Football: 2024 and Beyond

[goodnews]

How times have changed!  We are getting a Slippery Rock transfer.  It used to be the other way around.  Yeah, the transfer players bios lack any substance.  Time will tell if they belong and if YSU belongs!

[Double ET]

Wonder why they transfered out.  Michigan st grabbed one of them.  Was it the DC not good enough?  Just saying....

It might just be a business decision. The upside is that they will be in a better program with additional visibility (being signed by NFL) and $$ (NIL).
Obviously, the down side is that if they don’t get enough playing time (riding the bench).
Personally, I can’t fault them for going for it. Nothing personal, it’s just good business.

[peteonastick]

Transfer and NIL have changed the landscape of college sports. As my dad used to say…sh** or get off the pot. Time to go hard in the portal.  We have to reload.  Heard from a good source that the defensive scheme this past year was way too complicated for the players we had. Paralysis through analysis. Showed in the Villanova game. Need to amplify the defense and get athletes and hard kids on D.  I like the fact we are hitting the portal. Who knows how these kids will be?? We picked a D2 player from Lake Erie College that ended up being in the NFL. Maybe they just need the right connection with a program and position coach. I think a combination of player development and portal and we can be better than last year.

Go Guins!

[Wick250]

The 14 transfers that we added to the program are now listed with their bios on the university athletics site. 10 from FBS, 2 from FCS, and 2 from D2. Plenty of high school accolades for a few of these guys, including those "star ratings" that some get so excited about.

[Double ET]

The 14 transfers that we added to the program are now listed with their bios on the university athletics site. 10 from FBS, 2 from FCS, and 2 from D2. Plenty of high school accolades for a few of these guys, including those "star ratings" that some get so excited about.

A few with 3 stars rating and couple transfers from Pittsburgh and Penn State are exciting, at least on paper. I didn’t see any on the OL. Hopefully, We may get some of them in the February signing period.

[go guins]

It will be another rebuilding year.  The transfers in are not that good.  Most of them were bench sitters including the one from Gannon I believe.   Just saying.   We will be hard stretched to win 5 games

Howard will be a noticeable loss. Probably our best D player Hooker will be missed too. But honestly the rest leaves playing time for potentially better players. We really needed a better pass rush last year and honestly I'm not sure where that will come frome but BAD will not be worse TE will be noticeably improved blocking with Bray. I think RB will be equal to improved. Secondary almost by default as bad as it was last year.  You say transfers in not that good. I say transfers out not that good. Were probably half right
 We'll see. I say 8 wins.

[YsuPride]

6-6 record as of now. 

[Double ET]

6-6 record as of now.

It will be hard to win 8 games without an experienced QB.

[YSUGO]

5 wins

[Wick250]

For those that are predicting gloom and doom next season, please keep in mind that, with the exceptions of SDSU and NDSU, every other team in the league has issues and uncertainty. Like us, most teams will need to break in new quarterbacks. In the new world of college football, just because a team was good or bad in 2023 does not automatically mean that they will repeat that performance in 2024. Look at South Dakota as a classic example. They were terrible in 2022; a seeded playoff team in 2023.

My main concern for next season is not the talent level; it is the incompetence of our defensive coaches.

[dwj]

6-6 at best next year.  We will be 2-2 going into league play.  Will be fortunate to win half of league games.

[YSUGO]

Wick I agree for the most part. But after penguin power stated that the coaching staff or the head coach figured out that the defense was too complicated. It all season to figure that out at the same defense last year. So if that was the blame game, why did so many guys leave? I know some of it was due to transfer portal and NIL. Maybe we’ll get lucky next year but you’re right between the defense and now the questions on offense it’s hard to tell.  Felt better if we got a QB with some game experience from the transfer portal. I know we got the kid from Ysu, but he hasn’t played quarterback or football for 3 years. So we we are going to camp with really no clear cut successor. Football today is about the QB and the QB needs to be mobile. Make us read quickly and get the ball quickly. We have him.  if not, it’s gonna be a long year no matter how improved the defense will be.

[go guins]

6-6 at best next year.  We will be 2-2 going into league play.  Will be fortunate to win half of league games.

Villanova was certainly better than us in 2023 but they lose a ton (something like 17 starters as i recall) could be 3-1 after 4.
Should beat MSU ISU ISU SIU  That means one win out of ND SD UNI. We can get UNI in Youngstown.  All we need is a little consistent D and Brungard or Shannon to step up. Remember, Davidson was a walkon from lowly Salem HS.  Nobody even mentions Schondelmyer and he was something in HS and has better size than Beau. Every year at this time we all lament the losses but the cupboard is not bare. I remain Optimistic. I don't think we are read to compete for Frisco but I look forward to multi game playoff run.

[Double ET]

I am not pessimistic about the future of the team this coming season. I was just concerned about the D coach’s defensive scheme and the lack of experience in our QBs.

I don’t buy the excuses that our defensive scheme is too complex for the players. Typically, the coach has 2 choices. You either recruit the players who can play to your scheme or you devise the scheme which the players are capable of. For example, You cannot ask an average corner to cover the best receiver from the opposing team one on one for the entire game. You can either switch to a better corner (if you have one) or devise other scheme to help him. It is unrealistic to blame the player for not capable of playing to that scheme. Bottom line, recruit better players or change the scheme.

Now, the QB…

Couple years ago, most if not all of us on this board agreed that Crenshaw couldn’t throw the ball or read the defense. He could only run the ball or scramble ( not sure if he was capable of handing the ball off at the right time). The opponents pretty much loaded the box and our offense was going nowhere. Many of us were calling for the coach to develop MD because of his ability in passing the ball.

As it turned out, our coaches didn’t reach the decision to switch QB till the 4th or 5th game. We missed the playoff by 1 game. I still believe that if we start MD at the beginning of the season, we would have won at least one more game and made the playoff.

Here we are again this year. We had Brungard in the each game. Just like Crenshaw, we only let him run the ball ( we even let him return punt, as the backup QB, go figure), but we won’t let him pass. Therefore, we really don’t know his ability in passing the ball. When he was in there, the opponents once again loaded the box. So, we still don’t know how good he is.

 I think he is probably better than Crenshaw……but is that good enough….who knows.

That was the reason why I suggested for the team to change the defensive scheme (to be compatible with our existing players) and to bring in a QB through the portal.

What do you guys think….

.

[Wick250]

About the Defense:

When some of our starters hit the portal, the question was would they land in D2 or actually advance to FBS? That was answered when most of them were grabbed by P5 programs. That fact is a stinging indictment of the defensive staff. They were operating with numerous players deemed worthy of P5 attention, and yet week by week they delivered embarrassing performances. How does Phillips retain these guys?

On the quarterback:

Of the four quarterbacks currently on the roster, three led their teams to appearances in an Ohio high school championship game. So did Crenshaw, but all three of our guys, including Brungard, could PASS in high school. Whether that translates to the college game, we shall see. They all lack game experience, but Brungard and Blanc have been in the program for two years and are quite familiar with the offense. That matters a lot. I expect that the winner of the quarterback competition will do just fine.