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Post by acucatdad on Dec 12, 2016 12:36:29 GMT -6
I hear Munden is coming back! Hello boys! Couple of notes from being at ACU for Parker's graduation this past weekend: 1) Yes, it looks like Kade will be staying on for one more season, but he is scheduled to have surgery on his other (non throwing) shoulder at the first of the year. He was asked to stay for the reason already mentioned - the fact that we have no experienced back up for Dallas. 2) Nick Grau is probably going to stay since he has one more year of eligibility - he is working to get registered into some graduate level courses as he is scheduled to graduate in the spring. 3) Congratulations to Josh Bloom and Adrian Duncan - they will be going to Minneapolis to play in the All-American game on January 4th(?) I was told that we have an offer out for the OC position and several additional football staff coaching positions are "in process" and will be hired in rapid succession as soon as the new HC is (officially) announced. The HC position is who you think it is - just sayin ... January 6th
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cod
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Post by cod on Dec 12, 2016 12:58:00 GMT -6
Having Munden and Grau back is huge. Saw that Meadows is undergoing surgery today. Any others to add to him, Laws and Rieken? Still waiting for word on Whitley (his eligibility time may have expired). Laws and Rieken have both had shoulder surgery.
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Post by acutrackfan on Dec 12, 2016 13:29:12 GMT -6
Thanks for getting this started, Bogey. It is good to start thinking about next year! Now, we really do not know who all will be back here this coming spring, much less next fall, but it is good to start pondering it now.
QB - Dallas Sealey showed a lot this last year, as everyone on this board could see. Getting Kade Munden back for another year as a more seasoned backup is a good sign. I think there were at least 3 redshirts coming back - Luke Anthony, Tyler Ward and Jake Franklin. Will be looking for a backup all spring.
RB - I would also like to see more depth here. Can a new coach coax one more good season(like he had as a freshman) out of De'Andre Brown? I think everyone on the board saw the promise that Tracy James shows in fleeting glimpses. I think Eric Clayburn will really help, if he is back to 100%.
FB/TE - whoever is OC at ACU this coming year should make it a priority to get the ball into the hands of Trevor Crain and Cody Ennis more in 2017. They were constantly underutilized as receivers in 2016! Liam Flowers tends to under-perform, but he is seasoned and makes a decent backup. I hate to see Colton Cohea moving on - I liked what I saw of him on special teams.
WR - DJ Fuller is a stud. Troy Grant gives Dallas a tall target. Josh Fink caught 40 passes as a true freshman and if not for a case of the dropsies for 2-3 games in the middle of the season, might have had 50 catches. I am not ready to give up on Justin Miller yet - the kid was a RS Freshman and he is a dynamic receiver when he hangs onto the ball. DeShun Qualls was learning how to be a receiver - a HS QB who reminds me of a potential Darian Hogg and that is high praise. Chase Cokley showed flashes of a little something. Carl Whitley is a big-play receiver if he is able to come back. And, don't forget that Greg Craddock - the tallest ACU receiver at 6-6 - redshirted. This is definitely a position of strength, if everyone comes back.
OL - you have 2 All-SLC players returning in Riley Mayfield and Dakota Laws. Four linemen who got numerous starts for ACU in Austin Hisler, Chance Rieken, Brady Melde, and Brandon Niccum. Can Andren Anderson elevate his game to get more playing time than the 2 games he played in 2016? Freshmen scholarship redshirts Emoree Giddens and Anietie Etuk - look great on paper, but can they play? Freshmen Walkons Slayde Anderson and Jon Crisp could help. Will the Ngugnutau brothers finally show and shore up the OL and DL?
DE - Dylan Douglass ended up with 47 tackles and a sack. Devondrick Meadows probably gets a medical redshirt out of last year - he could be in school for his 4th season this next fall and only be a sophomore! Freshmen Corey Smith (16 tackles and 2 starts), TK Kuyatsemi (26 tackles and 4 starts) and Reynel Previlon (5 tackles and 1 sack) ALL show signs of being dynamic players. Cole Burgess probably moves inside IF he can pick up 30-40 pounds.
DT - ACU will miss Catchat's own Josh Bloom. Lamarcus Allen is still a force, if he can keep his head about him and not play stupid. Travaughn Moore (7 tackles) and Dante Hibbert (15 tackles) are pretty solid backups. I must have missed something - what happened to Ivan Thomas? He started 2 games in the middle of the year and racked up 16 tackles and did not play at all the last half of the season. Makoni Pole burned a redshirt to play in 2 games. Burgess could move inside. And, could we finally have a Ngungutau sighting in 2017?
LB - Sam Denmark continues to rack up record-breaking numbers - at OLB in the first 1/3 of the season and MLB in the last 2/3. I really like how Quincy Dunn looked in the last half of the year (38 tackles) - he is one of those smaller, faster LB's we have been coveting. Bryson Gates is totally enigmatic, but the guy has athleticism like little I have ever seen and ended up with 64 tackles and was ACU's sack leader with 3. I still want to see Gavin Burford (36 tackles) and Myles Solsberry (14 tackles) bust out - particularly Burford has some upside in my view. Damian Howard (17 tackles) is a decent backup. Freshmen Jeremiah Chambers had 20 tackles and looked really good at times (and looked mystified at other times). LB should be a strength for at least one more year. AND, if the new coach, whoever he may be, should consider keeping Mark Ribaudo on the staff as LB coach and special teams coordinator.
CB - again, ACU had a true freshman play well after the previous year's freshman flamed out. This year, it was Adonis Davis stepping into Jabari Butler's spot after Jabari was demoted, then quit. Jamar Mack played pretty well at times. But, that is pretty much it when you are looking at returning CB's. We need lots of help here and quick, with both Barnett and Baker graduating.
Safeties - Richard Griffin finished his eligibility. Royce Moore gathered up 41 tackles in only 2 starts. Bolu Onifade looked pretty decent with 16 tackles. Don't forget that Brandon Richmond started 2 games in the early going before an injury scuttled his year. Could he help in 2017? Also, Quentin Bryant was injured in 2-a-days and I think he has gotten a medical redshirt - very athletic kid if he is healthy. Chas Townsend and Tryce Prince both ended up with 6 tackles on the year, although I don't know if Prince will play safety or OLB. Freshman redshirt Landry Hutchins had huge tackle numbers in HS. It is scary to think that we may have to depend on 2 players - Richmond and Bryant - coming back from season ending injuries.
I will be curious how the new coach enters this year. If what Mavsman and others have reported, there will be rapid fire announcements of assistants being hired after the new coach is in place. I HOPE that there are actual announcements made when the staff is in place. The fact that the new staff will not be able to contact any recruits for the first 2-3 weeks they are on staff is really scary. But, the spring practices should be very spirited, with everyone trying to impress the new staff.
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Post by mastercat007 on Dec 12, 2016 13:29:53 GMT -6
Whitley will be back he was red shirted this past season.
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next year
Dec 12, 2016 13:44:03 GMT -6
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Post by jcatman on Dec 12, 2016 13:44:03 GMT -6
Don't know if Coakley will be back
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next year
Dec 12, 2016 13:49:44 GMT -6
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Post by mastercat007 on Dec 12, 2016 13:49:44 GMT -6
Don't know if Coakley will be back it's been shakey around since the coaches have been gone some of these guys statuses are uncertain
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Post by acutrackfan on Dec 12, 2016 13:50:12 GMT -6
I forgot special teams:
-If Grau comes back it will be HUGE for field goal kicking. Brendan Conn did an adequate job in kickoffs, although I would love to see him add some leg-strength and put more kickoffs into the end zone.
-With Austin Kilcullen graduating, there is a big void. I know Bogey was perpetually down on Austin, but he still averaged over 40 yards a punt this past year (40.7) and was capable of big punts. I really think we may see Cody Ennis as the regular punter. Those little pooch punts he did the last 2 years are not indicative of what he can do - in practice, the guy can really boom it.
-We will really miss Hayden Brodowsky - the guy was rock-steady as a deep snapper. I have no idea who will step in here. Hayden Wall did some deep-snapping last fall in practice as a backup, but he may go ahead and get his degree this spring and move on with his life.
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Post by wildcatter on Dec 12, 2016 13:53:25 GMT -6
I don't understand the idea of things being 'shaky'...look at all the big time programs around the country with coaching changes and uncertainty. It happens.
At least wait till coaches are in place, if a player is unhappy with the environment or coaching change or playing time or redshirting, etc, wait till the new guys are here and talk to them and see how the program changes. if there was something about the program that you didn't like, maybe that will change come spring. If you were unhappy with playing time, well now you have your chance to prove yourself for someone new.
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Post by acutrackfan on Dec 12, 2016 13:54:06 GMT -6
Mastercat, I do think it could be shaky with a lot of the young (freshmen/sophs) football players. I have no idea if any of the present staff will be retained and that will have some bearing on kids who may potentially transfer out. I certainly hope that the week prior to Christmas we fans get a little more clarity on the coaching staff. And, I suspect that the first order of the day will be "recruiting" the returnees that the coaches WANT to have come back.
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next year
Dec 12, 2016 14:35:37 GMT -6
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Post by jcatman on Dec 12, 2016 14:35:37 GMT -6
I wonder how all this is going to work out with it being Christmas break and the guys not having to be back until mid January.
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Post by bogeyman on Dec 12, 2016 14:44:26 GMT -6
I like consistency, and a 55 yd boomer followed by a 25 yarder (which adds up to a 40 yd ave on paper) just doesn't tell the whole story. It's kinda like golf when Tiger leads the field in birdies but finishes next to last in the field. I don't know how many of those short punts changed the tenor of the ball game nor how many resulted in short field TD's but some did. Just looking at stats, here's what it looked like: 2013 Record-6-5 Kilcullen 40 punts for 44.2 average long 64 with 11 over 50 2014 Record-6-6 Kilcullen 54 punts for 36.5 average long 57 with 3 over 50 2015 Record 3-8 Kilcullen 45 punts for a 38.6 average long 60 with 7 over 50 2016 Record 2-9 Kilcullen 62 punts for a 40.6 average long 65 with 11 over 50
OK, I don't know how to properly summarize our punting but will say this: Kilcullen's best average years were 2013 and 2016 and those were the years he had the most over 50 yard punts to skew the average, which also means there were a number of less than sterling punts (35 yards or less). It's those punts that can be killers in a close ballgame.
**To Kilcullen's credit, he never in 4 years had a punt blocked, which is special. *In 2015 Ennis had 8 "pooch" kicks and averaged 40.6. I think we'll be in good hands (so to speak) with Ennis. But, you just never know. Sorry to be so hard (I am/was) on Kilcullen. Lots of factors go into kicking and in windy Abilene, I'd suppose a 40 yard average would be pretty good.
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Post by catmasters05 on Dec 12, 2016 14:57:11 GMT -6
I wonder how all this is going to work out with it being Christmas break and the guys not having to be back until mid January. The players have been asked to be back in Abilene next Monday to meet with the new coach. If they can't be there Monday, they will get a phone call to meet him.
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next year
Dec 14, 2016 23:37:58 GMT -6
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Post by wallybullington on Dec 14, 2016 23:37:58 GMT -6
I don't understand the idea of things being 'shaky'...look at all the big time programs around the country with coaching changes and uncertainty. It happens. At least wait till coaches are in place, if a player is unhappy with the environment or coaching change or playing time or redshirting, etc, wait till the new guys are here and talk to them and see how the program changes. if there was something about the program that you didn't like, maybe that will change come spring. If you were unhappy with playing time, well now you have your chance to prove yourself for someone new. Academic statuses are in shambles for many players...zero accountability for the last 4 weeks of the semester. Some of the players mentioned above as being returnees won't be back due to their "extra-curricular" off-field activities. These two combined, there will be holes everywhere.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Dec 14, 2016 23:42:06 GMT -6
I don't understand the idea of things being 'shaky'...look at all the big time programs around the country with coaching changes and uncertainty. It happens. At least wait till coaches are in place, if a player is unhappy with the environment or coaching change or playing time or redshirting, etc, wait till the new guys are here and talk to them and see how the program changes. if there was something about the program that you didn't like, maybe that will change come spring. If you were unhappy with playing time, well now you have your chance to prove yourself for someone new. Academic statuses are in shambles for many players...zero accountability for the last 4 weeks of the semester. Some of the players mentioned above as being returnees won't be back due to their "extra-curricular" off-field activities. These two combined, there will be holes everywhere. Lack of academic accountability bothers me a lot. I am an academic before I am a football fan. This is a problem that goes beyond the football staff. We have an academic support program for student athletes run out of the Athletic Director's office that is supposed to work with coaches and players. They do not appear to be doing their job. I have heard as many as 10 names of players who won't be back for the reasons you mention along with a couple who aren't happy over the way the dismissal was handled and the fact that their position coaches are apparently not going to be retained.
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next year
Dec 14, 2016 23:52:58 GMT -6
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Post by wallybullington on Dec 14, 2016 23:52:58 GMT -6
Academic statuses are in shambles for many players...zero accountability for the last 4 weeks of the semester. Some of the players mentioned above as being returnees won't be back due to their "extra-curricular" off-field activities. These two combined, there will be holes everywhere. Lack of academic accountability bothers me a lot. This is a problem that goes beyond the football staff. We have an academic support program for student athletes run out of the Athletic Director's office that is supposed to work with coaches and players. I'm not sure they are doing their job. Only coaches can enforce consequences for missing class. Academic advisors can only put players in classes where they have best chance to succeed. It's up to the players to get to class. And it's up to coaches to make sure that happens. Players have been without accountability for four weeks...you do the math.
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