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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on May 14, 2018 9:13:50 GMT -6
We won 2 last year with 2 FBS schools on our schedule. This year we exchange one FBS school for a D2 opponent. Angelo State is no pushover, but they are no Colorado State either. A three win season won’t show any progress in my opinion, given the more favorable schedule. A fourth win will mean we have taken baby steps. I think 5 wins will show we are making strides, and anything more will put us ahead of schedule. Would you not agree baby steps is moving forward? I said 4-5 is a reasonable goal which means we basically agree I think? This is just my opinion..............using wins as the only measure at this point is probably not a reasonable view point with where we are at. It is all speculation but in my opinion we might have gone O'fer last year without a change. At risk of offending those that support the prior staff, I will say that having a kid that played for both regime's....................It is night and day now how much better the PROGRAM is. Communication, planning, coaching (at least at the O-line level), focus on school and discipline are much improved. The attitude and demeanor of the team is improved. Those are direct results of the changes made by AD. Those changes would not be here otherwise. I have said it before and will again here................the pace, planning and efficiency of practice alone is improved. So from my humble viewpoint we are already better and headed in the right direction.................4-5 wins combined with the above I will take and be happy. Keep moving forward is the name of the game at this point. We were not very good when AD got here and expecting vast changes in the win column is probably not reasonable year one. In fact I would say keeping it where we did and being more competitive overall was a positive. Bring on the different opinions...................it is a long time till report day and this should carry us for the next 24 hours! LOL! Me: Yup, I’d agree that baby steps show progress. Also me: Why aren’t we winning more games already ?
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Post by Outsider on May 14, 2018 9:25:07 GMT -6
Baby steps Oscar, baby steps... BUT, if the team wants to bypass that and run I'd be fine with that as well
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Post by wildcat90 on May 14, 2018 9:39:55 GMT -6
Would you not agree baby steps is moving forward? I said 4-5 is a reasonable goal which means we basically agree I think? This is just my opinion..............using wins as the only measure at this point is probably not a reasonable view point with where we are at. It is all speculation but in my opinion we might have gone O'fer last year without a change. At risk of offending those that support the prior staff, I will say that having a kid that played for both regime's....................It is night and day now how much better the PROGRAM is. Communication, planning, coaching (at least at the O-line level), focus on school and discipline are much improved. The attitude and demeanor of the team is improved. Those are direct results of the changes made by AD. Those changes would not be here otherwise. I have said it before and will again here................the pace, planning and efficiency of practice alone is improved. So from my humble viewpoint we are already better and headed in the right direction.................4-5 wins combined with the above I will take and be happy. Keep moving forward is the name of the game at this point. We were not very good when AD got here and expecting vast changes in the win column is probably not reasonable year one. In fact I would say keeping it where we did and being more competitive overall was a positive. Bring on the different opinions...................it is a long time till report day and this should carry us for the next 24 hours! LOL! Me: Yup, I’d agree that baby steps show progress. Also me: Why aren’t we winning more games already ? Since wins seems to be your only measurement we will go there................ It has been 1 seasons in which the bleeding stopped..........2-9 to 2-9 From 2012 to 2016 we steadily got worse in win percentage and this year we held ground. I would argue that trend would have continued without change and we could have gone O'fer. So from my perspective you did get more wins by not living thru another season of decline.
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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on May 14, 2018 9:48:12 GMT -6
As someone who lives across the street from the U and hangs out there a lot, (note: Oscar, 90 and I all live on the same street. Of course we rarely see each other we mostly communicate on Cat Chat :-) ) I think the culture is a 180 degree turnaround. I've met most of the transfers and they are very different from some past recruits. There has been a lot of turnover in the conference this year both athletes and coaches. Sam and Nicholls will be favored followed by UCA, McNeese, SFA, and SLU. That leaves us 3 conference games where we would possibly be favored or very close. If we don't lose those, that's a 4 win season. SFA has a lot of people coming back but I don't think they are as talented as they tell everybody they are. UCA looks vulnerable. They lost some big time guys but also fared well in the transfer market. SLU with the new QB from Fresno could be a beast this year. McNeese is a question mark but will likely have the best defense in the conference - possibly along with us. So 4 wins plus a surprise and no blowouts is the kind of progress I'm hoping for.
Home games: Angelo, UIW, Nicholls, UCA, McNeese.
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Post by bogeyman on May 14, 2018 9:58:07 GMT -6
I like your perspective wildcat90. I like hearing that the culture (program) is better. I want to see progress in wins and in the quality of players we bring in, recruit, and sign. It all fits together, as has been said. I see no reason whatsoever that we can't win 4-5 games next year and maybe more. But as they say, "the proof will be in the pudding." Wouldn't it be nice to reverse some close losses: SFA--10 points McNeese--6 points Nichols--9 points Northwestern St--3 points in OT Sam Houston--9 (4th quarter lead)
We should be favored vs: Angelo State HBU UIW
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Post by wildcat90 on May 14, 2018 10:00:23 GMT -6
As someone who lives across the street from the U and hangs out there a lot, (note: Oscar, 90 and I all live on the same street. Of course we rarely see each other we mostly communicate on Cat Chat :-) ) I think the culture is a 180 degree turnaround. I've met most of the transfers and they are very different from some past recruits. There has been a lot of turnover in the conference this year both athletes and coaches. Sam and Nicholls will be favored followed by UCA, McNeese, SFA, and SLU. That leaves us 3 conference games where we would possibly be favored or very close. If we don't lose those, that's a 4 win season. SFA has a lot of people coming back but I don't think they are as talented as they tell everybody they are. UCA looks vulnerable. They lost some big time guys but also fared well in the transfer market. SLU with the new QB from Fresno could be a beast this year. McNeese is a question mark but will likely have the best defense in the conference - possibly along with us. So 4 wins plus a surprise and no blowouts is the kind of progress I'm hoping for. Home games: Angelo, UIW, Nicholls, UCA, McNeese. AGREE WITH ALL! Starts with winning the ones you should!
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Post by wildcat90 on May 14, 2018 10:02:00 GMT -6
I like your perspective wildcat90. I like hearing that the culture (program) is better. I want to see progress in wins and in the quality of players we bring in, recruit, and sign. It all fits together, as has been said. I see no reason whatsoever that we can't win 4-5 games next year and maybe more. But as they say, "the proof will be in the pudding." Wouldn't it be nice to reverse some close losses: SFA--10 points McNeese--6 points Nichols--9 points Northwestern St--3 points in OT Sam Houston--9 (4th quarter lead) We should be favored vs: Angelo State HBU UIW I liked that we were closer in our loses year 1.................Realize we were a kick from 3 wins and a little luck from 4 last year.
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Post by mavsman53 on May 17, 2018 17:57:42 GMT -6
DE/OLB Tyler Vaimaona picks up an offer. He played at Golden West JUCO. He is listed at 6’1 245
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Post by acumedic on May 18, 2018 18:43:55 GMT -6
Sweetwater QB Chris Thompson and WR/DB Kobe Clark both sign “LOIs”. Walkons?
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Post by Outsider on May 18, 2018 19:53:42 GMT -6
Sweetwater QB Chris Thompson and WR/DB Kobe Clark both sign “LOIs”. Walkons? Congrats, don't know if you are walk ons or not but I love to see you local guys staying here. I pray that you both succeed!! It will be a tough road at times, but stick it out and continue to grow.
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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on May 19, 2018 10:59:49 GMT -6
Sweetwater QB Chris Thompson and WR/DB Kobe Clark both sign “LOIs”. Walkons? TV sports last night described them as preferred walkons. I don't know much about Clark but Thompson had a productive high school career.
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Post by mavsman53 on May 19, 2018 16:12:33 GMT -6
OL Robin Luna was here on an Official Visit today. He is from Southwestern JUCO and is listed at 6’5 315
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Post by wildcat1997 on May 21, 2018 16:38:48 GMT -6
Looks like Abilene Cooper FB/LB Nick Powell has signed with the team. It's hard to tell in the photo but I zoomed it in and it looks like it's Powell's name. He's listed at 6'0 180 and the only stats I could find on him were that he ran 3 times for 35 yards.
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Post by wildcat1997 on May 21, 2018 16:39:35 GMT -6
Here's the photo if anyone else wants to take a crack at it:
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Post by WildCatToothDoc on May 21, 2018 17:37:26 GMT -6
Nick Powell
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