Wheeler to Notre Dame?

[dadw/2sons]

I heard a rumor that after BG wins their third PIAA A Football championship that they will lose their coach to Notre Dame. With Kelly looking to leave this would be a perfect fit. Wheeler already knows how to recruit and speak out about the great Catholic education they would receive.

[youngbuck]

Please provide information on which players did not come through the parochial school system and are now playing for BG, also could you  reference their religious affiliation so that we can now if they are Catholic or not.   Also could you give a list of players from the Altoona area that went to school to play football on the college level in the last three years comparing that with those that Coach Wheeler has helped accomplish this.  And finally please give detailed analysis of how is recruiting players changed from his first two years when BG was a laughing stock to the team they have become.  

[Hoopfan]

Maybe dad and coach Bailey can go verbally berate coach wheeler into more acceptable behavior.

[Penn1971]

This discussion is silly.

First, study Notre Dame history. They once hired a high school coach who was much more successful than Justin Wheeler. That was Gerry Faust of Moeller High School in Cincinnati, and he was regarded as one of the best high school coaches in the country.
Faust has a record of 178-23-2 at Moeller, which was a national power, and won four mythical national championships, according to his Wiki bio.

Faust's hiring at Notre Dame was a disaster. At that time, they were annually a top college program, not like they are today. The Irish had won national titles in 1966 and 1973, both under Ara Parseghian, and in 1977 under Dan Devine. They claim 11 national titles and have had seven Heisman Trophy winners (but only one since 1964).

While Faust ended with a 30-26-1 record despite inheriting a very solid core of athletes, the program fell rapidly, falling so fast in 1985 that he resigned when they were 5-5 and before the season had ended.

The priests at Notre Dame learned their lesson and hired Lou Holtz to succeed him, and the Irish mystique was gradually restored. By 1988, the Irish had won another national championship.

Ironically, that was their last. Like Penn State, the Irish have not won a national football title since the 1980s though they claim titles in 1989 and 1992. For Notre Dame, that has much to do with their strict entrance requirements, not as tough as in the 80s but the toughest in the country except for the military academies.

Wheeler has done a superb job at BG, but he is not going to earn a payday that will turn into a big-time college job. A Div III job with a struggling school, perhaps. An assistant college job at an FCS, perhaps. But no Div. I football head job.

Whoever is spreading that rumor is living in La-La Land.

[Crimson's Ghost]

It's a joke, anyone knows that if Notre Dame is hiring a high school coach, it's Roger Beitel. 

[peytonsaturday]

This discussion is silly.

First, study Notre Dame history. They once hired a high school coach who was much more successful than Justin Wheeler. That was Gerry Faust of Moeller High School in Cincinnati, and he was regarded as one of the best high school coaches in the country.
Faust has a record of 178-23-2 at Moeller, which was a national power, and won four mythical national championships, according to his Wiki bio.

Faust's hiring at Notre Dame was a disaster. At that time, they were annually a top college program, not like they are today. The Irish had won national titles in 1966 and 1973, both under Ara Parseghian, and in 1977 under Dan Devine. They claim 11 national titles and have had seven Heisman Trophy winners (but only one since 1964).

While Faust ended with a 30-26-1 record despite inheriting a very solid core of athletes, the program fell rapidly, falling so fast in 1985 that he resigned when they were 5-5 and before the season had ended.

The priests at Notre Dame learned their lesson and hired Lou Holtz to succeed him, and the Irish mystique was gradually restored. By 1988, the Irish had won another national championship.

Ironically, that was their last. Like Penn State, the Irish have not won a national football title since the 1980s though they claim titles in 1989 and 1992. For Notre Dame, that has much to do with their strict entrance requirements, not as tough as in the 80s but the toughest in the country except for the military academies.

Wheeler has done a superb job at BG, but he is not going to earn a payday that will turn into a big-time college job. A Div III job with a struggling school, perhaps. An assistant college job at an FCS, perhaps. But no Div. I football head job.    

Whoever is spreading that rumor is living in La-La Land.

THIS SERIOUSLY MADE MY DAY!!!!

[Opinionguy]

This is easily the best thread on this site in the last 10 years...

[Manfred]

I think the bar has been set for 15 years. Re: Liggy best team in past 15 yrs.

[CoffinCorner]

Interesting to follow the career of Mike Pettine from CB West to NFL coach or Ben Macadoo.
Not saying that Wheeler will be NFL coach, but the above mentioned have taken long paths to get to where they are now 

[TyBiggums17]

Altoona went to the WPIAL in 2013. This coincides with BG getting good. Is it a coincidence that since Altoona joined the WPIAL, BG has become a football powerhouse with numbers, great skill players and a plethora of abominable snowmen for linemen? Maybe, maybe not. But I can tell you that in a city of 120,000 and a Catholic Cathedral as its most prominent skyline landmark, that small catholic school could do well once the city's public school joins a league where travel will be over two hours away, across Pittsburgh and against bruising opponents. Tuition is normally brought up as an obstacle in the private school debate, but if you check BG's website, there's help available for those who can't afford it. Transportation is also available from as far away as Bedford and State College. You don't even NEED to be Catholic to attend! The ''well they've played together since the parochial league'' argument has also been heard. In that case, you've got to realize that there is a large Catholic population in the Altoona metro area and it's organized in a way seldom seen in other denominations. When you realize that CATHOLIC high schools are a thing, you also need to remember that the Diocese also coordinates elementary and middle schools across the region that eventually lead those kids to either attending their local public school, or if they have a desire to, they can commute to the nearest Catholic high school. So yeah, there's a culture of people who just... send their kids to Catholic (private school)! That's fine, they have every right. And as far as athletics, recruiting DOES happen. Maybe not at BG, but it does elsewhere. BG's winning in any given sport is its recruiting. Be it girls basketball or football, they have the ability to say to a kid, from Altoona or elsewhere in commuting distance, ''if you have talent, come enroll at BG. You'll win championships and possibly get scholarship offers.'' Think I'm kidding about the scholarship offers? Scroll down their Facebook page. Pretty unusual for a class-A team, right? You can't blame BG for anything, though. They're reaping the benefits of an unequal PIAA system that says all of the best high school football players from the 150,000-resident Altoona metro area, if they so choose, can all enroll at BG and play together. Against schools designated to field rosters from student bodies drawn from populations of a few thousand residents.