FOOTBALL CUSA Kickoff Notebook: “This is not a rebuild..."

[SpaceRaider]

CUSA Kickoff Notebook: “This is not a rebuild at MTSU.” - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

FRISCO, Texas — Derek Mason is never one to shy away from high expectations. He set them from the very first team meeting the night he was hired. He enforces them

goblueraiders.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

MT segment of the ESPN+ video starts at the 1:45:00 mark or so...

Conference USA Football Kickoff (7/23/24) - Live Stream - Watch ESPN

Watch the Conference USA Football Kickoff NCAA Football live stream from ESPN+ on Watch ESPN. First streamed on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.

www.espn.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

New coach Derek Mason called MTSU football fans 'apathetic.' How he's trying to build a strong base

Derek Mason has spent much of his time since being named MTSU's football coach trying to drum up fan support.

www.dnj.com

 

[sWiley]

He says all the right things. At the end of the day it's going to come down to preparation and execution.

I'm personally highly skeptical of both coordinator hires. I was a big fan of both Stewart and Shafer. I understand they needed to be replaced for the sake of new blood and a new way of doing things, but in my opinion it's hard to find good coordinators at our level.

One thing to consider is with Mason's background he could always take over the defense if needed. Offensively though it's looking like Bodie or bust.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[MidTennMtneer]

At this point the same has been said for months. Like Wiley stated, time to let the playing do the talking.

I will say the whole media days thing looked much more professional this year than the last few. The whole let's sit down against a railing at a baseball park made zero sense. Golf doesn't either, but the stage setup looked better.

 

[Shayne_Pickering]

He says all the right things. At the end of the day it's going to come down to preparation and execution.

I'm personally highly skeptical of both coordinator hires. I was a big fan of both Stewart and Shafer. I understand they needed to be replaced for the sake of new blood and a new way of doing things, but in my opinion it's hard to find good coordinators at our level.

One thing to consider is with Mason's background he could always take over the defense if needed. Offensively though it's looking like Bodie or bust.

I think Stewart is as close to Mason as you're going to get without being Mason in a lot of ways. I can get the skepticism on Bodie Reeder tho but I think he has a plan for what he wants to do and knows how to effectively use that. With that being said tho, he's going to have to bring in talent on that OL. High school talent was nice but obviously they won't be playing for at least two years

 

[blueraiderJT]

I think Stewart is as close to Mason as you're going to get without being Mason in a lot of ways. I can get the skepticism on Bodie Reeder tho but I think he has a plan for what he wants to do and knows how to effectively use that. With that being said tho, he's going to have to bring in talent on that OL. High school talent was nice but obviously they won't be playing for at least two years

If we can effectively move the ball with better protection and run the ball a bit more, we will win plenty of games. We lost 5 games by 8 points or less last year. Our line was already better in the spring than they were at any point last year. Nick is clearly capable and we have 2 very good WR's with a great TE/WR to boot. Frank and company at RB are capable if the line blocks which it will. If we run it 15% better with better with no TO's, we will be much better. QB will have the mic in their helmet this year and a defensive player will as well. That will matter. I'm hopefull. Kelly is a very talented WR. We should be ok. The S&C is the best we've had since Spray. The OL coach is as solid as we could've hired. He's a potential gold jacket having 2 rings with the steelers.

 

[Shayne_Pickering]

If we can effectively move the ball with better protection and run the ball a bit more, we will win plenty of games. We lost 5 games by 8 points or less last year. Our line was already better in the spring than they were at any point last year. Nick is clearly capable and we have 2 very good WR's with a great TE/WR to boot. Frank and company at RB are capable if the line blocks which it will. If we run it 15% better with better with no TO's, we will be much better. QB will have the mic in their helmet this year and a defensive player will as well. That will matter. I'm hopefull. Kelly is a very talented WR. We should be ok. The S&C is the best we've had since Spray. The OL coach is as solid as we could've hired. He's a potential gold jacket having 2 rings with the steelers.

I'm a big fan of the skill positions. OL is just the huge question. You feel good about Julius Pierce and Ethan Ellis and then after that it's tough to feel confident. Now you gotta see what happens with Ethan obviously. I think it was Sam at MT Athletics that had in an article them talking about using 2 TEs a lot this season to help protect Nic so that makes one feel even less uncertain at this moment.

But skill wise yeah should be fine. We'll see what they do at slot receiver but most these outside guys they got can play it. But TE duo of Holden and Mizzou kid should be strong, RB duo should be strong, and Omari has all conference potential right now

 

[blueraiderJT]

We will be throwing to the TE a lot more which keeps the LB's more honest and playing under center more. More conventional offense. Less no huddle spread b ball on grass BS which gave us 45 second offensive series. More possession ball. That alone improves us. Our line was utter sh!t last year. No way it's worse this year. Polly was the worst OL coach I've ever seen. No tech at all. In the spring I saw more tecnique on the OL than I've seen in YEARS. Literal years. We have plenty of OL with size. More size than we've had in years. We will be fine. The recruiting for next year is already light years ahead of what Stock did here and we will have the new facility. Then we hit warp drive for 26. If Ellis hasn't already been dismissed, it's an internal matter and he's still balling. If he's gone, next man up. We won 4 games last year. He's not a NFL 1st rounder anyway. Nobody cares, work harder.

 

[RaidRRick]

Has anyone seen the 2024 Media Guide and specifically the depth chart? I can't find it on goblueraiders.com.

 

[MTFAN61]

Speaking of increased tight end usage for the Raiders. I think Holden Willis could have even a bigger year than in 2023. He finished with close to 50 catches with multiple TD's on an offense not specifically oriented for a TE. Willis has deceptive speed for his size, & has perfect height at 6' 4". However he was a bit thin in my opinion. If he could bulk up close to 225-230 lbs range could see someone giving him a shot in the NFL.
We've talked about a number of the offensive weapons MT has this year. With our new scheme be wise to not sleep on Willis tearing it up on the field again this year.

 

[Shayne_Pickering]

Speaking of increased tight end usage for the Raiders. I think Holden Willis could have even a bigger year than in 2023. He finished with close to 50 catches with multiple TD's on an offense not specifically oriented for a TE. Willis has deceptive speed for his size, & has perfect height at 6' 4". However he was a bit thin in my opinion. If he could bulk up close to 225-230 lbs range could see someone giving him a shot in the NFL.
We've talked about a number of the offensive weapons MT has this year. With our new scheme be wise to not sleep on Willis tearing it up on the field again this year.

To the point of the person talking about throwing to tight ends more in this offense, I would tend to agree but I wonder what that looks like post Holden. I think Holden will get a ton of targets as a flex tight end this year. Especially with no true slot guys guaranteed to be starting or anything like that this season

 

[Shayne_Pickering]

We will be throwing to the TE a lot more which keeps the LB's more honest and playing under center more. More conventional offense. Less no huddle spread b ball on grass BS which gave us 45 second offensive series. More possession ball. That alone improves us. Our line was utter sh!t last year. No way it's worse this year. Polly was the worst OL coach I've ever seen. No tech at all. In the spring I saw more tecnique on the OL than I've seen in YEARS. Literal years. We have plenty of OL with size. More size than we've had in years. We will be fine. The recruiting for next year is already light years ahead of what Stock did here and we will have the new facility. Then we hit warp drive for 26. If Ellis hasn't already been dismissed, it's an internal matter and he's still balling. If he's gone, next man up. We won 4 games last year. He's not a NFL 1st rounder anyway. Nobody cares, work harder.

I agree with part of what you say but I guarantee you this coaching staff would be the one who cares if Ethan doesn't get to play. You have two guys on the OL who you can trust to consistently give you good play right now in Julius Pierce at center and Ethan Ellis at left guard. You said it yourself the line was not good last year and you lost the good players from that unit to add on to that this offseason. This staff is starting to bring in the talent but up front is the one spot where you don't play for a little bit to develop typically no matter what. I'm not going to argue whether Ethan should stay on the team or not as it's not my decision but it would be a brutal blow if it ends up being he won't be playing. I'm not worried about the OL long term with this staff (in fact I really like the class they should sign up front in 2025) but in the short term MTSU just doesn't have the veteran talent yet to just be next man up on the OL

 

[MTFAN61]

I agree with part of what you say but I guarantee you this coaching staff would be the one who cares if Ethan doesn't get to play. You have two guys on the OL who you can trust to consistently give you good play right now in Julius Pierce at center and Ethan Ellis at left guard. You said it yourself the line was not good last year and you lost the good players from that unit to add on to that this offseason. This staff is starting to bring in the talent but up front is the one spot where you don't play for a little bit to develop typically no matter what. I'm not going to argue whether Ethan should stay on the team or not as it's not my decision but it would be a brutal blow if it ends up being he won't be playing. I'm not worried about the OL long term with this staff (in fact I really like the class they should sign up front in 2025) but in the short term MTSU just doesn't have the veteran talent yet to just be next man up on the OL

You're pretty much spot on. It has nothing to do with what we the public thinks either way. And bottom line no matter how the events read out it is still a misdemeanor charge.
It's been close to a week since said incident. Looks like he's still on the team. There may be a suspension. If so I would anticipate the Tech game, but in the best interests of protecting our QB should be back for Ole Miss.
I think we're all ready to move on, & let CDM make his call.

 

[Shayne_Pickering]

You're pretty much spot on. It has nothing to do with what we the public thinks either way. And bottom line no matter how the events read out it is still a misdemeanor charge.
It's been close to a week since said incident. Looks like he's still on the team. There may be a suspension. If so I would anticipate the Tech game, but in the best interests of protecting our QB should be back for Ole Miss.
I think we're all ready to move on, & let CDM make his call.

His court date is set for August 9th. Kinda seems soon after that could feel like a soft deadline to see something happen of a roster spot. Worth noting Derek Mason was in Frisco for media days during these happenings