Probably a bit early for a football preview since we should learn a bit more about this team in August, but it's summer and, especially during the all-star break, what else is there to do? So without further ado, some stories to watch for the upcoming season:
How good is the ACC?
So the general consensus seems to be that our new conference is, at minimum, a step up in competition level from our last conference. There is at least some who believe it's a pretty significant step up and a whole new level of competition. I'm not entirely sure how true that is, however. If you take a look at the BE vs. ACC record last year it was 5-5 -- three of those losses belonged to Temple and USF, teams that combined to win just three games in BE play. If you go back even further and take the record from 2006, the BE was 30-28 vs. the ACC over the past seven seasons. So what does that mean? Well, nothing I suppose. It's an imperfect way of comparing conferences but it is worth mentioning from the standpoint that while we do gain the benefit of playing teams that are regarded as better competition, we should still have plenty of winnable games on the schedule.
We know George McDonald can recruit ... can he also coordinate an offense?
So the guy is young, personable, and a dynamic recruiter. Those are very good things. The question now becomes does a guy who has had very little experience as a coordinator truly have the same knack for the X's and O's portion of the game? To me, if there's one question that ranks above all others as the most important to our potential for success this season it's this one. I would assume his goal is to set up a fast-paced, wide-open (even if it's largely running) offense. He certainly has some solid parts to work with -- pretty experienced OL, good RBs, a solid top WR, solid TE play ... but there are question marks as well. How that plays out is anyone's guess, IMO. And if you're doubting how much coaching has to do with production (all you 'talent is all that matters' folks), take a look at last season when Hackett finally wrestled some control of the style/decision-making away from DM.
Allen vs. Hunt
No need to spend much time on it. You've got a veteran kid with a first-class pedigree against a younger, greener, probably rawer talent who's had some off-field concerns in his time here. That would seem to add up to Allen getting the gig, but whoever it ends up being, needs to end up producing. If we're looking for a second big key to the season, this battle (and the ensuing results) is it.
From the 'Good Problem to Have' file: How do we get all the RBs involved?
Jerome Smith lacks top-end speed but is a nightmare to bring down between the tackles. Gulley is a better all-around back than he gets credit for with more power than you think and solid speed to boot. Those two also have a ton of experience at this point. But Morris III and McFarlane seem like top-end talent as well and you have the Ashton Broyld quandary lurking. I would imagine Gulley ends up in the slot a fair amount and Smith loses a few carries to the young guys. Regardless, it will be an interesting position to watch.
Do special teams get closer to being special again?
We saw some nice improvement over the course of the year here but this was a significant issue for the better part of DM's tenure. My guess is a coaching staff that may be a bit more in-tune with the college game may have a better feel and understanding of just how important this area of the game is. Need Krautman to find his accuracy again and someone to emerge as a consistent punter. We 'should' finally have legit threats to return kicks this year as well.
Who's number 2 ... and 3?
West is a good option as the top WR and we should be able to sleep at night knowing he's here. Beyond that is anyone's guess. The bright side is that there appears to be some talent and a bit of experience as well. Kobena is a darkhorse, IMO, to have a really solid season. I think he catches the ball better than his reputation suggests. Funderburke should be solid as well. I can't imagine being recruited to the SEC if you didn't have some talent and I can't imagine the previous staff taking a gamble on a transfer if they didn't feel he had a pretty good chance of helping out. Christopher Clark may not be a big-time guy but he should contribute and if one of the guys we haven't seen -- Flemming, Cornelius, Lewis, etc. -- can step up, we should be OK numbers wise. I'd be surprised if WR was a strength for this team but this group only needs to be good enough to function in an offense that will likely spread the defense out and create some mismatches.
Can this group generate enough pressure with it's front four?
There are certainly a pretty a nice group of interior lineman here and pretty clearly a shortage of numbers at DE. I think the Simmons injury and MPB dismissal will be a problem. I'm not against sending an extra defender or two but you're going to get burned against quality OL. Will be interested to see if we see a few more 3-4 type looks out of this group with Welch and Robinson getting a lot of PT along with Crume, Bromley and Raymon and then using a guy like D. Davis as a pass-rushing LB.
Is this secondary as good as it seems it might be?
Lyn/Anderson/Reddish is as good a group of 3 corners as we've had since at least the Will Allen days, IMO, and Whigham and George seem poised to contribute as well. Nice luxury given how much teams throw the ball these days. Desir and Eskridge look like players. Wilkes to me is a question mark, but if he can put together a solid senior campaign, that is a strong group. Still somewhat surprised McFarlane isn't in the DB group.
Can the OL sustain what it did last year without the services of Justin Pugh?
You generally don't see one guy alter the entire trajectory of a season and it's even more rare when that one guy is an offensive lineman. But that's what Pugh did last season. That said, Hickey/Macky/Trudo is a good group of returnees and we've heard good things about guys like Palmer/Robinson/Knapp/Foy. Right tackle is a question but if this group can consistently get some push, we should be tough to stop running the ball.
And last but not least ...
Who is Scott Shafer?
We know he is #hard-nosed. We know he's more progressive than his predecessor, which should help recruiting/fund-raising etc. We know he can coordinate a defense and develop young kids. But can he run the program with the same efficiency of DM? Can he handle the organizational aspects of the job? Can he channel his fiery passion in such a way that it translates to success on the field? Will be interesting to watch.
How good is the ACC?
So the general consensus seems to be that our new conference is, at minimum, a step up in competition level from our last conference. There is at least some who believe it's a pretty significant step up and a whole new level of competition. I'm not entirely sure how true that is, however. If you take a look at the BE vs. ACC record last year it was 5-5 -- three of those losses belonged to Temple and USF, teams that combined to win just three games in BE play. If you go back even further and take the record from 2006, the BE was 30-28 vs. the ACC over the past seven seasons. So what does that mean? Well, nothing I suppose. It's an imperfect way of comparing conferences but it is worth mentioning from the standpoint that while we do gain the benefit of playing teams that are regarded as better competition, we should still have plenty of winnable games on the schedule.
We know George McDonald can recruit ... can he also coordinate an offense?
So the guy is young, personable, and a dynamic recruiter. Those are very good things. The question now becomes does a guy who has had very little experience as a coordinator truly have the same knack for the X's and O's portion of the game? To me, if there's one question that ranks above all others as the most important to our potential for success this season it's this one. I would assume his goal is to set up a fast-paced, wide-open (even if it's largely running) offense. He certainly has some solid parts to work with -- pretty experienced OL, good RBs, a solid top WR, solid TE play ... but there are question marks as well. How that plays out is anyone's guess, IMO. And if you're doubting how much coaching has to do with production (all you 'talent is all that matters' folks), take a look at last season when Hackett finally wrestled some control of the style/decision-making away from DM.
Allen vs. Hunt
No need to spend much time on it. You've got a veteran kid with a first-class pedigree against a younger, greener, probably rawer talent who's had some off-field concerns in his time here. That would seem to add up to Allen getting the gig, but whoever it ends up being, needs to end up producing. If we're looking for a second big key to the season, this battle (and the ensuing results) is it.
From the 'Good Problem to Have' file: How do we get all the RBs involved?
Jerome Smith lacks top-end speed but is a nightmare to bring down between the tackles. Gulley is a better all-around back than he gets credit for with more power than you think and solid speed to boot. Those two also have a ton of experience at this point. But Morris III and McFarlane seem like top-end talent as well and you have the Ashton Broyld quandary lurking. I would imagine Gulley ends up in the slot a fair amount and Smith loses a few carries to the young guys. Regardless, it will be an interesting position to watch.
Do special teams get closer to being special again?
We saw some nice improvement over the course of the year here but this was a significant issue for the better part of DM's tenure. My guess is a coaching staff that may be a bit more in-tune with the college game may have a better feel and understanding of just how important this area of the game is. Need Krautman to find his accuracy again and someone to emerge as a consistent punter. We 'should' finally have legit threats to return kicks this year as well.
Who's number 2 ... and 3?
West is a good option as the top WR and we should be able to sleep at night knowing he's here. Beyond that is anyone's guess. The bright side is that there appears to be some talent and a bit of experience as well. Kobena is a darkhorse, IMO, to have a really solid season. I think he catches the ball better than his reputation suggests. Funderburke should be solid as well. I can't imagine being recruited to the SEC if you didn't have some talent and I can't imagine the previous staff taking a gamble on a transfer if they didn't feel he had a pretty good chance of helping out. Christopher Clark may not be a big-time guy but he should contribute and if one of the guys we haven't seen -- Flemming, Cornelius, Lewis, etc. -- can step up, we should be OK numbers wise. I'd be surprised if WR was a strength for this team but this group only needs to be good enough to function in an offense that will likely spread the defense out and create some mismatches.
Can this group generate enough pressure with it's front four?
There are certainly a pretty a nice group of interior lineman here and pretty clearly a shortage of numbers at DE. I think the Simmons injury and MPB dismissal will be a problem. I'm not against sending an extra defender or two but you're going to get burned against quality OL. Will be interested to see if we see a few more 3-4 type looks out of this group with Welch and Robinson getting a lot of PT along with Crume, Bromley and Raymon and then using a guy like D. Davis as a pass-rushing LB.
Is this secondary as good as it seems it might be?
Lyn/Anderson/Reddish is as good a group of 3 corners as we've had since at least the Will Allen days, IMO, and Whigham and George seem poised to contribute as well. Nice luxury given how much teams throw the ball these days. Desir and Eskridge look like players. Wilkes to me is a question mark, but if he can put together a solid senior campaign, that is a strong group. Still somewhat surprised McFarlane isn't in the DB group.
Can the OL sustain what it did last year without the services of Justin Pugh?
You generally don't see one guy alter the entire trajectory of a season and it's even more rare when that one guy is an offensive lineman. But that's what Pugh did last season. That said, Hickey/Macky/Trudo is a good group of returnees and we've heard good things about guys like Palmer/Robinson/Knapp/Foy. Right tackle is a question but if this group can consistently get some push, we should be tough to stop running the ball.
And last but not least ...
Who is Scott Shafer?
We know he is #hard-nosed. We know he's more progressive than his predecessor, which should help recruiting/fund-raising etc. We know he can coordinate a defense and develop young kids. But can he run the program with the same efficiency of DM? Can he handle the organizational aspects of the job? Can he channel his fiery passion in such a way that it translates to success on the field? Will be interesting to watch.
