I've seen a lot of griping about player development and wanted to know if there was any merit to it. One thing I keep reading is that these are all Dino's players now and we should be in a better place. That's a noble aspiration (I am all for it), but what no one is acknowledging is that Dino only had 5-6 weeks to polish off his first recruiting class, which had a few holdovers from Shafer's regime. Those players are now seniors, unless they redshirted.
In my mind, it really takes 6 years for most head coaches (not just Dino) to have a fully operational roster in his vision. I correlate it to the discipline of writing ... rarely is a piece ideal on the first draft. In this instance, one draft is 4 recruiting classes.
The 2019 SU Football Team is the initial draft of Dino's program. And it is not perfect. It is flawed. It is 3-4 through 7 games. He has some work to do, filling holes, restrategizing positional emphasis, etc.
Here is how I categorized his current roster (players in italics are from his initial Feb. 2016 recruiting class). To me, I see a roster that has great potential. I also think we'll need to see more development of high-level talent to remain a consistent program.
Note that there are a few players in here (Cordy/2014, Hofrichter/2015) that signed in prior to Dino's arrival in Dec. of 2015:
All-ACC Level Performer
Kendall Coleman, DE; Alton Robinson, DE; Andre Cisco, S; Andre Szmyt, PK; Sterling Hofrichter, P;
Multi-Year Starter
Scoop Bradshaw, CB; Evan Foster, S; Moe Neal, RB; Sean Riley, WR; Airon Servais, OL; McKinley Williams; DT; Nykeim Johnson. WR; Christopher Fredrick, CB; Antwan Cordy, DB; Evan Adams, OG;
One-Year Starter
Andrew Armstrong, LB; Josh Black, DT; Sam Heckel, OL; Kenneth Ruff, DT; Tommy DeVito, QB; Ifeatu Melifonwu, CB; Aaron Hackett, TE; Ravian Pierce, TE; Ryan Guthrie, LB; Atrilleon Williams, DB; Taj Harris, WR; Carlos Vettorello, OT; Lakiem Williams, LB; Dakota Davis, OG;
Contributor
Brandon Berry, DE; Chris Elmore, FB/TE/DT; Jarveon Howard, RB; Sharod Johnson, WR; Tyrell Richards, LB/DE; Eric Coley, S; Cameron Jordan, WR; Allen Stritzinger, CB; Curtis Harper. DT; Jonathan Kingsley, DE; Luke Benson, TE; Mikel Jones, LB;
Non Factor - Upper Classmen (Less than 2 years of eligibility remaining)
Shaquille Grosvenor; DT; Michael Clark, OL; Carl Jones, DB; Liam O’Sullivan, OL; Zach Morton, DE; Kadeem Trotter, LB; Russell Thompson-Bishop, WR; Patrick Davis, OL; Markenzy Pierre, RB; DuWayne Johnson, DB; Devon Clarke, DB;
Non Factor - Younger in Program (3+ years of eligibility remaining)
Cooper Lutz, WR; Willem Froumy, LO; Juan Wallace, LB; Anthony Queeley, WR; Jawhar Jordan, ATL; Cameron Jonas, S; Qadir White, OL; Jason Muñoz, DE; David Summers, QB; Garrison Johnson, RB; Steven Linton, DE; Matthew Bergeron, OT; Geoff Cantin, LB; Adrian Cole, CB; Cooper Dawson, DE/TE; Aman Greenwood, CB; Ishmael Goulbourne, DE; Courtney Jackson, WR; Jawhar Jordan, RB; Lee Kpogba, LB; Cornelius Nunn, S; Anthony Red, OG; Joe Rondi, DT; Darius Tisdale, OT; Andrew Tuazama, DE; Garrett Williams, CB;
Injury
Rex Culpepper, QB (also injury/health); Josh Allen, DE; Jake Pickard, DT; Gabe Horan, TE; Edward Hendrix, WR; Caleb Okechukwu, DE;
Transferred Out
Devin Butler, WR; Tim Walton, LB; Nadarius Fagan, LB; Chance Amie, QB; Justin Ellis, DE; Tre Allison, LB; Jaquwan Nelson, DE;
Never Showed Up at SU
Jo-El Shaw, RB; B.J. Daniels, RB; Mykelti Williams, DB; Akeem Dixon, RB (left after one week); James Pierre, DB
In my mind, it really takes 6 years for most head coaches (not just Dino) to have a fully operational roster in his vision. I correlate it to the discipline of writing ... rarely is a piece ideal on the first draft. In this instance, one draft is 4 recruiting classes.
The 2019 SU Football Team is the initial draft of Dino's program. And it is not perfect. It is flawed. It is 3-4 through 7 games. He has some work to do, filling holes, restrategizing positional emphasis, etc.
Here is how I categorized his current roster (players in italics are from his initial Feb. 2016 recruiting class). To me, I see a roster that has great potential. I also think we'll need to see more development of high-level talent to remain a consistent program.
Note that there are a few players in here (Cordy/2014, Hofrichter/2015) that signed in prior to Dino's arrival in Dec. of 2015:
All-ACC Level Performer
Kendall Coleman, DE; Alton Robinson, DE; Andre Cisco, S; Andre Szmyt, PK; Sterling Hofrichter, P;
Multi-Year Starter
Scoop Bradshaw, CB; Evan Foster, S; Moe Neal, RB; Sean Riley, WR; Airon Servais, OL; McKinley Williams; DT; Nykeim Johnson. WR; Christopher Fredrick, CB; Antwan Cordy, DB; Evan Adams, OG;
One-Year Starter
Andrew Armstrong, LB; Josh Black, DT; Sam Heckel, OL; Kenneth Ruff, DT; Tommy DeVito, QB; Ifeatu Melifonwu, CB; Aaron Hackett, TE; Ravian Pierce, TE; Ryan Guthrie, LB; Atrilleon Williams, DB; Taj Harris, WR; Carlos Vettorello, OT; Lakiem Williams, LB; Dakota Davis, OG;
Contributor
Brandon Berry, DE; Chris Elmore, FB/TE/DT; Jarveon Howard, RB; Sharod Johnson, WR; Tyrell Richards, LB/DE; Eric Coley, S; Cameron Jordan, WR; Allen Stritzinger, CB; Curtis Harper. DT; Jonathan Kingsley, DE; Luke Benson, TE; Mikel Jones, LB;
Non Factor - Upper Classmen (Less than 2 years of eligibility remaining)
Shaquille Grosvenor; DT; Michael Clark, OL; Carl Jones, DB; Liam O’Sullivan, OL; Zach Morton, DE; Kadeem Trotter, LB; Russell Thompson-Bishop, WR; Patrick Davis, OL; Markenzy Pierre, RB; DuWayne Johnson, DB; Devon Clarke, DB;
Non Factor - Younger in Program (3+ years of eligibility remaining)
Cooper Lutz, WR; Willem Froumy, LO; Juan Wallace, LB; Anthony Queeley, WR; Jawhar Jordan, ATL; Cameron Jonas, S; Qadir White, OL; Jason Muñoz, DE; David Summers, QB; Garrison Johnson, RB; Steven Linton, DE; Matthew Bergeron, OT; Geoff Cantin, LB; Adrian Cole, CB; Cooper Dawson, DE/TE; Aman Greenwood, CB; Ishmael Goulbourne, DE; Courtney Jackson, WR; Jawhar Jordan, RB; Lee Kpogba, LB; Cornelius Nunn, S; Anthony Red, OG; Joe Rondi, DT; Darius Tisdale, OT; Andrew Tuazama, DE; Garrett Williams, CB;
Injury
Rex Culpepper, QB (also injury/health); Josh Allen, DE; Jake Pickard, DT; Gabe Horan, TE; Edward Hendrix, WR; Caleb Okechukwu, DE;
Transferred Out
Devin Butler, WR; Tim Walton, LB; Nadarius Fagan, LB; Chance Amie, QB; Justin Ellis, DE; Tre Allison, LB; Jaquwan Nelson, DE;
Never Showed Up at SU
Jo-El Shaw, RB; B.J. Daniels, RB; Mykelti Williams, DB; Akeem Dixon, RB (left after one week); James Pierre, DB