landrus13
The JSW Level
Raetz Stadium at Sycamore Complex?
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Potential names for a new on-campus stadium.....
- Thread starter TJames
- Start date
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Is that Post Office on the Closure Consideration list?
Atwood isn't the largest spot in the county is it?
I don't think you can do this stadium without a big time shoutout to Dennis. I love the guy though.
nwi stater
The Captain Level
Riverfront stadium........oops
Jamison field, after our coach of the late 70s who really got our program going
Jamison field, after our coach of the late 70s who really got our program going
Gotta Hav
The Wade Level
Are you saying Red Dawn, wasn't real?
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Stadium Name
Indiana Veteran's Field
Indiana Veteran's Field
Raetz didn't know when to hang them up and stayed too long
That last comment...is well....wrooooong....lol.....
Raetz was working against long odds in the latter years of his coaching career at Indiana State, fighting the budget cuts and recruiting limitations that were being imposed by the athletic administration at the time. Those limitations finally took their toll.
And it got a lot worse after he left. Raetz fought it for as long as he could.
Raetz was working against long odds in the latter years of his coaching career at Indiana State, fighting the budget cuts and recruiting limitations that were being imposed by the athletic administration at the time. Those limitations finally took their toll.
And it got a lot worse after he left. Raetz fought it for as long as he could.
sycamore51
The Varsity Level
Lou West Stadium (Afterall without West we would've kept winning 3-4 games a year and there wouldn't have been such an out cry to get the ship fixed. If the losing streak, both of them, wouldn't have happened I truly think a lot of people would've been content winning 3-4 games a year around campus. Higher ups that is) So... here's to Lou!
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Where do you / would you place the 'latter years?'
That's pretty interesting; over the century+ of football, that's probably the average numbers of wins for us, isn't it?
Bally #50
The JSW Level
T.J. and I have defended Denny's impact before on here several times and of course, I agree with you 100%. I have no idea how many victories he has had but toward the end, with what he was dealing with, they were very hard to come by. That said, it is highly unlikely that the stadium will ever be named after him, or Huntsman. I think Denny's Hall of Fame induction was long overdue and a great selection.
Dennis' latter years......
the last three, four, five years that he was there. But he fought those battles for nearly the entire time that he was at Indiana State. As I've said before, very few people know that he had to put up with in terms of on-campus inter-fighting with athletic department personnel and university administration.
If they would have allowed Dennis to run the program the way that he did in the early and mid-1980s, he could have built one of the best FCS programs in the country. He carried that over to the early 1990s and had success, but then the outside influences began to tear away at the program.
Dennis was able to cobble together a system that included backing from leading citizens in town to some on campus personnel. Not everybody on campus fought Dennis and what he was trying to do. But there were enough. Some of those people are still there but now have a lot less influence than they once did.
You can only fight for so long. It literally wears you down, both physically and mentally.
Trent was Dennis' true successor. He has picked up the mantle of Dennis' battles and have continued them. The scholarship issue, which was settled last month, was one that Dennis fought for years.
While Trent's tenure has seen rapid improvement in the football program, many of the roots of the success that the Sycamores saw last year and now this season were first set when Dennis took over briefly as the interim head coach and then stayed on as a defensive assistant.
Trent likes to refer to Dennis as the "Godfather" of Indiana State Football. And he's right.
The two best football coaches in the history of Indiana State were Jerry Huntsman and Dennis Raetz. There has only been three nine-win seasons in the history of the program. Dennis had two and Huntsman one.
the last three, four, five years that he was there. But he fought those battles for nearly the entire time that he was at Indiana State. As I've said before, very few people know that he had to put up with in terms of on-campus inter-fighting with athletic department personnel and university administration.
If they would have allowed Dennis to run the program the way that he did in the early and mid-1980s, he could have built one of the best FCS programs in the country. He carried that over to the early 1990s and had success, but then the outside influences began to tear away at the program.
Dennis was able to cobble together a system that included backing from leading citizens in town to some on campus personnel. Not everybody on campus fought Dennis and what he was trying to do. But there were enough. Some of those people are still there but now have a lot less influence than they once did.
You can only fight for so long. It literally wears you down, both physically and mentally.
Trent was Dennis' true successor. He has picked up the mantle of Dennis' battles and have continued them. The scholarship issue, which was settled last month, was one that Dennis fought for years.
While Trent's tenure has seen rapid improvement in the football program, many of the roots of the success that the Sycamores saw last year and now this season were first set when Dennis took over briefly as the interim head coach and then stayed on as a defensive assistant.
Trent likes to refer to Dennis as the "Godfather" of Indiana State Football. And he's right.
The two best football coaches in the history of Indiana State were Jerry Huntsman and Dennis Raetz. There has only been three nine-win seasons in the history of the program. Dennis had two and Huntsman one.
new sycamore fan
The All-MVC Level
Coach Raetz is a good guy--didn't know him when he was the HC, but met him and spoke to him several times when he came back as an assistant. He was obviously very important to the success of the program in the mid-80's, and he actually had winning records 2 of his last 3 years as the HC (7-4 in '95 and 6-5 in '96). His overall record from 1980-1997 was 94-105-1, with 6 winning seasons. Huntsman had by far and away the best winning % (43-24-1), but coached only 8 seasons.
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As a student, and later as a young alum, I was always very critical of Raetz because of his seeming inability to produce on the field (after 84, of course). I had no idea of the issues that he was dealing with regarding lack of scholarship support, recruiting budget, facilities degradation, etc.
Once those issues came to light, I saw him in a whole new light. Let's face it, when the women's basketball team has a bigger recruiting budget than the football team, there's obviously something very wrong, and your football team will not be able to be competitive. In retrospect, it is obvious that there was a movement afoot to destroy the football program, led by high ranking administrators in the athletic department.
I have always hoped that someone would do a retrospective on Raetz's tenure and the challenges he faced so that the public at large can see why the ISU football program got into the shape it was in. And perhaps that would help keep it from happening again.
Anyway, I rambled on, but once I knew what went on "behind the scenes," I developed a whole new respect for what Coach Raetz was able to do...
Once those issues came to light, I saw him in a whole new light. Let's face it, when the women's basketball team has a bigger recruiting budget than the football team, there's obviously something very wrong, and your football team will not be able to be competitive. In retrospect, it is obvious that there was a movement afoot to destroy the football program, led by high ranking administrators in the athletic department.
I have always hoped that someone would do a retrospective on Raetz's tenure and the challenges he faced so that the public at large can see why the ISU football program got into the shape it was in. And perhaps that would help keep it from happening again.
Anyway, I rambled on, but once I knew what went on "behind the scenes," I developed a whole new respect for what Coach Raetz was able to do...
Huntsman retired due to health reasons?
Westbadenboy
The All-MVC Level
Why Indy media ....
Reading the various comments above about how Raetz and the football program had such problems to deal with ...........then putting this together with what has been talked about in the basketball threads about the late
70's and early 80's ............
Well, while I know we have different people in place now at ISU, maybe that helps explain why the Indianapolis media has such a negative attitude about ISU.
I'm not excusing them, but can you put yourself in their place during that time period and imagine having to try to deal with covering the Sycamores and trying to deal with the "forces" inside our own Athletic Dept and administration. Probably left a bad taste in their mouths that still lingers today.
Also I heard the JMV interview with Bell yesterday -- great great job by Bell. Seems like a great kid. Wow ! But usually when topics are brought up by JMV they provoke responses by email or phone calls ......maybe I missed them but I heard JMV mention nothing after the interview. Nothing from ISU alumni who heard the interview. Its obvious he wants to promote ISU, we keep talking about how we want the Indy media to step up and cover us ---- and then no one has any reaction to that great interview ? ? ?
:krazy:
Reading the various comments above about how Raetz and the football program had such problems to deal with ...........then putting this together with what has been talked about in the basketball threads about the late
70's and early 80's ............
Well, while I know we have different people in place now at ISU, maybe that helps explain why the Indianapolis media has such a negative attitude about ISU.
I'm not excusing them, but can you put yourself in their place during that time period and imagine having to try to deal with covering the Sycamores and trying to deal with the "forces" inside our own Athletic Dept and administration. Probably left a bad taste in their mouths that still lingers today.
Also I heard the JMV interview with Bell yesterday -- great great job by Bell. Seems like a great kid. Wow ! But usually when topics are brought up by JMV they provoke responses by email or phone calls ......maybe I missed them but I heard JMV mention nothing after the interview. Nothing from ISU alumni who heard the interview. Its obvious he wants to promote ISU, we keep talking about how we want the Indy media to step up and cover us ---- and then no one has any reaction to that great interview ? ? ?
:krazy:
As the former Football Sports Information Director....
during most of Coach Raetz' tenure, I can tell you catagorically that we had much better coverage from the Indy media.
But times were different then. The Indy Star actually cared about other schools around the state. They called themselves "The Great Indiana Daily" and worked to prove it.
Home games were covered nearly every week. And when they couldn't be there to cover, we would write a lengthy game story and they would re-print it.
We had such reporters as Mike Chappell, Phil Richards and Bill Benner actually covering our home games. We had mid-week features in the paper then. It was actually easier to sell a story to the Indy Star then than it is now.
The Indy media didnt get a "bad taste" in their mouths from the Raetz years. They loved covering him. He was open and quotable. Sometimes too quotable. lol
Even now, as I cover the Colts, I get questions all the time about Dennis, how's he doing, what's he up to, from many in the Indy media market. Whenever Dennis shows up in the press box at Colts game as a scout for the Canadian Football League, guys like Chappell and Richards go over and talk to him.
We had the Indy TV stations over a lot too. But, like I said, times were a lot different then.
during most of Coach Raetz' tenure, I can tell you catagorically that we had much better coverage from the Indy media.
But times were different then. The Indy Star actually cared about other schools around the state. They called themselves "The Great Indiana Daily" and worked to prove it.
Home games were covered nearly every week. And when they couldn't be there to cover, we would write a lengthy game story and they would re-print it.
We had such reporters as Mike Chappell, Phil Richards and Bill Benner actually covering our home games. We had mid-week features in the paper then. It was actually easier to sell a story to the Indy Star then than it is now.
The Indy media didnt get a "bad taste" in their mouths from the Raetz years. They loved covering him. He was open and quotable. Sometimes too quotable. lol
Even now, as I cover the Colts, I get questions all the time about Dennis, how's he doing, what's he up to, from many in the Indy media market. Whenever Dennis shows up in the press box at Colts game as a scout for the Canadian Football League, guys like Chappell and Richards go over and talk to him.
We had the Indy TV stations over a lot too. But, like I said, times were a lot different then.