TCY - Del State's Sting
 

Hello!


As you may have noticed over on the old TCY archive about alternative SOL8 conferences:

TCY: Solecismic 8 alternative conferences - Front Office Football Central


I've been looking at pushing a new SOL8 for you.



Let's take a deep dive into my thought processes, and then my new team and more!

Let's run The College Years Again (Because we still haven’t gotten a new one.)


Here are the teams I’ve played in TCY in order:


1. West Virginia U. I wanted to use my alma mater and flagship school of my home state as my jumping off point for TCY. I won three championships with them, and combined it with FOF2k1 for you at the old board. I had set the SOL 8 in Alaska and renamed them the Ivy League.
2. West Virginia State – For my next dynasty I wanted to push myself, and I moved the SOL into WV and took WV State, an HBCU on as a challenge. I only played in an BCS Bowl once, and was never in the running for the top spot. But it was a lot of fun.
3. Eastern Michigan – Then I turned to the institution I was working for at the time, EMU. I chose it because it would be very hard. Players who were great and wanted something near by would always choose U of M, literally 7 miles down the road. It was in the midst of some epically bad eras, and had a ton of nearby competition from better teams in the same league, like Toledo. It was fun, and I posted it here for you!
4. WV State - After letting it lie for a few years, I came back, and I restarted another dynasty, and this time restarted as WV State. This time I had created the “Appalachian Mountain Conference” using nearby teams like Liberty, Duquesne, and a few in WV such as Fairmont State and us at WV State. It was fun but only lasted a few years, and again, you can check it out here.


And…..that was 2012. A long time ago!

Now let’s hit this bad boy up again!


Ready?


Ready!


But….

Here are my bowls for you! Yes. I named the “Indy conference” that only has Notre Dame and Navy in it the “Notre Dame Conference.” You are welcome. Unfortunately, you cannot move teams around to a current alignment, so we’ll just ignore all of the movement since 2004.

Who am I playing? I don’t know. I’m hoping that I can figure it out here.


Options that leap out at me:


1. Eastern Michigan – Let’s give it another spin! It’s such a rough ask. It’s been like 15 years since I played it last. EMU baby! I’d also want to rename them the Hurons, FYI. As a bottom level academic rep, it’ll also be harder to get up.
2. Marshall – Take the other WV school I haven’t run. Marshall’s a mid-major Conference USA team that has, at times, had solid success with talent like Chad Pennington, Randy Moss, and Byron Leftwich. However, at the time of this (2004), they have just finished four consecutive MAC championships from 97-2000 and then another the year prior in 2002. They are in their best. Now since then they’ve only won The CUSA once, recently in 2014. From 2005-2009 they couldn’t even crack .500. Since 2010, Doc Holliday had three 10 win seasons and a 9-4 season last year. Marshall would be fun, but it may not be as big of a challenge as realistically. Marshall is 78th academically vs EMU’s 101st.
3. A Bad Academic Nation – The worst five options academically are Troy, La Tech, South Mississippi, Middle Tennessee and NM State. Those would all be fun and tough challenges as there is no opportunity to grab someone who really wants a great academic institution. Troy is all the way back in dead last, and has a 23 vs EMU’s 37 or Marshall’s 44.
4. A Bad Prestige Nation – The worst five teams by prestige are LA-Monroe, LA-Lafayette, Idaho, Buffalo, Army and Navy. Monroe is back at 61. EMU? 63, just two more than the worst. Marshall is 73. The same as Arizona, and Brigham Young and such. That’s climbable. Shoot, WVU’s is only 76 (as is Stanford). Again, Marshall may not be as hard as I hope given it was coming off the most successful era in its history in 2004.
5. Another SOL8 Run – I could add the SOL8 to another state like I did with WV State twice before. I’m currently in Maryland at UMBC, I could take them for a spin. Except they don’t have a football team… unless I storied it so we just started one after the big basketball upset… I could toss in schools from FSU to UMBC to more.
6. Another SOL8 Run, Option 2 – I could also add it to places like faraway Montana or something. The Big Sky rises! I prefer real SOL8 schools rather than random city names though. Like PA and grab a school such as Indiana Univ of Penn.


The bottom for prestige doesn’t matter as much to me due to how close everyone is. The lowest rated are 5 away from around 40-50 other teams. If you raise 10 you are at the same level as UNC. Another 5 and you are at Stanford and WVU levels of prestige.


On the other hand, Troy is so far back it isn’t funny. Only four teams out of 125 are in the 20s, and Troy is back at 23. Ten more puts it where you’d pass 9 other teams like Memphis and Kent State. 15 more from Troy and you are still in the bottom below 100. Troy’s prestige at 64 may also be an issue.


Thus, based on the numbers Troy may be the hardest team to try and make work. Now to be fair to Troy, they just transitioned up. In 2001 they came up from Div-1AA and this is just a few years later in the Sun Belt. Unlike Marshall, they were not successful in this move early. They just joined the Sun Belt in 2004, and this is their debut year there. In fact, Troy was a Div 2 school in 1990, and but in ten years double rose. Their first year in Div-1AA they dominated with 12-1-1 record. Then 11-0 the next year.


Thus, Troy is not some longterm scrub team, but a fast riser like Central Florida. In fact, their HC is only one of two to take a team from D2 to 1a.


I could create the SOL8 and have the teams be:

Delaware State, Univ of Delaware

Morgan State and Towson Univ


Georgetown and Howard


UMBC and James Madison

Each of those could be rivals. Two Baltimores, two Delawares, two DCs, UMBC and JMU.

Since this was made, these teams entered the DIV-A1 FBS.



VA
Liberty
Old Dominion

NC
Appalachian State

SC
Coastal Carolina

MA
UMass-Amherst

KY
Western KY

AL
South Alabama

GA
Georgia State
Georgia Southern

TX
Texas State
U.Texas – San Antonio

FL
Florida Atlantic
Florida International

That’s a lot of new schools! If I could add these schools in the SOL8 that’d cool. I have them listed by state.


Are there any states that would get me more than two? Texas, NC, FL, GA, VA will all do it.


I think I have it. ..


Take Virginia. Make these the SOL8:

Old Dominion
Liberty

Choose teams that make these two rivals

Towson
Morgan State

Make these two Baltimore area schools rivals


Georgetown
Howard


Make these two DC area schools rivals

Delaware State, Dover fits in the VA area

Univ of Delaware, Newark is at the corner of Maryland, but too high for VA. Drop it around ten miles to Middletown, DE in the game


Make these two DE area schools rivals

Again, this leaves me the natural rivals in four areas, and also swaps out JMU and UMBC for newer additions to the area. I also enjoy adding in the three Historically Black Institutions in Delaware State, Morgan State and Howard.


So I will be doing that for sure. I am naming this the Capital Area Conference, CAC for short.

I think taking Delaware State would be cool. It’d be like the WV State of this conference. Small and centrally located HBCU in a state with few schools. It’s even called State State and has a bee-based mascot (Yellowjackets vs Hornets)

Howard is generally considered one of the most prestigious HBCUs out there.

Now that I am in VA, I could push out Hampton, another hugely prestigious HBCU. But I like the four regions each with their own school. I could swap Hampton for Georgetown, and then have four HBCUs, two regional rivals for them, and then the two new schools in Liberty and ODU that are now a part of the Div1A.

2019 Best HBCUs: Top 20 Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Melanin Is Life


According to this, Delaware State is ranked 12th and Morgan 14th, just as fyis. They aren’t chumps. Also, Morgan State is a football powerhouse. Note that there are more than 100 HBCUs in the US active right now.

Or I could swap Towson for Hampton, and then give you the Hampton/Morgan rivalry instead. No thanks, I do like it in theory, but there may be another option I want to consider.


Actually, it looks like App. State is just outside and fit-able in a VA selection. I could swap Georgetown or Towson (or U of D) and slip in a 3rd school. But what would be its rival? I like the regional 2:2:2:2 symmetry right now. Now I am not wedded to Georgetown, and I could swap it and App. State. If Coastal Carolina were in NC and close to the border, I’d might toss both in as natural rivals. I’d have to move it like 200 miles in the game to make it fit. CC isn’t doable.

Let’s commit. I like my symmetry. I adore App State, but I love my symmetry.


So after making the Capital Area Conference


Here are the options that now appeal to me:


1. Delaware State – Try my WV State again, but different. If I do run a CAC institution, it would be this.
2. Troy – The worst academic intuition in DIV1A, and one of the worst prestige as well.
3. Eastern Mich – Let’s try it again!
4. Marshall - We are Marshall!


I’ve done EMU before. Let’s pull it out. And I’ve shown that Marshall may not be the challenge I hoped for.

That leaves Troy and Delaware State. Troy is down from multiple angles, and sitting in the sun Belt.


Troy? Delaware State?

Troy? Delaware State?


Troy? Delaware State?

Troy? Delaware State?

Troy? Delaware State?

Troy? Delaware State?


Not the Trojans.

Welcome to Delaware State, ranked the 13th best HBCU by US News and World Report in 2019. For the 11th year in a row Del State notched top honors for it’s business school from the Princeton Review. Welcome to the Hornets!



After starting as Del State, we have a 37 academic reputation, right around Houston and WVU, Eastern and Western Mich., and Nevada. We are the 107th ranked team academically in the country.


Athletically? At 57, we are third worst nationally, and the 3rd worst in the new conference.



In real life, Del State never played Univ of Delaware ever, despite the fact they were in the same state, and Div1aa until they met in the playoffs a short while ago. That was the biggest attended game in Delaware football history. Del State got thumped, but it began and annual series of cross-state rivals that just finished its 9th game. We still haven’t won.

Pearlman: Yellow Blue Hens - ESPN Page 2



Route 1 Rivalry - Wikipedia


Some info about the new rivalry. U Delaware is considered one of the heavies of Div1AA and thus moving them to the next level shouldn’t be a big surprise. It’s the only Div1aa school to average more than 20k annually in attendance.

And they are our new rival too!


(If I had 10 teams I would have added in App. State and Hampton as rivals).


I reviewed our roster and, well, it’s not good. There are some positions were we are the worst in the NCAA like OTs, ILBs, and OLBs. We are in the worst 10 in every position other than QB (although don’t get too saucy as we’re more likely 70th or 80th rather than 115th,) TE and C.


Oh, my rules for TCY


1. Don’t ever hand out a bribe. It’s wrong, both morally and ethically.
2. Don’t set depth charts. Just take what my staff recommend.
3. Don’t set off/def game plans. Just take what my staff recommend.
4. My staff will make small decisions like study hall hours and such. I don’t want to spend any amount of my life micro-managing a fictional college student’s study hours, although it adds in some bad choices at times.

I choose my players, make big decisions, select the main formations. We go with Singleback and 43.

Ready?





As you can see, my best player are C Josh Durham, TE Tan Tarver, DE Dwayne Wright, DT Lowrey and Alexander, and I have some solid kickers. Most of those are in their final year, so, basically, every position is up for upgrade.


I have some academic nightmares that aren’t good like WR Perry. Normally, I’d want to cut them. But we won’t be doing that tonight. Instead I want to dig into getting in replacements first. We don’t have depth in some key places like O Line. How do I have just 10 players on the O Line? I have that many on an NFL squad, how does a college football team warrant that few?

Any players out there that I think can make the cut here are in the queue. I have one too many FBs, but probably one too few TEs, 5 is a good number. My WR count and kickers are fine, although I have two kickers heading out.

I hand a red shirt to backup QB Herndon, LB Donaldson, S Jordan,

Here what I am looking for position wise:

QBx2
TE
WR
OTx2
OGx2
P
K
DEx2
DT
LBx3
CBx4
S

That means that I need 21 players. I have 29 scholarships available for next year. And studs anywhere, like a RB par example.

I need to bring in some talent.
This is going to likely be a heavy recruiting year. Heavy


We only have 10 players in Delaware, just one in the top 1000 at 808. I swing by his house. I visit a few others, save for the FB.

I try to find some folks, make calls, and even invite a few folks like this P from Maryland I visited.

First week of recruiting is over

We’ll fast sim through the games. I don’t care about these players that much.


Week 2 – I visit a stud QB next door in PA that no one called last week. I make him an offer even though he was a little worse. While here, any one else I want to visit in PA. Our first game arrives, we host LA-Monroe. And… we lose 14-30. No major injuries though


Week 3- Recruitment trail hit again. This week I head out to Jersey. I try to finish out making my first round of offers. This week we head to, and defeat, Kent state 31-24




Week 4 – I head to VA. We lose badly, 44-10 to Ball State.

Week 5 – We have our two Qbs move out, and I offer to another we id’d earlier. We head to NY to check him out, and then remain in the state. We lose on the road 14-7 to Towson.


Week 6 – This week is about trying to find top players that may have fallen through the cracks. There is a top 10 OT that hasn’t had any offers yet, so I make him one. I head to Kentucky. I am trying to find a backup DT target. We are crushed on the road against the undefeated Boston College powerhouse 55-10.


Week 7 – None of our players have committed elsewhere, although none are visiting us and some are others. I check in. I head down to SC to review some candidates. We smash Georgetown 45-28.


Week 8 – I lost a DE to Notre Dame. I have 20 visits. As well as scholarship offers to another 9. My unseen stud OT was seen and made scholarships too by bigger schools. I visit….Arizona. I find a great Kicker here that may have gone under the radar, and my top two are heading elsewhere. We host and lose 21-31 to Morgan State.

Week 9 – Do I bring in any of my visitors? I bring in QB Artie Payne, my 3rd choice but he’s pretty good. I lost out on some others, I bring in WR Zach Urbanus, DE Sean McReynolds, ILB Wesley Lynn, and that’s it. I lost a S, RB, and two Qbs. All four are ones I visted early from nearby and was trying to bring in big time. Okay, next? 19 players are still visiting me. I have offers to none. Both of my top Og options look to have late offers from major powerhouses like U of M. One is close in NY, but doesn’t have distance as a top choice. I head to Illinois and find a nice backup OT I like and make him an offer. I swing by some other great lakes places to scout out people in person.

We have a bye this week.


Week 10 – Recruiting results? I only bring in TE, K, DE. I missed out on loads – WR, tons of DBs, OLB. I still have 14 visiting, and we have 6 in. I head to Wisconsin to lock in some more visits for a WR and OLB or two. I make offers to both. Next? We lose badly 0-30 at Liberty.


Week 11 – We bring in a C, OLB, and ILB. We lost a OT, OG, and CB. We currently have 10 secured and 11 visiting. I head up to New England to visit a few folks. I make some offers here and there. We host and defeat Howard 34-31.


Week 12 – We brought in a backup OG, DT, CB. I lost a CB, P, TE, backup QB, and RB. We have 13 commitments. We lose 13-30.



Week 13 0- A OG, OT, and S joined the club. We host Delaware, our rivals, for the game we haven’t won yet. Is today it? Yes IT IS!!!! We win 31-17. Muahahha U of Delaware!


We finish 4-7

Here’s our recruiting class for next year. We are rated the 59th best class.




As you can see, our QB Payne is fun and useful. He was a Top 100 recruit. We visited him early. A random push late by New Mexico State and Western Michigan wasn’t going to bring him out. TEs were heavily pursued, and Price is just a fun, body to add to the squad, our WR Urbanus is someone I wanted to bring in to give a target for Payne. C Grauer was my top target all season long, and no one else sniffed his panties. OG Famie, and Reed are back ups of backups of backups. I needed to get a real O Line for Payne. OT Goodwin was okay, but again, nothing good as I had to keep pushing my OT targets back. K Stevens is fine and smart. Des Tims and McReynolds and DT Crane are all improvements for our squad and can offer a powerful early D Line. The renovation continues with my LBs, CBs and S.





Here they are when seen by academics. You can see that they will, mostly, have solid GPAs and tests scores, including Payne. You can also see their national rank, and 9 were ranked in the top 1000. In a few cases I felt a solid player who wasn’t the sharpest knife in the XActo knife box was more important. Ian’s GPA was 2.63, but a 1020 test score mean I wasn’t caring. Only two players, DE Tims and TE Price have scores below 1000.

I brought in 4 PA, 4 VA, 1 KY, 1 NY, 3 NJ, 1 AZ and 1 SC and 1 MI.

With a 7-4 Record, Towson won the first year of the CAC. They play against and lose to New Mexico State

I vote for the Hawaiian QB for the Player of the Year. He came in 4th.

LSU Won the championship.

I end the Season:



As you can see, we finished with a solid 56/100 score with recruiting our highlight and attendance our lowlight.

Our athletic prestige is now 59. I hire a new DC and some scouts.

Time to make some schedules. Navy rejects a home game with us in Week 15. I tried to get some local games from Temple, Army, etc, but nothing. We offer Middle Tennessee and they decline. We seem to have New Mexico and San Diego State as permanent scheduled folks. We wind up with away and home games with Wyoming and North Texas.




Here’s our schedule this year. As you can see, we have 4 games at home, and 7 away. I internally scheduled my series away this year and home next so I could have a few extra home games next year when my QB and team won’t be so green.

Speaking of which, here is our roster:




We are starting rookies at S, CB, QB, WR, OT, OC, DE, ILB. We are holding off and red shirting rookies at TE, OG, OG, DT, DE, OLB, ILB.


This is the first team that I would begin to call mine, so we will not speed up this season.


We have 16 players leaving this year.


We need:

Backup QB
P
RB
WR
TE
OT
OG
DT (maybe x2)
CBx2
OLB
S

That’s 13, and if I get a DE, or 2 DTs, or another S, and such I think we’ll be fine.

Alright, let’s do it to it.


Week 1 – I head over to VA and visit a lot of talent. There are many OTs that are better than our scouts told us. I make an offer to one. I put in a few calls.

Can we start the Payne era with a win at Wyoming? Nope! We lose 7-38.


Week 2 – I head to Jersey to try and unearth some more talent that we like. I find a few players I make some offers to. I call up some people and make a few more offers. We have a bye


Week 3 – Trying to lock down some CB talent I head to Maryland, New York and more. I make offers. We head out to North Texas and lose 28-35.


Week 4 – I head to New England again and check out places like Connecticut and Massachusetts. I am losing out on a few top choices, like OT. I make replacements. We win 29-28 over New Mexico. Close game!

Week 5 – On the recruiting trail, I try to uncover a surrogate OT. I have to do the same as my top TE over in NY was offered Penn State and Oregon and is visiting both. All of my WRs are out too. Next? I head to Michigan and find one and make an offer. I make an offer to a nearby MD one as well. One of my Dts targets is visiting VA and VA Tech. One of my top S targets was offered by Stanford and is visiting them.


We win 28-20 over ODU on the road.


Week 6 – My good Maryland backup OT offer is visiting Maryland after getting an offer last week. I lose out on a CB. I try to hold my serve on others and find a new CB. I head to Washington to see if I can unearth any. We lose on the road badly at San Diego State 13-42.


Week 7 – We lost a S. I head to CA and make some offers to a player here. There are no Top 100 players that weren’t offered. My top TE got a late offer from his idolized school, UConn. I try to hold my serve this week too. Next? This week we host winless Morgan State. We send them home loser 37-29. I lost WR Carlton Vance to injury. We are at 3-3.


Week 8 – I have 16 visiting and an offer out to another. They are QB, RB, WRx2, OLBx2, Sx2, CBx2, TE, G, T, P, DE, DT. The one not visiting is an DT as well. My RB is a stud, top 100 player, but he has offers and is visiting a lot of big names. I pull my interest, head to Missouri, and make an offer to an RB I found there. I also pull off a CB visiting 4 powerhouses and us. While in Missouri I try to find a few more players for backups.

We lose 9-27 against Howard on the road

Week 9 – I lost a P, but brought in a TE, S and OLB. I make an offer to a CT punter I visited before. I try to hold my serve with calls and such. We host and lose to Liberty.


Week 10 - We added the CT Punter to our squad, plus we added a QB, RB. However we lost my backup spots for OLB and a DE for someone I was really expecting to come our way. I have 6 commitments and 9 offers visiting. I make an offer to a backup DE.

We host and crush 1 win Delaware 42-16.


Week 11 – This is disappointing. We brought in WR, CB, and DT, but they were all down on my lists. We lost out on better players and an OG. 9 commitments. Currently 4 active offers to OT, DE, CB, and S. I make offers to some very deep candidate pools. I make three more offers to DT, OG, and WR.


We head to DC and take on the undefeated Hoyas. We leave with that record intact, 28-17. That puts us at 5-5 on the season


Week 12 – We lose a WR. No other news. Bye.


Week 13 – We bring in a OG, CB, and DE. We lost an OT. We have 12 in, 3 visiting. Any OTs anywhere? I head to Tennessee and find a smart body. We lose at Towson 10-30


Week 14 – We brought in a DT.

Week 15 – An OT and WR join. We still have a S outstanding.

Week 16 – We have brought in a Safety.

Recruiting is done!



Here they are! CB Artie Grogan is probably going to be the best player on the team. He isn’t good academically and we chased him from the beginning. You can see the QB Reese, who’s fine, as well as RB Sughroue who could be something. Collier is a strong option at the WR spot, and we have some solid talent with TE Blanchard and WT Berry to flesh things out. My OG and OT fell hard. P Wilkins was my top backup and looks great DE Reser waited a while, but came in late after we needed to replace others. I wanted another LB, but the talent wasn’t there, and OLB Freeman is great. I renovated my secondary, and you can see the four here. Manahan was the one we just brought in, as was O-Neal actually. He was not chased early and one of my top reasons for heading to Washington. Then slowly a few other bigger names jumped in, but he waited, and we were the only ones still wanting that hadn’t pulled out. With him? Patience was a virtue. While we have a few solid players, only once, with CB Grogan, did I get my top choice. I lost fellow Delaware players!



Here they are listed out for you. As you can see, our highest rated players were around 250 in. You can see my three players with a sub-1000 test score, and were Artie fell. De Reser may not be the sharpest addition, but given his talent level late, I’m sure you can agree with his talent level.


This year we had 11 players in the Top 1000. We had one each from WA, CA, OH, PA, TN, NH, DE, IL, MA, MN, MI, NY. We had 2 from CT, MO. We were much more spread out geographically this time. No players from Virginia? Maryland? New Jersey? Only Delaware got a spot.

Not bad!

We finish 5-6

A Delaware player finished the NCAA as their Def. Rookie of the Year.

Zach Urbanus finished as the best WR in the NCAA by catches (93), 2nd in yards (1279) and 5th in TDs with 11. Nice!


MLB Lynn finishes with 5th most tackles. S Ian Vought tied for 3rd most with 7 picks.

ODU defeats new Mexico State in the Bowl 22-20.


We vote for the Boston College Qb for MVP, and he came in 3rd. LSU won again.

Urbanus and Vought both made the NCAA All Frosh team.


Urbanus won CAC Offensive Frosh fo Year


We had three first teamers, DT Lowery joined.


We had 5 second teamers – MLB Lynn was the only rookie addition.




Here you are! As you can see, our overall score rose.

My older Punter leaves over playing time and a walk-on DE is suspended for academics, so I cut him.


Our schedule is full, so I pass on that.



Here’s our 2k6 schedule. As you can see, we have 7 games at home, including 4 in our conference and three away. You can see the series I scheduled last year with North Texas and Wyoming all ready to go.

Our prestige rose to 64.

Here’s the 2006 Hornets! We are starting rookies at WR, TE, RB, DT, CB, and S. They are all of our strong new rookies. We are continuing with the singleback and 4-3 formations. You can see have three strong WRs moving forward in Urbanus, Collier and Berry. My powerful defensive line is ready to roll out from my first year’s class, and all three of those LBs are starting at MLB. SLB and WLB. I have none of my WRs redshirted. We have 25 of 26 players starting from my last two classes. Who isn’t? OT.



I expect to have 15 scholarships available for next year.


What do I need?

Recruitment:

WRx2 One starter to rotate in later and another decent backup.
RB
OT badly. Really badly.
OC
ILB
CB
S

FB backup only, happy to have a walk-in with good grades and not waste a scholarship. Ditto TE, QB, DT

As you can see, I have just four DTs, and 5 each defensive back. I still need to bring in talent.

That’s just 12, so I have 4 more available. I can grab a backup QB, or a solid TE, or a wherever the talent is.

Week 1 - Let’s hit up the recruitment trail. My ideal OT is good and also well developed so I can slide him in next year, without needing a shirt of crimson. I visit OTs and make offers to 2. I also look at a TE, CB, and such out in NY while I was on the trail. The best OT in the nation is next door in Jersey, and he’s better than our impressions and wants to stay close to home. He’s one of those I offer-ize. I doubt he’ll come our way, but let’s see! I reach out to some Centers, a FB, and a few other players here and there. I have made offers to a C and CB.



Week 2 – One of my OT offers in NY, at a 53+ ranking pretty low as my backup option, was offering by Syracuse and is visiting them! I pull my offer. Nobody else has called up my Jersey guy yet though. The grades aren’t super good, but I make an offer to the NY TE I interviewed last week, because he’s so much better than others. I really do want to pull in a better Center. Right now, our guy is starting year two. Next year is year three, and I can redshirt, and then there’s only one year of backup before playing. I consider OC to be one of my more important targets for the future, and I have a 90- guy I made an offer to, also from Jersey. He also has a slightly less than sterling GPA and such, but I need talent there. Ditto WR, I found a strong one in PA, not smart, but I made him an offer. If I can bring in his 84+ body, we’ll make it work. My FB I found out in Idaho has a 4.0 GPA that rocks. There is one decent Delaware player in the 50s, a 55+ CB I visited. I may make him an offer. We also have a 53- WR, but right now I’m interested in elsewhere. I find a backup QB option from Ohio. I brought in two starting QBs in back to back years, now I just want a smart body. Actually, I make an offer for the DE WR to be a decent backup. He’s smart.


Week 3 – As I start, I have offers out to QB, TE, WRx2, OC, OT, CB, S. I fly out to Idaho, as there are multiple players here I’m interested in.
 



Don’t believe me? Here you are! I have called and like the TE and DT here, but I want to lay eyes on them, and I’ll also speak with a few others here too. I visit Rayburn and make an offer to him, and DT Swift too. TE Reyman came back 66-. I make an offer to a RB, and my OT in Jersey is made offers by some bigger schools, but no mind-numbing teams. I begin to work on a backup OT. I make some offers.


We host and throttle Wyoming 38-7. No major injuries.


Is this going to be the beginning of the Hornet Sting? I typically find that year 3-4 is when the SOL team can begin to dominate, as your better influx of talent with some games and experience under their belt can begin to punch hard. The same thing happened in my 2012 WV State career if you’ll recall. The Yellowjackets smashed for a 11-1 season and then lost in the bowl, but that was still a fun frolic.


Is this the year we do the same with the Hornets? I don’t know! But what I do know is we have 7 home games to find out…

QB Artie Payne was the NCAA Off. Player of the Week with 29 of 41, 399, 5:1. Numbers like that will get you noticed!


Week 4 – Entering week 4 I have offers out to 14. My top CB from NY is visiting Washington. I look for another one. My top QB was the 980th ranked person, but he’s gotten two other offers too. Do I want to hold my serve or find another? I pull my top RB and move to my 3rd option. My top WR option is visiting Penn State. Next? I revoke and look for another. I unearth another option in Tennessee I like and make him and offer after visiting. Our Top Ten Ot player next door has finally been made offers from some bigger squads, like LSU. My stud TE in NY who wasn’t the sharp one has been offered Ohio State and Michigan. I pull off for Reymen. I now have offers to three Idahoans :). I swing by a fun OLB and make an offer. My top S is visiting East Carolina after they offered, and that’s his favorite school. I make an offer to a Montanan. Bye

Week 5 – I have offers to 15 entering today. My top RB and others have some pushing by other schools. I pull my offer to my top QB as he gets more and more offers from local teams like Bowling Green and Toledo. I offer to a NY guy who’s a lot better. Our stud Idaho DT is chased by Oklahoma and K State and is visiting them both. I pull out. I head to Ohio and find another QB that I like as a backup. I find a stud S in Ohio while there that no one is chasing yet. I swing to Indiana and check out 5 recruits while out here. My DE is visiting VA. I pull off. I offer to another blind.


We host and crush Georgetown 47-10. That’s a landslide ladies and gents. No major injuries. Payne added four scores and zero picks, and had 335 yards on 21 of 27. Collier was 5 for 111 and 2 score,s and Urbaus the other 2 scores. Remember Grogan, the stud CB we brought in? Had a pick a return for score. Humphrey with a pick too. We had 6 sack, Tims with 2.


Week 6 – No one is visiting us yet. I look at my current offers. Any major competition I need to make allowance for? My RB Fisk is visiting TN and Texas, I pull off. I pull off my Montana S who is offered and visiting Georgia. I offer to the Ohio stud I found last week with no offers. Florida and K State offered my nearby OC, who wants prestige first, distance 2nd. Can I find some backups if needed. I pull of and make another offer. I find a great RB and make an offer. I look through the top 100 to see if there are any talents missed. I find a stud DE in SC with no offer, and I visit him. He’s really, really bad. But is 92-- offerable? That’s the only one I unearthed.


We take our team on the road to CA and crush San Diego State 45-7. No major injuries. Payne was just 32 of 44, 371, and 2:0 and our RB Sughroe added 3 scores. Collier was 8 for 141 and 1 score. Grogan with another pick six. Pick by Lynn, Tanner, and Ellis.



Week 7 – No visits, Any major competition? Auburn and others offered our TN WR. I pull. He’s visiting. Oc? I offer the top 100 DE and pull off one we had been offering but was offered by ‘bama. I head to CA. I try to hold serve with calls mostly.


We barely beat Morgan State 27-24. RB Sughroe with 21 for 104 and 1 score, Payne was weaker with 25 of 44 for for 325 and 1:1. Picks by DE Humphreys, 2 by Grogan, and others by Vought and Schelling. Schelling’s was a pick six. All credit to Morgan State for coming in at 21 point dogs and putting up a good fight.


Week 8 – I have 14 visiting. My stud DE is not among them –
Iowa offered and he’s visiting them. A good C I found in CA last week and offered is ditto, now offered and visiting Notre dame. I slide to a backup C. I try to visit a few backups on the west coast again.


Liberty’s two win home stand isn’t stopping the Hornets. We win 35-14. RB Sughroe was 18 for 111 and 2 scores and caught a 3rd score. Payne 28 of 33 for 3:1 and 392 yards. Collier 10, 159 and 1 score, Urbanus 7 for 134. Quiet day for our defense. One pick by Grogan, and 2 sacks for Tims. 8 KRB by Reed. One of our OTs, Goodwin, is out for a few weeks.

We have moved to #22 in the voter polls,

Week 9 – We bring in a WR but get rejected by a FB. My stud DE is visiting many better schools. My stud safety got a ton of offers to Notre Dame and many others late. I pull off. I make an offer to a CA safety I found. I try to hold my serve.


We crush the winless ODU 38-3. Payne was injured and had to be pulled, when at 14 of 21, 4:0 for 169 yards. Urbanus was 8 for 111 yards and 3 scores. Grogan and Humphrey with picks. No major injuries.


Week 10 – We get a QB, TE, and randomly an OG next door I thought we weren’t going to land late, but that was a splurge. I was on him all year. We dropped DE and backup DE. We have 4 commits. That’ll leave me with 11 scholarships. I try to hold my serve.



We host and barely defeat an uppity New Mexico State 20-17. Sughroe had 25 for 127 and caught a TD. Payne 19 of 33 for 163, 2:1.Picks by Grogan and Vought.


Week 11 – We brought in an OC, OT, and RB. No losses this week. We have 7 offers visiting and 8 accepted. I try to hold serve and find backups in case I lose some talent.


We host 4-4 Towson. We crush them 34-10. Payne was 21 of 38 for 349 and 2:1. Berry caught both scores, and Sughroe rushed for another score. Vought with a pick six and Humphrey another pick. 2 sacks by McReyonds and 3.5 by Tims.


Bad news. Urbanus broke his leg. He’s out for the year, and maybe next. Berry moves up. OT Goodwin is back from injury.


Week 12 – We bring in DT, OLB, and ILB. No rejections. We have 10 commitments and 5 visiting. I head to Louisiana. I have a strong DT (surprisingly) still in contention I leave in, although I doubt he’ll join us.



We host Howard. We lose. 24-34. Payne was 15 of 38, 174 and 3:3, hitting Brownell for 2 scores and Richard for 1. You can tell the loss of Urbanus. Picks by Grogan and lynn, 2 sacks by Tims, Crane and McReynolds. Credit to Howard!



Week 13 – We bring in a S, but miss DE and DT. That gives us 11 commitments. 2 visiting at CB and WR. I visit four DE trying to find a smart backup. I make an offer to one.


We head to the road and face our rivals Univ. Delaware. We defeat them 37-20. Payne, 24 of 36, 324, 3:0 appears to have gotten past the lack of an Urbanus. 5 receivers have 50+ yards. Brownell with 1 score, Collier with 2. Picks by Lynn, Vought, and Humphreys. TIms 2 sacks.


Week 14 – We brought in a WR.


We host North Texas as our final regular season game. We dropped to 23rd in the poll. All credit to N. Texas, but we win 31-26. This was a ground game. Sughroe was 25 for 167 and 1 score. Payne 21 of 34, 241, 2:2. Berry and Price caught scores. Schelling with a pick six.

We finish 10-1!


Week 15 – No recruiting news.


Marshall won the MAC.

Week 16 – We bring in our final our scholarship offers and a FB walk on.



Here is our recruiting class! As you can see, We had some hits and misses. QB Lowe I am shocked at. No one was chasing him. Big name clubs like Pitt called, and even some walk on offers, but we were the only Club to chase him. Finally in the last weeks random Miami of Ohio and such came in, but he was ours and they knew it. No desire for that good of a backup. I don’t want to have him leave due to a distaste for playing time. But there you have it.

S Faulk should e okay, and CB Anderson came in late, but I never was concerned no matter the bigger clubs smoking him out and making offers. See that emphasis of REALLY wanting to stay local? Keep it in Delaware! My LBs are both decent bodies that will rotate in but not necessarily dominate for starts. Ditto my DE and DT. As you can see, I managed to get a decent OT finally, and my OG and C are fine. WR Sutter and Grim will need to pick up the pieces and may need to come in sooner post-Urbanus injuries. TE Rayman is fine although nothing major. RB Etzinger could be a valuable commodity. Only time will tell.


This is probably my worst recruiting class in theory for Del State.




Here are my recruits listed academically. As you can see, they are smart. We only have two of note – RB is just 2.5 and 928 tests, but that’s fine, and we have a 2.5 S with a 1048 test. That’ll be fine as well. You can see their ranking. Buchanon is my highest ranking recruit at 119. We have 11 in the top 1000. Outside of a random OG Buchanon, we have no none in the top 300. He was a bit of a BAP for my extra scholarship, and I am still surprised he came. Sure, we were super close, but other bigger teams were on his visiting roster, and he committed early to us, not one of those that waits and the bigger names pull and then boom - nothing. Probably wanted to join the Del State juggernaut!


You can see that we have 2 from DE, 2 from NY, 2 from MA, 2 from CA, 2 from ID, 2 from IN, and 1 each from PA, NY, LA, MD. I began with 5 NJ recruits, by the by.



We had our first player on the National HS All Star Team – WR Sutter. Let’s hope with can dominate with him!

My lost DT was a DT with 74++ in the Carolinas, by the by.


Now we have a bowl game to attend.

Welcome to Mobile, Alabama the home of the Senior Bowl and the Dixie Bowl!


We face a tough, 9-2 New Mexico State that won the Sun Belt.

We lose. 29-3.

Not ready for primetime yet.


Ah well.


Ohio State won the championship game


I vote for a stud Clemson Rb with 2000+ yards and 20 TDs. He came in 7th. Stupid. But the winner was a WR with 1889 yards and 26 scores and I appreciate that.


I am shocked that Grogan didn’t win the NCAA Def Frosh of the Year. Nine picks not enough? Collier and Grogan made the NCAA Frosh Team.


CAC Awards:

MVP – Payne; Off. Player of the Year – Payne

Off Frosh – Collier; Def Frosh - Grogan


We have 9 on the First Team CAC Team. Another 5 on the 2nd Team. 8 on the Academic Team.


We made 3 mill.




Here you go! As you can see, we finished with fine team, recruiting, TV, etc. Many of our games were on TV.

8 teams offer me a job from Duke to Ball State.

Payne has left to join the NFL. (I thought about reloading that as its unrealistic and he was missing a year of eligibility, but I don’t play my games that way)


Well. That’s not good.


I guess Lowe’s arrival looks downright Kismet-ish. My OC retired.


I hire JB McGuire for my newly vacant OC post.

Scheduling!





Navy rejects a home game. Rutgers accepts a home later. Again I want to build some regional rivalries where possible. More rejections. Wyoming offers another away/home and I decide to accept.





Here you can see our schedule. I front loaded my stuff, and we’ll begin with games against lots! We are 6-5 home/away this year.




Here’s our roster! The good news are some of our develops players like Grogan and Humphrey shutting folks down at the CB. You can see Manahan as a useful nickelback. Vought and Grillot are starting at S. I return all three of my LB starters from last year – Riley, Lynn, and Tanner. I want to give Freeman a year to strengthen, but he’s a useful rotational option right now. At D Line my core four of McReynolds, Tims, Ribinson and Crane retrun. All of my O Line returns as well, since Monroe is too raw at OT. We’ll start Goodwin and Andersen there. I could start my rookie Buchanon OG at 25/96, but over whom? Famie’s 33/60 or Reed’s 22/82 aren’t that much more. C Grauer is my best O Line so he’ll stay until he leaves, and Collins will hopefully move in in two years for him.

At WR Urbanus is probable and will start. I have the Collier and Berry at my 3 WR. Note that I am red-shirting green Sutter, but I am red-shirting the developed and now 4th on my depth chart Bryce Grim. The 4th WR on a singleback strategy should get some play. At 30/31. He’s already there. Blanchard is my TE starting, and Sughroe will remain over at RB. For QB, it’s a rookie with a redshirt from last year, Lonnie Reese. He’s not as good potential, bt what else should I do? Hand it to Kyle? All of my rookies save FB and WR are red-shirted this year.

I have 15 scholarships available for next year

Targets for next


QB
RB?
FB?
TE?
WR
OG?
OTx2 (one Start, one ?)
K
P
DE?
DT?
OLB?
CB
S?


The ones with ? are more backups and subs. I need a better QB than Reese. Now that my WR squad is set, I feel like if I can bring in one good starting WR every year I’ll be good as that would give me three starters, and one red shirt, and then one year of eligibility from 4 up if all five remained eligible.


Right now, my P/K are in the 2nd year of eligibility. That leaves next year to RS, and, then my new ones could rotate in. All of my DTs can be starting level quality of various sizes, but I only have four, so again, I need to find some more talent there. This was one of the reasons I would have been happy to have gotten two last year as one of my “free” scholarships.


I currently am looking for 15 and I have 15 scholarships, and I can offer a FB a non-scholarship, so I could do 14 with one free for BAP. Last year you could tell I was hitting squad equilibrium. How? I grabbed one player at every level. DE, DT. ILB, OLB. S, CB. OG,OT,C. WR, QB, TE, RB, FB


That’s ideal I think for college. It leaves you open for studs all the time, and you never feel pushed because you need four CBs or something. Other than ILB and OC, we’ll be continuing that this year. And again, I won’t turn talent down. If I have a stud ILB in Delaware who’s four miles away and wants to go to a place close to home, I’m going to try and bring him in.




Our prestige rose to 69. This is at the same as Missouri and Arkansas, and better than Michigan State by one. We are just behind teams like Oregon, Wisconsin and Marshall. Troy is at 74. By the by.


Ready to Recruit?




Welcome to the hotbed of talent that is Delaware! Brewster! Worsham! Richardson! Lots of talent right here! Do I make an offer to Brewster even though I really don’t need a stud after I lucked into a nice one last year? I have made offers to my OLB and S. But I’d like more than a backup CB in Andrews, so I may look to see what I can snag elsewhere and keep him on my backup. TE Parish has not-great grades but is fine. If he was 57+ or ++ I’d offer now and move on. I may be able to get better grades for my backup. Although 2.79 and 1158 test score are fine. For my last two visits I head to NJ. I find a sick P and make an offer. Ditto an OT.

We head to Wyoming to open the season. We win 33-27. Reese was 22 of 40 for 361 and 4:1. Urbanus was 6 of 117 with two scores, and Collier 7 for 117 as well. Scores by Grim and Sughroue. Pick by Riley. No major injuries.



Week 2 – I spend this week checking out nearby candidates in various places like NY, NJ, PA, and RI. I make offers to a QB, K, OG, CB. I reach out to backup OTs that are great academically, as well as RB.


We host Rutgers. We defeat them 23-3. Reese was 30 of 50 for 397 and 2:3. They picked him a lot. Urbanus was 10 for 170, Collier two TD snatches. Sughroue also scored on the ground. Picks by Grogan and Manahan. Tims and McReynolds each with 2 sacks.



Week 3 – I make offers to K, DE, DT. I also continue to push into the general area around us.


We head to New Mexico and emerge winning 20-10. Sughroue was rocking 29 for 156 yards and a score. Reese was 12 of 27 for 202 and 1:2, and he’s getting exposed too much. But our defense is nasty. Picks by Grogan, Lynn and Humphrey.


Urbanus is no longer probable and fully healed


Week 4 – This week I head to New England. I offer a backup OT, WR, CB, . I like a FB too and offer him without a scholarship. Including my Fb have 15 offers. I check out the Top 100, and only three don’t have any offers, one with horrible grades and two with majors I can’t bring in.

BYE

Week 5 – Week 5 can be weird as you don’t get offers but you can get a feel for the class right about now. As of right now, these positions I’ve offered are visiting elsewhere – OLB, P, OT, RB. I pull off the OT> I should have been competitive, it was a nearby NJ person who double wanted to stay home. Florida called and he was probably heading. I head to TN to find another and I make an offer. I head to Wisconsin and make an offer to the best QB in the nation, as he wants academics badly, and then near, and the ones on him have horrible academics, great prestige, and are very far away, like LSU. On paper, this should be a good match. I pull off my CB and look for another, as he was offered lots better.

Old Dominion arrives and leaves losers 28-7. RB Sughroue rushes 25 for 143 and a score. Reese was 18 of 30, 155, 3:2. He hits Berry for two scores and Collier for the 3rd. 3 sacks by Tims, pick by Grogan.


After breaking his ribs, LB Perry is out for 8 weeks. Green but hopefully studly Freeman will start for the rest of the year.

Week 6 – Stud OG Brewster is visiting us. We had no one call out. I head to the Carolinas and make an offer to a CB find there. After Boise State makes an offer for my top DE, and he’s visiting this week, I pull off. I offer to a NY person I scouted earlier. My DT is visiting Syracuse who is closer (he wants proximity and prestige) and much higher in that as well. I pull off. While heading down the coast I grab a Georgia DT we scout. I came down here for a stud GA WR but he came back 90--. I pull off my RB too and offer another. I let my Delaware OLB go who was visiting Virginia and offer a GA one I just scouted.


San Diego State arrives. We defeat them 27-17. Sughroue was 31 for 156. Reese was 24 of 37, 3:0, and 261 yards. Urbanus was two scores and Grim with one. Picks by Humphreys and Grillot, Tims with 2 sacks.


Week 7 – We lose my backup DE, I offer elsewhere. We have 3 players visiting. My FB got a scholarship offer. I offer sight unseen to a FB out in CA.


Get ready for the away game at Morgan State because the Hornets just got their mo-jo back. 42-10. Sughroue with 2 scores on the ground. Reese had 26 of 39 for 4:0, and 356 yards. Urbanus, 8 for 109,2 scores. Collier and Berry scores as well. Vought and Grillot with picks. Tims 2 sacks.



Week 8 – We get a TE and OG commit. We have 13 with offers visiting us. The stud QB in Wisconsin we offered is coming. Now a better option, Florida, offered late, that plays into his double love of academics, but we remain the closest team. I think he’s Florida’s. I’ll remain on him for now though, because you never know. If Florida pulls out, then on paper, we’re better than LSU, Miami of Florida, Fresno State, etc, because our academics are better and we are closer.


I do have around four players visiting just us and not the competition, like a GA OLB and K Thornton. I head to CA to check on some talent, like a backup P in case our busy one heads elsewhere.

In case you care, we are ranked 17th.


We host Howard. It wasn’t a dominant win, but it was, a win. 24-20. Godfrey was 15 of 23, 3:2, 188 yards. Urbanus with 2 scores, Collier the other. Grogan and Vought with picks.



Yes. Our QB Reese is out for the season. And next. I activate pure rookie Kyle Lowe. The rest of the year is yours! We just can’t catch a break with QBs.

Week 9 – Did I just bring one in? Did Florida pull out? We bring in S, OT and RB. No one went elsewhere. If I bribed? This is the time to bribe! But that’s wrong. 5 commitments and 10 visiting. I try to hold serve.



We take our undefeated record on the road to Liberty. Luckily, they have just two wins, so this is not a bad time to give Lowe the run out in the lights. We lose 25-28. Sughroue was 20 for 121. Lowe was 14 of 34, 145, 2:3. 2 scores to Blanchard.


And thus were the Del State Hornets cast down from the heavens.



Week 10 – We bring in a K and WR. We missed an OT and QB. We still have the stud QB out there on offer. I fly to Iowa and find and make an offer to a OT.



We head on the road to take on our divisional rival. We thump them 47-17. Backup RB Allen rushed for a score. Lowe was 29 of 46 for 407 and 4:1. Urbanus was 13 for 199 and 2 scores. Collier and Price with scores. 2 sacks by Tims, pick by O’Neal.


We have some bad injury news. OT Goodwin and RB Sughroue are out for the season. Allen will start. A third string OT will finish the year.



Week 11 – Florida pulled out from our QB stud. We grabbed him. We also got a P and DT. We have 10 commits. I try to hold my serve with my remaining 5. Our FB was offered a scholarship. I find another from Nebraska and offer.



We crush Georgetown 45-10. Lowe was 15 of 28 for 3:2, 239 yards. Urbanus grabbed 10 for 143 and all three scores. We had two pick sixes, one by Lynn, the other by Humphrey. 2 sacks by Reser, 3 by Tims, and a pick by Lindsay.



We have another injury. WR Berry is out for the season. Rookie Grim moves up. DT Jim Crane is out too, but I have depth there.


Week 12 - The Iowa OT I blitzed last week is coming, as is a CB. It was visiting Iowa State but we were better in every major way. No rejections. I try to hold my serve. Bye.


Week 13 – We bring in a backup QB and a CB. After losing a QB to injury like that, I felt it was important to use my extra scholarship this year on another QB. We host and edge Towson 17-14 at home and finish 10-1. Lowe was 20-44, 224 yards 1:0 ratio. Grim with the TD. Allen rushed for another score. Picks by Grogon and Freeman.

Week 14 – No new recruiting news


Week 15 – Our OLB joins.

Week 16 – Our finals arrive.




Here is our recruiting class! This class is all about studly Miller. You can see the backup Bush as well, who should be fine in that role. You can also note the Rb and FB. Apold is not great, but smart. TE Yardley shouldn’t be too bad. You can see the studly Brewster there too, as well as two OTs that are roughly the same when I wanted one backup. We also have what should be useful P and K, as well as a ton of backup quality defensive players. Most of my talented ones went earlier, and then we did the late trip to Carolina and Georgia, and in one week, I grabbed four players for my final roster. Of the defenders, you can see who and how are there.





Here they are by academics. You can see how smart they all. None have lower than a 3.00 GPA. Only two have between a 1000 and 1100 score, the rest are much higher. These are smart players.

13 of them are in the Top 1000, and as you can see, Miller is a absolute house. You can see how we got him on the other screen – super hot academics and distance, and no one was offering closer or smarter. We were both, and thus, one FLA pulled out, we won over LSU and others that have high prestige but offered nothing else. Worsham is 257, and Mitchell 231, and then I have a few in the 300s as well. This is not a bad class, although we have a lot of backups and not starters, but it’s smart, savvy, and has Miller.

It’s time for the Dixie Bowl.


We have 7-4 North Texas joining us in Mobile. We are ranked #12.



Can we get our first bowl win?





We sure can! We win 31-14. That was a win without our starting RB, OT, WR, DT, LB, QB and I’ll take it.

Lowe finished 27 of 43 for 229 yard and 2:0 ratio. Urbanus and Collier with scores. Collier and Schwartz rushed for scores too. Lynn, Tims, McReynolds with sacks. Pick by Grillot.


Miami crushed Texas 35-7 to win the championship. Our vote (Miami QB) finally won the Player of the Year.


Awards:

We had no NCAA ones. CAC:


CAC MVP Zach Urbanus
CAC Off. MVP- Urbanus
CAC Off. Rookie MVP – WR Bryce Grim


We had 6 First Team CAC and 6 more 2nd.

We only had 3 on the Academic team this year.


We finish the season ranked 12th.

Ready for Year 5?




Here are the scores. You can see our team performance, recruiting, etc.


Bert Tims is suspended this year for academics. I have around 10 players complaining about a lack of free time.


We lost a scout.

I have offers from 11 schools such as Toledo, Idaho, Oregon State and Kansas State.


We are now ranked 74th athletically. That’s the same as Marshall, Hawaii, Auburn, Minnesota and Stanford. I hire a new Mid-West scout. I also hire a new Syndicate Coord.

Scheduling fun Times!


We need one game. Who/what?


Ah well. I was tying to schedule Maryland for an away/home series, but they never jumped. Instead we get Air Force at home




Here’s our schedule for your perusal. We have 7 home, 4 away.

I may have a bit of a controversy at QB. Here was my plan with Miller. Give him a red shirt. Start Lowe this year. After Lowe was forced due to injury into the lineup and used up a year of eligibility, play it out. Let Lowe run this this year, and then next he’s in his third year, and Miller is out and ready to go after one red shirt and two years on the bench seasoning, and then takes over for two years.

But here’s the controversy:



Here’s Ethan Miller!



And here’s Lowe!

Miller is better at screens, medium, deep, 3rd down, yards per throw, avoiding fumbles, and scrambling. Lowe is better at just picks and short drops. After starting for half of last season, he’s still worse than Miller. That means I could have three years of Lowe with a better option on the bench. That don’t make no sense. A real head coach would give the frosh a red shirt “to learn the game,” and push the decision back a year in order to have more to go on. But I think we all know what I am about to do.


I hand Lowe the red shirt from last year, and we’ll be starting Miller.

Roster



Here’s muh roster!

We’ll remain with my 4-3 and singleback. All of my frosh are getting red shirts save for FB, QB, RB and DE. You are seeing, for the first time, some powerful players who won’t be starting. I have four strong Ss, so rookie Worsham, one of the best I brought in at 40/61 would normally be good enough to start. But he’s 4th behind Vought, Grillot and Faulk.


Berry disappointed and has been dropped down to 5th after WR Bryce Grim remains at 4th, and Sutter moving into my starting role. You can see how Berry hasn’t developed like I had hoped despite two years of starting at the 3 spot. I thought about giving him a red shirt! But I just think a 5th option to rotate in is fine. Collier, Urbanus, and Sutter are quite a nasty monster.

Stud OT Monroe is moving into my starting spot, and I doubt he’s moving back off, I could see him as a four year guy there. This is Goodwins last year, and I can start red shirted frosh Brooks there next year. At the OG spot, I am also moving in stud Van Buchanon at OG over OG Reed who started for two years. Famie is very well developed, but Reed is still too green, and Buchanon is better.

On the D Line, no changes, other than Tims who is suspended. Reser starts for him. At LBs, I am starting green stud Freeman at the OLB spot that Riley had. I want to see what he can do there. I also don’t touch my d backs either. I have four rocks there in Humphrey, Vought, Grogan and Grillot.



The is the final year for a lot of my top talent in my first class, and names like Vought, Urbanus, OC Grauer, OT Goodwin, DE McReynolds, MLB Lynn, and CB Humphrey are all powerful talent that will be heading out. They are all four year starters, which is not common in this day of overstuffed rosters.

We had the top GPA in the NCAA last year at 3.16.



Players Needed:


QB?
RBx2??
TE?
WR
OT?
C?
DE
DT
ILB
OLB?
CBx2 (one ?)
S?


I’ll want to bring in a strong ILB to be my future rock. This is Lynn’s final year, and Riley can start next year while a new player red shirts.


We have 16 scholarships. That gives me 14 targets, so I could grab extras in a couple of places.

Ready Let’s do it!

We are a preseason #48.



Jason Benson is the first player that idolizes Delaware State! Awesome, thanks! We will, um, not be making him a visit or an offer.




Week 1 - I find and make an offer to a backup OT here in Delaware. I find this stud ILB in Maryland and make an offer. I find a 4.0 DE over in MD and make an offer too. I stay local and try to find some talent.

Week 2 – I head up to Maine and other places in New England. I make an offer to a DT. There is a shutdown CB here in Massachusetts I offer although many others have already arrived, like Pitt. I also offer a CB in Hawaii blindly. He’s 75 and has great grades and could be a backup even with a lower ranking. I find a good backup OLB in Maryland, and a S there as well. I have offers to 8.


We host Air Force! We crush them 51-10. Sughroue was held to just 50 yards on the ground and a score. Miller was 21 of 34 and 2:1 and 291 before being pulled due to the shut out. Collier and Sutter with scores, and backup RB Etzinger grabbed 5 for 106 yards. We had three picks on the day. One by Faulk, our backup S that I have as our dimeback and returned for a score. Two more by Grogan, one returned for a score. 5 KRB by Buchanon in his first game starting for us.


Nicely done!

Week 3 – I head out to Michigan and find a top flight WR and make an offer. While here I make an offer to a local RB from Detroit we like, and a backup QB we run into here as well as a TE I find too. I have offers to 12. Everyone but RB and C. I make some calls to find ones I may want to visit next week. Our top CB is visiting Ohio State, and has others offered that matches much better like Pitt and BC. I pull off and make an offer to another


We host and take out Wyoming 31-7. Sughroue had 24 for 136, and rushing scores by Etzinger and QB Miller. Miller was 16 of 31, 2:3, 210 yards hitting Urbanus and Sughroue for scores. MOM was OG Buchanon with NINE Key run blocks. Picks by Freeman, Anderson and Humphrey. Their only score was a KO return 102 yards for score, our defense pitched a shut out.



Week 4 – Looking for a fun backup OC I head to Illinois, but that one doesn’t sell me. I find another backup RB to offer to out in the Mid-West. I find another here and make an offer. I pull off a DE from Maryland who’s visiting them. I offer a backup target we found in our New England trip. Our backup RB from last week was offered Illinois and Notre Dame. I pull off.


We host and thump hard New Mexico 55-15. Sughroue had 34 for 166 and 3 scores. Etzinger added a fourth score. Miller was 3:3, 21 for 36 and 216. TD catches by Urbanus, Collier and Sutter. Reser dropped their QB five times.

DE Reser was the NCAA Defensive Player of the Week, with his FIVE sack day.

Shame you lost 2 straight QB's without getting more than a year or two from either...

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Week 5 – One of our targets, a backup TE, is visiting us. I head to SC and find a stud RB and make him an offer. I check out the Top 100. I find a stud OT that’s not been really pushed forward. I check him out over in North Carolina, and then make him and offer, the first to do so. These usually don’t bear fruit, but that’s no reason not to try. As of right now, I have 15 offers out, to my expected number and a OT I just offered, as sort of a Best Player Available. I check in on my current folks. My stud ILB is visiting Maryland, and I pull off and then offer to one in Massachusetts I just found. I also found one in Indiana. They both have the same rating, but the Indiana one has no athletic prep at all and would come in fully green. I try to hold my own serve on others.



We head to undefeated Liberty. They win 27-24. Sughroue was 16 for 93 and a score. Miller 15 of 29 for 229 and 2:1. Scores by Grim and Sughroue. No turnovers for us. Credit to Liberty!



Week 6 – My stud RB was offered Notre Dame and is visiting, it’s a great fit. I pull my offer. I offer to a CT RB who’s good, but not as good academically. My MA ILB was offered by Iowa and South Carolina and is visiting. I pull my offer and move to the very, very green Indiana one. That restores me to 15 offers. I head to CA to check out the CB I offered blindly. He’s double minus bad. 84--. He’s still fine for my backup/sub needs.

While here I run into this guy:



No one had made him an offer, he came back 97+. I figured he was bad – see my scout. He’s green. But smart. I make him my random 16th offer. I don’t normally make offers like this, as you’ll know. I’ve never posted a screenshot of a fallen treasure, but you can see. I also visit a backup ILB while here.



While talking about it, here is Ballard the other T100 guy I’m the only one offering. See that high athletic prep? I could start Ballard tomorrow. Great grades, smart, came back worse, so he’s 82-, but that’s fine. Those are my two BPAs right now I am using my two extra scholarships on. If I bring in either, I’d be happy.

My QB Glover from MI was offered Mi State and is visiting. I pull my offer. I make an offer for a guy in PA unseen. I also call up some folks. I pull off my OLB and make another offer. He;s close, has negative distance as his second, and we were the first in academics by a lot, but he was offered and visiting Fresno State and New Mexico. I offer to another.


We annihilate the San Diego foes, 52-6. Sughroue, 21 for 112, 2 scores. Miller rushes for TD too. He was 14 of 21 for 155 and 1:1. Urbanus a score. We had SEVEN picks today. Three pick sixes. One of our starting OLBs, Tanner, is out for a month, and Cortez will start for him.

I really need my QB to step up. Dude you have a ton of tools. Use them.

Oh!


Sometimes I suspect that you think I’m cheating and reloading stuff over and over. Nope!





Here are my box scores from the year. Enjoy! We have three 50+ games out of five honestly.



Week 7 – No new news on the recruiting front. I head to Hawaii and visit a CB, QB, and DE.


We lose on the road at our rival Delaware. 33-29. Sughroue with 21 for 96 and 1 score. Miller was 19 of 29 for 3:2, 268 yards with scores to Grim, Sutter, and Berry. Our defense was stimied, no turnovers, just two sacks.


Week 8 – No recruiting news. We have 14 visiting. I check on my blind offers. They are fine. Our major competition for Howard, USC, who had made an offer last week pulled out. I visit the Carolinas, Georgia, and then have enough money to randomly visit that QB who loves Del State. Why not?









We host the one-win Morgan State and this is hopefully a good chance to get back to our winning ways, right?

We win 56-17. Right! Sughroue has 2 scores on the ground, Etzinger the third. Miller was MOM with 30 of 41, 4:2, 447 yards. Sutter, Collier, Urbanus and Sug with scores. 2 picks by Riley, one by Cortez. Reser and McReynolds each with 2.5 sacks.


Week 9 – We lose our backup OT Bernstein but bring in a C. We have 14 offers. I’ll leave them out for now, as I want to keep an OT spot back in case a certain stud heads elsewhere. Nevermind I found a great 4.0 OT still out but visiting a few places we are better than. I’m a hoarder of offensive line talent, what can I say?


We barely defeat Towson 27-24. Sughroue was 27 for 156. Miller was 19 of 36 for 291 and 2:5. Five picks. He hit Collier and Grim for scores. We had picks by Collier and pick six by Grogan.

Week 10 – We bring in these: QB, WR, DE, OLB, TE, RB. We didn’t get RB, DE Matthews in CA, OT (not the good one, the one I just offered from Fairfield, CT). We have 6 in and 7 outstanding, which include my hoped for ILB, WR, and OT. The rest are just disposable backups.



I offer a scholarship to a backup RB, so 8 now, our 14 scholarships. I want to hold off to see if there is anything interesting out there.

Bye


Week 11 – We bring in a WR, OT, and DT. That brings me up to 9 in. We have two top 100 in the class. I try to hold my serve elsewhere.



We thump Georgetown 44-7. RB Sughroue, 25 for 125. Miller was 24 of 37 for 242 and 5:1. He hit He Blanchard twice for score,s and then Etzinger, TE Blanchard and Collier for the others. Picks by Manahan and Grogan. ILB Riley is out for the season.

At 7-2, we are currently at 20th.

Week 12 – We bring in a S, but lose both CBs. Rough! I head out and try to find anybody out there in a storm. I make offers.



We shut out ODU 38-0. Sughroue was 21 for 120 and 1 TD> Miller was 17 for 24 for 228 and 4:0. He hits Collier, Sutter and Urbanus twice for TDs. 2 sacks by Reser. Picks by Grogan and Tanner.

Week 13 – We lose out on our backup RB option. Anyone else? I head to Minnesota and offer to a RB I find here.

We head to Howard and win 34-10. Miller had 19 of 26 for 231, 1:0 and a rush score. Sutter was 6 for 105 and Urbanus with the score. S Grillot with a pick six and Humphrey another INT.


Week 14 – We bring in RB and CB. I head out to see if I can find anybody to invite without a scholarship.


Week 15 – Our CB and ILB join.

Marshall wins the MAC and we have brought in two walk ons.



Here’s my recruiting class for next year. QB Coffey should be fine as a backup and emergency option. Walton is a top 100 player and the 2nd highest ranked RB in the nation. We have a MN RB too, as well as TE Hines helping with depth and smarts. Note Turner, the stud WR I discussed earlier. We always seem to get one. My backup C Winslett could be solid, and OG Harris, the walk is smart and alright. OT Ballard is one of the wins of this group and my offense has three WR, RB, and OT studs in there. On defense, DE Fisk is okay, and DT Doebler was never being chased by anyone else. OLB Rose was a scholarship, and Benfer joins as a walkon. We’ve discussed the high potential but very, very green Bodden. You can see two backup, backup, backup CBs. S Kean, TE Hines, WR Turner, and C Winslett and DT Doebler are the only ones to go from first offer to final. I made changes to the rest



Here they are listed academically. As you can see, I have two 4.00s tons of high minds. Other than Walton, everyone had at least a 1140 score or better, and he was 1008. His grades of 2.86 are fine. You can see that we only grabbed 9 of 16 from the top 1000. I wish I had gotten that stuff DE as that would have changed this draft. Still, I have a number of new talents heading in!


As you can see, we have 2 pals from PA, MI, CT, 1 from MN, IL, IN, CA, MA, SC, NC, WA, TN, MD. That’s players from Washington and Carolina, California and Massachusetts, and all in between. Enjoy! Again? Not the local area of DE, NJ, MD, VA. Just one from there, S Kean.

Welcome to the Dixie Bowl where the Sun Belt champion Troy will take on Del State!


My final two options for this dynasty in the bowl. Funny!



We crush them hard! I wish that Marshall had won, but c’est la vie.


Miller, MOM, had 27 of 44 for 423 and 4:1. Apold and Sughroe rushed for scores. Urbanus 8 for 100, 2 scores. Collier – 7 for 128 and 1, Sutter- 5 for 107, 1. This is what should have been happening all along!


Pick six by Humphrey. 2 picks by Grillot.

In the championship game, Florida hung 70 on an unfortunate Georgia and won..

I have never seen this before:





What happens when there is a tie for votes in the Player of the Year? No clue, let’s find out!


We are rated 40th in recruiting class.

Miller, despite an up and down year, was the NCAA Off. Frosh of the Year.

CAC:

MVP – Miller
Off POTY – Sughroue
Off Frosh – Miller

We had ten on the CAC 1st team and 2 on their 2nd. 7 on their all academic team.



Our first top ten ranking!

Note that there were no undefeated teams this year, so if we hadn’t been sucking for Miller, that would have been really likely we would have made it to a bigger bowl and payout.


The award went to Spencer, not sure why.


Now, here’s the big question for next year – which QB?

Here is our final ranking. Our performance, recruiting, etc are all there for your enjoyment.



TE Blanchard was suspended academically. Tims is back for his final year. Wow. I have job offers from LSU, Marshall, Miami Florida and Oregon State. Two of those have won 3 championships in the last 5 years. But…no thanks.


We now have a 79 prestige. This puts us at the same level as Oklahoma, Kansas, Alabama, etc. Only 24 teams are higher. We made 8.3 mill last year.


I hire a new Syndicate coordinator that’s excellent with eligibility. I don’t want to keep getting my folks suspended.

Scheduling – I begin trying to bring in folks like Marshall, Air Force, Maryland and such. I got a home offer from North Carolina. I take it. Then late, after trying with Alabama I get a Home/Away offer from Virginia Tech, so I take it.




We will open with a big matchup against Virginia Tech. Then UNC. As you can see, we have 6 home games this year vs 5 away. Next year, the Tech game is away, and that’ll be tougher. We are their shakeup game, but we have none against them. They finished 7th last year and were an identical 10-2, so we look forward to trying out the Hornet Nest against them!

Here’s our roster! As you can see QB Miller exploded and we’ll start him this year too. This is Suhgroue’s final year, and then Etzinger moves in next. Blanchard is suspended, and Price starts. We have Collier, Sutter and Riddols at 1, 2, 3 with Grim at 4 and Berry five. At the o line new starters are C Collins, OT Brooks. We’ll be moving to OG Brewster next year.

At the d line, no changes other than Tims/Reser as expected and Robinson and Crane. Riley starts his final year at ILB while Bodden is readied. Tanner and Freeman are my OLBs. Grogan is starting his final year, and Anderson. Finley maybe next year. At S, Faulk joins Grillot’s final swan song.