sakes, what the heck is wrong with you people.
While we may not be blazing through the finish of recruiting, the high-end kids that we are going to sign are high-end. They are kids that will make an impact over the next 2 years. Most of these kids that are flipping will not see the field (at least in the positions they are being told) - maybe forever. We lost kids because the staff was honest in where they will be playing. We lost a kid because his daddy didn't like the staff as much as where his brother goes. We lost a kid that slept over with another coach, yet still may not even have a committable offer. We lost a kid that is in the back yard of Michigan and MSU, (both teams that have good momentum right now). Toney may have had potential, but he is very young and physically would not be ready on the field for at least 2 years.
Gosh darnit, would somebody please go back and recreated some of the threads from 4 years ago when we were never going to be relevant again? People were saying we were dead for 10 years. Guess what, we have some pretty damn good talent coming in this year (4 potential contributors are already on campus). Is that where OSU and UM are - NO. But guess what, they were not where we were 4 years ago.
Let's just keep it real here for a moment. The last 2 years we were playing with kids on the OL that gave it their all (less Donovan Smith IMHO), but were truly not good enough to be on most teams 2 deeps. That was not Franklin's fault. That came from BOB and the sanctions. Hack very rarely ever played up to his hype. For anyone that wants to solely blame the staff, the OL, the RB, the WR, etc. - fine. IMHO, he was outperformed by many opposing QB's on game-day in Beaver Stadium, let alone by kids nationally. That has nothing to do with his potential - but his actual performance at times.
Everyone wants to point out our horrible finish last season. Taking into account the paragraph above, what did people really expect when you finish with NW, Michigan, MSU, and Georgia???? Our schedule was so back-end heavy, it is almost not fair to compare it to some other teams. We had kids injured, banged up, and a coaching staff that was not doing a great job, and no break, and then we finished with the freaking gauntlet.
Mark my words, while we are pissed at this, I guarantee the staff is probably even more pissed at how this recruiting season is ending. They are probably thrilled with kids that are going to make a difference - Sanders, Menet, McGovern, Fries, Daulton, Barbir, Gilliken, Simmons, etc. etc. Those names you will see on the field in the next 2 years. However, overall, they are probably getting ready to put on their boxing gloves and it may get ugly from our end towards schools like Pitt, UM, etc. over the next year.
I have complete faith in Franklin and this staff, especially with some of the changes in the off-season. Yes, we have to improve our on-field production, but that can only happen when we are now beginning to play with a full-deck. I remember last year people saying we would go 11-1 or 10-2 in the regular season, and then guys like Nate and Fitz and folks tied into the program would come out with more of a reality check of where our OL really was. It wasn't pretty, and for some reason we all thought that wouldn't matter against top 15 teams???? IMHO, I can't wait until next year and I am hoping we can keep hold of Moorhead as our OC for at least a few seasons. IF we can continue upgrading the kids that will actually be on the field, and we actually have a read-option - running threat - running our offense, then we should be much more fun to watch not only for the fans, but for some of the future recruits as well.
While we may not be blazing through the finish of recruiting, the high-end kids that we are going to sign are high-end. They are kids that will make an impact over the next 2 years. Most of these kids that are flipping will not see the field (at least in the positions they are being told) - maybe forever. We lost kids because the staff was honest in where they will be playing. We lost a kid because his daddy didn't like the staff as much as where his brother goes. We lost a kid that slept over with another coach, yet still may not even have a committable offer. We lost a kid that is in the back yard of Michigan and MSU, (both teams that have good momentum right now). Toney may have had potential, but he is very young and physically would not be ready on the field for at least 2 years.
Gosh darnit, would somebody please go back and recreated some of the threads from 4 years ago when we were never going to be relevant again? People were saying we were dead for 10 years. Guess what, we have some pretty damn good talent coming in this year (4 potential contributors are already on campus). Is that where OSU and UM are - NO. But guess what, they were not where we were 4 years ago.
Let's just keep it real here for a moment. The last 2 years we were playing with kids on the OL that gave it their all (less Donovan Smith IMHO), but were truly not good enough to be on most teams 2 deeps. That was not Franklin's fault. That came from BOB and the sanctions. Hack very rarely ever played up to his hype. For anyone that wants to solely blame the staff, the OL, the RB, the WR, etc. - fine. IMHO, he was outperformed by many opposing QB's on game-day in Beaver Stadium, let alone by kids nationally. That has nothing to do with his potential - but his actual performance at times.
Everyone wants to point out our horrible finish last season. Taking into account the paragraph above, what did people really expect when you finish with NW, Michigan, MSU, and Georgia???? Our schedule was so back-end heavy, it is almost not fair to compare it to some other teams. We had kids injured, banged up, and a coaching staff that was not doing a great job, and no break, and then we finished with the freaking gauntlet.
Mark my words, while we are pissed at this, I guarantee the staff is probably even more pissed at how this recruiting season is ending. They are probably thrilled with kids that are going to make a difference - Sanders, Menet, McGovern, Fries, Daulton, Barbir, Gilliken, Simmons, etc. etc. Those names you will see on the field in the next 2 years. However, overall, they are probably getting ready to put on their boxing gloves and it may get ugly from our end towards schools like Pitt, UM, etc. over the next year.
I have complete faith in Franklin and this staff, especially with some of the changes in the off-season. Yes, we have to improve our on-field production, but that can only happen when we are now beginning to play with a full-deck. I remember last year people saying we would go 11-1 or 10-2 in the regular season, and then guys like Nate and Fitz and folks tied into the program would come out with more of a reality check of where our OL really was. It wasn't pretty, and for some reason we all thought that wouldn't matter against top 15 teams???? IMHO, I can't wait until next year and I am hoping we can keep hold of Moorhead as our OC for at least a few seasons. IF we can continue upgrading the kids that will actually be on the field, and we actually have a read-option - running threat - running our offense, then we should be much more fun to watch not only for the fans, but for some of the future recruits as well.
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