iramurphy

Yup and that means speed, quickness and strength, more than height and weight listed in a program. Hopefully, those traits and appropriate weight gain will improve with the speed and strength training program.

4/5 DE’s taken in yesterday’s NFL first round weighed between 245 and 260lbs. Other guy weighed 285lbs.

You miss my point. How big do you think they need to be? My point is how important speed/strength/quickness is. Slow big guys aren’t very effective. I agree that when combined with size it is even better. Small slow guys are worse.

Key point to our struggles has been the absence of our TE’s in our passing schemes. If anyone listened to Nick Saban last night he discussed how involving athletic TE’s as an integral part of an offense makes things much more difficult for defenses. It can force your corners into more single coverages. It also creates the challenge of committing safety help vs LB’s athletic/quick enough to cover the TE in man coverage. I recently discussed the use of TE’s in the passing game with 3 of our former coaches and their opinions were all similar to Saban’s. On a related note some of you may be surprised at the actual size of some of the defensive linemen and LB’s in the draft. The idea that DL have to weigh 260lbs or more and LB’s need to be over 230lbs is not an opinion shared by those same coaches. (They all coached at the FBS level). Speed, quickness, intelligence and athletic ability are more important that the extra 20-30 lbs, especially for LB’s and DE’s. Slot receivers, athletic TE’s, running QB’s have put a premium on speed and quickness and athletic ability for LB’s and DL. In looking at 40 times for WR I was surprised at how so many ran 4.45 or greater. We have and have had guys who can do that. I read a lot of comments about how our WR’s lack enough speed to be a deep threat. The majority of deep throws are 20-45yds. Most of the time the receiver is already open in the first 20-25yds from LOS and if they catch the ball when they break open a lot of the long pass plays are after the catch. To me, the key to 2024 for us is the OL, accuracy of QB, and whether or not we are smart enough to scheme our TE’s into our offense and speed, quickness and intelligence on defense. It starts with OL or else the other key components won’t be as effective. On defense it is speed, strength, quickness and intelligence more than size. Yes, a bigger guy with speed quickness and intelligence is preferable but it starts with speed strength and quickness.

I think it’s more accurate to say “Jerry’s World” (stadium, practice facilities, golf course, post game amenities for players and their families) is flashy. The organization takes very good care of players and their families. There was nothing flashy about a number of there players that were drafted or signed as free agents over the years but the Cowboys and the stadium bring in a lot of fans in a FB crazy state who want to experience “Jerry’s World”. He is all about winning, but I believe his ego sometimes gets in the way of team success.

Jake Starcevic commits to Army. Good for him. Beat Navy!

UND has worked very hard for donations at virtually every giving level. I think over time they have recognized gifts of $100 and up. What I was discussing was your comment regarding what “influential donors” demand. My reference to the 6 and 7 figure donors pertained to that statement. My opinion is that the best institutions don’t respond to boosters “demands”. They will listen to 7-8 figure donors and their ideas or opinions as to how best to utilize that donation. No institution should succumb to demands of a booster based on a monetary donation that would compromise the integrity of the institution. It would be an egregious mistake to set a precedent by allowing boosters to demand specific decisions based solely on a monetary donation. .

I was referring to the level of donation where an administrator or coach would spend much time listening to the “demands” of a donor. They will take time to interact and listen to fans who don’t necessarily donate more than time and buying tickets. Very few donors approach admin or coaches with demands, and those that do are a pain in the butt for multiple reasons. There is a better approach. It works in trying to overcome almost all challenges and starts with a simple question. How can I help?

6 figures doesn’t cut it. It will get you invited to social functions, name in publications and certainly is appreciated. The 3,4, and five figure donations are also recognized, appreciated and added together these donations make a big difference. For 7 or 8 figures you may be able influence some decisions. (Speed up new business college construction, new softball field, Sports Med contract). Your second paragraph is kind of the same sentiment you have expressed many times.

Define influential donor. 4 figures? 5 figures? 6, 7, 8 figures? In my experience, most donors give to organizations as a sign of gratitude for how they have benefited from their previous relationships with an organization or support for future success of an organization that they feel is important to them or their community. Very few major donors give with the idea that recipients will respond to their demands. They don’t tend to “demand” anything, even a handshake. It can happen, as it recently did, with billionaire donors pulling donations from a number of our nation’s universities but only after said universities were garnering negative coverage by major media outlets. I believe rather than trying to dictate how should interact with our athletic department staff, we should become influential donors ourselves then make an appointment with the decision makers to express our concerns. I can tell you it’s going to take donations more than 6 figures to get the kind of attention we think that should get us.

He must stay healthy this year. They are high on him but worried about injuries.

Eddie Balfour was probably the best, but he was a different one and done. Johannes injury showed how important he was to this team.

What is Phizer?

That was the false narrative pushed by some of the media personalities and a small handful of self serving researchers and doctors. All case mortality in multiple studies was less in the vaccinated groups. There was a slight increase in cardiac complications and young adult males were at a higher risk. The studies from Italy and Australia didn’t show a lower risk in the vaccinated groups but a compilation of studies referenced by the CDC did find a slight increase in cardiac complications in healthy vaccinated subjects when compared with healthy unvaccinated subjects who had not contracted COVID. The studies showed a significant decrease in serious illness and death in vaccinated subjects. However, otherwise healthy subjects who contracted Covid had a significantly higher cardiac complication rate and a much higher death rate than those who had complications following the vaccine. People were much less likely to develop cardiac complications and die from the vaccine than to contract Covid and develop cardiac complications and die from Covid. That is why the vast majority of physicians and cardiologists recommended their patients get vaccinated.

No he isn’t, he died. He died 1 1/2 yrs after receiving the vaccine. He claimed the vaccine caused myocarditis. Whether or not he developed myocarditis from the vaccine or previous Covid infection was never determined. Normally deaths related to vaccines occur within the first 2 weeks of receiving a vaccine. Virtually all deaths related to the mRNA vaccines were due to anaphylactic allergic reactions. Having been a young male increased his risk of contracting myocarditis from the vaccine. I couldn’t find confirmation that he had myocarditis but it seems likely based on information available. Any athlete who develops myocarditis whether from the vaccine or from Covid should have had his/her physical activity restricted until they have gone through an approved return to play protocol. It was reported that he died during a stress test. Normally, follow up testing for myocarditis would be an echocardiogram as opposed to an EKG or stress test. The information available wasn’t complete enough to determine cause of death. It wasn’t determined that he died from the COVID vaccine. However, I don’t believe there was enough information to state it couldn’t have been an indirect cause. The other multiple cases listed showed no evidence those deaths were related to any vaccine.

That would be zero. In reviewing obituaries that were available, of the deaths listed, none were found due to the vaccine. The handful of deaths related to Covid vaccines were almost all due to allergic reactions that caused anaphylaxis.

This kid is the real deal. Offer him now. Sheds blockers quickly and gets to ball carrier quickly. No reason to delay an offer. Gophers should be interested.

At their indoor conf meet this week this kid won the 60 meters (7.33 sec), the 200 meters (23.8 sec), and placed 2nd in the 60 m hurdles (9.11). For a kid that size that’s pretty impressive. It will be interesting to see how these times improve in the outdoor season in the 110m, 200m and high hurdles. Good get to start 2025 recruiting.

I drove up to GF to watch the scrimmage and get a free donut. The QB’s threw the ball well. Feeney got picked once but receiver might have knocked it down. Otherwise he had a good day. Kaminski missed on a slant pattern but through a TD on another. Romfo had more pressure from DLine but also threw the ball well. They all threw the ball well in drills. Hentges (transfer from Mary) didn’t get through his reads as fast but also threw well. Our receivers looked good but we didn’t really try many deep throws. My biggest disappointment in the passing game was despite a new OC it doesn’t seem we realize the TE is an eligible receiver. Zeibart and Seidel were held out. Donovan Hunt is quick and accelerates quickly. We need to hang on to him and get him involved in the offense. Oline looks big. Couldn’t tell much cuz it was a scrimmage whistles blown early to protect QB’s. Grant Romfo was the workhouse RB during live running game reps. Most plays were inside runs. Defensive line kept running game bottled up for the most part. Secondary looks much better. Receivers weren’t running free. LB’s looked to be reacting quicker. FG guys decent distance but must be more consistent. Punting was nothing special. I’m sure there were some things I missed. Overall I wouldn’t be pessimistic but we have to get a lot better over the summer.

Great observations. Shows insight and knowledge of the game. Appreciate the post.

Not necessarily just 2024 but I saw that Josh Morton has Augustana contracted with a company called “Athletes Thread” which contracts with athletes for NIL merchandise. It looks like the athletes arrange the contract and the company makes clothing/jerseys etc which can include school name/logo on the merchandise. I didn’t review details but looks like a good option for NIL and much cleaner than what seems to be happening in many places.

I’m not making excuses for the FB program. My comments have nothing to do with our FB program. Like you, I wondered why anyone would go there. I wondered if there might be NIL money. It’s not that complicated. I thought your name was Francis based on your posts. Sorry.

Those guys have lots of money. Money is a big part of recruiting. It’s the only reason I could think of that might entice someone to go there. Lighten up Francis. It has more to do with recruiting than some of the nonsense posted on this thread.

Duck Commander is located in west Monroe. The Robertsons are big FB fans.

Vigen is a good recruiter. They were successful during his time as OC. That is a better measurement of success than a fan forum. I think Hedberg also deserves a lot of the credit for QB development.