THE IUP Football Thread

[IUPNation]

man i was really starting to worry about you guys, thought this board went full political sounding board but finally some football talk. The west is as wide open as it has been in the last 25 years. It's going to be a really fun year, looking forward to it. camps start opening up in the next couple weeks, it is upon us!

Political? What is political? There is too much embarrassment from their poor choices for anyone to talk anything political plus they all know I turned out to be right about everything.

Again.

But it was an exciting day in Indiana.

[CUlater]

They have some serious dudes on offense. No doubt about it. But, as we started to discuss yesterday, the QB is the unknown. Opinions obviously vary. I tend to think he's going to be much better than some think.

Tort could be going with the (newer) theory of ... the best defense is simply more offense.

They have addressed some needs on the defensive side. There are also quite a few younger guys that most haven't heard of yet that are ready to bust onto the scene. Tort has had very good overall retention with his past few classes. They aren't kids anymore. A lot of them would have played at other places. They had to wait their turn at IUP.

There are some imports that will leak in the coming days that will raise some eyebrows. Tort had a good summer.

One huge factor you have overlooked. The OC leaving is a big blow for IUP, Frank Jr was legit, it jumped off the page in how prepared they were as an offense and the play of the QB. He was also another head coach on the field which may have been the biggest impact. someone has to protect Tort from Tort. They replaced him with a D coordinator who is transitioning to OC and very early in his career. Looking to replace your QB from last year with a guy who has taking more snaps at RB and a ton of production at WR to replace. The pickup from Cal was huge no doubt but it doesn't fill the gap of a Massey and a Whitlock. On top of that IUP hasn't had a running game to speak of in 2 years. A lot of unanswered questions in Indiana...

[Matt Burglund]

They replaced him with a D coordinator who is transitioning to OC and very early in his career.

Marco Pecora has been coaching college football for 12 years now, and he spent the past 6 seasons as the offensive coordinator at Division I St. Francis.

[CUlater]

Marco Pecora has been coaching college football for 12 years now, and he spent the past 6 seasons as the offensive coordinator at Division I St. Francis.

that's correct and 6 of those 12 years were spent as DC and/or various defensive positions. He spent his playing career on the defensive side of the ball. So 6 years of offensive coaching experience. Frank Jr, approaching 30 years of coaching experience, all on the offensive side of the football and at the highest level. D1 offensive coordinator, several seasons as a QB coach in the NFL. Extremely distinguished, respected, ect. which helped Tort a ton. You see where i'm going...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

that's correct and 6 of those 12 years were spent as DC and/or various defensive positions. He spent his playing career on the defensive side of the ball. So 6 years of offensive coaching experience. Frank Jr, approaching 30 years of coaching experience, all on the offensive side of the football and at the highest level. D1 offensive coordinator, several seasons as a QB coach in the NFL. Extremely distinguished, respected, ect. which helped Tort a ton. You see where i'm going...

Well you certainly can't expect to keep a guy like that for $70,000.

I think most knew once his Pitt buyout was done he'd probably leave for a better opportunity.

Big loss. No doubt. But, the show goes on. Schools at this level are used to a revolving door with assistants.

The new guy is pretty sharp. I think he'll do fine.

QB is the big question. If he's a hit, they should be pretty strong this year. We'll see soon enough.

I never worry about IUP having enough talent on the roster. I worry about the whacky stuff that seems to follow them around in the final 120 seconds.

[CUlater]

Well you certainly can't expect to keep a guy like that for $70,000.

I think most knew once his Pitt buyout was done he'd probably leave for a better opportunity.

Big loss. No doubt. But, the show goes on. Schools at this level are used to a revolving door with assistants.

The new guy is pretty sharp. I think he'll do fine.

QB is the big question. If he's a hit, they should be pretty strong this year. We'll see soon enough.

I never worry about IUP having enough talent on the roster. I worry about the whacky stuff that seems to follow them around in the final 120 seconds.

ya you were fortunate to have him, IMO he's the big reason why IUP won the west last year. I said it when they made the hire for the new guy that i liked the move. Making the hire after spring ball really hurt though. That and a lot of new faces make things a little dicey going into the season. In todays game, you get too few practices in fall camp to get an offense to gel. Makes for some messy games early in the season. Luckily, after week 1 the schedule softens up for a bit. As you mentioned, everyone has some questions marks in the west. It's going to be a real interesting to see who is lining up against Ktown for the state game. West will be a wild ride this year.

[Matt Burglund]

that's correct and 6 of those 12 years were spent as DC and/or various defensive positions. He spent his playing career on the defensive side of the ball. So 6 years of offensive coaching experience.

It's not that uncommon for OCs to have played on the defensive side of the ball. That's a great way of understanding defenses, which certainly helps when you're coordinating an offense.

Frank Jr. was a DB when he played at IUP. So was Jim Hostler, who was an NFL OC.

Chip Kelly, Bill O'Brien, Kevin Sumlin, Rich Rod, and Urban Meyer all played defense in college and then went on to become OCs and then HCs. It's not that uncommon, and some would say it's a smart way to build a career.

Making the hire after spring ball really hurt though.

Pecora was hired before spring ball and coached every practice. It just wasn't announced until after spring ball.

[CUlater]

It's not that uncommon for OCs to have played on the defensive side of the ball. That's a great way of understanding defenses, which certainly helps when you're coordinating an offense.

Frank Jr. was a DB when he played at IUP. So was Jim Hostler, who was an NFL OC.

Chip Kelly, Bill O'Brien, Kevin Sumlin, Rich Rod, and Urban Meyer all played defense in college and then went on to become OCs and then HCs. It's not that uncommon, and some would say it's a smart way to build a career.



Pecora was hired before spring ball and coached every practice. It just wasn't announced until after spring ball.

have you ever considered a career in politics? I'm def not in the "some", I think its fair to say that it's very uncommon to be a defensive coach or in this case coordinator for a significant amount of time and then flip to the offensive side of the ball. In this case, half of his coaching career. That's not to say he hasn't been, or will not be successful in doing so, but it's far from the normal path. Of course there are exceptions, but that doesn't make it common.

On him being around for spring ball, I'm surprised I didn't hear that. That is a huge advantage heading into fall camp to have your system installed and some reps under the belt with the majority of the roster in place.

[IUPNation]

[EyeoftheHawk]

If y’all aren’t subscribed to Matt’s Substack, “Inside IUP Football,” you’re really missing out. He’s been posting every day and is currently writing a series that previews every team in the PSAC. There’s also an update to the potential for the “five years to play rule,” which could be implemented BEFORE the fall seasons start. I encourage you to check it out and get some real reporting, not just the smoke blowers here that are mostly guessing.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

If y’all aren’t subscribed to Matt’s Substack, “Inside IUP Football,” you’re really missing out. He’s been posting every day and is currently writing a series that previews every team in the PSAC. There’s also an update to the potential for the “five years to play rule,” which could be implemented BEFORE the fall seasons start. I encourage you to check it out and get some real reporting, not just the smoke blowers here that are mostly guessing.

Not an issue this summer. People have to talk about the team to blow any smoke. There's no talking about said team.

This summer has essentially been like the November home playoff game. Dead.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Not an issue this summer. People have to talk about the team to blow any smoke. There's no talking about said team.

This summer has essentially been like the November home playoff game. Dead.

I was thinking that this morning walking the dog through campus. I think you mentioned this a while back and I fully agree. This has been the quietest offseason of IUP Football I can remember. Will they go 6-5 or 10-1? Either seems equally possible.

[IUPNation]

I was thinking that this morning walking the dog through campus. I think you mentioned this a while back and I fully agree. This has been the quietest offseason of IUP Football I can remember. Will they go 6-5 or 10-1? Either seems equally possible.

Quiet is better than getting everyone’s hopes up and fall flat on their faces to lesser teams…

[Ram040506]

I was thinking that this morning walking the dog through campus. I think you mentioned this a while back and I fully agree. This has been the quietest offseason of IUP Football I can remember. Will they go 6-5 or 10-1? Either seems equally possible.

It's been the same for Shepherd, I don't think the coaches even know what they have. All our "inside information" with this transfer chaos year to year, team construction is a complete guessing game with how everything is going to mesh. Turning over 40-60% of your roster year to year, who knows.

[iupgroundhog]

It's been the same for Shepherd, I don't think the coaches even know what they have. All our "inside information" with this transfer chaos year to year, team construction is a complete guessing game with how everything is going to mesh. Turning over 40-60% of your roster year to year, who knows.

Correct. There's no way for fans to know what is going on at a level to make projections with any validity. We've got transfers who we've never seen perform at the collegiate level, so it's just guesswork. Now, throw in this potential decision coming a week from now (right before camp) about a 5th year of eligibility in D2 it's even murkier. Which players and teams would be helped or hurt by it? Nobody, absolutely nobody, has a grasp of that. Maybe the uncertainty ends up making for an interesting upcoming season.