Courtesy of the MAC office, here are the known undrafted free agent lists for MAC players. Usual caveats...there's no official list so it might be missing someone or it might change.
Note, the MAC is continually updating this list....
This is important. Every team has undrafted players on the field. You can make the NFL through this route. It isn't easy but you can do it. These guys have a shot and that's all you can ask.
-Akron: QB Dalton Williams signed by the Dallas Cowboys
-Akron: RB Quenton Hines signed by the New England Patriots
-Ball State: OT Austin Holtz signed by the Detroit Lions
-Bowling Green: OL Jordon Roussos signed by the Seattle Seahawks
-Buffalo: LB Willie Moseley signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
-Central Michigan: DB Jahleel Addae signed by the San Diego Chargers
-Central Michigan: WR Cody Wilson signed by the Detroit Lions
-Eastern Michigan: TE Garrett Hoskins signed by the Cleveland Browns
-Eastern Michigan: DL Andy Mulumba signed by the Green Bay Packers
-Kent State: OL Josh Kline signed by the New England Patriots
-Miami: WR Andy Cruse signed by the Houston Texans
-UMass: OL Stephane Milhim signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars
-UMass: OL Nick Speller signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
-Northern Illinois: WR Perez Ashford signed by the Cleveland Browns
-Northern Illinois: DT Alan Baxter signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers
-Northern Illinois: DB Rashaan Melvin signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
-Northern Illinois: WR Martel Moore signed by the Atlanta Falcons
-Ohio: C Skyler Allen signed by the Detroit Lions
-Toledo: LB Dan Molls signed by the San Diego Chargers
-Western Michigan: QB Alex Carder signed by the Detroit Lions
-Western Michigan: DL Paul Hazel signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars
-Western Michigan: OL Dann O’Neill signed by the Houston Texans
Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
MAC Draft Round Up
Because of a MAC player doing first overall, it has to go down as the most significant draft ever for the conference. It is sort of just sinking in...it is simply amazing. The last non-QB to be drafted #1 from a non-BCS school was Too Tall Jones in 1974. It is a huge honor for him and well deserved. He is an achiever.
Hilariously, the CMU people have actually turned this on Dan Enos, saying HOW HOW could that team not have been better with a #1 draft pick on the field.
It was a better year than last year, too. Last year, five were picked and four of those were in the last 2 rounds. This year, seven were picked and four were in the last 2 rounds.
Overall, I was surprised at Steven Means, I had not seen too much that suggested he was a likely pick, especially in the 5th round and ahead of Chris Jones. I thought Fisher and Winters would be the first two to go and they were.
I was worried about Dysert. In fact, I thought he was 50/50. The worst part was that I was following the draft on Draft Tracker on ESPN, and they had him listed as the "best available" on the screen for about an hour before he was picked. I don't think Denver is a bad situation. He gets the opportunity to develop under Manning and while they have one other guy ahead of him, he has some time to catch him.
I was surprised that Herman fell as far as he did.
Anyway, here is the list. Once UDFAs are firmed up, we'll have more on that. Jordon Roussos is on his way to Seattle but there seem to have been a larger number of UDFA signings yesterday.
1st Round: OT Eric Fisher, Central Michigan (No. 1 overall), Kansas City Chiefs
3rd Round: OL Brian Winters, Kent State (No. 72 overall), New York Jets
5th Round: DL Steven Means, Buffalo (No. 147 overall), Tampa Bay Buccaneers
6th Round: DT Chris Jones, Bowling Green (No. 198 overall), Houston Texans
7th Round: OL Eric Herman, Ohio (No. 225 overall), New York Giants
7th Round: QB Zac Dysert, Miami (No. 234 overall), Denver Broncos
7th Round: RB Michael Cox, UMass (No. 253 overall), New York Giants
Chris Jones Update
Texans GM Rick Smith was asked to pick the player they had drafted who might be a candidate to be a sleeper. Now, it may be their common membership in the fraternity of Men With Incredibly Boring Names, but he chose Chris Jones.
Here's what he said.
Here's what he said.
“I really liked him,” Smith said. “I think when he comes in the building, just the way that he approaches the game and the kind of make-up that he has, I think it’s going to be very hard to keep him off the field because he just plays relentlessly, and very productive.”I have good feelings about the shot Jones is going to get in Houston. We'll be watching!
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Jones First Falcon Drafted in Six Years
MAC Defensive Player of the Year Chris Jones has been drafted! He went to the Houston Texans in the 6th Round, which was certainly on the high end of what was expected for him and a pleasant surprise. I think it is a good opportunity for one and he has certainly earned it. We are rooting for him....whether he makes it or not, he's a Falcon Forever. He gave all he had to this program, was a leader and excelled.
Best of luck, Chris. We'll be watching.
The last Falcon drafted was Kory Lichtensteiger who continues to play in the NFL for the Redskins.
Update: there is also word that Jordan Roussos has signed with the Seahawks as an UFDA.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Eric Fisher, MAC Player, Goes First in Draft
Just a quick note. It is certainly something I never thought would happen...Eric Fisher of CMU, a MAC team, went #1 in the NFL Draft last night. An All-MAC performer, he was obviously the highest pick ever for the conference. (Previous high was Leftwich at #7).
Fisher benefited from staying for his last year if only because he got to be in the Senior Bowl, where apparently he just killed it. He's a great story, came to CMU undersized and with only one other offer (and it was from EMU)...#48 on the Detroit Free Press list of top 50 recruits...which means that there were 47 players better than him in Michigan. I heard him interviewed and he was genuine and well-spoken. I believe he made us proud.
Anyway, if you want to go back a year (ish), you have OU in the Sweet Sixteen, Kent in the College World Series, NIU in the Orange Bowl and now Eric Fisher. Drop back to 2010 and add in Akron's NCAA title in soccer.
Pretty decent run, you'd have to say.
He is not the first MAC player to be picked first in any draft, in case you are looking for something to say at a party last night. From the league office:
Fisher becomes the third MAC athlete to be selected overall as the No. 1 selection in a professional draft. Previously, Akron forward Steve Zakuani was the first selection in the 2009 Major League Soccer's SuperDraft by the Seattle Sounders FC on January 15, 2009. Also, Ball State all-American pitcher Bryan Bullington was the No. 1 overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft on June 4, 2002.Anyway, congrats to Eric Fisher. We're fans.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Men's Basketball Review: The Defense
Earlier this week we looked at the Falcon offense. We documented what I think we all knew--that our team struggled greatly on the offense end and ranked near the bottom of the conference is most of the measures. And yet, the Falcons finished 7-9...how did that happen?
The answer is that it happened on defense. I was surprised when I began looking into these numbers. I had expected our defense to be kind of middle of the pack, but in fact, BG had a pretty good season on the defensive end of the ball.
That's significant because this is really the first year that the team went to a man-man defense for most of the season. We did play zone here and there, but mostly we played man. In previous years, we played almost exclusively a 2-3 zone. Coach always said he wanted to be able to play both, but seemed to only be effective in the zone...this year he delivered.
Looking at the numbers....remember that we are using only conference games and tempo-free stats.
In overall defensive efficiency, BG was third in the conference at .971 points per possession. That's behind Akron and WMU, and just ahead of OU.
For the record, last year BG finished 4th in the MAC with a slightly better result at .966 points per possession.
Now, let's look at the components of what went into that number. The most important is shooting--specifically, Effective Field Goal%. In fact, BG did not do a great job defending the shot. BG was 6th allowing 46.9%.
In the past (up until last season) BG has really struggled defending the 3FG. We did well last year and this year on that measure. In fact, this season BG was 3rd in the MAC in allowed 3FG% and 4th in the MAC in raw numbers of 3 FGs allowed. BG allowed 85 last year and 82 this year, and in the four years before that it was 114, 120, 93, and 105.
BG allowed opponents to shoot 47.6% on 2FGs, which is almost exactly what BG shot and which we indicated was good but not great. So, for defense, it would translate into bad but not awful.
The next most important factor is turning the ball over--preventing a shooting possession from ever occurring. This was not a strong point at all for BG--the Falcons were 10th in the MAC in turnover percentage.
Next is rebounding. BG was 5th at keeping opponents off the offensive boards.
Finally, free throw shooting. This was definitely BG's strong point. The Falcons led the MAC in free throw rate allowed.
So, that all adds up to being the 3rd most efficient defensive team in the conference. It is kind of interesting, in fact. The sum is greater than the whole of the parts. BG wasn't great against the shot or at forcing turnovers or at offensive rebounding, but kept teams off the line and ended up 3rd in the conference.
So for the second straight year, BG has played pretty good defense in the MAC. The issue on 3FGs has been stabilized, we don't foul and we are pretty good against the shot. The bottom line is that the defense did its job and is responsible for our team at least ending up 7-9. The pity is that the offense didn't score even a little more effectively, because the defense was giving them something to work with.
The answer is that it happened on defense. I was surprised when I began looking into these numbers. I had expected our defense to be kind of middle of the pack, but in fact, BG had a pretty good season on the defensive end of the ball.
That's significant because this is really the first year that the team went to a man-man defense for most of the season. We did play zone here and there, but mostly we played man. In previous years, we played almost exclusively a 2-3 zone. Coach always said he wanted to be able to play both, but seemed to only be effective in the zone...this year he delivered.
Looking at the numbers....remember that we are using only conference games and tempo-free stats.
In overall defensive efficiency, BG was third in the conference at .971 points per possession. That's behind Akron and WMU, and just ahead of OU.
For the record, last year BG finished 4th in the MAC with a slightly better result at .966 points per possession.
Now, let's look at the components of what went into that number. The most important is shooting--specifically, Effective Field Goal%. In fact, BG did not do a great job defending the shot. BG was 6th allowing 46.9%.
In the past (up until last season) BG has really struggled defending the 3FG. We did well last year and this year on that measure. In fact, this season BG was 3rd in the MAC in allowed 3FG% and 4th in the MAC in raw numbers of 3 FGs allowed. BG allowed 85 last year and 82 this year, and in the four years before that it was 114, 120, 93, and 105.
BG allowed opponents to shoot 47.6% on 2FGs, which is almost exactly what BG shot and which we indicated was good but not great. So, for defense, it would translate into bad but not awful.
The next most important factor is turning the ball over--preventing a shooting possession from ever occurring. This was not a strong point at all for BG--the Falcons were 10th in the MAC in turnover percentage.
Next is rebounding. BG was 5th at keeping opponents off the offensive boards.
Finally, free throw shooting. This was definitely BG's strong point. The Falcons led the MAC in free throw rate allowed.
So, that all adds up to being the 3rd most efficient defensive team in the conference. It is kind of interesting, in fact. The sum is greater than the whole of the parts. BG wasn't great against the shot or at forcing turnovers or at offensive rebounding, but kept teams off the line and ended up 3rd in the conference.
So for the second straight year, BG has played pretty good defense in the MAC. The issue on 3FGs has been stabilized, we don't foul and we are pretty good against the shot. The bottom line is that the defense did its job and is responsible for our team at least ending up 7-9. The pity is that the offense didn't score even a little more effectively, because the defense was giving them something to work with.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Orr Looks Ahead
It has been largely radio silence inside the BG Men's Basketball program since the defeat to the Redhawks at the Stroh and then the subsequent announcement that Coach Orr would complete his contract, followed by a lot of speculation that people felt the University didn't have the political will to buy Orr out given issues with faculty layoffs and then the AD left.
Usually, Coach Orr does a year end presser, but he didn't this year.
So, in today's Blade we have a brief sit-down with Coach Orr and John Wagner of The Blade.
It is interesting as far as it goes, and I recommend you check it out.
A couple of notes from my end.
First, Coach Orr says that he understands his responsibility is to the players and therefore he will not vary his coaching. He will do what is right for the team.
I believe he will. He will do what is right. He is aware of what the situation is, but he is a professional and I believe his faith strengthens him as it relates to thinking about his future. If he is true to the word, it means he won't being taking actions designed to "save his job" but do what is right for the program.
Second, he says that he has two scholarships, but it is only "possible" that he will use them.
I think this is reasonable. Look, I don't know what is going to happen. It is difficult to imagine what kind of circumstances would result in a new contract for Orr with a new AD...and if you did try that, you'd have to think about some kind of amazing success next year and it is just as difficult to see how that could happen. (My review of the offense came out this week and note that BG is losing more than half of what little scoring they had).
Given all that, I think the new Coach should have the ability to use those scholarships. With Orr in a lame duck year and it being late already, it is difficult to imagine a player with options coming to BG. I would not object to a JUCO player, but I'd hate to see a 4-year commitment right now.
Third, he talks up Josh Gomez.
This is a wildcard, as it relates to next year. He's been practicing with the team for the last year, so they have an idea what they have. Doesn't mean the coaches aren't subject to wishful thinking, but they have seen him. They envision him stretching defenses (ie, shooting from the outside at 6'10") and being an offensive force. Here is what I wrote when he transferred. He played at a very good NYC HS program, but averaged 5.5 points per game, which means if he does develop as an offensive threat, he will be doing something he didn't even do in HS
Which doesn't mean he won't.
Anyway, check the article out for yourself...those are my thoughts. I don't enjoy being so negative, but I just don't see any other way to look at next year. If it develops another way, I'll be thrilled. My review of defense will be out tomorrow, and it does have some surprising data. BG was much better defensively than I would have thought.
Usually, Coach Orr does a year end presser, but he didn't this year.
So, in today's Blade we have a brief sit-down with Coach Orr and John Wagner of The Blade.
It is interesting as far as it goes, and I recommend you check it out.
A couple of notes from my end.
First, Coach Orr says that he understands his responsibility is to the players and therefore he will not vary his coaching. He will do what is right for the team.
I believe he will. He will do what is right. He is aware of what the situation is, but he is a professional and I believe his faith strengthens him as it relates to thinking about his future. If he is true to the word, it means he won't being taking actions designed to "save his job" but do what is right for the program.
Second, he says that he has two scholarships, but it is only "possible" that he will use them.
I think this is reasonable. Look, I don't know what is going to happen. It is difficult to imagine what kind of circumstances would result in a new contract for Orr with a new AD...and if you did try that, you'd have to think about some kind of amazing success next year and it is just as difficult to see how that could happen. (My review of the offense came out this week and note that BG is losing more than half of what little scoring they had).
Given all that, I think the new Coach should have the ability to use those scholarships. With Orr in a lame duck year and it being late already, it is difficult to imagine a player with options coming to BG. I would not object to a JUCO player, but I'd hate to see a 4-year commitment right now.
Third, he talks up Josh Gomez.
This is a wildcard, as it relates to next year. He's been practicing with the team for the last year, so they have an idea what they have. Doesn't mean the coaches aren't subject to wishful thinking, but they have seen him. They envision him stretching defenses (ie, shooting from the outside at 6'10") and being an offensive force. Here is what I wrote when he transferred. He played at a very good NYC HS program, but averaged 5.5 points per game, which means if he does develop as an offensive threat, he will be doing something he didn't even do in HS
Which doesn't mean he won't.
Anyway, check the article out for yourself...those are my thoughts. I don't enjoy being so negative, but I just don't see any other way to look at next year. If it develops another way, I'll be thrilled. My review of defense will be out tomorrow, and it does have some surprising data. BG was much better defensively than I would have thought.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Falcon Men's Basketball....Review of Offense
So, we continue our review of the Men's Basketball season with a look at the offense. I think it is safe to say that this is the part of the team that most would point to as being responsible for BG's struggles this year, and they'd be pretty much right.
A couple "housekeeping matters." I use tempo free stats here....when we talk tempo-free, we talk about the Four Factors....and you can check this out if you want a basic explanation of how it works.
To get the cleanest measure, when I look at stats I look only at regular season conference games. We play teams out of conference that we should beat and we plays teams we can't beat. The teams in the MAC are the teams we should be able to compete with.
Here is the telling stat. BG was 11-1 (overall) when it held opponents to .93 points per possession or less, and 2-18 when it allowed teams above .93 points per possession. Remember, the average in the MAC is right about 1 point per possession. Essentially, that means that BG's defense (which was pretty good) would need to hold opponents to .93 points per possession to have a shot at winning, and that's just not going to happen.
If you did average holding your opponents to .93, you'd be one of the top 40 defenses in the country and that would just be your average--you might still finish .500.
While we are looking at this, there is an odd number in here as well. BG was 8-1 when they scored 1.06 points per possession or more, which you would expect. But, BG was 1-7 between .97 and 1.05 including 5 road losses. That's tough to believe...you are scoring enough to win some of those games. It boils down to an inability in those games to match good offensive and defensive performances--and it calls into question the idea that good defense will promote good offense.
Moving to the numbers, BG finished 9th in the MAC in offensive efficiency (conference games only) with .959 ppp. The interesting thing is that the 8th ranked team was Ball State, and they were at 1 point per possession, which means that there were 8 teams in the MAC that managed to get 1 point per possession and four that were simply much worse...BG, Miami, EMU and NIU. (At .85, NIU isn't just bad, its REALLY bad--334th in D1.)
So, there was a cohort of four teams in the MAC that were really poor offensively...and BG was one of them. Breaking it down, BG was 10th in the MAC in Effective FG%, the most important component in offensive efficiency. (EFG% is just field goal % with credit for 1.5 for a made 3FG, so teams are compensated for the risk of taking the lower percentage but higher reward shot.)
Now, it is no great secret that BG likes to play inside out...and in fact, BG got 62% of its points on 2-point FGS, which was the highest in the MAC and 8th in all of D1 basketball. As we all know by now, however, the question isn't just how many points you scored, but how many shots you had to take to get there...how many possessions did you invest in getting 62% of your points?
We find that BG took 74% of its FG attempts from inside the arc, also the highest in the MAC. In fact, BG shot only 48% from inside the arc, which was tied for 7th in the MAC. OU shot 54% and Buffalo shot 53%...for the conference lead.
In other words, BG was committed to scoring 2FGs...and did score them...just too inefficiently to have an effective offense. If you are going to commit 74% of your shots to 2FG, you need to make them at a good percentage to have a shot at winning.
I think we all know where the rest of the shooting story leads. BG focused on the 2FG and was very poor on the 3FG. BG was 11th in 3FG and 12th in 3FGA...10th in 3FG%. BG tied for last getting 21% of its points on the 3FG...the average MAC team got 27%.
Though separated here, these two kinds of shooting are interrelated. BG's lack of a 3FG threat allowed defenses to focus on the inside game and made it more difficult for BG to make those shots. What matters is how the two combine to form a result, and the result in this case was among the worst in the MAC.
After shooting, we move onto turnovers, the second most important factor. If you turn the ball over less often, you get more shooting possessions and can score more points. It is one of the way poor shooting teams can compensate. BG was stronger here, with the 6th ranked turnover % in the MAC (21.4%). This is still slightly worse than the MAC average.
The next most important factor is offensive rebounding %. BG was not a good team on the offensive boards, ranked 10th in the MAC with 30.8% of the available rebounds.
Finally, the 4th factor is getting to the line. BG was last in the MAC in Free Throw Rate by a very healthy margin.
I don't suspect any of this is very surprising. In capsule form, you had a team with a one-dimensional scoring attack that did only an average job of taking care of the ball (and therefore creating shooting possessions) and did not compensate for those weaknesses by getting offensive rebounds and second chances or by getting fouled and to the line.
That's the anatomy of how you get the 9th best offense in the MAC and need your defense to provide top-40 ranked efficiency to have a shot at winning consistently.
The amazing thing is that as bleak as these numbers are, BG was 7-9 in the MAC. We will see how that works out when we look at the defense.....
A couple "housekeeping matters." I use tempo free stats here....when we talk tempo-free, we talk about the Four Factors....and you can check this out if you want a basic explanation of how it works.
To get the cleanest measure, when I look at stats I look only at regular season conference games. We play teams out of conference that we should beat and we plays teams we can't beat. The teams in the MAC are the teams we should be able to compete with.
Here is the telling stat. BG was 11-1 (overall) when it held opponents to .93 points per possession or less, and 2-18 when it allowed teams above .93 points per possession. Remember, the average in the MAC is right about 1 point per possession. Essentially, that means that BG's defense (which was pretty good) would need to hold opponents to .93 points per possession to have a shot at winning, and that's just not going to happen.
If you did average holding your opponents to .93, you'd be one of the top 40 defenses in the country and that would just be your average--you might still finish .500.
While we are looking at this, there is an odd number in here as well. BG was 8-1 when they scored 1.06 points per possession or more, which you would expect. But, BG was 1-7 between .97 and 1.05 including 5 road losses. That's tough to believe...you are scoring enough to win some of those games. It boils down to an inability in those games to match good offensive and defensive performances--and it calls into question the idea that good defense will promote good offense.
Moving to the numbers, BG finished 9th in the MAC in offensive efficiency (conference games only) with .959 ppp. The interesting thing is that the 8th ranked team was Ball State, and they were at 1 point per possession, which means that there were 8 teams in the MAC that managed to get 1 point per possession and four that were simply much worse...BG, Miami, EMU and NIU. (At .85, NIU isn't just bad, its REALLY bad--334th in D1.)
So, there was a cohort of four teams in the MAC that were really poor offensively...and BG was one of them. Breaking it down, BG was 10th in the MAC in Effective FG%, the most important component in offensive efficiency. (EFG% is just field goal % with credit for 1.5 for a made 3FG, so teams are compensated for the risk of taking the lower percentage but higher reward shot.)
Now, it is no great secret that BG likes to play inside out...and in fact, BG got 62% of its points on 2-point FGS, which was the highest in the MAC and 8th in all of D1 basketball. As we all know by now, however, the question isn't just how many points you scored, but how many shots you had to take to get there...how many possessions did you invest in getting 62% of your points?
We find that BG took 74% of its FG attempts from inside the arc, also the highest in the MAC. In fact, BG shot only 48% from inside the arc, which was tied for 7th in the MAC. OU shot 54% and Buffalo shot 53%...for the conference lead.
In other words, BG was committed to scoring 2FGs...and did score them...just too inefficiently to have an effective offense. If you are going to commit 74% of your shots to 2FG, you need to make them at a good percentage to have a shot at winning.
I think we all know where the rest of the shooting story leads. BG focused on the 2FG and was very poor on the 3FG. BG was 11th in 3FG and 12th in 3FGA...10th in 3FG%. BG tied for last getting 21% of its points on the 3FG...the average MAC team got 27%.
Though separated here, these two kinds of shooting are interrelated. BG's lack of a 3FG threat allowed defenses to focus on the inside game and made it more difficult for BG to make those shots. What matters is how the two combine to form a result, and the result in this case was among the worst in the MAC.
After shooting, we move onto turnovers, the second most important factor. If you turn the ball over less often, you get more shooting possessions and can score more points. It is one of the way poor shooting teams can compensate. BG was stronger here, with the 6th ranked turnover % in the MAC (21.4%). This is still slightly worse than the MAC average.
The next most important factor is offensive rebounding %. BG was not a good team on the offensive boards, ranked 10th in the MAC with 30.8% of the available rebounds.
Finally, the 4th factor is getting to the line. BG was last in the MAC in Free Throw Rate by a very healthy margin.
I don't suspect any of this is very surprising. In capsule form, you had a team with a one-dimensional scoring attack that did only an average job of taking care of the ball (and therefore creating shooting possessions) and did not compensate for those weaknesses by getting offensive rebounds and second chances or by getting fouled and to the line.
That's the anatomy of how you get the 9th best offense in the MAC and need your defense to provide top-40 ranked efficiency to have a shot at winning consistently.
The amazing thing is that as bleak as these numbers are, BG was 7-9 in the MAC. We will see how that works out when we look at the defense.....
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Falcons Net 4th Verbal
The comments to last night's post indicated that BG had a 4th verbal, and here he is...Chance Weitz, from Elida which is down by Lima. He plays the line both ways. I have no idea what we are thinking but most of the writeups about him talk about D-line. He's tall at 6'3" and he weighs 250, so a redshirt year in the weight room should help to bring him around.
He was all-Ohio Special mention as a junior along with 2nd team all-conference and 1st team all NW Ohio. In fact, he was all-district as a sophomore. He played on the d-line next to Quentin Poling, who is heading for Ohio this Fall. There are reports on the web that he also fielded offers from Ohio and WMU.
In the place of a highlights tape, I'm posting a prezi that Chance apparently did in which he introduces himself. Use the arrows on the bottom of the window to advance it.
Welcome to the Falcons, Chance.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Tardy Spring Game Report
Here's the thing about scrimmages: everything cuts both ways. You get a huge play from the offense, but you never know whether it was a great offensive play or a poor defensive play. Also, with depth issues, you never know when a play was made at the expense of a guy who was completely over-matched.
Anyway, the key thing is that Coach feels this team is mature. As he notes, "we are no longer a young football team." And, he hopes not to be young again. If you recruit well, you should have a steady stream of maturing guys, as we see in the programs in the MAC that are good consistently. He doesn't feel they had any bad practices this season.
So, a few notes from Coach's presser"
Shaun Joplin made a play--he needs one like that every game.
He is very high on Kendall Montgomery and gave Montgomery some of the credit for the struggles that Schilz had in comparison to Matt Johnson, who had the better game on paper. Montgomery had a sack and two break ups and sounds like he wreaked havoc. Or, the T wasn't any good.
Travis Greene had a big game with 88 yards, but Coach noted he had better blocking to work with. He praised Andre Givens for his spring as well and said he just had poorer blocking.
D-line Taylor was injured but no details were available.
There were some snafus on special teams. However, Tyler Tate made 2 chip shots and missed a 50+ FG.
And that will close the football down for the spring. Certainly, MAC football is very competitive, but this is a year we have pointed to for a long time. The key story lines are at QB, WR and the D-line. It certainly will be exciting to see how everything turns out.
Falcons Net 3rd Football Verbal
Note: This is part of the issue with covering recruiting. I had run it based on the fact that there was an article on the St. Ignatius website and on an official St. Ignatius blog that had Willis coming to Bowling Green and listing reasons, quoting him, etc. Now, those posts are gone and he is listed as undeclared on recruiting sites. So, I guess this one remains open...
Dameon Willis Jr. of St. Ignatius HS has committed to be a Falcon starting with the Fall of 2014. He plays S in HS--and that's a very successful HS program--but according to this article, he picked BG because of the close relationship between Coach Clawson and Chuck Kyle, the head coach at St. Ignatius.
I always like to see that. When you have good relationships in the recruiting game, to me it means you do things right and treat people the right away. It is a good indicator for long term success.
Willis Jr. very well could be a good one. Last November, he was theoretically making a decision between Michigan and Michigan State. Not sure what happened after that, but even so he reportedly chose BG over offers from Louisville, Toledo and Miami, OH.
Not sure, but I have a feeling this might be the kind of guy we are holding onto all season...which is fine. We have a pretty good track record with that and it shows we are aiming high.
We are also getting earlier commits. Last year's 3rd commit didn't come on board until the middle of June.
Welcome to the Falcons, Dameon.
Dameon Willis Jr. of St. Ignatius HS has committed to be a Falcon starting with the Fall of 2014. He plays S in HS--and that's a very successful HS program--but according to this article, he picked BG because of the close relationship between Coach Clawson and Chuck Kyle, the head coach at St. Ignatius.
I always like to see that. When you have good relationships in the recruiting game, to me it means you do things right and treat people the right away. It is a good indicator for long term success.
Willis Jr. very well could be a good one. Last November, he was theoretically making a decision between Michigan and Michigan State. Not sure what happened after that, but even so he reportedly chose BG over offers from Louisville, Toledo and Miami, OH.
Not sure, but I have a feeling this might be the kind of guy we are holding onto all season...which is fine. We have a pretty good track record with that and it shows we are aiming high.
We are also getting earlier commits. Last year's 3rd commit didn't come on board until the middle of June.
Welcome to the Falcons, Dameon.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Falcons Get Second Verbal
The Falcons have landed their second football verbal...this is Jalen Dingle, an OLB from St. Clair Shores South Lake HS. ESPN reports that Jalen had offers from UT and WMU, both of which (if true) make him a good get, as Matt Campbell and PJ "Row the boat" Fleck are two of the more aggressive MAC recruiters. He was all-conference in his conference as a Junior. This site indicates he had 12 sacks.
For an old-dude moment, St. Clair Shores was the home of Falcon Hockey great and 1980 Olympic Hero Mark Wells.
For an old-dude moment, St. Clair Shores was the home of Falcon Hockey great and 1980 Olympic Hero Mark Wells.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Game By Game Results, the Reckoning
So, at the beginning of the season, I go through and predict how I think we're going to do, game by game. This year's effort was hampered a little because we were in that NIT tournament which meant that you didn't know who we were playing for a few of our games, and then there was the bracket buster which was the same deal.
So, for the 26 games that remained after that...I picked 20 right and got 6 wrong, which I am actually pretty happy with. I didn't see us beating Detroit or Kent (and those remain the best wins of the season) and also I thought we would lose at home to EMU (I am not sure why) and I thought we would lose @NIU (that one looks really stupid) and I did see us beating Youngstown State at the Stroh and @CMU, both of which are among our worst losses of the season.
Ultimately, we over-achieved based on what I expected by two games.
I predicted we would win one road game...and I was right, I just had the wrong one.
Anyway, the final point is that there weren't too many surprises...we got pretty much the season we could have expected given who we lost and who we had coming back and who we were playing.
Nov. 12-14 Preseason NIT Cleveland State L RIGHT
Nov. 27 Detroit L WRONG
Dec. 1 Youngstown State W WRONG
Dec. 3 Wright State W RIGHT
Dec. 8 Samford W RIGHT
Dec. 18 Michigan State L RIGHT
Dec. 21 at South Florida L RIGHT
Dec. 28 at North Dakota L RIGHT
Dec. 31 at Temple L RIGHT
Jan. 9 at Central Michigan* W WRONG
Jan. 12 Eastern Michigan* L WRONG
Jan. 16 at Miami* L RIGHT
Jan. 19 at Buffalo* L RIGHT
Jan. 23 Kent State* L WRONG
Jan. 26 at Toledo* L RIGHT
Jan. 30 Akron* L RIGHT
Feb. 2 Ball State* W RIGHT
Feb. 6 at Northern Illinois* L WRONG
Feb. 9 at Ohio* L RIGHT
Feb. 13 Western Michigan* W RIGHT
Feb. 16 at Akron* L RIGHT
Feb. 21 New Orleans W RIGHT
Feb. 27 Miami* W RIGHT
March 2 Ohio* L RIGHT
March 5 at Kent State* L RIGHT
March 8/9 Buffalo* W RIGHT
So, for the 26 games that remained after that...I picked 20 right and got 6 wrong, which I am actually pretty happy with. I didn't see us beating Detroit or Kent (and those remain the best wins of the season) and also I thought we would lose at home to EMU (I am not sure why) and I thought we would lose @NIU (that one looks really stupid) and I did see us beating Youngstown State at the Stroh and @CMU, both of which are among our worst losses of the season.
Ultimately, we over-achieved based on what I expected by two games.
I predicted we would win one road game...and I was right, I just had the wrong one.
Anyway, the final point is that there weren't too many surprises...we got pretty much the season we could have expected given who we lost and who we had coming back and who we were playing.
Nov. 12-14 Preseason NIT Cleveland State L RIGHT
Nov. 27 Detroit L WRONG
Dec. 1 Youngstown State W WRONG
Dec. 3 Wright State W RIGHT
Dec. 8 Samford W RIGHT
Dec. 18 Michigan State L RIGHT
Dec. 21 at South Florida L RIGHT
Dec. 28 at North Dakota L RIGHT
Dec. 31 at Temple L RIGHT
Jan. 9 at Central Michigan* W WRONG
Jan. 12 Eastern Michigan* L WRONG
Jan. 16 at Miami* L RIGHT
Jan. 19 at Buffalo* L RIGHT
Jan. 23 Kent State* L WRONG
Jan. 26 at Toledo* L RIGHT
Jan. 30 Akron* L RIGHT
Feb. 2 Ball State* W RIGHT
Feb. 6 at Northern Illinois* L WRONG
Feb. 9 at Ohio* L RIGHT
Feb. 13 Western Michigan* W RIGHT
Feb. 16 at Akron* L RIGHT
Feb. 21 New Orleans W RIGHT
Feb. 27 Miami* W RIGHT
March 2 Ohio* L RIGHT
March 5 at Kent State* L RIGHT
March 8/9 Buffalo* W RIGHT
Saturday, April 06, 2013
Friday Night Football Scrimmage
The football team held a scrimmage on Friday night. Not a huge amount of news generated. We have certainly beaten this horse to death, but scrimmages are tough. Offense does well and it reflects on the defense and vice versa. And both sides of the ball had their moments.
Most of the moments belonged to the defense. Coach estimated that the defense controlled the first 2/3 of the scrimmage.
During that time, he felt the offense was very sloppy, no rhythm, false starts, etc. Toward the end, the offense came alive.
Coach said Shaun Joplin made a big play. He said Givens had a big day, making people miss and picking up yards. He said that Givens is playing better, understands the offense, playing faster. The shortage of RBs this Spring has provided additional reps, which he has benefitted from.
Hopgood starting to look healthy again. Coach says he is healthier than in two years, and he had some nice plays.
Converted WR Travis Greene very good in space.
Coach said that the offense lacks consistency and that is an issue. Part of it is probably the rotating off the three QBs (he said) but that's not the whole issue. Asked if he can put his finger on sluggish starts. "Nope."
The rest of Coach's comments were about how Friday's spring game will proceed...
Most of the moments belonged to the defense. Coach estimated that the defense controlled the first 2/3 of the scrimmage.
During that time, he felt the offense was very sloppy, no rhythm, false starts, etc. Toward the end, the offense came alive.
Coach said Shaun Joplin made a big play. He said Givens had a big day, making people miss and picking up yards. He said that Givens is playing better, understands the offense, playing faster. The shortage of RBs this Spring has provided additional reps, which he has benefitted from.
Hopgood starting to look healthy again. Coach says he is healthier than in two years, and he had some nice plays.
Converted WR Travis Greene very good in space.
Coach said that the offense lacks consistency and that is an issue. Part of it is probably the rotating off the three QBs (he said) but that's not the whole issue. Asked if he can put his finger on sluggish starts. "Nope."
The rest of Coach's comments were about how Friday's spring game will proceed...
Friday, April 05, 2013
Sentinel Tribune Reports Shaq Hall Dismissed from BG Football Team
The Sentinel Tribune is reporting that DE Shaq Hall has been dismissed from the BG Football program for "violating team rules."
Hall is from Naples, FL and was redshirted as a FR and appeared in 3 games last season without generating a statistic.
The loss contributes to depth issues on the d-line, though it comes after a practice in which Coach was high on how Kendall Montgomery was adapting to rushing off the edge.
FWIW, here is what we had on signing day...the notes in italics are a summary of Coach's comments...
Shaquille “Shaq” Hall, DE, 6-3, 225, Naples, Fla. (Palmetto Ridge)
High School: Currently attends Palmetto Ridge High School ... coached by Dan Newbrough ... has played football just one year ... ran for 660 yards on 86 carries (7.7 avg.) and seven touchdowns in just five games as a senior ... earned All-Collier County first team honors ... was elected to play in the Collier County All-Star Game ... had 31 tackles, five sacks and eight tackles for loss as a senior.
Notes: Brings speed on the edge. Will help team bring 4-man pressure on QB. Will play the open, or non-TE side. Offensive playmaker. My note: first player from his HS to get D1 scholarship.
Hall is from Naples, FL and was redshirted as a FR and appeared in 3 games last season without generating a statistic.
The loss contributes to depth issues on the d-line, though it comes after a practice in which Coach was high on how Kendall Montgomery was adapting to rushing off the edge.
FWIW, here is what we had on signing day...the notes in italics are a summary of Coach's comments...
Shaquille “Shaq” Hall, DE, 6-3, 225, Naples, Fla. (Palmetto Ridge)
High School: Currently attends Palmetto Ridge High School ... coached by Dan Newbrough ... has played football just one year ... ran for 660 yards on 86 carries (7.7 avg.) and seven touchdowns in just five games as a senior ... earned All-Collier County first team honors ... was elected to play in the Collier County All-Star Game ... had 31 tackles, five sacks and eight tackles for loss as a senior.
Notes: Brings speed on the edge. Will help team bring 4-man pressure on QB. Will play the open, or non-TE side. Offensive playmaker. My note: first player from his HS to get D1 scholarship.
Thursday, April 04, 2013
Men's Basketball Recruiting Round-up
So, this has been going on for a few years. One of the very good points being made is that BG basketball didn't get to be average when Louis Orr got here. It has only rarely been more than average since the ill-fated WVU adventure. I'm not saying that's a cause, I'm just saying we were a successful program before and not since.
The most significant cause--not to put too fine a point on it--has been the lack of talented players. Below is a year by year listing of BG's recruiting classes for men's basketball. It contains both players who did not stay and players who did and failed to rise much above average.
We can close the door on the '08-09 class. It was pretty good. In fact, with Brown, Thomas and Calhoun, it was probably the 2nd best BG class of the post-WVU era and the best under Coach Orr. The best, in my view, is 05-06, with Marschall, Moten, Samarco and Clements, three of whom who formed the core of a MAC regular season title team. This was a Dakich class.
The 09-10 class can also be closed. It is less successful. You have Crawford who certainly made his mark, but behind that you have Kraus and Erger, who were never highly accomplished players, and DaVon Haynes, who is an accomplished player but he is doing it for Arkansas Pine-Bluff. And Danny McElroy.
Anyway, without further delay, here is the annual update of the recruiting scorecard.
Falcon Hoops Recruiting Scorecard, Updated April 2013
02-03
Stephen Wright--Productive player, left prior to his senior season.
Ron Lewis--Two productive seasons, no junior year. Prominent Big 10 player.
Raheem Moss--26 games, two starts, 66 career points, left program. Contribued at Cleveland State.
03-04
Chris Hobson, 28 games, 51 points, left program.
Austin Montgomery 56 games, 189 points, transferred.
Reggie Harwell--Nada.
Matt Lefeld--A contributing senior and a true warrior. Academic All-American
Isaac Rosefelt--24 minutes, two points. Left Program for stellar DIII career.
John Floyd--Played 59 games averaging 8.4 ppg. 247 career assists Left program.
04-05
Scott Vandermeer, 60 points and 40 fouls. Transfered, contributed at UIC where I think he ended up as a pretty good player.
Moon Robinson, Left program after sophomore season. Transferred.
Mawel Soler, completed eligibility. Effective player, even good in spots.
05-06
Jeremy Holland--left program after one practice
Nick Wilson--left program without playing a game.
Lionel Sullivan--Sayonara. 30 minutes, 6 points.
Dusan--Minor contributions. Left program prior to Junior Season.
Erik Marschall--Injury plagued career ended with effective senior season.
Daryl Clements--Good contributing player, played strong D, stable presence and probably underappreciated player.
Brian Moten--MAC sixth man of the year in junior season and all-MAC HM as a senior. Good player at this level, had game-changing shooting potential.
Martin Samarco--2nd team All-MAC, finished career.
06-07
Ryne Hamblett--Contributing player, but kicked off team prior to senior season.
Brandon Bland--Left the program.
Marc Larson--Gets minutes, is more valuable than his stats indicate.
Otis Polk--Productive starter.
Ryan Sims--left team early in Junior year. Made little contribution.
Nate Miller--All-MAC First team. Great player, carried team into post-season.
Chris Knight--Transferred following two seasons at BG. (Technically, he was a Dakich recruit).
07-08
Joe Jakubowski--Four year starter, among the program's career leaders in assists and steals.
Cameron Madlock--Transferred out.
08-09
Dee Brown--1,000 point scorer.
Scott Thomas--Third team All-MAC as senior. 1,000 point scorer. 10th in career assists, 10th in career rebounds, 6th in career 3-pointers.
Au'ston Calhoun--Two-time Second-team All-MAC, 19th all-time leading scorer @BGSU.
Adrion Graves--left before appearing as a Falcon.
Darion Goins--Played sparingly, left team in first season as a Falcon
09-10
Jordon Crawford--Honorable mention All-MAC. 1,000 pt scorer, 4th in career assists, 5th in steals.
James Erger--Averaged 10 minutes per game as a Senior. Role player.
Luke Kraus--Started 25 games as a senior. Scored 4 points per game.
DaVon Haynes---Left program without playing. Averaged 12 points and 7 RPG for Ark-Pine Bluff.
Danny McElroy--Left program. Ran afoul of the law.
10-11
Anthony Henderson--Made 9 starts as a RS-SO shooting 32%.
Cam Black--29 starts as a JR. Defensive specialist. Averaged 19 minutes per game.
Torian Oglesby--Juco. Solid role player. Set NCAA record for most consecutive FGs.
Craig Sealey--Averaged 10 minutes as a junior.
11-12
Jehvon Clarke--Played 12 minutes per game as SO, shot 32%.
Chauncey Orr--Team's 3rd leading scorer as SO.
Desmond Rorie--Left program without appearing in a game.
12-13
Richaun Holmes--Set school record for blocked shots. Averaged 6.5/5 in 19 MPG.
Spencer Parker--Made 15 appearances as a FR.
13-14
Zach Denny, DII, All-Ohio Second team 35.0 points per game
JD Tisdale...All-State Special Mention, Michigan....and Flint Dream Team.
Mayleben...8.6/6.3 for Milford this year.
Gomez....Iona Transfer
The most significant cause--not to put too fine a point on it--has been the lack of talented players. Below is a year by year listing of BG's recruiting classes for men's basketball. It contains both players who did not stay and players who did and failed to rise much above average.
We can close the door on the '08-09 class. It was pretty good. In fact, with Brown, Thomas and Calhoun, it was probably the 2nd best BG class of the post-WVU era and the best under Coach Orr. The best, in my view, is 05-06, with Marschall, Moten, Samarco and Clements, three of whom who formed the core of a MAC regular season title team. This was a Dakich class.
The 09-10 class can also be closed. It is less successful. You have Crawford who certainly made his mark, but behind that you have Kraus and Erger, who were never highly accomplished players, and DaVon Haynes, who is an accomplished player but he is doing it for Arkansas Pine-Bluff. And Danny McElroy.
Anyway, without further delay, here is the annual update of the recruiting scorecard.
Falcon Hoops Recruiting Scorecard, Updated April 2013
02-03
Stephen Wright--Productive player, left prior to his senior season.
Ron Lewis--Two productive seasons, no junior year. Prominent Big 10 player.
Raheem Moss--26 games, two starts, 66 career points, left program. Contribued at Cleveland State.
03-04
Chris Hobson, 28 games, 51 points, left program.
Austin Montgomery 56 games, 189 points, transferred.
Reggie Harwell--Nada.
Matt Lefeld--A contributing senior and a true warrior. Academic All-American
Isaac Rosefelt--24 minutes, two points. Left Program for stellar DIII career.
John Floyd--Played 59 games averaging 8.4 ppg. 247 career assists Left program.
04-05
Scott Vandermeer, 60 points and 40 fouls. Transfered, contributed at UIC where I think he ended up as a pretty good player.
Moon Robinson, Left program after sophomore season. Transferred.
Mawel Soler, completed eligibility. Effective player, even good in spots.
05-06
Jeremy Holland--left program after one practice
Nick Wilson--left program without playing a game.
Lionel Sullivan--Sayonara. 30 minutes, 6 points.
Dusan--Minor contributions. Left program prior to Junior Season.
Erik Marschall--Injury plagued career ended with effective senior season.
Daryl Clements--Good contributing player, played strong D, stable presence and probably underappreciated player.
Brian Moten--MAC sixth man of the year in junior season and all-MAC HM as a senior. Good player at this level, had game-changing shooting potential.
Martin Samarco--2nd team All-MAC, finished career.
06-07
Ryne Hamblett--Contributing player, but kicked off team prior to senior season.
Brandon Bland--Left the program.
Marc Larson--Gets minutes, is more valuable than his stats indicate.
Otis Polk--Productive starter.
Ryan Sims--left team early in Junior year. Made little contribution.
Nate Miller--All-MAC First team. Great player, carried team into post-season.
Chris Knight--Transferred following two seasons at BG. (Technically, he was a Dakich recruit).
07-08
Joe Jakubowski--Four year starter, among the program's career leaders in assists and steals.
Cameron Madlock--Transferred out.
08-09
Dee Brown--1,000 point scorer.
Scott Thomas--Third team All-MAC as senior. 1,000 point scorer. 10th in career assists, 10th in career rebounds, 6th in career 3-pointers.
Au'ston Calhoun--Two-time Second-team All-MAC, 19th all-time leading scorer @BGSU.
Adrion Graves--left before appearing as a Falcon.
Darion Goins--Played sparingly, left team in first season as a Falcon
09-10
Jordon Crawford--Honorable mention All-MAC. 1,000 pt scorer, 4th in career assists, 5th in steals.
James Erger--Averaged 10 minutes per game as a Senior. Role player.
Luke Kraus--Started 25 games as a senior. Scored 4 points per game.
DaVon Haynes---Left program without playing. Averaged 12 points and 7 RPG for Ark-Pine Bluff.
Danny McElroy--Left program. Ran afoul of the law.
10-11
Anthony Henderson--Made 9 starts as a RS-SO shooting 32%.
Cam Black--29 starts as a JR. Defensive specialist. Averaged 19 minutes per game.
Torian Oglesby--Juco. Solid role player. Set NCAA record for most consecutive FGs.
Craig Sealey--Averaged 10 minutes as a junior.
11-12
Jehvon Clarke--Played 12 minutes per game as SO, shot 32%.
Chauncey Orr--Team's 3rd leading scorer as SO.
Desmond Rorie--Left program without appearing in a game.
12-13
Richaun Holmes--Set school record for blocked shots. Averaged 6.5/5 in 19 MPG.
Spencer Parker--Made 15 appearances as a FR.
13-14
Zach Denny, DII, All-Ohio Second team 35.0 points per game
JD Tisdale...All-State Special Mention, Michigan....and Flint Dream Team.
Mayleben...8.6/6.3 for Milford this year.
Gomez....Iona Transfer
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Spring Practice Report....Gallon Injury Won't Require Surgery
Coach Clawson was interviewed today after BG's morning practice ("Rise and Grind") and he had just a couple of interesting nuggets.
WR Chris Gallon has a minor fracture which will not require surgery and he should be available to the program no later than June and therefore well prior to the opening of camp. Overall, Coach says the WRs are playing better and while they are not there yet, they are a step above where they were last year.
There have been no bad practices.
Kendall Montgomery is apparently making quite an impression with regular d-line reps.
The O-line is better, though the D-line is depleted. BG has depth, but Coach doesn't know if some of the younger guys are ready to play a whole game. They all have a chance to be good.
That is all.
WR Chris Gallon has a minor fracture which will not require surgery and he should be available to the program no later than June and therefore well prior to the opening of camp. Overall, Coach says the WRs are playing better and while they are not there yet, they are a step above where they were last year.
There have been no bad practices.
Kendall Montgomery is apparently making quite an impression with regular d-line reps.
The O-line is better, though the D-line is depleted. BG has depth, but Coach doesn't know if some of the younger guys are ready to play a whole game. They all have a chance to be good.
That is all.
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Orr/Christopher....one last time...
OK, I don't want to beat this to death any more than necessary, but there have been two major pieces of news for BG Athletics and I just wanted to take a second to tie them together.
Obviously, shortly after it was announced that Orr was staying, it was announced that Christopher was leaving. A lot of conspiracy theories are flying around about that, which I'm not going into and which I don't put any stock in.
Here's what we can be pretty sure of. The Xavier thing had to have been in the works for a while--certainly well before the decision to keep Orr was made. In other words, when they decided to keep Orr, they had to, at a minimum, have believed that Christopher had a good shot at leaving.
I don't have any idea what was part of the Orr decision. Whether it was just money, the perception of the money, or, even, the fact that you'd be hiring a Coach and then bringing in a new AD...I have no idea.
The ultimate point is that it worked out the right way, in retrospect. The last thing you want is to bring in a coach on a multi-year contract and then a new AD...there was a new AD at Buffalo and Minnesota, and successful coaches were let go in both cases. It is a far better decision to bring an AD in and then let him or her make the decision on what to do with Coach Orr and his replacement, if that is how it goes.
I do believe that it makes it a virtually 100% certainty that Coach Orr will not last past next season. The new AD will want to "make their mark" and this will be an early opportunity, though it is possible they would have hired a new football coach first. Anyway, it was always an assumption that Coach Orr would not get a new contract, and now I think it is all but certain.
In turn, this magnifies the issue we all fear, which is maintaining interest in the program next season.
Lastly, I have heard from some people that Xavier might be a step down for Christopher. Xavier is a much smaller college enrollment-wise with a high profile really only in one sport. BG's athletic budget is $17.3 million and Xavier is $14.3 (based on Department of Education data). I would assume Xavier's will go up with the Big East deal (men's basketball brought in $12M to the school) and BG has to support football and ice hockey out of the nominally higher amount.
So, you might have less revenue, but you also have a smaller set of obligations, giving you more "disposable" income for the stuff that's left. Xavier will be high profile in the second highest profile sport and is charting a new path with a new conference and playing at that level for the first time, all of which makes it an appealing assignment.
You can decide if it is better or not on your own. I am assuming he got a raise.
Obviously, shortly after it was announced that Orr was staying, it was announced that Christopher was leaving. A lot of conspiracy theories are flying around about that, which I'm not going into and which I don't put any stock in.
Here's what we can be pretty sure of. The Xavier thing had to have been in the works for a while--certainly well before the decision to keep Orr was made. In other words, when they decided to keep Orr, they had to, at a minimum, have believed that Christopher had a good shot at leaving.
I don't have any idea what was part of the Orr decision. Whether it was just money, the perception of the money, or, even, the fact that you'd be hiring a Coach and then bringing in a new AD...I have no idea.
The ultimate point is that it worked out the right way, in retrospect. The last thing you want is to bring in a coach on a multi-year contract and then a new AD...there was a new AD at Buffalo and Minnesota, and successful coaches were let go in both cases. It is a far better decision to bring an AD in and then let him or her make the decision on what to do with Coach Orr and his replacement, if that is how it goes.
I do believe that it makes it a virtually 100% certainty that Coach Orr will not last past next season. The new AD will want to "make their mark" and this will be an early opportunity, though it is possible they would have hired a new football coach first. Anyway, it was always an assumption that Coach Orr would not get a new contract, and now I think it is all but certain.
In turn, this magnifies the issue we all fear, which is maintaining interest in the program next season.
Lastly, I have heard from some people that Xavier might be a step down for Christopher. Xavier is a much smaller college enrollment-wise with a high profile really only in one sport. BG's athletic budget is $17.3 million and Xavier is $14.3 (based on Department of Education data). I would assume Xavier's will go up with the Big East deal (men's basketball brought in $12M to the school) and BG has to support football and ice hockey out of the nominally higher amount.
So, you might have less revenue, but you also have a smaller set of obligations, giving you more "disposable" income for the stuff that's left. Xavier will be high profile in the second highest profile sport and is charting a new path with a new conference and playing at that level for the first time, all of which makes it an appealing assignment.
You can decide if it is better or not on your own. I am assuming he got a raise.