11/5/22 - vs North Dakota State

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4EverPurple&Gold wrote: Wed Nov 09, 2022 7:33 am
rocki wrote: Mon Nov 07, 2022 1:24 pm Sadly I agree with you. And now there are rumblings out there of trouble on the staff. Its going to be an interesting next couple months.

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OK, you don't just leave people hanging like this. If you know something, spill.


 
A source I know close to the program told me that coach and the AD are not on the same page and he can't let him go because of the buy out. Also was told a lot of players are leaving (not a shocker) and there have been some incidents that between coaches and players. 

 
I've heard all of these except the AD thing, some going back a few months, others more recently, and from a variety of people.
 
Leatherneck57
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Neck Fans, give me a break!  If you think this was going to be fixed in the first year then your expectations are not realistic and never were!  You have no idea what it takes to build a program and get it out of this mess we were put in.  

Paul Bubb is committed to giving Coach Hendrickson everything he needs to be successful and create the same for the program!

Yeah…we had a chance to win a couple of games but a couple of blown coverages was the difference!  Guys at all levels make those mistakes every week including guys in the NFL and they are paid big money for it not to happen.  Simply put these guys need to learn how to finish and win games!  We have almost 40 kids redshirted that will learn that. 

If you want to blame someone for the failures of the team…blame the former staff!  They did us NO favors in their recruiting philosophies with all the one year transfers.  Most didn’t even play!  

Every coach on this staff will tell you when they are on the recruiting trail, schools all over Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa haven’t seen a coach from Western Illinois in years.  WE HAD NO BASE and this staff is doing it right.  We have more commits for 2023 than we’ve ever had at this point in the recruiting process.  There will be some players come in at semester that will make a difference and kick our Spring ball up a few notches.

We had 53 kids on the roster for Spring ball.  Everyone knows what this staff had to do to get to 110 players.  We are playing a lot of true freshman which will prove valuable in the years to come.  Like any team we have experienced more injuries than expected.  Hell…we lost 3 offensive guards in one game and two of those kids are having surgery.  We lost the big DT from Georgia for the season in the second week of camp.

As far as playing the right QB you have to look at their leadership traits and how a team responds.  If you’re at all observant it seems the team responds to Bruno and his ability to make things happen more so than the other QB’s.  Yes he throws some untimely picks but he is a tough kid working hard to do the right things to win. 

Two more things…

This staff is close and working hard to get that first W and get the monkey off their backs.  They were dealt an ugly hand that no matter who you brought in would have the same issues.  

As far as players leaving…that is always going to happen thanks to the NCAA and the Portal.  You are continually recruiting the players on your roster. Of the kids that left in the Spring only 2 are having success with their new teams at JSU and YSU.  The other 2 former starters aren’t even seeing the field and one isn’t even on the roster anymore.  I’m a true believer that if a kid doesn’t want to be here then let him go.  He will do more harm than good in the long run. 

I respect the hell out of Charlie Fisher as a coach and person but let’s not forget the hand he was dealt.  He won with Bob Nielsen’s kids and the cupboard was full and everyone knows that’s true.  We should have been in the playoffs 3 consecutive years with most all those kids but only made 1 appearance under Fisher and Elliott as HC’s.  We were 4-25 the last 3 years under Elliott.  

I recommend you consider giving this some time and if we’re having the same discussions in a couple of years then we all will have a reason to be concerned.

Let’s give our full support and stop the negativity!  It takes time to get the right nucleus of players in a program to create the environment we all want to see…

 
 
Last edited by Leatherneck57 on Thu Nov 10, 2022 7:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Leatherneck57 wrote: Wed Nov 09, 2022 10:17 pm Neck Fans, give me a break!  If you think this was going to be fixed in the first year then your expectations are not realistic and never were!  You have no idea what it takes to build a program and get it out of this mess we were put in.  
...

Let’s give our full support and stop the negativity!  It takes time to get the right nucleus of players in a program to create the environment we all want to see…

 
This is my feeling as well. Sure, it's disappointing to not win many (any?) games in a season, but I'm not ready to even start thinking about judging Coach Hendrickson's performance until at least next season.

Like I've said before, this is a full-on rebuild. This is like one of those home renovation shows where you start with a historic house that just hasn't been kept up in a few years.
Year 1 is the first 20 minutes of they show...they've torn just about everything down to the studs...everything is a mess...there's plastic sheeting up over the windows and doorways. It's going to look ugly right now.
Year 2 is when they start putting in the new structure and really begin to make things look like a house again. Maybe you can start to see a few things just beginning to come together.
Year 3 is when they get all the walls up and covered, new windows put in place, doors, paint, etc. At this point you should be able to tell whether the remodel was a lost cause or if it is really something special.

I don't know whether the finished product will be an incredible update to a beautiful home with history and great "curb appeal" or if it will end up being some monstrosity that was cobbled together by a designer with no cohesive vision or plan. What I do know is that I'm not ready to judge things based on how everything looks on "demo day".

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sealhall74
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The Home Makeover analogy is a good one.  But most of them always come with a twist thrown in along the way like mold in the walls from a leaking roof or a foundation that has settled unevenly.  I have a home project that is going on its 3rd year now.  Not a big one, just sort of turning a fairly small covered back porch into a 3 or 4 season enclosed room.  Met a contractor out of Peoria at the QC Home Expo back then.  He came and measured everything, ordered the windows, doors, etc.  He said it was about 3 day job.   LOL.  Turns out he was not licensed in Davenport and had no interest in getting licensed which means he had no interest in getting the required permits as well.  I did not press them on it as COVID kicked in and most of that work kind of came to a halt.  His business partner called me up about a year and half later and said that all the stuff was sitting in their warehouse and they would gladly deliver it to me which they did.  Its all still sitting in my shed and garage wherever I can squeeze it in.  Who knows what the truth is.  The business could have gone belly up.  Maybe they realized the materials were not the right size for the job and wanted to avoid a few headaches.  I have only about $1500 invested in the project so far so not a big loss.  But most contractors will not touch someone else's material to do a job because of warranty issues.  Now I am trying to decide whether to just scrap the material (or get what I can from it on ebay or facebook) or go with a whole new design and contractor.  Found a company from Muscatine willing to go either route for me (existing materials + their time and other materials or do a whole new design from scratch from their portfolio).

You are going to encounter lot of bumps along the road in this football rebuild.  I think a coach deserves minimum 3 years to make it happen and I might be ok with 4 years here because his cupboard was so bare coming in AS LONG AS I SEE PROGRESS BEING MADE ALONG THE WAY WHICH MEANS WINS ON THE BOARD.  Now you can get into issues with the scheduling cupcake games just to get those wins.  Where have seen that before?  LOL  So I can see how an AD and a HC might have a disagreement now and then.
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sealhall74 wrote: Thu Nov 10, 2022 9:05 amBut most of them always come with a twist thrown in along the way like mold in the walls from a leaking roof or a foundation that has settled unevenly.
...
 
That's the transfer portal :lol:
 
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rocki
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Leatherneck57 wrote: Wed Nov 09, 2022 10:17 pm Neck Fans, give me a break!  If you think this was going to be fixed in the first year then your expectations are not realistic and never were!  You have no idea what it takes to build a program and get it out of this mess we were put in.  

Paul Bubb is committed to giving Coach Hendrickson everything he needs to be successful and create the same for the program!

Yeah…we had a chance to win a couple of games but a couple of blown coverages was the difference!  Guys at all levels make those mistakes every week including guys in the NFL and they are paid big money for it not to happen.  Simply put these guys need to learn how to finish and win games!  We have almost 40 kids redshirted that will learn that. 

If you want to blame someone for the failures of the team…blame the former staff!  They did us NO favors in their recruiting philosophies with all the one year transfers.  Most didn’t even play!  

Every coach on this staff will tell you when they are on the recruiting trail, schools all over Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa haven’t seen a coach from Western Illinois in years.  WE HAD NO BASE and this staff is doing it right.  We have more commits for 2023 than we’ve ever had at this point in the recruiting process.  There will be some players come in at semester that will make a difference and kick our Spring ball up a few notches.

We had 53 kids on the roster for Spring ball.  Everyone knows what this staff had to do to get to 110 players.  We are playing a lot of true freshman which will prove valuable in the years to come.  Like any team we have experienced more injuries than expected.  Hell…we lost 3 offensive guards in one game and two of those kids are having surgery.  We lost the big DT from Georgia for the season in the second week of camp.

As far as playing the right QB you have to look at their leadership traits and how a team responds.  If you’re at all observant it seems the team responds to Bruno and his ability to make things happen more so than the other QB’s.  Yes he throws some untimely picks but he is a tough kid working hard to do the right things to win. 

Two more things…

This staff is close and working hard to get that first W and get the monkey off their backs.  They were dealt an ugly hand that no matter who you brought in would have the same issues.  

As far as players leaving…that is always going to happen thanks to the NCAA and the Portal.  You are continually recruiting the players on your roster. Of the kids that left in the Spring only 2 are having success with their new teams at JSU and YSU.  The other 2 former starters aren’t even seeing the field and one isn’t even on the roster anymore.  I’m a true believer that if a kid doesn’t want to be here then let him go.  He will do more harm than good in the long run. 

I respect the hell out of Charlie Fisher as a coach and person but let’s not forget the hand he was dealt.  He won with Bob Nielsen’s kids and the cupboard was full and everyone knows that’s true.  We should have been in the playoffs 3 consecutive years with most all those kids but only made 1 appearance under Fisher and Elliott as HC’s.  We were 4-25 the last 3 years under Elliott.  

I recommend you consider giving this some time and if we’re having the same discussions in a couple of years then we all will have a reason to be concerned.

Let’s give our full support and stop the negativity!  It takes time to get the right nucleus of players in a program to create the environment we all want to see…

 
 

 
Relax, 57. I think most of us on here are in it for the long haul. We realize that we have kind of patched together a team the last couple of seasons and that can either work well or not work well (particularly when some are playing their final year and have been used to a different style of coaching). I believe the coach knows what he is doing in building a team from the ground up. My ears just perked up when it was mentioned there were problems among the staff, and some with the coaches and players (like that NEVER happens anywhere else). I don't think there are any of us on here that don't want Coach to be successful, I just think some of us are hoping to see some press releases about fund raising, or facilities improvements, or anything to show that we are trying to get top notch recruits here.
 
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Neckfansince71
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I think you will see development of an athletic strategic plan for facilities in the very near future.  We are way way behind as you know.  Improvements are going to have to be made in an order that serves as many athletes and coaches as possible. ;)  Personally I would love to see lights and bathrooms for Baseball, Softball, and Soccer.  Lights would "light our" spring sports on fire.  How about a flexible dome like structure either in the throw area or next to Western Hall.  Can you imagine what that would mean for all our sports.  Just my opinion though.  I know there are larger ticket items that have got to be addressed too.  jc

 
meganeck
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Leatherneck57 wrote: Wed Nov 09, 2022 10:17 pm Neck Fans, give me a break!  If you think this was going to be fixed in the first year then your expectations are not realistic and never were!  You have no idea what it takes to build a program and get it out of this mess we were put in.  

Paul Bubb is committed to giving Coach Hendrickson everything he needs to be successful and create the same for the program!

Yeah…we had a chance to win a couple of games but a couple of blown coverages was the difference!  Guys at all levels make those mistakes every week including guys in the NFL and they are paid big money for it not to happen.  Simply put these guys need to learn how to finish and win games!  We have almost 40 kids redshirted that will learn that. 

If you want to blame someone for the failures of the team…blame the former staff!  They did us NO favors in their recruiting philosophies with all the one year transfers.  Most didn’t even play!  

Every coach on this staff will tell you when they are on the recruiting trail, schools all over Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa haven’t seen a coach from Western Illinois in years.  WE HAD NO BASE and this staff is doing it right.  We have more commits for 2023 than we’ve ever had at this point in the recruiting process.  There will be some players come in at semester that will make a difference and kick our Spring ball up a few notches.

We had 53 kids on the roster for Spring ball.  Everyone knows what this staff had to do to get to 110 players.  We are playing a lot of true freshman which will prove valuable in the years to come.  Like any team we have experienced more injuries than expected.  Hell…we lost 3 offensive guards in one game and two of those kids are having surgery.  We lost the big DT from Georgia for the season in the second week of camp.

As far as playing the right QB you have to look at their leadership traits and how a team responds.  If you’re at all observant it seems the team responds to Bruno and his ability to make things happen more so than the other QB’s.  Yes he throws some untimely picks but he is a tough kid working hard to do the right things to win. 

Two more things…

This staff is close and working hard to get that first W and get the monkey off their backs.  They were dealt an ugly hand that no matter who you brought in would have the same issues.  

As far as players leaving…that is always going to happen thanks to the NCAA and the Portal.  You are continually recruiting the players on your roster. Of the kids that left in the Spring only 2 are having success with their new teams at JSU and YSU.  The other 2 former starters aren’t even seeing the field and one isn’t even on the roster anymore.  I’m a true believer that if a kid doesn’t want to be here then let him go.  He will do more harm than good in the long run. 

I respect the hell out of Charlie Fisher as a coach and person but let’s not forget the hand he was dealt.  He won with Bob Nielsen’s kids and the cupboard was full and everyone knows that’s true.  We should have been in the playoffs 3 consecutive years with most all those kids but only made 1 appearance under Fisher and Elliott as HC’s.  We were 4-25 the last 3 years under Elliott.  

I recommend you consider giving this some time and if we’re having the same discussions in a couple of years then we all will have a reason to be concerned.

Let’s give our full support and stop the negativity!  It takes time to get the right nucleus of players in a program to create the environment we all want to see…

 
 

 
 can you provide any insight in what is going on with Drake Day, is he hurt, redshirting or not not good to play, but i figured he would have gotten a shot at the QB job this spring? If you but can't or don't want to say I totally understand. By the way i agree need to time to turn things around.
 
rocki
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Neckfansince71 wrote: Fri Nov 11, 2022 2:46 pm I think you will see development of an athletic strategic plan for facilities in the very near future.  We are way way behind as you know.  Improvements are going to have to be made in an order that serves as many athletes and coaches as possible. ;)  Personally I would love to see lights and bathrooms for Baseball, Softball, and Soccer.  Lights would "light our" spring sports on fire.  How about a flexible dome like structure either in the throw area or next to Western Hall.  Can you imagine what that would mean for all our sports.  Just my opinion though.  I know there are larger ticket items that have got to be addressed too.  jc

 

 
I saw where Burlington, IA set up an air supported athletic facility, and was wondering if WIU is looking at something like that for an "indoor" practice facility in the future. It's not the same as a dome, but seems like it could be a good interim idea.
vatusay
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Seems like every year is a new master plan for facilities, and we are alway so close.  I just giggle when I hear anyone talking about it. 

I believe it when I’m walking into the new digs. 

 
#ALLIN #YOLO
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