compare VU with what I have observed and learned about other PFL programs. What I have concluded is that the rest of the league is pulling away from Valpo in terms of commitment. Existing facilities at the Drakes, Marists, Campbells, Daytons of this world were always better than Brown Field. Now Jacksonville just completed installation of their new track around their FB field to complete that facility and Butler has just opened a large, new press box and expanded the seating at Butler Bowl. The league is expanding to Stetson and Mercer, both located in the football crazy southeast which will make being competitive in the league, much less against FCS scholarship programs, even tougher. In the meantime some talented recent recruits have bailed on the program, the losses continue to pile up, and finger pointing has begun.
So where is VU at this point in terms of attracting and retaining talented players? I went to Brown Field for a game this year: No new track, puddles in the grass separating the playing field from the stands (where the track might go but now kind of isolates the game from the fans). The home side stands are not visually impressive, smaller than some HS stadiums, and getting rusty. The press box is kind of small. In short, it's not a DI FCS facility. While there is a weight training facility, I understand that there really is no weight training facility that can support a program that has nearly 100 players on the roster (note that the facilities section of the VU Athletics web site does NOT highlight any weight room). So if I'm a good football player, willing to pay my own way, and I visited VU facilities and - to select one close-by - Butler's, where would I go? There are kids on the VU roster from Florida: VU or Stetson or Jacksonville? Good Lutheran player from the northeast - VU or Marist? My son played at a DIII school in the northeast -- their facilities and the facilities of the other schools in the same league far surpass Valpo's.
In addition to academic reputation, course of study and campus culture and attractiveness, the attraction, development and retention of good football players is closely tied to facilities. Homer could recruit good BB players because he had the ARC and the connected basketball offices etc. to show. The turf field (sans track) and scoreboard are a start, but a new mascot and a blow-up arch isn't quite enough. Kroencke Hall is not quite enough. The current (as well as past) staff can only do so much with this handicap. Stacy Adams, in a local newspaper interview recently mentioned how his HS fb program at East Chicago (Central?) HS will have better weight training, practice and playing facilities than Valpo's.
Now as far as coaching systems and coaching the players within the system of choice -- that's another debate. But it is also noteworthy to remember that with good talent, any system can work and bad coaching decisions can be overcome.
I believe that if VU wants to be even marginally competitive in the PFL, it must invest more in the program including upgrading the facilities. The university cannot afford to wait until the hospital is demolished years down the road. It can't wait to finally install the track that has been on the drawing boards for a decade. It needs to expand and improve the weight training facility, and on and on. The reason it can't wait is that , as many of you have indicated, ESPN FCS FB score crawler is killing us in terms of public perception and it is embarrassing..
I wish that Mark LaBarbera and Coach Carlson (as well as T&F and MSO and WSO) would (a) bury FIT and (b) start all over immediately by pull together a comprehensive athletic alumi campaign to fund these things. By creating "Brown Field at Alumni Stadium" (sorry, my vision) expanding an upgraded training facility not only would FB benefit, but so would the track program as well as men's and women's soccer.