Sportsfan

Interesting that there hasn't been an endowment (or maybe the information is no longer updated on the site page) in 12 years.
Has something changed in the tax codes, or is this not a donation method still in practice.  Besides the Murchies, there really hasn't been a big donor announced recently.

I just want OL that can get to a LB and a RB that can make the first man miss, so we can have a run greater than 2 yards this year.

11 hours ago, verandaman said:

And Alex Grinch is going to Wisconsin (sorry Daveysbrew) with a chip on his shoulder.  Apparently he feels under-appreciated?  Good lord, he has been an abomination, in my opinion, since he left tOSU and agent to OU/USC...

I guess to be good in today's game, your self image needs to be high....or you need to be high, imo.

It's a brutal profession being a coordinator in collage, as 18 - 21 year old players are 80% of the success equation, and X's and O's are 20%.  And the HC is really the key in regards to structure, culture and organization.  

21 hours ago, zigo230 said:

I heard some of the podcast.  All i can say is that Pete Lembo sure has a lot of connections around college football and stories.  The guy seems like he's super organized and has a plan for the program and structure.  Hopefully it all adds up to a watchable product on the field and wins. 

What a welcome relief from the "football buzzword bingo" of Mo.  His experience is so evident, or maybe it is just in comparision of what a bad match Mo was for UB football.  Even appeared from Alnutt interview that he recognized his mistake, and the exit of Mo wasn't above board and sincere communications from Mo. 

40 minutes ago, TheCommish said:

The practices are “technically” open. Carry a racket or run the stairs. Hurley was the best practice coach. A lot of fun to watch. George….in my opinion, is running his first practices and learning on the job.

The hope was we got a "Jay Wright", unfortunately, it took Jay a few years to have some success.

On 2/2/2024 at 5:35 AM, BrooklynBull said:

I hope they do nothing.  The government should stay out of operations of the public universities unless there is a need to control a major scandal.   Chris Christie got involved in the athletic department at Rutgers and messed it up by putting political flunkies in high positions.

Someone needs to do something.  Performance matters in any profession.  Everyone agrees that it appears ADMA is a very good guy and good family man, but just witnessing what has happened under his watch is something no alumni should accept.   He skills are definitely more as a second in command, not the leader and key decision maker.

9 hours ago, MuchMany said:

Tough game to sit through.

Cannot imagine what is really going on behind the scenes and the relationships between the players and coaches.

With very little coaching experience on the staff or creditability of being a productive D1 player (besides Cage for UB), little history of Jay Wright's coaching tree being successful, a team of unathletic players that cannot shoot, play defense, or seem "blue collar", you truly need to be the most optimistic person in see a better future with current staff and players.

BTW, not that last years team was "blue collar" or played defense. 

How could Alnut miss this hire so much?

9 hours ago, skrabukes said:

I mean, seriously, could he be worse than the last guy? We won so huge when he left on his own. We got paid for dumping an anchor. I think he will be a solid football coach. He may not be flashy and bring in a ton of style, but will teach the game and coach the players he has. I can certainly live with that.

No, as Mo and the staff he assembled didn't fit the MAC profile for success or have any experience (other than recruiting).  Watch in the future the shift in hires in the MAC, as you need coaches more aligned to D1 FCS and D2 career objectives.  The P2 (Big Ten and SEC) career oriented young coaches won't be chasing MAC school roles, as they need to chase $$ and relationships, not experiences. 

The big gap at DE and QB needs to be filled via the transfer portal

On 1/8/2024 at 5:28 PM, UBinMD said:

We got 3 commitments today:

Oliver Bridges (Cincinnati) Cornerback - Reshirt Freshman from Potomac, MD. Played in 8 games, 2 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle = 3 total tackles

Taji Johnson (Boston College) WR - Senior from Powder Springs, GA. Played in 43 games over 4 seasons, 11 receptions, 119 yards (long of 32), 3 kick returns, 29 yards (long of 27), 2 assisted tackles = 2 total tackles

Tristan Souza (Washington St) DT - Redshirt Sophomore from Camas, Washington. PWO as a true freshman, 1 game as a redshirt freshman, no appearances as a Sophomore. No Stats. Was a 2 star out of HS.

 

4 guys came to site for visits this weekend, 3 commits. That's pretty good.

Not a lot of production at their prior schools.  

Interesting collection of transfers this year.  Is Mo starting a JV program or are they just being brought in as backups?

1 hour ago, SGBull said:

If Alnutt is here next year I will be extremely disappointed.

Unless the university doesn't really care about athletics, I would agree that his tenure should be coming to an end in 2024.

A lot of promotions for the staff from their previous roles as coaches.

Very similar to the route that Mo took in football.  No one on either staff to mentor such an inexperienced coaching group.  Maybe both teams would have benefited from an ex "Head Coach" sitting next to them on the bench / sidelines. 

4 minutes ago, rma said:

Georgia Tech ranked 127, 72, 94 in total offense yards per game under Patenaude. They dropped to 115 after he was fired.

Was the OC for Temple in 2017 and 2018 under Collins where they went to a bowl game in back to back years.

At Coastal Carolina his teams went 8-5, 12-3, 12-2, 9-3, 10-2.

Led Georgetown to their only winning season (8-3) this millennium.

Seems like he could be a good hire if Georgia Tech was just a bad fit.

Not sure the OC can make up for a lack of talent, but at least he brings some experience to a very inexperienced HC.

Total Players = 74 (scholarship players minus kickers) and the journey to UB (53% not as High School Recruits)

• High School Recruits = 35 (47%)
• Juco / Prep Recruits = 22 (30%)
• Transfer Recruits = 17 (23%)

I wonder how this compares to successful programs?

Interesting statistic.  Not sure each schools academic profile are equilivent, but the change from prior years at UB would be comparible.

The road to success on / off the field is not through Juco schools.

44 minutes ago, Bluebird96 said:

I’m afraid after 11 games, there’s enough evidence to conclude this year’s team just isn’t very good at shooting the 3.  Despite the team’s generally more consistent showing over the past few games, the 3P shooting has actually declined sharply over the last 4 games (total of 20/114, 17.5%), dragging the season 3P% down to 24.9%.  Even those under-achieving JW teams shot in the low 30’s.

As much as we’d all like to see a turn-around in this one aspect of the team’s performance, even if UB had managed to shoot 35% from 3 in each of the first 11 games, with everything else being equal the only different outcomes would be wins in the last 2 games vs WKU and Richmond.  And, the games vs USA, SBU and Butler would have been much closer but still losses.  So, maybe we’d be looking at 3-8 instead of 1-10…but what it tells me is there’s still much improvement needed in most other aspects of the game.  Starting with Niagara and leading into the MAC schedule.  Nowhere to go but up! 🤘

Another option is that they are just not very good shooters and this is really what to expect the balance of the year.

Seems recruiting athletic players doesn't translate to good basketball players for UB over the past few years. 

Maybe a new recruiting strategy should be to recruit basketball players first, and athletisim second. 

6 hours ago, MuchMany said:

So the players have been the problem then? Or the HC? Gotta be one of the three and ideally it would be the ACs. 

This is too logical of a statemen and couldn't agree more.  Everyone is great but the team is terrible.🤣 

Maybe it is the fans, scoreboard or the stadium site views to blame from taking it from what Lance build to this level of performance.

Very sad to see the athletic department in the bottom 25 in both mens football and basketball, and only a few years ago they were both in the top 25.

Time will tell if the ships can be turned around, or need replaced.

4 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

Not if you believe in education first.  I will take 0-12 and 0-30 turning out people with real degrees.

You won't have much company in your boat implying that it has to be one or the other for a D1 program with the resources UB has to offer.

Demanding excellence in both doesn't seem an unreasonbable requirement for a D1 AD, and many many schools are doing it every year.

Between the OC (3) and DC role (4), this is not a positive sign for the program or a quality of great leadeship ability. 

Reasons might be many, but coaching consistency in the MAC is critical for player development.

On 12/14/2023 at 7:26 AM, BrooklynBull said:

Because this is what matters!
https://ubbulls.com/news/2023/12/11/athlete-academic-affairs-ub-athletics-posts-highest-graduation-rate-in-program-history.aspx

Football - = 3-9 (note: lost to FCS school)

Mens Basketball = 1-9

Womens Basketball = 5-4

Total Record = 9 - 22 (note: 2 wins against D2 schools)

Winning Percentage = 29%

This also matters when you are in your 5th year as AD.

5 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

Because this is what matters!
https://ubbulls.com/news/2023/12/11/athlete-academic-affairs-ub-athletics-posts-highest-graduation-rate-in-program-history.aspx

Truly respect your view, but clearly not aligned to the reality of the majority of D1 college athletics in 2023 and beyond for football and basketball.

Many (or most) schools will boost of their athletes acadamic achievements, yet they also win games.

59 minutes ago, DaBulls99 said:

Not if you can’t offer them $$ right away

Agree, they will chase the $$ first over playing time.  

The majority of the FBS schools need to start their own division and stop pretending they are in the same League as the Top 30 - 40 teams who self fund their athletic department.

44 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

Losing our 4th 2022 recruit in Cameron Ball. 3-star TE. This is just painful to watch. Now we are trying to backfill about 30 people and hope the current commits decide to stay. You can’t win many games with freshman playing (see UBMBB). Program stability is key, but that is really hard these days. If you lose they leave, if you win they leave.

College football now has 40% roster turnover a year, between the seniors and transfers.  Hard to image that doesn't impact the quality of the product on the field.

This is just what the coaches deal with now until someone finds a way to slow down the portal entries.