Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

[kswgrad2012]

2014 Performance Analysis

Looking back at this season’s offensive output, the offense went almost exclusively through its quarterbacks. Devin Powell and Tim Ashley carried the load in the running game, which is a sign to Coach Willingham that his RB’s MUST improve. Though Willingham was pleased with the play of his quarterbacks, he knows they must be more diverse in their player personnel if they want to become one of the elite teams.

Devin Powell: 166 rush, 1021 yds, 7 TD
Tim Ashley: 131 rush, 978 yds, 7 TD

With the exception of graduating Senior Dante Butler (776 yds), no other RB eclipsed 500 yds.

Coach Willingham would also like to pass the ball more often in 2015. He wants his running game to improve, so he can utilize the play action pass as a deadly weapon. The Green Wave are recruiting some good receivers to make the offense even more explosive. Powell and Ashley combined for just over 1100 yards passing and 8 TD’s.

As a whole, the offense #2 in the country in rushing offense, becoming one of just 2 teams (the #1 being Army) to rush for over 4000 yds. The passing offense finished second-to-last at #122. The defense finished #1 against the run, but mainly because they had the WORST pass defense in the country. Willingham has worked really hard this season to recruit improvements to his defense, but the secondary has to improve. They also need to generate more sacks and takeaways, as they ranked near the bottom in those categories (17 sacks, 15 takeaways). Expect changes coming…


Recruiting update coming soon!

[xboxxerx]

Enjoyed reading so far ksw.

[kswgrad2012]

Quote: Originally Posted by xboxxerx

Enjoyed reading so far ksw.

Thanks man! I try to keep it interesting. Spread the word!

[kswgrad2012]

2015 Recruiting Class

Signing Day is upon us, folks! Tulane has brought in a great recruiting class to supplement the young core already in place. We have a total of 19 recruits, comprised of mostly 2-stars, 3-stars, and even a few 4-stars. After putting much of his efforts into recruiting offense last season, Coach Willingham decided to spend the 2014 season focusing on improving the defense. 11 of the 19 recruits are on the defensive side of the ball, though he did add a few more pieces to bolster his Killer Option attack. Some top-notch athletes will find their niches on the team in no time, but Willingham is excited to have their vast capabilities. He even added a few kickers to strengthen the special teams. Looks like there’ll be a kicking competition going into fall camp.

Without further ado, I present the Tulane Green Wave Recruiting Class of 2015.

QB Boyd Martin. 1*, 64 OVR (+8 GEM).
HB Terry Grigsby. 4*, 65 OVR.
HB Tom Sherman. 3*, 64 OVR.
WR Chris Gandy. 3*, 62 OVR (+5 GEM).
DT Willie Ross. 3*, 75 OVR (+8 GEM).
DT Eddie Cox. 3*, 71 OVR (+8 GEM).
OLB Dominic Washington. 3*, 62 OVR.
MLB Fred Arnold. 3*, 69 OVR (+6 GEM).
FS Chris Samuel (JUCO Soph.). 2*, 68 OVR.
SS Larry Bell. 3*, 66 OVR.
SS Terrence Thomas. 3*, 66 OVR.
SS Devin Haynes. 3*, 64 OVR.
K Zach McGee. 3*, 72 OVR.
K Taylor Gaston. 2*, 69 OVR (+6 GEM).
ATH Aaron Gandy (brother of WR Chris Gandy). 4*, 74 OVR.
ATH Cedric Hill. 4*, 69 OVR.
ATH Randall Flowers. 4*, 66 OVR.
ATH Charlie Smith. 3*, 79 OVR (+5 GEM).
ATH Bryan Higgins. 3*, 74 OVR.

[xboxxerx]

Doesn't look like that bad of a class for the Green Wave. You use red shirting or if you have a recruit who is better then your current starter you just bypass the red shirting and cut players?

[kswgrad2012]

A few notes on the 2015 class:

Terry Grigsby was recruited as a HB, but because of his size (6'4", 188lb) he is being moved to WR.

ATH Aaron Gandy will join his brother Chris at the WR position also. His OVR actually went UP one point to 75. He'll likely be the #1 WR. His brother Chris will likely be redshirted.

DT Willie Ross will battle for one of the two DT spots in the starting lineup.

MLB Fred Arnold will join current MLB Jamie Baker in a LB rotation.

Larry Bell will be moved from SS to FS. Terrrence Thomas and Devin Haynes will battle for the top SS spot.

Both K's will join current P Lamont Hogan to settle kicking duties.

ATH Cedric Hill will play CB for now, while ATH Randall Flowers will begin is career at DE.

[kswgrad2012]

Quote: Originally Posted by xboxxerx

Doesn't look like that bad of a class for the Green Wave. You use red shirting or if you have a recruit who is better then your current starter you just bypass the red shirting and cut players?

A mix of both. I like preserving "special" people for the future, so some players will be redshirted. Though most times redshirts usually go to young players near the bottom of the depth chart. Though lately I've been cutting more players (recruited or not) who simply "don't fit the mold," regardless of rating. This used to be hard for me to do at first b/c I valued high OVR's, but now I try to keep things more realistic. Makes the dynasty more interesting.

[kswgrad2012]

I have two STUD athletes in my recruiting class.

Both of these guys are 3* GEMs, I don't know how these guys managed to fly under the radar. I mean, look at this!

ATH Charlie Smith
92 Speed
85 Acceleration
88 Jumping
85 Play Recognition
91 Man Coverage (what!?!?!)
89 Zone Coverage
80 Press
77 Catch
81 Spectacular Catch
90 Route Running (man...!!!)
87 Carrying

ATH Bryan Higgins
89 Speed
92 Acceleration
82 Pursuit
74 Man Coverage
79 Zone Coverage
70 Catching
77 Break Tackle
79 Trucking
87 Elusiveness
80 Carrying
85 Throw Power (what?!?!?!)
87 Throw Accuracy (WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!)


Still trying to find positions for these guys. Getting close though!