UND-FB-FAN

Agreed. Bottom line, UND football is adverse to change unless the building is on fire and everyone has evacuated. So, with a 7 win season, we move along, business as usual. UND football is a 7 win program right now, with occasional lapses that result in losing seasons. Nothing was changed this off-season, so things remain the same. As said above, favorable schedule in 2023 makes 8 wins possible.

Danny has final say, but the position coaches need to advocate for their groups. I get what you’re saying, though; final say falls on Danny. He’s done well, but has had his blunders also.

Well, not all of them …

One of several errors on the development front for UND. In this particular case, the player definitely had talent, but nothing was done to develop it and utilize it. Many examples of this over the years under Bubba’s program.

We often are forced to recruit to certain roster numbers, but yet those players aren’t DI capable, and unfortunately our strength/conditioning doesn’t turn them into DI players. I agree with recruiting best available kids, but you then have to fit the offense to them, and that hasn’t always been done. Also, no question the ND/MN region has a ton of TE body types, but yet our offense doesn’t utilize them. Danny’s offensive philosophy doesn’t use many tight ends, but we then have to get better at receiver. Other than Belquist, UND’s receivers were too slow and not explosive enough for running 4 and 5 receiver sets all the time. And recruiting tall slow white boys from the cities won’t fix that. I think the USD transfer will help … but that’s just a 1 year band aid.

I like reutilizing players to different positions to help the student-athletes see the field, but let’s be honest: if the UND defense is going to rely on players that couldn’t make it at TE on offense, the ‘23 defense will be worse than the ‘22 defense … and that’s saying something. Need more athletes on defense. And since we can’t (and aren’t going to) get several transfers for each spot, UND will be forced to develop their players better. Coaching staff and strength/conditioning staff hasn’t made any changes to my knowledge, so I think ‘23 could be an improvement only due to a more favorable schedule. 7-5 to 8-3? It’s a possibility for sure. Not groundbreaking, but improvement.

Agreed. The program absolutely has to have this mindset. No way in hell a 7-5 football team should be complacent or think that they are at the pinnacle of FCS football in anything (other than maybe grade point average).

The defense needs to improve. Bringing in new players is apart of that. I think the UND secondary, other than CJ Siegel, is below average. I think the outside linebackers, which are incredibly important to pass defense given their role in creating pass rush, also need to improve by leaps and bounds. Not satisfied with the defense at this juncture, but I think the transfer DL additions were good.

Remember, the golden rule: Good college football recruits don’t always make good college football players. Some of these transfer guys may seem to be a safer bet, but we still don’t know how they will fit in with the coaching staff as well as the locker room. It’s always a wait and see game of unpredictability. With that said, it still starts with recruiting a good solid base and then going from there. Development is key, and that includes what kind of evolvement these student athletes are surrounded by; positive or negative for growth?

Need a couple DBs in the worst way. He would be a great fit for UND, given I know little about him other than he comes from a good FBS program.

Yes. Sometimes we forget these are 18-23 year old kids. How they do in high school certainly doesn’t always translate to how they do in college. A lot more on their plate when they go to college, and sometimes they just don’t mesh well with that. I agree that good mentorship and development from the coaches can mitigate that some, though, which is again why a good rounded staff is so damn important. Feeney was a very good high school quarterback, but there’s a ton of unknown for him still at the college level.

Work to be done. But I’m excited for 2023 now. Go Hawks!

Agree with this completely.

Fair immediate concerns, but there’s so much more (agree with your development concerns, as per post below). Thing is, it isn’t all tangible or material, but rather some priorities should be in the details. EXAMPLE: The quality of marketing and fundraising. The quality of the game-day experience, video productions, etc. That requires a complete buy-in by UND athletics as a whole. AND… development, development, development. Requires great teaching.

Yeah, but the UND Champions Club and Alumni Foundation aren’t sending that message. Thus, the point: the marketing and fundraising efforts for UND football are subpar.

Let’s see how it plays out. Definitely an opportunity to get a couple good kids, but the nucleus will need to be developed (or at least development key if und takes the next step). Too often the kids that go through this program, after 5 years, still aren’t strong, fast and mean enough to create a championship team.

UND just not a great destination for these portal kids. Need to do better recruiting locally and developing. More and more, starting to think strength and conditioning the major issue. But also, the body types you start with (the recruits) is key.

Smart kid.

What do you think? To take the next step: Bubba for lyfe? Or well coordinated change? No slam dunk answer. Need to be nice so we don’t hurt any feelings.

Unfortunately, at this point, nothing about NDSU is luck. UND still relies on luck from time to time, though. DISCLAIMER: I UNDERSTAND THIS IS NOT THE POINT YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE

Agreed, other than I think UND is stuck in more the top 16-25 range at this point.

That’s called the homer bias, I believe.

That play hurt a lot, but what if Schuster doesn’t throw that critical interception to NDSU’s Dawson Weber? What if UND converts the late 4th down instead of getting stopped? Million plays (figuratively) that they could have done better on and it could have led to a win. The game is not won or lost on a single play. It’s what makes it a beautiful team game.

Not for that particular game, but I can imagine the probability dropped after the fumble. My point is just that if UND played a better game in the first 3 quarters, it would not have been so critical that UND play a perfect 4th quarter. We all know UND has struggled playing complete games on the road.

so … average… like the current UND football program? More good is better than more bad, ya know? Need to do better. Need to change some things up. Let’s see what happens.