ECU will be better this year.... and here's why:

The defense has received TONS of help. We are switching from the 3-4 to the 4-2-5, and the following guys will bolster our depleted defense:

Tyree Owens - DE - 6'5" 275lbs *Day 1 starter*
Owens is a former 4* recruit who went the JUCO route. He had ridiculous offers coming out of JUCO from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Southern Cal, South Carolina, etc.

Gaelin Elmore - DE - 6'6" 280lbs *Day 1 starter*
Grad student transfer from Minnesota. Played in every game in his 3 seasons at Minnesota, and started 9 games. He went through the Big Ten gauntlet week in and week out, and with his size and experience alone he should be a starter at DE for ECU and very productive in the American.


Brandon Henderson - DE - 6'5" 270lbs *Day 1 2-Deep*
Henderson is a JUCO transfer from Georgia Military College. He chose ECU over Houston & Kansas - among others. UGA has making a late push but did not offer. He should provide upgraded depth to what is currently on the roster.


Tim Irvin - S - 5'9" 195lbs *Day 1 starter*
Irvin (Michael Irvin's nephew) was a 4* All-American coming out of High School. Signed with Auburn and played/started every game as a true freshman. Transferred to ECU because he was "unhappy" at Auburn. He has been the defensive MVP of the Spring, and will be an instant playmaker from Day 1.


Tank Robinson - S - 5'11" 190lbs *Day 1 2-deep, possible starter*
HUGE signing out of high school for ECU. Had offers from Alabama, Clemson, UGA, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, etc.


And as for the offense...
Thomas Sirk - QB - 6'4" 220lbs *Day 1 starter - if healthy*
Sirk was a Maxwell award candidate at Duke where he was a record-setting QB. He has 1 year left to play, and if healthy, I'm positive he will be our starting QB.


Tyshon Dye - RB - 6'1" 205lbs *Day 1 starter*
Dye is a former 4* transfer from Clemson who had an injury plagued career. He has 1 year left to play, and chose ECU over Miami because he knew he'd have a chance to be our feature back. He is sorely needed. ECU has depth at RB, but no one has stood out as the clear leader. That should change once Dye makes it to campus.


AAC - look upon these transfers and despair. ECU will be back in a big way this year.

I guess my answer to that question would be two fold in that we have a better and older defense and an offensive line that is one of the best in the country. Also, our backfield is very talented and deep. The receivers will be close to, but not quite as good and of course we are breaking in a new QB. At that position, we will have a more talented athlete, but the skill throwing level is still a mystery. Defensively, we will be very talented top to bottom with better players in the DLine and secondary, but a little younger at LBer.

The key to TU FB this year is that our staff has now been together for three years and the system is now entrenched with players this staff recruited.

"TU FB - Its not how fast you play, its how WELL you play fast!"

Temple - offensive line will be good. New QB will be better than expected. Offensive coordinator seems to be both experienced and flexible depending on the talent qualities of the players. Head coach is a defensive guru. These are the pluses. Negative - new coach with no HC experience, how will he do on game day situations? The schedule is much more challenging than last year. 7-5 or 8-4 might be our ceiling.

.

(05-16-2017 12:35 PM)fishpro1098 Wrote:  Temple - offensive line will be good. New QB will be better than expected. Offensive coordinator seems to be both experienced and flexible depending on the talent qualities of the players. Head coach is a defensive guru. These are the pluses. Negative - new coach with no HC experience, how will he do on game day situations? The schedule is much more challenging than last year. 7-5 or 8-4 might be our ceiling.

.

I'm not sure the OL will be good. It's probably our biggest weakness.

I don't think UC could get much worse. Having a head coach that isn't coasting should help immensely.

UC should be strong at RB.

Defense should be improved.

Offense has questions at QB and offensive line.

(05-16-2017 12:53 PM)bearcatfan Wrote:  I don't think UC could get much worse. Having a head coach that isn't coasting should help immensely.

UC should be strong at RB.

Defense should be improved.

Offense has questions at QB and offensive line.

To piggy back on this a little further, UC is on the trajectory of USF circa 2014. We have a former 4 star qb that has an identical skill set of USF's qb. We have talent at wr, rb, and te. He needs experience and an improved oline to make the offense complete. I believe that we will see immediate improvement on defense. The new staff sees the obvious problems that blinded the old staff. Gilbert was moved to lb from safety because he could not make the correct play on the ball. They understand that Minor is a very good linebacker, and they look to make plays through blitzing. I cannot see UC as challenging the leading contenders until the hole at qb is properly filled.

Three words:

No Tommy Tuberville

(05-16-2017 01:18 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  Three words:

No Tommy Tuberville

Can you make that a haiku in honor of Bearcats#1?

(05-16-2017 11:34 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  ECU will be better this year.... and here's why:

The defense has received TONS of help. We are switching from the 3-4 to the 4-2-5, and the following guys will bolster our depleted defense:

Tyree Owens - DE - 6'5" 275lbs *Day 1 starter*
Owens is a former 4* recruit who went the JUCO route. He had ridiculous offers coming out of JUCO from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Southern Cal, South Carolina, etc.

Gaelin Elmore - DE - 6'6" 280lbs *Day 1 starter*
Grad student transfer from Minnesota. Played in every game in his 3 seasons at Minnesota, and started 9 games. He went through the Big Ten gauntlet week in and week out, and with his size and experience alone he should be a starter at DE for ECU and very productive in the American.


Brandon Henderson - DE - 6'5" 270lbs *Day 1 2-Deep*
Henderson is a JUCO transfer from Georgia Military College. He chose ECU over Houston & Kansas - among others. UGA has making a late push but did not offer. He should provide upgraded depth to what is currently on the roster.


Tim Irvin - S - 5'9" 195lbs *Day 1 starter*
Irvin (Michael Irvin's nephew) was a 4* All-American coming out of High School. Signed with Auburn and played/started every game as a true freshman. Transferred to ECU because he was "unhappy" at Auburn. He has been the defensive MVP of the Spring, and will be an instant playmaker from Day 1.


Tank Robinson - S - 5'11" 190lbs *Day 1 2-deep, possible starter*
HUGE signing out of high school for ECU. Had offers from Alabama, Clemson, UGA, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, etc.


And as for the offense...
Thomas Sirk - QB - 6'4" 220lbs *Day 1 starter - if healthy*
Sirk was a Maxwell award candidate at Duke where he was a record-setting QB. He has 1 year left to play, and if healthy, I'm positive he will be our starting QB.


Tyshon Dye - RB - 6'1" 205lbs *Day 1 starter*
Dye is a former 4* transfer from Clemson who had an injury plagued career. He has 1 year left to play, and chose ECU over Miami because he knew he'd have a chance to be our feature back. He is sorely needed. ECU has depth at RB, but no one has stood out as the clear leader. That should change once Dye makes it to campus.


AAC - look upon these transfers and despair. ECU will be back in a big way this year.

Nice write up, and I hope it all happens but we all know it means nothing until they lace them up and play in a game.

Most excited about Irvin. Been awhile since we had someone playing deep that could dominate at that position. Fingers crossed.

No way! Not an ECU fan telling us how great every newcomer is going to be, a veritable plethora of Heisman, Maxwell, Blah, Blah, Blah, award winners, just waiting to take the stage and bring ECU the championship. It's like Deja vu all over again, and again, and again, and again..............

Tulsa will once again take our 2 and 3 star talent and lay waste to the surface dwellers! Reign dang Cane!

(05-16-2017 02:21 PM)rtaylor Wrote:  No way! Not an ECU fan telling us how great every newcomer is going to be, a veritable plethora of Heisman, Maxwell, Blah, Blah, Blah, award winners, just waiting to take the stage and bring ECU the championship. It's like Deja vu all over again, and again, and again, and again..............

Just reporting actual awards and offers. Nothing more.

(05-16-2017 02:21 PM)rtaylor Wrote:  No way! Not an ECU fan telling us how great every newcomer is going to be, a veritable plethora of Heisman, Maxwell, Blah, Blah, Blah, award winners, just waiting to take the stage and bring ECU the championship. It's like Deja vu all over again, and again, and again, and again..............

No way! Not an opposing fan saying something like this every time an ECU poster says something positive about their team.

Didnt see a comment like this coming.... Surprised it made it as long as it did.

(05-16-2017 02:21 PM)rtaylor Wrote:  No way! Not an ECU fan telling us how great every newcomer is going to be, a veritable plethora of Heisman, Maxwell, Blah, Blah, Blah, award winners, just waiting to take the stage and bring ECU the championship. It's like Deja vu all over again, and again, and again, and again..............

Lol I know right...

There's a reason JUCO kids and transfers move to better opportunities, and there's a reason they fail more than they succeed.

If ECU has more new faces taking over traditionally recruited positions, I say that's more a sign of desperation than potential success.

UCF had many JUCO signees from last year. Pretty sure absolutely none of them panned out... at least none that mattered enough to be remembered.

This year UCF has an eligible transfer from Alabama, Shawn Burgess-Becker, but he's solidly at #2 for Safety. May contribute, but hadn't heard anything crazy.

Also have a grad transfer Linebacker from Boston College (I think?). Even with the attrition at LB from last year, he seems to be filling depth, as Pat Jasinksi and Nate Evans are stepping up at MLB. Demeitre Brim was a transfer from Linebacker, but he only really contributed last year, and even then was mostly quiet in the 2nd half of the season.

Without a doubt the most successful transfer for UCF was Storm Johnson, who had a breakout year in the Fiesta Bowl run behind an elite Offensive Line. Outside of that, most JUCO's / Transfers are temporary depth plugs.

(05-16-2017 03:31 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 02:21 PM)rtaylor Wrote:  No way! Not an ECU fan telling us how great every newcomer is going to be, a veritable plethora of Heisman, Maxwell, Blah, Blah, Blah, award winners, just waiting to take the stage and bring ECU the championship. It's like Deja vu all over again, and again, and again, and again..............

Lol I know right...

There's a reason JUCO kids and transfers move to better opportunities, and there's a reason they fail more than they succeed.

If ECU has more new faces taking over traditionally recruited positions, I say that's more a sign of desperation than potential success.

UCF had many JUCO signees from last year. Pretty sure absolutely none of them panned out... at least none that mattered enough to be remembered.

This year UCF has an eligible transfer from Alabama, Shawn Burgess-Becker, but he's solidly at #2 for Safety. May contribute, but hadn't heard anything crazy.

Also have a grad transfer Linebacker from Boston College (I think?). Even with the attrition at LB from last year, he seems to be filling depth, as Pat Jasinksi and Nate Evans are stepping up at MLB. Demeitre Brim was a transfer from Linebacker, but he only really contributed last year, and even then was mostly quiet in the 2nd half of the season.

Without a doubt the most successful transfer for UCF was Storm Johnson, who had a breakout year in the Fiesta Bowl run behind an elite Offensive Line. Outside of that, most JUCO's / Transfers are temporary depth plugs.

And your last sentence is exactly our situation. Lack of depth. These guys are a stop gap until the actual recruits have had time to develop or not. No one ever knows if anyone will pan out but one can hope.

I'll try and break this up to be quick, easy reading:

Defense - Trend down, Stay even at best
• UCF loses 3 starting Linebackers, and every starting DB from last year - This will be an issue, but fortunately we retain a young, very talented D-Line with depth (our 2 deep is really 1A and 1B), with Senior Jamiyus Pittman anchoring NT. The AAC Defensive Player of the Year is the lone returnee at LB, and is the vocal leader of the D, but he's joined by 2 huge MLB's and another OLB who saw significant snaps last year;
• Verdict - Passing Defense will probably have growing pains, and may even be a weakness if the former high 3* and 4* recruits in the defensive backfield don't gel, but Run D will remain strong, if not improve. If we remain a top 50 defense, that is a victory.
  

Offense - Trend up, Trend waaaaaaaaay up at best
• Everything relies on the line, and if they make progress. If they don't, and McKenzie Milton doesn't make progress either, it will be the same as last year. Reports out of camp is that McKenzie has amped up his leadership, vocally and physically. Hype out of camp is he's playing like Johnny Manziel... but it's probably coach-speak. Still, every report out of camp is that the offense has taken it to the next level. It's no longer learning the scheme, but now polishing. Is that because the Defense has regressed? Possibly. Is that because the Offense is clicking? Who knows.
  
  UCF loses very little on the offensive side. A backup WR, and starting Center, a backup RB (as far as I can remember), but returns all key playmakers with a plethora of youth (from starting so many true freshman) with talent, and now experience (from returning those true freshman). The run game will ONLY get better from here on out, with news that the #1 RB and overall recruit for the AAC will likely be eligible. Combine that with progress from an already impressive freshman performance from Jawon Hamilton and Adrian Killins, and the sky is the limit.
• Verdict - It will be a marked improvement from last year (will be difficult to be as bad as last year tbh). By how much depends on the O-Line. If they show an above average performance, this will be a top 3 offense in the league.
  
  

(05-16-2017 03:39 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 03:31 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 02:21 PM)rtaylor Wrote:  No way! Not an ECU fan telling us how great every newcomer is going to be, a veritable plethora of Heisman, Maxwell, Blah, Blah, Blah, award winners, just waiting to take the stage and bring ECU the championship. It's like Deja vu all over again, and again, and again, and again..............

Lol I know right...

There's a reason JUCO kids and transfers move to better opportunities, and there's a reason they fail more than they succeed.

If ECU has more new faces taking over traditionally recruited positions, I say that's more a sign of desperation than potential success.

UCF had many JUCO signees from last year. Pretty sure absolutely none of them panned out... at least none that mattered enough to be remembered.

This year UCF has an eligible transfer from Alabama, Shawn Burgess-Becker, but he's solidly at #2 for Safety. May contribute, but hadn't heard anything crazy.

Also have a grad transfer Linebacker from Boston College (I think?). Even with the attrition at LB from last year, he seems to be filling depth, as Pat Jasinksi and Nate Evans are stepping up at MLB. Demeitre Brim was a transfer from Linebacker, but he only really contributed last year, and even then was mostly quiet in the 2nd half of the season.

Without a doubt the most successful transfer for UCF was Storm Johnson, who had a breakout year in the Fiesta Bowl run behind an elite Offensive Line. Outside of that, most JUCO's / Transfers are temporary depth plugs.

And your last sentence is exactly our situation. Lack of depth. These guys are a stop gap until the actual recruits have had time to develop or not. No one ever knows if anyone will pan out but one can hope.

I can respect that. Your OP representative seems to be implying these stop gaps will take the starting job and perform from day 1, with 100% efficacy.

(05-16-2017 03:45 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  I'll try and break this up to be quick, easy reading:

Defense - Trend down, Stay even at best
• UCF loses 3 starting Linebackers, and every starting DB from last year - This will be an issue, but fortunately we retain a young, very talented D-Line with depth (our 2 deep is really 1A and 1B), with Senior Jamiyus Pittman anchoring NT. The AAC Defensive Player of the Year is the lone returnee at LB, and is the vocal leader of the D, but he's joined by 2 huge MLB's and another OLB who saw significant snaps last year;
• Verdict - Passing Defense will probably have growing pains, and may even be a weakness if the former high 3* and 4* recruits in the defensive backfield don't gel, but Run D will remain strong, if not improve. If we remain a top 50 defense, that is a victory.
  

Offense - Trend up, Trend waaaaaaaaay up at best
• Everything relies on the line, and if they make progress. If they don't, and McKenzie Milton doesn't make progress either, it will be the same as last year. Reports out of camp is that McKenzie has amped up his leadership, vocally and physically. Hype out of camp is he's playing like Johnny Manziel... but it's probably coach-speak. Still, every report out of camp is that the offense has taken it to the next level. It's no longer learning the scheme, but now polishing. Is that because the Defense has regressed? Possibly. Is that because the Offense is clicking? Who knows.
  
  UCF loses very little on the offensive side. A backup WR, and starting Center, a backup RB (as far as I can remember), but returns all key playmakers with a plethora of youth (from starting so many true freshman) with talent, and now experience (from returning those true freshman). The run game will ONLY get better from here on out, with news that the #1 RB and overall recruit for the AAC will likely be eligible. Combine that with progress from an already impressive freshman performance from Jawon Hamilton and Adrian Killins, and the sky is the limit.
• Verdict - It will be a marked improvement from last year (will be difficult to be as bad as last year tbh). By how much depends on the O-Line. If they show an above average performance, this will be a top 3 offense in the league.
  
  

Definitely a marked improvement from 2 years ago.

(05-16-2017 03:46 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 03:39 PM)PuddlePirate Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 03:31 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 02:21 PM)rtaylor Wrote:  No way! Not an ECU fan telling us how great every newcomer is going to be, a veritable plethora of Heisman, Maxwell, Blah, Blah, Blah, award winners, just waiting to take the stage and bring ECU the championship. It's like Deja vu all over again, and again, and again, and again..............

Lol I know right...

There's a reason JUCO kids and transfers move to better opportunities, and there's a reason they fail more than they succeed.

If ECU has more new faces taking over traditionally recruited positions, I say that's more a sign of desperation than potential success.

UCF had many JUCO signees from last year. Pretty sure absolutely none of them panned out... at least none that mattered enough to be remembered.

This year UCF has an eligible transfer from Alabama, Shawn Burgess-Becker, but he's solidly at #2 for Safety. May contribute, but hadn't heard anything crazy.

Also have a grad transfer Linebacker from Boston College (I think?). Even with the attrition at LB from last year, he seems to be filling depth, as Pat Jasinksi and Nate Evans are stepping up at MLB. Demeitre Brim was a transfer from Linebacker, but he only really contributed last year, and even then was mostly quiet in the 2nd half of the season.

Without a doubt the most successful transfer for UCF was Storm Johnson, who had a breakout year in the Fiesta Bowl run behind an elite Offensive Line. Outside of that, most JUCO's / Transfers are temporary depth plugs.

And your last sentence is exactly our situation. Lack of depth. These guys are a stop gap until the actual recruits have had time to develop or not. No one ever knows if anyone will pan out but one can hope.

I can respect that. Your OP representative seems to be implying these stop gaps will take the starting job and perform from day 1, with 100% efficacy.

Actually the projected starting D by the ECU writer most in the know, writer for 247, projects both DE guys to be back ups.

I'm really not sold on Sirk starting, although he was a one of the best dual threat QB's in the country in 2015. And that isn't opinion with purple shades, it's a statistical fact. That has no bearing on what he does here though, especially after 3 Achilles tears. Would be great if he somehow got back to that form though. 2700 yards passing & 800 yards rushing is pretty strong but I'm not holding my breath.

I do think Dye will start at RB and Irvin from Auburn is already a lock per multiple comments by the coaching staff.

(05-16-2017 03:50 PM)isidnirb Wrote:  

(05-16-2017 03:45 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  I'll try and break this up to be quick, easy reading:

Defense - Trend down, Stay even at best
• UCF loses 3 starting Linebackers, and every starting DB from last year - This will be an issue, but fortunately we retain a young, very talented D-Line with depth (our 2 deep is really 1A and 1B), with Senior Jamiyus Pittman anchoring NT. The AAC Defensive Player of the Year is the lone returnee at LB, and is the vocal leader of the D, but he's joined by 2 huge MLB's and another OLB who saw significant snaps last year;
• Verdict - Passing Defense will probably have growing pains, and may even be a weakness if the former high 3* and 4* recruits in the defensive backfield don't gel, but Run D will remain strong, if not improve. If we remain a top 50 defense, that is a victory.
  

Offense - Trend up, Trend waaaaaaaaay up at best
• Everything relies on the line, and if they make progress. If they don't, and McKenzie Milton doesn't make progress either, it will be the same as last year. Reports out of camp is that McKenzie has amped up his leadership, vocally and physically. Hype out of camp is he's playing like Johnny Manziel... but it's probably coach-speak. Still, every report out of camp is that the offense has taken it to the next level. It's no longer learning the scheme, but now polishing. Is that because the Defense has regressed? Possibly. Is that because the Offense is clicking? Who knows.
  
  UCF loses very little on the offensive side. A backup WR, and starting Center, a backup RB (as far as I can remember), but returns all key playmakers with a plethora of youth (from starting so many true freshman) with talent, and now experience (from returning those true freshman). The run game will ONLY get better from here on out, with news that the #1 RB and overall recruit for the AAC will likely be eligible. Combine that with progress from an already impressive freshman performance from Jawon Hamilton and Adrian Killins, and the sky is the limit.
• Verdict - It will be a marked improvement from last year (will be difficult to be as bad as last year tbh). By how much depends on the O-Line. If they show an above average performance, this will be a top 3 offense in the league.
  
  

Definitely a marked improvement from 2 years ago.

It's great to make progress isn't it? We go from getting blown out to a 5-7 team in one year, to blowing out that same 3-9 team the next year.

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