Losing Crisp and Chandler on the OL is, to me, the biggest blow. The DL loses some good players too, but we got good production from Rose, Hill, Nelson, Pharoah this year. And you'd hope Street, with a year under his belt, will be more productive in 2015. We return pretty much the entire LBs and secondary. On offense we lose Underwood and Creecy but those guys weren't all that great this year anyways. If our OL can come together and play well, and our ACC schedule is a little better (ie, not playing FSU, Clemson, Louisville in 3/4 weeks) we can have an exciting season

+major cred to DD for turning this season around.

12/27/2014 9:50:43 AM

I wouldn't bank on McGirt being a week 1 starter, he didn't look great in the Shrine Bowl game(to be fair, none of the OL did).

Pros for next year:
Return our best LB from injury as well as plenty of experience.
Return entire starting secondary and all but 1 of 2-deep.
Ton of young talent(at least recruiting stars) on the DL.
Top 2 RBs returning.
Returning a difference-making QB.
Return 3 of 5 starting OL.
Ton of young talent at WR and TE.

Cons for next year:
Losing all 3 main contributors on special teams.
Losing both starting OTs.
Losing a couple of key guys on the DL.
Losing some strong senior leaders(Creecy and Byrd)

More pros than cons.
Schedule looks weaker next year at least at this point.
If we can keep our staff together(Canada has to be garnering a bunch of interest) then I think we'll have a solid shot at another 8 win season.

12/27/2014 9:58:20 AM

^Good point about the specialists. THey were really good this yearr (aside from a little slump for Sade) and will be hard to replace.

Quote :

"I wouldn't bank on McGirt being a week 1 starter, he didn't look great in the Shrine Bowl game(to be fair, none of the OL did)."

Right...very hard for a true freshman OL to come in and start right away

12/27/2014 9:59:54 AM

We'll really only need to replace one tackle. Barr almost won the tackle position in the preseason. I think he'll slide over to RT and we'll need to find a LT. Thuney, Adams, Barr, and Schooley is a solid foundation for an offensive line. Barring a string of injuries (knock on wood), I feel pretty good about the O-line.

I forgot about the specialists. I do know we gave a scholly to one of the top snappers in high school...so hopefully that guy will slide right in. Don't know what the rest of the kicking game looks like...but hopefully we won't be doing a lot of punting next year...

12/27/2014 10:13:04 AM

looking at the roster we've got punter William Stephenson RS Sophomore and place kicker Jackson Maples, a true freshmen this year. So they will at least have been on campus and had practice and everything. don't wanna break in true freshmen at punter/kicker.

12/27/2014 10:23:24 AM

last I heard, the plan was to bring in a new crop of specialists (kicker Kyle Bambard, punter AJ Cole, longsnapper Tyler Griffiths) to start. Bambard and Cole were recruited last year and were supposedly greyshirting this year (enrolled in school but not yet on the football roster).
http://kohlskicking.com/profile/kyle-bambard/2943/
http://kohlskicking.com/profile/aj-cole/7248/

Baumann did a lot for us in the field position battle this year and Sade's kickoffs started becoming virtually automatic touchbacks, so they're leaving big shoes to fill.

12/27/2014 10:46:08 AM

Quote :

"were supposedly greyshirting this year (enrolled in school but not yet on the football roster). "

that's not greyshirting. if they're were enrolled for the fall semester, their 5 year clock would have started AND they would count towards this years freshman class regardless of if they are "on the roster" (because they were recruited student athletes.)

if they're greyshirting, they wouldn't/won't enroll until january. well i guess they could be a part-time student, but if they're full-time they count as part of this class. which also means they're paying their own way and can't practice/work out/use the football facilities

EDIT: apparently that's exactly what Bambard and Cole are doing, since they're in the campus directory. also, cole is an engineering major. TMYK

[Edited on December 27, 2014 at 4:08 PM. Reason : .]

12/27/2014 3:57:30 PM

yeah sorry, guess I didn't clarify but I meant enrolled this academic year but they're not yet on the football roster that dmspack was looking at

12/27/2014 4:27:17 PM

-100

As sokiaan said, need to recruit dumber athletes

12/27/2014 6:04:07 PM

-420. (We have to be fair to gott)

12/27/2014 6:08:55 PM

Quote :

"looking at the roster we've got punter William Stephenson RS Sophomore and place kicker Jackson Maples, a true freshmen this year. So they will at least have been on campus and had practice and everything. don't wanna break in true freshmen at punter/kicker."

Kickers/Punters hardly ever redshirt and the two guys you mentioned will never be the starters.

12/27/2014 10:55:07 PM

I think Maples was a decently regarded kicker so it's possible we see him some if Bambard sucks but I'm not sure b/c iirc part of Doeren's recruiting of these guys was to run fakes with them

12/28/2014 2:23:49 AM

I think Bambard was the guy that played QB for his HS team as well and was quite the athlete.

12/28/2014 6:41:33 AM

^^^i don't know anything about those guys...i was just reading who was on the go pack roster

12/28/2014 9:53:11 AM

^^^^ Who will start then? We aren't recruiting anyone and those two are the only ones on the roster.

12/28/2014 10:15:02 AM

jesus christ read the fucking thread

12/28/2014 10:31:09 AM

How about you calm down and answer the question. I just read the thread and those guys were the only ones to pop up.

12/28/2014 10:45:51 AM

Quote :

"last I heard, the plan was to bring in a new crop of specialists (kicker Kyle Bambard, punter AJ Cole, longsnapper Tyler Griffiths) to start. Bambard and Cole were recruited last year and were supposedly greyshirting this year (enrolled in school but not yet on the football roster)."

12/28/2014 10:49:14 AM

Thank you. Don't know why that couldn't have been answered in the first place.

12/28/2014 10:53:42 AM

It was answered in the first place, thus the reason the answer was just quoted.

12/28/2014 11:41:23 AM

I'm waiting for the "fans" who knew we wouldn't do better than last year to admit how terribly wrong they were. Someone needs to create a list.

12/28/2014 12:36:39 PM

We had our worst season since the 1950s, who could have possibly said it would not be better?

Let's be real here for a second. He has us back to where TOB had us. Calm down. Do not crown the guy yet.

Things are going in the right direction for sure though.

12/28/2014 1:04:02 PM

^^ pretty sure that happened already after the unc game

12/28/2014 1:07:58 PM

Quote :

"DavidHaleESPN David Hale NC State was 7-5 and avg 29.2 ppg vs. FBS this year. Tom O’Brien only had 1 year better (2010)."

12/29/2014 10:29:27 AM

Quote :

"Let's be real here for a second. He has us back to where TOB had us. Calm down. Do not crown the guy yet. "

Only difference is recruiting where DD continues to trend upward and TOB stagnated and even got worse during his tenure.

12/29/2014 10:34:12 AM

Someone also needs a list of people who owe me an apology. Someone once said " our situation is so bad that eman is trolling us about how bad it isnt". A lot of people said a lot of hurtful things about my credibility solely because i said we only looked like a conplete shit team because we were playing good teams.

12/29/2014 10:40:36 AM

yeah except now doeren is losing players to yale so doeren is a garbage coach like gottfried

12/29/2014 10:44:11 AM

Quote :

"Let's be real here for a second. He has us back to where TOB had us when TOB had a Super Bowl winning once in a lifetime quarterback"

ftfy

12/29/2014 10:51:18 AM

^^^ Eman, I apologize. I've been an asshole and trolled a lot, but I was wrong. After last season I seriously thought that there was no way that DD could turn this around. He's improved the academic culture, play, recruiting, and pretty much everything. I want to see what he can do the next two years when the last of the 'good' players from TOB leave and when his recruits start stacking up, but I think it's looking good. Next year might be a little tough because we are going to be an average team around an average conference so we could do really great or just average next year. The only issues that have been coming out of this team are the off the field issues with the incoming freshmen (during the summer there were a lot of things that were extremely serious didn't hit the media or could be handled internally), but DD has corrected their behavior and I am happy that he has improved everything about our team.

12/29/2014 11:06:36 AM

i always thought it was funny that i really agree with most of e man's football posts. and vehemently disagree with his basketball ones.

12/29/2014 11:22:18 AM

me too

12/29/2014 11:24:14 AM

Tower if we already established that recruiting was the one thing he was good at and we re able to live with him being poor in every other area because of his grwat recruiting then yes, attrition would be detrimental to my view of him. I still think his strength is being a system guy.

It sucks losing hines but he didnt have great physical attributes. I thought about it and wonder of ddd knew this the whole time and made a mutual agreement for hines to play here one year on loan and then go to yale. The cupboard was so bare that we desperately needed someone tk jump in and play right away but hes only a p5 level player between the ears.

12/29/2014 1:08:40 PM

Quote :

"Only difference is recruiting where DD continues to trend upward and TOB stagnated and even got worse during his tenure."

I think that didn't start til at least his 3rd year. I think TOB and DD are pretty comparable after 2 years with DD having a slight lead.

12/29/2014 2:13:20 PM

that isnt accurate hines is 6'1 and runs a 4.5 but yes, he's not a big loss for various reasons

attrition is a regular thing in college basketball today. gott has numerous strengths but one crippling flaw that erases everything else. having tj warren on our team this year wouldnt make us good defensively so I don't see why you focus on that so much

12/29/2014 2:54:09 PM

12/29/2014 3:06:45 PM

^^im not judging him on how weak his weakesses are but how strong his strengths are. We knew at alabama that he was never a good fefensive coach and never will be. Its just not his philosophy so theres no point in dwelling on that. That recruiting class was his hreatest accomplishment and he failed miserably with it on a level that happens nowhere else.


And warren was becoming a factor on defense last year with steals that lead to dunks. He also generated easy baskets. This team is not great offensively even if the stats say so. We have trouble against good teams.

12/29/2014 4:24:10 PM

i dunno man if youre still crying over gott's divorce causing him to give up the ferrari so we could pick up silk lacey i dont know what to tell you

this is the wrong topic anyway

12/29/2014 5:05:03 PM

Quote :

"hes only a p5 level player between the ears."

He also is a gym rat and brings his lunch pail to work everyday.

12/30/2014 10:07:57 AM

definitely a high motor guy with a future in coaching

12/30/2014 10:08:56 AM

I think he's a coach's son too

12/30/2014 10:21:41 AM

I am torn on what expectations to have going into next year. I feel like we will be a better team, but I also dont really expect any different of a year as far as W/L goes. I guess the hope is that we will take care of the easy games on our schedule much better than we did this past year. I still feel like we are gonna lose to FSU, Clemson, Louisville, and then at least one more loss. I guess 8-4 and a little better bowl game is about the best I am going to expect for next season and to be fair that is probably our ceiling unfortunately with being in the Atlantic, unless FSU or Clemson figures out a way to significantly drop off.

12/30/2014 10:31:14 AM

Divisional realignment would be nice. Instead 3 of the top 4 teams are the in the Atlantic - and the argument could be made that State and BC are on par with the Coastal's #2 team, Duke. Making 5 of the ACC's top 6 or 7 teams all in one division.

12/30/2014 10:43:27 AM

Fuck that. I'd rather have the annual games vs. FSU/Clemson/UL. Has to help a little with recruiting.

12/30/2014 10:49:09 AM

i'm confused as to what this thread is about. WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT ALABAMA AND TJ WARREN

12/30/2014 10:51:40 AM

because E Man and WolfPack2017 are trolling

12/30/2014 11:00:35 AM

Quote :

"Fuck that. I'd rather have the annual games vs. FSU/Clemson/UL. Has to help a little with recruiting. "

all 3 could be brutal if Louisville continues to be a consistent top 20 or so team. the divisions are definitely unbalanced currently. i'm fine with playing fsu and clemson every year - just like we did before louisville came into the conference. adding louisville to the mix isn't ideal for creating any semblance of balance in the conference.

12/30/2014 11:09:47 AM

Quote :

"i always thought it was funny that i really agree with most of e man's football posts. and vehemently disagree with his basketball ones."

Yah for some reason he's normal in football threads and a shitty troll in basketball threads. It's kinda weird.

12/30/2014 11:10:03 AM

Probably just the burden of knowledge because i dont know much about football outside of being a fan but with basketball im a coach and see every little problem through a magnifying glass.

12/30/2014 11:32:09 AM

coaching 7 year olds doesn't make you a basketball coach

12/30/2014 11:51:34 AM

Don't tell me that sociopath is in a position of influence over children

12/30/2014 12:08:25 PM