NLCTigerFan07

Who is the "heart" of the NLC that is dying? NorthWood - 47-14 record last 5 years, included a semi-state championship. All 3 sectional losses the last 3 years in extremely spectacular ball games. Highly competive program. A regular 4A force and rightly so included year in and year out in the conversation as a state condender. Absolutely not "dying". Concord - 38-17 record last 5 years, including 2 sectional championships. Little to no drop off moving from a Hall of Fame caliber head coach a few years ago. I would not call that "dying". Plymouth - 37-19 record last 5 years, included 1 sectional championship. Pretty much on par for what the Rockies have been all 17 years under Barron. Again, hardly "dying" if at all. Northridge has been the most competitive they have ever been in their program history the last 7 years under Wogomon. If anything, that's a rebirth. That leaves Goshen and Wawasee. Obviously, both programs have seen better days, especially Goshen. So because the Redhawks and Warriors have been down for the better part of a decade, the NLC is dying?

So because you skipped out on little league baseball games to head to the lake, that's why you didn't play baseball in high school or didn't reach your full potential as a baseball player? 😂 This sentence I can get behind. There is nothing better than growing up on or around the lakes in the summer. However - I cannot think of a single teammate/classmate that I "lost" do to this lifestyle. Hell, most of our summer workouts for football were done by 8 or 9 am! PLENTY of time left in the day to hit up the lake. If anything - the NLC is also situated in a part of the state dominated by farmland. I know for a fact we lost some guys do to this. Family had a farm and it depended on them working it all summer and into the fall. Heck, even a few guys would bail once deer hunting season began. They would rather be up in a tree than out at practice. Stick inside the boarders and head up to Minnesota! Making a trip up there near the boarder in 4 weeks.

Because it is a conference made up of mostly 4A, rural-ish (Warsaw, Plymouth, Goshen, etc are not exactly Fort Wayne or The Region) schools with an average enrollment of 1,437 based on this file: https://ihsaa.org/Portals/0/ihsaa/documents/quick resources/Enrollments & Classifications/football schools 19-20.pdf Here's some more numbers on the other large conferences in the northern part of the state, along with the two best conferences in the state: MIC - 3,504 HCC - 2,860 DAC - 2,293 NIC North -1,812 (this includes a combined total for Elk Central/Memorial AND Marian and St Joe's low private school #s) SAC - 1,530 (this includes Dwenger, Concorida and Luers private school #s. If you removed those, the average enrollment goes up to 1,858) The conference that, in my opinion most resembles the NLC elsewhere in the state would be the Mid State conference. They have an average enrollement of 1,693. That group of schools for the most part resemble towns like Warsaw, Goshen, Mishawaka/Elkhart, however, I still believe their proximity to Indianapolis helps much like the SAC with Fort Wayne and DAC with The Region. My theory - larger your enrollment - more D1 players walking the hallways. I have no desire to do a comparison myself, but if anyone would like to compare the number of D1 footballers from the NLC and Mid State since 2000, that would be interesting to see.

Absolutely gorgeous new facility. There are locker rooms out there too right? Also - in regards to not having a new thread up yet for this season - part of the issue has been the waining interaction from other NLC commenters.

I knew there were a few I probably missed... but that's my point. It's not like our beloved NLC has ALWAYS been some sort of D1 recruiting hot bed. DT made the comment that "From a talent standpoint, there is very little D1 recruiting activity around the conference. Talent might be at an all time low" to which I countered with my response that, when has the NLC ever had THAT MUCH D1 recruiting activity?

While I do not get nearly as riled up as others with your posts... this one seems to hold little weight. Concerning postseason success, I would point out that Concord, Goshen and Memorial were all in the same sectional since the move to 6 classes. So that leaves 1 potential 5A sectional champion from that group of 3 teams. Then you have Northridge, NorthWood, and Wawasee who typically have been included in the same sectional as well, and at times Plymouth was also included in the same sectional. So that again leaves 1 potential (maybe 2 depending where Plymouth ended up) 4A sectional champion from that group of 4 teams. That makes it pretty difficult to have postseason succes when all your conference mates have to also be beaten in order for one to be the champion. Also - can you please provide statistical information confirming your statement of "schools in the conference are experiencing declining participation"? Where are you sources on this? Concerning D1 recruiting - I have to be honest, how many D1 athletes have even played in the NLC since 2000? The only three D1 athletes I can think of from Warsaw would be Brad Seiss, Jake Rogers and Harrison Mevis (two of which are kickers). Thinking back to all the great teams and athletes this millinium from Concord, Plymouth, NorthWood and even Wawasee... how many went D1? My point is I do not feel like it's all of a sudden a loss in talent. Not like the NLC was ever a huge D1 recruiting hot bed in the first place like the Duneland, SAC or MIC. Concerning the NLC becoming irrelevent... again, I'm not sure where you're coming up with this statement. If anything, the addition of Mishawaka and growing success of Warsaw makes the conference MORE relevant. Programs like Concord, NorthWood and Plymouth regularly have successful seasons and make noise in the postseason. Adding Mishawaka increases that likelyhood of continuing and if schools like Warsaw and Northridge (sorry Goshen and Wawasee) can continue to build strong programs, I would say the NLC is as relevant as it has ever been. Finally - no, the NLC has no interest in moving past 8 members at this time. Perhaps if the NIC were to completely see a siesmic shift due to South Bend schools consolidating or something MAYBE they would consider adding a few members, but I am pretty sure New Prairie was already turned away once and personally if there were 2 additional schools I'd like to see added, I would pick SB St Joe and Mishawaka Marian as potential additions.

Thank you for answering my question! I have been told by sources that Warsaw's enrollment will more likely than not keep them up in 6A and last year's mid-cycle enrollment stats were due to a small senior class this year, but next year's incoming freshman class will be large. But good to know for scenarios such as this, I was not sure how it could effect schools moving up/down with enrollment and success factor points in the mix. I appreciate it

Out of my boredom during quarantine, I am looking at what class 6A and class 5A might look like in 2021 after reclassification. In doing some research, there were two possiblities that could occur and I am curious as to what is supposed to happen. The examples could come from Warsaw and Mishawaka. Assuming (and this is a big assumption) BOTH teams win sectional titles this fall, they will both have accumulated at least 2 Success Factor points. However, with other teams potentially moving up into or staying in 6A and 5A, what happens in these scenarios? Warsaw (6A) and Mishawaka (5A) both accumulate 2 success factor points. However, after enrollment numbers come out and other schools success factor point possibilities (namely New Palestine, Valparaiso, Cathedral and FW Bishop Dwenger), lets say Warsaw drops to 5A and Mishawaka drops to 4A per their enrollment. Yet - they accumulated 2 success factor points that should techincally keep a school in the class they accumulated those points in, correct?

I am going to take the cheap answer of "depends on the year". I think obviously the last two years, from top to bottom Sectional 3 was more difficult (Snider, Homestead and Carroll as "threats" versus mainly just Penn in Sectional 2). However, in the future, I could see Sectional 2 being a more difficult path depending on what Elkhart and Portage bring to the table. Plus, unless Snider wins a Regional Championship (2 points) next season, they are going to move back down to 5A. Examples for teams more likely concerning 6A NORTH: If Valpo wins Semi-State in 2020 - they will move up to 6A. They might do this anyway with enrollment. If Bishop Dwenger/Bloomington South wins State in 2020 - they will move up to 6A. If New Pal wins a regional championship in 2020 - they will move up to 6A. I added the bit about Bloomington South and New Pal because if two teams move up from 5A to 6A (those are the only 4 possible schools), that could potentially put Warsaw into 5A. There's a thread here that someone complied the Mid-Cylce enrollement numbers, and Warsaw was ranked 31st with 2,051 students. It's entirely possible depending on what happens on the field and the numbers that come out next cycle, but Warsaw could be looking at moving down to 5A Sectional 10 with Concord, Goshen, and Mishawka (with SB Adams going to Sectional 9 to replace a 6A Valpo) OR 5A sectional 11 with Bishop Dwenger, North Side, and Snider [with Northrop moving up to 6A due to enrollment (27th with 2087 students) and Anderson moving to 5A Sectional 12 to replace a 6A Zionsville (26th with 2089 students)] *can you tell I'm bored while "working from home" during quarantine?" 😏

1. Key word in your question is AND. I'm not sure they win both, but could see the sectional championship as the "easier" option of the two from the standpoint that they would only have to win 2 games to accomplish that feat. 2. School enrollment wise? The opportunity is there. However, having a large enrollment does not equate to football dominance (ex. Lake Central). Also - while Central has had a few decent years the past decade and gotten better under new Elkhart Lions coach Josh Shattuck, Memorial did not have a winning season in the last 9 years. It may take some time before Elkhart truly challenges Penn throughout the NIC athletic-sphere. 3. Yes - season 3 4. Postioned? Yes. Easily obtainable? The addition of Carmel to 6A South makes that path slightly more difficult. 7. Interesting topic. Depends on how long it takes for things to get back to "normal". If it is well into July, how is it possible to get some of these teams that already struggle with numbers on a yearly basis get enough interested to play the full season?

Yes - Sectional 2 will be Chesterton Elkhart Penn Portage Warsaw slides over to Sectional 3 with the Fort Wayne schools for the 2020 season. 6A Realignment for the 2021 season could potentially be very interesting. I might just start a thread about that.

Would you please educate me on this? Legitimate interest here and I can't say I read too many threads concerning the Columbus schools.

I can promise you, none of those scholarships had anything to do with being an athlete. Once I went back there and coached for three years, this confirmed it because I can't tell you how many times I'd call up a person in our Financial Aid office and ask them if there was anything extra available for them to apply for, etc. and be told that was all that was available. But I'll submit to your statement that I am sure it varies student to student, school to school. My main point was, do not let sticker prices of D3 schools in the state of Indiana scare ANYONE away from possibly attending. Many of those schools have a number of financial aid possibilities/offerings that can make the overall cost very competitive against the public state schools within the state. Also - while I am on my soap box - to any current seniors and/or their parents reading this - PLEASE check in with your local county's community foundation and apply to as many/all of those scholarships you can. Even if you don't fit the exact criteria, it's possible there are NO other qualified candidates as well! I'll never forget my parents making me fill out no less than 25 different scholarship applications (I was so tired or writing most of the same things over and over again), but I probably received an extra $5,000 or so in various scholarships (ranging from $100 - $1,500 each). For example, the Kosciusko County Community Foundation has over 100 scholarships avaiable and $500,000 to award to students in Kosciusko County every year!

This is not accurate whatsoever. As a previous D3 college assistant, I can promise you at my school none of the scholarship money from the Financial Aid office was "set aside" for athletic recruits. As much as I would have loved for that, we had no influence on that office to provide more scholarship money toward incoming/returning studens who were also athletes. This is also very misleading. Granted, this was 10-14 years ago for my personal experience, but I attended an instate D3 school. I got more money in scholarships (mostly for academics, a few other that were "leadership" and "value" based that I competed for with other incoming students) from that D3 school than either IU or Ball State. In fact, I do not believe either of those schools offered any scholarship money. However, after the scholarships I received, it was actually CHEAPER for me to go to the D3 school than the state schools. Very few (if ANY) students legit pay 100% sticker tuition you see at D3 schools within the state.

Spoke with him on the sidelines at a Unified football game between Warsaw, Wawasee, Tippecanoe Valley and Goshen a year or two ago. He was happy to be there watching and the pride was apparent in his face while watching the unified athletes compete.

... in the NLC 🙂

I was going to reply with this exact statement, but @Coach Nowlin beat me to it. There were plenty of people that were hesistant with Coach Curtis coming due to his offense, but he has made such a strong effort to get buy in from the entire community and has all levels (from the PeeWee leagues on up) bought in and running their style of offense. If you get the right guy leading, it doesn't matter one bit if a system is deemed "unconventional". Get the buy in, then back it up with results, people will be all about it.

Interesting piece of information here - at the very least, Concord's previous schedule will see a shake up. In the past, they played Elkhart Memorial in an NLC conference game Week 2. There hasn't been any confirmation either way about how Mishawaka's schedule would be filled out next season in the NLC, but there was the possibility of them just slipping into Memorials slot and having OOC games in Week 1 and Week 6. I wonder how much of the NLC schedule will see a shake up then, unless everything else stays the same and Concord/Mishawaka just meet in Week 6 when they previously faced on OOC opponent and Concord plays Elkhart Week 1 and then Jimtown in Week 2.

Surprised to see Warsaw at 30... if the right 5A teams make it far enough in the 2020 state tournament, coupled with Elkhart High school joining 6A next year, the Tigers might slip down into 5A for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

The entire NLC will welcome a new opponent to their schedules with Mishawaka joining the conference in 2020. I am not sure if they will just be slotted into Elkhart Memorial's position in the schedule, or if the entire conference schedule will be shifted.

FWIW - Warsaw jumped out to a 21-7 lead on Merrillville before turning the ball over 4 times in the 2nd quarter that let the Pirates take a 28-21 lead into halftime. However, the Tigers were not able to run the ball nearly as effectively as they did the week before against Penn when they rushed for 417 yards. Merrillville held Warsaw to like 175 total rushing yards on the night. Not trying to compare Warsaw's rushing game to Carmel's, but as a predominately rushing offense, the Pirates held the Tigers in check for the most part.

In my honest opinion if it's Warsaw, no I don't think so. The only way Warsaw hangs with Carmel or Homestead (if they are somehow able to beat Merrillville on the road this week) is if their offense executes flawless and eats up the play clock each and every down. Thanks to their offensive philosophy, it helps shorten games and thus will always give them a chance to hang around. Merrillville on the other hand is much bigger and has plenty of athletes to go around. I believe they could potentially give Homestead/Carmel a legitimate game. The issue for the Pirates will be the fact that they have to go on the road guaranteed for the semi-state matchup, which makes things a tad more difficult.

I love the Gridiron Digest, I'm in a position to assist financially, and my Tigers are having a historic season. I am happy to assist in such a way!

Tonight was a little extra special for Warsaw (6A), Knox (3A) and Eastside (2A) as all three schools won their first ever football Sectional Championships. Congratulations to all three of these programs and best of luck going after their first ever Regional Championships next Friday night.

WHY STOP NOW?! I will up my donation to $125 if the Tigers can go into Da Region for a 3rd time this season and come back eastbound on US 30 with a Regional Championship!