reeder

I’d say it’s about right for us. We lost a lot of productivity and have a lot of unknowns - especially the offensive line and wide receivers. That said: 1. I think Villanova might have the most talent in the conference. I think they return almost all of their starters from last year and JMU lost a lot of key players. 2. In my opinion, UNH is overrated every year but this year they don’t play Villanova or JMU so that might help them. 3. Delaware wasn’t that bad last year but their starting QB missed a lot of games and they lost some close games. They’re building great facilities so they’ll get great players but I don’t remember anything that warrants them being ranked so high. 4. I think we have the potential to be good but with so many unknowns, it’s too hard to say. Also, the schedule will be a challenge with Monmouth, UMASS, JMU and Villanova in consecutive weeks.

Wasn’t sure where to but this and didn’t want to start a new thread.

I don’t know about the RFP but President Rodriguez and his staff just completed a series of Alumni meetings in Florida and the topic of athletic facilities came up. There wasn’t a specific answer but he did say the recent discussions had three phases. Phase 1 was new seating in SEFCU, phase 2 was renovating the pool area to give more space to the varsity athletes - not sure what that means and i don’t remember the third phase. There was a UAlbany overall presentation and discussion and it sounded like the athletic facility meetings just occurred so I don’t know how defined everything is but sounds like there are some ideas and someone (Benson?) has priorities.

From footballscoop last week: Albany (FCS – NY): Special teams coordinator / co-defensive coordinator / outside linebackers coach Joe Bernard has been promoted to defensive coordinator and corners coach Curome Cox has been elevated to co-defensive coordinator, source tells FootballScoop. We understand that there are no open positions on the staff at this time.

I always thought the offensive and defensive analyst positions were interesting. They’re not actual coaches and don’t get paid much - can’t coach a position or in a game. They’re similar to grad assistants or assistants to the assistant coaches. The role does get you visibility and exposure. Mike locksley, Steve Sarkisian... I do worry about who will become our DC. The offense struggled under Coach Bernard and so has the Special teams since he became their coach. I know he was co defensive coordinator but I’d hope they get a more established DC.

$60 million is a lot of money. For perspective, our endowment is only $71 million, our football stadium was $24 million and I’d guess good minor league stadiums are probably less than $30 million. What can they possibly build for that much money? $60 million would probably satisfy our wishlist for football and basketball. That said, congratulations and good for them.

Looks like Jose Lopez hasn’t signed yet - or he’s going somewhere else.

Max Plank is still in HS. I think Roy Alexander and Jackson Parker were in Post Grad programs so they can transfer mid term.

I think Jackson Parker was a mid year admit. I also think #25 is Jose Lopez - a RB from PA. In terms of numbers, I think the recruits usually wear their HS numbers.

The JC CB signed. Now let’s see who might be available in the transfer portal.

My guess is that they want to wait and see what offers may come between now and the February signing date - but who knows. I’d rather have them not sign than to sign and not show up. Also, the other variable is scholarship offer. We know that they were offered but don’t know of it was a partial scholarship or full scholarship. I can see them going elsewhere for a better offer or waiting to February for a better offer.

I think you’re reading it correctly. We’ve been undersized and Coach has talked about getting bigger and longer and it looks like we’re making progress. Someone stated this earlier but we’ve had some big linemen who haven’t worked out so now we have a couple of more. We still need more size everywhere but definitely need the length in the secondary and at wide receiver.

Eli - thanks for the chart. Not related to the topic but we give up too many sacks (and we throw too many interceptions). Just points out that we need to improve the offensive line.

Northern Iowa transfer

Signing day is next week. Let’s add another offensive lineman and a couple of defensive lineman and get some commitments.

I know that Coach Gattuso talked about Micah Royster moving back to center. He started at Center as a redshirt freshman before Nico Cuban transferred in. I agree Kobe Thomas had a bad game but I think he had a really good year overall and he’s only a freshman so I think he’ll be fine going forward. On defense, I just think we need to get bigger.

I didn’t mention special teams. We struggled there all year. Not just place kicking but kickoff coverage as well. If we can’t kick it into the end zone, we need to be able to tackle better. Not sure if that’s a player issue or a scheme issue.

IMO, the Montana State game brought the focus to areas of need that we’ve had all year Big athletic cornerbacks - Coach Gattuso has talked about this for years. He recruited Dee Fields and Elijah Fields (both around 6’1”/ 6’2”) last year but i don’t think either one played any games - maybe they can step in. We could have used that size against teams like Rhode Island, Maine and Montana State - we give up too many 50/50 passes. More size at linebacker. Metheny is a good middle linebacker but I’d like to see him on the strong side and Damico on the other side with a bigger middle linebacker Bigger offensive linemen. We struggle against good defensive lines. One of the challenges we had against Montana State was that they were getting pressure with three or four linemen. It’s hard to make passes with 7 or 8 defenders dropping into coverage. Bigger receivers. I’d like to see one big receiver that’s physical. Defensive End. I’d guess that we’d go back to a traditional defensive line now that Eli Mencer is gone. Lachmann started a few games but I don’t think he played in the last few games. Rushawn Lawrence was really good in HS so maybe he can step in. Not sure that Isaiah Watson is the best fit so maybe he goes back to outside linebacker. The good news is I think we entered the year with needs in these areas but we had great skill players and made a run. Let’s see who we can get to step up.

Bad game but still proud of what the team has done. We have a lot of work to do to compete on a national level but this was certainly a year of progress and the future does look bright.

That was just great defense. They weren’t giving Green the middle of the field.

Kobe Thomas - what a horrible day so far.

Kobe Thomas struggling so far. Gives up the block on the punt and then the personal foul.