Yes, it is too much to ask because those programs are better capitalized and better resourced, most notably having a high quality football Fieldhouse, which we lack. That said, we will have an opportunity in these games, but the probability of winning favors our opponents.
Conspicuous By Their Absence
- Thread starter colbert17
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What were your pre-season expectations for this team? Be honest.
You lack foresight, the ability to think ahead and are unable to see the big picture. You lack an appreciation for what has been accomplished, especially considering the team hasn’t won at least six games since 2014.
The biggest competitive advantage Greg has is his eye for identifying talent, something you seem to take for granted.
Lastly, you lack an appreciation for the difficulty of our schedule.
I’m enjoying your selective memory. Grabers, your hero, recruiting fell off a cliff, and the team was very poor defensively by 1995. Graber was expected to have a good team by 1995, but didn’t. Schiano has built good teams within five years, twice. Schiano met expectations. Graber did not.
Grabers recruiting was so great, there was a bare cupboard in 1996, which Terry Shea unfortunately could not restock successfully.
Look at the roster, today. it’s stocked with talent and depth, despite not having a lot of recruiting success in recruiting in New Jerseys elite recruits. Our defensive line has significant depth. We’ve gotten kids from all over, NJ, NY, FL, CO, PA, and other places.
We are gradually building a competitive program with mostly kids that more successful programs don’t want. But what the kids have, is an insatiable desire for success, which is why they work much harder than the average football player, and much harder than Doug Grabers players. That is why we are going bowling.
Kids don’t fall out of a tree to come here. Literally thousands of hours were invested to identify the best players Rutgers could recruit. This is needed because many of our first and second choice recruits don’t end up choosing Rutgers because our value proposition is much weaker than that of more reputable programs. Michigan, for example, has an impressive array of football facilities which are second to none.
And this roster is significantly stocked with Florida players, a recruiting strategy which coaches like Graber never thought to employ. Florida kids have helped with depth, something that Grabers teams lacked. Keif Bryant was the one notable Graber Florida football player I can remember.
Unlike Graber, Schiano has the right recruiting strategy. Which is why more support would not have made a difference for Graber, imo.
The fact that you think Doug Graber was a good coach, demonstrates your intellectual bankruptcy, in these matters. Graber got the stadium built, Which is his enduring legacy, but as a day to day coach, he was flat out awful because the team lacked discipline and too many lacked the work ethic to be successful, which is why our doors were mostly blown off by the Penn States, Miami’s, and even Syracuses, with very few exceptions, like one barn burner in Syracuse.
Our present success was achieved with a lot of hard work, in the classroom, in the weight room, in the film room, and on the recruiting trail. Facts that seem to escape you.
Unlike Graber, Greg is a drill sargeant who is going to kick players in the ass when they need it. The fact that he’s sent so many players to the NFL isn’t by accident. The fact that Bill Belichek has raved about the preparedness of Rutgers players isn’t luck. It’s a LOT of hard work and sweat equity.
If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that you’re too CLUELESS to appreciate the exceptional job Greg has done under adverse circumstances. Coaches like Graber could not have replicated the job Greg has done because he frankly didn’t have a clue, like you.
In contrast, Greg worked for three of the most successful coaches in college football history, Joe Pa, Butch Davis, and Urban Meyer. Butch Davis had the biggest part in constructing the 2001 National Champion Miami Hurricanes. This is why Greg has the right strategy and should be supported. Even if Graber had received the support, I don’t feel confident that he would have known how to employ it.
Greg has built a successful program despite not having as strong a value proposition as peers. We lack a Fieldhouse and NIL support. But the bottomline is he got the job done in the most difficult football conference in America. And we’re just getting started. Two years from now, Rutgers Football Will be where we want it to be. Having a chance to beat anyone on any given day.
Greg is the best Coach Rutgers is capable of employing. That’s for me to know and you to find out.
I am not buying that for one second. There are plenty of upsets every week in FBS football and the better funded team doesn't always win. A legitimate B1G program should be able to beat one team with a winning record in a season, and yes, we have plenty of funding and facilities to accomplish that modest goal.
7-5 is a very successful season.
Peer salaries always play a major role in defining the market. Folks keep saying we pay him to knock off OSU, Michigan or PSU.
The COVID year is meaningless because match up strengths were random due to Covid breaks (personnel wasn’t apples to apples for anyone week in and out).
Since then - Outside of losing to each other (someone has to lose) OSU has only lost to Oregon and Georgia (national champ). Michigan only lost to TCU in the playoffs and Michigan State the year they were the national runners up.
PSU lost to nobody else in 2022 or 2023. They were beatable with a decent team in 2021 and perhaps we would’ve had a chance before O’Neal and Sutton went down. Remember we lost 20-13 to Michigan that year and started that season very strong. We didn’t have the depth on the line to sustain those injuries in the first non-Covid year of the rebuild. The back ups to those guys weren’t good enough to compete no matter who the coach was - I don’t see how anyone can even debate this.
In one presser Greg mentioned that the back ups on the O line that year weren't even college football players but just bodies that they had to put out there for practice.
Last I checked we still have FOUR games left in the season. Hopefully we can shut up some of the big mouthed, Greg-hating whiners, who all probably had us predicted to win 3 games -at best - in August
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Upsets are upsets because they are not the norm. We’re a legitimate B1G program that doesn’t have the resources of better programs.
Under-resourced while playing the likes of OSU, PSU, UM, USC, Oregon, and Washington, isn’t the path to sustainable excellence, which is the goal and aspiration. Sure we’ll have a chance, but not very good.
Going forward, We’ll have a chance to beat Iowa, UCLA, and MD, teams in our tier, but it’s hardly a Guarantee. And we’ve already beaten VT, another team with a chance to have a winning record.
This thread has been more entertaining than I initially expected. 😀
Is always good fun to witness the exchange of angry personal insults over differing viewpoints about college football. I mean, it's a game, right? What happens when people disagree with you about something of actual importance?
If I were a neurologist specializing in strokes, I'd view this thread as evidence of a very strong financial future. 😂
@DJ Spanky, whatever happened to the popcorn eating animated emoji? We need that back, please, as it's highly appropriate in so many circumstances.
Is always good fun to witness the exchange of angry personal insults over differing viewpoints about college football. I mean, it's a game, right? What happens when people disagree with you about something of actual importance?
If I were a neurologist specializing in strokes, I'd view this thread as evidence of a very strong financial future. 😂
@DJ Spanky, whatever happened to the popcorn eating animated emoji? We need that back, please, as it's highly appropriate in so many circumstances.
Please list EVERY "upset" from EVERY week, this season, that had 1) a top 50 ranked team being upset by 2) a team predicted to win 3.5 games prior to the season.
(YES...upsets happen, all the time, but I think you're gonna be a tad surprised here my friend....)
A couple of years ago they got rid of the custom emojis for each site and instituted a standard set that is really crap. So you have to use your own image for that.
4 to 5 wins. That's not the issue. My criticism of Schiano is that he has a low ceiling: he cleans up on weaklings and struggles mightily to beat anyone better. I watched that for years. So far that's what's happening. Given how bad they were last year I wouldn't expect too many wins over better teams this year but one win is not too much to ask--or even just something like taking Wisconsin down to the wire. I don't predict the future so I don't know what will happen but to me unless Schiano starts to beat better teams he's proving he has a low ceiling right in the middle of the pack, and as a fan I can't get especially excited about that.
Fair enough...then list ALL "upsets" by P5 teams (PREDICTED TO WIN 3.5 GAMES PRIOR TO THE SEASON( vs other P5 teams, this season.
So- who were the two teams that were better than us prior to the season that you didn't think we could beat, but we did?
MOST teams "clean up on weaklings." Why do people not understand this? I guess you forget his upsets of Louisville and USF, both ranked HIGHER than us when we played them, right? They don't count? Wasn't UCF ranked higher? NC State (maybe)? This "Greg struggles mightily against better teams"....ehhhh.....IMHO it was 2 teams that REALLY screwed with our fan bases heads while GS was HC
WVU
Cinci
....in a major way.
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The way this season will ultimately be evaluated is still very much up in the air. As Richard posted yesterday, FPI does not favor Rutgers winning any of its final four games. Finishing 6-6 and limping into the Pinstripe Bowl would drastically change the perception in these parts and certainly among casual fans.
I think one more win and heading into the Bronx with a winning record (and leaving with one no matter the game result) would give the program a huge boost. Bowl attendance would also be significantly better with a winning record, I think. 8-4 obviously would be amazing but doesn't seem realistic at this point.
I think one more win and heading into the Bronx with a winning record (and leaving with one no matter the game result) would give the program a huge boost. Bowl attendance would also be significantly better with a winning record, I think. 8-4 obviously would be amazing but doesn't seem realistic at this point.
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I disagree. Michigan schedules a veritable Murderer's Row for their OOC games. Rutgers wouldn't stand a chance against East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green. Same for Penn St. with Delaware. UMass and a West Virginia that does not emulate the teams of the 00's.
I spit out my morning coffee out when you asked the Chief Schiano hater the question and said,” be honest.” As most know on this board , just read his posts not only towards Rutgers poor past play but especially , some players past and present . He attempts to sound like he’s a fan … he’s not.
I've asked questions in this thread that have either 1) NOT be responded to (because the poster in question got destroyed) or 2) just keep getting spun in an attempt to fit their narrative.
Listen...it's OKAY if you're not happy...it's OKAY if you don't like, or even hate, Greg...BUT....don't spew bullshit, don't MAKE UP facts (see: "half of all bowl teams are only .500"), and don't attempt to SPIN when the facts are out there!
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The pick changed the game from 1 score to 3 scores in a matter of several minutes. Losing to a top 4-5 in itself is no disgrace. Here is the facts: yes we have to beat one of these typical BlueBloods. However , expecting these negatoids to revert to being a fan isn’t gonna happen. This guy/ gal the one who claimed , “ I couldn’t get BTN “ is a total liar.
C'mon.. it is somewhat transitive. While you can show examples where it doesn't work.. there are plenty of examples that support it as well... in fact, I'd guess the transitive nature of football outcomes is MORE commonly true than not. It is only the upsets (which are rare in comparison to favorites winning) that "disprove" the transitive property for football.
They may not reach there. Many won't the ways young people die these days. There's a case where every boomer is successful.. they reached an advanced age. Gauntlet thrown.
Watching VT last nite showed why Drones is a load… It will prove to be a very good win.
GS 1.0 and first couple of years of Flood- Even though we not have ever beaten WVU- I do not recall a single game where it felt we had no shot of winning after 2005.
I agree for the most part . I have seen the younger under 50’s mock and ridicule . “ old angry man” is a badge of honor… they may understand someday. Much of that type thinking is based upon jealousy and envy of the Boomer generation. We had it so easy you know😊👏😎
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