So we have become a mid to bottom tier Sunbelt team. My question is do we have the resources to climb back to the top? Do we have the money? Do we have the leadership at App to fix this? Do we have any big time influential donors? Or was 2019 the pinnacle of App. State Football? I don’t know the answers to any of these questions.

Those are good questions. I am afraid of what the answers might be.

App State is a known brand. App can absolutely move back up to the top of the Sun Belt and the G5 quickly, but it’s going to take the right coach. Teams have big turnarounds every year. I’m 100% sure there are loads of FCS coaches, peer G5 coaches, and P5 coordinators/assistants who would quickly jump at the opportunity to coach App State.
We ain’t a nobody program. App has built an identity and a brand, and there are plenty of folks who would love the chance to add their name to the long list of App greats, or at least use App as a stepping stone to bigger things (which would cause good things for App too).

My honest thoughts are: not in the next 3 years. We have a lame duck coach and players are going to transfer. Burn next year. Say we hit on the coach and he wins 7 games. It’ll take some time to recruit his players and you have to hope he keeps winning and building momentum. It’ll take some luck.

We are officially in nightmare realm and it’s heart breaking.

Only positives I can come up with is our Front D4 is vastly improved with promising young talent. Other than that even if we do have a losing record this far in the season....we haven't been blown out exactly in any of the losses. Maybe the admins saw it coming with the removal of the NEZ lower deck stands.

No one has the balls to say this is on Doug! We didn’t have this problem with Cobb. Show me!

Whatever happens is going to happen. The buyout for Clark is $1 million. But Ponce and Sloan are on two-year deals so that’s around another 900,000 to buy out. Where is the money going to come from?

The big concern I had is that earlier this week, Clark said after Coastal, they did a total program review and "changed some things up." Besides changing up practice periods and having practices that were more physically intense ("like fall camp"), what else changed?

Look, if Georgia Southern can get Clay Helton to move from Los Angeles to freakin Statesboro, Georgia, App can turn this thing around.

T-Dog wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:21 pm

The big concern I had is that earlier this week, Clark said after Coastal, they did a total program review and "changed some things up." Besides changing up practice periods and having practices that were more physically intense ("like fall camp"), what else changed?

The helmets also changed. I think the change stopped there.

There's no studs on this team, maybe some young talent, but other than Nate Noel and maybe Robinson, there's no dominate talent, no alpha males, on this team and it shows. Won't be fixed until this young talent grows up to be playmakers.

It pains me to say it, but we have become what the rest of the country thinks we are, a flash in the pan. There was a time when we absolutely did not get the respect we deserved. But we’re not there any more. We have found our way into mediocrity and it sucks.

I’m still going to proudly wear my App gear and cheer hard as hell for our team, but this is hard to watch. I’ve been a Clark supporter, but I’m finding myself swaying to the other side. I’m not sure he’s the guy.

CoachRob wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:26 pm

There's no studs on this team, maybe some young talent, but other than Nate Noel and maybe Robinson, there's no dominate talent, no alpha males, on this team and it shows. Won't be fixed until this young talent grows up to be playmakers.

I can agree with what you’re saying. We simply aren’t and haven’t been a very physical team in years. I watched again tonight as 4 ODO players surrounded one of our guys, I think it was Robinson, and nobody came to help. But I’m really asking about resources to grow the program as a whole past mediocrity.

Appmountaineers19 wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:18 pm

Whatever happens is going to happen. The buyout for Clark is $1 million. But Ponce and Sloan are on two-year deals so that’s around another 900,000 to buy out. Where is the money going to come from?

That makes it sound like Doug went all in on Clark through 24.

CoachRob wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:26 pm

There's no studs on this team, maybe some young talent, but other than Nate Noel and maybe Robinson, there's no dominate talent, no alpha males, on this team and it shows. Won't be fixed until this young talent grows up to be playmakers.

This is good! No senior leaders that I’ve seen in the past. That’s i huge deal on a young team

CoachRob wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:26 pm

There's no studs on this team, maybe some young talent, but other than Nate Noel and maybe Robinson, there's no dominate talent, no alpha males, on this team and it shows. Won't be fixed until this young talent grows up to be playmakers.

I don't think it's fair to insult the players. I'd also donate $1k to Yosef for you to say that to Helms/Parker/Ross/etc.

app_gorilla wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:56 pm

CoachRob wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:26 pm

There's no studs on this team, maybe some young talent, but other than Nate Noel and maybe Robinson, there's no dominate talent, no alpha males, on this team and it shows. Won't be fixed until this young talent grows up to be playmakers.

I don't think it's fair to insult the players. I'd also donate $1k to Yosef for you to say that to Helms/Parker/Ross/etc.

We’ve got players and talent there’s that line of recruiting them then coaching them. And the latter is not there.

Hard pass on Clemson’s OC

app_gorilla wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:56 pm

CoachRob wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:26 pm

There's no studs on this team, maybe some young talent, but other than Nate Noel and maybe Robinson, there's no dominate talent, no alpha males, on this team and it shows. Won't be fixed until this young talent grows up to be playmakers.

I don't think it's fair to insult the players. I'd also donate $1k to Yosef for you to say that to Helms/Parker/Ross/etc.

To say there is no dominate talent on this team is not an insult, it's truth. True, those are all good players.
But the problem is we have decent number of good players, yet not enough dominate players.

Mjohn1988 wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:12 pm

So we have become a mid to bottom tier Sunbelt team. My question is do we have the resources to climb back to the top? Do we have the money? Do we have the leadership at App to fix this? Do we have any big time influential donors? Or was 2019 the pinnacle of App. State Football? I don’t know the answers to any of these questions.

Nope