262 COMMENTS

  2. 1
    1

    Any of the targets who wait until after the early signing day are probably long shots. Beavs will have to fill the remaining holes via the transfer portal. USC, UW and Oregon will have their full staffs in place and will close any remaining high school targets.

    Don’t see any guys who could flip to the beavs or any commits flipping elsewhere.

    Only see Ott as the last potential commit for the early signing period. 50/50 shot is my guess.

    Reply

  3. The other half of the recruiting equation is how many guys are leaving for the draft, transferring or just moving on? Lots of guys are seniors academically or have already graduated. Like Baylor, a lot of guys have decisions to make. Smith doesn’t seem like a guy who encourages guys on the fringe to “medically retire” to open up spots.

    All this makes it tough for the staff to determine with this early signing period of how many guys to take. They have to be talking to a few of the commits about grayshirting if they end up over the scholarship limit.

    Reply

    • I think he’s talking about Oliver. It’s already been done for several days but he never announced. He’ll go to Syracuse, where he visited last weekend.

      Reply

  5. I wonder if the Beavs have any kind of shot with Kedon Slovis? If I’m remembering right, OSU and USC were the only P5 teams to offer him – maybe he still appreciates that JS believed in him. I could see him doing well in Smith’s offense.

    Reply

  6. Michael Penix Jr. transfers from Indiana to UW. He was really good his first two seasons, but struggled against top competition this year and lost the second half of the season to injury.

    Reply
    • 1

      Only the select few are transferring for money. Rest are for personal reasons.

      I do think they’ll move the early signing day to first week of January.

      The transfer portal has changed the dynamic considerably. They will likely put in a couple windows for transfers by sport to ease the craziness on coaches. Football would have transfer windows up until the season starts, closed during the season, open again after the early signing period. Closed when the second signing period ends and open when summer begins. Something like that.

      Reply
    • 2
      2

      It seems like a disappointing hire to me. There’s change in the PAC at the programs that have been up recently, plus USC, so the next few seasons are a good time to make a move up. I’d have preferred Lake, but maybe he couldn’t afford him?

      I hope Bray interviewed well, and explained how he’d do things differently.

      Perhaps the young d-line talent will grow and improve from this year’s experience, and there’s more speed incoming as well. More speed would do wonders for this D. I also hope the CBs aren’t playing so far off the ball as they were against the Ducks and under Timmy. Somebody else pointed out it seems strange to recruit, and get, long, tall CBs, than not play more press coverage.

      Given Smith’s gambling instincts, this seems pretty safe. Maybe stability will be the way to go.

      Reply
  14. 4

    Not a bad decision. Promoting your best people motivates everyone else to earn it. Bray showed an understanding of the issues with the defense the last few games and seems to be a strong recruiter.

    I still think they were pursuing someone else and didn’t get him (hence the delay), but we’ll never know.

    Reply
  16. 4

    I hope he didn’t promote him just to keep him. A proven DC would have been the best choice here. With the offense rolling, the defense needs a steady hand, not a guy who hasn’t been a DC before.

    It’s a risky hire. How hard would it be for Smith to cut ties now if things go sideways? Hate to say it but it’s a Riley esque move. Riley could never let banker go until the very end and only to save himself.

    Hope Smith did his homework on other candidates and Bray was the best of them. This needs to work out

    Reply
    • 4

      I was fine with Bray or Heyward being out DC when Smith joined on. I don’t see 4 more years of experience making it a worse time for him to get his shot.

      He had 2 good games a 1 bad against a clearly more talented team. If the offense had shown up in the first half we probably would have won that game and the defense wouldn’t have been as shitty with some rest.

      If he’s the right hire then he should be able to put together an Arizona State level performance against a team that should be under equipped to handle our roster.

      Reply
      • 1
        3

        For the open defensive coach, honestly I’d be good with tibs as a LB coach. He’s great in that role.

        Bray could also show some guts by making changes on the defensive staff side. I think the remaining coaches are eligible to go. If the problems are systemic, then make changes to the staff.

        If the Oregon d line coach is looking for work, he’d be a great add. Why not get heyward back for DBs? Bring the entire gang back. Breckterfield is a d line coach at vandy. He could be good too!

        Whenever the afca convention is, that’s when we’ll see a new staff member or members.

        Reply
  17. 1

    What a weird year for p12 recruiting. In order of decommits.

    1) USC 14D, 4C
    2) UO 12D, 12C
    3) UW 8D, 6C
    4A) Arizona 6D, 17C
    4B) Utah 6D, 12C
    5A) Cal 5D, 11C
    5B) CU 5D, 19C
    6) ASU 4D, 7C
    7A) UCLA 2D, 12C
    7B) WSU 2D, 11C
    8A) OSU 1D, 16C
    8B) Stanford 1D, 21C

    So the premiere programs outside of Furd are having incredibly unstable years (obviously with coaching changes) yet WSU is doing great despite the rolo fiasco and ASU keeps plugging along despite the Herm mess.

    Reply

  19. I like Davis’s mentality to dish it off first and shoot second. If he could put the ball in the hole occasionally, that would be great too.

    Reply
  20. 2

    An interesting observation from analyzing PFF data: there seems to be no correlation between in-game tackling success results from season to season.

    The average season to season variation for an individual player is significant. Of course there are outlying models of consistency (like Avery Roberts), but they are far more the exception than the rule.

    Like most things in football, there are limitations based on sample size and there being different types of tackle, but that’s also true of our own personal observations (e.g. “the Beavs are a bad tackling team”), and the PFF tackling score attempts to adjust for tackle difficulty.

    So cheer up: we may have been one of the worst tackling teams in the country this year, but it’s totally possible we’ll be way better next year!

    Reply
  21. 1

    Man, a tough UC Davis team tonight from the powerful Big West conference. I wish our points were like dog years, we’d be up 20 right now. The sad part is we’ll probably lose by two but it feels like twenty when ol tinks is coaching.

    Reply

        • And just like that, the Beavs are down by 5. UC-Davis backdoors them on the first play of the second half and then Lucas misses a wild three. Missed three throws and turnovers ensue.

          Reply
          • 1

            I was defending ol tinks last year! I think it’s apparent he got super lucky last year. The announcers hinted on it, he’s got way more talent this year. I am just glad the extension motivated him to coach better this season.

            Reply
          • 6

            I can sum up Tinkle’s coaching career success at OSU, GP-2 senior season, and two magical weeks last year. BTW, Beavs now down 11. Steven Thompson Sr. looks like he’s in physical pain watching this shit from the bench.

            Reply
  23. 4

    Tinkle made sime excellent half time adjustments that turned a 2 point lead into an 11point deficit. I’m sure glad tinkle got an extension after last year. This team is just that pathetic.

    Reply
  25. 3

    If you want to see a ton of championships and victories. Be like me and become a fan of the Beavs, Blazers, and Mariners! It’s unlike anything you’ve seen, trust me on that!

    Reply
    • 3

      Angry is also a Jets fan! Couple THAT with the Beavers!

      I used to like the Seahawks a ways back, I thought they (and the home crowd thugs) got annoying under Carrol’s tenure.

      Always rooted for the Sonics and Payton, they never won it all. Happened to run into a dynasty, and without Nate McMillan to help out on D. That was an entertaining team to watch under Karl for a while.

      Reply
  26. 17

    People are horrible!
    I went to the store today and left two OSU men’s basketball tickets on my dash. Somebody smashed in my window and left four more tickets!
    Oh the cruelty!! and At Christmas no less!

    Reply
  27. 6

    I’m starting to understand why all these players were in the transfer portal. Not a lot of basketball IQ out on the court. They just gave up a layup on an inbound play with two seconds on the shot clock. Game over, 71-64 final.

    Reply

  29. I just got an alert on my phone the beavers lost. Hell, you could see that coming in the first five minutes of the second half and that’s why I shut it off with about 15 minutes to go. This team sucks a$$ but maybe tinks can turn it around and get win #2 before the season ends. Lol

    Reply
  30. 2

    Honestly, I figured Tinkle had some slack after last year’s run, but didn’t think he’d torch all of it before January. For someone in the coaching business this long, this is a disaster. Like bags on heads at Gill bad.

    Reply
  32. 3

    As a Beav fan, do we want to see a historically bad season… 1-4 wins or just a really bad season… 4-6 wins? I’m kind of rooting for a 1 win season. I like our chances

    Reply
  33. 7

    What I find incredibly fascinating is how easily schools hand out raises and contract extensions to coaches. I mean, Tinkle didn’t do shit for 6 years, then all of a sudden he gets to the elite 8, and now he deserves a big raise and extension. Don’t you think you would want to see some type of trend before you give such a reward? At least two years in a row with tourney appearances seems reasonable. Why is it that OSU always jumps the gun and extends coaches for doing what they were hired to do. It just perpetuates the narrative that “we can’t do any better so we better not risk losing a coach”.

    Reply
    • 2

      Two weeks of magic is not a trend, but I guess that blinds the administration to the reality of the previous seasons. So let’s say Tinkle wins just 4 or 5 games this season, does Barnes let him go? What’s Tinkle’s excuse, that Andela was injured? His excuse during the 5-27 season was that his son was injured.

      Reply

      • Right. But I think it’s safe to say Tinkle will be back next year regardless of his record this year. Are there any examples of a coach being fired the year after receiving a raise and extension?

        Reply

      • Well, Tres was injured as well as a couple recruits and to top it all off we had several defections that year. That being said, it’s hard to defend Tinkle this year. Even just the core they returned should have been enough to say we would at least win some games this year. Then you add all the transfers and a 4 star forward and it makes you wonder. My biggest problem with Tinkle is his inability to be fluid with his game plan. He seems intent on his teams all being good defending in the half court and being efficient on the offensive end. UC Davis outscored us 40-26 in the paint last night which is very unusual for a Tinkle coached team. Quite frankly, our defense has been terrible this year except for a couple in game stretches. Our offense might be the worst it’s been since Tinkle’s first year here. We seem to be hovering just over 60 points a game. Funny enough, we have only gotten blown out by one team. It’s clear to me the offense isn’t going to win them games. This team will need to buy in on defense to win games and thus far it ain’t happenin’.

        Reply

    • I feel like I took some heat here for trying to pump the brakes on Tinkle. People were quite offended when I compared the situation to Riley.

      Reply

  34. I’m not good at finding stats, but I’m really curious to know about the FT and FG %s of these players in high school. Were they this bad in high school or did they suddenly start sucking when they got to OSU?

    Reply

  35. The only person i’ve seen on any site who weighs in with an Ott prediction os this guy from BadgerBlitz. He chose the Beavs back on 12/7. Still nobody else willing to make a guess.
    I’ve been asked several times in DMs the last couple of days.
    My guess is OSU as well, by a slim margin. Mostly because we had his final visit and he never made it to BYU last weekend. So that would indicate to me he was ready to shut things down last week as a result of a good OSU visit.

    https://n.rivals.com/content/forecaster_profiles/8482

    So my guess is we’ll get 17 letters throughout the day tomorrow. Jordan will likely be first, followed by the Texas and Utah guys. Some will send them in early and a few others have signing ceremonies at their highschool later in the day.
    Maybe we’ll get a bonus mission guy who won’t count, but the main one i was watching seems to be leaning BYU anyway, so maybe not.

    Reply
  37. 1

    Melvin Jordan looks awesome. To be honest I kind of forgot about him because he committed so early. Looking at his highlights again, he looks to have great speed and takes good pursuit angles. I can see why he had some really good offers.

    Reply
  41. 4

    Signed already this morning:

    Melvin Jordan
    Dylan Lopez
    Damien Martinez
    Kord Shaw
    Jacob Strand
    Noble Thomas
    Jack Velling
    Luca Vincic
    Quincy Wright

    Reply

  44. How are NLIs signed these days? They can’t possibly still be using fax machines, right? Is it a web document with a digital signature? Or do they have to scan and email a paper document still?

    Reply
    • 2

      Probably using something like DocuSign. I used that a lot to sign papers electronically in the past year or so.

      Also weird for coaches since they are in la for the bowl instead of in the offices. Probably in some hotel conference room.

      Reply
  45. 2

    Great to see a talent like Martinez stay committed so long. He must have had other schools pressing.

    Looking forward to seeing him play in rebuilt Reser…

    Reply
  46. 3

    All but Throckmorton have signed so far. Supposed to have a signing event at his school around noon, but figure we’ll see his official notice happen before that.
    Ott would be a bonus. Not sure if he’s sticking with the 1:30 signing event or not.

    Reply

  48. So all committed players are signed and delivered. Just have Ott and if there is a random flip last minute.

    You have to think Ott is a solid chance

    Reply
  49. 2
    1

    Not sure this has been mentioned. Utah hasn’t recruited great and they have been conference contenders. Now they are starting to improve their recruiting. Their coaching staff and improved talent will keep them contending every year. I just hope they keep playing the ducks every year.

    Reply

      • John Wilner has been mentioning the same rumblings, that he could possibly retire after the Rose Bowl.

        If this is true and he does retire, you have to imagine that Utah has a succession plan already in place.

        Reply
      • 5

        I talked to my neighbor who asked coach Whittingham and his wife about the rumors and they said it’s news to them about retiring. Coach Whitt(as my neighbor calls him) has said he would retire at i believe 63 or 65. So he’ll be at Utah for several more years at the least. He also says Utah fans pretty much hate all pac-12 teams except Beavers and Buffs.

        Reply
    • 1

      Seems like they wanted to be ahead of signing day so DC picture was clear. Kinda was hoping we would use the LA Bowl as a final interview for the position after defense against Oregon struggled, as if we lost LA Bowl and give up 35 points it won’t be a great look. Understand the decision though and first 2 games under Bray he showed the potential.

      Only other thing I can think of was Barnes was giving tonight’s Beligerent BeavsTwitter Space at 8:30 pm some credibility and didn’t want DC hire discussions to put more pressure on Smith to look outside or pursue Lake.

      I would think Bray would be not overly paid since he is somewhat fortunate to get the role and is a first time official DC. That could give Beavs a little more leeway to try to keep Londgren for a couple more years as OC. I think odds are next year will be last for Lindgren and at most we get him for 2023 also. So we will want sufficient funds to secure a good OC as Lindgren probably is among top 2 OCs in the conference. Certainly Top 3.

      Really hoping we get Ott to end signing day with a cherry on top.

      Reply
      • 2
        2

        I’ve wanted Trent Bray as our future DC since he became LB coach at the D1 P5 level. He’s a solid recruiter, young, and loves Oregon State. Coach Bray is a talented coach and gets his players ready to play.

        Reply
  51. 2
    1

    Deion Sanders flipped the #2 recruit in the country to Jackson State today, away from Florida State. Pretty amazing. I kinda think it would be cool if some HBCU’s started becoming nationally competitive in football, basketball etc.

    Reply
  53. 3

    So this class yielded 3* athletes for the following positions:

    1 – QB
    1 – RB
    1- OLB
    1 – TE
    2 – ILB
    2 – DL
    4 – OL
    4 – DB

    they went heavy on defense this class. Makes sense because the last two classes have been heavy on offense.

    Reply
  54. 1
    1

    Checked the OLive page on OSU recruiting. Full of Nemec twitter posts that make him look like an immature Duck fan as opposed to a journalist. Hard to believe they are real(?). I don’t read the guy, just see references to him here.

    Reply

  55. Anyone heard if Dorman has signed with the beavers or is he staying home to play for Colorado? ID to see the beavers offer the QB from marshfield, Dominic Montiel, as a PWO like someone in here recently suggested.

    Reply
  56. 6
    1

    So I just realized that Nemec has blocked me on Twitter. He must have gotten butt hurt when I called him a douche bag duck homer. Lol..

    Reply

  58. Utah got the beef. Got both Olsen and knaak. And vakalahi but he’s a mission guy right? Also Lowe from Lake Oswego, though not sure how much OSU really pursued him.

    Reply
  60. 3
    2

    Watching film on some of these guys, I came away with the impression that this is a really deep class. It’s hard to pick out one or two guys as the top of the class like in past years. Even the ones that are more “middle of the pack” still look like good athletes.

    The ones that stood out the most to me, in order:
    OLB Mathias Malaki-Donaldson- big, athletic guy who still plays with good leverage; has a range of pass rush moves already. Seems like he would be better suited as a DE than 3-4 OLB, but there’s no footage of him playing in space, so it’s hard to judge. Already playing top CA HS competition, so that’s a plus.

    OL Luka Vincic- moves really well for his size, dominates guys as a run blocker and keeps good balance as a pass blocker. Needs to add weight still.

    MLB Melvin Jordan- reads the play well, moves well in space, and really smooth-looking at the MLB position. Biggest red flag I saw was his tendency to arm tackle sometimes. He gets away with it in HS because he’s a powerful athlete, but he won’t in college.

    TE Jack Velling- good hands, fluid athlete, and looks like a sound blocker. Needs to maintain his athleticism after adding 30-40 lbs, though.

    RB Damien Martinez- good size, vision, and speed. Reminds me of JJ and Baylor and looks like a guy who will excel in our system. Not a ton of wiggle or power, but enough to make guys miss fairly consistently in the next level. Really fluid downhill runner once he gets in the open field. Dallas area POY playing top competition, so he’s not just feasting on slow little HS defenses.

    CB Noble Thomas- highlights have him at WR/S/CB; the thing that jumps out most on video is his closing speed when playing S: he FLIES to the ball. Body positioning at CB looks awkward, but he has the athleticism and ball skills to be a really good DB if he can improve his technique. I love the play where his teammate loses a fumble and he chases the opposing player 80 yards across the field, gets between two blockers from behind and saves the TD.

    Reply

    • I really liked Velling from what Ive seen. And Jordan/Shaw both have really good speed at ILB, if that’s where they end up playing.
      Martinez looks solid too, like that he seems to have a frame to be a bruiser

      Reply
      • 1

        I debated putting Shaw in my top tier. He looks really smooth at LB and has the speed to run down anyone on the field at his current HS level. He’s a solid form tackler, too. Biggest questions will be how he transitions to tougher competition and if he can add some more size without losing too much speed. He looks sub-200 lbs on film.

        Reply

  62. MMD twitter: “I’m officially a beaver! Let’s build the damn baby!”

    Wow. Hope his celebration coitus and subsequent fatherhood doesn’t impact his playing time…

    Reply
  64. 2
    1

    My buddy (Georgia alum) just got back to me on the Oregon hire.

    “He’s awesome as a DC. That doesn’t always translate to awesome head coach. I would say it’s an above average hire and I’m pissed he left. Sans the Bama game, UGA defense was lights out this year.”

    Oregon knows their prima donas and want to become a defensive school. Could be dangerous. I agree it’s an above average hire.

    Reply
    • 3
      2

      So few schools play defense well anymore, could be a difference maker. That’s why I hoped Smith might get Lake.

      Of course they have to pls the other two phases of the game, make in game adjustments, etc., but, a defensive emphasis has served Utah well and Stanford (who typically played UO well) and UW in recent past.

      Reply
  66. 1

    Are there any players out there that maybe didn’t get their first or second choice school and still looking no for a home? Maybe those guys are more likely to be looking around after the next signing day.

    Reply
  67. 8

    In order of the ESPN rankings,

    I think the theme of the class is a solid base with a lot of upside.

    Dylan Lopez – Solid lineman. Plays with nastiness. Could play C or G. Could be the first one to see time on the field.
    Noble Thomas – He could play any position in the secondary. Just a football player. Depends on what the defensive system is going forward. Lots of upside.
    Mathias Malaki-Donaldson – Interesting signing if they keep the 3-4 system. He’s a classic 4-3 defensive end type. A frame that he could grow into a 260-270 end. Or he could be an early down OLB and then be a 3rd down defensive end rusher.
    Melvin Jordan – A tweener. Basically a big safety in the box. Faster than most LBs but smaller as well. Profiles pretty similar to Easton Mascarenas from last year.
    Luka Vincic – Solid foundation as a lineman. The kind of lineman that could play all positions. Probably go with T first and then go from there. Coach M is loving this signing.
    Jack Velling – TEs are notoriously hard to predict because of their dual nature. In Smith’s system the TEs have to block well to play. Pretty athletic for a guy his size and has hands. We’ll see.
    Travis Throckmorton – I am genuinely perplexed watching this guys highlights. He’s got some odd things in his throwing motion but the ball comes out with some heat on it. It’s like a Philip Rivers throw, how he does it? who knows. Maybe that’s why his only P5 offer was from the Beavs. Zips the ball around and has enough mobility to extend a play. Not a consistent threat to run. Looks smaller than listed. He’s a guy who might come out of nowhere to take the starting role or never see past 4th string. We’ll see what he’s got when he’s got a couple seasons under him.
    Ryan Cooper – I am usually don’t like bringing in JC guys bc they need to start on day one. No time to develop. He seems different. Looks more like a safety than a cover corner. Candidate for nickel as well.
    Sam Mason – Smith said he’s start on the DB side. Looks pretty raw as a defensive back but has the prototype size. He’s got hand since he’s a WR too.
    Kord Shaw – I’m not sure about this guy. Listed as a ILB. Doesn’t have the footspeed to play sideline to sideline or rush the passer from the linebacker spot. Wonder where he ends up, maybe he grows a lot and moves to a stand up pass rusher. Beat out Weber St. Makes sense based on his hudl film.
    Nathan Elu – I think he profiles better as a defensive tackle but he’ll get his shot at the oline. Interior for sure.
    Carlos Mack – I like guys who play both ways in high school. Profiles as a deep ball hawking safety.
    Quincy Wright – Upside upside upside. Prototype size for DT. Just needs a couple years to build up good technique and strength to play at the next level. Could be a multi year starter or one who never develops.
    Damien Martinez – I had comments on him earlier. Projects at as a power back but has the potential to be a multi year starter if he gets that extra gear.
    Takari Hickle – No idea. Hudl film is bare and lists him as a basketball player. Two sport athletes are always intriguing. Projects as a massive project. Only other offer was Nevada.
    Jacob Strand – Another massive project. Needs a few years to develop. Could be on either side of the ball. Only other offer was Air Force.

    Andrew Chatfield transfer – His high school film will make you drool. A man among boys. Put him in the position where he can cause the most havoc and he’s an all american. Can play standing up or with his hand on the ground. He should play the spot that Hamilcar and Hughes Murray play. The OLB that rushes the most.

    It seems like the defense is moving to more athleticism over size in the LB and secondary positions. Need to get the beef up front to let them run clean to the ball for them to be successful.

    A much better class than last couple years. Only a few guys who are projects or need several years to develop. If the lineman on both sides develop, it could set a great foundation for years to come. I can see more than a few of the true freshman getting time on the field but staying under the 4 games to preserve their redshirt. I always say it helps more than it hurts to redshirt.

    Reply

        • Yes per 247 algorithm. The rankings for classes during Erickson and Riley were typically just made up.

          To see trends look at the Gaussian total (what the rankings are based on) and the average composite ranking per player. The average is the best stat because it doesn’t care about class size. Smith has steadily increased the average each year.

          Reply

          • Just for giggles I checked. If you went purely on average rating we would be #40. Having a few 4 stars seriously impacts the fit they use for their rankings. Colorado, Illinois and Vandy are the only teams ranked higher than us with only 3 star players and that’s mainly due to larger classes softening the curve fit.

            Reply

    • #49. Probably won’t move much. Under Smith so far:

      2019: 52
      2020: 53
      2021: 109 (two unrated players and small class)
      2022: 49

      Smith has pretty much maxed the 3 star game. For anything higher we need some 4 stars. I don’t really care, this staff are good evaluators.

      Reply

      • Agree. Evaluation is everything. Especially if you get a chance to see kids in person. I live in Seattle/Tacoma area and what a lot of HS football. I was blown away with the amount of 3 star kids that suck. It really has so much to do with promotion as much as talent. If you’re well connected with good HC, 7v7, can put together a decent mix tape, and have right body size your almost a lock 3*. Then if you can muster an offer from a decent school, it can snowball. Then there’s 2* kids that you can see that are under hyped but can flat out play. Back in the day when I lived in Oregon, I got to see Poyer play at Seaside HS… I had no doubt he was an all pac athlete… 2*. Also saw Mitch Meeuwsen play at Forrest Grove HS and had similar thoughts. Evaluation is soooo important

        Reply

  69. Wow, am I understanding this correctly….the #1 recruit in the nation, Travis Hunter flipped from Florida St to play for Prime Time at Jackson St?

    Reply

      • The latest word is that he does not have a NIL yet. Really interesting stuff considering Prime helped put FSU football on the map. Norvell has to be in serious damage control mode.

        Reply
        • 1

          I saw that this morning, crazy. The biggest question is when is a big school just going to throw huge $ at Deion? He has to be viewed as a giant target for any program now. I believe his team is in the championship for that division and is 11-1 or something.

          My duck fan buddy was saying, when they were looking for a head coach, get prime time. When he said that I was thinking, damn that would be a hell of a hire. Who wants a chip Kelly at this stage when Deion sanders could be your head coach.

          Reply

          • It’s weird, they don’t even play in the FCS playoffs. If they win the SWAC, (which they did) then they play against the MEAC in the Celebration Bowl. It’s the championship for black colleges. I read that Coach Prime has 4 Top 300 ESPN recruits on his team now, that’s crazy for an FCS school.

            Reply

          • Read an interesting article about this actually and it makes sense.

            The basic premise was that this might not be out of the norm now that the NIL is in place. The idea the writer was saying is this kid would have just been a regular ole player at fsu or alabama whatever. Where as at this school he is going to be the star the day he gets on campus.

            Basically the big fish small pond concept might/should become more common as why would you want to backup 4 other 5* at alabama until 3-4 years you get your chance. When you can play at a smaller school, be a star, make big money from the richest booster than hopefully go pro. Rather than wait and make pennies. Makes sense hopefully Beavs can enter in on this one day with a huge name qb or somethjng

            Reply
      • 2

        This is actually shaping up to be a fun game and I like the idea of just having fun with it – too many lower tier bowls are just blah. Again, the Kimmel tie actually provides pretty good exposure, much better than a sun bowl. If they can play really well, they might even sneak in to the top 25 to finish the season(?) at 8-5?

        With the Thursday night Kimmel studio exposure a potential distraction, poor road performance this season, and relatively low number of practices (many bowl games provide a month of prep), can they come out and play well?

        Reply
  71. 2

    Well if the ink on the contract with Lanning isn’t dry, maybe Oregon does try to go after Urban Meyer now that he is very much available.

    Vegas should put up odds, which school will fire their newly hired coach and hire Urban?

    Reply

    • Maybe ASU dumps their HC given all of his issues, and goes after Meyer who needs some career rehab? And some hot ASU co-eds to grind on him…

      ASU has been quiet (that I’ve seen), they’re going to have to do something about Edwards underachievement, investigation results or not….

      Reply
  72. 5

    Anybody here tune into the Belligbeavs spaces session?
    Thought it went pretty well. Not a huge group, maxed out at around 65 at one point.
    Damien Martinez and Quincy Wright both stopped in briefly(although wright seemed to have mic issues) and James Dockery, Marcus Greaves, Tim Euhus all spent some time chatting. One of the Blitz guys talked about the bowl game since he’s down there covering it in LA. The host of the Payton Years podcast came on. And several fans chimed in. Curious if anybody has feedback/suggestions that I can pass on?

    Reply
    • 3

      Was pretty good. Bryan Fenley needs to speak for a few minutes next time and would have been good to hear from Obum. I was hoping someone would bring him up while he was there. Carter Bahns, Coach Dockery and Tim Euhus had good insights. I like a little joking from the hosts but mostly more real and somewhat serious topics. Hope is program keeps ascending for awhile. 8-4 would be solid year and if defense makes some improvement and Smith learns a little in his gambles then team should soon be playing Oregon for a chance to win the North again and play in a Pac-12 Championship.

      Reply
      • 1

        Agree with MJ on limiting the chit chat from the hosts. I enjoyed hear from coach doc. Had good insight of just football in general. I think if you have current or former players on there, utilize their expertise. I think that’s why we listen in. I can chat with fans in other spaces. Glad they did it thought. Nice hearing a variety of topics.

        Reply

        • I dont think there was any way for them to know who was going to attend ahead of time. The format was basically them hosting their own chat room show and anybody was welcomed to stop by. Just happened that they had several good guests drop in so they gave most of them air time.
          Heard from Timmy Hernandez that he had hoped to drop in but couldnt make it, so he should be coming next time. Always thought he seemed like a good guy, so hope he has some good GA era stories to share.

          Reply
  73. 1
    1

    Article on Michigan recruiting haul in the wake of their one-loss season lists this recruit they nabbed:

    “They secured a huge signing from wide receiver Darrius Clemons, who stands 6 feet 3, weighs 205 pounds and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds. Clemons is the No. 19 wide receiver in the country and chose Michigan over the likes of Auburn, Oregon, Penn State, USC, Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame and Ole Miss.” Kid is from Portland Oregon.

    Reply

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here