PASSHE Institutions Merging

[Fightingscot82]

Still can't totally grasp last year. Beat Kutztown and blowout SRU up there in front of 9,500 ... yet finished 7-3 -- undefeated on the road and 3 losses in the funeral home.

That was one of the oddest IUP teams in a long time.

Tort's special teams coordinator became a head coach within the division but he forgot to hire a replacement or change the playbook. If Nulph wins at Miller in 2023, IUP will have to refer to him as the Undertaker.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Tort's special teams coordinator became a head coach within the division but he forgot to hire a replacement or change the playbook. If Nulph wins at Miller in 2023, IUP will have to refer to him as the Undertaker.

If Nulph has a big year in 2022 ... he probably won't be at Edinboro in 2023.

[Fightingscot82]

If Nulph has a big year in 2022 ... he probably won't be at Edinboro in 2023.

Maybe? Unfortunately he's had a lot of roster turnover but if he can repeat 2021 you're right - but I'm not sure about opportunity for him. He's not leaving Western PA and I can't think of any potential openings - the next ones up would be Lutz and Tort. I don't see any D3 opportunities paying him more than what he's making at Edinboro.

[IUPNation]

Tort's special teams coordinator became a head coach within the division but he forgot to hire a replacement or change the playbook. If Nulph wins at Miller in 2023, IUP will have to refer to him as the Undertaker.

[Fightingscot82]

And how that worked out for IUP.

You're eventually going to run out of Cignettis to reinvigorate your program. Maybe Natalie will be up for the job in 2030?

[iupgroundhog]

Pretty interesting article below. This is pretty big. I could see this evolving into a similar arrangement with regional high schools like community colleges have had with high schools that are "affiliate" schools and feeders for their programs. This sort of thing could be the realization of the regional integration and a growth engine for the regional economy. I think the NE triad has it. I do not see it in the western triad design, partly because of their geographic senselessness and the focus on online delivery. I think that, ultimately, SRU not joining and leading the western triad will be seen as a mistake.

http://therecord-online.com/site/archives/85485

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Never know for sure but I don't see Tort Ball leaving Indiana anytime soon.

[iupgroundhog]

And how that worked out for IUP.

You're eventually going to run out of Cignettis to reinvigorate your program. Maybe Natalie will be up for the job in 2030?

The Cignetti legacy is great but the fact is they have already run out of Cignetti's. The program is not running on Cignetti fumes.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The Cignetti legacy is great but the fact is they have already run out of Cignetti's. The program is not running on Cignetti fumes.

Tort is young enough he should be here another 10 years. He has to keep winning, obviously. His career record is strong (and if they could've punt protected he'd have two more wins).

The program currently has a good support structure, donor-wise (although it could be better).

The home side just keeps getting older by the year. Hopefully the next wave of supporters starts to emerge.

[Fightingscot82]

Tort is young enough he should be here another 10 years. He has to keep winning, obviously. His career record is strong (and if they could've punt protected he'd have two more wins).

The program currently has a good support structure, donor-wise (although it could be better).

The home side just keeps getting older by the year. Hopefully the next wave of supporters starts to emerge.

I feel like this is the case for any of the PASSHE schools. At Edinboro, most of the "locals" in attendance who aren't player parents are retired employees. Parents and friends of players are probably the biggest block of folks in the stands. I'm interested to see what happens to the President's Box, one of the few in the conference. The last few presidents have left it empty and rarely attend games.

[IUPNation]

And how that worked out for IUP.

You're eventually going to run out of Cignettis to reinvigorate your program. Maybe Natalie will be up for the job in 2030?

You are right, he somehow brought that wretched disease called Pee Sack Mediocrity with him from Erie County.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

And how that worked out for IUP.

You're eventually going to run out of Cignettis to reinvigorate your program. Maybe Natalie will be up for the job in 2030?

The program needed a change at the end of the Frank era. His last team was bad and his recruiting seemed to really fall off.

President Tony Atwater made two big hires. He totally flopped on THE Lou Tepper, but he hit a grand slam with Joe Lombardi. I don't think there's any question Joe has the premier program on campus.

I think you have to really go back in time and consider the culture of the administration at the time TLT was hired. Many inside Sutton (academic types and admin not pro-football) were sick and tired of the constant blackeye coming out of the football program. Frank's teams had a ton of excitement on the field in the 90s and early 00s -- and, well, they also had a hell of a lot excitement off the field. It is my belief Atwater got heavy influence to hire a 'Mr. Perfect' type coach who could really clean up the culture of the program. TLT did accomplish that much.

However, the product wasn't very good. The heavy brass here doesn't like losing and eventually pulled enough weight to pull the plug on TLT.

With probably one exception, Lombardi has run a very clean program and has had incredible success.

[Fightingscot82]

The program needed a change at the end of the Frank era. His last team was bad and his recruiting seemed to really fall off.

President Tony Atwater made two big hires. He totally flopped on THE Lou Tepper, but he hit a grand slam with Joe Lombardi. I don't think there's any question Joe has the premier program on campus.

I think you have to really go back in time and consider the culture of the administration at the time TLT was hired. Many inside Sutton (academic types and admin not pro-football) were sick and tired of the constant blackeye coming out of the football program. Frank's teams had a ton of excitement on the field in the 90s and early 00s -- and, well, they also had a hell of a lot excitement off the field. It is my belief Atwater got heavy influence to hire a 'Mr. Perfect' type coach who could really clean up the culture of the program. TLT did accomplish that much.

However, the product wasn't very good. The heavy brass here doesn't like losing and eventually pulled enough weight to pull the plug on TLT.

With probably one exception, Lombardi has run a very clean program and has had incredible success.

Tepper was a home run hire at the time. We rarely see proactive head coach moves and almost never see it within the conference. The only other time I can think of is Danny Hale going from West Chester to Bloomsburg.

Lombardi probably says a prayer weekly that thanks God for sending him Dom Keyes.

[Matt Burglund]

The program needed a change at the end of the Frank era. His last team was bad and his recruiting seemed to really fall off.

President Tony Atwater made two big hires. He totally flopped on THE Lou Tepper, but he hit a grand slam with Joe Lombardi. I don't think there's any question Joe has the premier program on campus.

I think you have to really go back in time and consider the culture of the administration at the time TLT was hired. Many inside Sutton (academic types and admin not pro-football) were sick and tired of the constant blackeye coming out of the football program. Frank's teams had a ton of excitement on the field in the 90s and early 00s -- and, well, they also had a hell of a lot excitement off the field. It is my belief Atwater got heavy influence to hire a 'Mr. Perfect' type coach who could really clean up the culture of the program. TLT did accomplish that much.

However, the product wasn't very good. The heavy brass here doesn't like losing and eventually pulled enough weight to pull the plug on TLT.

There was that big brawl in the spring of 2005 that a ton of players got caught up in. I believe if it hadn't happened, Tom Rogish would have been the next HC at IUP. But the administration made the decision it did to clean up what it saw as a mess. I get it. Lou Tepper came in with a plan and a clean reputation.

The problem for Tepper was in scholarships. The lowest total IUP has had this century came in 2005, Frank's final season. Tepper got 17, 18, 18, 21, and 20 during his tenure, well below what was needed at the time to compete with Cal (35 schollies in 2009, 2010, and 2011). There were stories about prominent alumni who stopped giving when Rogish didn't get the job, and Tepper admitted that fundraising wasn't his thing. So he spent money in the best way he thought of to offset the lack of scholarships. He went the JUCO route on a lot of guys, most of which were busts.

But if you look at the 2012 team, the one many consider the best IUP team in the past 20 years or so, a huge number of the key players were recruits or transfers from the Tepper era (Pat Smith, Tuck, DiPasquale, Matha, N.Carnicella, Dovales, Thornton, Akeem Smith, J.Franco, et. al.)

A lot of people think Tepper was a failure at IUP. I think if he had more scholarships and didn't have to rely on guys like Bo Napoleon, he would have fared better. For the image of the program, he was the right hire. But he entered an unwinable situation because he was not part of the IUP Family and his things like the mission statement and "Tough and Classy!" just came across wrong. Great guy. Great example of class and compassion. But those years just didn't feel right for anyone. I think he was uncomfortable and found land mines that he had been told didn't exist.

[Fightingscot82]

Tepper cleaned up a similar situation at Edinboro in 2000. Players, alumni, and community members walked away when Tom Hollman was fired.