What have you seen this season that gives you confidence to say AT & Bobby will somehow fix this for next season?
If you know something that others on this page do not…. Please share how and where you see this upside for next season?
Long post alert!
I trust Coach Thompson and Coach Paulson will put their heads together and sort the defense out. As much as I hate the injury excuse, the defensive front hasn't been the same with Knott, Cashiola, and Jackson out. The secondary was always a mess and likely always will be, most FCS secondaries are. The challenge with the secondary is to just not be gawdawful and be advantageous with turnovers. The Hornet secondary was nabbing picks earlier in the year when the defensive front was getting pressure. That has disappeared since the front became much less effective...because of injuries. There will be some personnel issues to address this offseason at linebacker and defensive line due to graduation.
Coach Fresques is another matter. My thinking is if the coaches surround Conklin with enough talent, then he will continue to shine. I believe Conklin is that good that it's worth keeping a subpar play caller like Bobby around for at least one more season. Firing Bobbly likely sends Conklin into free agency and at this point I don't think that is worth the risk unless Andy has the inside track on bringing in an offensive coordinator with a proven quarterback in tow. Yes Conklin has some more development to go (mainly ball control when scrambling/running), but clearly he's the foundation to build around. As Conklin continues to gain experience and garners freedom to audible, this offense will be fine if the talent around him is there.
Offensive line will be solid so long as Coach Richardson is here. We're playing 2nd and 3rd stringers as starters now due to injuries and they are still holding their own. Conklin has seen pressure, but still has time to make plays. As bad as the play calling was against CP, Bobby called a lot of quick hitters to get the ball out of Conklin's hands quickly. In turn, Conklin was making the right reads and getting completions. In the run game, Bobby is just getting too fancy with misdirection and stretch plays, especially with so many starters out. Just let the big uglies up front pound forward and run the ball north and south for a handful of yards. A talented back will bounce it outside when the opportunity presents itself. Bobby can throw in an occasional fly sweep to placate his need to be cute in the running game.
We've got talent at running back, and will be fine if ETT declines the bags that will be thrown his way this offseason. Borders has promise but he needs to hit the weight room hard this offseason. I was hoping we'd get more looks at Morris the past few weeks, he seems to have good size and would appear to be useful between the tackles. I'm sure the coaches will hit the waiver wire for additions here but if we retain who is on the roster, the talent will be there for '25.
Biggest question mark is at receiver/tight end. Scudero is going to be the only notable starter returning. Gandy looks like a shell of his former self coming off those knee injuries and we haven't gotten much looks at the young receivers on the roster. At tight end, if Kuntz gets healthy and returns this offseason we'll be fine in '25. Flaig looks promising but he needs to bulk up or else he'll keep getting blown up on run plays. Coaches need to hit free agency hard here. An experienced upperclassman at receiver and/or tight end is a must have for next season.
Most people in this place are just looking at final scores, see the fall from the Taylor glory days and start spouting nonsense about "winning now" and "fire Andy and Bobby"...similar to last season even though this program was a playoff caliber team with postseason success. I refuse to join the doomer party for now. If we suck again next season, then yes, sign me up for the train to doomersville and fire everybody.