yeah, just found it on Rivals, looks like he decommitted on Nov 21st and is now committed to UConn.
Thanks for the LS update, I fixed that. The freshman have all decommitted, unsure about Reggie Rainer though.
If anyone can get me a number or find out who was on scholly and not Ill keep track of that also
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Thanks, Gabe, for the amazing work. It clarifies that there are enough players to have a Spring Practice already, but that there is definitely room for more additions. There are still things we canāt know:
- Of the DL, how many will play inside, and how many are DL/Edge?
- Of the DBs, how many are CBs and how many are safeties?
- Most importantly, which of the 97 players currently on the team have the talent to play at the AAC level?
I expect that weāll see a few more additions now, but that after Spring Practice, the coaches will have a lot better idea of what they have, and what they need, and weāll see more players added at that time, and probably a few players cut from the roster as well. At some point they will just have to go with what they have, and fix the rest next year, but that will be doubly challenging as next year there will be double attrition (players from 2020 will be out of eligibility, as will players who entered in 2021), so all teams will be hitting the portal hard.
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Who runs this Gold Rush site?
Back, not so long ago, when a program wasnāt going the right direction, a coach was fired, and a new coach was hired. The players had little choice, so when the new coaches arrived, they had a team waiting for them. How things went at first, it was a matter of whether they could coach those players up, and whether they could get those players to buy into the methods of the new coach. True change took longer, as it took time to recruit new players that were more what the new coach was looking for. Thus, totally changing direction might take 3-4 years. Under the old system, the success rate of new coaches was low. Coaches would get 3-5 years to show progress, and most were unable to in that short of a time period, so schools got into a vicious cycle of replacing coaches every 4 years or so, totally uprooting any ācultureā that one coach might build with a new one with every change.
With the advent of the portal, the old system is gone. Now, when a coach is fired, it seems common for 1/3 of the team to leave, and the new staff has to sell themselves to the remaining players to get those players to buy in and decide to stay. That is good and bad. The players who would have resisted change leave instead. The players who stay want to adapt, so the culture change can happen much more quickly. On the other hand, the new coaches are short on good players, and have to bring in additional players in huge numbers from the portal, and then somehow blend the new players with the existing ones, without building resentment. Thatās an entirely new skill needed by new coaches. Worse, the new coach has to bring in most of those new players before they have ever even had a chance to evaluate the players they have and see them on the field.
Soā¦ in the new system, change can happen much faster, but the bad news is that dramatic change can happen in either direction. For an example of transition that was a train wreck, look at Kent State. Under Sean Lewis, in 2021 they were in the MAC Championship game. He left in 2022, and they hired Kenni Burns, and they are 1-23 under him, and last year were probably the worst team in all of G5.
My feeling is that what we will see going forward is that new coaches will have a rough first year, trying to pick up the pieces of a program, and to make something out of it, but that in the second year, if it is going to get better, it does so then. Deion Sanders is an example of that. His first year was 4-8, despite spending an immense amount on NIL, but the second year was much better, at 9-4. I know that Charlotte doesnāt have the NIL cash to do what Colorado did, but the pattern may well be the same, with improvement taking place in the second year.
Iām curious, without worrying about what 2026 might look like, what are people expecting 2025 to look like? A train wreck, due to the departures, something like 1-10 or 2-9? Something close to parity with last year, say 4-8 or 5-7? An immediate improvement and a bowl game?
So 2nd year should be better for a football coach? Should that work for a basketball coach too?
Well, 2d year should give you a better idea which is the true direction of the program. The first year could, but the cues will be more subtle. For me, the question will be, not the overall level, but whether there is improvement in the team as the season progresses, and whether the coach is getting the most out of each player. Yes, all that applies to basketball as well.
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Biff seduced me on the stars that he brought in from the portalā¦and I wanted to be seduced if Iām honest. So year one was truly disappointing. Year two under Biff, again, he over sold and I was eager to buy whatever he was sellingā¦to be fair, year one was 3-9, year two 5-7 (4-4 in conference, but only 3-7 under Biff).
I am always happy to give a new staff time to assemble, build it, develop itā¦so next season I simply want to see an organized team, that plays hard, and steadily improves. I truly believe a team can be ābetterā than the season before, but the record doesnāt always reflect it. What I like about Albin is that he had to rebuild a team that was 10-3 the previous season and after the rebuild was 10-3 and won the conference.
Next yearās schedule isnāt easyā¦so the record is secondary for me, rather the teams cohesion and effort, and with some luck, Albin is able to find talent not stars and just, as a fan, keep me engaged and excited.
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A win against app would be a solid start. They are in a rebuild with an unproven xoach, and too lost a lot to portal
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I expect a 6-6 year and a lower tier bowl. We beat the teams going through the same as us and win the games we should. We pick up an unexpected win over another.
I am tired of losing records. Get the winners that are in the portal, not necessarily the star players. Attitude and a desire to win. Thatās what I want.
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We are already better than last yearā¦Biff is gone!
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What is your prediction for Ohio football? Issues or no issues and another 10 win season?
clt says we open with appy in chaos, should be favored
then we play CHeat at home with belicheck jr coaching a team of leftovers
2-0 start and we are receiving top 25 votes
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I donāt mean to be too Debbie downer on this, but there is no chance we start 2-0. I am extremely confident in Albin being a good coach, but our roster is in shambles. Year 2 will be where we get to see Albin shine.
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For Ohio: Ten wins is always iffy, even with a good team, because if the ball bounces the wrong way at the wrong time, it can cost you a game. I donāt expect them to drop off, so Iād guess they will win 8+, and maybe 10 or more.
As for Charlotte: They have the unique situation where, with a new coach, their first two games are both against teams that also have new coaches. Appy had a lot of losses to the portal, but they do have a Freshman class, though small, at 9 players. NC only lost 15 to the portal, and, like Appy have 9 Freshmen. Like Charlotte, both have hit the portal hard. Because of the coaching changes, it would not surprise me if Charlotte wins either of the first two nor would it surprise me if they lose both of them. What I expect is for the first few games there will occasional breakdowns, but I expect each week things will get better.
I think that, as fans, we will be able to sense if there is a spirit of camaraderie developing amongst the team, and if they all have each otherās back. If so, by game 7 or so, they should look like a decent football team, and win more games than they lose in the last half of the season. Last year I picked Ohio to start the season 2-5, but then to go 5-1 down the stretch to end up 7-6. Instead they started 4-3, then went 7-0 down the stretch, to end up 11-3. For Charlotte, Iāll say they start 2-5, and then go 3-2 (including 3-4 in conference, and a loss to Georgia) down the stretch, to finish 5-7. Winning three of the final four conference games would set a very positive tone for 2026, even without a bowl.
I do hope for a bowl, but whether they get one will be decided now, not 6 months from now. Very much it depends on how they do in winter conditioning.
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Agree with this. I would like for us to look better at the end of the year than the beginning.
It would be the first time since Alex Atkins left town if that were to happen.
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If we beat App next year itās going to take a lot to bring me down from that high.
Overall I expect us to be worse next year record wise.
I do think we can show evidence we are a better coached team even if we do have a worse record, hopefully that makes sense.
The new staff needs time to get things on track.
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