So Much For That Excuse

[Bigdaddyg1]

Thought about creating a new topic for this broad question but I didn’t see the need in continuing the redundancy. Here goes. We obviously have lots of extremely qualified people on this board who are wasting their time doing regular jobs and should instead become either college football coaches or athletic directors because the ones at App being paid for years of experience aren’t getting it done. That being said how would some of you experts really fix the problem with our football team? Let’s assume that paying out huge NIL is off the table because that’s probably not going to be an option. Do we need to recruit better players? If we can get 4 stars out of high school do we need to play them as freshman no matter what because if that level of talent does come to Boone they most will probably leave for a payday so in reality we will continue to sign pretty much the same 3.135 level high school kids- occasionally grabbing the hidden gems. How about the portal? Do we need to simply restock every year with 20 new guys to replace the 20 who bolt? On average can we expect to find legit players who will insure us 10 wins? On to coaches. Can we find and retain that young genius coach and keep him beyond a year because the average P4 assistant coach makes the same or more than our head coach and more than any coordinator we can legitimately bring in. Can we realistically expect 10 wins a season with constant roster turnover and new coaches every season or every other season? I only ask these questions because I really haven’t seen suggested realistic options or solutions just screaming for change. And this is also not a “keep Clark” camp question.

Do you even want to be in FBS? Legitimate question here.

APPsolutely!! I really posed this question to see reasonable and intelligent answers beyond just fire the staff! You can’t simply fire and pay buyouts without a real plan beyond that move. If we have the basic means to do better but aren’t then obviously something is wrong. If we are getting the best talent possible and they aren’t good enough then that’s a huge obstacle we can’t get past. If it’s an issue of paying players then people will ultimately have to decide if college athletics is that important to them. Fans of pro football and basketball purchase tickets but owners don’t ask for separate donations to help pay salaries.

[Bootsy]

Below the cream of the crop talent the top-tier P4's routinely get, "the best talent possible" can be somewhat subjective.

A coaching staff's recruiting philosophy, geography and offensive/defensive schemes factor into this. Also, NIL is a factor; App did miss out on some great TP players because they wanted more $$$ than we could afford. Mind you, I'm not making a value statement about NIL; I'm merely stating that it's been a factor in transfer signings.

There are layers to this.

[Mjohn1988]

Thought about creating a new topic for this broad question but I didn’t see the need in continuing the redundancy. Here goes. We obviously have lots of extremely qualified people on this board who are wasting their time doing regular jobs and should instead become either college football coaches or athletic directors because the ones at App being paid for years of experience aren’t getting it done. That being said how would some of you experts really fix the problem with our football team? Let’s assume that paying out huge NIL is off the table because that’s probably not going to be an option. Do we need to recruit better players? If we can get 4 stars out of high school do we need to play them as freshman no matter what because if that level of talent does come to Boone they most will probably leave for a payday so in reality we will continue to sign pretty much the same 3.135 level high school kids- occasionally grabbing the hidden gems. How about the portal? Do we need to simply restock every year with 20 new guys to replace the 20 who bolt? On average can we expect to find legit players who will insure us 10 wins? On to coaches. Can we find and retain that young genius coach and keep him beyond a year because the average P4 assistant coach makes the same or more than our head coach and more than any coordinator we can legitimately bring in. Can we realistically expect 10 wins a season with constant roster turnover and new coaches every season or every other season? I only ask these questions because I really haven’t seen suggested realistic options or solutions just screaming for change. And this is also not a “keep Clark” camp question.

The issues you mention are the same for probably 95% of G5 teams. Every team in the G5 is dealing with NIL, the portal and player and coach retention. Yes, a few G5 programs have more money but for the most part it’s a level playing field. We just need a head coach and AD who can navigate those issues. And every new coach will have a different idea on just how to get it done. Some will be about high school recruits and player development and others will live in the portal. But we need to stop pretending that we are somehow more disadvantaged than the rest of the G5.

[appvette]

Seriously, we have the best fan support, best brand, most tenured coach, etc. in the SBC and people keep pointing out excuses that every G5 program has to deal with. Overall, we have many advantages over most other G5 programs but we're sitting second to last in our division.

[311neers]

K2 out for season.

Playing starters down 3 touchdowns with a minute left is a questionable decision. I get the guys want to be out there, but you gotta protect the kids at some point.

[Pikapp79]

Seriously, we have the best fan support, best brand, most tenured coach, etc. in the SBC and people keep pointing out excuses that every G5 program has to deal with. Overall, we have many advantages over most other G5 programs but we're sitting second to last in our division.

Yet some defend the status quo.

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

We should have an advantage over most G5 schools as far as money goes. A few are in better position like Boise State and JMU.

[Pikapp79]

We should have an advantage over most G5 schools as far as money goes. A few are in better position like Boise State and JMU.

How dare you take away this excuse.

[Pikapp79]

IMO, championships are typically won and lost based upon the talent level of the guys in the trenches on both sides of the line.

Yep, skill players outside QB aren’t that valuable if the big uglies aren’t big, ugly, motivated and talented.

[AppfaninCAALand]

Lost in this thread from the original post, two cross country titles, a volleyball division title, a field hockey co-championship (2nd straight), and solid soccer inprovement. Congratulations to all the ladies and the cross country guys for their great seasons this fall.

The volleyball and field hockey teams did something the football team probably won't - they beat JMU.

[WataugaMan]

For what it's worth, here are the current standings, really don't know what to say at this point.

Current East Standings

Marshall Thundering Herd 5-1
Georgia Southern Eagles 4-2
James Madison Dukes 4-2
Old Dominion Monarchs 3-3
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 2-4
App State Mountaineers 2-4
Georgia State Panthers 0-6

[BambooRdApp]

Let's Go Herd!!

[Bootsy]

Just looking at final scores yesterday, it's easy to see the parity of most of the SBC East.
Most of those games could've gone either way.

Also, kudos to the Herd for their performance this year. Who would've guessed they'd be at the top of the East after the way their season ended last year and all the offseason drama they experienced?

[AppSt94]

Below the cream of the crop talent the top-tier P4's routinely get, "the best talent possible" can be somewhat subjective.

A coaching staff's recruiting philosophy, geography and offensive/defensive schemes factor into this. Also, NIL is a factor; App did miss out on some great TP players because they wanted more $$$ than we could afford. Mind you, I'm not making a value statement about NIL; I'm merely stating that it's been a factor in transfer signings.

There are layers to this.

We also missed out on some guys because of transfer policies within the university system. There are layers to this and every team has its own version of layers. The new normal creates a different margin for error. The volatility of the standings is a great example.

If one’s opinion is based on W/L records alone, then anything that doesn’t support that is going to be seen as an excuse. I’ve said it more than once and I will continue saying it. Expectations will always lead to disappointment. Especially those expectations that are set for things that we can’t control.

Nothing that is going on within the program is new and it has been building for some time. I get that folks are unaware of these events because they aren’t talked about publicly. How many CEO’s get in front of a microphone and announce existing problems? They don’t. They do the best they can to lead and fix in silence. This isn’t an endorsement but reality. Can someone do it better? Quite possibly. I’m interested to see how this unfolds and how some of you handle the fallout.

[AppStFan1]

Below the cream of the crop talent the top-tier P4's routinely get, "the best talent possible" can be somewhat subjective.

A coaching staff's recruiting philosophy, geography and offensive/defensive schemes factor into this. Also, NIL is a factor; App did miss out on some great TP players because they wanted more $$$ than we could afford. Mind you, I'm not making a value statement about NIL; I'm merely stating that it's been a factor in transfer signings.

There are layers to this.

We also missed out on some guys because of transfer policies within the university system. There are layers to this and every team has its own version of layers. The new normal creates a different margin for error. The volatility of the standings is a great example.

If one’s opinion is based on W/L records alone, then anything that doesn’t support that is going to be seen as an excuse. I’ve said it more than once and I will continue saying it. Expectations will always lead to disappointment. Especially those expectations that are set for things that we can’t control.

Nothing that is going on within the program is new and it has been building for some time. I get that folks are unaware of these events because they aren’t talked about publicly. How many CEO’s get in front of a microphone and announce existing problems? They don’t. They do the best they can to lead and fix in silence. This isn’t an endorsement but reality. Can someone do it better? Quite possibly. I’m interested to see how this unfolds and how some of you handle the fallout.

You have mentioned the admissions standards. Has App admissions changed policies on transfers? If not, then this is a big reason why we should focus 90% on HS recruiting. A lot of quality players are overlooked in HS these days and we should be going after them.

Also, how do we know those players we missed out on would have worked out? Perhaps they would have been misses like some of the portal players we have taken. I remember that Stanford defender who flunked his medical and the Morgan State transfers who did not pan out, etc. I have seen many HS players we wanted badly and lost to a P4 or SBC school that did not pan out at all. There is no guarantee.

What other reasons besides admissions policies are holding us back? We are top 2-3 in the SBC in NIL, we have great facilities, tradition, good academics, a brand name, etc. So what else is holding us back? You say a CEO won't get on a microphone and tell it so those who know should post it. I know many people who ask and would try to help if they just knew.

[Bigdaddyg1]

Transfer Portal and admission requirements is a great aspect and comment in general. Nobody really knows the specifics as it relates to individual student/athletes (I really hate that term now for football and basketball) but let’s say a great majority of guys who enter the portal do so because they are unhappy at their current school. Are they putting in the same effort academically as they are with moving up a depth chart? I find it hard to believe that a guy moving on to his 3rd school has really kept up academically. Not to pigeon hole all of them but I can’t help but think a majority are way behind. That being said a school with more relaxed standards might tend to have an advantage with academically marginal athletes. If you were to rank schools as far as these standards go where does App rank?

[BambooRdApp]

No way we should be focusing 90% of our time on HS players. We would have even more depth issues. A coaches responsibility is to find the best players available to make the team better. In this era, you got to find talent on a year to year basis due to the fact that if you lose a great player to nil, your depth has taken a hit. The current state is living year to year. I can only imagine what our OL would have been this year if we had went with that philosophy..

[Stonewall]

Worse than this one ? Ugh.

[Saint3333]

So is this board a waste of time with the same tried excuses or not.

Everyone in CFB is facing various problems. Great leaders navigate the landscape in front of them and in this business the W/L records is the KPI.

If you aren’t willing to set measurable goals and hold yourself accountable this isn’t the business for you.

[spacemonkey]

The x and o's are horrible. If we don't have the big ugly up front that is fine...you should know after three games and as a coach you would make changes. Our offensive plays and schemes have been the exact same for 3 years. This is on the coaches. The transfer portal is going no where. Highschool recruiting is a waste of time. It is literally get the best players you can get each year and run with them. Same for basketball. The only thing we have to sell players is that we will give you opportunity to make plays to get paid by another team next year. Come to App and we will provide you the training facilities to better yourself to get paid somewhere else the next year.