[olldflame]

Actually many, if not most, walk-ons on D1 rosters these days were recruited, with the promise that they would have a spot on the roster and a fair opportunity to compete and earn a scholarship (no guarantee). Some programs don't even hold open walk-on tryouts any more.

Loyalty is a word that has a noble sound to it, but is not always what is best for the program, and sometimes even for the individuals who appear on the surface to benefit from it. IMHO fairness is far more important.

[amar0819]

Those are considered "Preferred Walk Ons". Where yes a guy has been recruited some and is told come be on the team and possibly earn a scholarship. Being from Pennsylvania I know Penn State still has "walk on" try outs or they call them "Run ons". If they're doing it most programs I am sure are doing it as well. Don't discount the Rudy's of the world that are on the team because it has been their dream since they were a kid.

[flamesfilmguy]

If coaches are truly "loyal" they won't be in the profession very long.

[alabama24]

Loyalty is a word that has a noble sound to it, but is not always what is best for the program

For me, "loyalty" in this situation should mean "an opportunity to win the position." If the new player who comes in is both clearly better and ready to play, he should play. If the answer is "no" or a toss up to either of those, the veteran should play.

[LibertyD]

“Where is the loyalty” sounds like a question someone close to current players who are impacted by over recruiting would ask.

Not necessarily true...from a coaching standpoint. We've all seen overratted premadonnas over the years that don't amount to much, when all is said and done. I'm loyal to my hard working players, with talent and a chip on their shoulders, who may have been overlooked nationally because of where they came from. These guys are much more dependable, reliable and perform well when shown loyalty by their coaches! These guys will go through a wall for the team. Those are the guys I want. These are the guys that have the "will to win!" I don't care much for these overrated premadonnas who thinks its all about them and can't sustain their hype on and off the field. SAVE THE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FUTURE TALENT!

So if I’m reading this right - and please correct me if I’m wrong - it’s better to give a scholarship to a kid who over achieves at a lower level and wants to move up but not a higher level guy who is looking to drop down for a second chance?

I was referring to guys coming out of high school. In terms of guys over achieving at lower levels, Washington didn't over achieve at any college level that he has been at. His problem is not skills in as much as it is mentaliy. Plase clarify who you are referring too..

[olldflame]

Loyalty is a word that has a noble sound to it, but is not always what is best for the program

For me, "loyalty" in this situation should mean "an opportunity to win the position." If the new player who comes in is both clearly better and ready to play, he should play. If the answer is "no" or a toss up to either of those, the veteran should play.

We are dealing somewhat in semantics here, but what you describe is how things should be IMHO. The term "meritocracy" comes to mind. In those toss up situations, there are 2 ways of looking at it. You can go with the veteran, hoping you will benefit from his experience (but of course that means quite a bit less when everyone is learning a new system). The other approach is to look at the younger player as having a higher ceiling and give him the best chance of developing rapidly by playing him right away. Since pretty much nobody plays every down these days, it's usually possible to give both a fair amount of snaps.

[Jonathan Carone]

So if I’m reading this right - and please correct me if I’m wrong - it’s better to give a scholarship to a kid who over achieves at a lower level and wants to move up but not a higher level guy who is looking to drop down for a second chance?

I was referring to guys coming out of high school. In terms of guys over achieving at lower levels, Washington didn't over achieve at any college level that he has been at. His problem is not skills in as much as it is mentaliy. Plase clarify who you are referring too..

Why does a guy like Josh Mack (who transferred in after over performing at a lower level) deserve "loyalty" over someone else wanting to transfer in for a better opportunity just like he did?

[LibertyD]

Actually many, if not most, walk-ons on D1 rosters these days were recruited, with the promise that they would have a spot on the roster and a fair opportunity to compete and earn a scholarship (no guarantee). Some programs don't even hold open walk-on tryouts any more.

Loyalty is a word that has a noble sound to it, but is not always what is best for the program, and sometimes even for the individuals who appear on the surface to benefit from it. IMHO fairness is far more important.

I can agree with that.

[LUDad]

If coaches are truly "loyal" they won't be in the profession very long.

QB changes at the two top FB schools come to mind.

[Ethall15]

LU Got a nice shout out on the ACC Media Day special with talking about our game with Syracuse. Mentioned HF and how their first three games are on ESPN Family of Networks. Devito their QB was a top QB recruit and passed on several SEC schools. Their offense against our defense scares me, but our offense against their defense intrigues me.

[LibertyD]

There’s more to it than that for coaches. If the previous school has no issue with the kid playing right away, it does help. No guarantees, and different than a block attempt.

In all actuality...the HC at the former school has a lot of power. NCAA will allow a waiver for athlete to play right away if the head coach from the previous team approves it. I know of one case maybe 4-5 years back where a player was allowed to play right away at UNH. He got approval from former team. FCS but I don't think that matters. Could be wrong!

[LibertyD]

So if I’m reading this right - and please correct me if I’m wrong - it’s better to give a scholarship to a kid who over achieves at a lower level and wants to move up but not a higher level guy who is looking to drop down for a second chance?

I was referring to guys coming out of high school. In terms of guys over achieving at lower levels, Washington didn't over achieve at any college level that he has been at. His problem is not skills in as much as it is mentaliy. Plase clarify who you are referring too..

Why does a guy like Josh Mack (who transferred in after over performing at a lower level) deserve "loyalty" over someone else wanting to transfer in for a better opportunity just like he did?

From what I've seen from Mack, I think he can hold his own. Certainly has all the parts. FCS vs FBS. There are a lot of FCS teams that can, and often do, beat FBS teams. That's not the issue. Look at all the great talent that has come out of the FCS. I think Mack's case is unique in that he should probaly have went FBS out of the gate. From what I see from his film, he was obviously at the wrong level. Maybe helped get his head together. Who knows? It would be good to see a multi-faceted, high powered run-game with R. Washington in the mix. I just hope he got his head together. Mack is a transfer, but I was really thinking about Buckshot who has been a 3-year standout despite the quality of training under HCTG. Just different.

[gerb]

ACC Media Day Q&A with Syracuse HC Dino Babers

Q. One of the biggest games, most anticipated in program history, is week three against Clemson. Those first two games, as a coach, how do you make your team focus on the first opponents?

DINO BABERS: We don't even speak about it. The way you guys go straight to the third game, I don't even think that way. Our opening opponent is Liberty University. Coach Hugh Freeze does a fantastic job on offense. Transfers coming back in there. We don't have any tape to watch, to be able to watch how they play. It's going to be a very, very difficult game for us at their place.

Q. Not asking you about Clemson. Going to talk about your season opener. You already touched on it. Liberty, a team that already had some success at FBS, last year adding new recruits, Hugh Freeze coming aboard. What intrigues you about this matchup? Talk about going against Coach Freeze and his debut.

DINO BABERS: I don't know about the word "intrigue." We have to make sure we cross our T's and dot our I's. This is a very, very dangerous game coming out of camp, especially when you don't have the amount of homework you can have on your opponent with that type of personnel. As they move down the road five and six games in, the teams that they play are going to have a heck of a greater advantage than what we have coming out of the gate.

I took a team like this, when I was at Eastern Illinois, I had a team like this, we went out there and played a very good San Diego State team at their place in the opener. We were 21-point underdogs to the San Diego State team that won the conference that year, and we beat them by 21 points because they did not have great tape on us, they did not know the young men transferring back into our program because we were at the FCS level.

This is a very, very dangerous game. I'm not comfortable speaking about it at all. I think we're going to have our hands full.

https://syracusefan.com/threads/acc-med ... os.144770/

[Ethall15]

Thanks for posting that Q & A! I watched the ACC Media day and their coach did really seem very concerned with us. I would love nothing more than to open up with a big time win over an ACC opponent. We should already have at least one victory over a top 25 ACC team (UNC in i believe 2014-15?) but we collapsed in second half. With HF I honestly don't think those collapses happen.

I know Baylor was a big win for us at the time, we had just announced our intentions and went out and beat them week 1. Last year Troy was huge, and I think from a talent aspect and how the team finished that is our best win so far as I know it has been said.....

With all that said, if we beat Syracuse opening week, and then some how find a way to find ourselves a way to beat UVA or BYU.... which would be the bigger win? My take would be UVA.

[Class of 20Something]

I think UVA because we wouldn't have the element of surprise.

[R i]

That depends on how Syracuse does this season. Initial reaction would be UVA bc of recruiting and the locality, and somewhat familiarity with all other sports and our president going to law school there. However, Syracuse is ranked top 20 and if they play to that level of preseason ranking minus a slip up at LU, that would be a massive win for our program.

[Ethall15]

I guess to get the full sense of a possible upset and what it means to the program. We will have to resurface this at the end of this coming season to see.

Speaking of this game, are tickets still up for sale? Or has it sold out yet? I am working in Texas now and would love to come home to Lynchburg and watch this game! If not, I will be perfectly comfortable sitting at home watching a sell out crowd!

[Kolzilla41]

ACC Media Day Q&A with Syracuse HC Dino Babers

Q. One of the biggest games, most anticipated in program history, is week three against Clemson. Those first two games, as a coach, how do you make your team focus on the first opponents?

DINO BABERS: We don't even speak about it. The way you guys go straight to the third game, I don't even think that way. Our opening opponent is Liberty University. Coach Hugh Freeze does a fantastic job on offense. Transfers coming back in there. We don't have any tape to watch, to be able to watch how they play. It's going to be a very, very difficult game for us at their place.

Q. Not asking you about Clemson. Going to talk about your season opener. You already touched on it. Liberty, a team that already had some success at FBS, last year adding new recruits, Hugh Freeze coming aboard. What intrigues you about this matchup? Talk about going against Coach Freeze and his debut.

DINO BABERS: I don't know about the word "intrigue." We have to make sure we cross our T's and dot our I's. This is a very, very dangerous game coming out of camp, especially when you don't have the amount of homework you can have on your opponent with that type of personnel. As they move down the road five and six games in, the teams that they play are going to have a heck of a greater advantage than what we have coming out of the gate.

I took a team like this, when I was at Eastern Illinois, I had a team like this, we went out there and played a very good San Diego State team at their place in the opener. We were 21-point underdogs to the San Diego State team that won the conference that year, and we beat them by 21 points because they did not have great tape on us, they did not know the young men transferring back into our program because we were at the FCS level.

This is a very, very dangerous game. I'm not comfortable speaking about it at all. I think we're going to have our hands full.

https://syracusefan.com/threads/acc-med ... os.144770/

So this brings up something I've been thinking about. Is Athletics putting together a media day this year? We're no longer affiliated with a conference and have a new coach. Requesting in case someone is listening ...

[Class of 20Something]

I guess to get the full sense of a possible upset and what it means to the program. We will have to resurface this at the end of this coming season to see.

Speaking of this game, are tickets still up for sale? Or has it sold out yet? I am working in Texas now and would love to come home to Lynchburg and watch this game! If not, I will be perfectly comfortable sitting at home watching a sell out crowd!

Season tickets are still on sale. Single game tickets will go on sale pretty soon. If I were you I would get season tickets and sell what you aren't using to one of the resale sites.

[Ethall15]

Thanks for the heads up on season tickets CO20something. I will look into that.

[Purple Haize]

I’ll probably be offering some of my tickets here

[ATrain]

We got season tickets!

[R i]

We got season tickets!

Literally logging off sprinting to mailbox, just in case you meant the season tickets came in the mail today. If you didn't mean that, then congrats on ordering your season tickets.

[R i]

We got season tickets!

Literally logging off sprinting to mailbox, just in case you meant the season tickets came in the mail today. If you didn't mean that, then congrats on ordering your season tickets.

This sucks

[ATrain]

Let me rephrase that - my mother got four season tickets: two for them, two for us...