I know it's difficult, but I was curious if there any positives or even potential positives that have come from this season that we can look forward to for 2018.
The emergence of Brad Anderson has been a welcome and needed sight, so we can start there. Also, obviously, we have a legit D-1 defensive coordinator now and our defense is playing much, much better and should continue to do so for a while. Our defense will be even better next year as we don't lose much on that side of the ball. DJ Sanders and Mike Minter won't be easy to replace, but we can do it. Charvarious Ward has been a great contributor for us too but we should be able to find a replacement there. Our defense can be a top 30-40 defense next year depending on the schedule. I still think we finish in the top 50 this year.
Just looking at our roster, we really don't lose much next year. On the offensive side of the ball, we'll lose Connor Trent and Lucas Hamilton but with the way our OL is playing right now, that's probably a positive thing.
Special teams: Replacing Cannon Rooker will be an obvious challenge. Let's hope Crews Holt was worthy of the scholarship and can step right in without missing a beat, but we'll see.
With regards to this year, we need to treat these last 5 games as an audition for next year IMO. A bowl game would help only because it's more practices and another game to get better, but let's not sacrifice anything trying to get there because it isn't that important. Also, if there's any freshman who could potentially help us next year, let's get them out there and get them some experience right now! Go for the medical red-shirt for Brent (if he still has the desire to play of course), and build towards the future.
Lastly, it's all gonna come down to the OL play. We'll have the QB (assuming Brent plays next year and stays healthy), WR's, RB's, and defense to win a championship. I'm normally not a proponent of JUCO signings (especially with our coaches), but I say go out and sign 3 or 4 JUCO OL (in addition to the 3 current HS commits) and go all in on 2018
The emergence of Brad Anderson has been a welcome and needed sight, so we can start there. Also, obviously, we have a legit D-1 defensive coordinator now and our defense is playing much, much better and should continue to do so for a while. Our defense will be even better next year as we don't lose much on that side of the ball. DJ Sanders and Mike Minter won't be easy to replace, but we can do it. Charvarious Ward has been a great contributor for us too but we should be able to find a replacement there. Our defense can be a top 30-40 defense next year depending on the schedule. I still think we finish in the top 50 this year.
Just looking at our roster, we really don't lose much next year. On the offensive side of the ball, we'll lose Connor Trent and Lucas Hamilton but with the way our OL is playing right now, that's probably a positive thing.
Special teams: Replacing Cannon Rooker will be an obvious challenge. Let's hope Crews Holt was worthy of the scholarship and can step right in without missing a beat, but we'll see.
With regards to this year, we need to treat these last 5 games as an audition for next year IMO. A bowl game would help only because it's more practices and another game to get better, but let's not sacrifice anything trying to get there because it isn't that important. Also, if there's any freshman who could potentially help us next year, let's get them out there and get them some experience right now! Go for the medical red-shirt for Brent (if he still has the desire to play of course), and build towards the future.
Lastly, it's all gonna come down to the OL play. We'll have the QB (assuming Brent plays next year and stays healthy), WR's, RB's, and defense to win a championship. I'm normally not a proponent of JUCO signings (especially with our coaches), but I say go out and sign 3 or 4 JUCO OL (in addition to the 3 current HS commits) and go all in on 2018
