Dowell Loggains and his recruiting staff are absolutely phenomenal.

[AppStFan1]

Stars matter at the 5 and upper 4 levels. More players from there go on to college and NFL success than anyone below them. After that it's more about buy in, the right fits and honestly some luck.

I do like Dowell's philosophies on recruiting. Multi-sport athletes, team captains and fighting for the right players. Some assistants who I feel are below-average coaches are above-average recruiters.

The only reason there is a facade that stars matter is because they give high stars to the usual power programs that are in the playoffs every year based on size, offers, and stats. Indiana has proven so far that those 4-5 stars don't even matter if you got the right fits for your system, good coaching, and your players play smart.

I agree on Dowell's recruiting strategy but hope he is considering change of direction and toughness like Cignetti is as well. Folks need to listen to Cignetti because he is beating the breaks off a lot of really smart coaches. I do hope that our coaches instill discipline in our guys and we see a lot less mistakes. You can't beat teams of equal or better talent if you play dumb. We have to cut down on our major mistakes to improve on our 5-8 record.

You know, what’s crazy is that App State was one of the few programs to actually give Cignetti consistent trouble in the last four years.

Despite the final record, something was being done right on the mountain. Playing with more discipline easily results in more wins across coaching staffs. Drops, poor decisions at QB in the Redzone, and penalties were a big, big difference in have 8 wins and 8 losses. Margins were that close.


In a typical college football evaluation, you would say that you could expect improvement year over year. Now it’s impossible to say. What is possible to say is that if App and App fans/donors don’t find it in themselves to get onboard with NIL and revenue sharing, App will become Georgia Southern and Marshall, another FCS move-up afterthought.

Yeah it has changed and you never really know from year to year. I firmly think the best thing would be for all donors at every school to cut off funds for NIL and tell the schools and NCAA to get their stuff together and make a system that is sustainable. The issues is that too many want access and have the money to pay for it so that won't happen.

There are a lot of us who just don't have the big money to give towards NIL and are going to do what it takes to keep our seats but not anymore than that. Concessions and tickets are now expensive and after inflation from 2021-2024 and the fact that we know there is no ROI or guarantee of good results when we fund NIL I believe many of us just aren't going to give towards it. I know you and some others really want us to but that horse has been beat dead. If someone on here wants more to go to NIL then I suggest those folks do it themselves. We are at a point where many of us just are not going to give to NIL so if that means we need to adjust our standard and be fine with 5-7 to 7-5 type records then that is what we will do. I also resent that many players are being paid more than most of us make each year and I just don't think giving a 18-22 year old 6-7 figures is a smart way to spend money. I am not mad at you but just explaining where a lot of folks are on this.

You just made the perfect case why DG needs to increase ticket fees like they did in Knoxville.

If our ticket prices get a lot higher I will just stay home and watch on TV. Schools don't have the leverage to charge high ticket prices on regular seats when we can watch these games for cheap at home if we lose and don't provide a unique experience. We should actually drop ticket prices, or at least remain the same, until we put a worthy product on the field.

[EastHallApp]

The only reason there is a facade that stars matter is because they give high stars to the usual power programs that are in the playoffs every year based on size, offers, and stats. Indiana has proven so far that those 4-5 stars don't even matter if you got the right fits for your system, good coaching, and your players play smart.

I agree on Dowell's recruiting strategy but hope he is considering change of direction and toughness like Cignetti is as well. Folks need to listen to Cignetti because he is beating the breaks off a lot of really smart coaches. I do hope that our coaches instill discipline in our guys and we see a lot less mistakes. You can't beat teams of equal or better talent if you play dumb. We have to cut down on our major mistakes to improve on our 5-8 record.

You know, what’s crazy is that App State was one of the few programs to actually give Cignetti consistent trouble in the last four years.

Despite the final record, something was being done right on the mountain. Playing with more discipline easily results in more wins across coaching staffs. Drops, poor decisions at QB in the Redzone, and penalties were a big, big difference in have 8 wins and 8 losses. Margins were that close.


In a typical college football evaluation, you would say that you could expect improvement year over year. Now it’s impossible to say. What is possible to say is that if App and App fans/donors don’t find it in themselves to get onboard with NIL and revenue sharing, App will become Georgia Southern and Marshall, another FCS move-up afterthought.

Yeah it has changed and you never really know from year to year. I firmly think the best thing would be for all donors at every school to cut off funds for NIL and tell the schools and NCAA to get their stuff together and make a system that is sustainable. The issues is that too many want access and have the money to pay for it so that won't happen.

There are a lot of us who just don't have the big money to give towards NIL and are going to do what it takes to keep our seats but not anymore than that. Concessions and tickets are now expensive and after inflation from 2021-2024 and the fact that we know there is no ROI or guarantee of good results when we fund NIL I believe many of us just aren't going to give towards it. I know you and some others really want us to but that horse has been beat dead. If someone on here wants more to go to NIL then I suggest those folks do it themselves. We are at a point where many of us just are not going to give to NIL so if that means we need to adjust our standard and be fine with 5-7 to 7-5 type records then that is what we will do. I also resent that many players are being paid more than most of us make each year and I just don't think giving a 18-22 year old 6-7 figures is a smart way to spend money. I am not mad at you but just explaining where a lot of folks are on this.

You just made the perfect case why DG needs to increase ticket fees like they did in Knoxville.

If our ticket prices get a lot higher I will just stay home and watch on TV. Schools don't have the leverage to charge high ticket prices on regular seats when we can watch these games for cheap at home if we lose and don't provide a unique experience. We should actually drop ticket prices, or at least remain the same, until we put a worthy product on the field.

That isn't how supply and demand works, friend. There is still a waiting list for season tickets, and tickets routinely sell for above face value on the secondary market.

[AppStFan1]

Stars matter at the 5 and upper 4 levels. More players from there go on to college and NFL success than anyone below them. After that it's more about buy in, the right fits and honestly some luck.

I do like Dowell's philosophies on recruiting. Multi-sport athletes, team captains and fighting for the right players. Some assistants who I feel are below-average coaches are above-average recruiters.

The only reason there is a facade that stars matter is because they give high stars to the usual power programs that are in the playoffs every year based on size, offers, and stats. Indiana has proven so far that those 4-5 stars don't even matter if you got the right fits for your system, good coaching, and your players play smart.

I agree on Dowell's recruiting strategy but hope he is considering change of direction and toughness like Cignetti is as well. Folks need to listen to Cignetti because he is beating the breaks off a lot of really smart coaches. I do hope that our coaches instill discipline in our guys and we see a lot less mistakes. You can't beat teams of equal or better talent if you play dumb. We have to cut down on our major mistakes to improve on our 5-8 record.

You know, what’s crazy is that App State was one of the few programs to actually give Cignetti consistent trouble in the last four years.

Despite the final record, something was being done right on the mountain. Playing with more discipline easily results in more wins across coaching staffs. Drops, poor decisions at QB in the Redzone, and penalties were a big, big difference in have 8 wins and 8 losses. Margins were that close.


In a typical college football evaluation, you would say that you could expect improvement year over year. Now it’s impossible to say. What is possible to say is that if App and App fans/donors don’t find it in themselves to get onboard with NIL and revenue sharing, App will become Georgia Southern and Marshall, another FCS move-up afterthought.

Yeah it has changed and you never really know from year to year. I firmly think the best thing would be for all donors at every school to cut off funds for NIL and tell the schools and NCAA to get their stuff together and make a system that is sustainable. The issues is that too many want access and have the money to pay for it so that won't happen.

There are a lot of us who just don't have the big money to give towards NIL and are going to do what it takes to keep our seats but not anymore than that. Concessions and tickets are now expensive and after inflation from 2021-2024 and the fact that we know there is no ROI or guarantee of good results when we fund NIL I believe many of us just aren't going to give towards it. I know you and some others really want us to but that horse has been beat dead. If someone on here wants more to go to NIL then I suggest those folks do it themselves. We are at a point where many of us just are not going to give to NIL so if that means we need to adjust our standard and be fine with 5-7 to 7-5 type records then that is what we will do. I also resent that many players are being paid more than most of us make each year and I just don't think giving a 18-22 year old 6-7 figures is a smart way to spend money. I am not mad at you but just explaining where a lot of folks are on this.

Agree with everything you wrote. I can say that when it comes to things I am passionate about, where I have any power or network to do something, I don’t throw my hands up in the air.


Obviously, philosophically, it seems absurd to ask people to donate money to pay 18-24 year olds more money than they’ll make in two to theee years (oftentimes) but don’t we already do that in other aspects of our lives? We watch TV. We shop at Target. We buy cars. We buy real estate.

We hold on for dear life the rest of the way as our earning power was eroded to basement rock following COVID.


Yet, I can also recognize how a tiered “subscription” service starting at just a few dollars a month could create a situation where you generate grassroots support in a way that the University seems hesitant to.

App has enough fan support to add a relatively small “talent fee” to tickets, and a bit more to suites as that’s been the focus across all heavily attended events from the World Cup to new NFL stadiums to App State. Don’t force fans in the stands to subsidize those boxes, have the boxes, and the buddies they are showing off to, pay a talent fee as well.

Winning cures all but App fans are thinking about this backward. This is not a build it and they will come scenario. You have to have the infrastructure in place including a great coaching staff, and the monetary support along with the proper messaging. I don’t know that App has any of that right now.


I do know one thing, I hope DL is studying Cignetti right now because as much as a unicorn as he may be, you can replicate what he’s done across levels of football.

Yup. It is all about talent evaluation and having the right culture. If your coaches are not elite evaluators then you better hire elite recruiters. We should be paying more money to our portal and HS evaluators than we pay our assistant coaches if that is what it takes. Find the diamonds in the rough and coach them up well and you can win titles. Cignetti just proved it.

[Seattleapp]

I do know one thing, I hope DL is studying Cignetti right now because as much as a unicorn as he may be, you can replicate what he’s done across levels of football.

Is this a joke?