2017 Season

[homer]

2 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

Then explain the regression of our OL.

You think OL talent regressed? 

[darell1976]

1 hour ago, zonadub said:

That's what Darell's post implies. Bubba's better teams had more Mussman recruits. Schweigert's underclassmen were outmatched this year, even when going up against freshman quarterbacks.

i think the answer lies in 2018, with Schweigert's recruits and none of Mussman's leftovers

Bubba’s D helped Muss’s O a lot (referring to Muss’s recruits). We probably will never see a QB like Braden Hanson. That 600 yard game against Montana was epic, but the D was horrible. Now we have the flip side, our O hasn’t really put up the points like Muss’s, but our D has kept us in the game. I don’t think Bubba should be fired but I think maybe some assistants should be gone as of yesterday. 

[geaux_sioux]

1 hour ago, homer said:

You think OL talent regressed? 

Big time.

[the green team]

Here’s a hypothetical question.  What will Bubba have to do next year not to be on a hot seat and/or for it to be considered a step forward? Win 10 games? Win 7?  Win 1 more than this year? Reach the playoffs? Win multiple playoff games?  Less player issues outside football? Curious to hear what people would put in their checklist of what a satisfying progression would entail.  This year has been tough to swallow.  I’m hoping that this was a one off, but there are a couple of things that have to happen  and have been mentioned frequently here.

1. O-Line play has to be better.  UND has talented runners yes, but the holes haven’t been there enough and that truth actually goes back to last year. I’m not going to get into if it’s coaching or personnel.  Bottom line, if they envision being a certain type of team...that area, must improve.

2. I feel that the way the current shotgun  quick release spread offenses are with most of today’s college football world is a direct response of the years of the way we and other teams with similar philosophies approached the game, with pressure, pressure, pressure.   Right now we aren’t getting there (to the QB) enough.  Maybe, some of the time it’s talent, but I think some of the time it’s todays current scheme of offenses to defeat our philosophy-  which is start the QB further back from the line of scrimmage and get it out quick. The Biggest help I see in order to continue to be who North Dakota wants to be is have the type of corners that can press the line of scrimmage and stay with their player longer.  That way those DLine types and Backers can get there more frequently.  

These are just a couple of things that stand out to me,

 

 

[homer]

5 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

Big time.

In my opinion it was one of the poorest recruited positions during the past coaching regime era.  Which is why we had 5 frshmen and sophomores that had play most of this season.  Pretty thin with upper class men.  

[Longtime fan]

10 hours ago, Irish said:

We have absolutely no evidence to show that Bubba is one bit introspective as shown by the total lack of adjustments this season.  How would you feel about him if he changes absolutely nothing (which in my opinion is a possibility).

With out a doubt it is a possibility....loyalty prevails in his mind.  Bubba has brought back hope to the program ( minus this year) but there are a ton of questions that remain with this team.  If he feels like everything is ok and welcomes everyone back ....he then is solely blaming the injuries as the reason why this year is what it was....a dumpster fire.  Injuries were definitely a catalyst to the problem ( some positions more then others), injuries or not,  the offense year after year continues to struggle against the weak D big sky teams.  As mentioned in many posts, the hard headed syndrome from the coaching as a whole is a problem.....never anything out of the ordinary just very conservative and predictable.....game after game after game.  Take some chances and play to win!!!

As of now, I feel bubba and Schmitty are safe .....however.... the ice is getting much thinner.  Positional coaches are a 50/50 mix....some need to walk while others seem capable.   My biggest issue and it has been for four years now ....Rudy.  He needs to walk and today would be a great day.  He has done ZERO since his arrival.   He should get out of the football gig all together....he doesn't belong.  Bubba needs to make this change along with a few positional changes.   If he doesn't....I will question my support for him and the program.  

[gundy1124]

10 hours ago, Irish said:

We have absolutely no evidence to show that Bubba is one bit introspective as shown by the total lack of adjustments this season.  How would you feel about him if he changes absolutely nothing (which in my opinion is a possibility).

I feel he better make the playoffs next year if that's the case with an offense in the top half of the league, so tweaks would have to be made internally.

[Sioux95]

15 hours ago, bang said:

On offense he was close. D, Bubba has got him by a country mile. 

Notable muss recruits:. Ratelle, Reyes, Edwards, kuska, rich, odowu, Harris, golliday, the guy who broke or nearly broke dressler's all purpose yards record, Golliday, palendek??.

I don't think you can say bubba is out recruiting Muss at all.  Out coaching- yes at least on the defense.  With the HPC recruiting should not be an issue.  We will find out soon if it is.

[geaux_sioux]

3 hours ago, homer said:

In my opinion it was one of the poorest recruited positions during the past coaching regime era.  Which is why we had 5 frshmen and sophomores that had play most of this season.  Pretty thin with upper class men.  

Mussman had some really good hogs. Just not enough depth. That’s basically the story of his teams. DL and CB were bad but other than that he had nice recruits all over the team, just not enough of them. Barton, Anderson, and Meehan were all very solid players. Not sure what happened with Stockwell, Bell, and Miller as they were pretty good recruiting gets. The bigger issue has been player development. I haven’t seen senior OL go through and get better each year. To me that’s on coaching. Which is why I’d like to see Knauf hit the road. 

[homer]

5 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Mussman had some really good hogs. Just not enough depth. That’s basically the story of his teams. DL and CB were bad but other than that he had nice recruits all over the team, just not enough of them. Barton, Anderson, and Meehan were all very solid players. Not sure what happened with Stockwell, Bell, and Miller as they were pretty good recruiting gets. The bigger issue has been player development. I haven’t seen senior OL go through and get better each year. To me that’s on coaching. Which is why I’d like to see Knauf hit the road. 

OL development has been brutal.  

Recruiting the 240 lb high school player and consistently trying to put 70 lbs on them hasn’t worked.  Can work on occasion but when there is literally no jr or sr OL at all positions there isn’t time to do that.  We had to play 18-19 year old kids vs Jr and Sr young men this year and just got completely out manned physically.  

[geaux_sioux]

57 minutes ago, homer said:

OL development has been brutal.  

Recruiting the 240 lb high school player and consistently trying to put 70 lbs on them hasn’t worked.  Can work on occasion but when there is literally no jr or sr OL at all positions there isn’t time to do that.  We had to play 18-19 year old kids vs Jr and Sr young men this year and just got completely out manned physically.  

I’m curious to see Kruse. He’s a big thick dude. No issue getting him up to size.

[UND-FB-FAN]

13 hours ago, zonadub said:

Think you may have a point ... Mussman was a better recruiter than Schweigert. Next year will be very important in showing how Schweigert's style of recruiting under the radar high schoolers pans out. Is it effective, or does the staff need to be better at getting talent that other teams covet? I understand that there were a lot of injuries this year, but the drop off from the beginning of the season has been alarming. Shouldn't backups at this level at least be competitive? Especially after having multiple game experience as the year progresses? If UND wants to beat more than the likes of Missouri State, Indiana State and Southern Illinois of the MVFC, The Hawks must have a roster that can overcome injuries.

Although the notion of recruiting under-the-radar North Dakota high school kids has meaning and sentiment to North Dakota alumni, I am starting to question if it will work for UND at this particular time. 

UND continues to have very few contributors actually from the state of North Dakota. Why?  Well, North Dakota high school football participation has steadily decreased over the recent years,  and the few capable of playing Division I football are being taken up by NDSU.  Although many of us may hate to admit it, the fact of the matter is NDSU  has a stranglehold on the region in terms of recruiting.  NDSU will over 95% of the time get the local talent. 

 The answer for UND at this time maybe to expand our recruiting. Bubba needs to look at more big city kids, such as those out of Minneapolis, Chicago,  Denver, etc.,  Who simply have more talent than what is available here in North Dakota.  Also, talent in the form of FBS Drop downs may need to be considered. These type of players are never great to rely on in terms of building the backbone of your program;  however, after this disaster of a season, Bubba may just need to turn this into a rebuild type situation and recruit better players irregardless. 

 I completely understand player development is a slow process. However, I am doubting much development and progression is going on. The young players that played this season showed very little progress throughout the year and the competitiveness was absent.  If the coaches are unable to develop these kids into top Division I athletes (because dammit that's where UND needs to be), then you simply need to recruit more talented players. 

 We'll see what happens, but being complacent and leaving everything in place will likely lead to disaster next season also. I sure hope Bubba is active and looks to make the necessary changes.  Having a little bit more ingenuity with a modern approach on offense would probably go a long way, also.

[bang]

3 hours ago, Sioux95 said:

Notable muss recruits:. Ratelle, Reyes, Edwards, kuska, rich, odowu, Harris, golliday, the guy who broke or nearly broke dressler's all purpose yards record, Golliday, palendek??.

I don't think you can say bubba is out recruiting Muss at all.  Out coaching- yes at least on the defense.  With the HPC recruiting should not be an issue.  We will find out soon it is.

I thought about that after I posted it. I was thinking both Reyes and Harris were Bubba’s but I was wrong. 

[homer]

9 minutes ago, bang said:

I thought about that after I posted it. I was thinking both Reyes and Harris were Bubba’s but I was wrong. 

Harris was a Bubba recruit.  

[Ndamukong_sioux]

13 minutes ago, homer said:

Harris was a Bubba recruit.  

Technically Harris committed during the 2013 season when Mussman was the coach still.

[UND-FB-FAN]

1 hour ago, homer said:

Harris was a Bubba recruit.  

Incorrect. Mussman's 

[UND-1]

1 hour ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Incorrect. Mussman's 

Correct.  Bubba's.

He committed a month after Mussman was fired.  Days before Bubba was named the HC.  Unique situation.

[homer]

1 hour ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Incorrect. Mussman's 

Fair enough.  I knew he didn’t commit when Mussman was here.  Perhaps he is a Freund recruit.  

[LkvlleUNDFan]

18 hours ago, homer said:

You think OL talent regressed? 

Hard to know. AJ missed much of the season, Cox was out for a few games, and we started the game yesterday with two freshmen and a sophomore. We finished the season with maybe two healthy seniors on the OL. I'm looking forward to seeing Mortel, Nguon, Rooney, Tobin, Helgren and others play together in the next few years. And give them an offense that's less predictable and everything gets easier. The line was certainly not dominant this year, but no unit on the field was dominant. It was just a frustrating and disappointing year across the board.

[Parkers Pros]

This game is won in the trenches. We have a lot of skill and speed on offense. But the O-line is a question mark. We need to win some recruiting wars regarding the o-line. They need to keep going after long tall corners. And continue to add competition up the middle at LB. I like where the  d-line is. 

Recruiting war wise, we are at best the 3rd dog at the bowl. NDSU and SDSU are beating us. We need to win some battles.

[homer]

53 minutes ago, LkvlleUNDFan said:

Hard to know. AJ missed much of the season, Cox was out for a few games, and we started the game yesterday with two freshmen and a sophomore. We finished the season with maybe two healthy seniors on the OL. I'm looking forward to seeing Mortel, Nguon, Rooney, Tobin, Helgren and others play together in the next few years. And give them an offense that's less predictable and everything gets easier. The line was certainly not dominant this year, but no unit on the field was dominant. It was just a frustrating and disappointing year across the board.

In my opinion the talent is better.  Problem is youth.  Physically guys just aren’t there yet.  3 years adds a lot of strength.  We didn’t have anything for Jrs and Seniors up front.  You can get by with one freshmen, maybe two or on the OL if pieces are right around them.  Not good when you have 3-4 games when you are Fr, Fr, So, Fr, Fr across the front.

Stockwell was very good, health was always an issue.  

[shep]

RSFrs Jeremy Jenkins, Conner Kruse and Will Prine gonna be anything. Jenkins listed as 6'7" 275. Kruse 6'6" 295.Prine 6'6" 255. Add a few lbs to each?

[UND-FB-FAN]

4 hours ago, UND-1 said:

Correct.  Bubba's.

He committed a month after Mussman was fired.  Days before Bubba was named the HC.  Unique situation.

https://siouxfb.areavoices.com/2014/01/21/verbal-commit-deion-harris/

Committed to the program; perhaps not Mussman, but certainly not Bubba since he hadn't even been hired as HC yet.

 

[Midwestern Hawk]

37 minutes ago, shep said:

RSFrs Jeremy Jenkins, Conner Kruse and Will Prine gonna be anything. Jenkins listed as 6'7" 275. Kruse 6'6" 295.Prine 6'6" 255. Add a few lbs to each?

IMO those three have the chance to be beasts.  

[shep]

2 minutes ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

IMO those three have the chance to be beasts.  

We need beasts. Any of the guys who are played a lot this year destined for beasthood? Rooney is one I think.