Will Syracuse Football be better in 2021

[SUDadx2]

We should every single year be taking 1 above our quota on HS offensive linemen. It's our greatest opportunity to develop a quality 2 deep. Over the past 20 years we've done far better identifying developmental talent and targeting quality 3 star type prospects that maybe are a step too slow or an inch too short for the factories that become competent 3-4 years starter for us. Guys I think of here are Sean Hickey, Justin Pugh, Rob Trudo, Zach Chibane - most of the stalwarts of the Marrone era OL's were guys that were identified and developed and weren't 4 star prospects being chased by everyone and their grandmother.

The challenge with going lean on HS OL recruiting is that if you run into issues with DQ's, or players not developing, etc, then you're competing with every other team out there that has a hole for a small pool of starter quality JUCO's and Grad Transfers. And not for nothing, excluding Koda Martin because he wouldn't have been here if not for his father being on the staff, outside of Bleich who was recruited hard out of the portal, I have to go back to the Marrone era to really find 2-3 year quality starters that came in as upperclassmen - Tiller and Hay from Nassau CC. We also got a year out of John Miller at C (another Marrone era find).

The 2016 class was really the start of our problems in this current era.

2016 - Heckel, Servais, Clark (Tr), O'Sullivan (DQ) (Noel Brouse and Cam DeGeorge Decommitted to UCONN after the coaching change)
2017 - Dakota Davis, Patrick Davis (Gr)
2018 - Qadir White (Tr), Carlos Vettorello, Willem Froumy (Tyrone Sampson's offer was pulled due to misconduct - would have been our starting C for 3 years)
2019 - Anthony Red, Matthew Bergeron
2020 - Garth Barclay, Josh Illoa
2021 - Austyn Kauhi, Wes Hoeh, Kalan Ellis, Tyler Magnuson, Enrique Cruz
2022 - ?


JUCO's and Grad Transfers
2018 - Koda Martin (GT)
2019 - Darius Tisdale (JUCO), Ryan Alexander (GT)
2020 - Chris Bleich (GT), Mark Petry (JUCO)
2021 - Jakob Bradford (Willie Tyler - GT from Texas decommitted to Louisiana - Monroe)

Guys bolded in black have proven to be starter quality, guys bolded in red left early and had very little impact on the program.

We had 4 classes in a row 2017-2020 where the highest number of HS recruits we took in a year was 3. That's literally insane. And we were lucky in that 6 of the 9 have served on the 2 deep, with Barclay and Froumy the only ones I believe that haven't yet. White was a major miss in terms of recruiting buzz and sheer impact - a lockdown LT would have made a bigtime impact on the quality of the line.

You look at the list of JUCO's and GT's we have brought in during that period to plug gaps - none of them are real show stoppers outside of Martin and Bleich. Alexander was a complete disaster, Tisdale was the highest profile of the JUCO's and probably is a backup on the 2 deep on a healthy line at best. Which is fine if you have a healthy line - our biggest issue is that we didn't have enough quality starters to begin with and the upperclassmen being brought in to plug those gaps were of the quality to be able to do that as well.

Great post.

We brought in 6 offensive linemen (5 high school and 1 JC) in 21 and need to keep that going.

Although we have "offered" more than 30 high school offensive linemen in the 2022 class, only 15 of those appear to remain uncommitted. Could be tough to find room on the roster with only one offensive linemen actually running out of eligibility after 2021; Airon Servais. If we can hang on to Tisdale and Davis, both redshirt juniors this season, we could have a really nice core of offensive linemen returning for 2022.

Recently I read we actually have more offensive linemen on the roster than at other time under Babers, can anyone confirm this?

I've also heard Coach Schmidt is doing some good work with the offensive line. I look forward to good things from this group this year (as they go, we go).

 

[tep624]

Great post.

We brought in 6 offensive linemen (5 high school and 1 JC) in 21 and need to keep that going.

Although we have "offered" more than 30 high school offensive linemen in the 2022 class, only 15 of those appear to remain uncommitted. Could be tough to find room on the roster with only one offensive linemen actually running out of eligibility after 2021; Airon Servais. If we can hang on to Tisdale and Davis, both redshirt juniors this season, we could have a really nice core of offensive linemen returning for 2022.

Recently I read we actually have more offensive linemen on the roster than at other time under Babers, can anyone confirm this?

I've also heard Coach Schmidt is doing some good work with the offensive line. I look forward to good things from this group this year (as they go, we go).

I'm really hopeful with Schmidt that we have a well rounded OL coach that can recruit, evaluate, teach and make the right strategic decisions as well. We haven't really had that with the line since we had the combination of Marrone and Adkins.

I still can't get over that in the 2017-2020 period (4 recruiting classes) we had 1 OT HS prospect that wasn't a major project - Bergeron. White had the recruiting pedigree but was just as much a project as Barclay or Froumy when it came down to it and will have less impact on the program when it's all said and done than either of those 2.

 

[RandomGuy]

We should every single year be taking 1 above our quota on HS offensive linemen. It's our greatest opportunity to develop a quality 2 deep. Over the past 20 years we've done far better identifying developmental talent and targeting quality 3 star type prospects that maybe are a step too slow or an inch too short for the factories that become competent 3-4 years starter for us. Guys I think of here are Sean Hickey, Justin Pugh, Rob Trudo, Zach Chibane - most of the stalwarts of the Marrone era OL's were guys that were identified and developed and weren't 4 star prospects being chased by everyone and their grandmother.

The challenge with going lean on HS OL recruiting is that if you run into issues with DQ's, or players not developing, etc, then you're competing with every other team out there that has a hole for a small pool of starter quality JUCO's and Grad Transfers. And not for nothing, excluding Koda Martin because he wouldn't have been here if not for his father being on the staff, outside of Bleich who was recruited hard out of the portal, I have to go back to the Marrone era to really find 2-3 year quality starters that came in as upperclassmen - Tiller and Hay from Nassau CC. We also got a year out of John Miller at C (another Marrone era find).

The 2016 class was really the start of our problems in this current era.

2016 - Heckel, Servais, Clark (Tr), O'Sullivan (DQ) (Noel Brouse and Cam DeGeorge Decommitted to UCONN after the coaching change)
2017 - Dakota Davis, Patrick Davis (Gr)
2018 - Qadir White (Tr), Carlos Vettorello, Willem Froumy (Tyrone Sampson's offer was pulled due to misconduct - would have been our starting C for 3 years)
2019 - Anthony Red, Matthew Bergeron
2020 - Garth Barclay, Josh Illoa
2021 - Austyn Kauhi, Wes Hoeh, Kalan Ellis, Tyler Magnuson, Enrique Cruz
2022 - ?


JUCO's and Grad Transfers
2018 - Koda Martin (GT)
2019 - Darius Tisdale (JUCO), Ryan Alexander (GT)
2020 - Chris Bleich (GT), Mark Petry (JUCO)
2021 - Jakob Bradford (Willie Tyler - GT from Texas decommitted to Louisiana - Monroe)

Guys bolded in black have proven to be starter quality, guys bolded in red left early and had very little impact on the program.

We had 4 classes in a row 2017-2020 where the highest number of HS recruits we took in a year was 3. That's literally insane. And we were lucky in that 6 of the 9 have served on the 2 deep, with Barclay and Froumy the only ones I believe that haven't yet. White was a major miss in terms of recruiting buzz and sheer impact - a lockdown LT would have made a bigtime impact on the quality of the line.

You look at the list of JUCO's and GT's we have brought in during that period to plug gaps - none of them are real show stoppers outside of Martin and Bleich. Alexander was a complete disaster, Tisdale was the highest profile of the JUCO's and probably is a backup on the 2 deep on a healthy line at best. Which is fine if you have a healthy line - our biggest issue is that we didn't have enough quality starters to begin with and the upperclassmen being brought in to plug those gaps were of the quality to be able to do that as well.

Clark was also a DQ. Missed Petry.

Oline is always development/coaching.

Interesting that 3 guys, Initially coached by Lynch, in his 2 years, managed to be starters, with another contributer. 2 guys from Cavs 3 years. Yes, time, injuries, etc.

 

[kcsu]

SU will be better if we can stay healthy. We built depth through fire last year played a ton of young kids that are now older stronger and wiser. The coaching staff has a year under their belts and they get to be hands on this spring and fall. We have Senior leadership at key positions which is on both lines. We have depth at the QB position with 3 kids that can run the O and 2 more that look more skilled than the backups we have had in recent years. The schedule sets up well and Dino knows he fanny is on the line so he should be on his game as well. Health is the key and if we can stay healthy we should be 500 or better.

 

[syrBossHogg]

I'm really hopeful with Schmidt that we have a well rounded OL coach that can recruit, evaluate, teach and make the right strategic decisions as well. We haven't really had that with the line since we had the combination of Marrone and Adkins.

I still can't get over that in the 2017-2020 period (4 recruiting classes) we had 1 OT HS prospect that wasn't a major project - Bergeron. White had the recruiting pedigree but was just as much a project as Barclay or Froumy when it came down to it and will have less impact on the program when it's all said and done than either of those 2.

I wasn't a huge fan of Marrone but he handled the OL position a lot better than Dino has, big reason why he had two winning seasons and Dino only has 1 so far.

 

[orangepassion]

Just based on the schedule, our record will be better. How much better? As stated by many, we'll be as good as our OL and to a lesser degree, QB. I've heard too many times before that our OL will be better prior to the season and then see them struggle mightily during the season. I want to see it game 1 at Ohio.

 

[TheCusian]

We’ll have more wins, so yeah

 

[tep624]

Clark was also a DQ. Missed Petry.

Oline is always development/coaching.

Interesting that 3 guys, Initially coached by Lynch, in his 2 years, managed to be starters, with another contributer. 2 guys from Cavs 3 years. Yes, time, injuries, etc.

Petry is under the JUCO/GT section. I edited Clark.

 

[tep624]

I wasn't a huge fan of Marrone but he handled the OL position a lot better than Dino has, big reason why he had two winning seasons and Dino only has 1 so far.

Marrone had his own challenges mostly with recruiting skill position talent - in 2012, 4 seasons after GRob, his best QB (Nassib) and 2 best WR's (Lemon, Sales) were all GRob era recruits. Conversely, 3 years removed from Marrone (2015) - the best QB (Dungey), RB (Fredericks) and WR (Ishmael) - all Shafer era recruits.

But he definitely had a strategy for the OL and you can do a lot with a strong defense and a solid OL. It's why Shafer had a winning season in 2013 with what Marrone had left over.

I sometimes wonder how early Marrone knew in 2012 that he was going to leave, because the 2013 class just looks like it was de-emphasized down the stretch during the bowl season. The high point was Gus Edwards commit that July (subsequently decommitted after the coaching change), but there were some other solid recruits I thought we were sure to land (Shawn Curtis the OL from FL that went to Iowa St.) that we whiffed on in Oct/Nov leading to 5 JUCO commits in Dec right before Marrone left.

 

[Shenexon]

We’re going to be significantly better...and I choose not to qualify it with ifs. It’s our turn to be better, dammit! Occam’s razor applies here, too...

 

[money3189]

Line will be better. Im hoping they stay healthy. Im relying on guys like Red and Froumy to develop. They've both been in the program for 3 years. I think Schmidt can have them prepared. Bleich should step in at one of the guards spots. Tisdale has started games. Would Bradford be ready to help just in case? It might be too much to ask on a juco transfer. Maybe the staff is cross training guys like Vett and Froumy for OT in case there is injuries there.

 

[Shooter]

Cuse fans have become accustomed to bad results the last 20 years and I can’t blame them, but I think we’re actually going to have some success this year because of the addition of Mike Schmidt and with Tucker continuing to impress.

Dino has always wanted to run the ball and I think this is the year he’s fibally able to. Schmidt developed guys at SDST. Cav for some reason did not have that ability (I think at some point in his career he did.) Bleich will be an improvement. Servais will get back to form with proper coaching. Hoping one of the young guys on the line (Red) will pleasantly surprise us.

Devito is Devito and that won’t change but I think the run game will open up enough of the field for him to manage drives down the field. Jorts will have special packages and win us a game. Linebackers will carry the defense and dline will be solid anchor. We’re not deep and we’ve got issues but we’re bowling this year.

 

[money3189]

Cuse fans have become accustomed to bad results the last 20 years and I can’t blame them, but I think we’re actually going to have some success this year because of the addition of Mike Schmidt and with Tucker continuing to impress.

Dino has always wanted to run the ball and I think this is the year he’s fibally able to. Schmidt developed guys at SDST. Cav for some reason did not have that ability (I think at some point in his career he did.) Bleich will be an improvement. Servais will get back to form with proper coaching. Hoping one of the young guys on the line (Red) will pleasantly surprise us.

Devito is Devito and that won’t change but I think the run game will open up enough of the field for him to manage drives down the field. Jorts will have special packages and win us a game. Linebackers will carry the defense and dline will be solid anchor. We’re not deep and we’ve got issues but we’re bowling this year.

Im on the same page with you Shooter. We are going to be able to run the ball this year. 2019 featured a true freshman Berg, first time starters Davis and Vett and we came close to running for 2000 yards with that group. Those guys are 3 year starters now along with Serv. With the backs we have. I feel good as long as we stay healthy. Having a efficient passing game is gonna help too. Teams won't be able to just load the box to stop the run.

 

[RoatanCuse]

Why are we surprised? They went hard after quality transfers. Didn’t get them. It’s no different than recruiting HS kids.We are gonna miss on players that have good options. The better transfers want to play for contenders and that leaves slim pickings. You’re left with guys who may not be any better than what you have. Even when you get transfers. You still have to coach them up. We have to rely on developing the players on the roster more than anything. It’s great if we can get quality transfers to fill spots but not just anyone. Quality gets you better. Not quantity.

Right. I have always said it. Quality coaching gets you better players.. then it slowly spirals upwards.