Nothing crazy, but we landed a commitment from the number one punter. Rumors of a huge NIL donation. We have some top kids coming in for visits. Nothing that’s even close to stopping the bleeding, but some positive things none the less.
Yes I saw those and that's good but as you said, not really stopping the bleeding....at this moment. We've seen explosions of good news in the past and that's what I guess I'm hoping for. Not trying to be cynical but news of a punter isn't offsetting recruits taking visits to top programs or losing key members of the team.
I wasn’t trying to imply that they would or should. Like I said, it’s going to be tough to get momentum going back in the right direction.
It's true that winning some of those close ones would have everyone feeling a lot better right now. So does Billy go from a good coach to a bad one on the margin of Princely not making a tackle, ETN not running out of bounds, missed FGs, etc? Players in position to get the job done, Billy can't do it for them. I do agree at some point we've gotta win some that you're not expected to win and we'll need to see that next year despite the difficult schedule. I keep seeing this notion of "hemorrhaging" but I think that's overstated. We've lost like two recruits, gained another one. Lost 7, 7, and 1, plus some other non-impact guys. Most in the portal haven't decided on a destination and signing day hasn't happened yet. Of course if you take a snapshot during the period where people are declaring that they're leaving but before the time when people declare where they're going then it's going to look like we've lost talent. We don't really know how well or poorly Billy is doing yet. Once the dust settles then some semblance of a fair evaluation can happen.
I truly do get where you are coming from, human to be frustrated. But this is just that tough window where mostly bad is going to happen. For example, we all knew there was going to have to be a mass exodus from the roster to accomodate new blood....and we all knew some of that attrition would be guys we didn't want to lose and would be painful. But when it actually happens it still stings. We just have to be patient and hope the players brought in are more talented and/or a better fit. Same logic with the coaching changes, everyone wanted movement on that front so we have to accept the collateral damage. IMO the DB hire is gonna be a homer and I think we have a new playcaller next season. I'm out of the loop on DL so I can't speculate on that till it happens. Napier will be the coach next year. Him not working out would once again set the program back to ground zero. IMO we are best served by not overeacting to what we perceive as the negatives, just let things play out. Easier said than done at times, but some (not you) use every little chink as an excuse to rant. It's simply counterproductive and often inaccurate.
I'd somewhat agree however where the losses are happening adds to the significance of those losses. Firstly, we were thin on the D-line before losing Norman, collins and Johnson from the recruiting class. Losing Johnson to Georgia is salt to the wounds. Etienne is a talent and while I believe running back talent is generally replaceable, losing him has more significance due to the reasons he seems to be claiming. I don't even check recruiting threads on individual players anymore but I see that filsame and Amari Williams threads are getting jumped now too? In any event I'm curious to see what happens going forward because I don't believe for a second we won't respond in some way soon. The persistent hecklers do nothing but add to the perception that there is no turning the program around. I believe in constructive criticism but the temper tantrums at every turn are pretty embarassing.
The problem with preaching patience is it wears thin on the listener pretty quick without a little hope. Honestly, Napier lost me at the Arkansas game when the same stupid crap that has happened for two years now without being addressed cost us yet another game. That game was lost by the coaching staff and I don't care what anyone else says about that to excuse his piss-poor game management and attention to detail. He had three incredibly winnable games this year and went 0-3. He has to change what he is doing. When you combine poor in-game decisions with a strategy that leaves almost no room for error you are going to lose close games and the patience will run out for everyone else.
All valid reasons for concern and all we can do is wait and see what happens. Hopefully we get some coaches that can get their shit together and at least we don’t have to worry about ETN running out of bounds at the end of the freaking game
if he can get it turned around and win eight or 10 games I think it will be in 2025. Next year is going to be rough. We just don’t have the players.
Remember. We must give all the praise and none of the criticism to the paid athlete that points fingers at his teammates and coaches before bailing out to a rival.
It could be sooner if Men's hoops miss the tourney again. Although, at this point, I think this team has much more potential than the past couple.
This is where the biggest damage is being done. It's what got the last 3 coaches fired as they lost control of it. I said the same thing when Mullen's downward spiral began. You're not fired for making a mistake. You get fired because too many people lose hope that you can fix it and make it better.
30 seconds wouldnt have ended that game any different...we stunk it up and mismanaged it entirely start to miserable finish.
