GOMG2013

This is wrong on many levels. There's lots of situations where things are learned by making mistakes and going through a tough time. If we just keep it to sports, this is still an incorrect statement. In most cases, a young player is going to learn by getting their butt handed to him at some point in his or her career. Either in games, in practice, or by playing better competition to get better.

Because in a lot of cases it was their first time ever starting for a full season. Some of them, it was their first time ever playing D1 football. Now most of them have a full season of playing D1 football under their belt.

I agree. Steele does an actual analysis on the teams and considers returning starters and player movement. His business is betting, so he has to have a reputation to make predictions based on unknowns. Steele puts more weight on returning starters. He had a listing of all the teams recently. Of course UNT is among the top in CUSA. If I had to guess, he would have UNT at 4-8, 5-7.

Are you really doing this? Pumping up UTSA...no comment. I guess silence is better than people posting on this forum till spring practice comes around...

UTEP was not better than us. Chico gave that game away for some reason. Even if you start Mcnulty because it's senior day or whatever, it still does not explain greer coming in and throwing the pick 6. And coach mac was nowhere to be around to blame. CHICO started mcnulty and left him in there a whole half and we were only up 3-0 at the half. Then we were up 10-6 after a punt return for a TD, then CHICO puts greer in to put us in the hole again with a pick 6. Drive started in UTEP territory and we should have at least gotten a field goal out of it. Defense and special teams scored 14. Offense (without Mac around)...3. And how is UTSA better than us? I guess you mean for us to win 6 games, we have to beat 3 teams that are currently better.

Probably one of those chico suspensions for not having a positive attitude.

The corners were getting beat no matter what, and that is going to be the case with any corner or style of play. Corners get beat. The main reason our corners played 10 yards off was to play safety and help out in the run game. If you play tight coverage, it's easier for you to get blocked and you can't react to the run. We stopped the run with numbers so the safeties came up. Like most fans on here say, if that DL, and really the whole front 7, could stop the run, we wouldn't have had to play the defense we played.

Huh? Pressure is what gets a QB off rhythm...not coverage. Mixing up the coverage will cause the QB to hesitate or second guess himself. UNT didn't allow the corners to play mind games with QBs. It was very rare our corners would mess with a qb, by lining up like they will press, then back off at the last minute, or vise versa, where we line up off man, then close in and cover right at the last minute. It was known ahead of time almost every play they will be 10 yards for at least 3 years. And as a QB, if you know the corners were nor going to jump a short route, it was easy pickings. Just don't throw a mistake. I have never seen corners play so safe on any level of football. Ever. I take that last statement back. UH did it when Skladany coached there too...

I don't think so. I think some are giving the youngsters too much credit. Nate showed some potential last year, but let's not forget he got beat a lot. We give him a pass cause he was a true freshman. He looked good considering he was a freshman. He still was out of place and did not belong on the field yet. Buyers showed he can play D1 football. He may not be able to press, but he can give us at minimum, average covering ability. And he may be able to play more aggressive if we decide to finally have a safety back there. Buyers has two spots he could potentially start at also. Nickel or corner.

This. And Mccarney had other faults too, but this was the biggest...

Buyers had shown he can play corner. Even if he got beat at times. All corners get beat, especially in college. I will be shocked if he is on the bench. Well duh about the position being a lock, if you want to get technical...these are predictions...Davis very well could be out of the starting lineup with buyers and balkman starting...but if we are making predictions based on past performance and playing time, I say Davis is a lock. If not, I'm sure he could find a place to play his final year of eligibility.

I agree. The higher completion percentage is an issue, and some of it had to do with personell. 2014, we had Buyers. We were supposed to have Buyers in 2015, but he was hurt. Mac, (I am assuming) begged Whitfield to come back. Corner is not his spot at all. Most of the time Whitfield had good games and plays, it came when he was at nickel. Whitfield was the veteran corner, but was still picked on immediately. Then preston got a shot, then brooks. So you are right and the numbers support it. 2015 was worse than 2014 and the corner opposite of davis was the target no matter who it was. But like I said, the guys that gave up the big plays wont have a big role next year and some are gone. Buyers is back and he's going to play somewhere. First man off the bench will also have experience now because I am assuming that will be Brooks. We could field an experienced 5 next year, so going off what happened with Whit, freshmen, and a bad scheme last year may be as irrelevant as forecasting this year's offense based on what we did on offense last year.

I expect to see Buyers at the nickel or safety. Davis should be a LOCK at corner, but this is a new coaching staff...Over the last two years, he has shown he is the best cover on the team, even with the limitations of the defense. He hasn't given up any memorable big plays in the passing game in 2 years and even the passes he has given up, the coverage was very tight. The JUCO and Brooks will most likely battle it out for the other corner if Buyers doesn't want it. From some info I had a few years ago, Buyers wanted to move to safety. In 2014, Buyers moved to nickel and Davis came in to play corner on 3rd downs. Since we have that as a full time position now, I can see him in it. I think CB depends on what Buyers decide. If Buyers wants to play corner, he will still beat out Brooks, even with his limited man skills. It's not like Brooks didn't get beat...

You talked about being shredded and completion percentage...the defensive system played a role in that and there was no mention of the defensive style. Especially with LBs covering and corners pretty much conceding at least 5 yards by lining up 10 yards off the man. The defensive system held them back... but when we discuss offensive personel on here, it is assumed there will be an explosion of talent cause of a new system. And if we want to get specific, the main ones who were shredded may not even be on the field...Whitfield, Preston, Brooks, and LBs were usually the ones who gave up the biggest plays.

People still don't really understand the defensive system we were running. It was not designed for big plays. Especially from the secondary. It did not put these guys in position to make plays in the passing game very often. Even in 2013 our safties came up and made big hits AFTER the catch, to cause a pass breakup or fumble. Only when we had a lead and it was an obvious passing down would we take a risk. Last two years we rarely even had a lead to take a risk in the passing game. Our secondary will benefit the most with a new defensive coach and system. The impact may be just as dramatic as the change on offense. Corners were forced to play 10 yards off. They didn't want to. Most of the time, corners were not allowed to bump and press. While the corners were lined up 10 yards, the safties came up to help out in the run. LBs were supposed to help the corners on the short underneath stuff. As a corner, you aren't coming up and jumping short routes without safety help. It's suicide. And If you are going to be on an island one on one, you would at least want a fighting chance and be able to bump the Wr...especially on the goalline. The defensive philosophy was just as lame as the offense. Buyers...

Ok, I had to wait till more names came out before I could critique...if we are depending on Scott and Smiley....then... They are way too high in my opinion. As for C. Davis, I originally thought he was too low at 17, but considering he wasn't even mentioned last year, I guess 17 is a huge improvement. To be barely above youngsters goree and Brooks, I had to see the rest of the list. Davis wasn't great, but he at least showed he belonged starting for a D1/CUSA team. I would say he at least turned in an average year, which is saying a whole lot. 3 big possible game changing plays while the game was still being played with starters. INT in the red zone vs Tenn to keep the game 17-0 at the half. And a forced fumble vs iowa to keep the game 14-0. The other big play was the return against UTSA. There were also other tackles for losses and a sack. He would tell you himself that he should have done more, but 3 big possible game changing plays is decent. If all 11 on defense pulls that off, that's 33 big plays... As far as pass coverage, he did his job considering the lame system and scheme. Didn't give up no more than 2 catches for 15 yards in any game. A few games he had no catches on him. The longest play all year was a 12 yard slant that he should have picked off. If I had to guess, less than 10 catches and 100 yards given up all year. I'm not trying to imply he was Deion sanders because it was easy to run on us and pick on youngsters and lbs in coverage. No need to throw at him. Once again, davis, isnt all world, but from what I have seen out of smiley and scott, it must be assumed they will have some major improvement from last year to be rnaked this high. They did not look like D1 starters. If we are rolling out the same guys as last year and do not upgrade DL, LB and WR, we will get smashed.

Is this real? I can't believe some are offering detailed explanations. Either the kid wants to play football or not. Period. There are thousands of kids that would jump at the opportunity to play football. If this is real, what is the purpose of coming on here threatening to convince a friend to decommit. If you were truly his friend, you would tell him that you are an illegal immigrant and you know nothing about football, recruiting, and how it works. You would also tell him, you have no experience or know anything about college football message boards. A true friend would apologize to him for pretty much embarrassing him on a public forum. Does he even know you did this? Even if this is real, I know I wouldn't want the fellas to know I am getting my football advice from an illegal immigrant, high school engineer, close friend that helps with difficult decisions.

This guy turned his nose up at UNT. Let it go. He wants to go to a another school. He has enough money to pay and walk on to a school if he has to. UNT would be crazy to offer this kid again. It was a reach from the start considering the circumstance. He was going to come here out of his comfort zone, not get his way and go back home and walk on. Now he's just prolonging the inevitable.

I was told we will see a lot of 4-2-5 and 3-3-5...

I'm still holding out hope for Bain.

Umm getting kinda personal...

Still no word? I would think if he was offered by Houston and he wanted to go, he would have committed by now. Houston doesn't have many spots left, so playing the waiting game with them is very risky. If I had to guess, he is a plan B option for Houston if something doesn't come through or if there's any suprise decommits.

We have a lot of Jucos. Probably needed to list more of them because I think a lot of them will play. Everything is starting over and players will be fighting for spots. We have a lot of players returning, but these jucos were picked by the new coaches. Sets up for some good battles and evaluation. Hopefully it creates a situation where we have quality D1 talent on the field and depth in most areas.

Galveston Island!!! Ball 88

Agreed. But we many assume a coaching a philosophy change can make the offense improve. Well. The defense was also a victim of an outdated poor scheme too. The defense was more predictable than the offense. Corners were going to play 10 yards off, we hardly ever blitz. We will have slow LBs covering WRs. Our defense will also have an upgrade to a more modern dynamic defense. I am hearing we will run 3-3-5, 4-2-5., 4-3...depends on who we play. There's going to be some coaching and actual strategy out there.