2025 Strategy Shift?

[IthacaBarrel]

The OP is actually pretty much exactly what seems to be happening. And as I've clarified about 18 times since I originally posted it, we have the talent to win football games next year. Winning 6-8 games with this schedule is moving in the right direction and sets us up to explode onto the national scene in 2026.

Agree 100% here. I think this is plan. I think 6 wins would be a really solid season. It’s not going to excite many nor myself but is what it is.

 

[Qbobby]

I think it's as much about being competitive in the games we do lose. If we win 6-7 but in our losses we are in every game in the 4th quarter, that's big progress and an opportunity for the team to get experience in down to the wire games against top teams going into '26.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

The OP is not aging well. If Fran is punting on ‘25 what kind of message does that send to the fans? And if he isn’t punting that’s also a bad sign based on the current results. Just don’t see how this can be spun as a positive development

If the fans are too stupid to realize this is a marathon, not a sprint, that’s on them.

 

[Acesn8s]

If the fans are too stupid to realize this is a marathon, not a sprint, that’s on them.

What a crazy take, nobody is saying we don’t realize it takes time to build a program and nobody is saying they don’t realize next year is going to be difficult, but the original thought of punting on the season next year is A. Complete nonsense, B. Does not seem to be how Fran Brown operates, and C. Not how big time college football works anymore. The portal and NIl throws that idea out. People are now spending their hard earned money to help build rosters, not to say ehhhh things are too hard next year let’s wait a year. I believe in Coach Brown, I will be at every game, but no coach in this day in age gets to throw a year away and I promise our coach doesn’t feel that way.

 

[cusefan88]

If the fans are too stupid to realize this is a marathon, not a sprint, that’s on them.

When you're not a football factory, building a playoff worthy team is a multi-year process.

Cuse is in that now. We should enjoy the ride.

 

[Roger N]

I think you’re dead on with what the strategy is

The more the Merrier

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

What a crazy take, nobody is saying we don’t realize it takes time to build a program and nobody is saying they don’t realize next year is going to be difficult, but the original thought of punting on the season next year is A. Complete nonsense, B. Does not seem to be how Fran Brown operates, and C. Not how big time college football works anymore. The portal and NIl throws that idea out. People are now spending their hard earned money to help build rosters, not to say ehhhh things are too hard next year let’s wait a year. I believe in Coach Brown, I will be at every game, but no coach in this day and age gets to throw a year away and I promise our coach doesn’t feel that way.

Define “punting.”

It’s not realistic to expect another 10 win season. The team is losing too many key parts. If you expect to replace all of those key parts via the Portal, that’s not building a program.

Also, no one who has lower expectations for next year thinks the staff isn’t going to do everything they can to win every game.

 

[PhatOrange]

Had this conversation with friends this weekend and it makes A TON of sense. I'll also caveat this with THERE IS NO INSIDE INFO HERE. This is purely opinion.

We currently have 33 commits for 2025, and are still recruiting a few others. Provided they all sign on signing day, there will be some guys getting "the talk" in the offseason. My guess is the majority of those will be junior and senior players.

I don't believe we are punting on the 2025 season, however, we are playing Tennessee, Clemson, @ND, @Miami, @GT, @SMU. The odds of us having a 8 win season are SLIGHT, but I think we should be able to make a bowl. A tough schedule will pressure test players and hopefully let the cream rise to the top.

In my mind, what the plan is for next year is
- Bank as much NIL money as possible for 2026/27, while bringing in as many HS players as possible. The more kids you bring in, the better chances you have of hitting on some legitimate stars.
- Bring in transfers that have AT LEAST two or three seasons of eligibility remaining
- Give kids that aren't good enough "the talk"
- Get enough game tape from Jakhari/Prospective Transfer to see if one of them is "the guy" at QB

Then, you can go into 2026 with playoff aspirations.

I believe Fran is too competitive to completely punt, but I think at a school with limited resources you have to be as resourceful as possible. Thoughts? Is this crazy?

after re reading this a month later I think you were spot on.

 

[Acesn8s]

Define “punting.”

It’s not realistic to expect another 10 win season. The team is losing too many key parts. If you expect to replace all of those key parts via the Portal, that’s not building a program.

Also, no one who has lower expectations for next year thinks the staff isn’t going to do everything they can to win every game.

Punting would be not spending every cent of NIl $$ u have at your disposal because next year is going to be tough, and we probably won’t win 10 games. or being ok not making a Bowl game at the minimum. We have not signed a kid on defense yet that somebody can say will fill even 1 hole, that’s concerning. I do trust this staff, I will support this program, just want to see us be more aggressive in the portal, and that still may happen, but is not as of now.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Punting would be not spending every cent of NIl $$ u have at your disposal because next year is going to be tough, and we probably won’t win 10 games. or being ok not making a Bowl game at the minimum. We have not signed a kid on defense yet that somebody can say will fill even 1 hole, that’s concerning. I do trust this staff, I will support this program, just want to see us be more aggressive in the portal, and that still may happen, but is not as of now.

“I do trust the staff, but I’m worried they’re not being aggressive in the portal, even though they said they weren’t going to be.”

 

[Acesn8s]

“I do trust the staff, but I’m worried they’re not being aggressive in the portal, even though they said they weren’t going to be.”

That’s not what they said, they said they were not going to sign 1 year players, and that we would take day 1 contributors. If they said we were not going to be aggressive at all in the portal, then why ask for our donations for NIl? Roster retention? We just lost our 5 best players to NFL draft (I don’t blame a single one of them) 3 DBS to portal, two to ucf and one to SMU. What would those funds be going to?

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

That’s not what they said, they said they were not going to sign 1 year players, and that we would take day 1 contributors. If they said we were not going to be aggressive at all in the portal, then why ask for our donations for NIl? Roster retention? We just lost our 5 best players to NFL draft (I don’t blame a single one of them) 3 DBS to portal, two to ucf and one to SMU. What would those funds be going to?

You just seem mad. About what, I cannot figure out.

 

[dasher]

I would consider running the table at home next year a good season. Add one road win to that & I’d call it very good. 8 wins & up would be great.

We couldn't run the table at home this year. I doubt we will run the table at home next year.

 

[Acesn8s]

You just seem mad. About what, I cannot figure out.

Mad? I woke up got a massage, gonna have lunch at the Blue Water then spend a few hours watching my girls basketball games, and hopefully watch Steelers pull of a miracle, I’m not mad, but I don’t want to be sitting in Atlanta thinking we are not going to do all we can to compete, if we do all we can and win 5 games so be it, but I do hate the idea of just conceding next year is a throw away year.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

We couldn't run the table at home this year. I doubt we will run the table at home next year.

We were a blown 4th & 9 defensive call from doing it this year with a first-time HC & coordinators. UConn, Colgate, BC, Pitt, UNC, Duke is the slate next year. We’ll likely be a slight dog in 2-3 of those but they’re all winnable. It’s an ambitious yet attainable goal. We’ll bring a 4 game home winning streak into next year. Let’s make it 10.

 

[dasher]

We were a blown 4th & 9 defensive call from doing it this year with a first-time HC & coordinators. UConn, Colgate, BC, Pitt, UNC, Duke is the slate next year. We’ll likely be a slight dog in 2-3 of those but they’re all winnable. It’s an ambitious yet attainable goal. We’ll bring a 4 game home winning streak into next year. Let’s make it 10.

I watched the game. We won a lot of games last year with a close score. We don't have a amazing qb this year. I hope for the best. But we also lost a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. Going 6-0 at home is going to be a struggle. Far greater it seems than people here want to admit.

 

[SanDiegoCuse]

I have faith in Fran that between this next ten day period and the spring portal he’ll bring in the necessary kids to make them competitive in every game. LB, Safety and OT specifically.

 

[bnoro]

Why would we schedule Tennessee and Notre Dame and then punt the season. I can almost guarantee that is not Fran’s mindset, but the lack of portal moves is concerning. We had to fight and scrap to get to 10 wins this season with a loaded roster and easy schedule. Next year is the complete opposite. Loaded schedule and holes all over the roster. I’m not sure what the plan for next season is but it’s not going to be pretty. If we’re all being honest this years 36 man recruiting class was a step back and let down from what Fran did in an extremely short time last season. We don’t have nearly the high end recruits. Portal isn’t even close to matching last years haul. The worrisome thing is it’s not like there were guys just waiting their turn outside of someone like Willis. Hopefully WR will be ok with Pena, Zeed(?), and Gill, but we badly need one of the freshman like Ross to emerge as a bonafide playmaker. OG was a unicorn. His loss will be tremendous. As good as he was it took him 2 full years in the S&C program to realize that talent. I have hope for Tremble long-term but he’s not someone I can count on. That leaves QB which will take a huge hit no matter who wins the job and holes in the OL. Hopefully Bradford and Petry will get an extra yr because of JUCO?

……and then there’s defense…..

2025 will certainly show us how good of a HC Fran Brown is.

Schedules are set 10 years in advance.

The sky isn't falling. We still have plenty of good players and enough to win 6-8 games next year.

 

[anomander]

Schedules are set 10 years in advance.

The sky isn't falling. We still have plenty of good players and enough to win 6-8 games next year.

I will be extremely surprised if we win more than 6 games. Compared to last year there are numerous more question marks and a much harder schedule, as in potentially 4 teams in the top 10, and SMU who should be top 15-20. All on road. Let’s be a little realistic. Last year there was a path with a loaded team and people were still hedging with 7-8 wins. Now we lost numerous impact players and we should expect 6-8 wins? Sky isn’t falling but next year doesn’t look promising.

 

[bnoro]

I will be extremely surprised if we win more than 6 games. Compared to last year there are numerous more question marks and a much harder schedule, as in potentially 4 teams in the top 10, and SMU who should be top 15-20. All on road. Let’s be a little realistic. Last year there was a path with a loaded team and people were still hedging with 7-8 wins. Now we lost numerous impact players and we should expect 6-8 wins? Sky isn’t falling but next year doesn’t look promising.

Every other team has question marks and loses guys. Do you know how many starters SMU is losing on their OL? Or DL?

 

[anomander]

Every other team has question marks and loses guys. Do you know how many starters SMU is losing on their OL? Or DL?

SMU has picked up a really nice looking portal haul on the OL and DL to go with Jennings. The other 4 should be consensus top 10 programs. Plus, i’m comparing our 2025 team to our 2024 team. I see a bunch of significant losses that weren’t replaced.