Answers from jddriscoll

Yes you read that right. jddriscoll is giving us some answers to some questions we thought were worth asking. And oh yeah the Maze is trying to monopolize the WILK media landscape, at least for print which I am told is dying out. We have JAG coming at you with this piece of work, everyone knows he loves the D-1AA level and has a ton of questions and he decided to ask the champ.

1) When you took over UNI now 13 seasons ago, did you expect to achieve this vast amount of success that you have? NIU had a talented roster when I took over but my expectations for playoff success were pretty low. After my first 9 seasons playing GD (before I moved up to D-1AA) my playoff record was 2-9 and I'd lost in the 1st-round of the playoffs in 8 of 9 seasons. I advanced to the 2nd-round of the playoff in my fist season at UNI but lost in the 1st-round the following season, despite having the #1 ranked roster per GUESS. That was probably my coaching low point and I decided that I needed to make an effort to improve my game planning if I was ever going to compete with the top teams. In order to better understand how the simulation works, I read the WIS FIQ/Players Guide, message board posts from elite coaches, and all of the developer chats. I'm not an elite game planner but I think I've improved. My recent success is partially due to improved game planning but mostly because I have a significant talent advantage over most teams. 2) Were any of your 4 national titles more memorable than the rest? My first title (Season 139) was definitely the most memorable. I made it to the championship game in Seasons 136 and 138 but lost badly to Texas State (phimutau) in both games. I knew that I had a talented roster but wasn't sure if I'd ever get over the hump. Unfortunately, I was on vacation during the Season 139 playoffs and I didn't have access to my game planning tools. However, I was able to win a few close games in the middle rounds and then beat St. Mary's for the title. 3) Who if anyone was your toughest NC matchup or do you remember any of the playoff "roads" to one of the NCs being more difficult or exciting? The road to the title in Season 139 was really challenging. I believe I played Arkansas-Pine Bluff (nitros) in the 3rd-round, Marist (orangepace) in the semifinals, and St. May's (SchoolyWe) in the title game. Orangepace had a really good team that season and I wasn't sure if I could beat him. Luckily, I was able to take advantage of a few fumbles and I won on a last-minute drive after a back-and-forth game. 4) Have you made any significant changes to your gameplan during this recent success at UNI? I didn't discover the Yatzr Game Analyzer until Season 136 or 137. Recently, I created a spreadsheet to summarize data from the Game Analyzer and that's been a really helpful game planning tool. During my tenure at UNI I've made minor tweaks to my practice schedule, sub level, formation settings, playbooks, and game plans. I haven't made any significant changes but all of the minor changes probably have a relatively major impact. Also, I've had a really good QB the last several seasons and, as a result, I've modified my run-pass ratio to utilize my QB talent. That being said, I still prefer a balanced offensive approach. 5) Who in the Gateway is most likely to unseat UNI? YSU (sternes) beat me in Season 135 and he has consistently good teams. However, I think my next conference loss will likely be to FIU (miami jefe). He's a great coach and he almost beat me several times with less talented teams. I think he develops players better than any other coach in D-1AA and the talent gap between our teams gets smaller every season. 6) Would you like to see more coaches join the Gateway/ will DIAA or do you like where things are? Competition makes the game fun and I'd like to see more human-coached teams in the Gateway Conference. Several seasons ago we had four really strong teams/coaches; YSU (sternes), FIU (miami jefe), Missouri State (dukelegend), and NIU. I thought that was a good balance. 7) Who is/are the coaches you "fear" the most in Wilk IAA? Phimutau knocked me out of the playoffs in Seasons 136 through 138 and I don't think I've ever beaten him. I thought I might have a chance for redemption this season but his playoff run ended in the Final Four. He's a great coach and I'm sure he'll do well in D-1A. Of the current coaches in D-1AA, nitros probably has the most impressive coaching resume. I believe I'm 5-0 against him but he nearly beat me in the Season 142 title game and he always has really talented teams. I've played Central Connecticut State University (mikesy) in the playoffs the past two season and both games were close despite my talent advantage. Mikesy won two championships at South Dakota before making the jump to D-1AA and I think he's also a really good coach. 8) Can this success be maintained at a UNI and for how much longer? Who do you think could "upset" the Dynasty in coming seasons? My last several recruiting classes were really good so I should be a title contender for the foreseeable future. I'll have a good team again this season (especially on offense) but my defense isn't quite as talented and I'll have a freshman punter. I wouldn't be surprised if I lose a game in the near future to any of the coaches mentioned previously. Chetty1963, SchoolyWe, AlekTx2015, and vikesrule69 are also good coaches and have really good teams. I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. I'm definitely not invincible and I predict that my streak will end sooner rather than later. 9) (optional) any other comments? I've had a good run at UNI and I plan to stay put for at least a few more seasons. I don't have any current interest in D-1A (I would definitely miss the playoff) but I would like to try a D-1AA rebuild at some point in the future. Thanks for mediating the Q/A and for all of the content that you and the other coaches provide. I enjoy all of the Wilkinson media and would love to see a return of the podcasts. However, I understand that everyone has real life responsibilities and limited free time. GL to all in Season 143!