BillySee58

Losses: T Michael Banogu, G Micah Thompson Top Returners: SR C Kaydon Kirby, SR G Sam Rice, SO T Chris Miles, SO T Jordan Murray Additions: JUCO T Cody Hayes, JUCO G TJ Henson, HS T Chandler Anthony Other returning scholarship players: SR T Ryan Rentfro, SR T Connor Trussell, SR OL Garrett Gunter, JR T Harrison Sorge, JR G Dominick Walker, SO G Avery Fortenberry, SO C Creighton Barr, FR Elex Woodworth, FR T Chett Munden Last year we broke in a lot of new o-linemen as we replaced 4 starters, 3 of which were four-year starters. We knew going in that this unit would suffer some rookie mistakes. While they weren't exactly a strength, they were a group that played pretty well at times and gained a lot of experience. Our offense had success running the ball, and while a big part of that was the guys running the ball, the offensive line did a decent job in the run game, including an impressive 180-yard performance against Iowa. Personally I think they need to do a better job getting up to the second level, but they did a pretty good job of at least creating a crease. In the passing game they still have plenty of room to improve. The individuals weren't that bad in big-on-big, one-on-one protection. Where the struggles came were with blitz pickups and stunts. Also had quite a few sacks that were mainly on the receivers and QBs. As for the players, we have a good mix of experience and talent. Kaydon Kirby (35 starts) and Sam Rice (18 starts) have 53 combined starts on the FBS level, including Rice's time at SMU. Soph tackle Chris Miles was as heavily recruited as any player we signed in Mccarney's five classes, and his al-CUSA freshman selection backed that up. Soph tackle Jordan Murray also started some games, as did Soph center Creighton Barr at the end in place of Kirby. Barr will probably be a candidate to move over and start at right guard, as he is likely to compete with JUCO transfer TJ Henson and possibly others like RS FR Elex Woodworth and former Texas Tech lineman Trey Keenan. A very intriguing position battle may happen in the fall if Cody Hayes comes in as advertised, and competes to push Jordan Murray. That competition is going to be very important, IMO. This one was really a toss up between offensive line and the position group I rated just below them. It really could go either way, but I expect a big improvement from a group that didn't play that bad last year. Position Group Rank: 2nd

This article and his 247 profile say he did sign with SELA http://theadvocate.com/sports/14692701-128/southeastern-louisiana-goes-for-needs-with-signing-class

Crap. You're right. Reasons why I see him as a running back and not a linebacker: 1. Sweet cutting ability 2. Stature. 5'9" makes him a well put together RB, but a short linebacker with limited frame to grow into. 3. Got off zero blocks in his highlights. That's possibly the most important thing I look for in LB highlights. He was touched by six blockers, just twice by linemen. Of those six, three just tapped his pads as he was passing by them, twice they were lunge cut blocks, and one RB kind of blocked him right before he tackled the QB coming behind him. I saw a good athlete who likes to tackle, playing LB. I see him as an RB, maybe a safety as well. You all would think the same thing had my reign of terror not ended.

5'9" 180 lb running back from Denton Ryan. We have offered. We appear to be his first offer. Had 877 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns last year. Also added 111 tackles as a sophomore at linebacker. Could be a defensive offer, but I'm thinking running back for now. Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3858752/tyreke-davis http://247sports.com/Player/Tyreke-Davis-78806 http://www.scout.com/player/194610-tyreke-davis

6'5" 240 lb linebacker from Arizona Western CC. We have offered. I'm honestly not sure what class he is. Could possibly be a 2016 kid, because he has already played two seasons for AWC, and his hudl has him listed as class of 2015. highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2716679/mylam-peters

6'4" 205 lb safety from Arizona Western CC. Same school as 2016 signees William Johnson, Dee Baulkman, and Darius Turner. We have offered. highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/4028800/malleh-ceesay

5'10" 180 lb cornerback from Bishop Dunne in Dallas. We have offered. Holds 24+ offers. highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2791187/chevin-calloway http://247sports.com/player/chevin-calloway-78898 https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/maple/160851 http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/207947/chevin-calloway

He and his staff had already issued at least 12 offers for the 2017 class before he was fired in October. Offering mostly kids early on who will end up being offered by 15+ FBS schools is what we saw from Mccarney as well. Where the big difference is likely going to happen is May-August. Outside of the 2014 class Mccarney picked up very few legitimate FBS commits during that crucial time frame. That's where we need Littrell and the staff to actually prove they are a much better recruiting staff.

http://www.scout.com/college/football/recruiting/story/1644514-seth-washington-a-qb-with-strong-skillset

He's not complaining about the fans. He's pointing out the AD's inability to get the "blackout" memo out effectively. He literally said in his post "I am officially over this AD."

I think so. He's a good fit in this offense, he's from Oklahoma like Littrell, and his connection is Shanbour, who is still on the roster.

He was. He was there his whole freshman year when he was redshirting. Also, did Ashton say Tee Goree was a 2-star? Rivals, 247, and scout had him as 3-stars and ESPN was too lazy to even rate him. But no one had him as a 2-star.

At the end of the day is not coach speak. Go to an office and you'll hear everyone's boss tell them that as well. It's just an overused phrase, not coach speak.

Sure the scheme had a big part to do with that. But we played off in 2014 and kept opponent completion percentage slightly under 60%. Cosh' 2010 K-State defense we played against gave up 55% completion percentage. There is no one single reason a defense gives up 69% completion percentage, but the scheme certainly was a big factor, but not the only factor. I know the LBs gave up a good amount. That's part of why I have them lower in my unit rankings. Interesting about Buyers, though. I've been thinking he would have been a safety at some point but it never happened under Mccarney. When you're 1-11 and really only in two games you have a long way to go to get to a bowl game. You pretty much need notable improvement everywhere. DB play needs to improve, but not as drastically as most units on this team, IMO. That's essentially what I'm showing. And while coaching needs even more drastic improvement, that's not what I'm looking at here.

Sure, but that doesn't change the fact that they didn't make enough plays and that they need to this year if we're going to be decent. That's what I'm saying. Not that we had some awesome scheme and pass rush so they should've been picking off passes left and right last year.

Losses: CB Zach Whitfield, S Jakii Moore, S Matthew Dash Top Returners: SR S James Gray, JR S Kishawn Mcclain, SR CB Kenny Buyers, SR CB Chad Davis, SO CB Nate Brooks Additions: JUCO DB Dee Baulkman, JUCO DB Darius Turner, HS S Khairi Muhammad, HS CB Jameel Moore Other Returning Scholarship Players: SR S John Shilleci, SO S Cedric Fernandes, SO CB Ashton Preston, SO CB Andrew Jones, RS FR CB Taylor Robinson A quick note is that our base is supposedly going to have a 5th DB being a rover-type, LB/Safety hybrid. I expect to see Brandon Garner and Eji Ejiya there, but for now I'm going to include them with LBs until we see how things really look. As for the rest of the DBs, this position group may be the most established unit on the team. Kenny Buyers is probably the most recognized name on the team, being our last defensive starter from the bowl team remaining. Mcclain may be our best overall defensive player, with Gray pretty close as well. I expect a good competition opposite Buyers between experienced senior Chad Davis, team leader in pass breakups, and Nate Brooks, a CUSA all-freshman team selection. Throw in another player coming off a promising freshman season in Ashton Preston and you have pretty good depth at CB. Cedric Fernandes was playing a lot as a freshman early last year before he got injured. Getting him back should help. It'll be interesting to see where JUCOs Baulkman and Turner fit in. I'm guessing Baulkman at safety and Turner at CB. I also have a feeling we see something from Andrew Jones this year. I expect both freshmen to redshirt. This group should be one we rely on. My holdup with this group is that while they've made a lot of tackles, they've been lacking as a group in the big-play department, and were completely shredded in the passing game last year. Our secondary gave up an alarming 69% completion percentage, as well as just 4 interceptions against 24 touchdown passes allowed. That has to improve, and these guys need to be playmakers instead of just racking up tackles after the first down marker has been passed if we are going to push .500 this year. But definitely a group that brings stability and confidence to a defense looking for a big turnaround this year. Position Group Rank: 3rd

Vito?

5. Tyler Wilson 4. Nic Smith 3. Cedric Fernandes 2. Connor Trussell 1. Trey Enterline

This kid was really a big-time prospect after his sophomore year. Missed his whole junior year with a torn acl. Definitely slowed things down for him, which could benefit us.

I'm not sure, but I would say to certainly err on the side of caution, particularly with including the recruits' Twitter handle. If someone finds that somewhere it says it's okay for a donor to mention a recruit by name to a coach on Twitter, then by all means do so. I just think it's dangerously close to tweeting at a recruit, as a donor. If you are a donor and want to be careful, email is certainly a good way to go.

@Withers940 Just to clear up any confusion, there is nothing wrong with creating threads for players we are not publicly recruiting or have not offered. The purpose of this thread is to get people to actually reach out to the coaching staff if there is a player they believe we should be recruiting. This forum is not affiliated with the school, so if you want us to recruit a player, creating a thread on here makes no actual strides towards that actually happening. So feel free to create threads for players we aren't recruiting so we can discuss them. Just know that this is not a direct, or even indirect, method of getting players recruited by our coaching staff. Email, tweet the highlights at them (as long as you are not a donor), etc so the coaching staff can be properly notified of a prospective recruit.

Yes

SMU wouldn't let us in CUSA for years, and they did so successfully. I would imagine they would try to do the same here.

Nice series. Although I don't know that I'd call La Tech a "traditional Conference USA power" since they've only been in the conference as long as we have.