I don’t disagree with what you say. The transfer portal does allow a team to quickly fill gaps. But, the NIL is not in Clark’s favor, nor will it be in any coaches favor that coaches in Boone.AppStateMtneer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 22, 2023 9:28 amAgreed. It’s his players and it’s his surrounding staff. The coaches may not be the ones on the field making the mental mistakes, lining up incorrectly, hitting the wrong gap, missing the tackle, fumbling the ball… But they were the ones that were responsible for that player being on the roster in the first place. Clark chose these coaches. These coaches recruited those players. Those were Clark’s decisions. This is Clark’s team.
We wanted a coach that would provide stability to our program. After the revolving door with the coaching staff, we wanted him to provide stability for our players. I’m not sure if Clark was a lazy higher by our AD. At the time, I thought it was a good hire and the choice we needed. Clark definitely has the passion and I know he wants things to succeed but unfortunately he doesn’t know how to do it. If App State continues having a revolving door of coaches that are just using us as that steppingstone in order to move onto the next level and make more money for themselves then so be it… that would mean that we are winning.
We have become way too predictable. It was evident that Clark was coaching for his job last night. We benefited on risky fourth down calls that panned out in the first half. Two of those fourth downs should have resulted in field-goal attempts and a higher percentage of guaranteed points. The gambles paid off and kept us in the game, but just because it worked doesn’t make it the right decision.
If a coach on the opposing team would take the 5 yard dump pass to the outside each play, they would score on every drive. I have no explanation on why we line our defensive backs 10 to 15 yards off of the line of scrimmage consistently… are they just that bad? And again, if that is the case, that is the coaches fault.
The NIL and transfer portal have changed, and in my opinion, ruined college football. That being said, it provides the opportunity for a team with a new coaching staff, to more quickly choose the players that fit their scheme and fill a roster with who they want on the field. It should not take a new coach and his staff multiple years to have “their” players like it did in the past.
And, what is different in today’s environment Vs. Satt’s is that you have to keep recruiting your players every season and you have to keep recruiting your recruits up to signing day and beyond.
In my opinion, we play too many wide receivers. Horn and Robinson should be in on 80% of our offensive snaps (in two receiver or more sets). But, we may rotate six guys in because (possibly) we have to keep them all “happy” to keep them from bolting.
Prior to the NIL, we were in a great place as a program because we could develop players over 4-5 years and they were generally going to stick with the program. We potentially don’t have that luxury any more.