Damien Alford Grad Transferring to Utah

[dasher]

Besides Fran came out and said Alford was a good player and wished him well.
So it had to be someone else at the University who fed Thamel the story.
They should be fired.

Or, it didn't play out the way Fran thought it would. Thamel doesn't just write a story. He double checks them.

 

[tep624]

Same for me and yet that is what some here think.

You didn’t get grief for having a critical opinion. You got grief for implying Fran intentionally put it out there.

 

[baggerbob]

Or, it didn't play out the way Fran thought it would. Thamel doesn't just write a story. He double checks them.

He has been off quite a bit lately.

 

[FasterCuse]

If this thread has taught us anything it's that it's going to be one heck of a long off season.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Or, it didn't play out the way Fran thought it would. Thamel doesn't just write a story. He double checks them.

Highly doubt that was the case here. I do this for a living and most leaks are often less strategic than one thinks. People generally talk more than they should and say stupid things. You wouldn’t believe the stuff people inadvertently leak to reporters every day.

Sometimes mistakes or issues happen. Doesn’t have to be more than that.

FB ain’t texting Pete to put out that Tweet. Pete is well sourced as a SU grad. Now if you want to blame someone in the ADs office who thought they were doing FB a solid or just had loose lips? Of course. But the fact that Alford tweets were deleted and Fran quickly tweeted makes this a moot point. Mountain out of a molehill.

 

[Cuse4455]

I've heard enough Fire Fran!

 

[GHLF]

I’ve been all in on brown before he was announced.

Doesn’t mean I can’t recognize this was handled clumsily. Doesn’t mean you‘re a hater to say that.

You most certainly are not a hater, def was not aimed at you. And very much understandable. Hopefully if that is the case learning can occur for the benefit of all. I truly appreciate your insight, GoSU

 

[anomander]

You’re an adult in a job though. NIL aside, this isn’t a job for Alford. He doesn’t get paid by SU, he doesn’t receive health insurance from SU.

And no one knows what the guy actually said to Brown. Which makes some of this tough love posturing seem weird to me.

Is it really tough love if he’s missing out on workouts and community service and then Fran talks to last years captain, a supposed leader, who was in and out of the portal last season, and was told he was considering leaving? At that point I would have dismissed him. The only thing that seems to be handled poorly is if the kid actually found out on social media and not from coach. Otherwise, I have no problem with the dismissal. You don’t want a 5th year Sr, who was apparently a leader slacking off when you’re trying to instill your culture.

 

[Scooch]

Is it really tough love if he’s missing out on workouts and community service and then Fran talks to last years captain, a supposed leader, who was in and out of the portal last season, and was told he was considering leaving? At that point I would have dismissed him. The only thing that seems to be handled poorly is if the kid actually found out on social media and not from coach. Otherwise, I have no problem with the dismissal. You don’t want a 5th year Sr, who was apparently a leader slacking off when you’re trying to instill your culture.

I wasn't talking about "tough love" from Brown.

I was talking about some folks here who seem gleeful that the guy was booted.

 

[Finwad32]

Man… offseason sucks.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

I'm hearing there's a lot going on outside of the public eye (as it should be), but trust me, Coach Fran does appear to have some chinks in his armour. This is not the thread to share my concerns, but where is Tori Brown?

This is the biggest takeaway of this thread for me. There were multiple articles about us finally bringing on a dedicated nutritionist last year & her contributions thus far. She seems to have disappeared from the SUA staff directory.

 

[anomander]

Besides the stimulating analysis of the word dismissal, I do think Alford leaving is a loss. Besides OG, we still don’t have an established WR. Alford had a tough time making the easy catches, but he was great in making the tough catches. He was also a solid deep threat who led the team in receiving. You want as many 5th year players going into their 3rd season as a starter as possible. As inconsistent as he was he still produced. You would think with a QB who could actually get him the ball he would have had a chance to have a good season as a seasoned vet. Considering our other options i’m not marking this off as no big deal as seems to be the sentiment here. That’s with the disclaimer that he was bought into Fran’s program and holding up his end responsibility wise.

 

[anomander]

This is the biggest takeaway of this thread for me. There were multiple articles about us finally bringing on a dedicated nutritionist last year & her contributions thus far. She seems to have disappeared from the SUA staff directory.

Definitely a big takeaway. Seeing how detailed Fran appears to be i’m sure he won’t let it go long without a nutritionist. I never understood how so many people seemed to think not having one was no big deal. Learning what and how to eat correctly is imperative when trying to stack on good weight.

 

[JRHEETER]

I wasn't talking about "tough love" from Brown.

I was talking about some folks here who seem gleeful that the guy was booted.

Who the heck was gleeful that he was booted?

And please send the exact post

 

[qdawgg]

Coming from someone who worked in auto sales

The moment a sales guy even HINTED that they were thinking of going elsewhere they were dismissed immediately.

Access to email was gone and anything close to a CRM was probably already pulled from them before they had the meeting with a manager.

Hell, if it was a rumor the guy would find all his stuff in a box outside the sales department and really be looking for a new job.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Or, it didn't play out the way Fran thought it would. Thamel doesn't just write a story. He double checks them.

There is no way this is 100% Fran and Alford wasn't trying to use us while he shopped for a new team and so he was booted.

You need to do better damage control and keep it in house but its probably a continuation of Damien having similar conversations in December and wanting to stay on the pot for a few more months.

Thamel isn't friendly to SU either in general he does us no favors and sure hes plugged in. Emily is the same and not inclined to throw in a friendly slant.

And its a dead period for news and hes our leading WR but this is too much of nothing he was always gone.

 

[CA Monk]

I know this much: Paul McCartney got his bass back.

Long-lost bass guitar returned to Paul McCartney after more than 50 years | Paul McCartney | The Guardian

Violin-shaped Höfner vanished after Beatles split up but has resurfaced in pub in west London after global appeal

amp.theguardian.com

 

[Scooch]

Who the heck was gleeful that he was booted?

And please send the exact post

There’s a number of posts where people are really leaning into the hardo, “good for Fran”, “this is what big boy football is like”, “program over player” stuff.

 

[kcsu]

If Fran hadn't said anything, or said that he was " no longer part of the program " would that be better than dismissed?

 

[dasher]

There is no way this is 100% Fran and Alford wasn't trying to use us while he shopped for a new team and so he was booted.

You need to do better damage control and keep it in house but its probably a continuation of Damien having similar conversations in December and wanting to stay on the pot for a few more months.

Thamel isn't friendly to SU either in general he does us no favors and sure hes plugged in. Emily is the same and not inclined to throw in a friendly slant.

And its a dead period for news and hes our leading WR but this is too much of nothing he was always gone.

It's not Thamel's job or Emily's to do us favors. Thamel didn't make any judgment about whether it was good or bad that Alford was dismissed. He just reported what he was told. Otherwise known as his job.

 

[NJCuse97]

I am one who was hopeful for all the potential that never quite materialized (consistently). I was very curious about him being named a captain right after he was in the portal, and Dino’s comments about how hard it is to develop when you can’t keep ‘em to me underlined the potential that the C was part of an agreement to get him back. That in my mind was backstopped by Dino bringing Taj Harris to ACC media days.

I’m not saying Harris and Alford are the same, just pointing out that it wouldn’t be inconsistent with Dino’s past behavior, and raised because a lot of folks reference his status as a Captain/leader.

I know nothing of the situation and admit to wild conspiracy hunting here.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

It's not Thamel's job or Emily's to do us favors. Thamel didn't make any judgment about whether it was good or bad that Alford was dismissed. He just reported what he was told. Otherwise known as his job.

Sure I agree just saying them being a little trigger happy with their wording is probably the reality vs Alford doing something awful or Fran going scorched earth. They want headlines.

Alford was probably trying to play both sides and stay a member of the program while he shopped for a few more months and we cut the ambilocal cord. He was losing targets to OG and the transfers regardless and for such a talented guy had some game changing backbreaking drops. And lets be honest WRs of his size should have had dozens of offers yesterday so something might not be right because hes a P4 talent.

 

[rocklloyd]

another 24 hours and we’re still talking about this? It’s amazing.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

another 24 hours and we’re still talking about this? It’s amazing.

There is nothing else going on and its our leading WR.

Its been a buzzkill this week when you are waiting for sports to start and realize its not football just hoops and hockey.

Luckily some good lacrosse this weekend.

 

[hungrychuck]

I mean…I’m struggling with why it’s leak worthy news to thamel. It’s not like OG got kicked off the team.

If you’re still struggling, maybe consider that this thread is heading toward its 19th page.

Obviously not newsworthy. Nope, not at all. Should have been ignored.