GDT: South Dakota (10/8/22)

[JackJD]

YOTES EXTEND BOB! Hahahahahhahah
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Here's the tweet from John Thayer on Twitter:
David Herbster has announced Bob Nielson will be retained as the head football coach at the University of South Dakota. He mentioned there will be a contract extension.
Posted today 4:19 PM
Here's a link:
https://twitter.com/johncthayer/stat...7Ctwgr%5Etweet


With all the problems at Twitter headquarters in the past week to 10 days--one is justified in being skeptical about whether anything posted on twitter is accurate! But, if we assume the revelation about Coach Nielsen getting a contract extension is accurate and not a spoof, (personally, I'd guess it's accurate) then I think that development is not a great development for much of the MVFC.

In recent years, the FCS playoff selection committee affirmed the common thinking that the MVFC is the best FCS conference. But this year, the bottom three Valley team have been heavy anchors for the conference. The old bromide that on any weekend, any Valley team has a good chance of beating any other Valley team is B.S. USD, Indiana State and Western Illinois are bad. And I'm not sure their immediate futures look that promising. Is that good for the rest of the conference? Well, it might be good for a few laughs and for purposes of teasing an opposing team's fans; but, no, it's not good. Like it or not, having solid programs at all 11 conference schools is what we want. Getting five or six teams into the playoffs should be the goal. This year the conference should have only four teams in..maybe only three in the eyes of some.

One consequence of having a weakened conference is the potential for a breakup. In particular, I think the voices in Fargo lobbying for a move to FBS wil grow in number. If the NDSU administration starts giving serious consideration to that move, I see SDSU also giving it consideration. We'd have to at least study the topic. That will lead to consideration of other options, notably staying in FCS but getting rid of the anchors by leaving the Valley and joining up with the top teams from, for example, the Big Sky. There are a lot of permutations and combinations that can come out of those discussions. There's been a lot of discusion about a new conference built around a core of Weber State, Idaho, Montana, Montana State, NDSU, SDSU, UNI. Some will point out the problems that can occur when we're spread over two times zones and the expanded travel. Murray State joining Valley Football as of 7/1/23 causes, to a degree, the same travel issues. (Where will the Racers fit in the pecking order? Will they challenge for the top half of the MVFC?)

Additional comments added later: 1. Put UND in that same group of schools from the Big Sky and MVFC listed in the last paragraph. 2. I was a proponent of getting USD in the MVFC (as if I had a vote ) as soon as possible, thinking USD will quickly add to the strength of the MVFC. Watching today's game and following stats on other Yotes performances,...well, let's just say it's apparent I missed the boat.

[jakejc795]

Here's a link:
https://twitter.com/johncthayer/stat...7Ctwgr%5Etweet


With all the problems at Twitter headquarters in the past week to 10 days--one is justified in being skeptical about whether anything posted on twitter is accurate! But, if we assume the revelation about Coach Nielsen getting a contract extension is accurate and not a spoof, (personally, I'd guess it's accurate) then I think that development is not a great development for much of the MVFC.

In recent years, the FCS playoff selection committee affirmed the common thinking that the MVFC is the best FCS conference. But this year, the bottom three Valley team have been heavy anchors for the conference. The old bromide that on any weekend, any Valley team has a good chance of beating any other Valley team is B.S. USD, Indiana State and Western Illinois are bad. And I'm not sure their immediate futures look that promissing. Is that good for the rest of the conference? Well, it might be good for a few laughs and for purposes of teasing an opposing team's fans; but, no, it's not good. Like it or not, having solid programs at all 11 conference schools is what we want. Getting five or six teams into the playoffs should be the goal. This year the conference should have only four teams in..maybe only three in the eyes of some.

One consequence of having a weakened conference is the potential for a breakup. In particular, I think the voices in Fargo lobbying for a move to FBS wil grow in number. If the NDSU administration starts giving serious consideration to that move, I see SDSU also giving it consideration. We'd have to at least study the topic. That will lead to consideration of other options, notably staying in FCS but getting rid of the anchors by leaving the Valley and joining up with the top teams from, for example, the Big Sky. There are a lot of permutations and combinations that can come out of those discussions. There's been a lot of discusion about a new conference built around a core of Weber State, Idaho, Montana, Montana State, NDSU, SDSU, UNI. Some will point out the problems that can occur when we're spread over two times zones and the expanded travel. Murray State joining Valley Football as of 7/1/23 causes, to a degree, the same travel issues. (Where will the Racers fit in the pecking order? Will they challenge for the top half of the MVFC?)

Mike McCleary at Argus tweeted similarly.

I agree those teams were bad this season, but the Sycamores were within a TD of Bison, YSU, and Redbirds. The 'Yotes were within a TD of Redbirds, Salukis, and Bears.

Let's consider the "conference anchors" concept -- perhaps the issue wasn't the Valley's trio of anchors as much as it is the false "elevators" of a greater number of weak teams in conference like the Big Sky. They have a half dozen teams with both losing conference and overall records.

[filbert]

I would point out that the bottom of the Big Sky is (by Sagarin anyway) worse than the bottom of the MVFC. Unfortunately it looks like Murray State will go a long way towards leavelling that off.

[filbert]

With all the problems at Twitter headquarters in the past week to 10 days--one is justified in being skeptical about whether anything posted on twitter is accurate!

And it's been a sarcastic bromide for decades that "I read/heard it on the Internet, it HAS to be true." Nothing has really changed except the facade of .... getting political. Never mind.

[jakejc795]

I would point out that the bottom of the Big Sky is (by Sagarin anyway) worse than the bottom of the MVFC. Unfortunately it looks like Murray State will go a long way towards leavelling that off.

Personally, I would like to see the top Big Sky (east of Idaho) and Valley teams (west of the Mississippi) along with St. Thomas form an Upper/High Plains conference. The cannabis cabal could help bankroll Tommies scholarship needs by focusing on the "high" portion of the conference title.

My fear is that such a move may encourage the return of something like the "Roll N' Smoke" flyovers.

[jakejc795]

For those advocating an FBS move given Jacks' success, I'd offer EWU as a cautionary tale regarding some fans'/administrators'/boosters' ambitional reach exceeding long-term fiscal grasp.

[91jack]

I would point out that the bottom of the Big Sky is (by Sagarin anyway) worse than the bottom of the MVFC. Unfortunately it looks like Murray State will go a long way towards leavelling that off.

I heard vthat the Big Sky was looking at getting six teams in BUT I don't think Idaho (beat Montana and that was it), UC Davis (beat Idaho and that is it), and even Montana don't belong over the 4, 5 and (possibly) 6th team from the MVFC.
When you have that many teams in the conference and you only play the teams that are below .500, you do not have any quality wins.
II think Montana will get in since they are Montana and they are 7-4 with no good wins!!

That would leave the Big Sky with 3 ranked teams.

[Jacked_Up]

As a Jackrabbit fan, I think it's great that USD is keeping Nielson. I hope they give him five more years on top of his current contract. Keep striving for mediocrity, Yotes. Don't give up.

[jakejc795]

As a Jackrabbit fan, I think it's great that USD is keeping Nielson. I hope they give him five more years on top of his current contract. Keep striving for mediocrity, Yotes. Don't give up.

It'll be interesting to see if the sequence for revealing the contract extension's terms coincides with hiring a new OC (who could eventually be Nielson's heir apparent)

[Gojacks2487]

I'm shocked that they are keeping him, the yote fans I know what him gone bad.

[Southeast]

You’d have to wonder if his imminent retirement was not discussed. It’s either that or maybe they simply can’t afford a buyout. No decently-funded program aspiring to being a regular top-8 threat would extend a contract on a coach like that without something more going on.

[YanktonJack7]

Carson Camp is leaving USD and in the transfer portal. Not surprising. He really fell off after the Hail Mary win.

[salemjack]

Camp is talented. USD’s staff messed him up big time. I think he will succeed wherever he ends up next. Quite possibly could stay in the MVFC.

[salemjack]

Camp is headed to Sac State.

[Jacked_Up]

Camp is headed to Sac State.

That's a step up for the young man.