Saw the complete schedule but cannot locate it, and will post when I find it but think they start this Thursday .

Lot of young talent to develop , and like every coach Butch Jones will use it to decide what positions need to add players through the Portal or JC ranks, between now and the fall. The flip side is Jones will probably encourage a few to look for better opportunities for pt.

As far as that talent, Matt Wilson, who helped them post the best signing class in school history in 2022, was hired by NC State as director of player personnel.

Because that is a very toxic environment right now, the hope is they can have the kind of season that will give everyone associated with their football program- players coaches or administrators, the option of bettering themselves.

Ole Miss is expected to hire Arkansas State’s Jake Schoonover as special teams coordinator. That will probably cost them their outstanding PK too. Both are outstanding.

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/ole-mi...er-report/

Again, any player, coach or administrator that can get away from that place should because it is toxic-think most of their fans want to shutdown the athletic department anyway, so let them find something else to hate on.

By all accounts they have had a good offseason, and while still young overall they have as much talent as any SBC team to work with this spring.

While there is a good chance their best player, Dominic Zvadais is at risk to enter the Portal, and GT QB J.T. Shrout is not enrolled - and because of the toxic state of their program I would not count on him, and a need for some older players on the DL, spring pratice should still give their fans good feel for what to expect in 2023.

Here is a link to their practice schedule and spring roster posted on The Den: https://twitter.com/ChrisHudgison/status...9137770529

Nothing on the official site.

Might have changed numbers and I missed them, but the only veterans I did not see were RB Marcel Murray, OL Christian Hoz, CB Drew Rawls, and WR Khyheem Waleed.

DE Thurman Geathers #97- a starter when healthy that I thought had use up all his eligibility last year, is on the spring roster.

Also show a transfer OL from Navy , Luke Coleman #79, that I had not seen anything on.

Looks like their roster is holding up pretty well.

Only two scholarship QB's on their roster for spring-rFr Jaxon Daley, and true FR Jaylen Raynor , with Transfer J.T. Shrout and freshman Christian Hunt set to join them in May.

They do have two PWO's available this spring.

I have noted that PWO Will Prichard was highly recruited early in his HS career and held some solid P5 offers:https://n.rivals.com/content/athletes/will-prichard-261578?view=pv

They also have Tyler Beasley who only had one offer, that coming from Tennessee: https://www.yourobserver.com/news/2020/j...see-offer/

A-State transfer CB JoeJo Wallace certainly measures up:
Height & Weight: 6'0" 180lbs
40 Yard Dash: 4.54
Vertical: 40
Bench: 365
185lb Bench Press (Reps): 16
100 Meter Dash: 10.67
400 Meter Dash: 47.7
Squat (lbs): 405
Deadlift (lbs): 425
Clean (lbs): 225
Class of: 2024

A-State coaches are high on him, Donte Thompson (Incarnate Word), and Manny Stokes Jr (Coastal), and hope they will create competitive depth at a position that was limited by injuries last year.

Like the last two years under Butch Jones their roster is getting better but because he building with HS players they are still a little too young overall to predict big things, but should be better.

Unless there is a lot of Portal activity both ways , several position groups might have to play more true freshmen than you would like , and unfortunately so far Butch & Company have not shown they can overcome the down sides of relying on so many young players.

They look like they are holding on to their youngsters, so you would think with another year of development they could be in position to compete for championships, but with the Portal you really can't say that anymore. You just can't look that far down the road.

Recruiting and developing HS players might not be the right formula in the Portal/NIL Era, at least the way it is operating now.

Things that need to happen this spring:

RB Brian Snead (6-1, 210) needs to become the elite player they expected when they signed him, and transfer Zac Wallace (6, 230) -who is big, fast, tough and has been impressive in workouts, needs to develop into their primary backup or starter if Snead falters.

While transfer QB J.T. Shrout (6-3, 212)- who does not arrive until May, is the most likely replacement for James Blackman, it would be a huge plus if talented freshmen Jaxon Daley (6-2, 215) and/or Jaylen Raynor (6, 198) gain the confidence of their coaches that they could back him up.

Their talented transfers on the OL come out of the spring as starters, not backups. AstAteNation Publisher Jeff Reed stated on the radio that their coaches hope they have added enough talent that their best lineman from 2022, Makilan Thomas , would be their 6th lineman in 2023.

Some player(s) emerge on the DL showing the toughness, strength and endurance that was missing from them as backups last year, and cost them so many games they were leading going into the fourth quarte-they were ahead in eight.

Transfer WR's Cortney Jackson (5-11, 179) and Corey Rucker (6-1, 212)- who must get a waver to be eligible, emerge as starters, and leaders.

Transfer CB's Donte Thompson (5-11, 180), Manny Stokes Jr (5-10, 165) and JoeJo Wallace (5-11, 180) push for starting jobs.

Freshman TE Miller McCrumby (6-4, 230) or transfer JC Kevin Diaz (6-3, 259), emerge as solid backups to Emmanual Stevenson (6-3, 241).

They can find players in the return game.

They can stay healthy.

Edited note: they need for their new coaches, and all their transfers to get up to speed fast. If that happens 2023 could be noticeably better than 2022.