Gridiron Dynasty - WhatIfSports (U-Mass Dartmouth)

[SirFozzie]

This is WhatIfSports's Gridiron Dynasty game.. I got a code good for a free season (GD24FREE, good till the end of the month if anyone else wants in)..

I decided to take a somewhat local team (the first team I wanted, Framingham State College was taken before I could get it)..

All new coaches, like me, start at a Div III school, and you can try to make your way up the ranks, to Div II, 1-AA, and 1-A finally.

CBC News sirfozzie accepts head coaching position at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth...

[SirFozzie]

Coach:
Thanks again for accepting our offer. I can't tell you how excited we are to have you on campus. We're really expecting big things from the football program with you at the helm.

By the way, the whole campus is now pretty much paperless so we do most of our communicating via email, I'd guess your inbox will be full of correspondence from all of the blue-chip recruits you'll be signing for us!

Welcome Aboard,
Marlon Hardy
Director of Athletics, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

Blue Chips huh? I'll be lucky at this level to sign Lead Chip Recruits.. I have a whopping $27,000 in the budget for recruiting and only 9 scholarships available.. oh well..

[SirFozzie]

The other email in my box..

Hey Coach,
I'm at the National Coaches Conference in Las Vegas, but I just got a call from Marlon Hardy about the big news - that's really exciting - congratulations. I'm really happy for you.

We've got a good group of kids coming back and we'll do our best to make your job as easy as possible :)

I should be back in town in the next couple of days - I may not have any money left, but hey, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!

Looking forward to working with you,
Ferdinand Mayo
Assistant Coach, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

Just as long what happens in Vegas doesn't end up on a video tape mailed out of Vegas.. what kind of name is Ferdinand Mayo anyway? :)

[SirFozzie]

From the Help Guide..

Players are rated in 12 different categories, each are based from 1 - 100 with 1 being the worst and 100 being the best. The table below gives a hint of what to look for in your players, but it is not a complete cheat sheet.

Position What to look for...
QB Game Instinct to make the right decisions; Technique and Strength to make an accurate throw
RB Speed to break the big play; Athleticism and Elusiveness to make defenders miss
WR Hands to make the catch; Speed, Elusiveness, and Technique to get open
TE Blocking and Strength for pass protection and run blocking; Hands to make receptions
OL Blocking, Strength, and Technique for protecting your quarterback
DL Tackling to make the tackle; Strength and Technique for pass rushes
LB Game Instinct for reading the play; Speed and Athleticism to get in on the play
DB Technique and Game Instinct for coverage; Speed to stay with the receiver
K Technique and Strength for accuracy and distance
P Technique and Strength for accuracy and distance

[SirFozzie]

Here's our QB's and their ratings on key stats (1-100, but remember, these are Division III players)

John Simpson (Jr) 6'4", 193 pounds.. from Natrona Heights, PA

Total Rating: 443

Key Strengths: Work Ethic (46), Hands (52), Technique (43)
Key Weaknesses: Game Instinct (21)

He's willing to work, at least.. I can see he's going to give me heartburn throughout the season, though. That Game Instinct rating (a key rating for QB's to make good decisions) is going to mean he makes a lot of risky throws and just plain BAD decisions. He has the Technique at this level to do well, however.


Joshua Small (Soph), 6'5", 212, Pueblo West, CO

Total Rating: 369

Key Strengths:Athleticism (51), Work Ethic (50), Durability (48), Elusiveness (39)
Key Weaknesses: Hands (13), Strength (18) Technique (29)

From looking Joshua over, we need him to improve his technique, and he'll be a better QB than Simpson (he has a better Game Instinct by 13 big points).. has the ability to be a pretty nice scrambling QB with his Athleticism and Elusiveness. if he can improve in Technique and Game Instinct. He'll be on the bench at least to start.

[SirFozzie]

Running Backs

(Key Stats:RB Speed to break the big play; Athleticism and Elusiveness to make defenders miss)

Ronnie Smith (Jr) 5'11, 188, From: Malden, MA

Total Rating: 499

Key Strengths:Athleticism (54), Work Ethic (57), Stamina (60)
Key Weakness: Elusiveness (33), Technique (30)

Our starter, looks like we'll be a ground based offense (comparing our RB to our QB). Has good Athleticism, decent speed (46), but his Elusiveness isn't great (33), so probably most of his runs will be the slashing inside runs.

Robert Grayson (Jr) 5'9", 196, From Houston TX

Total Rating:460

Key Strengths: Speed (53), Stamina (61), Hands (50), Elusiveness (47)
Key Weaknesses: Technique (25), Blocking (29)

In a Division Three kinda way, Grayson is Mr Outside to Smith's Mr Inside. He's a scatback type, who can make folks miss, and then out run them. Also might be good in the passing game out of the backfield. Will be the backup, but get his fair share of game time.

Greg Fox (soph) 6'1", 189, From: Fitchburg, MA

Total Rating: 394

Key Strengths: Stamina (50), Speed (53), Elusiveness (54)
Key Weaknesses: Athleticism (13), Technique (7), Blocking 20

He looks like Grayson, but with that Abysmal Athleticism, even his Elusiveness probably will only mean he gets back to the line only. Definitely needs to grow in his remaining years.

[SirFozzie]

Wide Receivers:

Key Stats: Hands to make the catch; Speed, Elusiveness, and Technique to get open

(Gonna try something a bit different, due to amount of time I have here at work)

Juniors
Barry Lewis (Total 489, Key Stats: Hands 51, Speed 42, Elusiveness 39, Technique 38)
George Nelson (Total 456, Key Stats: Hands 61, Speed 45, Elusiveness 45, Technique 48)
Harold Rice (Total 466), Key Stats: Hands 43, Speed 68, Elusiveness 48, Technique 29)

Sophmores
Luis Pope (Total 381), Hands: 33, Speed 38, Elusiveness 33, Technique 42)
Bernard Gillis (Total 377) Hands 33, Speed 33, Elusiveness 38, Technique 22)

Overall: My three juniors will take the load this year, and they each have a pretty decent role. Lewis is my all-rounder, Nelson is my posession receiver, and Rice is my deep threat. The Sophmores.. have some work ahead.

[SirFozzie]

Tight Ends

Key Stats: Blocking and Strength for pass protection and run blocking; Hands to make receptions

Seniors
George Billings (572 Total, Blocking 65, Strength 62, Hands 45)
Arthur Davids (557 Total, Blocking 48, Strength 76, Hands 62)

Sophmore
Ruben Jones (427 Total), Blocking 31, Strength 33, Hands 43)

Overall: Two of my best offensive skill players, and they're both TE.. *grumps* I guess I'll be running a lot of two TE sets.. that blocking is sweet!

[SirFozzie]

Offensive Line

Key Stats: Blocking, Strength, and Technique for protecting your quarterback

Seniors:
Jack Ward (total 480) Blocking: 49, Strength 54, Technique 35
Steve Duncan (Total 575) Blocking: 71, Strength 65, Technique 36

Junior:
Victor Bingham (Total 451), Blocking 49, Strength 57, Technique 32

Sophmores:
Samuel Baker (Total 429), Blocking 41, Strength 67, Technique 36
John Valenzuela (Total 388), Blocking 36, Strength 46, Technique 22
David Carroll (Total 362), Blocking 43, Strength 50, Technique 33
Frank Smith (Total 408) Blocking 39, Strength 62, Technique 27

Overall: Well, we're definitely feeding the kids right (62-67 strength for sophmores? me likey!) Duncan's gonna pave some roads for us this year...

[SirFozzie]

Defensive Line

Tackling to make the tackle; Strength and Technique for pass rushes

Seniors
Juan Sparks (566 Total), Strength 65, Tackling 68, Technique 45
Walter Hewitt (553 Total), Strength 69, Tackling 51, Technique 59
Charlie Anderson (519 Total) Strength 50, Tackling 67, Technique 63

Juniors
Eric Bradshaw (426 Total) Strength 33, Tackling 34, Technique 50
Peter Payne (417 Total), Strength 50, Tackling 53, Technique 22
Robert Taylor (488 Total), Strength 57, Tackling 34, Technique 61

Sophmores
Richard Alford (391 Total) Strength 45, Tackling 53, Technique 28
George Hernandez (318 Total) Strength 32, Tackling 43, Technique 17

Just like the OL, we got some big guys up front, looks like they will be very hard to stop.. 3 seniors and a top class junior.. nice!

[SirFozzie]

LB

Key Stats: Game Instinct for reading the play; Speed and Athleticism to get in on the play

Senior
Paul Cox (512 Total), Game Instinct 51, Speed 37, Athleticism 43

Junior
Ronald Williams (469 Total), Game Instinct 28, Speed 39, Athleticism 37

Sophmore
Robert Ruiz (438 Total), Game Instinct 37, Speed 46, Athleticism 41
Craig Coker (374 Total) Game Instinct 19, Speed 41, Atlhleticism 33

Hmm. Looks like I'm going to be running a 5-2. Ugh

[SirFozzie]

DB
Key Stats: Technique and Game Instinct for coverage; Speed to stay with the receiver

Seniors
Jose Ray (521) Technique 42 , Game Instinct 30 , Speed 89
Eric Diaz (563) Technique 42 , Game Instinct 42 , Speed 71
Thomas Hall (587), Technique 38, Game Instinct 43, Speed 68

Junior
Ricky Collins (470), Tech 30, GI 40, Speed 50

Sophmores
George Short (386) Tech 27, GI 22, Speed 35
Douglas Walter (406), Tech 19, GI 20, Speed 35

Overall: Holy Fuck, Ray's a burner.. I wonder if I can change him to a WR.. he's definitely going to be my KR/PR. Pretty good, but I'll have to recruit 1 or two folks to make up for some of the players I have.

[SirFozzie]

Special Teams

Technique and Strength Key Stats

K Mike Young (Jr) 423 Total, 31 Technique, 16 Strength

P Joseph Best (Jr) 448, 31 Technique, 46 Strength
P Michael Mills (Jr) 454, 52 Technique, 18 Strength

[MacroGuru]

I was thinking of doing the same thing for mine...

[Poli]

Which universe are you guys in?

[Poli]

Rats. Both leagues apparently are full.

[SirFozzie]

I was thinking of doing the same thing for mine...

Go ahead, do it.. it'd be interesting to compare teams :)

[Poli]

Guess I'll be living through you.

[Icy]

I received the free code some days ago too, is it fun? what about recruiting etc?

[astrosfan64]

I tried to join the league, but it was full :(.

[SirFozzie]

Hey coach -

I just got word from the Athletic Director that we can begin our recruiting in a few short hours! I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but I definitely think we should look to add some depth at positions where our guys will be leaving us soon. I have complete faith in you finding a good group of kids to match our system and needs. I'll keep you posted with any other information I receive.

Good luck coach,

Ferdinand Mayo
Assistant Coach
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

I'll let you know how Recruiting works.. I've targeted about 25 Division III quality players around me (no more then 100 miles, that budget's not really gonna go far if we go gallivanting about.

[MacroGuru]

I think I screwed up my recruiting...I hope not..but oh well...

[SirFozzie]

Recruiting just begun, in other words ;)

[MacroGuru]

I am officially in love with this game so far, especially with this recruiting...

[SirFozzie]

I have a few folks who're considering just us right now, so we're doing well :)

[SirFozzie]

We've signed six players at the beginning of the signing period, 4 of them at LB where we were really weak.

The LB's


LB Michael Morgan: 6'1", 223 Rated at 403, a good tackler, had 52 tackles his senior year in Ellington, CT

LB Jeff Cantrell: 6'4", 209: Rated 382, Had 34 tackles, 2 Sacks, and 2 Interceptions his senior year for New Bedford Vocational HS(New Bedford, MA)

LB Robert Cunningham: 6'5", 225: Rated 406 Great Work Ethic, Great Tackler (both 50 or so, as a freshman, great for this level), Might be a starter.. Had 41 tackles, 2 Sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 INT for Bridgewater-Raynham HS in Bridgewater, MA

LB: Roy Walker: 6'3", 215: Rated 352, He's a backup right now, but he's a local kid, 12 miles away, and he's a pretty ok tackler.

The other two:

QB Jerry Jones: Rated at 365, he looks pretty decent, has a good understanding of the game for a kid his age (42 Game Instinct), but needs to work on his form (24 Technique). He was on a ball-control team at Pingree HS , in South Hamilton, MA. (89-154, 993 Yards, 4 TD, 6 INT)

QB Michael Jackson: Unfortunately named, but the better of the two at base rating (371), he's pretty decent at game instinct and Technique (31-35). He played at Bay Path Vocational HS in Charlton, MA, His stats (90-176, 885, 14 TD, 16 INT)

[SirFozzie]

SUH-WEET!

With six of our 9 scholarships filled, and over half our budget left, I felt like I could go a bit further out, and I wanted to get my hands on a real athletic running back.. I don't know how I did it, but I got this guy.

Clarence Brown: Nicknamed "Downtown" Brown by his teammates at East Syracuse-Minoa Central HS in New York, he has 40+ ratings in key stats, Athleticism (38), Speed (45), Durability (54), Stamina (42), and Hands (42). That grades him out as a 401 rating total, he's 5'11", 186, and he had great stats his senior year, (221 carries, 1330 yards, 6.0 YPC, 15 TD, 30 Catches for 213 yards)

[King of New York]

Hey SirFozzie,

Thanks for inviting Wesleyan U (CT) for an exhibition game--we're looking forward to it.

Of course, since you and I are going after the same Tight End right now, I'll understand if you do not want to divulge too much about your recruiting strategy at the moment :)

Nice job landing that quality RB. I think I may have recruited a bit too conservatively--I probably should have held one or two scholarships back for the end of the recruiting season, and then gone after some D-II quality players who had fallen through the cracks. Oh, well, I'll try that next time.

This is going to be a tough year. Somehow I've wound up with 4 games against top 25 teams, and I'm going to be starting a true freshman at QB.

I've been looking to recruit guys with high upside and strong work ethic, in the hope that we can be good in two or three years.

Recruiting has been a blast. So far, I am really enjoying the game.

[SirFozzie]

agreed. This game so far is really polished. The price is a downside, mind you.. but still nice.

[MacroGuru]

I was able to fill 5 of my 8 scholies, and they are in the weak areas I have...

LB Thomas Rose - 6'1" 200 lbs - 396 Rating - 40 Athleticism, 43 Work Ethic, 51 Strength, 42 Tackling, and 40 Technique - 58 Tackles, 2 Sacks and 1 FF

QB John Rose - 6'4" 214 lbs - 348 Rating - I was looking at above 35 in the key areas, and he was right there with them. I tried to get the other QB's and it didn't work. - 100/181for 55% and 1292 yards, 1 TD 3 INT. He was sacked 36 times.

TE Eugene Driscoll - 6'2" 210 lbs - 418 Rating - 47 Work Ethic, 44 Game Instinct, 45 Elusiveness - 38 Receptions, 359 yards, 1 TD

TE Clarence Levine - 6'2" 206 lbs - 409 Rating - 59 Durability, 44 Technique - 33 Receptions, 303 yards and 9 TD's

WR James Thompson - 6'5" 236 lbs - 401 Rating - 42 Athleticism, 47 Speed, 49 Elusiveness - 59 Receptions, 690 yards, 1 TD

I am trying to get 1 more LB and a RB