See, this user is a fan of having a diversified portfolio when designing a football team: There should, IMHO, ideally, be a "thumper"-running-back, such as a....LeGarreteBlount, RhamondreStevenson, or DerrickHenry (who is probably better than the aforementioned two), as well as a "scat-back" who can bob-and-weave and jive-and-juke like, say, a LeSean"Shady"McCoy, DarrenSproles, or ZachZenner. Perhaps an in-between-back that can stiff-arm like nobody's business, like a DeMarcoMurray.
Speed isn't as important, IMHO. The likes of JohnBrown, JohnRoss, RashaadPenny, FozzyWhittaker and SammyWatkins only ever had, maybe, a couple of good (NFL) games before disappearing into obscurity for the bulk of their (pro) careers. Finding a skilled player capable of doing at least one of these things well should be enough, IMHO, to land them a spot on the team. No one wants to see a bunch of clones of one another capable of doing almost everything okay, because, in martial-arts logic that the UFC and their fans like to make use of: "Styles make fights."
The same can be said of the pass-catching room, between having a field-stretcher (like "Maserati"-Marv and D.K.Metcalf), a 50/50 "dunker" (like DezBryant), a reliable slot-receiver (like RandallCobb and ColeBeasley), and, of course, the "safety-blanket" Tight-End, a la JasonWitten.
IMHO, that's the "ideal" set-up to have, instead of a team trying to make everyone the best at everything or everyone ONLY a speedster, or ONLY a "thumper", etc., etc..
The (starting) QB doesn't even have to be a "Big"BenRoethlisberger, either, especially if that's that much of a bigger target to hit and, eventually, cripple, when shorter QBs have lapped him, over time! Maybe have one of three QBs on the roster that can be the "Bell-dozer", a la what an OU team had almost fifteen years ago.
The Solid Verbal just recently released a brand new game, for prizes, in which one guesses what four future "Power Four" head coaching vacancies will come and what coach will go fill which vacancy.
Can this user solicit some opinions from fellow Mean Green fans of who is "on-the-hot-seat" in FBS and who may fill which vacancy?
For example: The prevailing theory TSV have gone with is that MattRhule may leave NEB for PSU in the coming offseason, since NEB put out that smokescreen, and MattRhule is a "homer" for PSU and went to high school down the street from it. SteveSarkisian is said to be leaving UT for the NFL's TEN, but that doesn't count for this game and MikeLocksley may, possibly, leave Maryland for the likes of the New York Jets. Thanks.
EDIT: Never mind. Used a combination of Brave browser AI and sports-related articles and blogs for help to make picks.
yeah i've seen a ton of rumors and I don't know whom to believe. I think the carousel is different nowadays with the NIL and stuff. I also think the "good" jobs aren't so good because of the high pressure.
Like, for example at LSU, you have a place where you will be treated like an NFL coach without the NFL roster guarantees. It's the worst of both worlds. Sure, at the G5 level you have to deal with similar things, but you know who you can get and you are kind of done.
You don't need to deal with diva guys on an NFL-like salary and a fanbase breathing down your neck. Or a governor even haha.
Yeah, the governor thing is just weird (privatize all teh tingz).
Both according to AI and many sports articles, the three major openings are LSU, Florida and PSU. Now, some have them in different orders, and TSV have Florida over their beloved PSU, but this user thinks LSU shouldn't even be number-one. IMHO, it's less-desirable than the PSU and Florida jobs.
IMHO, it's PSU, UF, LSU, in that order, with all things, from stature to resources, considered, but, IMHO, even some of the other jobs beyond that seem primed to surpass LSU in the coming years, such as an ACC program turned around by a new hire. LSU just seems like it's being primed for a let-down in the coming years, but PSU and UF seem primed to bounce back to prominence. Do kids really want to go to Baton Rouge, LA over Orlando (Gainesville), FL or Happy Valley, PA? Can think of a bunch of reasons, on and off the field to choose either over LSU as a player/student.
"Past performance is not indicative of future results" is basic investing advice and that seems, IMHO, something to remember when thinking of these programs.
IMHO, MattRhule does well at PSU....a LaneKiffin or EliDrinkwitz does well at UF, but whoever gets the LSU job (don't remember who this user filled-in on their chart; edited it once before) may be in for a rude awakening.
Late comment on an older article, but out of a lack of a newer (football-related) one:
The Solid Verbal just predicted that UNT might face UGA (Georgia-Athens) in the opening-round of the Playoffs.
They also said that there's a very good chance this year a so-called "G6" (it's "P6", TyH, come on) beats a "Power" (blue-blood) team.
UGA is NOTHING like the juggernaut that faltered down the stretch twice in the past handful of years, minus one year of glory it finally deserved, this season. If UGA makes the Playoff this postseason, and UNT does too, and faces UGA....UNT can avenge that loss at UGA from over 15 years ago that they could've won, then!!!
UGA is one of the teams that this fan, without Mean Green-tinted goggles on, thinks UNT can beat that are ranked. Have been betting on an UGA collapse at SOME POINT since preseason!
EDIT: UGA may drop one to UT this weekend....if that happens, then it re-shuffles the deck for a potentially BETTER match-up for UNT in the Playoffs, such as against BYU!
2:48 in, uh, strike the "pay taxes" part and am for all of that!
Was/am half-tempted to start a Mean Green travel channel and profile relative hidden-gems across not just the countryside, like, say, Wellsboro, PA (Pennsylvania in-general), across VA, Gatlinburg, TN, FL, and Durango-Silverton, CO, but also overseas, such as across Russia!
7:41 in, plain cheese, with most of it scraped-off in favor of grated parmesan cheese from a shaker/grinder!
9:08 in, UNT should've been RANKED for the past two weeks, at least, and USF, before dropping to MEM, should've been ranked between 10-and-13, and it's shocking MEM wasn't at any point, but Navy made it to the Verballer's 12-spot! How COUGAR-HIGH made it higher than all of them, perhaps minus Navy, is insane! "Power-5" conference wins muh rear-end! Would place an undefeated or 1-loss American team, this season, over a house-of-cards in the Big 12, any day this season! UT and OU, and A&M and NEB, are long-gone, Colorado lost a lot, TCU lost a lot, everyone lost a lot, really, UCF is a shadow of its former self from a decade ago. But a middling UofH outranks the American logjam???? Collusion! Iowa State, BYU, and freaking Cincy are being talked about like National Title contenders just because one of them is likely going to face TTU in the Big 12 Championship Game, when the American logjam is better than at least two of those teams and have larger footprints than two of them, in several respects. UNT is the third-largest university by enrollment in Texas, only just behind UT and A&M, but are they talked about nearly as much as they should be?
15:03 in, "soft-schedule", this. This is why this user does NOT like non-blue-bloods scheduling FCS creampuffs, like Lamar, even low-end MAC teams (maybe even low-end MWC teams, too, but at least the MWC is better than the MAC, usually), because they don't have the privilege that the Alabamas of the world do, to be able to schedule a Mercer or Chattanooga and still be allowed to compete for, and win, a National Championship! The UNTs of the world have to schedule UP far more than schedule DOWN. Even lateral-moves are "iffy" at-times!
One of the reasons the coming year(s) look so promising, such as facing a nationally-talked-about Indiana to open-up next season!
Am normally one who would favor an option and power-running game scheme a la if not entirely like the academies (which is....almost how this user would play a football video game, like Madden), the prototypical Dallas Cowboys, such as in the '90s and through most of the '00s/'teens with TonyRomo at QB, in that, they can have a gunslinger at QB who is, technically, capable of pulling a JoeBurrow/(younger?)BakerMayfield/PatMahomes/etc., and slinging the ball some 60 times in a game for some 400-500 yards, but choose to run the ball, such as with DeMarcoMurray or ZekeElliot, some....60-64% of the time almost each game of the season.
However, that being said, despite being a fan of the RB position and one who still wishes to play RB, this hybrid-"Air-Raid" offense UNT has adopted the past two-and-a-half years, or less, has been very successful running the ball and hasn't been the stereotypical "Air Raid" offense that either ignores running the ball or at least when the opposing defense gives that up and it would've behooved such teams to have run the ball, with hindsight being 20/20.
It's actually quite a lethal set-up, if one looks at how the "Air-Raid Defense" of MattCraponi was exposed, time-and-again, for two seasons: each pass is, give-or-take, in-and-of-itself, a 50/50 ball, and could lead to a costly interception, because it's easier, with momentum on one's side, to make a pick-six than it is to strip-sack-for-a-TD or otherwise grab a fumble and run it back for a TD. Fumbles are far more rare a sight to see than an interception, therefore, logic would dictate that, while "chunk" plays are still there for pass-catchers for TDs, more actual successful yardage, and safer scoring, can be attained by running the ball, so, if the offense can stretch an opposing defense to focus on WRs, it can open up the running-game in a BIG WAY that could end up winning games, very much how the last two seasons went AGAINST UNT! Props for learning from the mistakes, and becoming the "Achilles' heel" of this team, only now for opposing teams!
One has to wonder what the success-rate is, in-comparison, for the academies when other teams KNOW they're going to run the ball.
/applaud
IMHO, and this really, really, really sucks as a Dallas Cowboys fan to say:
Some of the best, ideal, offense this user has seen in football were those 2012-2014 WashingtonRedskin years with RG3-and-AlfMorris and ChrisThompson at QB and RB and ColtMcCoy (who deserved better than to languish in CLE for years) as a capable backup. Look at BAL with LamarJackson and DerrickHenry! Look at TroyAikman with EmmittSmith!
Wait. 2nd & 19 is not on schedule? 😆
Would be great to get McGill back. He adds the change of pace to Hawkins, but also gives us the strong running.
See, this user is a fan of having a diversified portfolio when designing a football team: There should, IMHO, ideally, be a "thumper"-running-back, such as a....LeGarreteBlount, RhamondreStevenson, or DerrickHenry (who is probably better than the aforementioned two), as well as a "scat-back" who can bob-and-weave and jive-and-juke like, say, a LeSean"Shady"McCoy, DarrenSproles, or ZachZenner. Perhaps an in-between-back that can stiff-arm like nobody's business, like a DeMarcoMurray.
Speed isn't as important, IMHO. The likes of JohnBrown, JohnRoss, RashaadPenny, FozzyWhittaker and SammyWatkins only ever had, maybe, a couple of good (NFL) games before disappearing into obscurity for the bulk of their (pro) careers. Finding a skilled player capable of doing at least one of these things well should be enough, IMHO, to land them a spot on the team. No one wants to see a bunch of clones of one another capable of doing almost everything okay, because, in martial-arts logic that the UFC and their fans like to make use of: "Styles make fights."
The same can be said of the pass-catching room, between having a field-stretcher (like "Maserati"-Marv and D.K.Metcalf), a 50/50 "dunker" (like DezBryant), a reliable slot-receiver (like RandallCobb and ColeBeasley), and, of course, the "safety-blanket" Tight-End, a la JasonWitten.
IMHO, that's the "ideal" set-up to have, instead of a team trying to make everyone the best at everything or everyone ONLY a speedster, or ONLY a "thumper", etc., etc..
The (starting) QB doesn't even have to be a "Big"BenRoethlisberger, either, especially if that's that much of a bigger target to hit and, eventually, cripple, when shorter QBs have lapped him, over time! Maybe have one of three QBs on the roster that can be the "Bell-dozer", a la what an OU team had almost fifteen years ago.
[QUESTION]
The Solid Verbal just recently released a brand new game, for prizes, in which one guesses what four future "Power Four" head coaching vacancies will come and what coach will go fill which vacancy.
Can this user solicit some opinions from fellow Mean Green fans of who is "on-the-hot-seat" in FBS and who may fill which vacancy?
For example: The prevailing theory TSV have gone with is that MattRhule may leave NEB for PSU in the coming offseason, since NEB put out that smokescreen, and MattRhule is a "homer" for PSU and went to high school down the street from it. SteveSarkisian is said to be leaving UT for the NFL's TEN, but that doesn't count for this game and MikeLocksley may, possibly, leave Maryland for the likes of the New York Jets. Thanks.
EDIT: Never mind. Used a combination of Brave browser AI and sports-related articles and blogs for help to make picks.
yeah i've seen a ton of rumors and I don't know whom to believe. I think the carousel is different nowadays with the NIL and stuff. I also think the "good" jobs aren't so good because of the high pressure.
Like, for example at LSU, you have a place where you will be treated like an NFL coach without the NFL roster guarantees. It's the worst of both worlds. Sure, at the G5 level you have to deal with similar things, but you know who you can get and you are kind of done.
You don't need to deal with diva guys on an NFL-like salary and a fanbase breathing down your neck. Or a governor even haha.
Yeah, the governor thing is just weird (privatize all teh tingz).
Both according to AI and many sports articles, the three major openings are LSU, Florida and PSU. Now, some have them in different orders, and TSV have Florida over their beloved PSU, but this user thinks LSU shouldn't even be number-one. IMHO, it's less-desirable than the PSU and Florida jobs.
IMHO, it's PSU, UF, LSU, in that order, with all things, from stature to resources, considered, but, IMHO, even some of the other jobs beyond that seem primed to surpass LSU in the coming years, such as an ACC program turned around by a new hire. LSU just seems like it's being primed for a let-down in the coming years, but PSU and UF seem primed to bounce back to prominence. Do kids really want to go to Baton Rouge, LA over Orlando (Gainesville), FL or Happy Valley, PA? Can think of a bunch of reasons, on and off the field to choose either over LSU as a player/student.
"Past performance is not indicative of future results" is basic investing advice and that seems, IMHO, something to remember when thinking of these programs.
IMHO, MattRhule does well at PSU....a LaneKiffin or EliDrinkwitz does well at UF, but whoever gets the LSU job (don't remember who this user filled-in on their chart; edited it once before) may be in for a rude awakening.
Always appreciate you guys and your output! What a season so far. This is beyond making my mean green heart happy
Late comment on an older article, but out of a lack of a newer (football-related) one:
The Solid Verbal just predicted that UNT might face UGA (Georgia-Athens) in the opening-round of the Playoffs.
They also said that there's a very good chance this year a so-called "G6" (it's "P6", TyH, come on) beats a "Power" (blue-blood) team.
UGA is NOTHING like the juggernaut that faltered down the stretch twice in the past handful of years, minus one year of glory it finally deserved, this season. If UGA makes the Playoff this postseason, and UNT does too, and faces UGA....UNT can avenge that loss at UGA from over 15 years ago that they could've won, then!!!
UGA is one of the teams that this fan, without Mean Green-tinted goggles on, thinks UNT can beat that are ranked. Have been betting on an UGA collapse at SOME POINT since preseason!
EDIT: UGA may drop one to UT this weekend....if that happens, then it re-shuffles the deck for a potentially BETTER match-up for UNT in the Playoffs, such as against BYU!
GMG!
2:48 in, uh, strike the "pay taxes" part and am for all of that!
Was/am half-tempted to start a Mean Green travel channel and profile relative hidden-gems across not just the countryside, like, say, Wellsboro, PA (Pennsylvania in-general), across VA, Gatlinburg, TN, FL, and Durango-Silverton, CO, but also overseas, such as across Russia!
7:41 in, plain cheese, with most of it scraped-off in favor of grated parmesan cheese from a shaker/grinder!
9:08 in, UNT should've been RANKED for the past two weeks, at least, and USF, before dropping to MEM, should've been ranked between 10-and-13, and it's shocking MEM wasn't at any point, but Navy made it to the Verballer's 12-spot! How COUGAR-HIGH made it higher than all of them, perhaps minus Navy, is insane! "Power-5" conference wins muh rear-end! Would place an undefeated or 1-loss American team, this season, over a house-of-cards in the Big 12, any day this season! UT and OU, and A&M and NEB, are long-gone, Colorado lost a lot, TCU lost a lot, everyone lost a lot, really, UCF is a shadow of its former self from a decade ago. But a middling UofH outranks the American logjam???? Collusion! Iowa State, BYU, and freaking Cincy are being talked about like National Title contenders just because one of them is likely going to face TTU in the Big 12 Championship Game, when the American logjam is better than at least two of those teams and have larger footprints than two of them, in several respects. UNT is the third-largest university by enrollment in Texas, only just behind UT and A&M, but are they talked about nearly as much as they should be?
15:03 in, "soft-schedule", this. This is why this user does NOT like non-blue-bloods scheduling FCS creampuffs, like Lamar, even low-end MAC teams (maybe even low-end MWC teams, too, but at least the MWC is better than the MAC, usually), because they don't have the privilege that the Alabamas of the world do, to be able to schedule a Mercer or Chattanooga and still be allowed to compete for, and win, a National Championship! The UNTs of the world have to schedule UP far more than schedule DOWN. Even lateral-moves are "iffy" at-times!
One of the reasons the coming year(s) look so promising, such as facing a nationally-talked-about Indiana to open-up next season!
Am normally one who would favor an option and power-running game scheme a la if not entirely like the academies (which is....almost how this user would play a football video game, like Madden), the prototypical Dallas Cowboys, such as in the '90s and through most of the '00s/'teens with TonyRomo at QB, in that, they can have a gunslinger at QB who is, technically, capable of pulling a JoeBurrow/(younger?)BakerMayfield/PatMahomes/etc., and slinging the ball some 60 times in a game for some 400-500 yards, but choose to run the ball, such as with DeMarcoMurray or ZekeElliot, some....60-64% of the time almost each game of the season.
However, that being said, despite being a fan of the RB position and one who still wishes to play RB, this hybrid-"Air-Raid" offense UNT has adopted the past two-and-a-half years, or less, has been very successful running the ball and hasn't been the stereotypical "Air Raid" offense that either ignores running the ball or at least when the opposing defense gives that up and it would've behooved such teams to have run the ball, with hindsight being 20/20.
It's actually quite a lethal set-up, if one looks at how the "Air-Raid Defense" of MattCraponi was exposed, time-and-again, for two seasons: each pass is, give-or-take, in-and-of-itself, a 50/50 ball, and could lead to a costly interception, because it's easier, with momentum on one's side, to make a pick-six than it is to strip-sack-for-a-TD or otherwise grab a fumble and run it back for a TD. Fumbles are far more rare a sight to see than an interception, therefore, logic would dictate that, while "chunk" plays are still there for pass-catchers for TDs, more actual successful yardage, and safer scoring, can be attained by running the ball, so, if the offense can stretch an opposing defense to focus on WRs, it can open up the running-game in a BIG WAY that could end up winning games, very much how the last two seasons went AGAINST UNT! Props for learning from the mistakes, and becoming the "Achilles' heel" of this team, only now for opposing teams!
One has to wonder what the success-rate is, in-comparison, for the academies when other teams KNOW they're going to run the ball.
/applaud
IMHO, and this really, really, really sucks as a Dallas Cowboys fan to say:
Some of the best, ideal, offense this user has seen in football were those 2012-2014 WashingtonRedskin years with RG3-and-AlfMorris and ChrisThompson at QB and RB and ColtMcCoy (who deserved better than to languish in CLE for years) as a capable backup. Look at BAL with LamarJackson and DerrickHenry! Look at TroyAikman with EmmittSmith!