[somethingbrewing]

this is a forum for opinions, you state yours, I can state mine...we argue about it like its important and laugh about it....I take none of this seriously....we all have different opinions...thats what is fun about life

[El Scorcho]

My expectations are not unreal. Nor do I care to argue. I thought this is a forum of athletic opinions from many.

Opinions are one third of what this forum is comprised of. Perhaps you missed our banner at the top. Intensity and loyalty make up the other two thirds of what goes on here. I can understand being caught off guard by the intensity, but now you know.

We have numerous high level D-I transfer who are in their final year of eligibility, have significantly softened the schedule so what is going to create the jump in playoff opportunities.

As for our transfers, there's a reason they transferred. A good number of them weren't playing at the I-FBS schools they came from. Are second and third string I-FBS transfers really that much better than I-FCS starters? No, in my opinion. Most of them weren't as high-level as you think.

The university has poured a ton of resources into the program and coach has been a posistive in pr.

The school has always poured a ton of resources into football. Lest anyone forget, we made the SAME P.R. push and attempt to draw fans when our last coach got here. We didn't win any football games and it went over like a ton of bricks.

However there still is a major gap from App St, JMU and even Elon. Wins against weak opponents to get a winning record are a smokescreen to real national competition.

A gap between us and schools that have won national championships in the last ten years? (Save Elon.) You don't say! Getting wins has nothing to do with a smokescreen. It has to do with building a winning tradition into a program that is used to losing year after year. If it builds fan support along the way, then so be it. Obviously people like you only wish to be supportive when you feel the program has earned it. If that's how you roll, that's okay.

The difference between you and me is that I'm going to support this program, this coach and this team no matter what, because I believe we're laying the foundation for a solid future of competition the likes of which Liberty football has never seen. I can be more patient than one and a half seasons for that competition to happen. I'd at least like to get all Rocco recruits in place before I decide to be critical of his strategy for the program.

[El Scorcho]

What is your timetable on turning a program that had a good nucleus of talent and added numerous high level transfers into a playoff team competing with upper level Southern/CAA teams?

Certainly longer than one and a half seasons, given where this program has been in the past and how long such things generally take.

When do we step up the schedule or do we just sell Lynchburg, students and alumni that our opponents are quality.

We do it when the coach is ready. In the mean time, we don't accuse the coach and AD of dishonesty like you just did.

[Hold My Own]

It will take time...last year was the best thing that could have happened to us and the worst thing all at the same time. It caused false hopes in one sense...let's not forget just a few seasons ago we were in the bottom 5%...we were very close to being the worst team in the country....that takes time to overcome...IMO about 3 years

[somethingbrewing]

we were 1-10 2 seasons ago...the playoffs are very, very tough for a Big South school to make...yes we need to have a stronger schedule...but we were 1-10 2 years ago and absolutely horrible....its not like the NFL where you only have to worry about 31 other teams to make the playoffs...this is a pool of over 100 schools...making it much tougher to make the playoffs...being consistently good will gain us respect in the future...but right now we are just tying to lay a foundation that has never been laid before...if 2 years from now we are in the same spot we are in now then I will begin to wonder if things will ever improve...but things continue to improve month by month in the football program, as long as that continues I am happy...then the playoff dream will become reality..things like this don't happen overnight

[SuperJon]

At some point the schedule will have to step up but from what i hear next year is going to be another extremely weak schedule.

Once again, you have no clue what you're talking about.

We have six conference games next year. We go to Youngstown St (one of the top programs in FCS football). Elon (best up and coming team in the country in my opinion) comes here. Along with that we have North Greenville (home opener, which Coach has said he likes to play a DII first week) and a return trip to Western Carolina, who, when the series started and the contract was signed, didn't suck. We're looking for two more games. How can you said our schedule for next year is an extremely weak schedule? Obviously you haven't heard anything that's halfway true.

[LUconn]

man, the honeymoon truely is over. It doesn't take long to turn on someone I guess.

[ToTheLeft]

SJ, any word on who the other two opponents will be next year?

I read somewhere we owe Lehigh a game...

[El Scorcho]

man, the honeymoon truely is over. It doesn't take long to turn on someone I guess.

You said it.

[SuperJon]

SJ, any word on who the other two opponents will be next year?

I read somewhere we owe Lehigh a game...

We owe Lehigh but we're not going next year.

Originally they had said no I-A school next year but they said this past weekend that if a MAC-level game comes open they might take it. I think the paper has said we're looking for one more home game and one more away game, that way we'd have six of both.

[ATrain]

For the home game, I'm going to predict either another DII or Savannah State. Unless we can somehow renew the series with W&M.

For the away game, hopefully a MAC-level I-A but if not then who knows???

[SuperJon]

For the home game, I'm going to predict either another DII or Savannah State. Unless we can somehow renew the series with W&M.

For the away game, hopefully a MAC-level I-A but if not then who knows???

Why are you predicting a second DII or SSU? The only reason we had a second this year is because no one else would come here.

[ToTheLeft]

For the home game, I'm going to predict either another DII or Savannah State. Unless we can somehow renew the series with W&M.

For the away game, hopefully a MAC-level I-A but if not then who knows???

Wow, me and Sch14teen were saying the same EXACT thing.

Were you in the room? lol. We were thinking the same exact thing, creepy.

[SuperJon]

W&M won't be renewed. They only get three non-conference games a year and after playing one team for four years, they're moving on.

A lot of you guys don't realize the position we were in last year in terms of scheduling.

The good FCS teams looked at us as being 1-10 with AstroTurf and horrible visiting locker rooms and either didn't want to play us or wanted way too much money to come here.
The lower FCS teams took one look at our roster and noticed the transfers and didn't want to play us.

Rumor has it that we were offered the Hawaii deal, or the NAU deal that App St took, but there was no reason for us to go all the way to Hawaii or have to make a return trip to Arizona.

[Ed Dantes]

At some point the schedule will have to step up but from what i hear next year is going to be another extremely weak schedule.

Once again, you have no clue what you're talking about.

We have six conference games next year. We go to Youngstown St (one of the top programs in FCS football). Elon (best up and coming team in the country in my opinion) comes here. Along with that we have North Greenville (home opener, which Coach has said he likes to play a DII first week) and a return trip to Western Carolina, who, when the series started and the contract was signed, didn't suck. We're looking for two more games. How can you said our schedule for next year is an extremely weak schedule? Obviously you haven't heard anything that's halfway true.

Six conference games next year? Coastal, GW, CSU, Presby, VMI -- am I missing something here?

[SuperJon]

Stony Brook.

[Ed Dantes]

Stony Brook.

Oh.

Makes you wonder why we play actual D-II schools when we half the teams we play are D-II quality.

[jcmanson]

Well, well, well.

[Stevev]

After reading all of the posts it seems that Checkmate shares the same viewpoint as I do when looking at the football program and how it has performed against quality teams and with the scheduling being really weak, being in a bad conference, and all. I guess that I am guilty of buying into all of the transfer hype that seemed to dominate the offseason and maybe I bought into the playoff possiblilty by all of the hype brought about on this board and maybe it was grossly exagerated. I value "Checkmates" opinion but I also value other's opinions by those who are closer to the program than most of us.

[SuperJon]

You keep saying we're a weak conference, we're a weak conference, blah blah blah. This year, we're weak, yes. Last year we were the 6th best conference in the country only having 5 teams. We add Stony Brook who has gotten significantly better over the past two years and Presbyterian who, if they can ever learn to play defense, will be a potentially great program in 4-5 years and we're just getting better. This is a down year, sure, but look outside your perception of this conference to the facts.