(06-02-2015 01:08 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  I'm not too terribly worried about how the league is perceived. For casual fans, all they'll see is "not power 5" no matter what.

Actually, many in the southeastern part of the country think most of CUSA are FCS schools. True story... I was at a high school baseball game about 2 months ago. La Tech QB signee J'Mar Smith was playing for one of the teams. He looked like a man among boys out there. I overheard a discussion that a handful of people were having about him. They knew that he had signed to play football and probably baseball at La Tech. However, they could not figure out why he did not go to a Div 1a school (they perceived La Tech as Div 1AA). Then they surmised that he must have gone there because that was the only place that would let a QB play both sports. Obviously, they were very ignorant in many ways. Yet, that is how most of CUSA is perceived in the south.

(06-03-2015 10:41 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:33 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:19 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  He can't hear you. They are starting from zero in his mind.

Comprehension does not appear to be a strong suit of yours. I have said there will be a handful of hanger's-on (maybe even 30). However, you refuse to address the fact that 2016 is untenable on many levels. Your arguement has more holes in it than a slice of swiss cheese yet you tenaciously hang on to an untenable position. Your position does a disservice to incoming freshman by playing them way too early against competition where they will be clearly overmatched. Even if they wanted to, clearer heads within the conference wouldn't allow it.

Since when is playing freshmen a negative? So playing freshmen is a disservice and you say my argument has holes? Wow.

We play freshmen every year all over the field. Some of our most productive players over the past few years have played as true freshmen. TT Barber, Shane Tucker, Jordan Parker, Jimal McBride, Patrick McNeil just to name a few.

Having a few talented freshmen contribute is one thing, but you can't compete with almost an entire team of freshmen.

UAB will have some tough times. But they will be FINE if their fans stick with them and remain as committed as they were during all this. In fact, if they do stick then UAB will come out better off in the long-term.

There is nothing like having someone shoot at you and miss to clear the mind.

Start playing as soon as you can with whatever you have.

(06-03-2015 10:59 AM)USMSTUD Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:41 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:33 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:19 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  He can't hear you. They are starting from zero in his mind.

Comprehension does not appear to be a strong suit of yours. I have said there will be a handful of hanger's-on (maybe even 30). However, you refuse to address the fact that 2016 is untenable on many levels. Your arguement has more holes in it than a slice of swiss cheese yet you tenaciously hang on to an untenable position. Your position does a disservice to incoming freshman by playing them way too early against competition where they will be clearly overmatched. Even if they wanted to, clearer heads within the conference wouldn't allow it.

Since when is playing freshmen a negative? So playing freshmen is a disservice and you say my argument has holes? Wow.

We play freshmen every year all over the field. Some of our most productive players over the past few years have played as true freshmen. TT Barber, Shane Tucker, Jordan Parker, Jimal McBride, Patrick McNeil just to name a few.

Having a few talented freshmen contribute is one thing, but you can't compete with almost an entire team of freshmen.

Uh that's probably in the no sh1t category. Why take one comment without the context of the others?

Why is there an alarm that there's going to be 70 or 80 freshmen running around who can't tell the difference between the football field and baseball field?? I don't get it.

Let me spell it out. It won't be all freshmen. There are 30 or so kids remaining and they can sign as many JUCO's as they desire and are able.

(06-02-2015 08:09 PM)Ragu Wrote:  It always cracks me up when the sun belt portion that are morons act like they upgraded when fau fiu and North Texas left. No you got Idaho Georgia state and New Mexico st

Get out of here with that crap. We are glad to be gone too. Now since you don't care about us then stay the hell off our board

Please dont mention us.

Thanks

(06-03-2015 10:51 AM)Eagleholic Wrote:  

(06-02-2015 01:08 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  I'm not too terribly worried about how the league is perceived. For casual fans, all they'll see is "not power 5" no matter what.

Actually, many in the southeastern part of the country think most of CUSA are FCS schools. True story... I was at a high school baseball game about 2 months ago. La Tech QB signee J'Mar Smith was playing for one of the teams. He looked like a man among boys out there. I overheard a discussion that a handful of people were having about him. They knew that he had signed to play football and probably baseball at La Tech. However, they could not figure out why he did not go to a Div 1a school (they perceived La Tech as Div 1AA). Then they surmised that he must have gone there because that was the only place that would let a QB play both sports. Obviously, they were very ignorant in many ways. Yet, that is how most of CUSA is perceived in the south.

Good to hear.

Those guys must have been really ashamed when a "FCS" school beat Ole Miss and Mississippi State a few years ago

(06-03-2015 11:10 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:59 AM)USMSTUD Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:41 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:33 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:19 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  He can't hear you. They are starting from zero in his mind.

Comprehension does not appear to be a strong suit of yours. I have said there will be a handful of hanger's-on (maybe even 30). However, you refuse to address the fact that 2016 is untenable on many levels. Your arguement has more holes in it than a slice of swiss cheese yet you tenaciously hang on to an untenable position. Your position does a disservice to incoming freshman by playing them way too early against competition where they will be clearly overmatched. Even if they wanted to, clearer heads within the conference wouldn't allow it.

Since when is playing freshmen a negative? So playing freshmen is a disservice and you say my argument has holes? Wow.

We play freshmen every year all over the field. Some of our most productive players over the past few years have played as true freshmen. TT Barber, Shane Tucker, Jordan Parker, Jimal McBride, Patrick McNeil just to name a few.

Having a few talented freshmen contribute is one thing, but you can't compete with almost an entire team of freshmen.

Uh that's probably in the no sh1t category. Why take one comment without the context of the others?

Why is there an alarm that there's going to be 70 or 80 freshmen running around who can't tell the difference between the football field and baseball field?? I don't get it.

Let me spell it out. It won't be all freshmen. There are 30 or so kids remaining and they can sign as many JUCO's as they desire and are able.

I think we can all agree that they'll be in better shape than a program starting completely from the ground up. But there's going to be no on-field continuity when they start playing in 2016. Having them play a mostly FBS schedule in their first year with a team that has no experience playing with each other, a team that will have a substandard 2015 recruiting class because of the timing of the program's return, is a recipe for disaster.

Other than short-term economic gain (and really, considering that this time last month there wasn't going to be a football program at all), is there any harm in going about this like a call-up and playing two years of FCS? Give the team a chance to gel and develop a winning culture before they move up. Do FBS the right way, not the fastest way.

Look at ODU: Four years of pretty successful FCS before moving up to FBS Transitional last season. Despite having a four-year starter at QB, they were, let's be honest here, very fortunate to go 6-6. All of their wins were by no more than 14 points, and their four CUSA wins well all by a field goal. A couple of bad breaks and ODU could have been 3-9.

I'm sure UAB will return to competitiveness ... eventually. But playing a CUSA schedule in its first season on the field might do more harm than good.

They'll be competitive again around the time we are.

(06-03-2015 10:41 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  Since when is playing freshmen a negative? So playing freshmen is a disservice and you say my argument has holes? Wow.

We play freshmen every year all over the field. Some of our most productive players over the past few years have played as true freshmen. TT Barber, Shane Tucker, Jordan Parker, Jimal McBride, Patrick McNeil just to name a few.

Sorry, but I'm not going to continue discussing this matter with you when you equate a handful of cherry-picked exceptional freshman with trotting out 1/2 a team that has been on-campus for two weeks.

(06-03-2015 01:04 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:41 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  Since when is playing freshmen a negative? So playing freshmen is a disservice and you say my argument has holes? Wow.

We play freshmen every year all over the field. Some of our most productive players over the past few years have played as true freshmen. TT Barber, Shane Tucker, Jordan Parker, Jimal McBride, Patrick McNeil just to name a few.

Sorry, but I'm not going to continue discussing this matter with you when you equate a handful of cherry-picked exceptional freshman with trotting out 1/2 a team that has been on-campus for two weeks.

Again, they are not all going to be freshmen. Not so sure why that's so hard to understand.

We'll just have to agree to disagree.

(06-03-2015 12:05 PM)panama Wrote:  

(06-02-2015 08:09 PM)Ragu Wrote:  It always cracks me up when the sun belt portion that are morons act like they upgraded when fau fiu and North Texas left. No you got Idaho Georgia state and New Mexico st

Get out of here with that crap. We are glad to be gone too. Now since you don't care about us then stay the hell off our board

Please dont mention us.

Thanks

Will do once the wackos from your conference stay on their own board. The 3 I listed from CUSA are way more valuable than the 3 in the Sun Belt.

(06-02-2015 11:46 AM)goldeneagle21 Wrote:  

(06-02-2015 11:38 AM)BoKnows Wrote:  

(06-02-2015 11:17 AM)MadEagle Wrote:  How long will it be before you guys are even remotely close to being competive again?

Hard to tell... but Coach Clark is a proven commodity, so I am more confident in the Blazers future, even now, than I ever have.

I, for one, believe it will be a shorter timeframe than popular opinion...something like this:

2016 - 1 win
2017 - 4 wins
2018 - 7 wins and a bowl

Don't forget 2015 - Undefeated

Seriously, it is painful anytime a program is dropped. Rice and USM have not had swimming in years. I am happy for UAB football, but is women's bowling really a sport? Also, why are our returning vets, many of whom are expert marksmen still excluded from UTEP, Tulsa, TCU and UAB Rifle?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GUvuLuLarr0

(06-03-2015 12:40 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 11:10 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:59 AM)USMSTUD Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:41 AM)ThreeifbyLightning Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 10:33 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  Comprehension does not appear to be a strong suit of yours. I have said there will be a handful of hanger's-on (maybe even 30). However, you refuse to address the fact that 2016 is untenable on many levels. Your arguement has more holes in it than a slice of swiss cheese yet you tenaciously hang on to an untenable position. Your position does a disservice to incoming freshman by playing them way too early against competition where they will be clearly overmatched. Even if they wanted to, clearer heads within the conference wouldn't allow it.

Since when is playing freshmen a negative? So playing freshmen is a disservice and you say my argument has holes? Wow.

We play freshmen every year all over the field. Some of our most productive players over the past few years have played as true freshmen. TT Barber, Shane Tucker, Jordan Parker, Jimal McBride, Patrick McNeil just to name a few.

Having a few talented freshmen contribute is one thing, but you can't compete with almost an entire team of freshmen.

Uh that's probably in the no sh1t category. Why take one comment without the context of the others?

Why is there an alarm that there's going to be 70 or 80 freshmen running around who can't tell the difference between the football field and baseball field?? I don't get it.

Let me spell it out. It won't be all freshmen. There are 30 or so kids remaining and they can sign as many JUCO's as they desire and are able.

I think we can all agree that they'll be in better shape than a program starting completely from the ground up. But there's going to be no on-field continuity when they start playing in 2016. Having them play a mostly FBS schedule in their first year with a team that has no experience playing with each other, a team that will have a substandard 2015 recruiting class because of the timing of the program's return, is a recipe for disaster.

Other than short-term economic gain (and really, considering that this time last month there wasn't going to be a football program at all), is there any harm in going about this like a call-up and playing two years of FCS? Give the team a chance to gel and develop a winning culture before they move up. Do FBS the right way, not the fastest way.

Look at ODU: Four years of pretty successful FCS before moving up to FBS Transitional last season. Despite having a four-year starter at QB, they were, let's be honest here, very fortunate to go 6-6. All of their wins were by no more than 14 points, and their four CUSA wins well all by a field goal. A couple of bad breaks and ODU could have been 3-9.

I'm sure UAB will return to competitiveness ... eventually. But playing a CUSA schedule in its first season on the field might do more harm than good.

They are going to be severely outgunned for a while either way they go. They will not win a lot.

So it really depends on the fan support either way. If they pack the stadium and cheer and donate despite losing then they will be back in good form before long. If the fans stay at home and sit....then they won't gain traction and will revert to type....either way.

So if I were them I would just get back on that horse and be FBS from day one and expect to win.

Whatever players they are able to put on the field may be outmanned at first...but they'll be brave souls worth cheering for and buying a ticket for.

I think it's the principle of the whole thing more than UAB football surviving. This is a win over bullies at the UAT system and other people with axes to grind who scapegoat college sports for runaway college sports. There was no real financial argument for getting rid of football.

UAB can be a bowl team by '17 or '18 if they bite the bullet and bring in lots of freshmen this year don't take too many Jucos. When you can promise a good probability of playing time to incoming true freshmen you have IMO a very underrated recruiting advantage.

(06-03-2015 01:36 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  They are going to be severely outgunned for a while either way they go. They will not win a lot.
So it really depends on the fan support either way. If they pack the stadium and cheer and donate despite losing then they will be back in good form before long. If the fans stay at home and sit....then they won't gain traction and will revert to type....either way.
So if I were them I would just get back on that horse and be FBS from day one and expect to win.
Whatever players they are able to put on the field may be outmanned at first...but they'll be brave souls worth cheering for and buying a ticket for.

Correct. But another issue we here at FIU have first hand knowledge of is the black-cloud that will hover over UAB football for years to come. FIU soccer was a power in the 90's and even played Indiana for a National Championship. When it was announced that Soccer was going to be cut (for football) and the coach was fired, there was a huge outcry and the program was eventually re-instated; but irreperable damage was done to the program. All the recruits left and it was nearly impossible to recruit the same level of athlete as we had been accustomed to.

Now fast-forward to UAB's situation and you see a President who has been embarrssed and a State Board that is now eating crow. Even under the best of cirumstances this program will have the swords of Damocles hanging over their heads. What kind of athlete is going to want to go there? Point is, don't throw this program to the wolves. Wait till the univeristy President (who ever that may be) gives it a clean bill of health and the State throws its full support behind them, otherwise you'll have a gutted, zombie program just going through the motions.

(06-03-2015 02:23 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 01:36 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  They are going to be severely outgunned for a while either way they go. They will not win a lot.
So it really depends on the fan support either way. If they pack the stadium and cheer and donate despite losing then they will be back in good form before long. If the fans stay at home and sit....then they won't gain traction and will revert to type....either way.
So if I were them I would just get back on that horse and be FBS from day one and expect to win.
Whatever players they are able to put on the field may be outmanned at first...but they'll be brave souls worth cheering for and buying a ticket for.

Correct. But another issue we here at FIU have first hand knowledge of is the black-cloud that will hover over UAB football for years to come. FIU soccer was a power in the 90's and even played Indiana for a National Championship. When it was announced that Soccer was going to be cut (for football) and the coach was fired, there was a huge outcry and the program was eventually re-instated; but irreperable damage was done to the program. All the recruits left and it was nearly impossible to recruit the same level of athlete as we had been accustomed to.

Now fast-forward to UAB's situation and you see a President who has been embarrssed and a State Board that is now eating crow. Even under the best of cirumstances this program will have the swords of Damocles hanging over their heads. What kind of athlete is going to want to go there? Point is, don't throw this program to the wolves. Wait till the univeristy President (who ever that may be) gives it a clean bill of health and the State throws its full support behind them, otherwise you'll have a gutted, zombie program just going through the motions.

I see what you are saying....but that is going to be true either way. Announcing an FCS level schedule on top of all that won't make players flock there either.

I would dress for the job I wanted, not the one I have...and ask the fans to come out and cheer every positive sign and share every pain.

But, its a personal preference. Neither way is going to be easy.

(06-03-2015 02:33 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 02:23 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 01:36 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  They are going to be severely outgunned for a while either way they go. They will not win a lot.
So it really depends on the fan support either way. If they pack the stadium and cheer and donate despite losing then they will be back in good form before long. If the fans stay at home and sit....then they won't gain traction and will revert to type....either way.
So if I were them I would just get back on that horse and be FBS from day one and expect to win.
Whatever players they are able to put on the field may be outmanned at first...but they'll be brave souls worth cheering for and buying a ticket for.

Correct. But another issue we here at FIU have first hand knowledge of is the black-cloud that will hover over UAB football for years to come. FIU soccer was a power in the 90's and even played Indiana for a National Championship. When it was announced that Soccer was going to be cut (for football) and the coach was fired, there was a huge outcry and the program was eventually re-instated; but irreperable damage was done to the program. All the recruits left and it was nearly impossible to recruit the same level of athlete as we had been accustomed to.

Now fast-forward to UAB's situation and you see a President who has been embarrssed and a State Board that is now eating crow. Even under the best of cirumstances this program will have the swords of Damocles hanging over their heads. What kind of athlete is going to want to go there? Point is, don't throw this program to the wolves. Wait till the univeristy President (who ever that may be) gives it a clean bill of health and the State throws its full support behind them, otherwise you'll have a gutted, zombie program just going through the motions.

I see what you are saying....but that is going to be true either way. Announcing an FCS level schedule on top of all that won't make players flock there either.

I would dress for the job I wanted, not the one I have...and ask the fans to come out and cheer every positive sign and share every pain.

But, its a personal preference. Neither way is going to be easy.

My guess is that the first two seasons will be carried by JUCOs and high schoolers that didn't have many, if any, D-I scholarship options. In all likelihood, the 2015 class will be like picking through the Halloween candy display on Nov. 6. Maybe you'll get lucky and happen upon a bag of fun-sized Milky Way Darks, but mostly you'll have to settle for those Christawful peanut-butter things in the orange and black wrappers. Those guys are going to be happy just to be somewhere.

The 2016 class, the first full one they'll have, is where they'll start getting more FBS-quality players. But if UAB is smart, they'll redshirt the bulk of them while using more JUCOs to start. Then again for 2017. By 2018, they should have a full complement of classes with only a spot JUCO here and there.

From a scheduling perspective, 2016 isn't house money, but it's as close as they'll get to having a margin to work with. My suspicion is that the bulk of their support that season will be fueled more by civic/school pride than anything result or opponent-driven. I think they'll be better off, in terms of building a brand and a program, playing games against Southland/SoCon/OVC teams and winning a sizable chunk of them than getting crushed against Rice, UTEP and Louisiana Tech in the first eight weeks of 2.0. Winning is contagious, and so is losing.

So tomato cans as an FCS indy in 2016. Then better FCS teams with a couple of G5 buy games in 2017. Then a full CUSA schedule in 2018. Essentially what Charlotte did and is doing, only with schedule upgrades in season 2.

The public and media probably won't expect miracles in the first season, but you don't want to get blown out and give them a reason to mock you.

(06-03-2015 02:33 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  I see what you are saying....but that is going to be true either way. Announcing an FCS level schedule on top of all that won't make players flock there either.
I would dress for the job I wanted, not the one I have...and ask the fans to come out and cheer every positive sign and share every pain.
But, its a personal preference. Neither way is going to be easy.

But just putting a suit on doesn't make you a CEO; if you don't know what you're doing (i.e. not ready), you'll get eat'n alive.

(06-03-2015 03:24 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(06-03-2015 02:33 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  I see what you are saying....but that is going to be true either way. Announcing an FCS level schedule on top of all that won't make players flock there either.
I would dress for the job I wanted, not the one I have...and ask the fans to come out and cheer every positive sign and share every pain.
But, its a personal preference. Neither way is going to be easy.

But just putting a suit on doesn't make you a CEO; if you don't know what you're doing (i.e. not ready), you'll get eat'n alive.

Well, like I said, no way is a sure bet. It really comes down to the fans giving players a reason to come there through their support.

I'll end by suggesting a look back at WKU transition. It looked like a disaster at first....but turned out quite well in a reasonable amount of time.

(06-03-2015 03:29 PM)ark30inf Wrote:  Well, like I said, no way is a sure bet. It really comes down to the fans giving players a reason to come there through their support.

I'll end by suggesting a look back at WKU transition. It looked like a disaster at first....but turned out quite well in a reasonable amount of time.

I think it comes down to the perception the student/athlete has of the program and whether or not they want to invest their college football career on this program.

And to counter your WKU transition, (which moved up after playing uninterrupted football for decades and had a recent D-IAA championship under its belt), I will raise you an SMU program whose death is much more comparable to the now moribund state UAB finds its program.