Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

[kswgrad2012]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

2014 End of Season News


Season 3 of the dynasty series is over. Time for some news.

Coach Willingham has decided to stay with the team, signing a 2-yr contract extension through 2016. He finishes his last contract with 90% Job Security, and looks forward to the 2015 season.

Woo-hoo! Tulane has gained a star in Prestige. Hooray for 2 STARS!

The Green Wave had 5 players make 2nd-Team All-Conference status: RG Corey Redwine, MLB Jamie Baker, CB Jordan Batiste, FS Renaldo Thomas, and K Cairo Santos

In other news, there were some great BCS bowl games this year. Miami beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, Auburn beat Texas in the Sugar Bowl, Iowa beat Louisville in the Orange Bowl, Florida beat Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.

And in the BIGGEST game of them all: #2 Oregon beat #1 Notre Dame to win the 2015 BCS National Championship.



This Season’s Conference Winners:
ACC: Louisville
American Athletic: UCF
Big 12: Texas
Big Ten: Iowa
C-USA: FIU
MAC: Ohio
Mountain West: Boise State
Pac-12: Oregon
SEC: Auburn
Sun Belt: Western Kentucky

[kswgrad2012]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

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]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

Enjoyed reading so far ksw.

[kswgrad2012]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

Enjoyed reading so far ksw.

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

[kswgrad2012]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

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]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

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]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

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]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

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]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

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!

[kswgrad2012]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

So it looks like Higgins and Smith have found homes on the team. Bryan Higgins will start his career off at QB, having his own packages designated to exploit his athleticism. He may see some time on defense, but we'll see.

Charlie Smith will start off at CB, but will be a both-ways player. He'll also see time at WR and RB.

Looking forward to using these great athletes!

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

[kswgrad2012]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

It's A New Year!

It’s 2015! Time for Season 4 of Tulane Football: From Worst to First! The Green Wave players are wrapping up fall camp, as Coach Willingham prepares his attack for the American Athletic Conference and the 2015 Season. The Wave have their eyes set on a conference championship in 2015, in just their second year in the AAC. They want to go to a big bowl game, and more importantly, they want to WIN a bowl game. A few changes have occurred in the college football landscape in the offseason, but for now stability seems to be in place.

The Season Preview is next. Take a look at how the year shapes up to be for the Green Wave. Enjoy!

[kswgrad2012]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

AAC Realignment

The conferences seem to be set for now, but minor realignment did occur. Navy was supposed to join The American in 2015 to create a 12-team conference. But a snag in the paperwork at the last minute set back their plans. After meeting with the AAC League Office in New York, the Naval Academy decided it would not be in their best interest to join the AAC; they suspected "dirty business." The case would go to court however, as contracts were signed before this decision was made.

While in Federal Court an agreement was reached, which involved bringing in parties from Conference USA. An agreement was made between the AAC and C-USA, in which Navy would join C-USA and one team from The American would move to C-USA to join them. That team would be Tulsa, who was picked to move due to their dismal record in the AAC last season, as well as their rural location & small stadium size (compared to everyone else in the conference). In return, The American will receive restitution in the amount of $20 million. This realignment will put C-USA back at 12 teams, giving them a conference championship game again, and will leave the AAC at 10 teams. From this point on, The American will play a round-robin 9-game conference schedule, similar to the Big 12.

[kswgrad2012]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

Looking at the 2015 AAC

The American Athletic Conference looks to have an interesting season this year. UCF looks to repeat as conference champs, while Tulane hopes to claim its first conference title in nearly 15 years. Elsewhere, Cincinnati looks to keep their mojo going following a season that saw them ranked in Top 10 at one point, and Temple hopes to build on their momentum following a 9-win season, their first winning season in 5 years.

SMU was a BCS buster in 2013; they look to get back to that level of success, following a down year. As for Memphis, UConn and USF: they aim just to get bowl-eligible.

Here’s the Experts’ predictions for the AAC this year. Tulane is projected to finish 6th.

American Athletic Conference Standings - Updated: Aug 24, 2015
TEAM	REC	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STRK
UCF	0-0
Cincinnati	0-0
Temple	0-0
Houston	0-0
ECU	0-0
Tulane	0-0
Connecticut	0-0
USF	0-0
SMU	0-0
Memphis	0-0

[kswgrad2012]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

The Schedule…

Tulane Green Wave 2015 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Aug 30	at #8 LSU
Sep 5	vs UCF
Sep 19	vs Memphis
Sep 26	vs Houston
Oct 3	at USF
Oct 10	at Temple
Oct 17	at Connecticut
Oct 24	vs SMU
Oct 31	at Cincinnati
Nov 14	vs New Mexico State
Nov 21	at #12 Auburn
Dec 5	vs ECU

Tulane has a solid schedule going into 2015. Though ESPN ranks their schedule strength as C+, the Green Wave know their games will be tougher than most would think.

They start the year off with a toughie, but a fan favorite. It’s the Battle for the Tiger Rag!

Tulane starts the year off facing their archrival, the LSU Tigers, at Death Valley in Baton Rouge. The Tigers come into the game ranked 8th in the preseason poll. Students, fans, and most importantly the players, always look forward to this game. On BOTH sides. It’s great that it’s the season-opener this year.

“It’s always a great game.” Says Coach Willingham in an interview. “You always want to take it to your archrival.”

The last two matches have been much closer than expected, and the Green Wave hopes that doesn’t change.

(****)

The next week gives Tulane its first home game of the year. It’s probably the most important matchup of all, as the Green Wave face reigning conference champ UCF. Expect this to be a defensive struggle, as the winner of this matchup will have great leverage going into the meat of the conference schedule.

The Wave then go into a bye before rolling into their conference schedule. They play Memphis and Houston in the Superdome, before facing three straight road @ South Florida, @ Temple, and @ UConn. They then return home to face SMU for Homecoming.

Then they take the road to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats, in the same venue they beat them in last season. As they upset Cincy’s bid for a BCS season last year, expect vengeance to taken out.

A Bye Week ensues, then 2 non-conference games follow: one vs. New Mexico State, the other @ #12 Auburn, at Jordan-Hare Stadium. It’ll be the first time Tulane plays two SEC teams in the same season since 1966, when they withdrew from the SEC Conference. It’s odd that Auburn is scheduled this late in the season, given the importance of wins at that point, but the Green Wave players are excited for the matchup.

“Anything to improve our schedule.” says Coach Willingham. "Makes us a better football team."

One last Bye ensues, then they end the regular season at home vs. ECU. Hopefully that’ll be one heck of a Senior Day.

[kswgrad2012]

Re: Tulane Football: "From Worst to First"

In Other News…

Here’s a look at the AP Preseason Top 25 & Nissan Heisman Race.

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Aug 24, 2015
RK	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	Miami (FL)
2	Notre Dame
3	Iowa
4	Texas
5	Clemson
6	Oregon
7	Louisville
8	LSU
9	South Carolina
10	Virginia
11	Wisconsin
12	Auburn
13	Oklahoma
14	Michigan State
15	Florida
16	Nebraska
17	Ohio State
18	Oklahoma State
19	TCU
20	Georgia
21	Alabama
22	Virginia Tech
23	Tennessee
24	Boise State
25	Northwestern

Heisman Watch - Updated: Aug 24, 2015
NAME	POS	SCHOOL		SEASON STATS
Brandon Wilds	HB	South Carolina
Jay Ajayi	HB	Boise State
Marcus Mariota	QB	Oregon
Kenny Hilliard	HB	LSU
Dallas Crawford	HB	Miami (FL)