what freshman will play?

[00Burdell]

Is having freshmen, or underclassmen, playing ahead of upperclassmen a good sign, or a bad sign?

Neither, really. If you are a bad team, you already know it and don't need something as subtle as a shift in the average class of the players on the two-deep to point it out when you have last year's record in front of you. Its really a glass half-full/empty thing - if the new guys can't crack the lineup, you could say the recruiting is falling off, if they do crack the lineup then its a bad sign about previous recruiting classes - depends of what your opinion already is.

But we all know that there is much room for improvement in a number of positions so I can't say its troubling that some new guys are going to replace some old guys. Including some much needed new blood in the defensive coaching staff.

 

[originalwombat]

In the time that CPJ has arrived, two teams that we play every year have gotten significantly better (Clemson and Duke), and the rest have remained about the same, which is to say a mix of decent (UNC and UVA) and good (VT, Miami, and Georgie). We also have remained "decent," with fluctuations of "bad" and "very good." Meanwhile, all of these schools have invested a lot more money into their programs than we have. Yet, we remain just as competitive now as we were then. Could we have accomplished the same with a Gailey-type coach? Maybe, but it's a fairly easy argument to make that our uniqueness has helped sustain us through a period where our competition has been investing while we have been standing pat.

Now that we have started to open up our wallets, I think it's fair to expect a better program in five years. One that does not have the wild swings in performance from year to year. One where the media doesn't throw up their arms and declare us a football enigma. One where we look forward to playing Clemson and Georgie b/c we have more than just a chance of winning. We should expect more 4-star recruits. We should be nervous that one or more coaches is being courted by other schools. Most importantly, we should expect fewer noon kickoffs, goddammit!

 

[gogt5]

In the time that CPJ has arrived, two teams that we play every year have gotten significantly better (Clemson and Duke), and the rest have remained about the same, which is to say a mix of decent (UNC and UVA) and good (VT, Miami, and Georgie). We also have remained "decent," with fluctuations of "bad" and "very good." Meanwhile, all of these schools have invested a lot more money into their programs than we have. Yet, we remain just as competitive now as we were then. Could we have accomplished the same with a Gailey-type coach? Maybe, but it's a fairly easy argument to make that our uniqueness has helped sustain us through a period where our competition has been investing while we have been standing pat.

Now that we have started to open up our wallets, I think it's fair to expect a better program in five years. One that does not have the wild swings in performance from year to year. One where the media doesn't throw up their arms and declare us a football enigma. One where we look forward to playing Clemson and Georgie b/c we have more than just a chance of winning. We should expect more 4-star recruits. We should be nervous that one or more coaches is being courted by other schools. Most importantly, we should expect fewer noon kickoffs, goddammit!

Amen

 

[RussianOffense]

All of them who can play will get some playing time. We will probably see most of them in the Alcorn State game.

The better question is how many of them will play in meaningful game situations.