AJS

My other thought is it would make sense to me for Feeney to transfer out since he'll be a Junior. Wouldn't make sense for me for Jerry to transfer out as a RS Freshman. Edit: Like @Kab said though, I would hope the coaches would do a good job of selling the backup that he'll get his chance as well during the season.

I would be really surprised if anything is resolved after Spring ball. Can anyone realistically see that happening?

Tom Miller was just on Izzo's show, he does not think they go after another QB from the portal. His thought being the QB battle will go into next Fall. I would tend to agree with that. One clarification maybe with Kelly's statement, is any QB portal add, the thought would be more as someone that provides nice depth. Wouldn't expect that person to challenge for the starting spot.

According to the list the Forum has of MVFC players that are in the portal, he is in the portal.

Why would this one be upsetting? You don’t think this was mutual or I’m guessing more program driven?

Best of luck to Jack moving forward!

Here's to a quiet rest of the week on the portal front. There will be others entering next week of course but need those to all be program driven as well.

Best of luck, Tommy! This was a really important off-season step. I feel better about the direction of the program heading into next year than I did yesterday.

Only thing official so far is Kilty. Bo did say on the radio postgame interview he did after the Sac State game that he intended to come back, but things could change too.

I would be more excited for a D2 All-Conference player, than an FBS drop down who didn't play.

While on the topic of WR's, Eliodor, Wilson and I wouldn't mind 1 more turning over as well. Depth would definitely still be there. Belquist, Klein, Dennis, Tai would be a fun first four. Plus, would give you a potential portal add if the right situation presented itself.

One of my beliefs with roster construction is the appropriate amount of turnover is a good thing. From the Sr. class, who do we hope returns? Here's my list. Belquist Vaughn McNaboe Hembry Beach Navratil* (This is if the coaching staff believes he can return to the form he had as an underclassman) Fort* (He looks to have another year of eligibility) If Belquist returns, I hope the rumor of Wilson entering the portal is true.

This is another perfect example; it appears from his interviews that Bubba gets it. He says the right things, it does seem like he's self-aware of his teams shortcomings. Not optimistic that anything will actually change, but worth noting. Wait and see.

Losing players to the portal is far from a bad thing, IF, its program dictated. Clearly not the case with someone like Kilty. A program like UND just cannot afford many of the Kilty types of portal entries. Like others have said, I don't blame Kilty at all. No hard feelings here, what a great student-athlete! He'll get a bunch of really great offers!

Let's pump the breaks here a bit. Not even close to ideal, but before everyone goes overboard, let's see what the next 48 hours brings us.

One could argue the player they could afford to lose the least. What a gut punch. Things could go sideways fast.

I don't think what defense they run ultimately matters. This year, their front 7 was not even close to good enough. The LB's are not only small, but slow. I would say that for most of their D-Line too. Have 75% of your D-Line be big (275+), with the other 25% being edge type of rushers (McNaboe, Schultz, Teigen). Need to get bigger at ILB. Need to get SO much faster at OLB. Here's my question. If your starting OLB's are Turner / Shannon. How does the defense look this year? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we just witnessed the worst OLB crew this school has ever seen.

You won't get an argument out of me. Credit to you, you've been on this for a long time. What do we think the bigger issue was this year? Pass blocking considerably worse? Losing someone like Maag? All I know is he seemed to be an above average QB last year, up until the 3rd game this year. Since then, I'll be nice and say he's looked average.

Issues within this program are equal parts Coaching and talent. There becomes a point where hindsight isn't 20/20. Once you get about 1-5 on two-point conversions, maybe don't try them anymore unless the games on the line. They ended the year 1 for 7. Did a trick play work at all this year? Maybe stop doing them. Highlighting those two things, when looking at the start of the 4th. UND clearly has issues (1) Pass blocking (2) WR's getting open (3) Tommy's downfield throws. Run the ball. It's this weird thing where it's like, something rarely works, but let's keep trying it, because what are the chances it won't work again, type of thinking.

Dec 4th Two giant pieces to next years puzzle we’ll find out soon. (1) Covid year Seniors returning (2) Whose entering the portal This program needs those two pieces to grade out at an A. That means the coaching staff dictating both of those. That did happen last year.

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/college/commentary-in-transfer-portal-era-und-needs-to-find-immediate-fixes-on-defense

Last first thoughts before the offseason really starts going. The offense if a few things fall into place should be solid. My biggest hope is the OC really takes a step back and clears his head. Starts fresh next year. Defensively, going to take a really difficult approach. Guys that played this year that get asked to enter the portal. OLB / S need to be mostly new faces. D-Line needs to be improved as well. Hit the portal hard on defense. Edit: I actually don’t think Safety was one of the worst positional groups on defense this year, but they do lose their two best.

This is also the only thing I can think of that could potentially fix the defense. Your base going into the offseason should be 1 or 2 leftovers @ S / OLB. Rest all portal. Bring in 2/3 on D-line too from the portal. I’m ok w/ MLB / CB position.