According to Sagarin (which is usually accurate once the season is over),
WHO WAS THE WORST P5 TEAM IN 2022
Rutgers is able to RE-CLAIM that title, just a few years removed from Chris Ash having a death grip on that spot
Coming in at 115, we just beat out Boston College - who got some stain by beating both Louisville and NC State, who both had excellent seasons
Well, what about Indiana, who we beat - they managed to come in at 88, after their legit 3-0 start in which they beat 3 bowl teams, including Illinois.
After seeing about 5 or 10 Posts about how much longer to give Greg, I was truly surprised to see this stat - not that it mattered if we were the worst or 2cd worst team, but more to emphasize that Rutgers had ZERO good wins this year. All the excitement at the beginning of the year after beating BC was obviously misplaced, since they turned out to be just as bad as we were, . And Indiana fans, had good reason to be excited by their teams 3-0 start, and then achieved a thrilling double OT victory, on the road against MSU.
I read a post a while back looking at Gregs record in his first go around, against teams that finished above or below .500, and the results weren't pretty. We beat up on some pretty bad teams, and with the exception of some big wins over Louisville and USF and MSU, there werent that many big upsets in his first go around, but there were several WTF losses.
For the record, I was very pro in hiring Greg - I think it was a mutual fit - we may have been the only P5 School that wanted him, and the thought of coming back and having resources to cement his legacy were appealing to him. Despite the losing record and terrible record against teams that finished over .500, Greg is always well organized, is still a great defensive mind and always seems to have a plan.
The three things I find surprising and disappointing in his 2.0 comeback are
a) lack of depth in the QB room - we put all our eggs in the Gavin basket - and for a guy who prides himself on competition in every position room, the fact that we never got a descent transfer or recruited a QB in last years class was puzzling. If we dont get a transfer QB by May, it will be shocking, given how little room we have for error
b) Penalties - the 2022 team was the most dis-organized and penalized team I can remember . No matter how bad we were, Greg's teams were at least well disciplined, I hope this year was an anomaly
c) OC search - I thought it was ballzy as hell to fire Gleeson mid-season, and knowing Greg, he had to have had preliminary discussions with at least 2 or 3 of his top targets during the season
I think most of us expected an announcement within a week of season's end, especially since the December portal has re-written all the rules and Greg is smart enough to know that good transfer candidates aren't coming here unless they know who will be coaching them, and what kind of offense will be run.
So all of the above to get to the question - do we fire Greg if he has a similarly disappointing record in 2023. For starters, we play the same brutal Big10East schedule, and i think we will be underdogs in each game. Our OOC schedule is similar to this past year, replacing BC with VaTech, who was just as bad last year. I think our opener, at home versus Northwestern, will be a great barometer, we have a great chance of being 3-0 heading into Ann Arbor, and we get a tune-up game against Wagner, before heading to Wisconsin. I think we have an excellent chance for 4 wins again, 5 wins against this schedule would be a good job of coaching and 6 wins, might even be worthy of an un-needed extension
In sum, expect a year similar to 2022, would love to see Greg get his first signature win of the 2.0 era, but even with a 4-6 finish, he will get an other year. As fans, we need to see progress on the field, some big wins in the transfer portal and bringing in a recruiting class that at least comes in the Top 40. And finally, even though its not part of any HC job description, Greg and the AD need to come up with a plan to at least be competitive in the NIL department. Like it or not, there is no turning back, and Greg has historically been ahead of the curve with new developments, the next 12 months are hopefully his chance to shine
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my Fellow Board Members - even
@kyk1827 🎅🎅🎅