dbyote
Senior Member
Posts: 654
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Post by dbyote on Mar 25, 2024 8:21:40 GMT -6
I don't necessarily share your optimism. I think we punched above our weight all last year until the playoffs where we got put in our place a bit. I don't think anyone can expect to go 7-1 in the league next year. The best we can reasonably hope for is 5-3 or 6-2. Games against the xdsus give us very little margin for error. We didn't slip up last year in other games, but that has not been our history. I think if we get to 7 wins we should be happy. 8 and we should be ecstatic. I just don't think anyone should be surprised if we only win 5 or 6. Disappointed, yes. Surprised, no. From reviewing your posts you seem to think that we won’t win all close games again (reasonable) and that we won’t be as good to start the season due to losing so much on defense (also reasonable). But can you elaborate some on where we might have exploitable weaknesses? You’re probably right about 7-8 regular season wins being what we should expect, but I also think we have a very forgiving first 6 games in which we should get a nice little 5-1 fast start. We're still not ready to play with the big boys of the FCS on a week in week out basis. That was obvious the way NDSU pounded us into the ground in the playoffs. You could chalk that up as the outlier but I think the game early in the season was more likely the outlier. I think either Montana school would probably have whooped us pretty good too. That will be my belief until we prove otherwise. I will be generally skeptical until we can put together multiple seasons in a row where we are relevant. We've never done it before. The way I look at it, you have 2 built in losses every year in the league. After that you have to beat the teams you should beat and play your best against the toss ups. Don't get me wrong. We were good last year and trending in the right direction but we're second tier at best right now. |
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Post by yoteforever on Mar 25, 2024 8:53:29 GMT -6
From reviewing your posts you seem to think that we won’t win all close games again (reasonable) and that we won’t be as good to start the season due to losing so much on defense (also reasonable). But can you elaborate some on where we might have exploitable weaknesses? You’re probably right about 7-8 regular season wins being what we should expect, but I also think we have a very forgiving first 6 games in which we should get a nice little 5-1 fast start. We're still not ready to play with the big boys of the FCS on a week in week out basis. That was obvious the way NDSU pounded us into the ground in the playoffs. You could chalk that up as the outlier but I think the game early in the season was more likely the outlier. I think either Montana school would probably have whooped us pretty good too. That will be my belief until we prove otherwise. I will be generally skeptical until we can put together multiple seasons in a row where we are relevant. We've never done it before. The way I look at it, you have 2 built in losses every year in the league. After that you have to beat the teams you should beat and play your best against the toss ups. Don't get me wrong. We were good last year and trending in the right direction but we're second tier at best right now. I couldn’t disagree with you anymore. Part of building a winning culture is thinking like a winner. Knowing you’re going to be in every game. I’m telling you and every other skeptic that the culture in the locker room has changed. The recruiting has stepped up. The quality of players is significantly better. The coaching staff is unified. The playoff game against NDSU was not good. No one ever said it was. But that’s not going to be the norm into the future. The only thing that could potentially derail continued success is NIL. NDSU and SDSU has money. We don’t. That being said new AD Schemmel is addressing this now. It’s one of many issues he’s got to deal with and get fixed. If you look at when SDSU started their overall success in their athletic department it was roughly 15 years ago. They hired Justin Sell from UNI and he has done a fantastic job. He’s one great AD for our level. Mark down January 1st of this year for future references but I’m betting AD Schemmel is going to be the same. He’s not afraid to address the issues that need to be addressed. He’s already made changes that’s going to accomplish (2) things. First, he’s replacing people that were lazy and didn’t do their jobs. Secondly, he’s put everyone on notice that mediocrity won’t be accepted. That goes for coaches right down to support staff. That’s what winners do. They make tough decisions. Football is going to be a priority and the affects have already been felt. Now he’s got to raise the $$$ to get it done. From season ticket sales to sponsorships to NIL. It won’t happen overnight but it needs to happen. If USD football consistently wins then the other programs win as well. In closing, this team is being built for sustainability. It’s no longer sticking your finger in the dam to try and plug holes. This team will win. In addressing last years team and winning all the so called close games, there’s only (2) that I felt we weren’t in total control. Youngstown State at home and Southern Illinois on the road. We won both, and we were the better team. But especially Southern Illinois could’ve gone either way. It’s no fluke what our record was. We are there. We now have to take that last step and advance further in the playoffs. I know the team believes it, we need to believe it. There’s absolutely no one on our schedule we can’t beat at home or on the road with exception of Wisconsin. That would be a monumental upset. |
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dbyote
Senior Member
Posts: 654
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Post by dbyote on Mar 25, 2024 9:24:04 GMT -6
We're still not ready to play with the big boys of the FCS on a week in week out basis. That was obvious the way NDSU pounded us into the ground in the playoffs. You could chalk that up as the outlier but I think the game early in the season was more likely the outlier. I think either Montana school would probably have whooped us pretty good too. That will be my belief until we prove otherwise. I will be generally skeptical until we can put together multiple seasons in a row where we are relevant. We've never done it before. The way I look at it, you have 2 built in losses every year in the league. After that you have to beat the teams you should beat and play your best against the toss ups. Don't get me wrong. We were good last year and trending in the right direction but we're second tier at best right now. I couldn’t disagree with you anymore. Part of building a winning culture is thinking like a winner. Knowing you’re going to be in every game. I’m telling you and every other skeptic that the culture in the locker room has changed. The recruiting has stepped up. The quality of players is significantly better. The coaching staff is unified. The playoff game against NDSU was not good. No one ever said it was. But that’s not going to be the norm into the future. The only thing that could potentially derail continued success is NIL. NDSU and SDSU has money. We don’t. That being said new AD Schemmel is addressing this now. It’s one of many issues he’s got to deal with and get fixed. If you look at when SDSU started their overall success in their athletic department it was roughly 15 years ago. They hired Justin Sell from UNI and he has done a fantastic job. He’s one great AD for our level. Mark down January 1st of this year for future references but I’m betting AD Schemmel is going to be the same. He’s not afraid to address the issues that need to be addressed. He’s already made changes that’s going to accomplish (2) things. First, he’s replacing people that were lazy and didn’t do their jobs. Secondly, he’s put everyone on notice that mediocrity won’t be accepted. That goes for coaches right down to support staff. That’s what winners do. They make tough decisions. Football is going to be a priority and the affects have already been felt. Now he’s got to raise the $$$ to get it done. From season ticket sales to sponsorships to NIL. It won’t happen overnight but it needs to happen. If USD football consistently wins then the other programs win as well. In closing, this team is being built for sustainability. It’s no longer sticking your finger in the dam to try and plug holes. This team will win. In addressing last years team and winning all the so called close games, there’s only (2) that I felt we weren’t in total control. Youngstown State at home and Southern Illinois on the road. We won both, and we were the better team. But especially Southern Illinois could’ve gone either way. It’s no fluke what our record was. We are there. We now have to take that last step and advance further in the playoffs. I know the team believes it, we need to believe it. There’s absolutely no one on our schedule we can’t beat at home or on the road with exception of Wisconsin. That would be a monumental upset. It sounds like you are more plugged in than the casual fan. I think my feelings are probably shared pretty broadly across the general fan base. Every time we've taken steps forward we get slapped around like a little brother. I would love nothing more than to have a consistent team to brag about. I'll believe it when it happens. |
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Post by bobo on Mar 25, 2024 10:05:18 GMT -6
Yoteforever: that is a wonderful synopsis of where our program is at right now. Yes, there needs to be a strong, aggressive, and intentional movement to close the gap with a purpose. Consistency is the key. Build a great sustainable program, not just a 1 off team.
Creating a winning culture is a series of loss that create growth within the program. I always say, if you fall down, you might as well grab something positive while you are down there to keep you moving forward. The big take from those XDSU losses will be analyzed this off season and hopefully they will come to the conclusion that offensively it is vital to make sure our best players touch the ball often in a variety of ways to effect the game. And defensively, we can’t lay back and play “normal” the whole game. There’s a discrepancy in talent/depth on the O & D lines right now, so it’s important to attack-attack-attack to create advantageous situations. I believe it’s a mentality. We proved we can beat NDSU, but never forget how that was done and what it took to accomplish that feat. Don’t overthink it. Positive locker room, leadership that doesn’t hiccup at adversity, and willingness to lay it all out there even if it fails in that specific moment.
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Post by Yote 53 on Mar 25, 2024 10:45:21 GMT -6
We're still not ready to play with the big boys of the FCS on a week in week out basis. That was obvious the way NDSU pounded us into the ground in the playoffs. You could chalk that up as the outlier but I think the game early in the season was more likely the outlier. I think either Montana school would probably have whooped us pretty good too. That will be my belief until we prove otherwise. I will be generally skeptical until we can put together multiple seasons in a row where we are relevant. We've never done it before. The way I look at it, you have 2 built in losses every year in the league. After that you have to beat the teams you should beat and play your best against the toss ups. Don't get me wrong. We were good last year and trending in the right direction but we're second tier at best right now. I couldn’t disagree with you anymore. Part of building a winning culture is thinking like a winner. Knowing you’re going to be in every game. I’m telling you and every other skeptic that the culture in the locker room has changed. The recruiting has stepped up. The quality of players is significantly better. The coaching staff is unified. The playoff game against NDSU was not good. No one ever said it was. But that’s not going to be the norm into the future. The only thing that could potentially derail continued success is NIL. NDSU and SDSU has money. We don’t. That being said new AD Schemmel is addressing this now. It’s one of many issues he’s got to deal with and get fixed. If you look at when SDSU started their overall success in their athletic department it was roughly 15 years ago. They hired Justin Sell from UNI and he has done a fantastic job. He’s one great AD for our level. Mark down January 1st of this year for future references but I’m betting AD Schemmel is going to be the same. He’s not afraid to address the issues that need to be addressed. He’s already made changes that’s going to accomplish (2) things. First, he’s replacing people that were lazy and didn’t do their jobs. Secondly, he’s put everyone on notice that mediocrity won’t be accepted. That goes for coaches right down to support staff. That’s what winners do. They make tough decisions. Football is going to be a priority and the affects have already been felt. Now he’s got to raise the $$$ to get it done. From season ticket sales to sponsorships to NIL. It won’t happen overnight but it needs to happen. If USD football consistently wins then the other programs win as well. In closing, this team is being built for sustainability. It’s no longer sticking your finger in the dam to try and plug holes. This team will win. In addressing last years team and winning all the so called close games, there’s only (2) that I felt we weren’t in total control. Youngstown State at home and Southern Illinois on the road. We won both, and we were the better team. But especially Southern Illinois could’ve gone either way. It’s no fluke what our record was. We are there. We now have to take that last step and advance further in the playoffs. I know the team believes it, we need to believe it. There’s absolutely no one on our schedule we can’t beat at home or on the road with exception of Wisconsin. That would be a monumental upset. Not so sure about that. Fickell is completely changing the identity of Wisconsin Football and that change is a bumpy road. Would not be shocked if we won that game. Would not be shocked if we got blown out. I would not be shocked about anything I see in college football anymore. |
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Post by yoteforever on Mar 25, 2024 16:51:52 GMT -6
I couldn’t disagree with you anymore. Part of building a winning culture is thinking like a winner. Knowing you’re going to be in every game. I’m telling you and every other skeptic that the culture in the locker room has changed. The recruiting has stepped up. The quality of players is significantly better. The coaching staff is unified. The playoff game against NDSU was not good. No one ever said it was. But that’s not going to be the norm into the future. The only thing that could potentially derail continued success is NIL. NDSU and SDSU has money. We don’t. That being said new AD Schemmel is addressing this now. It’s one of many issues he’s got to deal with and get fixed. If you look at when SDSU started their overall success in their athletic department it was roughly 15 years ago. They hired Justin Sell from UNI and he has done a fantastic job. He’s one great AD for our level. Mark down January 1st of this year for future references but I’m betting AD Schemmel is going to be the same. He’s not afraid to address the issues that need to be addressed. He’s already made changes that’s going to accomplish (2) things. First, he’s replacing people that were lazy and didn’t do their jobs. Secondly, he’s put everyone on notice that mediocrity won’t be accepted. That goes for coaches right down to support staff. That’s what winners do. They make tough decisions. Football is going to be a priority and the affects have already been felt. Now he’s got to raise the $$$ to get it done. From season ticket sales to sponsorships to NIL. It won’t happen overnight but it needs to happen. If USD football consistently wins then the other programs win as well. In closing, this team is being built for sustainability. It’s no longer sticking your finger in the dam to try and plug holes. This team will win. In addressing last years team and winning all the so called close games, there’s only (2) that I felt we weren’t in total control. Youngstown State at home and Southern Illinois on the road. We won both, and we were the better team. But especially Southern Illinois could’ve gone either way. It’s no fluke what our record was. We are there. We now have to take that last step and advance further in the playoffs. I know the team believes it, we need to believe it. There’s absolutely no one on our schedule we can’t beat at home or on the road with exception of Wisconsin. That would be a monumental upset. Not so sure about that. Fickell is completely changing the identity of Wisconsin Football and that change is a bumpy road. Would not be shocked if we won that game. Would not be shocked if we got blown out. I would not be shocked about anything I see in college football anymore. Understood. Logic says we don’t win. I guess that was my point. |
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Post by Cousin Eddie on Apr 2, 2024 9:25:18 GMT -6
There are a couple things that I feel like are being missed in all of this. The first of which is a new found stability - in coaching.
Offense - OC - 2nd year; OL - 2nd year; TE - 2nd year; RB - 6th year?; WR - 1st year but from a tremendous program with a great tradition of winning, and experience as AHC, OC, and QB. With Davis and Nagy, especially, getting another year with this offense, I expect VERY big things.
Defense - DC - 5th year; DB - 4th year and battled off NDSU, among many others to retain him; ILB - 3rd year, so while we lose players he also knows what we have; OLB - 2nd year; DL - 1st year, but he is ANOTHER Iowa guy. As much I am not an Iowa fan, there is no doubt in my mind they have produced one of, if not the, best defenses year in and year out; also we FINALLY have legit depth at DL. Improvements at DL will go a tremendous way towards providing cushion to the LB and DB positions. With respect to the DB position, I know we lose Harden, but we are also bringing back a ton of experience in guys like Shorter, McKelvey, Barros, Ganeus, and McKenzie. Also, Mike Reid is a transfer from Monmouth that started 11 games and led the team in PBUs.
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Post by geoffjellic on Apr 2, 2024 18:08:53 GMT -6
There are a couple things that I feel like are being missed in all of this. The first of which is a new found stability - in coaching. Offense - OC - 2nd year; OL - 2nd year; TE - 2nd year; RB - 6th year?; WR - 1st year but from a tremendous program with a great tradition of winning, and experience as AHC, OC, and QB. With Davis and Nagy, especially, getting another year with this offense, I expect VERY big things. Defense - DC - 5th year; DB - 4th year and battled off NDSU, among many others to retain him; ILB - 3rd year, so while we lose players he also knows what we have; OLB - 2nd year; DL - 1st year, but he is ANOTHER Iowa guy. As much I am not an Iowa fan, there is no doubt in my mind they have produced one of, if not the, best defenses year in and year out; also we FINALLY have legit depth at DL. Improvements at DL will go a tremendous way towards providing cushion to the LB and DB positions. With respect to the DB position, I know we lose Harden, but we are also bringing back a ton of experience in guys like Shorter, McKelvey, Barros, Ganeus, and McKenzie. Also, Mike Reid is a transfer from Monmouth that started 11 games and led the team in PBUs. Reading this post just reminds me of how difficult it must be to recruit at USD. The coaching carousel is a revolving door. i.e. This is the 4th coach in 4 years in the WR room. Most of these coaches will or have dipped if the opportunity arises. USD is not an easy sell for recruits. We are lucky to see a 9000 capacity dome 50% full for any home game. Vermillion isn’t exactly a must see . I mean we have a WalMart, a Pizza Ranch, and a Red Roof Inn. Tough sell for top recruits in my opinion. Somebody is doing something right because holding things together the last few years couldn’t have been easy and here we are coming off a 10-3 season. I look forward to this team competing. |
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Post by bobo on Apr 3, 2024 10:20:45 GMT -6
What do you mean? Vermillion has everything a student-athlete needs. A couple pizza joints, a Walmart, and a few hotels for the parents. haha I do feel bad for the WR group, but at least these last 2 WR coaches have been very high quality people and coaches. Unfortunately at this level you see a lot of movement because FCS is typically a stepping stone for FBS or guys that want to be head coaches at some point. But from a football facility standpoint, USD has it going on and plays in a dome which is huge for warm weather recruits. Plus $$ talks and kids will come if they are getting significant scholarship offers from a D1 FCS program, so a lot of the town amenities are overlooked when school is being paid for. Coach Nielsen has a ton of respect from his peers and obviously has done a wonderful job of holding it together through all the hills and valleys.
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Post by Yotes on Apr 3, 2024 11:26:18 GMT -6
What do you mean? Vermillion has everything a student-athlete needs. A couple pizza joints, a Walmart, and a few hotels for the parents. haha I do feel bad for the WR group, but at least these last 2 WR coaches have been very high quality people and coaches. Unfortunately at this level you see a lot of movement because FCS is typically a stepping stone for FBS or guys that want to be head coaches at some point. But from a football facility standpoint, USD has it going on and plays in a dome which is huge for warm weather recruits. Plus $$ talks and kids will come if they are getting significant scholarship offers from a D1 FCS program, so a lot of the town amenities are overlooked when school is being paid for. Coach Nielsen has a ton of respect from his peers and obviously has done a wonderful job of holding it together through all the hills and valleys. I agree. The difference between the two towns is negligible to a student. I spent a semester at Daktronics on internship and it felt no different than being in Vermillion. The only thing they had that I missed after leaving was Taco Express but that has since disappeared. There's also enough incredibly successful schools in remote areas and awful schools in major cities to show that recruiting goes a lot deeper than a city's amenities. |
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Post by Cousin Eddie on Apr 3, 2024 14:01:54 GMT -6
There are a couple things that I feel like are being missed in all of this. The first of which is a new found stability - in coaching. Offense - OC - 2nd year; OL - 2nd year; TE - 2nd year; RB - 6th year?; WR - 1st year but from a tremendous program with a great tradition of winning, and experience as AHC, OC, and QB. With Davis and Nagy, especially, getting another year with this offense, I expect VERY big things. Defense - DC - 5th year; DB - 4th year and battled off NDSU, among many others to retain him; ILB - 3rd year, so while we lose players he also knows what we have; OLB - 2nd year; DL - 1st year, but he is ANOTHER Iowa guy. As much I am not an Iowa fan, there is no doubt in my mind they have produced one of, if not the, best defenses year in and year out; also we FINALLY have legit depth at DL. Improvements at DL will go a tremendous way towards providing cushion to the LB and DB positions. With respect to the DB position, I know we lose Harden, but we are also bringing back a ton of experience in guys like Shorter, McKelvey, Barros, Ganeus, and McKenzie. Also, Mike Reid is a transfer from Monmouth that started 11 games and led the team in PBUs. Reading this post just reminds me of how difficult it must be to recruit at USD. The coaching carousel is a revolving door. i.e. This is the 4th coach in 4 years in the WR room. Most of these coaches will or have dipped if the opportunity arises. USD is not an easy sell for recruits. We are lucky to see a 9000 capacity dome 50% full for any home game. Vermillion isn’t exactly a must see . I mean we have a WalMart, a Pizza Ranch, and a Red Roof Inn. Tough sell for top recruits in my opinion. Somebody is doing something right because holding things together the last few years couldn’t have been easy and here we are coming off a 10-3 season. I look forward to this team competing. A revolving door of position coaches is nothing unique, especially at this level. My personal opinion is the most important positions to maintain consistency at are the coordinators and the OL coach. |
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Post by captaincoyote on Apr 3, 2024 17:48:20 GMT -6
While I must admit that I find it surprising that we seem to pull a guy from Miami every year, most adults (especially from rival schools) over analyze Verm’s size. It’s not like college athletes have much expendable money and time anyway. They’re looking at program quality, facilities, coaches, social life, and maybe academic programs more than if there’s a big shopping center or whatever.
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Post by geoffjellic on Apr 4, 2024 12:12:18 GMT -6
While I must admit that I find it surprising that we seem to pull a guy from Miami every year, most adults (especially from rival schools) over analyze Verm’s size. It’s not like college athletes have much expendable money and time anyway. They’re looking at program quality, facilities, coaches, social life, and maybe academic programs more than if there’s a big shopping center or whatever. My point was that the coaches have done a wonderful job of keeping things together despite the distractions. We’ve lost more coaches than we have players in the portal. Not easy to recruit when there is that much change in the coaching staff. Hard to recruit when you can’t fill the dome. Of course facilities, academic programs, etc….matter. But so does the town you will be living in the next 5 years. There’s just not much in Verm. Not a knock just facts. Add all that up and look at where we are at… tells me somebody is doing a pretty nice job with the program. The tailgating actually feels like a D1 Saturday afternoon FB game, Until you go in the dome and see it 1/2 full. It’s not an easy sell for the coaches |
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Post by captaincoyote on Apr 4, 2024 13:37:51 GMT -6
All good points. You’re right that we’re excelling in retention.
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Post by yoteforever on Apr 5, 2024 9:01:07 GMT -6
Home of spring practice and fall games before dome. If you look at the photo and make it bigger you’ll see a white car on right side parked by the stadium. The door on the right was the training room. Door on left was locker room.
Times have changed, huh?
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