Zebrowski looks like a finalist for the HC job at UW-Eau Claire

Vikings 53 man roster includes
Michigan Tech
Harvard
Hampton
Slippery Rock
Old Dominion
Grand Valley St.
Concordia-St. Paul
Newberry
MN State
Ohio Northern

You forgot Iowa...maybe not quite sub DI in football, but we can all agree sub-DI in everything else imaginable!
 


Oh please! So 100+ years ago, DI football was a financial arms race to be the best immediately?

By your logic "spirit" of DIII football, DIII players are just happy to be there, winning and losing doesn't matter, and practice should be optional. Hell, just make it a club sport...that way monetary support would be about equal from school to school.

Yeah that is what D3 football is supposed to be. Just a level above club sports. D3 sports is supposed to be basically happy to be there and playing the game and representing the university by good sportsmanship and effort with facilities (locker rooms, weights, fields, arenas) that are part of the overall university or college community. Playing isn't about wins or losses or making playoffs, it's about participation as part of the overall college experience where winning or losing is secondary to the total growth and maturity of the college student. Coaches are not fired or hired based on wins and losses they are hired and fired based playing the game with sportsmanship in balance with the academic mission of the college. Coaches and programs are evaluated on graduation rates, grade point average, safety and health of the student-athletes, and the level to which they provide a sense of community and outlet for college fun and camaraderie. D3 was never meant to be about winning championships and getting on ESPN or making the front page of the Star Tribune. It was most mean to be recreational and in developing a maturation process for growth and learning.
 

Yeah that is what D3 football is supposed to be. Just a level above club sports. D3 sports is supposed to be basically happy to be there and playing the game and representing the university by good sportsmanship and effort with facilities (locker rooms, weights, fields, arenas) that are part of the overall university or college community. Playing isn't about wins or losses or making playoffs, it's about participation as part of the overall college experience where winning or losing is secondary to the total growth and maturity of the college student. Coaches are not fired or hired based on wins and losses they are hired and fired based playing the game with sportsmanship in balance with the academic mission of the college. Coaches and programs are evaluated on graduation rates, grade point average, safety and health of the student-athletes, and the level to which they provide a sense of community and outlet for college fun and camaraderie. D3 was never meant to be about winning championships and getting on ESPN or making the front page of the Star Tribune. It was most mean to be recreational and in developing a maturation process for growth and learning.

Good Luck with that take Ralph. The MIAC is a far cry from that and actually Macalester moved their football program to the Midwest Conference for that reason. They could not handle football in the MIAC but Mac left their other sports in the MIAC which has been controversial. I am guessing you are quoting some of the stuff Mac was citing when they tried to justify leaving the MIAC.
 

Yeah that is what D3 football is supposed to be. Just a level above club sports. D3 sports is supposed to be basically happy to be there and playing the game and representing the university by good sportsmanship and effort with facilities (locker rooms, weights, fields, arenas) that are part of the overall university or college community. Playing isn't about wins or losses or making playoffs, it's about participation as part of the overall college experience where winning or losing is secondary to the total growth and maturity of the college student. Coaches are not fired or hired based on wins and losses they are hired and fired based playing the game with sportsmanship in balance with the academic mission of the college. Coaches and programs are evaluated on graduation rates, grade point average, safety and health of the student-athletes, and the level to which they provide a sense of community and outlet for college fun and camaraderie. D3 was never meant to be about winning championships and getting on ESPN or making the front page of the Star Tribune. It was most mean to be recreational and in developing a maturation process for growth and learning.

Yep. This is exactly how DI started and it evolved. I guess DIII isn't allowed to require anything of their players.
 


Take a guess where Teddy Roosevelt would classify Ralph_Wiggum?

"It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Ralph, "it's about participation." You don't learn those valuable lessons unless you have prepared yourself. It's not the destination but the journey. Wins are not exhilarating and losses aren't hurtful unless you've spent yourself along the way. DIII is not a "happy to be here" arena and it shouldn't be.
 

Take a guess where Teddy Roosevelt would classify Ralph_Wiggum?

"It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Ralph, "it's about participation." You don't learn those valuable lessons unless you have prepared yourself. It's not the destination but the journey. Wins are not exhilarating and losses aren't hurtful unless you've spent yourself along the way. DIII is not a "happy to be here" arena and it shouldn't be.

I am all in favor of competition, and if you want wins and losses to count at the intercollegiate level then you belong in D1 or D2 where you make the choice to award athletic scholarships and spend funds on a facilities race. I love college sports and I love the big ten and national competition but Minnesota and the other big ten schools made a decision to compete at a level where wins and losses mean whether or not a coach gets fired or an athlete is expected to give all of himself or herself in return for an athletic scholarship and victory is sweeter because it does mean so much.

DIII was never meant to be a level where wins and losses mean a job is on the line and be an all-consuming passion for the student-athlete. Some D3 program have left what D3 was meant to be and have chosen to be some sort of quasi-D1. If you want to be on ESPN and WCCO then you should play with other schools who all share your desire and that means moving up in Division or agreeing to be what DIII was meant to be.
 

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QB coach Jim Zebrowski in hunt for head job at Wis.-La Crosse.

I was in the hunt for the same thing during Oktoberfest in La Crosse many years ago. I hope Coach Z is as successful as I was.
 





I still say going to UWEC will be the end of his career. UWEC has never won anything in DIII. Schools like Whitewater, Mount Union, SJU, St.Thomas are the huge outliers in money spent on DIII football. A UW System school like UWEC in no way shape or form has the funds to be competitive for titles in DIII. The UW System is quickly becoming a joke with funding cuts and so on. Nationally DIII FB is a big nowhere. Sure it's popular at two schools in the area that happen have to wealthy alumni who give money to Catholic Schools and Whitewater is goofy about DIII FB because a few alumni who have money act like owners of the program which is similar to the situation at St. Thomas and SJU.

DIII FB is the big nowhere with a very, very, few exceptions. St. Thomas if they had any guts would go to Division 1 and FCS considering they have the student body and alumni base similar to DePaul, Marquette, Detroit-Mercy, Dayton, and Xavier.

They did win the DIII mens hockey national title a couple years ago
 

The post is bad on so many levels. The WIAC is rated the #1 D3 football conference in the country. The MIAC #2. The UST/SJU rivalry is so unique that ESPN decided to broadcast GameDay from Collegeville this September on the morning of the Tommie-Johnnie game.

UW Eau Claire does have a huge hill to climb but a guy like coach Z is probably a good candidate with his connections in the metro area.

Are you speaking both literally and figuratively? There is a huge hill on campus everyone has to climb from the dorms to main campus
 






He's making a huge mistake by going to a UW System school with the budget cuts and the academic turmoil. Not only is he throwing his career away--which would be fine in a way if he has no desire to every get back to a higher level. If you go down all the way to DIII from DI you are giving up.

BUT, going to UW System school is as Donald Trump would say going to a failing institution in regards to athletics. I guess I have no problem with a guy purposely taking a huge pay cut and huge step down in competition and in expectations but doing it at a DIII UW school is purposely sabotaging your career and putting your family's financial health in serious danger.
 



I know what you are saying, but the purpose of D3 is to not be a big fish in a small pond. It was to all be the same size fish in regards to facilities, athletic budgets and how you fund athletics. There was never supposed to be an arms race in D3 football. I really fail to see the honor in being a big fish in a small pond. The athletic budget at St. Thomas and its facilities is not what D3 athletics is supposed to be about. There's no honor in not living up to the spirt of what D3 is supposed to be about. If you want sports glory and then go to a higher division.
It was never all equal in D3, what kind of world have you been living in?

It was not all equal and then big bad st thomas built a facility. In fact, until the last 10 years St. Thomas was behind in athletics facilities, part of why they were not as successful. You think D3 is all equal? Have you ever been to Crown or Northwestern St. Paul compared to the MIAC schools?
Have you ever seen any of the facilities at the Wisconsin D3 schools?

You just assume for some reason that it was all supposed to be equal in terms of facilities, athletics budgets, and funding athletics....that is simply a straight up incorrect assumption.


Having a field house with 4 gyms and 1 turf football field on campus is not what it was supposed to be about? I don't even understand what you are talking about in facilities? You are saying D3 football should stop allowing schools to build gyms that are used more for recreational than athletic purposes? You are saying St. Thomas shouldn't turf its football field? You realize that half the metro high schools have better facilities that the UMAC conference right? There are a number of high schools in the metro who have better facilities than St. Thomas. It was never all equal and to suggest it is outs you as someone who doesn't know what he is talking about.
 

It was never all equal in D3, what kind of world have you been living in?
It was never all equal and to suggest it is outs you as someone who doesn't know what he is talking about.
I think this is accurate. Ralph was assuming a lot about the current state of D3 football but is applying idealistic values that have not been in place in a long time, if ever. I feel the need to bring this up as an attempt to repair the damage he is doing to D3 football by posting that kind of nonsense.
 

I think this is accurate. Ralph was assuming a lot about the current state of D3 football but is applying idealistic values that have not been in place in a long time, if ever. I feel the need to bring this up as an attempt to repair the damage he is doing to D3 football by posting that kind of nonsense.

I was not posting nonsense. The fact is that if you are DIII you are saying you are not going to be involved in spending too much money on athletics and by not awarding athletic scholarships you are saying you are going to treat sports as a recreational activity and yes have intercollegiate competition but within reason and not strive to have the best facilities or have facilities that are similar to DI but on a smaller scale.

DIII sports is supposed to be just a step above high school in competition but with facilities that are on average not much bigger or better than highs school sports for the most part. DIII was mean to be a level up in competition from college club sports and high school sports without the trap of better facilities and an arms race and it was not meant to be a recruitment tool for small colleges and universities.

DIII sports was meant to be about intercollegiate competition but not a a level where winning is important. It is about student athletes and students fans, and alumni enjoying athletic competition and school pride. I will be the first to say that the WIAC and the MIAC have greatly exceeded what they should be in regards to athletic budgets. Heck athletics at DIII schools lose hundreds of thousands of dollars and even millions of dollars when you look at the foolishness of having playoffs and cross-sectional matches.

DIII should not have playoffs even. Play 10 or 11 games have a conference champion and call it a season the saturday before thanksgiving and end the money losing and misguided spending. If you want playoffs and glory and to be on tv then pony up and play division I or division II.
 

I was not posting nonsense. The fact is that if you are DIII you are saying you are not going to be involved in spending too much money on athletics and by not awarding athletic scholarships you are saying you are going to treat sports as a recreational activity and yes have intercollegiate competition but within reason and not strive to have the best facilities or have facilities that are similar to DI but on a smaller scale.

DIII sports is supposed to be just a step above high school in competition but with facilities that are on average not much bigger or better than highs school sports for the most part. DIII was mean to be a level up in competition from college club sports and high school sports without the trap of better facilities and an arms race and it was not meant to be a recruitment tool for small colleges and universities.

DIII sports was meant to be about intercollegiate competition but not a a level where winning is important. It is about student athletes and students fans, and alumni enjoying athletic competition and school pride. I will be the first to say that the WIAC and the MIAC have greatly exceeded what they should be in regards to athletic budgets. Heck athletics at DIII schools lose hundreds of thousands of dollars and even millions of dollars when you look at the foolishness of having playoffs and cross-sectional matches.

DIII should not have playoffs even. Play 10 or 11 games have a conference champion and call it a season the saturday before thanksgiving and end the money losing and misguided spending. If you want playoffs and glory and to be on tv then pony up and play division I or division II.


This doesn't even make sense.

DIII is about student-athletes who are not good enough to compete at the DI or DII levels, but who still want to compete at a college level. And, at the right schools, compete for a national title. DIII is about smaller schools who still want to have athletic teams to help recruit a nice cross section of student-athletes from varying parts of the country and varying backgrounds.

DIII athletics is doing just fine.

And, frankly, there's no shame in a coach moving from DI to DIII, if that is what is best for his family, as appears to be the case with Z.
 

I was not posting nonsense. The fact is that if you are DIII you are saying you are not going to be involved in spending too much money on athletics and by not awarding athletic scholarships you are saying you are going to treat sports as a recreational activity and yes have intercollegiate competition but within reason and not strive to have the best facilities or have facilities that are similar to DI but on a smaller scale.

DIII sports is supposed to be just a step above high school in competition but with facilities that are on average not much bigger or better than highs school sports for the most part. DIII was mean to be a level up in competition from college club sports and high school sports without the trap of better facilities and an arms race and it was not meant to be a recruitment tool for small colleges and universities.

DIII sports was meant to be about intercollegiate competition but not a a level where winning is important. It is about student athletes and students fans, and alumni enjoying athletic competition and school pride. I will be the first to say that the WIAC and the MIAC have greatly exceeded what they should be in regards to athletic budgets. Heck athletics at DIII schools lose hundreds of thousands of dollars and even millions of dollars when you look at the foolishness of having playoffs and cross-sectional matches.

DIII should not have playoffs even. Play 10 or 11 games have a conference champion and call it a season the saturday before thanksgiving and end the money losing and misguided spending. If you want playoffs and glory and to be on tv then pony up and play division I or division II.

SAID NO ATHLETE EVER!!!!

Don't get me wrong, as I look back I learned more about life from the journey and failure than I did winning. However, the reason I learned those lessons is b/c I busted my arse due to my desire to win!!!
 

per News8000.com:


It doesn't take long to get your first impression on the type of head coach Jim Zebrowski would be.

"I'm a very energetic, upbeat, excited guy. I'm going to bring juice. I'm going to get these kids fired up."

Zebrowski during Wednesday's open forum made clear his intention to return to the WIAC and lead a UW-La Crosse football program that has fell on hard times. He says it begins by bringing high energy.

"Getting them fired up is a pretty simple concept. We're also going to be sound fundamentally. And we're going to be physical."

He stresses that players need the ability to focus, and then re-focus from play-to-play.

It's also a lesson he's had to follow the past couple of months.

At the end of this past season it was a "kidney shot" when he was informed his contract would not be renewed as Minnesota Gophers quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. He joined Jerry Kill's staff at Northern Illinois in 2010 and followed him to Minneapolis the following year.

http://www.news8000.com/sports/zebrowski-juiced-for-opportunity-at-uwl/37676308

Go Gophers!!
 

Coach Z did not get the UW- La Crosse or the UW- Eau Claire job.
 



Coach Z did not get the UW- La Crosse or the UW- Eau Claire job.

I would say the fact that UW La Crosse didn't hire Macalester coach and former La Crosse player Tony Jennison to be their new coach means they did not necessarily get their first choice. Perhaps coach Z turned them down.

No idea about the Eau Claire job. I know a ton of MAC people were worried about losing Jennison to La Crosse though. He took MAC to the playoff....that should have won him national coach of the year IMO.
 

I was not posting nonsense. The fact is that if you are DIII you are saying you are not going to be involved in spending too much money on athletics and by not awarding athletic scholarships you are saying you are going to treat sports as a recreational activity and yes have intercollegiate competition but within reason and not strive to have the best facilities or have facilities that are similar to DI but on a smaller scale.

DIII sports is supposed to be just a step above high school in competition but with facilities that are on average not much bigger or better than highs school sports for the most part. DIII was mean to be a level up in competition from college club sports and high school sports without the trap of better facilities and an arms race and it was not meant to be a recruitment tool for small colleges and universities.

DIII sports was meant to be about intercollegiate competition but not a a level where winning is important. It is about student athletes and students fans, and alumni enjoying athletic competition and school pride. I will be the first to say that the WIAC and the MIAC have greatly exceeded what they should be in regards to athletic budgets. Heck athletics at DIII schools lose hundreds of thousands of dollars and even millions of dollars when you look at the foolishness of having playoffs and cross-sectional matches.

DIII should not have playoffs even. Play 10 or 11 games have a conference champion and call it a season the saturday before thanksgiving and end the money losing and misguided spending. If you want playoffs and glory and to be on tv then pony up and play division I or division II.

Why are you putting words in people's mouths?

There are D3 schools that put a lot of money into their facilities. Why do you get to decide what they are saying? It's a bizarre stance.

D3 sports aren't "supposed" to be anything other than another level of college athletics. It's a significant step up from HS football. MIAC teams are WAY better than HS teams, like WAY better. It's not even a comparison. St. Thomas would have beaten any HS team in the state by 40-50 points.

Winning is always important to athletes. It's important to people from about 7th grade on. Why do you get to say how schools, athletes, alumni, etc., should feel about their college athletics? It's so bizarre.

I'm sure the MIAC schools are appreciative of your concern about their spending and your solution to their spending ("ponying up" more money (logical?)), but maybe, just MAYBE, those institutions and the people who play sports in those institutions should be the ones who decide these issues.
 




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