Leaderboard

All I hear on this profile today is how our kids are getting softer and don't work as hard as they used to. Now a few of you are criticizing a kid who wants to take a chance to live out a dream? How many times have your heard guys sitting around talking football and somebody always says, I wish I would have tried to play at Big School U? What is wrong with taking a chance on yourself and trying to pursue a dream? As a coach and Father , it is part of my job to get my players and kids to go outside of their comfort zone. The only way we improve in any endeavor is to leave our comfort zones. Some of these kids have been big fish in small ponds their whole lives and have no idea of what they are capable of. I applaud the kids who take a chance. Live life with your hair on fire, take some chances. If you get there and it doesn't work out, I am sure the small college guys will take a second look at you. There is something to be said for these kids that go with no guarantees of anything, but a roster spot and are willing to work there butts off. I'd hire that guy any day. My son is actually one of those guys who turned down a very good offer to be a walk on at IU. That has been his dream forever. Chase it with all your heart Young man!!! He understands all the negatives and we discussed it thoroughly . He chose to take a chance. I am impressed and proud that he chose to take a chance and test his metal. At the end of the day, regardless of whether he plays 1 play or a thousand plays, it is the process and the willingness to put in the work that will benefit him in the real world. We all have our opinions on how good a kid is and where they can play, but the world is full of guys people were wrong about. I for one think we all could learn to take a few more chances , to say what the hell, to believe in ourselves and just go for it! BTW: Tom and his staff as I am sure Purdue does too, evaluate film and only bring in guys they think might have a chance.

So... It wasn't that long ago a lot of people on this board will screaming about keeping talent in state and getting Indiana High School Talent to Purdue and IU... Now Allen is killing small college football? Could be $250K in debt if he wants to play D3 Football. Johnny Football and his parents have to make the best decision for him. If Johnny was to go to Marian, Depauw, Wabash, UIndy, St. Francis, Anderson, Hanover, Bluffton, etc. he is probably walking out of there with some debt (probably as much as his PWO from IU) because not every member of those schools gets Full Rides. I will also add, the resources/opportunities the PWOs will get from IU will be greater than smaller Indiana College Football. The biggest misconception I think is that if you get an offer its a full ride... Couldn't be more further from the truth.

Congrats! You saved $250k by not playing at Wabash and getting an Education Degree that you will use to get a job as a Gym Teacher for $35k in Podunk, Indiana.

I'm not sure if they could have afforded me, but they should have gotten "this" Impartial Observer. At least I can conduct a coin toss.

That is a slap in the face to the majority of coaches that will bend over backwards to help get their kids into a school and, in particular, one that fits. With the advent of Hudl and Maxpreps (and others), access to film, stats, data, etc is easier than ever before. I guess i am just disappointed in the laziness of the football players in our state who keep choosing the "easier" route as a walk-on. 🙄

BINGO

What about a Walk-on is easy? These guys are rolling the dice, working from the very bottom of the roster, paying their own way to school. How is that easy? This will not make the small schools worst off. If anything it will make them better in the long run. When the reality of being a walk-on hits most will transfer to a smaller school to actually play. A few will stick with it and some do gain scholarships, it is a great move by IU to gain as much talent as possible. But some will rise to the challenge and others will move on. It is the nature of the beast. Even at the small schools a large amount of freshmen show up thinking they are going to jump in and start only to have to work their way up the practice squads to get noticed.

Why couldnt it be just as rewarding for that guy who never sniffed action? Maybe they are at their dream school, suiting up for the team they have wanted to play for since they were little? Every day they are out there practicing, weightlifting, attending meetings, etc....maybe the role on Saturday's isnt what they dreamed, but they are still there, living out the path that 18 year old them led them down. The same could be said for the guy that chooses a smaller school and ends up starting for 4 years instead of taking the WO route. It is rewarding because it was his route and his choices.

Quite frankly, this entire conversation is ridiculous. If you were a casual fan and ventured into this conversation, you might think that IU now has like 50 PWOs or something. This is not an issue worth debating. Until one of the coaches from Marian, St. Francis, UINDY, Franklin, Hanover, or anywhere else comes into my office crying the blues about not having players to offer, I will not buy it. There are plenty of kids, and plenty of schools for them to attend to play. END OF STORY!

If you went to IUPUI's school of HPERD at that time (the oldest School for Physical Education in the country, by the way :) ) , it is "Physical Education"; not even PE, Phys. Ed., and ESPECIALLY not gym.

Congratulations to Western Boone's Connor Hole and Brett Wethington. Both received (and committed) to IU on Saturday when Coach Tom Allen offered both Preferred Walk on spots. Congrats to Both!

Nope, Republican Party has the lock on Russians.

Did you happen to notice during Sunday's coin toss, KC's "drunk" kicker tried like hell to screw up the options. Vinovich did an outstanding piece of officiating by not letting him do it. Colquit was in fact choosing a goal to defend that would have resulted in KC kicking off both halves.

Is that you stepping in front of Willie Joe @Impartial_Observer?

As I think about it, I don't like all of this super/mega/uber/grande/jumbo conference talk at all times. It just leads to additional travel time mostly...

Valpo did exactly that to the Dac this year. Valpo ran counter with a kick or a log on the DE according to how he reacted. It can be done. Center Grove gets the edge just fine in the MIC. There seems to be some really big and fast players in the MIC too. I think it can be done.

I don't understand, we've been told for the last three years this is Trump supporters.

And they didn't even have to bribe a foreign country to do it!

Many of the D3 schools use athletics as a way to recruit students. When my son was a senior we were talking to Hanover and the admissions person said 45% of their incoming class each year are on one of the athletics teams. The D3 schools will try to get 75 freshmen every year knowing half of them will not return their sophomore year but hopefully a large percentage like the school enough to stay at the school. It's a good recruiting tool for those schools.

I would have to think so. My thought this morning was that there was a Bernie/Pete roll over the competition which (IMHO) is not what the DIP (Democrats In Power) wanted.

If only the real Rudy could have been as cool as the Sean Astin Rudy.

Lets all Chant it together

What about a kid who opts for a smaller school over a D1? My daughter had multiple D1 offers and opted for Marian. In her words "dad I don't want this to be a job, I want to experience college as well." Smaller schools offer varying degrees of that. When she went on her visit, she said "it just felt like home." I told her all along forget sports, find a school you would just like to go to school at. We all knew there was no million dollar contract at the end of this rainbow, Softball was a means to an end. As I've stated many times, Marian University is the best college athletic program in the country you've never heard of.

He's always been good to me personally and professionally. He did also award me the IHSAA Distinguished Media Award for District 2 a few years back. That was something that totally caught me by surprise as I totally did not expect it. Totally humbled and appreciative of that honor. I haven't always agreed with his decisions, but I think he has done much for high school sports in Indiana. I think that the IHSAA Champions Network will be part of his legacy as well as the Champions Together program. I wish him well. I hope the next Commissioner brings some new ideas, though. I hope specifically that this individual takes a good look at the State Tournament Series in each sport and listens to good ideas from around the state on how to improve each one.

Yes, yes, yes. There are so many positives to being a walk on at a larger program compared to paying 30k+ at any smaller private.

I believe the real winner of the Iowa Caucus will be Mike Bloomberg. He looks pretty smart skipping what is turning into quite the shitshow.

It might hurt some small schools as far as talent, but it will increase the opportunity for other kids to attend those small schools. I like what Allen is doing because there are multiples guys at UIndy, Marian, and St. Francis (just to name a few) that I know could contribute at IU or Purdue

Since "New Math" didn't work.......(Or does anyone else think they didn't like the real results they got.....

Johnny Football better take his tail to a Title 1 school and get his loans forgiven 😂

I noticed this LH thing during the anthem, I seem to recall several folks doing this, does this have some meaning? Given IO’s long history of sporting events, he’s often wonder how many National Anthems he’s stood for.

Wishes for s speedy recovery!!

In the words of legendary Jasper Football coach Jerry Brewer, “I teach PE. Gym is a building or a person.”

Come on folks, we're PE teachers who teach in the gym, not about the gym!! haha

This is the same model that Coach Frost is using at Nebraska and that Nebraska used in the 80s & 90s. The idea is to build a strong walk-on program, and get a few quality players out of it, but more importantly build excitement and a mindset in Indiana High School athletes that they WANT TO stay home and DREAM of playing for IU growing up.

at the end of the day, it is up to the individual student athlete and their family. I will never criticize kids who make decisions on what they feel is their best opportunity for them. Look at Purdue this past year, had a walk on Center, QB and RB all start last game of the year.

I too am disappointed and dumbfounded that a Big Ten coach would go out and try to get the best talent in the state on his roster. 🙄 First IU didnt recruit enough in state, now he is taking too many guys. Can't have it both ways. Some of these kids have D1/Big Ten dreams and this may be the only route to pursue those dreams. More power to them!

Preferred walk on roster for Indiana University is bulging at the seams with Indiana kids. Depleting the available instate athletes for smaller state colleges and universities. including ,but not Limited to.other In state D1schools. Most of these kids will never see the light of day in their career at IU. whether Allen thinks he’s being generous or what. This is not a good thing.