Page 1 of 8

Liberty Athletics

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:23 pm
by treyjman24
Do ya'll think its possible for Liberty to ever have a major power program such as VT, UCONN, UNC, ect., with the people leading our Athletic Department? What i mean by this is, which maybe this should be one the Football page, but we can never hold great coaches for long... example the assistant football coaches that left, heck yea, good for them that they are moving up to big and better things, but will we ever be those bigger or better things...

All i'm saying is Rocco is going to be getting so bigger offers than Army in the future... same with McKay... Do ya'll think that they love LU enough to stay and build are programs to something greater than it is? I'm not a hater of either coach but do ya'll think that if they get a big enough offer that they'll stay?

Sorry i'm UNC Basketball fan for the reason, Roy Williams is taking a pay cut for UNC when he could go to any other college and make an incredible team...

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:24 pm
by treyjman24
I also think that we're going to see alot more players leave starting today... i just want all ya'll to know that i'm calling this... Brolin, Seth,... who's names is next...

Re: Liberty Athletics

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:25 pm
by SuperJon
treyjman24 wrote:Do ya'll think its possible for Liberty to ever have a major power program such as VT, UCONN, UNC, ect., with the people leading our Athletic Department? What i mean by this is, which maybe this should be one the Football page, but we can never hold great coaches for long... example the assistant football coaches that left, heck yea, good for them that they are moving up to big and better things, but will we ever be those bigger or better things...
Just so you know, some of our new staff has more experience at a much higher level than our previous staff that left.

Re: Liberty Athletics

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:26 pm
by FlameNForest
treyjman24 wrote:Do ya'll think its possible for Liberty to ever have a major power program such as VT, UCONN, UNC, ect., with the people leading our Athletic Department? .
Not as long as we stay in the Big South. I mean, Sasser Cups are nice and stuff, but is that really our ultimate goal?

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:29 pm
by LUconn
Sure it's possible. Just not remotely likely. But hey, look how far the school , in general, has come in 35 years or whatever it is. That wasn't very likely either.

Re: Liberty Athletics

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:30 pm
by TheLouder
FlameNForest wrote:
treyjman24 wrote:Do ya'll think its possible for Liberty to ever have a major power program such as VT, UCONN, UNC, ect., with the people leading our Athletic Department? .
Not as long as we stay in the Big South. I mean, Sasser Cups are nice and stuff, but is that really our ultimate goal?
I agree if we get out of the big south, anyone know why we haven't already? What does it take to "transfer" to another conference? :roll:

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:30 pm
by treyjman24
Like personally i really like McKay, i've got to hear him speak alot this past summer on leadership and such and his relationship with God is awesome... but there has to be something more to just having two of our freshman leave... i don't know i can't put my fingure on it... but all i'm saying is watch out i feel likes theres moe to all of this...

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:33 pm
by rueful
i really dont think Curry should be held against McKay. McKay should get major props for bringing him in here, and just because the kid turns out to be a massive tool, doesnt mean McKay did anything wrong. But completely agree with others, we need out of the big south. And I dont mean even a jump to being FBS in football yet, just get us in a better conference. Though I know that will probably wait another 20 years until we are ready to be FBS

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:34 pm
by SuperJon
LUconn wrote:Sure it's possible. Just not remotely likely. But hey, look how far the school , in general, has come in 35 years or whatever it is. That wasn't very likely either.
This is my thought exactly. We're nowhere near that spot yet, but who knows what another 35 years could bring.

Look at Tech - 20 years ago they would've never thought about being in the ACC or where they are now.

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:40 pm
by Chris Lang
treyjman24 wrote:Like personally i really like McKay, i've got to hear him speak alot this past summer on leadership and such and his relationship with God is awesome... but there has to be something more to just having two of our freshman leave... i don't know i can't put my fingure on it... but all i'm saying is watch out i feel likes theres moe to all of this...
Individual cases, all of them. Floyd's choice to leave was personal and has as much to do with the school as anything. Curry, from what I'm hearing from several people I trust, has been thinking about leaving for a good month now. It just came to a head yesterday. Jenkins' choice was all about the school, not the coaching staff.

From talking to people, I don't sense a mass mutiny here. Just a group of individuals who all had their reasons for leaving.

Re: Liberty Athletics

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:47 pm
by FlameNForest
TheLouder wrote:
FlameNForest wrote:
treyjman24 wrote:Do ya'll think its possible for Liberty to ever have a major power program such as VT, UCONN, UNC, ect., with the people leading our Athletic Department? .
Not as long as we stay in the Big South. I mean, Sasser Cups are nice and stuff, but is that really our ultimate goal?
I agree if we get out of the big south, anyone know why we haven't already? What does it take to "transfer" to another conference? :roll:
You first have to want to and second have to be accepted by another conference. I've heard that there isn't any interested moving to another I-AA conference, that any future move would be to a lower end 1-A conference. But to spend 20-30 years in an entry-level stepping stone conference like the Big South isn't too appealing but that's pretty much what we're looking at.

I know that years ago a conference like the Southern had many members who didn't want anything to do with us, being a young school and Falwell's school. Right now I think the CAA with all the VA schools in there would be ideal. Of course they'd have to have an opening and want us and we would have to have a desire to go there too. But I'm not sure how much desire we have in even doing that even if it were an option. Some seem to like those shiny Sasser Cups.

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:52 pm
by LUconn
Chris Lang wrote:Curry, from what I'm hearing from several people I trust, has been thinking about leaving for a good month now.

Just looking back in the thread time line, that's basically when teams started sagging their defense towards the big 3.

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:53 pm
by paradox
It's possible that there may be a Mckay angle to explore in all of this, but it may not be what you think.

Perhaps, Seth was going to outgrow this conference in more ways than one. For instance, the Curry family believes that Seth will end up being the tallest Curry of them all. Let's say that this turns out to be the case. And let's say Seth's 6-6 by his junior year. Seth as a 2 may not be the best option for us if we want to win. I'm sure that guys like the Sanders brothers, Perez, and Minya will play anywhere and do anything to help this team win. But as much as I like and appreciate Seth, it seems like it's the 2 or bust for him. And I don't think that this is a problem for him at a progam like Arizona, Duke, VT, or Wake. But with us, it could end up hurting us as much as it helps.

So, if he was going to transfer, then this would have to be the year. It makes sense on many levels for both parties, unfortunately.

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 2:58 pm
by treyjman24
paradox wrote:It's possible that there may be a Mckay angle to explore in all of this, but it may not be what you think.
Thank you for recognizing this... i just having a feeling that things could drop down hill if people arn't careful...

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:00 pm
by treyjman24
Johnnie, Seth, Brolin,.... who's next...

With all this happening are recruits have to be like... ehh...

Re: Liberty Athletics

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:05 pm
by Ed Dantes
treyjman24 wrote:Do ya'll think its possible for Liberty to ever have a major power program such as VT, UCONN, UNC, ect., with the people leading our Athletic Department? What i mean by this is, which maybe this should be one the Football page, but we can never hold great coaches for long... example the assistant football coaches that left, heck yea, good for them that they are moving up to big and better things, but will we ever be those bigger or better things...

All i'm saying is Rocco is going to be getting so bigger offers than Army in the future... same with McKay... Do ya'll think that they love LU enough to stay and build are programs to something greater than it is? I'm not a hater of either coach but do ya'll think that if they get a big enough offer that they'll stay?

Sorry i'm UNC Basketball fan for the reason, Roy Williams is taking a pay cut for UNC when he could go to any other college and make an incredible team...
Of course I think it's doable. I think the people running the AD's office are doing a fine job. Look at the way they've progressed the programs (even if it's not reflected in wins & losses). These days we have an awesome TV deal with MASN; my senior year the only basketball game we televised was a women's game and we had our radio play-by-play guy simulcast his broadcast for air (trust me, it didn't work).

Regarding top talent staying (from the coaching ranks) -- look at Sam Rutigliano. I know most LU newbies start and stop their history with the moment they arrived on campus, but Sam was a former NFL Coach of the Year and he came here. He could have gotten better offers. He probably did. But he stayed because he wanted to help build something. And he did (then he retired, we had a few bad years, and then Rocco came to build something again).

Our problem is the Big South. I think it was a fine conference when we were first starting out, but now we've seen why we should actively be looking for a better one. I know there are people on this board who'll say "why jump, we're not winning now" -- but here's the thing. We can recruit better talent (and better players) when we move up. Look at Elon's football team. They were 6-16 in the two years before jumping to the SoCon. They took their lumps (3-19 in conference play their first three years in the league), now they're a borderline playoff team. Trust me, the same thing will happen to us. We'll have a bigger pool from which to get talent, and who knows, we might even be able to keep them around.

It'd be one thing if the league was getting better (look at Conference USA as an example). But with Kallander in charge...

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:07 pm
by Hold My Own
LUconn wrote:Sure it's possible. Just not remotely likely. But hey, look how far the school , in general, has come in 35 years or whatever it is. That wasn't very likely either.

Thank you...people have to remember we're comparing ourselves to schools how have been established for hundreds of years...give it time...anything is possibleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:09 pm
by coolhandluke
Hold My Own wrote:
LUconn wrote:Sure it's possible. Just not remotely likely. But hey, look how far the school , in general, has come in 35 years or whatever it is. That wasn't very likely either.

Thank you...people have to remember we're comparing ourselves to schools how have been established for hundreds of years...give it time...anything is possibleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
This boat is real!

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:10 pm
by Hold My Own
Also as far as recruits go..they arent all like "ehhhh" most will see this as their chance to shine...you're now replacing close to half the shots with the departures of Seth and Ant

Re: Liberty Athletics

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:11 pm
by rueful
Ed Dantes wrote:
treyjman24 wrote:Do ya'll think its possible for Liberty to ever have a major power program such as VT, UCONN, UNC, ect., with the people leading our Athletic Department? What i mean by this is, which maybe this should be one the Football page, but we can never hold great coaches for long... example the assistant football coaches that left, heck yea, good for them that they are moving up to big and better things, but will we ever be those bigger or better things...

All i'm saying is Rocco is going to be getting so bigger offers than Army in the future... same with McKay... Do ya'll think that they love LU enough to stay and build are programs to something greater than it is? I'm not a hater of either coach but do ya'll think that if they get a big enough offer that they'll stay?

Sorry i'm UNC Basketball fan for the reason, Roy Williams is taking a pay cut for UNC when he could go to any other college and make an incredible team...
Of course I think it's doable. I think the people running the AD's office are doing a fine job. Look at the way they've progressed the programs (even if it's not reflected in wins & losses). These days we have an awesome TV deal with MASN; my senior year the only basketball game we televised was a women's game and we had our radio play-by-play guy simulcast his broadcast for air (trust me, it didn't work).

Regarding top talent staying (from the coaching ranks) -- look at Sam Rutigliano. I know most LU newbies start and stop their history with the moment they arrived on campus, but Sam was a former NFL Coach of the Year and he came here. He could have gotten better offers. He probably did. But he stayed because he wanted to help build something. And he did (then he retired, we had a few bad years, and then Rocco came to build something again).

Our problem is the Big South. I think it was a fine conference when we were first starting out, but now we've seen why we should actively be looking for a better one. I know there are people on this board who'll say "why jump, we're not winning now" -- but here's the thing. We can recruit better talent (and better players) when we move up. Look at Elon's football team. They were 6-16 in the two years before jumping to the SoCon. They took their lumps (3-19 in conference play their first three years in the league), now they're a borderline playoff team. Trust me, the same thing will happen to us. We'll have a bigger pool from which to get talent, and who knows, we might even be able to keep them around.
coach worthington is another great coach who gave up alot to be at liberty.

For me, getting in a better conference has nothing to do with Coaches. If a coach doesnt buy into the vision he will leave, but I think Rocco and McKay are pretty solid in doing their part to advance the vision.

That being said, weve seen time and time again our sports being held back by the conference, and i think we are getting to a place where we cant really grow until were in a better conference.

Plus how ridiculous would it be for in 5 or however many years when we expand the football stadium (since it was in the 5 year plan last year) and were still in the big south. Thats just silly. A football stadium for one school that could hold the amound of fans for all the other schools combined.

Re: Liberty Athletics

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:11 pm
by Ed Dantes
FlameNForest wrote:
TheLouder wrote:
FlameNForest wrote: Not as long as we stay in the Big South. I mean, Sasser Cups are nice and stuff, but is that really our ultimate goal?
I agree if we get out of the big south, anyone know why we haven't already? What does it take to "transfer" to another conference? :roll:
You first have to want to and second have to be accepted by another conference. I've heard that there isn't any interested moving to another I-AA conference, that any future move would be to a lower end 1-A conference. But to spend 20-30 years in an entry-level stepping stone conference like the Big South isn't too appealing but that's pretty much what we're looking at.

I know that years ago a conference like the Southern had many members who didn't want anything to do with us, being a young school and Falwell's school. Right now I think the CAA with all the VA schools in there would be ideal. Of course they'd have to have an opening and want us and we would have to have a desire to go there too. But I'm not sure how much desire we have in even doing that even if it were an option. Some seem to like those shiny Sasser Cups.
We had an offer from the A-Sun, but we turned it down (they have no football conference). SoCon doesn't want us and it's the same thing with the CAA.

Sly seems to think that there's going to be some significant realignment coming soon; here's to hoping that we can act as a replacement to some other team that bolts.

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:12 pm
by rueful
Hold My Own wrote:
LUconn wrote:Sure it's possible. Just not remotely likely. But hey, look how far the school , in general, has come in 35 years or whatever it is. That wasn't very likely either.

Thank you...people have to remember we're comparing ourselves to schools how have been established for hundreds of years...give it time...anything is possibleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
post of the day at least

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:13 pm
by ToTheLeft
treyjman24 wrote:Johnnie, Seth, Brolin,.... who's next...

With all this happening are recruits have to be like... ehh...
Happens all the time with every team dude. The sky isn't falling, the world isn't ending. Just chill. Teams lose guys like Brolin and Johnny on a yearly basis.

I mean, we got David Minaya from TTech after his freshman year, i dont think TTech is ready to drop down to DII thanks to a mutiny.

Look at High Point, they have a couple guys who are transfers from other schools. Transfers happen, it's really not a big deal. Players get released from teams, its not a big deal.

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:14 pm
by treyjman24
Hold My Own wrote:Also as far as recruits go..they arent all like "ehhhh" most will see this as their chance to shine...you're now replacing close to half the shots with the departures of Seth and Ant
true you can look at it that way or you can be a high schooler who lives a life of drama and doesn't want to step into something that looks like controlled ciaos... it just doesn't seem appealing...

But look that two different but relevant points so thats why i said ehhh

Posted: March 25th, 2009, 3:15 pm
by jcmanson
You guys are funny. [sarcasm]I think with all this news JB’s had a lightbulb go off in his head, and he will start pursuing other conferences just like Seth is pursuing other teams. And there are numerous conferences out there just waiting to pick us up just like teams for Seth. [/sarcasm]