St Rita
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If they get blown out next week at home vs Rice then I'd say a change is probably in order. Really odd year for Rita - just no O - slowest Rita team I've ever seen
I don't think they are far off and teams always have a off year or two while the regroup.
I'm very biased. I like Todd Kuska. He is tough, loyal, and part of Rita's 63rd & Claremont history. But I felt the same way about Todd Wernet, who I personally like. So change can be good, and the program may have gone down the tubes if they didn't make the change to Kuska.
I'm okay with a change as long as their is a reasonable likelihood of an upgrade. But how much is Kuska to blame given declining enrollment and fewer boys playing football? And how easy is it to find a quality coach willing to work for a catholic school teachers salary? Especially when (unlike the old days) the time demands on a high school coach are so great that he can't work a higher paying job outside his job with the school.
Considering they have the same problems as Rita (declining enrollment and fewer boys playing football), Laurence seems like they hit a home run with their hire in Harold Blackman. So there is hope if SR makes a change. But I don't think it's an easy decision. Kuska loves and bleeds for SR, and has had a great program for a long time. A change may be needed, but a lot of objective but realistic analysis is needed.
I'm okay with a change as long as their is a reasonable likelihood of an upgrade. But how much is Kuska to blame given declining enrollment and fewer boys playing football? And how easy is it to find a quality coach willing to work for a catholic school teachers salary? Especially when (unlike the old days) the time demands on a high school coach are so great that he can't work a higher paying job outside his job with the school.
Considering they have the same problems as Rita (declining enrollment and fewer boys playing football), Laurence seems like they hit a home run with their hire in Harold Blackman. So there is hope if SR makes a change. But I don't think it's an easy decision. Kuska loves and bleeds for SR, and has had a great program for a long time. A change may be needed, but a lot of objective but realistic analysis is needed.
Sep - very good analysis. I don't know what the alumni base is saying, but I would have to assume there is some loud grumbling. Rita is a plum job and they could surely get a good young coach. Heck Kuska was considered very young when he was hired if I recall. Still Zunica and the Principal have a lot to consider. A down year can have an effect on recruiting and you hit the nail on the head - numbers are down everywhere. Plus fewer kids playing football. I was shocked at number of schools that don't have teams this year or had to combine with another parish to field a team. Plus a lot of Rita's traditional neighborhood feeder programs from the past have closed. Personally I hope he gets another year since he's got a good crop of returning kids and a solid Soph team coming back (granted I don't know how the Sophs did last nite against Loyola)
Sophs lost 28-13. Was not at the game but heard (fwiw) score not really indicative of loyolas superior play.
I have ZERO inside info, but I think you are right about the alums being concerned about the poor performance of the program and it's affect on recruiting, especially in regards to Rice. As you mentioned, Rita's traditional feeder schools are dead. In the past, SR could thrive without having to compete against Rice for kids south of 87th street. In my class of 250 at the 77th street campus, i was one of the only 10 or so freshmen who lived either south of 87th or lived in the burbs. That is no longer the case. They now compete with Rice for the majority of their students.
Till I die, I will always consider MC the most important game and the game that defines SR's program. But understandably, for the welfare of the school, many at the school now view beating Rice as the most important game. So alums and the school administration are going to be concerned if Rice creams SR next week at Doyle Field.
I have ZERO inside info, but I think you are right about the alums being concerned about the poor performance of the program and it's affect on recruiting, especially in regards to Rice. As you mentioned, Rita's traditional feeder schools are dead. In the past, SR could thrive without having to compete against Rice for kids south of 87th street. In my class of 250 at the 77th street campus, i was one of the only 10 or so freshmen who lived either south of 87th or lived in the burbs. That is no longer the case. They now compete with Rice for the majority of their students.
Till I die, I will always consider MC the most important game and the game that defines SR's program. But understandably, for the welfare of the school, many at the school now view beating Rice as the most important game. So alums and the school administration are going to be concerned if Rice creams SR next week at Doyle Field.
The observation regarding the results in the 2000's is true. Also true is the confluence of closing area parish schools, the concussion concerns, tuition costs, and....location. The emphasis on other sports has impacted the football program. However, it seems the program has become "stale." The entrenched coaching staff brings nothing new innovatively...be it X's and O's, conditioning program, recruitment, lower level development. An example of an "innovation overhaul" is what happened when they brought in the NY basketball coach. Expanded schedule, new locker room, updated uniforms ... etc. It invigorated things. College programs change coaches if needed. Yes, I know college is not high school, but a needed change ... is just that regardless of competitive level.
This is HIGH SCHOOL you people make me want to get sick calling for a coach's head especially a guy sacrificing for his school with a tremendous amount of success!! the guy has done wonders there a .732 winning percentage playing in the premier league in the state at a school that is floundering enrollment wise because of geographic changes in the neighborhoods and unlike a certain school in Hyde Park relied on neighborhood kids from neighborhood parishes which many are now closed and many which do not even field football anymore. I feel for guys like Kuska because he could of left to a cushy suburban job that paid him a heck of a lot more to be someones driver's education teacher but chose to remain loyal to a place he went to and believes in.
2 years ago they were 12-2 and yes they have had a dip. If they scheduled a cupcake on their non conference game like Rice did against Legal Prep Charter and draw anyone else but Montini from their crossover with the Green then they are in the playoffs. I think this guy has built up way to much good will over the years to have a poor season here or there be the calling for his dismissal. This is not College Football. He should leave on his terms not anyone elses.
2 years ago they were 12-2 and yes they have had a dip. If they scheduled a cupcake on their non conference game like Rice did against Legal Prep Charter and draw anyone else but Montini from their crossover with the Green then they are in the playoffs. I think this guy has built up way to much good will over the years to have a poor season here or there be the calling for his dismissal. This is not College Football. He should leave on his terms not anyone elses.
Dunbar - 2-6, St Joes 1-7, Aurora Christian 3-5? C'mon scheduling is not a perfect science. Yes Rita is having a down year but I think if you go back to 2010 (taking out the Mister year) Rita does not have a lot of Blue wins. I agree Kuska should stay but getting blown out at home vs LA and (if - note if) they get blown at home next week vs Rice then shouldn't that at least raise the talk for Rita folks to weigh whether a new coach should be brought in (or perhaps up from a lower level)?
did you read? I said Legal Prep Charter and I was pointing out scheduling another win and I didn't say anything about Brother Rice of Michigan did I? by the way Brother Rice of Michigan is a whopping 1-7 so maybe you should do your research. My point had nothing to do as to why Ric eplayed this or that. The fact is Rice played against two teams that A has a poor record and B does not field a team. I could of said any school in the state but I know Rice's schedule and this was not about them they are good and prove it every week...Rita on the other hand is down but give them another 2 wins and they are in the playoffs and everyone should just relax.
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The point being is that anyone on the crossover but Montin and another easy game they are in the playoffs....no scheduling is not a science it can be difficult but heck flip that Montini game and give it to anyone else in the league plus another garbage non con game and they are in the playoffs...the margin of error in the Blue comes down to that.
Cat- couldn't agree with you more about Kuska. Everyone needs to just relax and understand there are going to be down years. Moving forward the Carmels and Rita's of the world need to realize that RIce has thrown their hat in the recruitment ring, which pre Badke was non existent.
As far as calling rice non conference schedule as cupcakes. de Sales was original schedule for that week but pulled late so rice had to scramble to find a game since everyone's schedule was filled by that point. Legal promised to field a team but didn't follow through when. 12 kids showed for the first practice. I have a feeling Rice doesn't want to schedule "cupcakes" since last year they traveled to play top teams in Indiana and Michigan.
As far as calling rice non conference schedule as cupcakes. de Sales was original schedule for that week but pulled late so rice had to scramble to find a game since everyone's schedule was filled by that point. Legal promised to field a team but didn't follow through when. 12 kids showed for the first practice. I have a feeling Rice doesn't want to schedule "cupcakes" since last year they traveled to play top teams in Indiana and Michigan.
Cat- even if they didn't play Montini - you'd still only go 4-5. Dunbar, AC, St Joes and replacement for Montini.
Excuses, excuses. Don't blame Rice for who they schedule. It's not easy. Don't nitpick my post either, answer all questions. Did Rice know what Michigan's record was going to be when they scheduled them THREE years ago? I think not. So you can do your research.
Brother Rice of Michigan is 1-7 this year Max Preps has them rated 111 in the state
You are making this about Rice which I had zero intention of doing let it go it was about Rita having Montini and a top ranked team from PA when obviously they are not at that level this year.
Brother rice of Michigan last year had a 30 game winning streak and lost in the semi to snap the streak.
Having a down year. Rice also had a running clock in them this year.
Having a down year. Rice also had a running clock in them this year.
Tops, I really struggle with your public comments about Kuska and what St.Rita should do. A few years back, I felt the same way when others were taking shots at Steve Nye. It is the CATHOLIC LEAGUE and I think we need to honor and respect the coaches integrity. They both are alums, good guys/family men and trying to do their best for their respective schools. I think they should be recognized for this and not be speculated as to whether they should be replaced.
Just my opinion.
Just my opinion.
enough already and my kids went to Rice had a great experience so i thought my commentary was completely neutral in defense of the coach at a rival....what a kucklehead I was getting wrapped into this conversation
But Falcon it's a message board - no where in this thread has anyone said "I heard that etc" The only innuendo mentioned was about Zunica-Kuska which is old hat news but then again does have some bearing. The unfortunately reality to the situation is that having a winning football on the southside does have an effect on overall enrollment. Look Nye is a good guy but he had his name out at a number of schools while he was the coach at Rice. So they made a change and now it appears to be working out. Any change is going to take time to take root. Again I hope Kuska gets at least another year to work with who he has coming back and a decent Soph team coming up. As mentioned Rita has more than just the football Ws and Ls to look at - rising costs, neighborhood feeder parishes closing, more kids going public from the suburbs, the overall neighborhood getting a little tougher, etc. All comes into play.
Aside from MC being attributed to "Hyde Park" (in their dreams, though one set of boom real estate years and its a moot point), everybody's been spot on in this thread. If a coach from NY was the elixir for what troubled the Bball program, maybe a coach from Los Angeles County (perhaps an assistant from John Bosco, Gardena Serra or similar school) or Texas is whats needed to address whats been going on in Rita's traditional territory and in addition maintain a plurality position in the B/MG/Near SW Burbs.
Re the near-in southwest burbs, I wonder if Eisenhower and Reavis's rise to prominence is a zero-sum response to whatever Rita hasnt been (or willing to be) able to do. Could also be that the overall level of play in the SSC is leveling off and that these 2 teams have just done enough to play up to a now-middling standard. Hence my question over the weekend about Lemont's future in the conference.
Re the near-in southwest burbs, I wonder if Eisenhower and Reavis's rise to prominence is a zero-sum response to whatever Rita hasnt been (or willing to be) able to do. Could also be that the overall level of play in the SSC is leveling off and that these 2 teams have just done enough to play up to a now-middling standard. Hence my question over the weekend about Lemont's future in the conference.
Who did you want BR to schedule in week 7? They were supposed to play St Francis de Sales for that cross over scheduled by the league - not their fault they didn't field a team.
Last year they went down to Indianapolis and played a solid private school who had an opening. That school did not have an opening this year so they could not reciprocate by coming up here. I believe BR reached out to several schools and posted the opening on IHSA site.
Maybe schools who did have an opening weren't knocking down the door to play a CCL Blue school in week 7???
Brother Rice Michigan - perennial state power who happened to have a down year. I assure you they won't be down for long.
Crete - they win their conference and are a solid 6A school every year.
Next year non con games = Marist, Crete, Montini and whoever the other league scheduled cross overs will be.
Last year they went down to Indianapolis and played a solid private school who had an opening. That school did not have an opening this year so they could not reciprocate by coming up here. I believe BR reached out to several schools and posted the opening on IHSA site.
Maybe schools who did have an opening weren't knocking down the door to play a CCL Blue school in week 7???
Brother Rice Michigan - perennial state power who happened to have a down year. I assure you they won't be down for long.
Crete - they win their conference and are a solid 6A school every year.
Next year non con games = Marist, Crete, Montini and whoever the other league scheduled cross overs will be.
Tops, I understand your point that this is a message board, but as Cats Attack pointed out, it is High School Football and in this case Catholic High School Football. As did Tom Mitchell, Pat Cronin and Frank Lenti, these guys made the sacrifice to coach at a Catholic School to make a difference. I really struggle when people speculate publicly about their jobs, especially when they have young families. I recognize my view may be old school, but it is what it is.
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Well at least for Kuska - I firmly believe that if anything was to happen at Rita - there would be a line of public schools (and privates) that would welcome him as their HC
I really don't think Topiary was out of line. He asked a question that is being asked by many. And he did so in a very respectful way.
I think it is the obligation of alums such as myself to "defend" Kuska if such defense is warranted. And I think I did so in my response. I have tremendous respect for Kuska, and as I mentioned, it is hard for me to be objective because I really like the guy. And it is important for me (probably not important for many alums) that the head coach be a Rita man with an understanding of the school's blue-collar, working-class, tough-nose history on 63rd Street. Kuska is part of the 63rd street past, and is very respectful of that past, but he also is able to adapt to change and built a very successful program in the last 15 years despite a glaringly different landscape than when he played in the late 80s. So I think he deserves tremendous credit. In fact, I don't think it is an overstatement to say he might have saved the program when it was in a down period during the end of the Wernet (who I also really like) era. I also pointed out that many of the issues that Rita is facing are not specific to Kuska. I also pointed out, as was noted, that guys like Kuska (and Lenit, Badke, etc.) are working for less money than they could make elsewhere b/c of their love for their schools. So they should be respected for that.
Because of my pro-Kuska feelings, I will never be able to call (even privately) for his dismissal, and thus, I cannot be totally objective about the situation. But it might need to be considered PRIVATELY by the St. Rita family. And I think SR alums, for the welfare of the school, should try as best as possible to avoid public discussion of the situation, or at least refrain from bashing Kuska or starting rumors. And maybe I'm violating my own advice by commenting here. But I really have no problem with the question posed by Topiary.
I think it is the obligation of alums such as myself to "defend" Kuska if such defense is warranted. And I think I did so in my response. I have tremendous respect for Kuska, and as I mentioned, it is hard for me to be objective because I really like the guy. And it is important for me (probably not important for many alums) that the head coach be a Rita man with an understanding of the school's blue-collar, working-class, tough-nose history on 63rd Street. Kuska is part of the 63rd street past, and is very respectful of that past, but he also is able to adapt to change and built a very successful program in the last 15 years despite a glaringly different landscape than when he played in the late 80s. So I think he deserves tremendous credit. In fact, I don't think it is an overstatement to say he might have saved the program when it was in a down period during the end of the Wernet (who I also really like) era. I also pointed out that many of the issues that Rita is facing are not specific to Kuska. I also pointed out, as was noted, that guys like Kuska (and Lenit, Badke, etc.) are working for less money than they could make elsewhere b/c of their love for their schools. So they should be respected for that.
Because of my pro-Kuska feelings, I will never be able to call (even privately) for his dismissal, and thus, I cannot be totally objective about the situation. But it might need to be considered PRIVATELY by the St. Rita family. And I think SR alums, for the welfare of the school, should try as best as possible to avoid public discussion of the situation, or at least refrain from bashing Kuska or starting rumors. And maybe I'm violating my own advice by commenting here. But I really have no problem with the question posed by Topiary.
Just some observations were made about the program....just opinions. Coaches leave programs for various reasons. To say the program seems "stale" doesn't necessarily mean chuck everyone overboard. A BIG recruiting tool in the past has been the FB program's success. If that consistently falters you can bet the empathy shown here might not be reflected in reality.
For generations, high school football success was definitely a factor in recruiting for all-boys schools like SR, MC, BR, etc. However. with the declining number of boys playing football and the changing societal views of masculinity (which may or may not be a good thing), I wonder if football success will have less of a factor in recruiting??
In my opinion, at least for all boys schools, athletic success will still be a factor in recruiting. Which is prob not a good thing bc less than 0.1 perecent will have a professional career playing sports. But it is still a reality in my opinion that sports matter in recruiting for SR, MC. BR, Laurence, etc.
CCL Football is such a big deal that there is a blog on the internet that adults take the time to write about it. I would say it's a pretty big apart of any Catholic league schools culture
If you look at my post before the season started, I have been very hard on Todd Kuska.
While he isn't a bad or horrible coach, he does not get the most out of his players.
Its not like he has had scrubs or try hard low talented athletes filling the roster, his teams have had major talent on them, NFL talent. Just off the top of my head you have had players like Flemming, Donahue, Gaston, Kafka. They have had some of the best olines in the state. Then even their next level talent has been filled with players like Akui, Weyer, and Golladay.
Even when Rita won the state championship against LZ. You can be critical of Kuska, Rita was simply bigger, faster, and more talented than LZ. Its not like they came up with some brilliant x's and o's strategy to beat LZ. All they did was run like 50 QB dives up the middle. A game Rita could have won 49-0, ends up being a 35-21 game.
During the Kuska era Rita teams by no means have been bad. But could you honestly say year in and year out they either 'overachieve' or reach their full potential?
While he isn't a bad or horrible coach, he does not get the most out of his players.
Its not like he has had scrubs or try hard low talented athletes filling the roster, his teams have had major talent on them, NFL talent. Just off the top of my head you have had players like Flemming, Donahue, Gaston, Kafka. They have had some of the best olines in the state. Then even their next level talent has been filled with players like Akui, Weyer, and Golladay.
Even when Rita won the state championship against LZ. You can be critical of Kuska, Rita was simply bigger, faster, and more talented than LZ. Its not like they came up with some brilliant x's and o's strategy to beat LZ. All they did was run like 50 QB dives up the middle. A game Rita could have won 49-0, ends up being a 35-21 game.
During the Kuska era Rita teams by no means have been bad. But could you honestly say year in and year out they either 'overachieve' or reach their full potential?
The Weyer year(s) hurt. Focusing on just high school production/domination, Weyer is one of the all time best in this state. Losing 2x to MC in 04 was tough to swallow given that it was one of the few years when SR had more talent than MC. The MC guys could answer this...........but other than 88, Im guessing that 04 playoff win was Frank's favorite victory over SR, as Rita was definitely the more talented team and had the game at home.