Recruiting Forum Football Talk IV

[mrmax86]

Pod system would be 4 x 4. Play every team in your pod every year and then alternate other pods teams.

I personally like the pod structure, and it also allows you to play other teams within the SEC more often, and can preserve permanent cross-pod rivals, if that is desired.

I vote we kick Mizzou out and have 3 pods of 5.

 

[BigSteve09]

If we aren't anticipating officiating changes around fake injuries, we need to spend the offseason figuring out how to make it work for us.

Scheduled "man down" after the XP, after the kickoff, and on the 1st play of the opponent's drive. Then after any play of 20+ yards for the other team.

I don't want to do this, I hope it doesn't come to that. But if we make games unbearable while protecting our defense then it's time to make it work for us.

 

[UTProf]

We deep down know we won’t pony up to year in and year our recruit with these schools it’s not “the right way”. We’ve heard this song and dance for 20 years. We don’t have the mentality to compete with these teams in the shady business and guess what? We won’t win championships because of it. UGA v Bama part 3 next year! Yay!

I don't know why you're blaming the Admin. They have nothing to do with NIL. If we don't pony up that is on our boosters. I know our boosters have been quite good at convincing everyone that someone else was the boogeyman but they're responsible for a ton of ish that's gone down the past few years. UT's Admin is happy to let the AD do it's thing within reason. We have failed because of internecine war -- booster worried about power rather than winning -- not because big ole meanie "academia" has held the team back. That narrative has always been complete nonsense.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

The defense will be worse, the offense will be about the same but defenses well be a little better prepared for us.

I really hope we can improve our win total but I just don't see it happening.

For us to be worse we have to finish 6-7...

The offense will easily be better

Coach Golesh said we were operating with like 10% of our offense with Hooker this year and they expect to open up the playbook significantly this offseason.

We are losing Cade, Velus and Payton. They are extremely important guys, but I mean we are brining everyone else back and then some.

Look at how well this staff got these guys to perform in their first year I mean how do you project them to just cease improvement? There's absolutely nothing that suggests that should happen other than battered vol syndrome.

Even the defense, yeah they really struggled at times, but again another year in the system brining back the vast majority of the players and we will add some people in the portal (not sure who) at worst they are the same.

As far as win total goes

You got UT Martin, Akron, Ball State and Pitt in the non-conference schedule. Three gimmies. Pitt is looking like a very likely win. We still almost beat them when they had Kenny Pickett, Hooker playing half the game and not being the great player he became, with 3 turnovers and 13 penalties....We would have to have a disastrous performance.

We will beat Vandy. That's five wins.

We've beaten Mizzou and South Carolina the last three years and most of those games we blew them out. Especially LAST YEAR.

We own Kentucky. We just beat them in Lexington. You'd put money they come into Neyland and beat us again?

LSU and Florida have first year coaches.

We will have to underachieve at an epic level to finish below 6-6.

You're essentially predicting absolutely everything that could go wrong to go wrong.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

If we aren't anticipating officiating changes around fake injuries, we need to spend the offseason figuring out how to make it work for us.

One thing that Ainge (of all people) pointed out not long ago is that if the goal of the offense is to control the tempo then we should also know when to slow down. Cause you can hurry up to the line and get set, but then read the defense and make adjustments. You're still eliminating the ability to sub by the defense but you also give yourself more time to try and read the defense and get your guys set.

Now maybe the speed was done just to take advantage of lineup mistakes, but if we're trying to run the ball the rushing to snap it actually hurts the offense cause the OL may not all be set or in position to make the push.

 

[Christian Lowe]

I don't know why you're blaming the Admin. They have nothing to do with NIL. If we don't pony up that is on our boosters. I know our boosters have been quite good at convincing everyone that someone else was the boogeyman but they're responsible for a ton of ish that's gone down the past few years. UT's Admin is happy to let the AD do it's thing within reason. We have failed because of internecine war -- booster worried about power rather than winning -- not because big ole meanie "academia" has held the team back. That narrative has always been complete nonsense.

During Cheek’s time it wasn’t nonsense, I don’t believe. He did say a lot to make on believe he wanted to be East TN’s Vandy. Since he left though I agree with you

 

[UTProf]

Underrated in one poll and a bit overrated in another. We're a wild card.

 

[mr.checkerboards]

A thought regarding playoff expansion, using win probabilities via a combination of SP+/FPI/FEI.

Chance of Bama or Georgia winning championship:

4-team playoff: 76.9%
12-team playoff: 57.1%

I’d love to see higher chances of some other teams getting into the mix. I think the expansion would help.

I'd rather get the best 2 teams at the end, then leave it to chance that a random upset happens and it's a good team against a meh team in the finals.
Playoff expansion shouldn't happen until there are that many teams with a legitimate shot to win it all year in and year out.

 

[Rizzo924]

I agree with both of you. I think you can both be correct on this.

Kirby saw firsthand how to build Bama. Took the exact same blueprint and implemented it to a T at UGA. Jimbo has tried as well. Fulmer thought Pruitt was going to do it (idiots).

Kirby was smart to stay under Saban for so long. He could have left, plenty of people came calling with blank checks. But he stayed because he knew he still had things to learn and he knew that he hadn't seen the completed product of what Saban was doing. He learned through their collective mistakes and successes, and was able to witness the greatest to ever do it navigate new challenges and push the envelope in every way.

But what Saban had to fight for - bigger budget(s), better workout regimes, nutrition programs, pushing sports science in every way, bigger/better facilities, expanded staffs, the ins and outs of the dirty and clean recruiting process, media management, creating new positions, defining those positions, how to work with boosters, how to become the czar, how to manage personalities (players and coaches). Kirby didn't have to build any of that from scratch or design any of that in an inventive/creative way. He saw what worked and what didn't work, and took the schematics to his program of choice to do it on his own.

He deserves credit for his patience. He deserves credit for his diplomacy and salesmanship - to get a major program to buy in completely. He deserves credit for rallying everyone in the program behind one cause.

Everyone is like "oh that's easy when you have money and rich white guys that just want to win!" but there's only a handful of programs that have that complete buy-in. There are a couple dozen that try, but the booster can't get out of the way, or the leadership can't get beyond the politics, or the coach(es) aren't slick. "This is freaking easy dude, just throw money at em and build a winning roster" is what got Moose popped. It's just one aspect of the 20 things it takes to build a Bama.

Do I think that Kirby is a great coach? Not really. He's not doing anything that 20+ other coaches could do better with that same roster. Like I said after the SEC title game, it's easy to look great when your LBs are the size of DEs and just as fast as DBs. He has freaks and mutants all over the field.

I do think it's ok to tip your hat when someone's plan works.

Good post - I think GA's years of crappy product (Donnan, et al) made them more receptive to all pull in same direction. Where they differed from UT is that Smart followed Richt, cupboard wasn't bare - just couldn't get over the hump (which reminds me of Fulmer & Majors situation).

 

[UTProf]

And Swain is very right on this one. Hooker is going to be as well compensated as any QB in the nation not named Ewer IMO.

Also should be some new true NIL deals coming out soon that will allow players to make as much as they’re willing to work for. If a player can market himself and get people to buy their merch they can make as much money as he wants with some of the stuff in the NIL pipeline.

NIL is going to have to adjust to actual market value tho. Right now a guy like Hooker has earned it. You can argue he adds value to a brand but these signees who haven't played add nothing. They are simply being paid to sign.

 

[Mike4Vols]

NIL and the transfer portal drain my enthusiasm for college football sometimes. Then I read this guy's story and I'm back in the game. It's like getting that once-a-round Birdie when you're playing golf. You're ready to sell your clubs, give it all up, and then you score the Birdie.

TE transfer Browder picks Vols, sees 'childhood dream coming true'

 

[InVOLuntary]

And Swain is very right on this one. Hooker is going to be as well compensated as any QB in the nation not named Ewer IMO.

Also should be some new true NIL deals coming out soon that will allow players to make as much as they’re willing to work for. If a player can market himself and get people to buy their merch they can make as much money as he wants with some of the stuff in the NIL pipeline.

So hooker got 7 figures? Huge if true.

 

[vol9799]

The defense will be worse, the offense will be about the same but defenses well be a little better prepared for us.

I really hope we can improve our win total but I just don't see it happening.

Gonna disagree about the defense and here's why:

- DT improved. Lose Butler; but get Simmons and Bumphus back (both started but then missed most of the season w/injury), plus another year of development, plus incoming guys
- DE tbd. Lose Blakely & Tremblay neither of which were explosive but both were reliable. Young, Harrison and the rest get another year of development, plus the incoming guys. But to be improved we need a contributing transfer if we're going to expect improvement
- LB improved. Because it just has to be. Mitchell back, development, more bodies. I mean seriously, short of a bunch of injuries or just not developing the guys at all in the offseason, how could they not be improved
- S tbd. Depends on transfers, returnees and who the coaches start. If the coaches put Flowers and McCullough back out there then we'll get the same crap. If they develop the younger, more talented guys and get them out there then we'll be better. We still might not be good, but we'll be better.
- DB tbd. Sorta the same as safeties, depends on the portal and how they develop what's returning. Without Alontae, I'm inclined to say a little worse, but if someone steps in for Burrell, the improvement on one side could offset the dip on the other.
- Not playing Pickett & Corral. Neither Pitt or LSU (who replaces OM) are going to trot out QB's that resemble these two. Our defense will look better just by not facing them.
- An entire season to correct scheme issues with the QB runs.

Again, I'm not saying we're going to resemble a top flight SEC defense next year, but I do think we'll be more respectable. If we just improve our 3rd & 4th down conversion defense a little bit (say 60th-70th, instead of 120+), we'll get 1-2 extra possessions per game. Those extra possessions per game will help offset the opposing defenses adapting to our offense better.

 

[Enki_Amenra]

So hooker got 7 figures? Huge if true.

Yes. He'll be over $400k soon.

 

[Volsdeep4]

Never seen so many GA car flags in my town. Pisses me off. Wanna rip them all off.

 

[Leeleesteeth]

For us to be worse we have to finish 6-7...

The offense will easily be better

Coach Golesh said we were operating with like 10% of our offense with Hooker this year and they expect to open up the playbook significantly this offseason.

We are losing Cade, Velus and Payton. They are extremely important guys, but I mean we are brining everyone else back and then some.

Look at how well this staff got these guys to perform in their first year I mean how do you project them to just cease improvement? There's absolutely nothing that suggests that should happen other than battered vol syndrome.

Even the defense, yeah they really struggled at times, but again another year in the system brining back the vast majority of the players and we will add some people in the portal (not sure who) at worst they are the same.

As far as win total goes

You got UT Martin, Akron, Ball State and Pitt in the non-conference schedule. Three gimmies. Pitt is looking like a very likely win. We still almost beat them when they had Kenny Pickett, Hooker playing half the game and not being the great player he became, with 3 turnovers and 13 penalties....We would have to have a disastrous performance.

We will beat Vandy. That's five wins.

We've beaten Mizzou and South Carolina the last three years and most of those games we blew them out. Especially LAST YEAR.

We own Kentucky. We just beat them in Lexington. You'd put money they come into Neyland and beat us again?

LSU and Florida have first year coaches.

We will have to underachieve at an epic level to finish below 6-6.

You're essentially predicting absolutely everything that could go wrong to go wrong.

It's SO much easier to predict the worst possible outcome. Somehow people think that makes them less disappointed in the end. It never does. I'm saying 9-3 with win 10 coming in a bowl. Don't care. It will happen.

 

[VolGee4]

Kentucky has an easy schedule compared to others, especially us. Maybe they can beat more than one FBS team with a winning record this season.

This is true. As long as Louisville is mediocre, they get a P5 OOC game that is very winnable in addition to MSU as their permanent west rival. How do you think Dan Mullen won so many games at MSU? He had UK ever year.

 

[Leeleesteeth]

The good news is this: In a few weeks children throughout 3rd world countries will be getting their Alabama National Championship T-Shirts and Hats. Most of them already have several with Georgia on them.

 

[BigSteve09]

Seems like we are only a short amount of time away from teams actually having stock prices that you can buy and sell on.

As others have pointed out, it's way more about the "machine" and the organization than it is about any one coach or player. CFB has been "big business" for a while, but the best programs are corporations now.

We call the best coaches "CEOs" now, for crying out loud.

I think that's why so many fans are disillusioned by what the sport has become or is becoming. Am I watching football, my former hobby that was an escape, or am I watching Wal-Mart vs Amazon, just on a field?

 

[VolGee4]

So hooker got 7 figures? Huge if true.

This is the way it should be. We are paying current players who have proven themselves. Using NIL to get them to come back.

As opposed to paying high school seniors. I very much agree that we have money to pay, but our boosters are going to be smart about WHO they pay.

 

[BigSteve09]

The good news is this: In a few weeks children throughout 3rd world countries will be getting their Alabama National Championship T-Shirts and Hats. Most of them already have several with Georgia on them.

Yes but these other programs winning titles will never compete with the legendary dynasty of the 90's Buffalo Bills.

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

If Minnesota hires lane Kiffin how hard do we laugh at Zach evans?

 

[De La Cloobs]

What a load of crap. The ignorance on here still amazes me at times

Where's the lie in anything I said?

 

[VolGee4]

He’s at an SEC school that just won 10 games. His millions in the NFL aren’t in jeopardy by making a hundred thousand now.

However, you can choose the wrong fit and especially coaching staff. He isn't automatically giving up NFL money, but it's short-sighted by not evaluating the coaches that can help you get that NFL money.

Some players are simply not going to maximize their worth by taking the money in the short term.

 

[De La Cloobs]

Wow...that's a load of

It's not though. Everything stated was true. Find the lie