BTF

Westfield would have lost by multiple scores to Carroll last year if they didn't take them "seriously." That's why Indy has had so much success against Fort Wayne............they just happen to take Fort Wayne programs seriously when they play.

Lol, cute? I don't think you have to beat an Indy team to be considered "rising." And honestly? I don't know if Carroll is rising or not. Remember, i said this prediction is "pretty bold."

I'll be the first to acknowledge that Notre Dame has their hands full in Week 1. But we also have to acknowledge that Freeman is recruiting at an Alabama/Georgia level. I like the Wolverines, but their body of work doesn't equate to Notre Dames over the past five years. You can cite scheduling all you want, but anyone reading this knows that the Irish have had the better program in recent years.

Indy football is in unchartered territory right now. Never have there been this many programs that are this good. That's a compliment to Indy area football and a compliment to Homestead and Carroll for sticking them in the middle of the pack in the MIC and HHC.

Lol, you must be in a combative mood today to lump Notre Dame and Michigan in the same sentence. One year of being good doesn't put the Wolverines in Notre Dames category.

I'm sure they'll both accept that compliment.

That renders both Homestead and Carroll as legit. As legit as you can get without beating a team from Indy. Let's give credit where credit is due. You can say what you want about the the Homestead team, minus Hardwick, that fell asleep on the bus ride down to Noblesville in 2020. But Carroll had a pretty darn good team last year. Unfortunately for them, Westfield fielded their best team ever..........by far. I think the Chargers would have done pretty well last year against anyone not named Westfield, Center Grove, or Cathedral.

Homestead: How far back are we going? Cavicini's '97 & '98 teams were Top 4 in the state. Drew Wood's 2000 team was somewhere in that Top 4. Although consistently good in the Zolman era, they seem to top out as good, but never great. Unfortunately we'll never know how good they could have been in 2020 after Braeden Hardwick went down with a torn ACL in Week 7. Carroll: Yeah, Dinan is in his 13th season, so it's hard to make excuses. When he started, their program was just an afterthought, so we knew it wouldn't happen overnight. I still think they have an upside with an increasing enrollment and arguably the best facilities in the state. Not to mention, he's a pretty good coach. Put up or shut up...........bla, bla, bla. We get it Temp.

I wanna say Carroll (Fort Wayne). This opinion is pretty bold considering the Chargers haven't even made it past regionals in 12 years under Dinan. His record is 90-45, but many of those victories came against schools with much smaller enrollments. That being said, he's had a few teams that were pretty good. Last year was his best, but he unfortunately ran into Westfield's best. He tutored under Russ Isaacs for ten years, so he knows what it takes to build and maintain a program. And Carroll just continues to grow in student population. I wouldn't be surprised if they surpass the 3000 mark in five years. They have outstanding facilities. I think the Chargers could be a player at the 6A level for years to come. But they need to prove that last year's defense wasn't just a one year fluke.

His uncle, Dale Doerffler, was one of the better coaches to come out of Fort Wayne. His North Side teams were Snider's nemesis in the 80's and sometimes state ranked. Father Dean probably goes down and Northrop's second most successful coach. He had some good teams in the late 80's and early 90's. He also had a very successful stint at Concordia. The Cadets were a doormat before he took over. Conclusion: Coaching is in the blood in that family. I kept waiting for Northrop to have a breakout season, especially after he added his father to the staff. A breakout season never materialized. I think for a program to be successful, the entire school has to be "bought in." Maybe that just wasn't the case at Northrop. Good luck Jason at Leo.

Yes. Homestead, Carroll, and Leo. Too much Amish owned property between Fort Wayne and Woodlan on the east side for them to to be next. No development on the south side for Heritage to be next. Look for the three forementioned programs to continue to grow. Homestead and Carroll will both be pushing 3000 students in the near future and I look for Leo to bump up to 5a at some point. 6A could be on the horizon for the Lions.

I think Snider is just more committed to their football program than Northrop is. The Bruins have talent. They've always been solid at track and baseball. If Cathedral is more committed to their football program than Roncalli is, just say so. I'm not from Indy, I'm just wondering why their is the talent gap that you speak of.

Why is that? Why does a kid that goes to Cathedral have more talent then a kid that goes to Roncalli? Do the Irish do a better job of going after top rated talent? Or is Cathedral's strength and conditioning program just that good? If Cathedral's talent level is astronomically higher than their competitors, I'm just curious as to why. I can assure you that a Catholic kid from Dwenger is no different than one at Cathedral, yet Cathedral would have gone 10-0 against Dwenger over the last ten years. Why the big difference?

If I'm living somewhere in the Indy Metro with a kid who is a gifted football player and wanting him to go to a private school, then I'm sending him to Cathedral more than likely. Sure, I'll take a look at Roncalli and Chatard. But it all starts with the Irish. Kudos to that program for building it to where it is today. If Cathedral is producing the kind of athletes from only their student body and no kids enrolling there for football reasons, then they need to hold a strength and conditioning clinic for every Power Five football program in America. Again, not picking on them, just love seeing them rumble with the big boys in 6A. Because after all, they are a "big boy" when it comes to football. Easily a Top 5 program statewide, not sure why they would even want to play down a class. That's not challenging your program in my opinion.

Someone on here told me that Cathedral doesn't have feeder schools. If that's false, and Cathedral draws only from their pipeline like Dwenger does, then I stand corrected. It was my understanding that Cathedral draws from all over.

Depends on how you look at it. In 6A they are the smallest school, in 5A they are the largest. But their competition at the 5A level is more similar in enrollment than their 6A counterparts. With regard to Cathedral. I never look at their enrollment. I look at their district, which basically encompasses a metro of 2 million. I'm not picking on them, in fact I have the upmost respect for Catholic football teams, but lets be real here. They aren't some tiny little school that beats up on their three times larger counterparts.

Agree. Merrillville and Cathedral are both in their rightful classes now. It should make the tournament more exciting. The Pirates are playing schools their own size now and so is Cathedral.

Surprise surprise.

Fair

Forgot about that one. That was ugly. Not necessarily the score, but the fact that they lost to a 3A program. That being said, wasn't Chatard widely considered one of the best 3 or 4 teams in Indy that year? Or was it the year before?

So it sounds like it's the Plainfield/Decatur Central show down south? Will be interesting to see how they do against Merrillville. The Pirates are a good football team, make no mistake. They had the misfortune of running into the best two football programs Westfield has historically put on the field in '20 & '21. In 2019, they were upended by the eventual state champs. There might be have been 4 or 5 teams in the Indy area that they just would not have beaten, but I think they would have stacked up nicely against the rest of Indy.

Now lets just hope he's as good of a head coach as he is a recruiter and was as a coordinator.

All opinions welcome, that's what makes for good forum. If there was no debate, there would be much less interest. Thanks DT for the rankings. It goes into depth we don't see in most other polls. If any poll is a joke, it's the AP and the Coaches Poll. Gibson Southern's reputation speaks for itself, those especially from Southern Indiana know that. If anything, appreciate a low ranking or no ranking at all. It'll probably just give GS the motivation they need, that they may not have had otherwise.

Looks good to me. Thanks for sharing.

Outside looking in here. Why is that bold? If HSE is up or level from last year and Westfield is a bit down, couldn't there be some truth to Indiana Fan's statement?