Not to be callous, but Ian Fisher is not going to make or break our season. Tough for me to get even remotely riled up about this. Always sad to see the kids get suspended though. Better that it happens now than 6 weeks from now.

(08-21-2013 10:53 AM)DooX Wrote:  Man, seems like our QB position is cursed right now. Feels like it's gone sideways for just about everyone that's been brought in as a potential QB. Even though he's changing positions, it still wasn't enough to overcome 'the curse'.

Ehh, not quite the scenario to be a curse IMO. Generally something bad has to be done for a curse to be "legit". Call it bad luck if you'd like, but I blame the staff (Mickey and Durden) more than the boogeyman on this one.
I feel like the staff was desperately trying to find the next Landers instead of the best QB. It took MM way too long to change his mindset and grab a guy like Birdsong. I believe he learned his lesson in the Thorpe era.
Sure, we've been through the wringer with QB's, and hope that Mickey has learned his lesson. We need a few more decades of hard to explain circumstances before we can call this one a curse, unless you just want to call it the "curse of the MM stubbornness to go outside his comfort zone", but that doesn't sound too catchy.

What is MM's "comfort Zone". Rascati had arguably more success than even Landers and they were two very different QB's and ran different O's. Thorpe had enough raw talent that he could have been successful had things worked out a bit differently for him, or had he taken care of his end of things a bit more seriously.

(08-21-2013 12:10 PM)JMUDunk Wrote:  What is MM's "comfort Zone". Rascati had arguably more success than even Landers and they were two very different QB's and ran different O's. Thorpe had enough raw talent that he could have been successful had things worked out a bit differently for him, or had he taken care of his end of things a bit more seriously.

Thorpe was definitely his own worst enemy.
As for "comfort zone"... I probably didn't use the best word, but he's a pretty stubborn guy. Takes him a little more time than others to admit his mistakes.
I really hope we can get offense rolling this year and O'Cain can turn it around for us.

(08-21-2013 07:36 AM)bridgeforthduke Wrote:  I agree with Dolley.

And Birdsong is considered a pocket passer. That hasn't hurt him staying in the QB position at JMU.

Birdsong is a fullback with an arm.

(08-21-2013 11:21 AM)mistrhanky Wrote:  The number of guys that come in at one position and then play another is endless. It is just how it goes. I remember Russ Grimm speaking at his HOF induction. He was a linebacker in high school, and the first day of practice at Pitt(I think) they handed him a number that started with a 7. He told the coaches their had been a mistake. They told him their was no mistake, now go line up. And, that was how he became a guard.

His point was, you are recruited to be a football player, not a position.

Russ Grimm was a QB AND LB in high school (I know a guy who played at the same school, Southmoreland). Pitt recruited him at both positions. He was irate over the move to the O-line and almost transferred as a result. He was also the Redskins' emergency quarterback back in the day.

(08-21-2013 07:28 AM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  Huh???

Ian came into JMU as a QB. Ian was playing QB all last summer as I remember. However, after summer practice, he didn't cut it as a QB so Mickey and his staff moved him to a position that 1) JMU lacked depth and 2) Ian had been recruited at as well.

How is moving Ian to TE Mickey's "fault?" He had his shot at QB and didn't make it. Whats wrong with that?

I don't recall Ian EVER being recruited as a TE. I KNOW that would have been news to him. Do you think Billy Cosh was recruited at TE? I'm just really tired of seeing kids being recruited at their natural position and the position they played in high school and want to stay at, and being told when they get here, "Sorry, we are deep at QB and we like guys who look like Michael Vick, and you don't look like Michael Vick."

Billy Cosh is now at Houston. This is his fourth stop. Just as I was certain with Fisher, I was certain that Cosh would never see a snap under center, regardless of how talented he may have been. This game is supposed to be about the kids, not some coaching staff that can't get it right when evaluating a player's position strength. You should know that BEFORE you offer a scholly. There are exceptions, but at JMU, the QB mill that just seems to leave a wreckage of young mens' live in its wake is not an exception. It's the rule!

(08-21-2013 07:56 PM)bulldogg Wrote:  

(08-21-2013 07:28 AM)DolleyMadison Wrote:  Huh???

Ian came into JMU as a QB. Ian was playing QB all last summer as I remember. However, after summer practice, he didn't cut it as a QB so Mickey and his staff moved him to a position that 1) JMU lacked depth and 2) Ian had been recruited at as well.

How is moving Ian to TE Mickey's "fault?" He had his shot at QB and didn't make it. Whats wrong with that?

I don't recall Ian EVER being recruited as a TE. I KNOW that would have been news to him. Do you think Billy Cosh was recruited at TE? I'm just really tired of seeing kids being recruited at their natural position and the position they played in high school and want to stay at, and being told when they get here, "Sorry, we are deep at QB and we like guys who look like Michael Vick, and you don't look like Michael Vick."

Billy Cosh is now at Houston. This is his fourth stop. Just as I was certain with Fisher, I was certain that Cosh would never see a snap under center, regardless of how talented he may have been. This game is supposed to be about the kids, not some coaching staff that can't get it right when evaluating a player's position strength. You should know that BEFORE you offer a scholly. There are exceptions, but at JMU, the QB mill that just seems to leave a wreckage of young mens' live in its wake is not an exception. It's the rule!

Pretty sure Fisher was recruited by everyone by us as a TE. And for that reason is why he ended up at JMU; because he wanted to play QB.

That said I don't fault the staff. You don't recruit just one kid per position and hope it just works out. You give a few kids a chance and if someone else is better they win the spot. It's that simple. As with cosh, either find a new role to contribute to the TEAM or move on in looking for better things. The BCS programs don't always get them right either; at least Ian got a shot a QB like he wanted rather than just being told he was a QB and switched day 1 to TE.

Wasn't DQ a QB in HS?

(08-21-2013 07:22 PM)bulldogg Wrote:  

(08-21-2013 07:36 AM)bridgeforthduke Wrote:  I agree with Dolley.

And Birdsong is considered a pocket passer. That hasn't hurt him staying in the QB position at JMU.

Birdsong is a fullback with an arm.

And you could say Fisher is a tightend with one...

(08-21-2013 10:42 PM)BDKJMU Wrote:  

(08-21-2013 07:22 PM)bulldogg Wrote:  

(08-21-2013 07:36 AM)bridgeforthduke Wrote:  I agree with Dolley.

And Birdsong is considered a pocket passer. That hasn't hurt him staying in the QB position at JMU.

Birdsong is a fullback with an arm.

And you could say Fisher is a tightend with one...

Remember Chuck Suppon , that's who Ian reminds me of .

(08-21-2013 10:15 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  Wasn't DQ a QB in HS?

Yes, he was. At R.E.Lee Staunton. Ran all over the place.

If Mickey hadn't changed the position of kids, we wouldn't have our favorite players, akeem Jordan, Chuck suppon, Scotty McGee and daquan Scott! All those players excelled because coaches needed them on the field. The game is about the kids, but they don't know more than a veteran coaching staff

There does seem to be some type of disconnect or misrepresentation on MM's part when recruiting QB's into the JMU system. If it weren't so, we would still have Cosh and others.

However, MM's job is just like a Little League All Star coach without the politics of screaming parents. Each one of the kids are either shortstops or second baseman or pitchers. Come tournament time, some of these infielders become outfielders! Just the same with MM. A lot of any college football teams are made up of former QB's, RB's, LB's and DB's. However, some of these skilled guys turn into TE or others.

Just like the 11 year old that was a star SS in Little League.....come tourney time, he may be playing left field and batting 7th.

If any of you won any intramural championships at JMU, you will understand this surely!

MM is in the wrong if he is STILL recruiting players by saying they will have an opportunity to play a certain position but then not giving them a chance. With that said I thinks its pretty clear that Fisher had his chance at QB but was number 3 or 4 back so was moved for his and the team's best. I think most guys understand there is chance of changing positions but just hope MM is leading them on just so they sign with JMU.

(08-22-2013 07:32 AM)South Carolina Duke Wrote:  There does seem to be some type of disconnect or misrepresentation on MM's part when recruiting QB's into the JMU system. If it weren't so, we would still have Cosh and others.

Sorry, this notion is mostly silliness. If Cosh were the man, he would have earned the starting nod...at Kansas State, and then there would have never been an appearance at JMU. I wish Billy success, but the problem of not playing at JMU rests on Mr. Cosh's shoulders, not the coaching staff, or MM.

MM and his staff recruit players...and MM and his staff are always going to try to put the best 11 players on the field. That holds true for any and all of the positions...especially at the QB slot. To paraphrase an old Smith Barney commercial, you get to play with the first string the old fashioned way, you earn it.

HS QBs are often the best athlete on a team, but are often moved when playing college ball. As already mentioned in this thread, Chuck S. was recruited as a QB, but finished his playing days as an all-conference DT. Akeem Jordan was an all-state RB...anyone suggesting MM missed on his reassignment? Quinton Hunter was also a great HS QB, DQ was holy terror at a QB in HS, Taylor was a QB...but he looks darn good to me at CB.

The only disconnect around here is the micro-analysis of a head coach doing his job the best way he knows how.

I agree, the best 11 should start. No argument from me on that.

Why recruit a kid that does not fit the mold of the head coach and the offense that he wants to execute? That is the question or "disconnect".

However, the only silliness that I have seen has been the man-crush that MM had with our last #7 at QB. Which, contributed to our mediocre, under performing teams and their W-L records...since '08.

I am sure that MM is trying his best with what he has to work with. However, don't forget he recruited these players. The buck stops with him. If that if is "micro analyzing" so be it.

(08-22-2013 08:13 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(08-22-2013 07:32 AM)South Carolina Duke Wrote:  There does seem to be some type of disconnect or misrepresentation on MM's part when recruiting QB's into the JMU system. If it weren't so, we would still have Cosh and others.

Sorry, this notion is mostly silliness. If Cosh were the man, he would have earned the starting nod...at Kansas State, and then there would have never been an appearance at JMU. I wish Billy success, but the problem of not playing at JMU rests on Mr. Cosh's shoulders, not the coaching staff, or MM.

MM and his staff recruit players...and MM and his staff are always going to try to put the best 11 players on the field. That holds true for any and all of the positions...especially at the QB slot. To paraphrase an old Smith Barney commercial, you get to play with the first string the old fashioned way, you earn it.

HS QBs are often the best athlete on a team, but are often moved when playing college ball. As already mentioned in this thread, Chuck S. was recruited as a QB, but finished his playing days as an all-conference DT. Akeem Jordan was an all-state RB...anyone suggesting MM missed on his reassignment? Quinton Hunter was also a great HS QB, DQ was holy terror at a QB in HS, Taylor was a QB...but he looks darn good to me at CB.

The only disconnect around here is the micro-analysis of a head coach doing his job the best way he knows how.

That's exactly what he does. Ian had his whole redshirt year to prove he was a QB. And I think they made the right decision, unless he is the next Logan Thomas , but that is rare.

(08-22-2013 08:13 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  Sorry, this notion is mostly silliness. If Cosh were the man, he would have earned the starting nod...at Kansas State, and then there would have never been an appearance at JMU. I wish Billy success, but the problem of not playing at JMU rests on Mr. Cosh's shoulders, not the coaching staff, or MM.

I hope that this is the case, but I'm not completely convinced that it is.

According to Stoss, there was an Ian Fisher sighting at practice today.