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Repeat after me...

Harry

By Harry
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Harry Grand Master

Harry

Posted
Posted

"IT IS ALL ABOUT RECRUITING"..."IT IS ALL ABOUT RECRUITING"...

This pertains especially to life as a g5.  Under Mac, we could not recruit a QB to save our life.  Now we have a great QB but we need to improve the line in front of him or we could lose him to injury.   I think our skill position players matched up well against Troy perhaps even better.  But they dominated us in the front lines, front seven.  In the end, they just had better players than we have. 

And recruiting is not just about stars and accolades, it is also about character and potential or projecting what a player could be.   Before TCU came into their place in  the Big 12 and upper echelon of college football programs, they had claw and scratch like we do and they did it by being creative.  They turned running backs into nosetackles and tall rangy tight ends into offensive tackles.  We should follow their model.  And I get that we have to have speed on defense, I truly do.  But Troy had some linebackers with size and physicality today.  That took a toll on us as the game went on.  We need more size and nasty physical players on D.

I think Littrell is a great evaluator.  Fine at QB taught me that as well as Bussey and several others.  Fine may be the best we have had at the most important position.  I don't know if Littrell (and when I say Littrell I include his staff) are yet the closers that we need them to be.  In Littrell's defense, he inherited a mess from Mac.  Lane Kiffin and Neal Brown were given a better deck of cards personnel wise, I am convinced of that.   It takes stime to change the perception that had been tattered over a decade under Mac and Dodge.

In the end, it was a very good season for us and I do not mean at all to take away from what was accomplished.  When you look at where we have been just a couple of years ago it is amazing how quickly Littrell et al has turned this thing around.  But I see today's game and the losses against FAU as a good measuring stick for where we need to be and how we need to get there.  There needs to be a sense of urgency about this.  

There have been some disappointments this year as well.  I felt like our secondary would be the strength of the team.  As today evidenced, it may be the weakest.  How did that happen?  What went wrong?  Needs to be some soul searching and study into that issue and it needs to be addressed.  As great as the offense was this season, and it was statistically one of the best, I felt like our defense took a big step back.  A bigger step back than they should have if you look at who we brought back.

As great as this season was, we can't afford to stand still.  If we don't have the right system and right coaches to recruit than we need to get them in place.  I am thrilled with Wren Baker and Prez Smatty and the BOR.  We seem to have all of the pieces in place to build this program to heights we have not seen.  What we cannot have happen again is the false post bowl sense of "we have finally made it..."  I remember after Mac took us to a win in a bowl, we were all convinced that we had made it to the next level and it turned out we had built our house on a deck of cards.  And believe me, 95% of that was recruiting deficiencies.

Luckily we will have Littrell and most of the staff for another season.  Will we either stick with what we have or will we try to make improvements and be able to stand tall in games like today or in the conference championship against FAU.  My hope is for the latter.  GMG!

MGNation92 Veteran

MGNation92

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If our O-Line/Defense doesn’t improve dramatically next year we could be looking at regression. The staff is still iffy on recruiting and Reffett is not getting it done.

I hope they make changes and fast. 

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KingDL1 Veteran

KingDL1

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1 minute ago, MGNation92 said:

If our O-Line/Defense doesn’t improve dramatically next year we could be looking at regression. The staff is still iffy on recruiting and Reffett is not getting it done.

I hope they make changes and fast. 

Cant be much worse, I figuring it can only get better

BTG_Fan1 Newbie

BTG_Fan1

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35 minutes ago, MGNation92 said:

If our O-Line/Defense doesn’t improve dramatically next year we could be looking at regression. The staff is still iffy on recruiting and Reffett is not getting it done.

I hope they make changes and fast. 

I’ve been wondering this and trying to think.. but is there any DCs out there we would have Interest in potentially that don’t have a job now because of all the coaching changes? 

I would love to see SL and WB go out bring in the Troy DC, but no idea if something would have to be worked out since he is under contract with them as well.

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Christopher Walker Collaborator

Christopher Walker

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10 minutes ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

I’ve been wondering this and trying to think.. but is there any DCs out there we would have Interest in potentially that don’t have a job now because of all the coaching changes? 

I would love to see SL and WB go out bring in the Troy DC, but no idea if something would have to be worked out since he is under contract with them as well.

Koennig is a beast. I still can't figure out how he landed there. Regardless, Reff's soft-Nickel 3-3-5 is not working out for us.

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BTG_Fan1 Newbie

BTG_Fan1

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Just now, Christopher Walker said:

Koennig is a beast. I still can't figure out how he landed there. Regardless, Reff's soft-Nickel 3-3-5 is not working out for us.

I was watching and at times, Troy was in a 3/4 so it’s not like it would be a super huge overhaul.. 

To me, SL/WB need to honestly go get him or someone of his caliber. Making a hire like that will do a lot of good in terms of changing fans mindsets from 2 straigh beatdowns to we are trending up and looking to improve/invest in this program.. they made a splash with GMac, and they need to make a splash with the DC spot.. 

untjim1995 Grand Master

untjim1995

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So the recruiting part is where the major worry comes in. SL and staff will have the ability to prove me wrong, but until they do, recruiting here for TX HS recruits is a tough sell. We all know the reasons.

Troy, just to remind everyone, has had questionable recruiting tactics in the past and their academic profile is well under ours. FAU hired coaches with very sketchy reputations and began taking in kids most places wouldn’t touch. This will never happen here—we won’t ever do these tactics. If it means finishing behind them, sobeit, but we won’t allow our program to even come close to that line. 

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Venson Mentor

Venson

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We definitely have to recruit better up front. We can have all the skill players in the world and a great QB, but if the QB never has time to throw or RBs can't even take a step before the opposing defense is 3 yards in our backfield, none of that matters. Same goes for the defensive side of the ball. If you can't get D-linemen to eat up blocks to allow the LBs to flow to the ball carrier or pressure the QB, then you can't expect the secondary to cover forever on the back end. If you don't want your D-linemen eating up blocks, then they better be able to get to the QB or the ball carrier.

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SilverEagle Mentor

SilverEagle

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31 minutes ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

I'm surprised Mason Fine still has 2 legs to walk on.  Said it last season, too.  

HELP!?!   (recruit, dammit, recruit)!

303 yards passing whilst getting mugged. Imagine what that might have looked like if he had gotten an extra second or so to pass.

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Wag Tag Grand Master

Wag Tag

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I think we saw a little Freshman in Fine the last 2 games. This will make him better. To really develop lineman you have to red shirt and think outside the box. TE to OL and Qb’s to linebackers requires added strength, weight gain and extra practice. This is why a separate workout facility and a IPF is so important. Let’s get this done now and help keep the momentum going! We also need to become transfer u for the guys that want to move home. I would also like to see a new DC, a bigger linebacker in the mix and I look forward to a healthy English! Great write up Harry!!! GMG 

untbowler Grand Master

untbowler

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3 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

303 yards passing whilst getting mugged. Imagine what that might have looked like if he had gotten an extra second or so to pass.

also 2 INTs, yes one was unlucky, but other was poor throw, add in 3 fumbles and 2 of which lost deep in UNT territory. Sorry Fine's mistakes cost the team greatly yesterday. Add in the poorly thrown balls, so yes 303 is impressive in the stats book, but the mistakes were glaring. OLine or not.

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peanuts104 Veteran

peanuts104

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2 minutes ago, untbowler said:

also 2 INTs, yes one was unlucky, but other was poor throw, add in 3 fumbles and 2 of which lost deep in UNT territory. Sorry Fine's mistakes cost the team greatly yesterday. Add in the poorly thrown balls, so yes 303 is impressive in the stats book, but the mistakes were glaring. OLine or not.

Pretty hard to hold onto the dadgum ball when linemen and backers go unblocked to sack your QB.  Those fumbles are on the line and one pick was a bad bounce.  The other pick is a pass he shouldn't have thrown but he was about to get destroyed on that play too and needed to get the ball off.  Fine did the best with what was around him yesterday and what he had around him clearly wasn't enough.

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untbowler Grand Master

untbowler

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Just now, peanuts104 said:

Pretty hard to hold onto the dadgum ball when linemen and backers go unblocked to sack your QB.  Those fumbles are on the line and one pick was a bad bounce.  The other pick is a pass he shouldn't have thrown but he was about to get destroyed on that play too and needed to get the ball off.  Fine did the best with what was around him yesterday and what he had around him clearly wasn't enough.

watch 2 of the fumbles, Fine is holding the ball way out not protecting, now the one he got smashed on can't fault him as no one saw the safety blitz coming

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MeanGreenTexan Grand Master

MeanGreenTexan

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6 hours ago, untbowler said:

watch 2 of the fumbles, Fine is holding the ball way out not protecting, now the one he got smashed on can't fault him as no one saw the safety blitz coming

Agree.   And I think he'll improve here as a Junior.   Harrell has to teach him to protect the ball when scrambling.

That last fumble was a rush off the edge (DE or LB) where the TE (Smith, I believe) who was supposed to help block him was put in pre-snap motion to the other side of the line where the play was headed, leaving the dude lined up over there with no one to block him, and of course, we can't ask Mayfield to block 2 guys...  SMASH.   

I can only imagine the look of horror on Littrell's & Harrell's faces when Smith stepped back and went to the other side of the line... they knew that was coming.

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KingDL1 Veteran

KingDL1

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3 minutes ago, FAU Connoisseur said:

We had great recruiting for the last 4 years, but it took a great coaching staff to win.  You might be wrong.

I agree I was trying to be tongue in cheek we have seen what better coaches can deliver, but it takes both great  recruiting and great coaches was what I really meant. 

Wag Tag Grand Master

Wag Tag

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1 minute ago, FAU Connoisseur said:

We had great recruiting for the last 4 years, but it took a great coaching staff to win.  You might be wrong.

We believe we have a good head coach! You look at our recruiting ranking and how they have analyzed and devoped the talent is encouraging! Let’s develop a 3* instead of a 2*. Congrats to FAU now win it!!

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