BillySee58

No, we're now a team that if you want to play as a young player you're going to have to earn a spot. You can't step on campus and earn a starting position as true freshman by default like Mac's first year here.

Coach Mac said during the national signing day press conference that we were out of scholarships on defensive line, so we're good numbers wise. In that sense our depth is ok, but we need more quality depth. Guys who can come off the bench who actually are capable and deserve to be on the field. You're absolutely right though. It all comes down to scoring points and our offense was something like 104th in scoring points and defense was around 65th in points allowed. Defense wasn't exactly lights out but they held their own and gave our offense a chance most games. It also didn't help our defense field position wise when our qb throws 14 interceptions. As for betting the house on Berglund, I think people are too worried about him not living up to the hype. So what if he doesn't live up to the hype? We're not asking him to have the season that Cam Newton had at Auburn in 2010. We're just asking him to be more productive than Derek Thompson was. As long as Berglund shows steady improvement and utilization of his tools we will be better off than last year.

Spring ball can't get here soon enough!

Exactly. No excuse for such a low point production. We only scored more than our average points given up (27.8) once against an FBS opponent and that was the 30 we scored against UL-LA.

No I wasn't, I've just seen Connor a good amount of times this semester. Yeah I hope he and Bull have a good spring. Both will get a chance.

I don't think anybody thinks that our success hinges on qb play alone, myself included, but I feel like arguments like these that belittle the quarterback need to be challenged a bit. I understand that you're tired of hearing all the hooplah surrounding Berglund and if he's going to surpass an incumbent quarterback who has struggled the past two years, but don't let that cloud your view on how important our qb play will be this year. Our defense needs to improve in order for us to take a step forward, especially the defensive line as you pointed out. But if we are able to gain more yards, keep their offense on the sideline, and score some points, that would greatly help our defense, obviously. Our defense got us in holes early last year and that needs to change, but often it was because our offense would start with a three-and-out. We're talking about the importance of one player (quarterback) versus an entire unit (defense) of 11 players. Defense as a unit is vastly important, improvement among our depth and production at defensive line is huge, but the single position in which an upgrade would most directly that would allow this team to make a jump in the wins category is qb. Our highest scoring output last year was 30 points. Lord forbid we can't win a shoot-out type game this year. Either way, looking for improvement across our team and competition everywhere as Coach Mac said. Spring will be fun.

Haha now that I think about it, every time I've seen him this semester he's had his boots on. Nonetheless he looks like the real deal.

Interesting. Care to cite a quote or two of what leads you to believe this?

Haha, my bad. Didn't realize how snark that sounded until just now. It's not a magical 6th year, I just look at it by years out of high school, which would be six for a gray shirts who then redshirts, then plays four years. That's just the way I look at it. Probably should've been more clear.

I completely agree with your points, both as a fan and a former center. I personally hope we stick with one guy, but I thought it was interesting to hear Coach Mac say that he would not overlook the possibility of rotating qbs maybe for that first game against Idaho. But yeah, hope we just get one guy. Also, is Connor 6'6"? Because he sure looks like he might be now.

Not very effectively the last two years.

Great point. It's been a hot play for a while now and if you block it well and have a true running threat at qb it is hard to stop. Defenses don't respect DT's running ability, or throwing ability for that matter.

Really can't wait for this season. Don't want to get my hopes up too high like with basketball, but it's definitely a different situation with year 3 of Mccarney rather than year 1 of Benford'd. Either way I can't wait to watch us play against Idaho.

Arguably the top 2 headline names from this "low-ranked" class were Brock Berglund and Dajon Williams. Two facts you hear a lot are that we haven't had an all-conference quarterback since Scott Hall's last season in 2004, and that we haven't had a winning season since 2004. This is not a coincidence and you shouldn't fool yourself to think it is. Quarterback has one of the strongest correlations, there are still exceptions, to team success out of any position in any team sport. I know this might be beating a dead horse, but our quarterback play must improve and can make a huge difference. Whether it's DT or Berglund this year, the success of this team will ride largely on the success of our quarterback play. Looking farther down the road, even if DT comes out and has a good senior year, Coach Mac's job security will be greatly tied to the play of Brock Berglund and Dajon Williams. Finally, I want to ask you guys a question. What do you think about us starting the season with a two-quarterback rotation between DT and Berglund? Mccarney seemed open to the idea in his presser. I would rather not, but like he said, whatever gives us a better chance to win.

Yes, just like a told you when you didn't believe me. Yeah, I think the particulars of that article might be a little outdated, but as long as you aren't a full time student it doesn't matter where you go that first semester as long as you are a part time student and not in contact with the team, Thank you for clarifying footballmommy!

Ellard and Micah Thompson were Redshirt Freshman last year.

No, he was signed in last year's class on scholarship.

http://recruiting-101.com/what-is-a-grayshirt-scholarship-offer/ This explains it a little better, but yes, a gray shirt can also redshirt the next year, then play four years.

They don't enroll as a full-time student until January, so it starts then. To be honest, I am not quite 100% sure, but pretty darn close. Over 90%.

No, two more. High school class of 2010. He'll be a redshirt junior this year.

Wylie Reinhardt. Will be a stud for us either at tight end or on the defensive line somewhere down the road. 6'4" 260 lbs, impressive athleticism, and downright nasty. Good qualities to have down in the trenches.

Those were additional hardship (injury) waivers.

Awesome! These Chapel Hill players seem to be the real deal. Still holding out hope that Sir Calvin breaks out for us this year. Do you know of any upcoming 2014 prospects that we could get in on, either for Chapel Hill or any Tyler school?

If he can do a decent job staying on his blocks Kidsy will play a lot.

Watch his highlights, very impressive. Has as good a chance as any of our freshman to make an immediate impact. http://www.hudl.com/athlete/571875/#highlights/17328408 We had complaints about how our receivers couldn't get open last year or how many were former walkons. This guy has the speed to seperate, can play on the outside or the slot, and had offers from Miami (OH), Fresno State, Illinois, and Utah. Big time fax. http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=6207079