The Portal, 2025 Style

[PSAC77]

Their recruiting class is going to be destroyed. How can anyone commit not knowing who the head coach is going to be unless they have no other options. I really don't like Lock Haven staff. They are constantly cutting guys and do not develop players. Maybe it was all at the direction of the head coach. I do not know. The one that stands out to me is when they cut a freshman DL last year that tore his ACL during the season. They cut him before spring semester. They lost their top recruit after 1 semester in 2023 bc he failed out. No one was monitoring the kids academics. Hoping a new staff comes in with integrity. Beneath it all Mulrooney was not what he appeared to be to the outside world.

[iupgroundhog]

https://www.golhu.com/news/2025/1/17...all-coach.aspx

I would say that's the best option. Of course, Battaglia will be a candidate in their national search.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I know you do lol.

Charleston Southern will be in the Pick 'Em weekly next Fall.

[RocknTheSnackBar]

Appointed by interim AD so that's good

[Fightingscot82]

Has anyone heard of Lock Haven naming an interim hc? In looking at Mulrooneys coaching record, he only has 1 winning season in 9 years as a HC. I feel bad for the coaching staff he left behind. Those guys stayed with him for 3 years making no money. they thought they were along for the ride with him to FCS. Will be interesting to see how he does at Brown. You actually have to develop players over 4 years instead of bringing in portal guys.

https://www.golhu.com/news/2025/1/17...all-coach.aspx

[Ram040506]

Yea.....kinda hard to beat 69%. I concur.

I know you do lol.

[Boro33]

Wait till you see their completion percentage next year though.

Yea.....kinda hard to beat 69%. I concur.

[Ram040506]

I think you're completely off base on this. Ferris played Montana to within a touchdown in 2023. They would smoke Charleston Southern. Just being in FCS doesn't make you good if you don't have any of the rest of the infrastructure that comes with a winning program.

Wait till you see their completion percentage next year though.

[EastStroud13]

Not in agreement with that one. They open with Vanderbilt and Coastal Carolina in 2025. They open at Clemson in 2026. They were playing even at Florida State this year before losing in second half. Looking at their scores from this year, they lost 5 games by 5 or less. They may not play for an FCS championship next year but, there is no way D2 programs can compete against those schools. Could Ferris, Grand Valley and a couple more possibly upset Charleston? Absolutely, Bur there is no comparison between the Robert Morris type and schools from the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference.

I think you're completely off base on this. Ferris played Montana to within a touchdown in 2023. They would smoke Charleston Southern. Just being in FCS doesn't make you good if you don't have any of the rest of the infrastructure that comes with a winning program.

[Fightingscot82]

Not in agreement with that one. They open with Vanderbilt and Coastal Carolina in 2025. They open at Clemson in 2026. They were playing even at Florida State this year before losing in second half. Looking at their scores from this year, they lost 5 games by 5 or less. They may not play for an FCS championship next year but, there is no way D2 programs can compete against those schools. Could Ferris, Grand Valley and a couple more possibly upset Charleston? Absolutely, Bur there is no comparison between the Robert Morris type and schools from the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference.

Small sample that's problematic. Unless they're playing the top FCS schools, the FBS schools are lazy in preparation as if its a scrimmage against the local high school. You see this much more in basketball when D1 schedules a scrimmage against D2 then gets upset.

FYI: Robert Morris was in the Big South until this year and beat Charleston Southern last year. I agree that the Big South is better than the NEC, but not by much. The NEC is just NE10 schools with better financial positions to discount more scholarships. That scholarship number is the only qualifier to play Florida State - and FSU will gladly pay them $450k for the very likely home win and much less than they'd have to pay an FBS team.

[Boro33]

Nah I'm with him on this. Charleston Southern is like the Seton Hill of FCS

Not in agreement with that one. They open with Vanderbilt and Coastal Carolina in 2025. They open at Clemson in 2026. They were playing even at Florida State this year before losing in second half. Looking at their scores from this year, they lost 5 games by 5 or less. They may not play for an FCS championship next year but, there is no way D2 programs can compete against those schools. Could Ferris, Grand Valley and a couple more possibly upset Charleston? Absolutely, Bur there is no comparison between the Robert Morris type and schools from the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference.

[Ram040506]

Coaches know how the business works when they sign up. It's a risk. Some of them may get retained by the eventual new HC (if they want to stay in the game). Mulrooney's record at Lock Haven is pretty deceiving. I think his overall body of work needs looked at more than his record. That program was a dumpster fire for the past 40 years. Yes, he was still losing big games this year but they were real close several times. His teams put some major fear in to opponents and nearly pulled some major upsets. That's not an easy sell at Lock Haven and he was getting some high quality players in there.

With very few exceptions being a D2 assistant is a rough way to make a living. IUP Football has some long, long-term assistants making close to $100k a year but they are like unicorns in this league. I think they actually make more than some sitting HCs.

The goal for most assistants (and even some HCs) in D2 ... is to get the hell out of D2 as fast as possible. Build the resume and keep climbing.

As for recruiting, you have to do both. It's real hard to live off of just high school players. They can transfer anytime they want with basically no penalty. The issue in this league is the bottom teams are now just feeder teams for the wealthy. Develop at Millersville, get some film ... and get the heck out of there asap.

IUP seems to have a JV operation going at Millersville for the defense the last few years lol

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Has anyone heard of Lock Haven naming an interim hc? In looking at Mulrooneys coaching record, he only has 1 winning season in 9 years as a HC. I feel bad for the coaching staff he left behind. Those guys stayed with him for 3 years making no money. they thought they were along for the ride with him to FCS. Will be interesting to see how he does at Brown. You actually have to develop players over 4 years instead of bringing in portal guys.

Coaches know how the business works when they sign up. It's a risk. Some of them may get retained by the eventual new HC (if they want to stay in the game). Mulrooney's record at Lock Haven is pretty deceiving. I think his overall body of work needs looked at more than his record. That program was a dumpster fire for the past 40 years. Yes, he was still losing big games this year but they were real close several times. His teams put some major fear in to opponents and nearly pulled some major upsets. That's not an easy sell at Lock Haven and he was getting some high quality players in there.

With very few exceptions being a D2 assistant is a rough way to make a living. IUP Football has some long, long-term assistants making close to $100k a year but they are like unicorns in this league. I think they actually make more than some sitting HCs.

The goal for most assistants (and even some HCs) in D2 ... is to get the hell out of D2 as fast as possible. Build the resume and keep climbing.

As for recruiting, you have to do both. It's real hard to live off of just high school players. They can transfer anytime they want with basically no penalty. The issue in this league is the bottom teams are now just feeder teams for the wealthy. Develop at Millersville, get some film ... and get the heck out of there asap.

[PSAC77]

Has anyone heard of Lock Haven naming an interim hc? In looking at Mulrooneys coaching record, he only has 1 winning season in 9 years as a HC. I feel bad for the coaching staff he left behind. Those guys stayed with him for 3 years making no money. they thought they were along for the ride with him to FCS. Will be interesting to see how he does at Brown. You actually have to develop players over 4 years instead of bringing in portal guys.

[Fightingscot82]

I've had the opportunity to work in athletics at the D1, D2, and D3 levels throughout my career. The talent gap is greater between D3 and D2 than between D2 and D1. Although about 3-4 NCAA DIII teams would compete at the D2 level, I'd doubt that over the course of the season, the D3 juggernauts would enjoy sustained success playing a D2 schedule—just my opinion.

I kind of agree with you. I estimate that there's about a roughly 25-50% overlap in strength from abutting divisions. This is why NDSU can run roughshod through FBS or middling SR1 teams can beat NEC teams. I bet Susquehanna and Cortland could finish top half in either PSAC division because they can recruit a good player into a successful program.