Not a positive sign....

[kdog27]

Either way, that is still not something I want to hear our coach saying in public. There is no good way to take that quote. IMO, there is only negative outcomes from such a statement. One being that the team also loses faith in his ability to coach and we spiral down the drain like in the Blackney era.

Not a shot at you, but I doubt there is anything he could say that you and many others on this board want to hear. Right now everything he says is taken negatively around here.

[Warthog]

Either way, that is still not something I want to hear our coach saying in public. There is no good way to take that quote. IMO, there is only negative outcomes from such a statement. One being that the team also loses faith in his ability to coach and we spiral down the drain like in the Blackney era.

Not a shot at you, but I doubt there is anything he could say that you and many others on this board want to hear. Right now everything he says is taken negatively around here.

Well I don't know how that is not taking a shot at me, but oh well.

Brandon tells us time and time again about how young this team is. Well young guys need confidence. Coaches create confidence in players. When the coach says 'Tells you what I know', he is not building confidence.

And I wouldn't be so negative about his comments if they weren't so inappropriate. We just experienced the worst loss ever on our home field and the coach makes joking comments like that? He should be angry, and he laughs it off. Think UM would be making a comment like that if he was still here? Hell no he wouldn't. He is smarter than that.

[kdog27]

Well I don't know how that is not taking a shot at me, but oh well.

Because I can see where you are coming from. He deserves criticism but I think we need to stop reading into everything.

[Tricky_Falcon]

"There are some of these kids where I will go and put them in the game and I don't know how they will do because I have only coached them for two months. I have only had them since August. We are playing 15 true freshmen right now; that's the hand we are dealt right now. I put players in the game, because they are the best available guy. Are (the freshmen) ready and will they make plays? I sure hope so, but in reality, I don't know."

[Warthog]

"There are some of these kids where I will go and put them in the game and I don't know how they will do because I have only coached them for two months. I have only had them since August. We are playing 15 true freshmen right now; that's the hand we are dealt right now. I put players in the game, because they are the best available guy. Are (the freshmen) ready and will they make plays? I sure hope so, but in reality, I don't know."

If you don't know what they can do coach, why did you recruit them?

[Tricky_Falcon]

You have a negative spin for everything. Fifteen true freshmen are playing. The kids have only been on campus for two months. I'm certain he knows that they can play but usually you want to ease them into the system. Ideally you don't want to rely on 15 freshmen because you don't know what you're going to get. A lot of players are going to be going through growing pains.

[1987alum]

"There are some of these kids where I will go and put them in the game and I don't know how they will do because I have only coached them for two months. I have only had them since August. We are playing 15 true freshmen right now; that's the hand we are dealt right now. I put players in the game, because they are the best available guy. Are (the freshmen) ready and will they make plays? I sure hope so, but in reality, I don't know."

If you don't know what they can do coach, why did you recruit them?

I don't know, Warthog. You never know what these kids are going to do. They're freshmen. Again, this gets back to that recruiting lag we suffered when UM bolted town.

[Warthog]

Again, this gets back to that recruiting lag we suffered when UM bolted town.

Jack Carle had a great editorial in Monday's Sentinel Tribune that touched on this issue.
"Of the 26 players announced as recruits inthe Feb 2002 recruiting class, there are six players still remaining in the program, including Brad Williams and Derrick Markray. Terrell White was a late signee to the class."
"Seven players from that class played as freshman and have completed their eligibility and another three were jr college transfers and also completed their eligibilty. One player had his college career cut short by injury."
"The remaining nine players left the program, after playing very little if at all."
"The 2003 class, Brandon's first as BG's head coach, included 23 players."
"Devon Parks was the only member of the class to play as a freshman and he's completeing his eligibility this season. There were two jc players who completed their eligibility. Also, three recruits had to leave the program due to non-football related injuries. Another nine players are no longer with the team."
"The remaining eight players, including starters Kevin Huelsman, Korey Lichtensteiger, Dan Macon, Drew Nystrom, and Sean O'Drobinak, are still with the team."
"That leaves slim numbers in the areas from which your veterans, leaders, and playmakers should be emerging."

Couple of things about this that stand out to me. First, 18 of 49 recruits left the program. That is just over 1/3. So for every three guys coming in, one of them left early. I know we get all over Dakich for the turnover in the basketball program, but not much is said about the football program. I don't know what the typical turnover rate is for football. Is this number high? Low?

Second, look at the few starters that we have from thos two classes. All of them, save for Macon, are lineman. You get your 'playmakers' from QBs, RBs, WRs, LBs, and DBs. And we have one recruit from those two classes that is a current starter at the so-called skill positions. That says a lot.

[Warthog]

"There are some of these kids where I will go and put them in the game and I don't know how they will do because I have only coached them for two months. I have only had them since August. We are playing 15 true freshmen right now; that's the hand we are dealt right now. I put players in the game, because they are the best available guy. Are (the freshmen) ready and will they make plays? I sure hope so, but in reality, I don't know."

If you don't know what they can do coach, why did you recruit them?

I don't know, Warthog. You never know what these kids are going to do. They're freshmen.

Ok, lets look at it a different way. Would you rather see our coach saying what he did above, basically making excuses for the teams poor performance or would you rather see him say something like: "Yes, I know we are playing a lot of true freshman. But those kids are playing because they have talent and can make plays. I have extreme confidence in their ability to the job done and expect them to play better against Ohio."

I am not trying to drive Brandon out of town or anything. But a team is a reflection of their coach. UM was a disciplinarian and never made excuses. And our team played like they didn't need excuses. We didn't screw up simple things like special teams. Brandon, on the other hand, comes up with a different excuse each week. It was bad recruiting when Meyer left. We go three OTs with Buffalo and he says the Bulls are a good team. Two weeks later he says he saw the blow out to Kent coming because it took us three OTs to beat a team like Buffalo. He made similar remarks regarding FIU. His excuses vary from week to week and I am getting tired of it.

[factman]

In this day and age, it is tough to recruit a "Peyton Manning" if "Johnny Unitas" is going to play four more years! Maybe this applies even more to wide receivers and running backs, because those types of kids want to play right away. Offensive linemen expect to sit a year or two to get bigger and stronger before starting.

[JoeFalcon]

Again, this gets back to that recruiting lag we suffered when UM bolted town.

Jack Carle had a great editorial in Monday's Sentinel Tribune that touched on this issue.
"Of the 26 players announced as recruits inthe Feb 2002 recruiting class, there are six players still remaining in the program, including Brad Williams and Derrick Markray. Terrell White was a late signee to the class."
"Seven players from that class played as freshman and have completed their eligibility and another three were jr college transfers and also completed their eligibilty. One player had his college career cut short by injury."
"The remaining nine players left the program, after playing very little if at all."
"The 2003 class, Brandon's first as BG's head coach, included 23 players."
"Devon Parks was the only member of the class to play as a freshman and he's completeing his eligibility this season. There were two jc players who completed their eligibility. Also, three recruits had to leave the program due to non-football related injuries. Another nine players are no longer with the team."
"The remaining eight players, including starters Kevin Huelsman, Korey Lichtensteiger, Dan Macon, Drew Nystrom, and Sean O'Drobinak, are still with the team."
"That leaves slim numbers in the areas from which your veterans, leaders, and playmakers should be emerging."

Couple of things about this that stand out to me. First, 18 of 49 recruits left the program. That is just over 1/3. So for every three guys coming in, one of them left early. I know we get all over Dakich for the turnover in the basketball program, but not much is said about the football program. I don't know what the typical turnover rate is for football. Is this number high? Low?

Second, look at the few starters that we have from thos two classes. All of them, save for Macon, are lineman. You get your 'playmakers' from QBs, RBs, WRs, LBs, and DBs. And we have one recruit from those two classes that is a current starter at the so-called skill positions. That says a lot.

That explains the current situation pretty well. Player retention...where have we heard that before?

It isn't entirely "the hand he was dealt" but rather the hand the staff dealt themselves (aided by Meyer's disloyalty) by that recruiting class.

Still, what about the subsequent classes and their ability to address the positions of need?

Playing 15 true freshmen is nearly unheard of. It shows the strength of the current class but magnifies the weaknesses of the previous classes.

[Warthog]

Playing 15 true freshmen is nearly unheard of. It shows the strength of the current class but magnifies the weaknesses of the previous classes.

Just to be negative, as I always am: Yes, we are playing 15 true freshman, but that is because the coach couldn't get enough 'playmakers' in the last three/four recruiting classes. Coach, you are playing all those guys because you must not have brought in enough talent the last three/four years. But that was Urban's fault, wasn't it.

[hammb]

Playing 15 true freshmen is nearly unheard of. It shows the strength of the current class but magnifies the weaknesses of the previous classes.

Just to be negative, as I always am: Yes, we are playing 15 true freshman, but that is because the coach couldn't get enough 'playmakers' in the last three/four recruiting classes. Coach, you are playing all those guys because you must not have brought in enough talent the last three/four years. But that was Urban's fault, wasn't it.

I'm still waiting for one of those 15 true freshman to look like a playmaker as well...

I've thought for awhile Brandon was very mediocre on gameday, but I thought he was at least bringing in talent. Looking at this roster now, I just don't see that much talent. These guys look like good gets on signing day, but I'm not seeing very many glimpses for the future just yet. The season is still young, but we'll see. Are we not properly identify talent? Are we not developing it?

I don't know, but what we've seen so far this year is a team that's pretty overmatched talent wise, and also is missing discipline, intensity, and failing to execute. That is not a very good combination

[orangeandbrown]

Just because they are playing as true freshmen doesn't mean they are good players. They might be--it remains to be seen. And it is not the way a program is supposed to run.