CoachMack219

Almost fell outta my work chair reading this. 😂 and @BTF, I think (why I'm laughing), ole Temp is just poking some fun at the Hawkeyes and the fact that they operate in 13 personnel and hand the ball off like 40 times a game. So how do you even say to a kid, "hey come play QB for us! It'll be fun!" with a straight face? Idk Temp too well, but I think that's what he was implying (at least that's how I took it and enjoyed it). Lol

I sure don't, that's why I gave you 3 possible options for why he, or any other recruit, may choose Syracuse over their in-state school who offered them early, I tailored those responses to his specific situation but you are correct, I don't know unless I ask him. IU and Purdue aren't hiring at the moment, Ball State is though! Maybe I can go to the MAC, do well, transfer to the ACC or something, and go onto future success that way instead like Braden Fiske? Lol (another example not named Carson Steele) I don't at all. They SHOULD, however, go get those kids from those states that they missed on the first time (Carson Steele's and Braden Fiske's of the world). Just like they should be finding the kids that those far away states missed on the first time too. It's literally their job to find GOOD players not mediocre ones. Braden Fiske played well enough in 2021 for Purdue or IU to say to themselves, "hey we should try to get that kid in the portal! He's pretty good and he is from here!" But instead, they sat on their hands, watched him stay at Western 1 more year and then he's on one of the best defenses in the country in 2023. Am I too mean to the Boilers and Hoosiers for their continued failures? I think not but obviously, given your position in the convo, you think I'm being too harsh/ unrealistic.

100%!!! How hard would it have been for someone from Bloomington or West Lafayette to make the trip over to Center Grove to see Carson live? And if you did watch him live, HOW IN THE WORLD do you let him go to the MAC first AND THEN let him go to the Pac-12 on the second try?! Were you even watching the game(s)?! 😂 Purdue and IU missing on him TWICE is inexcusable.

Purdue had Mr. Williams on campus, twice, and didn't offer then Iowa did and then guess who showed up? IU. I'd be willing to bet that Hart chose Syracuse over Purdue because himself and his family felt the love that Syracuse showed them because why else would you leave the state and commit to a school with more competition at your position? (10 RB's at Syracuse vs 7 at Purdue) Why do you do that? Maybe you weren't feeling the love at home (from Purdue)? Maybe there's a better major for his future career after football at Syracuse vs Purdue? Maybe they didn't like the fact that the guy who offered him was leaving and a new man entering? What I do know is that I refuse to defend Purdue or IU's downright AWFUL history of recruiting and the tactics they utilize that has resulted in a sub par football product for the 32 years of life I have been living. Jeff Brohm had the closest semblance of a productive recruiting cycle at an Indiana public University since I've been old enough to pay attention. Also, if we're going to continue to feed off of scraps, can we at least start getting the Michigan and Ohio scraps?! WHY DO THEY HAVE TO BE from Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California? That is CLEARLY not working for us here in the Hoosier state. Purdue Roster has... 8 Guys from Illinois 6 guys from Michigan 4 guys from Ohio 18 guys total from our border states not including Kentucky but yet has... 24 guys total from Texas, Florida, and California combined Meanwhile, Ohio State (a well known real NATIONAL recruiter) has 54 Ohio-born players on their roster compared to 36 guys from Purdue (32 original commits) and 38 guys (29 original commits) at IU. Having two schools battle for in-state talent can be challenging but when you have to go outside that in-state talent, I feel it makes sense to get after some of these Ohio guys that go to Ohio State and never or rarely play, get them to Indiana to contribute to the Hoosier or Boilers. Save the mileage, they're in the Midwest too.

Definitely not a bad thing and honestly, some of these MAC schools are significantly better at recruiting than Purdue and IU, especially since IU fielded 14 MAC transfers (or equivalent Group of 5 schools) this year and Purdue had 9. Coaches are definitely trending towards utilizing the portal more than HS recruiting anyways but that doesn't excuse them from continuing to miss on the Carson Steele's of the world.

That's the question that I think they need to try to answer. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Indiana is a HS football hot bed by any means but there is some serious talent and size scattered throughout the state aside from the insane amounts around Indy alone but yet our two public universities struggle to field competitive teams and effectively recruit our state. I feel like adding 2-3 guys per year from our state's top 10 has to be more valuable than grabbing the 50th, 60th, and 63rd rated guys in Texas, Cali, or Georgia, regardless of the vast differences in the Indiana and those specific HS football products. The Drew Brees find was 1 in a million and now it's the recruiting method of Purdue and IU that has led to their continued mediocrity, or less than. That becomes frustrating to see play out when Indiana talent is leaving to go elsewhere year in and year out. Being more Indiana-centric focused would be beneficial to each of these programs and as you noted, relying solely on in-state talent is not feasible in a state that (as I mentioned above) is not a hot bed for HS football but having only a quarter of your roster be composed of in-state talent (and often the wrong in-state talent) is no bueno. They have "numerous power 5 offers" but yet can't help Purdue and IU improve, based on the "well documented history" of IU and Purdue flat out sucking at football and recruiting prospective student-athletes. I would respect the "flipping MAC recruits gets you fired thing" but Carson Steele wasn't good enough for IU or Purdue, was for Ball State and UCLA though? IU also has an Indiana Wesleyan transfer on their roster this year. So that kid wasn't good enough for them coming out of high school but was when he tore up the NAIA level? 9 of the Indiana kids on IU's roster were not Hoosiers to begin their collegiate careers but came back eventually. Idk man, seems to me they can do a better job in some aspect to land these kids in the first place and avoid feeding off the scraps that make them .500 at best. 3 of the top 4 running back recruits in this year's Indiana class are leaving the state (Josh Ringer, Xavier Williams, & Jaden Hart) but don't worry, the 11th best RB in Florida is going to come save the day because their HS football is a better product...

Recruit their state better. Actually figure out who the top players are in your state, sooner, especially when players and coaches are sending the film and building connections. Purdue and IU's pick off the scraps strategy of recruiting has and will continue to fail them. With the exception of a handful of recruits through the years, Purdue and IU like to feed off the scraps of their own state, neighboring states, and some nationally recognized football states (Florida, Texas, California, Georgia, etc.) but this strategy has led to mediocrity with the exception of a handful of seasons for each program over the past 20 years. You are correct, but they definitely won't do that if they don't prioritize their in-state recruits. I personally know two different Indiana HS recruits in the last 5 years that should have been Boilermakers or Hoosiers and ended up going elsewhere because of the way they were treated by those places (if they even acknowledged they existed at all). I don't personally know the recruiters of IU or Purdue that recruited those guys at the times of their recruitment but I do know that the families felt they should have been treated better by a middle of the road Big Ten program (at best) pursuing their son's who already had better suitors as far as football (and sometimes academics) is concerned. IU and Purdue should be rolling out the proverbial red carpet for these Indiana kids and their families, not indirectly telling them "we know we won't get you so best of luck at ND, Ohio State, Michigan, or Georgia." Also, I am fully aware of the NIL hurdles that IU and Purdue will now have to compete with as well but truthfully, if they did a better job recruiting prior to NIL, they may have more NIL money to use now a days. 🤷‍♂️

Nothing like the ole incomplete 3 feet in bounds calls. 🙄 lol ALMOST as bad of a call as the 2009 Warren Central vs Carmel 5A State Final where the Warren Central WR was forced out of the end zone (called complete) by the Carmel DB (was out of bounds by about 2 yards) and the refs ruled it a catch (tying the game) and then Warren won in Double OT. The '09 call is obviously worse as it impacted the outcome of a HUGE game but this catch ruled a no catch last Saturday was egregiously bad.

Perfection!

I'm totally with you on the financial aspect as well as the lack of desire for teams who are not the heavy hitters to partake in the Open endeavor. Definitely a buzz kill to think of it from either of those stand points but solid and fair points for sure.

I feel like there's a few teams (the heavy hitters of 5A-3A) that would like the opportunity to show they're the best of the best in the state that year. I do see your point that not many teams in 5A on down would be interested but more likely than not, those aren't the folks the Open Division was created for. It's there for the 2023 East Central's, the Cathedral's, great New Pal team's, 2020 Roncalli, and other programs that are interested in competing at an ELITE level doing just that. As a fan of football, I am with you 100% that I would LOVE to watch this play out. With the matchups I gave, the first round of the 2023 Indiana Open Division would've been... Ben Davis vs Westfield Center Grove vs Fort Wayne Snider Brownsburg vs Crown Point East Central vs Indianapolis Chatard Probably plays out to semi final matchups of Ben Davis vs Center Grove and Brownsburg vs the winner of a game EVERYONE would love to see and then there's the chance to prove if the "little guy" belongs. The winner of that beats Brownsburg and you got a shot at BD or CG to be the state's best. By the chatter I've seen on this board throughout the year, there's PLENTY of people on here who think Chatard and East Central can play with the big boys. This would allow that chance to happen, which I guess is what bothers me when this is dismissed as an ignorant solution (like the IHSAA State football tournament is the best of the bunch 🙄).

You're right, it's more fun to talk/ whine about solutions (crowning a Champion of Champions) than implement/ try them. You the same grouch running the Champions Network's account? Maybe we should just go back to the Mythical State Championships?

Arizona began this idea because of a 4A team's (Saguaro HS) dominance of the 4A division in Arizona from 2006 to 2018 where they won 11 out of 13 state championships including a run of 6 in a row from 2013-2018. There was the possibility for the first 2-3 years of "The Open Division" for the "once-in-a-lifetime class" to have to play in the Open but they have since tried to account for that by adding a multiplier to their formula that increases the chances 5 and 6A teams are selected instead of 4A teams who, unlike Saguaro, don't have as much of a chance against the big dogs. This is FAR from the dumbest idea ever. For the record, Saguaro won the Open division in 2021 as well becoming the first 4A to do so in Arizona knocking off some heavy hitters along the way much like some believe East Central can do to some of our heavy hitters. I think this would be a pretty awesome concept to see in Indiana. I do like the idea someone mentioned above about having to "accept" the invite to play in "The Open Division" especially if they're from a class below 5A. And based on final records after the regular season, their current postseason finishes, and the good ole eye test, my Open Division this year if I had a seat on the committee would have been... 1. Ben Davis 6A 2. Center Grove 6A 3. Brownsburg 6A 4. East Central 4A 5. Indianapolis Chatard 3A 6. Crown Point 6A 7. Fort Wayne Snider 5A 8. Westfield 6A

New staff or not, it's hard to not love the Giants in this one. Although, coach Buzz and the boys have made me eat crow with @temptation each of the past two Saturday's, I think the Giants will be too much for the 6A Northern Champions. I will, however, not be surprised anymore if Crown Point can hang with the Giants based on how they've played in back to back games where not many people (me included) gave them a shot to win one of those games let alone both. I didn't think Crown Point's O-Line could impress me anymore than they already had after Penn, and then they played Westfield... If they can find a way to control the line of scrimmage, again, they'll have a shot to win, again. If not, then the Giants roll as many are predicting already. Ben Davis 31 Crown Point 21

These two sentences sum up the game perfectly. The Snider defense was OUTSTANDING and that might be putting it mildly. I was extremely impressed with that unit. Thought the Pirates battled and fought hard but Snider was the better team and showed it for 48 minutes. Merrillville will be back, no doubt!

That seems reasonable. I've made a few predictions on this one and they range in the 24-17 neighborhood. The closer we get to kickoff my Region heart says Merrillville 24-17 (or 21-17) but my head/ brain says Snider by either of those same scores. Really excited for this one. Merrillville's improvement throughout the year makes this one a fun watch, for me.

The improvement factor is why you truly can't count them out. This is not the same Merrillville team from weeks 1-5 that struggled a little bit early on in conference play (bad loss to CP and had two not so great performances vs City and Portage). The O-Line improvement and development has been the biggest reason for their improved play IMO. Definitely think this one will be a good one. I'll be shocked if Merrillville gives up 38 in this one.

Saw this one on RSN about 10 minutes ago and it made me LOL for sure! I know the 'ville was banged up then but idk if the missing pieces close a 33 point gap by 26-30 points. As I said previously, Merrillville is much improved from early in the season but idk if they've closed the gap with the Bulldogs THAT much. Excited for the Snider matchup.

Both of these assessments on the 2023 Merrillville Pirates I would describe as accurate. My only add on (although elementary) would be that they truly are better in person than they are on film. May sound silly but when watching their game film, they didn't impress me much on offense, and defensively other than Stephens and the 4 D-linemen, I wasn't utterly impressed. But after seeing them play a few times in person, the defense is legit and the offensive line is much better than they get credit for. Looking forward to a great game, I'm taking the Pirates, 21-17.

Westfield 31 Crown Point 23. I hope I'm wrong and the Bulldogs pull off the upset needed to get to LOS, but we've tended to struggle up here with the likes of the Indy 'burbs.

Watching it live, I felt that should have and would have been called given how the last drive was officiated (3 holds on Valpo during the game winning drive attempt). I truly don't know if all of those were holds or not, I'm not going back to find out either, but it seemed to me that the crew was not afraid to throw a flag in a big moment which is why I thought the flag was coming for unnecessary roughness. I was about as shocked as the Merrillville players. Helluva game, and a well officiated one (when I was watching), just tough to not get that call there (if you're a Vikings fan).

Now THERE's a Dual Threat/ Running type guy. In a two year career had like 3,100 rushing and 3,900 passing, I believe. DeSomer was and is a freak but that's the type of guy I envision that you want to keep in the pocket as a DC, not the guy who has thrown for 5,300 and ran for about 900 in 3 years. DeSomer is the only name I would entertain (for the record) for this "name someone better" discussion.

You haven't watched him for 4 years unless you were attending Hobart Middle School games 4 years ago. Lol he is a Junior (2 years at Hobart and 1 at CP), those are his numbers through 3 seasons and I'd say those are far from "pedestrian." I wouldn't say the word elite (yet) either because elite is what Brady Allen and Danny O'Neil are, in comparison, but if you don't think he's the most elite region QB in (at least) the last 15 years, then idk what players you've been watching but I sure would like to see 'em. Lol

"Get better or get used to it." AMEN jets, AMEN!

Been a tough one to decide all week. I think I like the 'Dogs 24-17 but if Penn won, in any manner, I wouldn't be surprised either.