(06-30-2020 07:40 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(06-30-2020 06:50 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  I think this is a comment that would be more valid in the summer of 2021. The coach isn’t taking over a winning program. And he’s not Bruce Pearl. He needs wins, not for the W-L record or exciting fans. He needs wins to teach the team how to win and have their confidence grow.

Exactly. Newsflash, but this team was never going to get an at-large. We have been one of the absolute worst programs in the country. We need Ws. We have a lot of new pieces to the puzzle. I am not even remotely surprised we have some D-IIIs on the schedule. I would much rather face an easier opponent so our guys can work on the fundamentals of team play (because they sure as hell aren't getting a lot of that at the moment) than get humiliated by another D-I team and losing fan interest in year one of the Byington era.
We need to establish a culture of WINNING. The fans we need to get back aren't going to look at more wins on our schedule and say "all those wins were against D-IIIs" because those fans that we need back aren't paying attention to those things.
This is where we are right now. We need wins and confidence. Byington knows what he's doing. If we are in year 2 or 3 of his time here and we are still seeing a ton of D-III's on the schedule then perhaps I might be more upset about this.
Remember the focus:
-Bring back fans
-Improve the team
-Fix what has been broken for decades
I remember we used to play D-II schools all the time in football and we were tired of it. We don't do that anymore. When those D-II schools were on the schedule, was the stadium empty because nobody cared about playing D-II schools? Nope, and in fact it was full. Why? Early season and fans come to cheer for JMU. We won those games and fans came back. This isn't rocket science.

Do not disagree, but those wins could just as easily be against Western Carolina, UNC-Ashville, etc.