Dear Friends,
The first luncheon of the year had about 45 people in attendance, with DaQuan Pace as the featured player.
The theme for this year is "Let's Roll". Coach Creighton described each position on defense and offense, which showed more depth especially with the offensive and defensive lines, but also indicated good depth at most of the other positions.
When asked about Roback's suspension, all he would say is that it is a private matter, and would not elaborate on the length of the suspension either. Two other players are out for the rest of the year with injuries, and as with the discussion of Roback, Coach Creighton would not elaborate who the players were suffice to say one was an offensive lineman, and one was a defensive back.
DaQuan Pace said the team set a goal of winning enough games to get to a bowl this season.
As far as recruiting goes Coach Creighton said the HBO special was like getting stabbed in the back. It has hurt recruiting efforts greatly. The staff is working very hard to overcome, but it was one of the worst things that could happen to Eastern's program.
I sat next to one of the basketball assistant coaches, and asked him what he thought of the Bahamas trip. He said it was a great event for Eastern, and the players caused no problems whatsoever. He also said the competition was good, but the referees were terrible. The most important point for him was that you could begin to see who one could count on, and maybe not.
This was a pretty quick summary, so if anyone has any questions that I may not have answered, feel free to ask,

(08-31-2016 01:26 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
The first luncheon of the year had about 45 people in attendance, with DaQuan Pace as the featured player.
The theme for this year is "Let's Roll". Coach Creighton described each position on defense and offense, which showed more depth especially with the offensive and defensive lines, but also indicated good depth at most of the other positions.
When asked about Roback's suspension, all he would say is that it is a private matter, and would not elaborate on the length of the suspension either. Two other players are out for the rest of the year with injuries, and as with the discussion of Roback, Coach Creighton would not elaborate who the players were suffice to say one was an offensive lineman, and one was a defensive back.
DaQuan Pace said the team set a goal of winning enough games to get to a bowl this season.
As far as recruiting goes Coach Creighton said the HBO special was like getting stabbed in the back. It has hurt recruiting efforts greatly. The staff is working very hard to overcome, but it was one of the worst things that could happen to Eastern's program.
I sat next to one of the basketball assistant coaches, and asked him what he thought of the Bahamas trip. He said it was a great event for Eastern, and the players caused no problems whatsoever. He also said the competition was good, but the referees were terrible. The most important point for him was that you could begin to see who one could count on, and maybe not.
This was a pretty quick summary, so if anyone has any questions that I may not have answered, feel free to ask,

Thanks Ken I believe Anthony brown is the db and Terrell is the ol. As to cc remark translating Latin to English gives me "you too brunius"

(08-31-2016 01:26 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
The first luncheon of the year had about 45 people in attendance, with DaQuan Pace as the featured player.
The theme for this year is "Let's Roll". Coach Creighton described each position on defense and offense, which showed more depth especially with the offensive and defensive lines, but also indicated good depth at most of the other positions.
When asked about Roback's suspension, all he would say is that it is a private matter, and would not elaborate on the length of the suspension either. Two other players are out for the rest of the year with injuries, and as with the discussion of Roback, Coach Creighton would not elaborate who the players were suffice to say one was an offensive lineman, and one was a defensive back.
DaQuan Pace said the team set a goal of winning enough games to get to a bowl this season.
As far as recruiting goes Coach Creighton said the HBO special was like getting stabbed in the back. It has hurt recruiting efforts greatly. The staff is working very hard to overcome, but it was one of the worst things that could happen to Eastern's program.
I sat next to one of the basketball assistant coaches, and asked him what he thought of the Bahamas trip. He said it was a great event for Eastern, and the players caused no problems whatsoever. He also said the competition was good, but the referees were terrible. The most important point for him was that you could begin to see who one could count on, and maybe not.
This was a pretty quick summary, so if anyone has any questions that I may not have answered, feel free to ask,

Keeping Roback's actual offense under wraps is one thing, but not sure why he can't say how many games? Other D1 schools disclose this type of stuff every day. The season ending injuries of Terrell on offense, and Anthony Brown on defense, have also been common knowledge for weeks. Not sure why all the secrecy there? Terrell career definitely over because of his knees. Nice career overall, and represented himself and EMU very well. Hats of to him! Will be interesting to see if Brown decides to take a medical redshirt, and comes back to play next year?

Using HBO as a recruiting excuse is lame. Any good recruiter could overcome that 'objection' quickly. This class, in size and quality, looks very similar so far, to previous classes. What is the excuse for being ranked near the bottom of the MAC standings, the 2 classes prior to the HBO thing?

2 days!

I would agree that some coaching staff are working hard to overcome it but others are busy looking for their next job the season is starting and some of the coaching staff haven't updated their twitter since the end of July hmmm

RE: HBO and recruiting.

It is called making lemonade out of lemons.

I'd guess the staff has a dossier of written statements by the chair of the BOR, AD, etc. indicating that there are no plans to alter the football program.

I'm sure they can indicate that this stuff happens at other schools, even though it didn't end up on HBO.

Dear Friends,
This is my own opinion, but I felt one of the reasons for Coach Creighton to be mum about some of Eastern's personnel is he doesn't want to give away any information to the staffs of our first few opponents. As some of you have said, there are ways of finding whatever information about a team that one may wish to know. To take the flip side, Coach Creighton said there are things Eastern's staff doesn't know about Mississippi Valley State. They are supposed to have a new quarterback, and there is no film on him from last year. So how good is he throwing the ball, running with the ball, etc. Just my perspective.

(08-31-2016 07:45 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
This is my own opinion, but I felt one of the reasons for Coach Creighton to be mum about some of Eastern's personnel is he doesn't want to give away any information to the staffs of our first few opponents. As some of you have said, there are ways of finding whatever information about a team that one may wish to know. To take the flip side, Coach Creighton said there are things Eastern's staff doesn't know about Mississippi Valley State. They are supposed to have a new quarterback, and there is no film on him from last year. So how good is he throwing the ball, running with the ball, etc. Just my perspective.

Full confidence in Neathery to figure out their QB and adjust his D. If they start the Bray kid, we should be able to pressure him and get multiple sacks. Let's see if DeBoer can put together a game plan around Porter and put up 40+ points, which we should. MVSU gave up an average of 43.9 pts per game last year against SWAC competition.

This is basically a Juco team, with very limited resources. They will have some athletes, but we really should smash this team.

Dear Friends,
The second luncheon had about the same number of attendees as the first, but many new faces. Cole Gardner was the guest player, and he said the minute he arrived for a visit to Eastern, he knew this is where he wanted to be. He said that he is glad he made the switch to tackle, and feels comfortable in that role. The goal of the offensive linemen is to have no sacks, and as a group they are proud of their record.
Coach Creighton talked a bit of the Missouri game, saying that their receivers were faster and bigger than most of Eastern's defensive backfield, and we just couldn't keep up with them. Part of the problem was that Eastern was trying to double cover their best receiver, an that left others to get open with their speed.
Looking at Wyoming Coach Creighton said they have their quarterback back from last year, and their running back is very good. Eastern may have a few wrinkles up their sleeve, but would give no details. A key to this game may be how well the defense plays, especially if they are able to pressure and get to their quarterback. Eastern is planning no changes on the defensive alignment. Offensively, Porter will be the starter at quarterback, and if he continues to play well, will probably be the starter for the season. Creighton seemed very enthusiastic about Porter.
Injury wise Coach Creighton did not want to go into details suffice the injury to Shaq Vann.
As I have said before, if anyone has any questions I'll try to answer.

(09-21-2016 06:32 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Eastern may have a few wrinkles up their sleeve, but would give no details.

Wrinkle idea: both QB's in the game at the same time.

When is game time? 5:30 or 7:30?

Dear Luckeyone,
Game time is 7:30 in Ypsilanti, 5:30 in Wyoming.

(09-23-2016 10:15 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Luckeyone,
Game time is 7:30 in Ypsilanti, 5:30 in Wyoming.

Thx Ken!

Dear Friends,
The third luncheon with Coach Creigton had more than fifty people there. The guest player was Chris O'Risky, long snapper. He was recruited by Ron English, and it was at a camp held at Northwestern. He said he was trying to be a linebacker, and English asked to see him snap the ball. He said that he only snapped the ball three times, and got the offer. He had been snapping the ball since little league, so by the time of the Northwestern camp, he was getting good.
Injury wise, Banham, MacLean, and quarterback Porter will not be playing in the game this Saturday. As usual, Coach Creighton would not go into any further details of how long they may be out. Banham will have been out for two weeks since he was injured in the Wyoming game.
Creighton said the Toledo game will be the toughest test of the team since the Missouri game. He continued with the team's confidence, saying they are not screamers, but look to each other to do their job. The seniors are also giving pep talks to the underclassmen to encourage a winning attitude. Toledo is dangerous both in their running and passing, making it more difficult to defend against their offense. Their defense has been porous at times. so Creighton hopes Eastern can take advantage of it.
Against Bowling Green, Creighton thought Eastern came out a bit flat, but started to catch fire on the long double pass to Kilby, and was especially proud of the offense controlling the ball for the last five minutes of the game.
Eastern is recruiting the State hard. Creighton knows the importance of getting Michigan high school players into the fold. Last year he offered thirty-six scholarships to Michigan kids.
Any questions?

Thanks Ken! Glad to hear that more people were there than usual. Hopefully this team has started to create a buzz around the area.

Thanks as always Ken!

Thanks Ken for the info

I don't think the team will come out flat this Saturday. Losing Maclean hurts though. Hopefully that's not long term.

(10-05-2016 03:44 PM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  I don't think the team will come out flat this Saturday. Losing Maclean hurts though. Hopefully that's not long term.

Luckily our deepest position group. So far this year, every time someone has gone down, we have had a capable, or better, replacement.

Would be nice to get out of this game with ZERO injuries.

Next man up

(10-05-2016 03:44 PM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  I don't think the team will come out flat this Saturday. Losing Maclean hurts though. Hopefully that's not long term.

I don't like that either. He was holding his arm at his side while sitting out much of the second half. It appears that others who got playing time in his place are far less athletic. And it may be a coincidence, but when he went out BG's offense picked up.