siouxfan512

I agree, its sour grapes. Now, if you make it and lose every handful of years, I can see where there would get old and you may miss that December run of winning playoff games (at least as a fan), but the hockey comparison is fair. Making the FBS playoffs is big time for some programs, schools, cities. I doubt the players for Tulane and JMU were wishing they had skipped their FBS playoff game to drop down and run through the FCS playoffs. I'm sure there are some players who would like to continue having something to play for, but as we saw with NDSU this year, even the good teams can get bounced in the FCS playoffs. Not being a player, I do wonder how kids will feel about some of the garbage bowl games that could be in play. I think it will be cool right away because its new, but I've heard enough players on the radio say those are tough games to get up for. They can be half empty stadiums and player hate having to keep preparing for those games, especially at the end of a semester and around the holidays. I do wonder how the financial implications will work out, but I'm not expert on any of that. increase NIL, increase scholarship, increased travel. All those costs going up, where is the money coming from and will it be sustainable? I'm not advocating one way or the other on whether I'd like to ever see this for UND. Conceptually, it sounds fantastic, but would the juice be worth the squeeze, or could it cause a large financial burden to the school? I have no clue. I do know that the comments I see about not wanting UND to ever consider the move if it were available are very reminiscent of what many said back in the early 2000s .... all I know is when UND didn't make the jump with NDSU, we lost out and lost out big. There are no guarantees of anything in retrospect, but I think it is fair to say that UND moving at the same time would have made it more challenging for NDSU to do what they did. Remember this was pre-FCS titles and dynasty level play. At that time, UND would have had the exact same opportunity to recruit and compete and build themselves up. I can see this going two ways: NDSU dominates the MW for years and seeks a move to a bigger conference or positions themselves well for a major D1 football shakeup or realignment. OR the transition isn't quite as successful as they hoped, and the increase cost makes them make the drop back to FCS a few years down the road like Idaho. Regardless, you can't blame them for taking their shot to keep growing. I certainly won't be cheering for the Bison, but I am interested in how this plays out.

I watched him play a bit this Fall and he is huge out there!!! I made the comment and one of the people next to me had told me he was going to ISU and is a great kid. Hopefully his HS play translates to college. I wonder what his quickness is like with his size and how he will change over the next year or two. Do you try to keep him at that size, or lean him out and then add some muscle. Will definitely be a BIG one to watch.

Didn't you know that being an FCS coordinator is a lifelong commitment?!?

Agreed, preferably with some experience, because didn't we hear than a few of our incoming freshman have a good chance at playing right away?

Cuz the world is soft

If you're not going to flat out share what you know, could you at least hint at what you are hearing? New name? Familiar name? Timeline for hearing something? Or just DM me because I need some football news! haha

Any potentials listed for the OC role?

Apart from the obvious (Seidl, Olagbaju, Bluiett, Fleming) are we overly concerned about any of these losses or are most of these due to the fact that the staff will want to continue bringing in more and better talent. A little disappointing to see so many big boys leaving the OL group, but were any of these guys going to see the field? Not asking if they would start, but from a depth perspective? OL doesn't typically seem much in the way of transfers in, so not sure how that is shaping up for next year. Schmitt seemed to make a lot happen, without a lot of time last year. That being said, it would be nice to start seeing some more names committing via the portal. I'm sure I'm just being impatient, but looking forward to seeing what happens.

I really used to like Motzko, but he has aged out. The guy is clown. We should be surprised at questionable decisions being made by a guy that has the Gophers where they are at despite being loaded with talent. I love to hate the Gophers but they are more fun to hate when they are either good or maybe slightly struggling ... seeing them sit at 8-10-1 and unranked is just sad .... especially since we dropped a game to them. Whomever said Carle is better for this age group is spot on. But USA hockey makes a lot of dumb decisions.

If you had to guess, where does this compare to what some of our current DL are in terms of strength and lifting. The crazy part is they will only get stronger once they get on campus, but I'm excited to see these guys play.

You expected Schmidt to compete the way we did this year? I thought we did a fantastic job overall FOR THE FIRST YEAR UNDER A NEW COACH. To be clear, I expect a sizeable step each year under Schmidt, but we took a great step from last year and Jerry was a part of that. That being said, I would also expect a full season out of the kid, but we don't know if there were other factors that led to the decline in place we saw. Compare this season as it played out to what would have happened if Bubba was coaching. Jerry may not have even played, and we would have had Simon going. We don't compete in Manhattan or Montana. We certainly don't win as many games on the road. Our defense doesn't getter better. We don't hold the Bison to 15 and compete there. Can't fix it all with the snap of the fingers. There is a process, and Schmidt was also working with plenty of what was already here, then filled in with some of his own guys... It SHOULD only get better. My expectations are plenty high for this team and program. But I'm also going to be realistic with a timeline for improvement when competing in the Valley. Jerry was a stud early in the year ... if he can't get back to that then you move on, but I'm hopefully he returns to form and don't see any reason to think he won't (at this point).

Overall, I was really happy with Jerry this season. He put us in a position we were not expecting after everything that happened in the offseason. That being said, he clearly regressed as the year went on. Could be injury, could be burnout, could be something else. I'm sure he will come back strong next season and hopefully with some better tools. Appreciate all of the effort Dennis gave us over the years, but I'm looking forward to seeing what some of these incoming receivers from FL and TX can do ... more Hromadka and hopefully a strong stable of RB despite SS leaving. All that being said, if Hendrickson or a transfer can come in and push for the job .... then great. Competition is the key to success, and I want whoever will win. Biggest offseason question for me is OC. Does Fruechte stay or go?

I wouldn't quite go there ... I heard rumors they might by signing Uncle Rico and that boy can throw the pigskin over them there mountains!!! Watch out NFC North!!!

I was looking at that too. His brother appears to be big time ... but good to make that connection now, because you never know if a kid will transfer down or not.

Any chance Sawyer Riffle will be ready to take over at kicker next year? Nobody we have has proven they can own the job ... if our freshman can't unseat someone, do we look at some sort of transfer? There has to be a handful of D2 or community college kids that could outperform what we have seen this year. Given how close many of our games have been, this could be the difference in a few wins vs losses.