UND-FB-FAN

I'd blame the major issues of 2017 UND football on scheme (25%) per your point and on recruiting/depth (50%). I'll give injuries 25% of the blame. What do two of those points have in common? Coaches.

These are all thoughts I can't really argue with. All in all, I think many big-time boosters have formulated the same opinion, unfortunately.

Did those things happen because of Faison or despite of him? Be honest with yourself. Faison was in charge of the department for basically the entire DI era. Many of those accomplishments you mentioned were de facto changes based purely on the reclassification from DII to DI. Also, I think Prior and Bubba are in two different tiers of coaching. Bubba is 24-22 at UND (.52) whereas Prior is 103-40 (.72). Again, though, it seems some are merely satisfied with just winning more than you lose here at UND.

I sure hope something like that isn't in Mannasaus character, because then we shouldn't want him in charge to begin with. I highly doubt Mike would do something like that to sabotage UND athletics. I just think UND needs some new blood with some new ideas. Mannassau has also never held an athletic director assistant position before. Continually promoting from within is not always a good idea, particularly when there are complaints about the current department. Chaves has ideas from a different department that was successful under his leadership. He knows FCS football and DI basketball at the level UND plays at. He would potentially be a great addition to UND athletics that could possibly help move UND football and basketball forward. All in all, we need someone with a vision for UND to be great. In all honestly, Faison was satisfied with the status quo which was UND hockey championships and mediocre football and basketball.

Chaves needs to be the front runner. There's potential with Mannausau and Porter, but Chaves has already been running a successful DI athletic department at the top. Favorite has to be Chaves.

That's done quite a bit around these parts, especially for non-hockey sports. Lower Expectations U, Grand Forks, ND I'm quite apathetic at this point. Shame it has to come to this. Holding out slight hope due to the new AD.

Key word is seemingly. Just like last season was "seemingly" a guaranteed playoff season. UND needs to get more talented across the board and never get complacent with the ability of the current roster, especially coming off a mere 3 win season. Now, in regards to the Iowa State player, his history definitely does raise some red flags that should be considered. Moving forward, though, UND does need to consider more "select" FBS transfers for pure talent.

Execution and discipline goes a long way when running flex triple option football. The military academies are well versed in this. Unfortunately, the complete lack of a passing game does usually cost the military academies at least a couple games each and very season. It's a tough style to be successful with when you're suddenly down a few scores.

You'll get that ANYWHERE in DI football. Welcome to the big boys. Some hear less because they WIN.

Well said.

San Diego State offer appears to affirm he has a lot of potential. I certainly hope to see him sign with UND. UND has targeted (and signed) some highly respected defensive line recruits lately. Hope it pays off starting in 2018. The linebacker and defensive back spots also need major upgrading, and there's some potential in this class at those spots too.

Complete exaggeration. No one on NDSU would run straight FB lead all night. Rudolph on the other hand might have tried. Don't oversimplify NDSU's offense; they do a lot with pre-snap shifts and spreading the ball around. UND doesn't spread the ball around nearly as much which directly comes back to offensive game planning.

Spot on. All hail mediocrity!

Average Football U. I'd like leadership and us, the supporters, to eventually entertain changing that.

Wishful thinking, probably the latter.

Either way, UND's defense remains bad. Until the defense improves, UND will struggle mightily against quality opponents. The Big Sky Conference remains mediocre at best, though, so the conference slate will probably make UND look somewhat competent again.

If you're coming to this forum looking for validated reporting, then your source preferences should be questioned more than anything else. You should expect such "air it out" claims regularly here; furthermore, actually spending your time policing such claims is certainly excessive. I prefer getting my information "straight from the horse's mouth", but I have no problem "beating around the bushes" on this website as that seems most appropriate given the nature of fan forums. Good day.

Whether they were vague or not, I would expect someone to have a problem with it. I would hate to give you the benefit of the doubt and God forbid provide an actual name. Some just don't like to think there's something wrong or off. Well, in collegeiate athletics and many other disciplines, you can often explain poor performances by just that. But, it's always hunky dory at UND, right @jdub27?

I'm not going to point out individuals. However, those who are lazy and/or have personal interests directed towards the ice within the department sure appreciate the luxury of not needing to actively monitor performance reports. No consequences anticipated when one signs one of these "special" contract extensions.

I COMPLETLEY AGREE. The current coaching complacency in both football and men's basketball is a major problem, not a luxuary like some in the athletic department perceive it to be.

Yuck. This is a conference opponent next season folks. Again, yuck. Coaches and players should be embarrassed.

To cap this whole thing off with my final thoughts: Injuries suck. They obviously suck for the student-athletes and their family but they also suck for the team and the fans. They *do* affect the team's ability. Back-ups are back-ups and there is a drop off. I fully acknowledge that. With that said, UND and Bubba can't dwell on that. Fans can't dwell on that. You can't make that an excuse and fold it up - UND needs way better depth to combat it. No reason a "good" program should allow injuries to flip the script from top 10 FCS team to conference bottom feeder within a matter of weeks. That happened to UND in 2017, though. "Good" programs can certainly handle injuries better than "poor" programs. It is on Bubba to correct the depth issues. If he can't following 2018, then yes, I do think he and his staff should be relieved of duties. It is unfortunate that Bubba hasn't had the luxury of phase II of the HPC yet, as that would certainly help recruiting and depth building. Hopefully this 2017-2018 recruiting class improves the situation and the injury bug isn't as bad in 2018 as it was in 2017.

So transfers don't count in your assessment? And Studsrud being a senior QB doesn't count because he's not apart of a "true" recruiting class? These miracle classes of "his" that are redshirt sophomores and redshirt freshmen were no where to be found when the depth issue arose in 2017. But the depth woes apparently have nothing to do with Bubba and his staff's recruiting? Man, that's just foolish. I don't think you can comprehend that Bubba doesn't walk on water and he has failed some thus far. Lastly, people *actually* get disappointed when a team only wins 27 percent of their games. Bubba chose this program and the players that were already on the roster, they didn't choose him. He needs to make the moves to win and people on here need to stop making excuses regarding "his" players. The depth is flawed due to very questionable recruiting and the schematics/strategy is mediocre at best from Bubba and his staff.

Not NDSU's fault they have built proper depth. Bubba has been at UND for 4 + seasons .... Yet, true freshmen are still making the two-deep? Sounds like a lot of throwing darts in the dark and hoping for some luck. That is, if Bubba doesn't have so many recruits quit, leave, or just plain not play well then UND doesn't have to play true freshmen.

Defense was horseshit. Many of those 3's taken and made by NDSU were uncontested. Additionally, many offensive rebounds by NDSU. I'll say the ol' boring line that is, though, the solution: UND needs to play way cleaner defense. Way cleaner. UND's defense was bad. I'll give NDSU credit for hitting big shots, but UND was equally poor on the defensive end.