We went 2-10 this season with for the most part about roughly 80% Monty's guys for "WHATEVER" reason (injuries, inexperience, ect). Looking ahead to next season, I see some serious holes in the roster on both sides of the ball talent wise that need to be immediately addressed in this class to correct our course. The early signees are "OK" with a few bright spots but who can you say even from the JUCO signees besides the LB will be an immediate impact player? There has been a clear and disturbing drop off in talent since Graham left. People want to complain about the attendance or lack there of but we need to put a quality product on the field and our HC and his staff absolutely have to do more to bring that excitement back. It will be interesting to see what if any coaching changes are made between now and the end of Jan. IMHO these next 7 scholarships need to be homeruns for Monty or this time next year we could very easily be talking about who our NEW Head Coach just signed!
Elephant in the Room
- Thread starter shon46
- Start date
Cade Baumann and Cullen Wick will be expected to play immediately at defensive end with Jeremy Smith, Frankie Davis and Jesse Brubaker all exhausting their eligibility. Burnett and Welch will be expected to contribute immediately as well...that's generally the expectation when signing juco guys.
Chris, I absolutely agree with you about the logic in bringing JUCO’s in but that wasn’t my point. I don’t want to be negative bc those guys deserve to get into the system, learn, and grow before judgement is passed but again, these JUCO guys couldn’t even touch the level of JUCO talent Graham brought in!
Separately, Monty’s staff has consistently missed on recruiting, developing, and retaining difference makers on the edge hence they are forced to bring in JUCO’s. Jeremy Smith had so much talent and promise to be a really good player but they failed to developed him.
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You obviously don't for certain but offer sheets and ratings are a decent indicator. Conference champions are typically in the top half of the conference when it comes to recruiting. There are obviously exceptions but in general it's hard to win in the fall when you're losing the recruiting battle. Monty hasn't yet shown he can either evaluate or coach to overcome the paper rankings. Next year is a big year for Coach imo.
I played until I was 32 on top of starting and coached my own team in Germany with my best friend. Film isn’t the final determination of a player but I have seen and evaluated enough in my life to be a pretty good judge of talent. (http://www.krzbb.de/beilagen/getpdf.php?&datei=534_20080505101942) pg 7
http://www.boeblingen-bears.de/
Wait... Shon, weren’t you saying that you chose to sit at home instead of coming to a game because the opponent wasn’t exciting enough for you? So not only do you refuse to come to games, but you also want to criticize recruits because you’re a football “genius” of sorts?
For someone who played in the doo doo era of TU football, I’d think you’d understand some of the unique struggles TU has... further, a few changes were made after graham departed regarding academic qualifications for athletes. In fact, bill used that as a major crutch to justify two crappy seasons in a row (along with whining about how he wasn’t being paid as much as Todd graham). So that’s one reason we’ve seen a “drop” in recruiting.
We’ve been over TUs issues quite a bit this year and I don’t really want to rehash them, but come on - it’s one thing to be critical of a coaches moves (of course they should be held to a high standard), but bashing the program under the cloak of “football knowledge” is another issue.
One thing you and I have in common, however, is that we both want TU to be as successful as they can. I truly hope that these jucos we have coming in can hold their own and help us get back on the right track.
For someone who played in the doo doo era of TU football, I’d think you’d understand some of the unique struggles TU has... further, a few changes were made after graham departed regarding academic qualifications for athletes. In fact, bill used that as a major crutch to justify two crappy seasons in a row (along with whining about how he wasn’t being paid as much as Todd graham). So that’s one reason we’ve seen a “drop” in recruiting.
We’ve been over TUs issues quite a bit this year and I don’t really want to rehash them, but come on - it’s one thing to be critical of a coaches moves (of course they should be held to a high standard), but bashing the program under the cloak of “football knowledge” is another issue.
One thing you and I have in common, however, is that we both want TU to be as successful as they can. I truly hope that these jucos we have coming in can hold their own and help us get back on the right track.
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Goldenhurricane2, I live in Germany but make it a priority to fly back once a year to watch a game. Been doing that faithfully for years now. My point was I can’t get mad at fans for not wanting to come watch a game against a school like Arkansas Tech. I don’t claim to be a genius but i did sleep at a holiday inn last week. It’s normal when you do something for decades, you become good at it! I respect your opinion and love for the university. Let’s hope we can turn things around.
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Shon has always given the board knowledgeable insight . I always appreciate your thoughts and insight Shon .
Graham certainly brought in a lot of juco guys in his four classes, but in my opinion, most of those guys were misses. He signed 23 jucos, and 4 of them never made it to campus: OL Tavita Halaholo, WR Dee Williams, DB Arthur Render and RB Derrick Hall.
The headliner was Tyrunn Walker, and guys like Darrell Zellars, Eric Sproal, Untavious Scott, Wilson Garrison, John Destin and Shawn Santos made an impact. But that's just 7 of 23 guys.
The other juco guys hardly played and some left TU. Guys like Dion Toliver, Clint Whitley, Kollin Hancock, Jacob Bower, Ade Manga, Milton Howell, LaQuentin Black, Darrell Pasco, Eliot Allen, Durrell Finch, Kaipo Sarkissian, etc. made very little impact.
Going way back, 9 of the 11 starters on defense for our 1991 top 25 Freedom Bowl team were Jucos. Would have been interesting to see what would have happened with our program with Rader if the University hadn’t imposed restrictions and eliminated majors. The overall athletic landscape has changed so much in the last 25 years.
Kragthorpe brought in some good jucos, such as Brandon Jones, Oliver Fletcher, Michael LeDet, Charles Walker, Mike Mengers, Ashlan Davis, Idris Moss, Steve Craver, Alain Karatepeyan and Justin Morsey. He also had some misses...he was about 50-50 on jucos.
Juco recruiting has really dropped off since 2011. The 2018 class will be the biggest juco class in a long time. By the time February rolls around, this class may have as many jucos in it as the last seven classes combined.
It’s very very hard these days to get juco Kids in to TU. TU has to move on from quite a number of talented kids this cycle because they either couldn’t get in here or would need another semester of work to get the credits necessary. And when it comes to JUCOs who you want to make an impact in the fall, you need them here for spring practice and conditioning. There’s still a ton of quality in who they got though. Yohance Burnett is definitely my favorite but the defensive linemen have a chance to be really good too.
As far as next year goes and the holes that need to be filled, the most important additions remain the two safeties that we get back from injury. Mitchell & Bunch will be perfect back there and Whitfield will be able to slide back up to his LB spot and continue to thrive.
I'm sure it has been talked about and I just missed it, but any word on Keanu Hill?
The good news is that Monty at least recognizes these problems and the seriousness of them and is taking major steps to try to address them.
I would also like hear about his status. I thought it was a major loss when he got injured.
Sorry K. Hill missed season due to injury. But all I can remember is him being the only one to take a knee during the National Anthem. If he comes back & continues to pull this cheap sh!t, to hell with him. Please criticize this comment till the cows come home,but I could care less about people who diss flag & country & defend those who do.
I agree, Hill is an idiot. Hopefully he learned his lesson, but as someone who has family overseas, I 100% agree with you
It take a lot of courage to stand up to bigotry and closed minded, spiteful ignorance. Especially all by yourself. Perhaps a more open minded place would be better for him.
people would be more open minded if others didn't do stupid stuff, he was pretty much protesting the thing that gives him a right to protest . People have been blown up, lives have been shattered , and people have died so he can have the opportunity to play a game and get a college degree . So ya, it's going to piss people off when he kneels for the national anthem.
And there are still folks who don’t ‘get’ the protest to this day. I had no idea we had folks on here so clueless.
I know what they are trying to protest, what I don't get is why would they take a knee for the national anthem as a way to protest. That makes no sense, that's blaming the people who fought for our freedom for something a cop did. ( even if they say they aren't) that's how stupid it is to kneel, JMO though, would prefer to get this convo back on football, did not mean for this to turn into a political debate
The fact people think kneeling during the national anthem is disrespectful is astonishing to me.
Quincy sits behind a keyboard claiming Hill is pulling cheap sh!t and yet is too ignorant to know the phrase is “couldn’t care less”.
Also, I come from a military family. Both my grandfathers served. One passed away 13 years ago, the other fully supports using the national anthem as a means to bring to light police brutality. That is where my stance comes from.
I not so wise man used a phrase that I think summed up this debate against athletes taking a knee nicely... “SOFT!!!!!111”
If anyone would like to continue in crossfire feel free I’m happy to discuss there. I won’t respond further here.
I think 90% of people on both sides of the national anthem controversy are completely bored with this debate at this point. Players are going to do what they want and I’ll have my own opinion about its wisdom/effectiveness, but I simply do not care anymore. Find something else to be upset about and get back to talking football.
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I will respectfully disagree, like I said, I didn't mean to bring up a political issue, and apologize for doing so, but like I said, I really want to hear people's thoughts on Malik
I’m a veteran and the one thing I will always be proud of is fighting for those who had no voice and lived under strangles of tyranny and oppression. If we ostracize and repress those in America who protest legitimate social injustice, what makes us any better than the regimes we topple all in the name of democracy? I take no issues with peaceful protests!
Appreciate your service! I have no problem with peaceful protests, even if I disagree with them. I do not support the anti-cop thugs. Do I believe there are some bad cops? You bet I do. But when you have people start vandalizing cities and blocking highways, how peaceful is that? I feel some people forget that just because you have the RIGHT to do something does not mean you SHOULD. I respect your opinion and will always appreciate your service, but I will never agree that kneeling for the national anthem is a good way to protest something a cop does. Plus TU does not need that kind of press if we want to attract fans, just look at the NFL
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How quickly we forget our history. This issue of protesting social injustice through Sports is not new. Progress is only achieved through sacrifice! I believe solutions are accomplished through dialog. These actions that these players are taking (good, bad, or indifferent) are creating dialog that hopefully will lead to the eventual eradication of social injustice in America and strengthen our democracy!
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I served in the United States Marine Corps so that he has the right to take a knee. Guess what, thats what it means to live in a free country.
Well, I spent four years in the USN, & the 1st amendment protects my right to criticize these overpaid, underworked jerks & the morons who parrot them "just because". For all those throwing the 1st amendment in my face(probably college grads all), how ironic is it that today, about the only place in the country where freedom of speech is NOT permitted is on college campuses across the country if you are a conservative. Do not deny it! (Sorry, should have been crossfire)
I don't much care about the knee thing either way. I served in the United States Army in Vietnam. Th First Amendment was already in place then. It was down the list a ways of reason I was there but I strongly support it. Remember, it gives him the right to take a knee. It also gives others the right to condemn it. It cuts both ways.
