reeder

Running Back Commit Eli Mencer

https://twitter.com/wpial_insider/status/554094893002674176

Another QB - a Penn State transfer. At this rate, we're going to have more QB's than linemen.

DJ Crook

https://twitter.com/juicebucket21/status/553326608166436864

http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/dj_crook_843472.html

http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2015/01/penn_state_football_qb_dj_croo.html

Also, seems like there are a lot of road games - (5 home and 10 away).

I remember watching the playoff game - think it was against Notre Dame when we lost every face off (so it seemed). Did we add a face off specialist?

In the last coaches corner video with Zach Bye, Gattuso talks about QB's for next year. Mentions Sweeney and Harding, says that Ryan Smith hasn't decided if he wants to return and mentions Shanley almost as an afterthought. Also said that they will have some new kids and they already have some activities in the Spring to see who will lead the team.

Will be interesting.

Will is a solid QB who played on a really crappy high school team, which is likely why he was under-recruited. Charleston Southern heavily recruited him, from my understanding. He was looked at by the bigger schools (Clemson, S. Carolina, E. Carolina, Va Tech, Duke, Cincinnati, North Carolina, Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, Kentucky, and Louisville). But, looks are just looks...and are not a basis of how good he can be.

 

He is in the Top-40 for S. Carolina 2015 recruits, and likely in Top-4 for QB's in the State. The #1 rated QB in the State just committed to Elon (verbal).

 

He has good grades...and could be a real sleeper. He's a straight drop back pro-style QB. He is a bit slight in build at 180'ish for his size, so he will have to bulk up a bit. Should be no problem with a DI nutrition and weight program.

 

I think Coach Bernard was his HS coach in 2013.

From Footballscoop

Albany (FCS – NY): Per sources, linebackers coach / assistant head coach Bernard Clark is being promoted to defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator Joe Bernard will add the assistant head coach title, and tight ends coach Gabe Luvara will add the title of c0-offensive coordinator.

More from Footballscoop

Penn: Per source, Albany defensive coordinator / defensive backs coach Bob Benson will be named associate head coach / defensive coordinator at Penn.

I hope for the time being we stay where we are. it's quite a change for me but I believe we need to live within our means especially as changes continue to happen at such a rapid pace. We need help with facilties, the money that it would cost to move to the CAA all sports could be better spent on fixing up SEFCU, getting on par with some of the other facilities in the AE or soon to be in the AE (UMBC/Vermont). Not sure people realize this but we are falling behind in basketball facilities rapidly.

 

I would generally agree. Our endowment is around $30 million. Endowments at Maine and UNH are around $250 million,UVM is over $400 million, Stony Brook is $150 million, Buffalo is over $600 million, Binghamton is over $80 million, JMU is almost $80 million.

Not sure why ours is so low - low giving from alumni. Low returns on investments... We just don't have much money.

I would also guess this is part of the reason why McElroy is no longer AD. there was a new stadium and a push for all sports to go to the CAA leak with an announcement about to come, rumor about an announcement to expand the stadium. All of this while SEFCU and baseball need upgrades.

If Benson can raise a lot of money and show that it's sustainable, I can see a push to move to a higher profile conference or all sports to the CAA. Until that happens, I think it's not a good financial decision. While I love our athletics program and want to see us grow, the truth is we as a community don't do a good job financially supporting the school or athletic program. That said, I think there is opportunity to raise $ and use that to raise the athletic profile.

Per Footballscoop

Albany (FCS NY): Per source, head coach Greg Gattuso has made some changes. We are told that quarterbacks coach Ryan McCarthy and outside linebackers / special teams coordinator Matt Scott will not return. On the offensive side, we hear tight ends coach Gabe Luvara is expected to move to quarterbacks. Will update

This is obviously great for the players and the school.

1. I think Gontarek should have made one of the all conference teams in addition to offensive rookie of the year

2. Impressive that Malloy would make an all conference team - converted tight end playing tackle and his listed weight was 260.

3. Happy for Toole, bad HS injury and then several stops before walking on here. Hope he gets a scholarship for next year

Future is bright - let's hit the recruiting trail hard.

Heard from the new AD this AM as well at Peter Hooley. They are both good speakers and the AD is, as you might expect, very up on all the recent wins and good contests. Unfortunately the breakfast was only 2/3 full. I have to imagine that at many programs that ticket is a sell out and / or $ to get in!

Wouldn't worry that it was 2/3 attended. I believe that it was invitation only and a lot of the people live out of town. Also, there wasn't a lot of notice.

Did he say anything newsworthy?

Rewatched game to look closer at defense and saw their left tackle just manhandled our d linemen. He was literally throwing them to the ground - in the beginning of the game he was throwing Forster around primarily, then Forster left the game and I don't think he returned. Wasn't just their left tackle, it was their entire line just moving us off the ball. The only way we stopped them (on any down) was when they ran into a blitzing linebacker.

Taped both the football and basketball games and watched them this morning.

1. Fiacchi had a great game passing. He plays well when he stays within himself.

2. I think Villanova scored on every drive except the fumble that Nicastro recovered and one punt late in the game.

3. Defense with another tough outing. I think it's more than just tackling, there were huge holes and it's been this way since the Columba game. I think some of it is size on the DL and I don't know if there is a fix for that next year.

4. What's up with Ngachie? I know he was hurt but he's come into the last few games as a reserve, he started the year as a reserve MLB and then started as OLB but yesterday Christian Harris started at one OLB and Malachi Hoskins at the other. He did play as a reserve but wonder why he didn't start and get more playing time.

5. Brad Harris and Gontarek and going to be very good for the next three years.

Think the season has played out better than expected - let's beat Stony Brook.

Listened to our part of the CAA conference call and Coach Gattuso was very open about Fiacchi. To paraphrase, on two of the interceptions, the primary receiver was open and Fiacchi instead tried to make a big play and that's something he's not done most of the season. Went on to say that he needs to take what the defense gives him but he's a competitor, wanted to keep us in the game... The initial tone of the comment seemed to be frustration but he turned it into a positive. Said that he talked with him about it during the game and there was improvement. Also, wanted the right decisions made because there are three tough games left.

Not sure if everyone is aware but the CAA has a weekly press conference. Its Interesting to listen to the coaches comments.

http://www.caasports.com/sports/2014/7/31/caafbpressbox14.aspx?id=44&

Do we know he's officially redshirting this year?

I believe the answer is yes.

I spoke to someone in the athletics department at The Holy Cross game and a lot of the freshmen (including Shanley) are officially red shirting - they were standing on the sideline during the game in street clothes (UA polos and khakis). There are also some freshmen that dress for the games and they can still redshirt if they don't play (Croskey, Ritter and a few others) they are backups that will play if needed during the season.

First, I've only seen 3 full games and part of a fourth so I'm not as close as the rest of you are. But, thought that I'd give some impressions and ask for impressions at the half way point of the season.

1. I think Fiacchi is playing really well. Seems to be scrambling better and is more accurate overall. Still seems to struggle on the deep ball.

2. Overall, I think the offense is playing well. If Fiacchi can continue to make the passes, it will help give Osbourne more space.

2. Defense started off strong but seem to have struggled since the Columbia game. I think the Columbia game was deceiving. We didn't play defense well then and have struggles since then, they had turnovers and dropped passes. Not sure what the difference is but I think that's when I first noticed Kologrivov with the cast on his arm. Also, we seem to have trouble tackling in space - that's an issue with very athletic teams.

3. Very happy with the coaching. I think the defense has some work to do but there are constraints - undersized at LB and we don't have the overall athleticism to defend teams like JMU and Richmond well but it seems like forcing turnovers and a lot of movement is helping. I didn't see the Richmond game but not sure why Osbourne didn't run more. He's run when we were down against JMU, URI and Holy Cross...

Also think it's interesting to look at the recruiting. None of the newcomers that have contributed significantly were part of the announced class on national signing day. Not sure what this says about the process but it's good that we can get contributors late in the process.

Gontarek - he was a late signee. From some of the articles, he qualified late and was going to a D2 school before coming to Albany

Toole - I think this is his third school in as many years. Didn't even know he was in the team until the season started.

Jamal Merritt - didn't know he was on the team until the season started either and he's in the rotation at safety.

Neverdon - late signee and he blocked a punt (maybe a field goal) against JMU.

Not to get too far ahead of myself, but we lose all the skill players for next year - Osbourne, Parker, Fiacchi and King..

Griffin Clancy - OL from Saratoga was one of the commits yesterday

Watched the streaming video last night and was happy with how the team performed. No moral victories but I was impressed that they' were able to battle especially when they went down 14 points

1. Fiacchi seemed to be running for his life but played a great game - a lot of clutch passes especially on third and fourth down. He had a couple of fumbles but we recovered both of them.

2. Gontarek seems to find a way to get open and make big plays. A couple of drops but had another great game.

3. Brad Harris is emerging as a very good wide receiver. He is getting open, making the catch and running for a lot of yards after the catch.

4. Rayshan Clark is a very good cover corner but it looked like he was in position and just missed a tackle on Vad Lee on the long touchdown run and missed another tackle on a touchdown pass. Didn't see a replay but he appeared to be in good position for both tackles

5. I've never seen a goal line play quite like the 4th and goal where the fullback dives over the top. I guess the thought is the defensive line would go low thinking Omar was getting the ball and that would create space for Andre Martin.

6. Brian Parker finds a way to catch the ball no matter how well he's defended.

7. Kologrivov had a cast or something on his arm. Wonder if that impacted his play.

8. Omar ran hard and almost never has negative yards.

9. Linebackers did a great job at getting to the ball. I think there were a couple of personal fouls but they were making plays overall.

10. I think the defensive had their hands full. JMU was big on the offensive line and it's difficult to defend Vad Lee.

Anyway, Richmond is next. Let's hope we have a good crowd at homecoming.

We need our QB to make better reads - can't be throwing into double and triple coverage. He seemed to do better with the check downs later in the game (a couple of the passes to The TE and RB) but not consistently. We also need to make the best of our opportunities - number 1 dropped a pick 6 on the first play of the second half. Not sure what was happening on third downs but I hope it gets fixed this week.

While CCSU has a good QB and WR, the running back seems to be their best player, quick, tough and always seems to fall forwards. We need to contain him and avoid the big play.

Also, I watched the ending of the CCSU - Towson game online yesterday. While there wasn't one big play like our game, there was some drama. Towson roughed the punter giving CCSU a first down on the game winning drive. CCSU had a 30 yard completion into triple coverage on third down on the same drive -giving them the ball at the 2. After they scored the game winning TD, Towson drove the field and had a pass complete in the endzone but the receivers foot came down out of bounds to end the game.

IMO, a good hire. The athletic department and the University overall needs to focus on fundraising. President Jones was at an alumni event several months ago and talked about the need for more fundraising so it sounds like he's working on that plan (also talked about an engineering program and getting more out of state students - all things that were also referenced today)

1. Thought that it was interesting that the AE commissioner was there. Not sure if she was being strategic given some of the noise about a move to the CAA last year (there was a question about that but I couldn't hear it that well). I guess she has to start building relationships right away.

2. Was wondering why Gattuso was sitting up there until he made a plea for attending the opening game (and he seemed to represent all the coaches).

Is there a scrimmage this week or next?

Just went through some of the pictures on Facebook and on the Troy Record site and didn't see #63 (Mike Madaras) or #30 (Martel Williams) in the position pictures - some of the images were a little blurry but curious if they are here. Pictures also showed Nicastro with the Inside Linebackers - assume that's one of the position changes that were talked about.

Also, the website still doesn't show freshman Greg Reaves or Zee Roberson so assuming that they aren't here.

Looking forward to the season.

Edit for links to pictures

http://media.troyrecord.com/2014/08/06/photos-ualbany-football-media-day/#1

A few newcomers not listed on the roster.

Greg Reaves

Russell Neverdon

Andrew Borusso

Elliott Croskey

Zee Roberson