A Bit of Perspective on Our Programs Overall Direction

[Doctor44]

Sports fans by nature are impatient. "If this year is not our year, next year has to be." This feeling has been amplified by the constant changing nature of college football with conference realignment, facilities upgrades, and day by day updates on recruits.

Our hopes for this team are as high as they have been since McNabb led us to a butt kicking of Clemson in his freshman year. We want to pound Penn state as we have done to ranked west virginia and louisville. We want to suprise clemson at a rocking dome. We want to be involved in a nail biter in tallahasee.

Additionally, we have heard magic tales of a recruiter who holds the key to the hearts of all the 5 star recruits in south florida. And here we sit. We have a shaky committment from KJ Williams, a promising monster athlete out of Pennsylvania and another very vocal and enthusiastic QB prospect in his cousin AJ. But the recruits arent raining yet. We dont have our stud running back after not signing one last year. We have no offensive linemen, despite reports that top recruits Chad Mavety and Aaron .roberts were very interested. We have a solid linebacking core, but not the proclaimed next game changer like possibly Thomas Holley or the next Dwight Freeney.

Maybe its still early in the recruiting process. Maybe our team will show up and pound Penn State and beat Northwestern like they should, and we'll roll into Clemson 4-0 and the momentum will keep building behind a developing qb, WRs who have stepped up, an intimidating running game, and a brutal defense. The indoor facility will get completed and maybe next year we'll bag a 5 star.

Or maybe the 1s at penn state are just as good as they have ever been, we give a valiant effort and the recruits never come this year.

We like Coach Shafer. We want him to lead us back to national relevance, Top 25 rankings and a discussion of a conference championship every year. But this doesn't necessarily mean he's immune to the growing pains of a first year coach. It may not be this year or next year. It will take time to build a consistent winner and to build a recruiting base. Winning will go a long way towards bettering our program, but it will take time.

But that doesn't mean I'm not impatient. Go Orange!

 

[SU2NASA]

14-0

 

[Doc5120]

Win and they shall come is the name of the game in recruiting. I believe we're very much on the right track and I like what we have with Shafer/McDonald/Bullough. These guys are ready to get it done, and by all accounts it seems like the players truly love playing for them. Is it Saturday yet? Bring on Penn St!

 

[anglerman]

Sports fans by nature are impatient. "If this year is not our year, next year has to be." This feeling has been amplified by the constant changing nature of college football with conference realignment, facilities upgrades, and day by day updates on recruits.

Our hopes for this team are as high as they have been since McNabb led us to a butt kicking of Clemson in his freshman year. We want to pound Penn state as we have done to ranked west virginia and louisville. We want to suprise clemson at a rocking dome. We want to be involved in a nail biter in tallahasee.

Additionally, we have heard magic tales of a recruiter who holds the key to the hearts of all the 5 star recruits in south florida. And here we sit. We have a shaky committment from KJ Williams, a promising monster athlete out of Pennsylvania and another very vocal and enthusiastic QB prospect in his cousin AJ. But the recruits arent raining yet. We dont have our stud running back after not signing one last year. We have no offensive linemen, despite reports that top recruits Chad Mavety and Aaron .roberts were very interested. We have a solid linebacking core, but not the proclaimed next game changer like possibly Thomas Holley or the next Dwight Freeney.

Maybe its still early in the recruiting process. Maybe our team will show up and pound Penn State and beat Northwestern like they should, and we'll roll into Clemson 4-0 and the momentum will keep building behind a developing qb, WRs who have stepped up, an intimidating running game, and a brutal defense. The indoor facility will get completed and maybe next year we'll bag a 5 star.

Or maybe the 1s at penn state are just as good as they have ever been, we give a valiant effort and the recruits never come this year.

We like Coach Shafer. We want him to lead us back to national relevance, Top 25 rankings and a discussion of a conference championship every year. But this doesn't necessarily mean he's immune to the growing pains of a first year coach. It may not be this year or next year. It will take time to build a consistent winner and to build a recruiting base.

But that doesn't mean I'm not impatient. Go Orange!

Don't judge recruiting in August. Signing day is in February, judging it now is beyond premature. Also how does judging recruiting in August give perspective on the current state of the program?

 

[Doctor44]

Don't judge recruiting in August. Signing day is in February, judging it now is beyond premature. Also how does judging recruiting in August give perspective on the current state of the program?

i think your reading comprehension is poor and youre missing the point. the point isnt our recruiting is poor at this point. I think a lot of the fans he have been a little disappointed by missing on some big names to date in recruiting. Everyone gets tht its still august. the point is that it may not come in december or this year. we have high hopes for our games and our recruiting, but it will likely take a few years. We need to look at this like having a new coach all over again.

 

[rosconey]

big names need not apply - i doubt 50% have done anything worth a mention for su-yet we have stocked the nfl with 2 and 3 star kids

get the kids the coach's for su want -not just the rankings

 

[OrangePA]

Gotta win some games.

The ACC, the enhanced revenue and the IPF will allow us to recruit but winning sure does cure a lot of problems - recruiting, attendance and traveling attendance.

So, lets make it easier on ourselves - lets win!

 

[FAL]

Sports fans by nature are impatient. "If this year is not our year, next year has to be." This feeling has been amplified by the constant changing nature of college football with conference realignment, facilities upgrades, and day by day updates on recruits.

Our hopes for this team are as high as they have been since McNabb led us to a butt kicking of Clemson in his freshman year. We want to pound Penn state as we have done to ranked west virginia and louisville. We want to suprise clemson at a rocking dome. We want to be involved in a nail biter in tallahasee.

Additionally, we have heard magic tales of a recruiter who holds the key to the hearts of all the 5 star recruits in south florida. And here we sit. We have a shaky committment from KJ Williams, a promising monster athlete out of Pennsylvania and another very vocal and enthusiastic QB prospect in his cousin AJ. But the recruits arent raining yet. We dont have our stud running back after not signing one last year. We have no offensive linemen, despite reports that top recruits Chad Mavety and Aaron .roberts were very interested. We have a solid linebacking core, but not the proclaimed next game changer like possibly Thomas Holley or the next Dwight Freeney.

Maybe its still early in the recruiting process. Maybe our team will show up and pound Penn State and beat Northwestern like they should, and we'll roll into Clemson 4-0 and the momentum will keep building behind a developing qb, WRs who have stepped up, an intimidating running game, and a brutal defense. The indoor facility will get completed and maybe next year we'll bag a 5 star.

Or maybe the 1s at penn state are just as good as they have ever been, we give a valiant effort and the recruits never come this year.

We like Coach Shafer. We want him to lead us back to national relevance, Top 25 rankings and a discussion of a conference championship every year. But this doesn't necessarily mean he's immune to the growing pains of a first year coach. It may not be this year or next year. It will take time to build a consistent winner and to build a recruiting base. Winning will go a long way towards bettering our program, but it will take time.

But that doesn't mean I'm not impatient. Go Orange!

Gee--glad you're such an optimist.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

I don't know if I would describe that as perspective -- usually I need a little historical detail to accompany such a statement. But definitely a call to ... cautious neutrality?

IDK - I hear you on the need to temper the optimism but I will be disappointed by anything less than a three TD thrashing of Ped State this weekend. Just as I am entering every football weekend against every opponent.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Sports fans by nature are impatient. "If this year is not our year, next year has to be." This feeling has been amplified by the constant changing nature of college football with conference realignment, facilities upgrades, and day by day updates on recruits.

Our hopes for this team are as high as they have been since McNabb led us to a butt kicking of Clemson in his freshman year. We want to pound Penn state as we have done to ranked west virginia and louisville. We want to suprise clemson at a rocking dome. We want to be involved in a nail biter in tallahasee.

Additionally, we have heard magic tales of a recruiter who holds the key to the hearts of all the 5 star recruits in south florida. And here we sit. We have a shaky committment from KJ Williams, a promising monster athlete out of Pennsylvania and another very vocal and enthusiastic QB prospect in his cousin AJ. But the recruits arent raining yet. We dont have our stud running back after not signing one last year. We have no offensive linemen, despite reports that top recruits Chad Mavety and Aaron .roberts were very interested. We have a solid linebacking core, but not the proclaimed next game changer like possibly Thomas Holley or the next Dwight Freeney.

Maybe its still early in the recruiting process. Maybe our team will show up and pound Penn State and beat Northwestern like they should, and we'll roll into Clemson 4-0 and the momentum will keep building behind a developing qb, WRs who have stepped up, an intimidating running game, and a brutal defense. The indoor facility will get completed and maybe next year we'll bag a 5 star.

Or maybe the 1s at penn state are just as good as they have ever been, we give a valiant effort and the recruits never come this year.

We like Coach Shafer. We want him to lead us back to national relevance, Top 25 rankings and a discussion of a conference championship every year. But this doesn't necessarily mean he's immune to the growing pains of a first year coach. It may not be this year or next year. It will take time to build a consistent winner and to build a recruiting base. Winning will go a long way towards bettering our program, but it will take time.

But that doesn't mean I'm not impatient. Go Orange!

Good post, lots of issues for this team to sort out, hopefully they can and we can get back to a bowl game. A 7-5 or 6-6 season would be another positive step for this program as we need back to back bowl games.

 

[All4SU]

From a historical perspective, I think the last 4 years offer a pretty good insight. I think we all thought year 3 of the HCDM would be the "launch pad" year. Year 1 was just simply trying to wipe the crust of the previous 4 years off of the program. Year 2 we saw what some improved coaching could do. Year 3 was our year, or so we thought. But the reality of a lack of depth caught up with us. In D1 you have to have a full roster of D1 athletes. We didn't have that. We were thin at too many position, and the grind of the season caught up with us.

Year 4 we finally seemed to have some depth. Not a lot, but better. And the results showed it. The team played better and better down the stretch as young guys developed, roles were carved out, and the team came together.

Despite the changes to the roster and coaching staff, this team still kind of feels like last year's team. Perhaps it's simply because we haven't played a game yet, but I think we pick up where we left off. Our depth is better than it has been in a decade. We appear to have more playmakers on offense than at any time since the end of the 90s. True many of them are thin on experience. But there were years in there where we couldn't even identify playmakers. Now we're wondering which ones might step up. Seems to be a big change. Add to that a defense that has really achieved at times a lot over the last 4 years. Yes, DE is uncertain. And Safety is a little up in the air. But pound for pound, this is a D1 sized defense, with comparable speed. And virtually all of these guys have been in the program. No more 5'8" DBs. No more LBs who are too slow. Okay, a little smallish at LB, but they all have speed and that translates well in today's game if they can hit. Appearances suggest they can hit.

So that's where we are. Did we turn the corner last year? Is there still a corner ahead. IMHO, the next corner ahead of us is to become a Top 25 team. I think we flirt with that this year, despite the difficult stretch to open the schedule.