How many snaps was Merritt going to get? Look at our D-line. Jones, Anenih, Parish, Bankston, Nwankwo (?), Williams, Hall, Caesar, etc.
Our DLine is insanely talented.
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If it were one bad apple, I would say no big deal. Since we have had a number of them I am going recommend that they change their interviewing process.
OR win conference and he can do whatever the heck he wants to do.
I am not a Dana hater. But all of this has the feel of a non water tight ship. BUT again, if he wins I will certainly shut up about it.
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Iâll reserve judgement on CDH until the end of the season. Until then, whatever roster or depth chart decisions he makes is fine with me. If Merritt was an All-AAC player wanting to transfer, then I would be concerned, but he wasnât so I wish him well. Happy trails.
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Do you know what their interview process is? What changes would you recommend?
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Beats the heck out of me, I am not paid $4 million to do it. But the guy that is, better figure it out and win this year.
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People can debate how Dana recruits⌠the transfer portal vs HS recruits, Juco vs HS, the interview process, etc all they want. At the end of the day, heâs responsible for building a winning program. Thatâs why heâs getting paid the big bucks. Itâs not about whether people like or dislike Dana, either. Players are held accountable, and coaches need to be accountable too. Itâs their job. No excuses.
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Building a winning program takes time and player development. First you need the players to develop. Sometimes a guy can walk into a situation where his predecessor had been accumulating players and developing them, only to be fired before he can reap the benefits of his labors. So he takes his predecessorâs players and wins big, but he doesnât do the things necessary to sustain the success (see Tom Herman).
Holgorsen has taken a team full of too young players with gaping holes in the upper classes and has been building toward a sustainable model. I fully expect that to pay off this fall with at least 10 wins. However, if he were to only win 8 or 9, I would be disappointed, but still patient and wait to see how his 4th year turns out. I do believe he is doing it the right way regardless. I also think if he were to be fired, he would be leaving the cupboard stocked for his successor. But, like I said before, I really expect us to play for the AAC championship this fall.
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Iron sharpens iron.
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Before, recruits wereâŚkind id stuckâŚif things didnât pan out by losing some eligibility/ having to sit out. Now it is much easier to just enter the transfer portal. He is just using the system that was created to get himself in a better situation for himself.
If you canât stand the heat get out of the kitchen.
Out of the hottest furnace comes the hardest steel.
Competition builds competence.
Etc Etc
Fun materials fact, overly hardened steel is brittle and unsuitable for many tasks.
Has nothing to do with Merritt and his transferring really. Sounds like he was getting buried on the depth chart and wanted an opportunity with either less or easier competition. Hopefully itâs a positive sign about the quality of our two deep and not a sign about his own capabilities.
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The portal will ultimately de-emphasize the name of the recruit and emphasize the methodology of the system.
I think ultimately some systems will need to be simplified to accommodate the increased turnover. No one will be immune. Winning and losing programs will lose players at the same rateâŚbut for inverse reasons.
One things for sure. If youâre a jackass and treat people badly youâll be losing more than youâre getting. Much different than the old days.
I also think the portal will affect the use of red shirts. Why hold a kid on the sidelines when you donât even know how long heâll be there. Wait until the statistics say the average recruit is only on campus less than 3 years. Youâll see programs playing kids as freshmen everywhere.
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The redshirt thing makes sense. If Iâm a coach, why tie up a scholarship for a redshirt year then freshman year for a guy to get mad he isnât starting by year 3 or that turns out to be really good and wants to go bigger to increase his brand? Maybe some Linemen still RS if they physically arenât ready but otherwise RS now becomes a risk for a HC due to player mobility. Iâd play the best player no matter what year they are. You can always look into the portal to plug some holes right?
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Yeah, really! A kid might get pissed off and leave because he feels he is ready and if the coach holds him back he might leave! And what if he is the best player in that yearâs entire recruitment? Big loss for the program indeed! I say you play him if you feel he is the best player that you have and he has expressed a desire to play right now. Maybe start him out as a replacement first to see how he does and if he is better than the starter you have to start him.
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I think youâre right about this. Redshirts will mostly become a thing of the past.
However , itâs not clear that is a good thing overall. Itâs been a good thing in the past
to let kids transition into living away from home and concentrating (hopefully) on academics
while physically growing and gaining strength and mass in the program. Sometimes that physical transformation in a year is remarkable. Without that extra year of development , you might could argue a player is more likely to sustain serious injury.
I suppose you could advocate increasing the number of scholarships as a way to partially counteract this. But that doesnât really address the key issue of immature studs demanding to
play or leave. As with most changes, something gained and something lost.
Hereâs the thing, I donât think thereâs unlimited free movement in the portal. I think you get one free shot, if you transfer again after that you have to sit out a year. Thatâs the way I understand it, but may be wrong.
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Okay, thatâs a finer point I wasnât aware of. Are there exceptions to the.only 1 free transfer rule ?
Like you transfer due to head coach change, school dropping to lower division, school dropping a sport, family emergency, etcâŚ
From NCAA:
Q1: What criteria does the student-athlete need to meet in order to utilize the new Division I one-time exception to seek immediate transfer eligibility?
A1: In order to meet the criteria of the one-time transfer exception, the student-athlete must:
⢠Transfer from a four-year collegiate institution to an NCAA Division I school;
⢠Leave their current four-year school academically eligible;
⢠Have not transferred previously from another four-year institution, and
⢠Certify in writing, along with their new head coach, they did not have direct or
indirect communication with the new schoolâs athletics staff prior to entering the
NCAA Transfer Portal.
Additionally, a student-athlete must provide their current school with a written request to enter the
NCAA Transfer Portal by July 1, 2021 (all sports) to use the one-time exception.
Other rules (e.g., disciplinary suspension at the previous school, transferable credits accepted by
your new school, sport specific midyear transfer rules) may also factor into the campus compliance
administratorâs certification of transfer eligibility.