49ers coach Brad Lambert searches for roster balance

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/07/22/5060427/49ers-coach-brad-lambert-searches.html#.U87-NfldXT8

Nice article on our red shirt situation.

If I had to choose between redshirting a skilled or non-skilled position, I would want to put age on the non-skilled player. So, I am not as concerned about redshirting Phillips and Bostick.

Sound plan by the staff. It will pay dividends down the road. Maybe they’ll find a way to RS Phillips yet.

Red shirting some of our guys will probably hurt us this year, but it’ll be a good thing once we move to CUSA.

I honestly wish we’d redshirt Philips and Bostick anyway, but you don’t want to put your team in a position where they have a really poor record and cause people to lose interest for year 1 in CUSA. It’s a tough balance and I trust that Lambert and Co. will make the right decisions.

[quote=“Niner National, post:4, topic:28902”]Red shirting some of our guys will probably hurt us this year, but it’ll be a good thing once we move to CUSA.

I honestly wish we’d redshirt Philips and Bostick anyway, but you don’t want to put your team in a position where they have a really poor record and cause people to lose interest for year 1 in CUSA. It’s a tough balance and I trust that Lambert and Co. will make the right decisions.[/quote]
I have the opposite opinion of this. I want to put the best team we can on the field THIS SEASON (and win as many games as we can) in order to buy us some good will/PR going into next season, which I expect to be very tough (in terms of W/L record) regardless of whether or not some of these kids have 1-2 years of playing experience. Also, who is to say Phillips and Bostick, etc. will be our best options in year 3 or 4 anyway? The idea is to get better and better recruits each year anyway.

[quote=“919R, post:5, topic:28902”][quote=“Niner National, post:4, topic:28902”]Red shirting some of our guys will probably hurt us this year, but it’ll be a good thing once we move to CUSA.

I honestly wish we’d redshirt Philips and Bostick anyway, but you don’t want to put your team in a position where they have a really poor record and cause people to lose interest for year 1 in CUSA. It’s a tough balance and I trust that Lambert and Co. will make the right decisions.[/quote]
I have the opposite opinion of this. I want to put the best team we can on the field THIS SEASON (and win as many games as we can) in order to buy us some good will/PR going into next season, which I expect to be very tough (in terms of W/L record) regardless of whether or not some of these kids have 1-2 years of playing experience. Also, who is to say Phillips and Bostick, etc. will be our best options in year 3 or 4 anyway? The idea is to get better and better recruits each year anyway.[/quote]
+1

[quote=“Nugget, post:6, topic:28902”][quote=“919R, post:5, topic:28902”][quote=“Niner National, post:4, topic:28902”]Red shirting some of our guys will probably hurt us this year, but it’ll be a good thing once we move to CUSA.

I honestly wish we’d redshirt Philips and Bostick anyway, but you don’t want to put your team in a position where they have a really poor record and cause people to lose interest for year 1 in CUSA. It’s a tough balance and I trust that Lambert and Co. will make the right decisions.[/quote]
I have the opposite opinion of this. I want to put the best team we can on the field THIS SEASON (and win as many games as we can) in order to buy us some good will/PR going into next season, which I expect to be very tough (in terms of W/L record) regardless of whether or not some of these kids have 1-2 years of playing experience. Also, who is to say Phillips and Bostick, etc. will be our best options in year 3 or 4 anyway? The idea is to get better and better recruits each year anyway.[/quote]
+1[/quote]
+2 If we can’t recruit better talent to replace them we are in trouble. They will have 2 yrs in CUSA then there should be some quality player to take their place. I think a winning record is important this year to blunt what could be a dismal record our first couple year in CUSA.

[quote=“919R, post:5, topic:28902”][quote=“Niner National, post:4, topic:28902”]Red shirting some of our guys will probably hurt us this year, but it’ll be a good thing once we move to CUSA.

I honestly wish we’d redshirt Philips and Bostick anyway, but you don’t want to put your team in a position where they have a really poor record and cause people to lose interest for year 1 in CUSA. It’s a tough balance and I trust that Lambert and Co. will make the right decisions.[/quote]
I have the opposite opinion of this. I want to put the best team we can on the field THIS SEASON (and win as many games as we can) in order to buy us some good will/PR going into next season, which I expect to be very tough (in terms of W/L record) regardless of whether or not some of these kids have 1-2 years of playing experience. Also, who is to say Phillips and Bostick, etc. will be our best options in year 3 or 4 anyway? The idea is to get better and better recruits each year anyway.[/quote]

If you can recruit good enough players to overcome the age gap (which is far more significant in college football than basketball), not redshirting those guys is okay. We have to come into FBS football quasi competitive to maintain recruiting. We’re in kind of a rough spot with how quickly we’re making the leap. If this staff had had time to develop a roster before the jump, I think we’d be in a better position to not redshirt our better players now. As is, we need to plan to have our best players available at their best level going into CUSA.

The court of public opinion can shift quickly and we will burn any “new program” goodwill quickly.

[quote=“919R, post:5, topic:28902”][quote=“Niner National, post:4, topic:28902”]Red shirting some of our guys will probably hurt us this year, but it’ll be a good thing once we move to CUSA.

I honestly wish we’d redshirt Philips and Bostick anyway, but you don’t want to put your team in a position where they have a really poor record and cause people to lose interest for year 1 in CUSA. It’s a tough balance and I trust that Lambert and Co. will make the right decisions.[/quote]
I have the opposite opinion of this. I want to put the best team we can on the field THIS SEASON (and win as many games as we can) in order to buy us some good will/PR going into next season, which I expect to be very tough (in terms of W/L record) regardless of whether or not some of these kids have 1-2 years of playing experience. Also, who is to say Phillips and Bostick, etc. will be our best options in year 3 or 4 anyway? The idea is to get better and better recruits each year anyway.[/quote]Well I actually agree with you. I’d like to redshirt those guys to save them for CUSA play, BUT I don’t want to put us in a position where we suck and people write us off.

I kinda worded it poorly I suppose.

Count me in with 919R. Let’s put the best team on the field this year. I don’t like losing to Wesley College.
Also, if it’s important to be good in year 1 and 2 of CUSA, won’t Phillips and Bostick be better with another year of experience under their belt?
Plus, you preserve the injury redshirt option should 1 get hurt.
Here’s another example: say you redshirt Bostick, Kofa, and TL Ford this year.
What if in the next years Kofa and Ford take all them minutes and Bostick has trouble getting on the field? Strategy wouldn’t look good then.
Not saying that will happen, just a plausible example.

I agree with letting these guys play. Age/experience may be more important in football than other sports but our quality of recruiting should be going up every year over the next three years.

Grobe (Lambert’s former HC) red-shirted the majority of his freshmen at Wake, and it was very successful for them over the long haul. I like the strategy in principal, especially at a G5 school, it gives your guys another year to develop physically (which is huge in football). I’m sure he understand the importance of getting some wins this year though, and that’s why Phillips and Bostick are not getting the red-shirt.

[quote=“919R, post:5, topic:28902”][quote=“Niner National, post:4, topic:28902”]Red shirting some of our guys will probably hurt us this year, but it’ll be a good thing once we move to CUSA.

I honestly wish we’d redshirt Philips and Bostick anyway, but you don’t want to put your team in a position where they have a really poor record and cause people to lose interest for year 1 in CUSA. It’s a tough balance and I trust that Lambert and Co. will make the right decisions.[/quote]
I have the opposite opinion of this. I want to put the best team we can on the field THIS SEASON (and win as many games as we can) in order to buy us some good will/PR going into next season, which I expect to be very tough (in terms of W/L record) regardless of whether or not some of these kids have 1-2 years of playing experience. Also, who is to say Phillips and Bostick, etc. will be our best options in year 3 or 4 anyway? The idea is to get better and better recruits each year anyway.[/quote]

100% agree with this. We need wins now to build reputation and fan loyalty. You don’t want to suck too bad your first two years. The home game experience, ie winning, is very important this year.

If we RS everyone to tank now, I think everyone, both fans & media, would understand it is a business decision, & not fail to look forward to next year. That being said, I don’t want to tank because that goes against being competitive.

I think you give our fans, other team’s fans, and the local media too much credit. I think most on this board would be upset about tanking this year with the hopes that it will make us better in the future. Just imagine how the average fan will react, most probably wouldn’t even know that we had redshirted players.

I understand the logic of giving some of our best players more FBS years, and I get letting them age and get bigger and stronger, but this plan seems predicated on the assumption that we cannot recruit better players. I hope that isn’t what our staff thinks. Play these kids, win as many games as possible, and replace them with even better players because we have something exciting being built here. That would be my plan.

Ditto.

I don’t think we’ll be able to recruit the caliber of players that are ready to play right away in FBS. We’ll need to be as old and matur as possible, so I get what Lambert is working towards.

Plus, some of these players, if they don’t redshirt, will play for four years with no real chance at playoffs or a bowl game.

[quote=“J Felt, post:18, topic:28902”]I don’t think we’ll be able to recruit the caliber of players that are ready to play right away in FBS. We’ll need to be as old and matur as possible, so I get what Lambert is working towards.

Plus, some of these players, if they don’t redshirt, will play for four years with no real chance at playoffs or a bowl game.[/quote]

One big issue we are trying to avoid is what is happening to UT-SA this yr, they have 40 Seniors this season.

[quote=“Jimmyhat49er, post:19, topic:28902”][quote=“J Felt, post:18, topic:28902”]I don’t think we’ll be able to recruit the caliber of players that are ready to play right away in FBS. We’ll need to be as old and matur as possible, so I get what Lambert is working towards.

Plus, some of these players, if they don’t redshirt, will play for four years with no real chance at playoffs or a bowl game.[/quote]

One big issue we are trying to avoid is what is happening to UT-SA this yr, they have 40 Seniors this season.[/quote]

That is a problem for sure. Fortunately, they have a very good shot at a bowl bid this year. Their first season was very similar to ours, maybe a little worse. Their only D-I win was an overtime victory against fellow up-start Georgia State, and they also lost to a D-III school. UTSA has really put together an impressive program, and I think is in a better position currently than ODU.