Year two assessment

[quote=“NinerWupAss, post:20, topic:29171”]To everyone saying we didn’t need Barnwell - care to restate your opinion?[/quote]At that time, our depth was just fine. Obviously that changed with more dismissals.

From a Wins and Losses perspective, it was a little disappointing that we weren’t able to flip the record to at least 6-5 this year. But outside of that, I think it is safe to say that we are improving in discrete areas, which is encouraging. Quarterback play this year was much better overall (at least from an eye-test). KP is obviously an animal. I think our receiving corps is also impressive and will only get better with Kofa and Quattlebaum coming in next year off the redshirt and more touches for Ford, Bostick gets healthy, and the obvious leadership of Austin Duke. That gives me some hope for next year.

Defense is what it is as this point…thin at key positions, slow, and a little undersized. I don’t love our scheme, but that’s the bed our coaches made so we all have to lie in it for at least another couple years until we either get the personnel for it or the staff decide to try something else.

I think next year, winning 2 games should be our goal. Presby + 1 FBS game would be about where my expectations are. Anything on top of that is pure gravy, IMO. Our fanbase is nowhere near patient enough for that sort of outcome, and our students will do whatever it is they want to do on a saturday until the school figures out how to get them to the games and to stay once they are there. But we need to wrap our heads around the fact that any win we get outside of Presby is going to come at the expense of a LOT of things breaking our way.

Let’s just get on board with another year of growth hopefully that’s enough to sustain the diehards.

We didn’t. Maetron was better, and Barnwell probably would’ve eaten many of KP’s carries. Sucks Maetron got kicked off the team, though.

Just pointing out that unlike basketball - football depth is a little different. I thought at the time it sucked that he left the team.

Uriah Lemay will be available as well. We have a ton of talent at the receiver position.

Uriah Lemay will be available as well. We have a ton of talent at the receiver position.[/quote]

Good call. Forgot about Lemay. Man our WRs are going to be as competitive as most CUSA teams. Love that we are loading up on depth there. Now if we could do the same on the defensive side of the ball…

We didn’t. Maetron was better, and Barnwell probably would’ve eaten many of KP’s carries. Sucks Maetron got kicked off the team, though.[/quote]
I am not asking specifically about Maetron, rather any player that has been dismissed from the team. What can be next for them? If they go to another team I assume they have to sit out a year. What if they make amends with our coaches and are able to come back? Can they play immediately? It seems like other teams might be relunctant to take them to begin with, so seeking absolution with our staff might be the best or only option. I am sure by the time we get to dismissal other steps were tried and failed, so taking these kids back may not be worth the hassle, but I hate to see someone that age not get a second chance if they finally get the message.

We didn’t. Maetron was better, and Barnwell probably would’ve eaten many of KP’s carries. Sucks Maetron got kicked off the team, though.[/quote]
I am not asking specifically about Maetron, rather any player that has been dismissed from the team. What can be next for them? If they go to another team I assume they have to sit out a year. What if they make amends with our coaches and are able to come back? Can they play immediately? It seems like other teams might be relunctant to take them to begin with, so seeking absolution with our staff might be the best or only option. I am sure by the time we get to dismissal other steps were tried and failed, so taking these kids back may not be worth the hassle, but I hate to see someone that age not get a second chance if they finally get the message.[/quote]Younger guys can go juco. Older guys can transfer to a lower level and play immediately.

Just pointing out that unlike basketball - football depth is a little different. I thought at the time it sucked that he left the team.[/quote]

You have to be much deeper in football. At most positions, you go 2 and 3 deep in a single game. So yes, depth is a much bigger priority than hoops.

The only position that I think we have strong depth at is WR. Fully healthy we probably have adequate depth at LB, and I guess QB. We need more depth everwhere else.

We didn’t. Maetron was better, and Barnwell probably would’ve eaten many of KP’s carries. Sucks Maetron got kicked off the team, though.[/quote]
I am not asking specifically about Maetron, rather any player that has been dismissed from the team. What can be next for them? If they go to another team I assume they have to sit out a year. What if they make amends with our coaches and are able to come back? Can they play immediately? It seems like other teams might be relunctant to take them to begin with, so seeking absolution with our staff might be the best or only option. I am sure by the time we get to dismissal other steps were tried and failed, so taking these kids back may not be worth the hassle, but I hate to see someone that age not get a second chance if they finally get the message.[/quote]Younger guys can go juco. Older guys can transfer to a lower level and play immediately.[/quote]

Yep. The guys that have been dismissed from the team so far (I believe there have been 8 or so over the last couple of seasons) have either gone to a JuCo or quit playing completely. I don’t know if that is more representative of their talent level, or the reluctance of other coaches to take on players with discipline issues. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Maetron go the JuCo route, or end up back in Georgia at Kennesaw State who starts football in 2015. If the rumors behind his dismissal are true, I hope he gets his head on straight wherever he ends up.

Terry Caldwell and Alan Barnwell have both been very successful at their JuCos, and I imagine both of them will be playing D-I again in the near future. Don’t know if the bridges have been burnt, but I would love to see them back here.

We didn’t. Maetron was better, and Barnwell probably would’ve eaten many of KP’s carries. Sucks Maetron got kicked off the team, though.[/quote]
I am not asking specifically about Maetron, rather any player that has been dismissed from the team. What can be next for them? If they go to another team I assume they have to sit out a year. What if they make amends with our coaches and are able to come back? Can they play immediately? It seems like other teams might be relunctant to take them to begin with, so seeking absolution with our staff might be the best or only option. I am sure by the time we get to dismissal other steps were tried and failed, so taking these kids back may not be worth the hassle, but I hate to see someone that age not get a second chance if they finally get the message.[/quote]Younger guys can go juco. Older guys can transfer to a lower level and play immediately.[/quote]

Yep. The guys that have been dismissed from the team so far (I believe there have been 8 or so over the last couple of seasons) have either gone to a JuCo or quit playing completely. I don’t know if that is more representative of their talent level, or the reluctance of other coaches to take on players with discipline issues. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Maetron go the JuCo route, or end up back in Georgia at Kennesaw State who starts football in 2015. If the rumors behind his dismissal are true, I hope he gets his head on straight wherever he ends up.

Terry Caldwell and Alan Barnwell have both been very successful at their JuCos, and I imagine both of them will be playing D-I again in the near future. Don’t know if the bridges have been burnt, but I would love to see them back here.[/quote]

Terry Caldwell has done well for himself. Signed with Ole Miss and had offers from TCU, ECU, and Texas A&M.

lost SEC level talent at LB due to a misdemeanor. Had $500 bond so it doesn’t sound too serious. Wasn’t enough to scare away P5 programs it seems.

I want standup guys, but we are going to have to be able to put up with antics of 18 year olds if we want to win.

“Good guys” will get a coach fired.

[quote=“ninerID, post:32, topic:29171”]lost SEC level talent at LB due to a misdemeanor. Had $500 bond so it doesn’t sound too serious. Wasn’t enough to scare away P5 programs it seems.

I want standup guys, but we are going to have to be able to put up with antics of 18 year olds if we want to win.

“Good guys” will get a coach fired.[/quote]

Good thing the basketball team doesn’t follow the same rules.

[quote=“ninerID, post:32, topic:29171”]lost SEC level talent at LB due to a misdemeanor. Had $500 bond so it doesn’t sound too serious. Wasn’t enough to scare away P5 programs it seems.

I want standup guys, but we are going to have to be able to put up with antics of 18 year olds if we want to win.

“Good guys” will get a coach fired.[/quote]Agree 1000%.

Said yesterday that all I want are guys that do well enough in the classroom to stay eligible and players that don’t murder/rape/steal.

Anybody that exceeds those exceptionally low expectations in just a bonus IMO.

Now I don’t know the details of what Caldwell did, but with a $500 bond and a misdemeanor, it obviously wasn’t very serious. Funny how a minor fight / altercation is a crime off the field, but on the field it isn’t. Lambert going to kick guys off the team for on the field scuffles too?

[quote=“ninerID, post:32, topic:29171”]lost SEC level talent at LB due to a misdemeanor. Had $500 bond so it doesn’t sound too serious. Wasn’t enough to scare away P5 programs it seems.

I want standup guys, but we are going to have to be able to put up with antics of 18 year olds if we want to win.

“Good guys” will get a coach fired.[/quote]

Where did you find the misdemeanor and $500 bond details?

[quote=“Mr. Bojangles, post:35, topic:29171”][quote=“ninerID, post:32, topic:29171”]lost SEC level talent at LB due to a misdemeanor. Had $500 bond so it doesn’t sound too serious. Wasn’t enough to scare away P5 programs it seems.

I want standup guys, but we are going to have to be able to put up with antics of 18 year olds if we want to win.

“Good guys” will get a coach fired.[/quote]

Where did you find the misdemeanor and $500 bond details?[/quote]
meck county police history. You can google “(person’s name) Mecklenburg county police” and it brings up some fun stuff.

[quote=“ninerID, post:36, topic:29171”][quote=“Mr. Bojangles, post:35, topic:29171”][quote=“ninerID, post:32, topic:29171”]lost SEC level talent at LB due to a misdemeanor. Had $500 bond so it doesn’t sound too serious. Wasn’t enough to scare away P5 programs it seems.

I want standup guys, but we are going to have to be able to put up with antics of 18 year olds if we want to win.

“Good guys” will get a coach fired.[/quote]

Where did you find the misdemeanor and $500 bond details?[/quote]
meck county police history. You can google “(person’s name) Mecklenburg county police” and it brings up some fun stuff.[/quote]

Caldwell was suspended after he was arrested for simple assault. Later that spring he had the suspension lifted. He was then dismissed from the team over the summer. It looks like he was given a chance. Without knowing what exactly happened, its hard for me to judge. It just sucks losing that talented of a player.

[quote=“Mr. Bojangles, post:37, topic:29171”][quote=“ninerID, post:36, topic:29171”][quote=“Mr. Bojangles, post:35, topic:29171”][quote=“ninerID, post:32, topic:29171”]lost SEC level talent at LB due to a misdemeanor. Had $500 bond so it doesn’t sound too serious. Wasn’t enough to scare away P5 programs it seems.

I want standup guys, but we are going to have to be able to put up with antics of 18 year olds if we want to win.

“Good guys” will get a coach fired.[/quote]

Where did you find the misdemeanor and $500 bond details?[/quote]
meck county police history. You can google “(person’s name) Mecklenburg county police” and it brings up some fun stuff.[/quote]

Caldwell was suspended after he was arrested for simple assault. Later that spring he had the suspension lifted. He was then dismissed from the team over the summer. It looks like he was given a chance. Without knowing what exactly happened, its hard for me to judge. It just sucks losing that talented of a player.[/quote]
Didn’t scare other schools away whatever it was. must not have been a Riley Ferguson level offense.

Pisses me off that we lost an SEC caliber linebacker for simple assault yet go out on a limb to bring in a guy like Lemay who cashed 4 checks that his roommate had already deposited and discarded.

We don’t know what went on behind the scenes, but I have a feeling it was more than just the criminal charge. I’m all for giving these kids second chances (we all did stupid crap when we were young), but without knowing the whole story I can’t get down on Lambert. On the bright side, you have to feel good about our talent evaluation skills if guys with this ability are on the roster.