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What will you consider a successful season

Akron Buck

Akron Buck

Junior
Nov 23, 2012
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Just curious what Rutgers fans thinks it will take for Ash's first season to be considered successful?

I know for us this year even though we were 12-1 and won the Fiesta and will probably end up ranked in the top 5 many do not consider it successful because we did not win the national title.

Next year we lose a lot of talent to the NFL, but most fans still expect to win the B1G and make it to the playoffs, not so much win it all but at least make it in the top 4 to be considered successful.

So what does rutgers need to do? 7-5? 8-4? 9-3? win the B1G?

What is your break point for success.
 
Good question.

For me, success is 7-5, but I can live with 6-6 so long as the team plays actual football, is competitive, and we seem to have cohesive game plans suited to our talent and some kind of identity on both sides of the ball. We have decent talent, I tend to think this shouldn't be a big rebuild for a coach who knows what he is doing. The issue will be improving from that number in future years due to a lack of quality depth.
 
rpiseman said:
I am good with any record as long as no one on the team is convicted of committing a violent crime.
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:flush:. The object of college football is to win football games. Not compose a team of the nicest, sweetest kids, who get great grades and never do anything wrong. If there was any positive to be taken from the events this year, its the fact that the fan base grew up and stopped being so damn naive about the realities of college football. Of course some still think it was Flood's fault, and now that he is one we will go back to being the team that never does anything wrong. Hopefully they are a minority.

College football players get in trouble from time to time, sometimes fantastically. There is no way to prevent it. Its a simple reality. The whole notion some of our fans had of "Rutgers men" and being better than everyone else, "doing it the right way," and mocking other school's player arrests like it was never going to happen here was just so damn silly. Of course it was going to happen here....it happens EVERYWHERE. And it can happen again, anywhere, at any time. All it takes is one bad decision.
 
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Hey Akron Buck, I think for many of us it will not be wins and losses so much as a change in how we do business. I think if we can look like we know what we're doing, play hard, and play smart, fans will be pleased.

Some think we are low on talent next year and have a very tough schedule. I agree with the second half of that statement. I think the over/under on wins for fans being OK is probably 5, if we look good in all games. 6 W's and bowl game, and fans will be pretty happy.
 
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You guys will have a tough schedule every year just becuase you are in B1G east. We are arguably the best conference in the country.
 
As long as we are fun to watch and there is excitement around the program, I would consider that successful regardless of our record. I don't expect next year to be a complete 180, but I do expect to see a competitive, well-prepared team take the field every week.
 
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Ole Cabbagehead said:
:flush:. The object of college football is to win football games. Not compose a team of the nicest, sweetest kids, who get great grades and never do anything wrong. If there was any positive to be taken from the events this year, its the fact that the fan base grew up and stopped being so damn naive about the realities of college football. Of course some still think it was Flood's fault, and now that he is one we will go back to being the team that never does anything wrong. Hopefully they are a minority.

College football players get in trouble from time to time, sometimes fantastically. There is no way to prevent it. Its a simple reality. The whole notion some of our fans had of "Rutgers men" and being better than everyone else, "doing it the right way," and mocking other school's player arrests like it was never going to happen here was just so damn silly. Of course it was going to happen here....it happens EVERYWHERE. And it can happen again, anywhere, at any time. All it takes is one bad decision.
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That is a brave position to take here, and I agree with some of it to an extent. But I guess I am just a Polyanna who thinks that good football and "raising" good young men do not have to be mutually exclusive. I am surprised at some who lambasted a player and Flood before the case was heard, or who severely criticized another player for getting caught with a fake ID. I'm OK with players getting an occasional disorderly persons type of offense or a moving violation. I am not OK with assaults, robberies and crimes on others. Still surprised that Corey Clement got away with what he did at Wisconsin without more punishment, but I guess this is in line with what you posted.
 
Success for 2016 includes All of the following.

1) Go at least 5-7 next year and lose by 14 or less to OSU, MSU and UM.
2) #45 or better recruiting class
3) No scandal from the AD or from the football team.
 
gef21 said:
Seeing good fundamentals on both sides of the ball. If our kids are in the right positions, playing hard, playing fast, and look coached I will consider it a success.
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Agree completely. I think we lose too much and were deficient in too many areas to make an immediate impact in record. I'm looking for better coaching, better developement, better effort, and better fundamentals. I'm also looking for more competitive recruiting for the 2017 class.
 
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next year 6-6 will be a good first step for Ash. Don't see us beating Washington on the road in the opener or Iowa at home. So 6-6 means probably needing to take 2 of 3 @Minnesota, @ Maryland and home against PSU. Anything more than that seems unreasonable at this point.
 
Bowl game and momentum in recruiting.......including, 4 Four Star recruits committed by the first game.
 
Not sure what would be a success. There are so many variables in play one really does not know what we're going to look like in September. I believe that ASH's number 1 priority must be recruiting. The talent level on the roster needs to improve or else ASH and his assistance will get frustrated real soon.

Year 1 will be a painful learning experience for all so Ash gets a reprieve. But in year two he will have a mature and experienced secondary and a solid stable of RB's. If he can put together an O-Line I expect at least 8 wins maybe 9 in year two. A 6-6 or 7-5 season in his second year will be very disappointing.
 
next year's record is not that important in the grand scheme of things. We need to transition to new offensive and defensive systems and find the right players to fill roles in those systems. We especially need to find a QB who can run the new offense. I don;t think we have the right QB on the team or on the commit list for our new spread offense. In my mind success will be determined by recruiting success in closing out the 2016 class and really stepping it up for 2017.
 
Ole Cabbagehead said:
:flush:. The object of college football is to win football games. Not compose a team of the nicest, sweetest kids, who get great grades and never do anything wrong. If there was any positive to be taken from the events this year, its the fact that the fan base grew up and stopped being so damn naive about the realities of college football. Of course some still think it was Flood's fault, and now that he is one we will go back to being the team that never does anything wrong. Hopefully they are a minority.

College football players get in trouble from time to time, sometimes fantastically. There is no way to prevent it. Its a simple reality. The whole notion some of our fans had of "Rutgers men" and being better than everyone else, "doing it the right way," and mocking other school's player arrests like it was never going to happen here was just so damn silly. Of course it was going to happen here....it happens EVERYWHERE. And it can happen again, anywhere, at any time. All it takes is one bad decision.
Click to expand...
I agree with some of your points, particularly mocking other teams who have players that get in trouble. But it has had a negative effect on RU recruiting with all of the players getting in trouble and it getting splashed all over the media. So I think managing to keep control of the players (within reason) is something to strive for from Ash's perspective, and something for us fans to hope for.

And while Flood can't be blamed for player's doing stupid things, he CAN be blamed for being weak and not controlling a situation before it got out of control,a good example would have been getting rid of Peele after he continuously got in trouble. By failing to nip a problem in the bud, he set up a culture of bad behavior..

And to answer the OP's question, I'd be happy with 7-5, and looking like we belonged on the field in all of our games
 
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Ole Cabbagehead said:
:flush:. The object of college football is to win football games. Not compose a team of the nicest, sweetest kids, who get great grades and never do anything wrong. If there was any positive to be taken from the events this year, its the fact that the fan base grew up and stopped being so damn naive about the realities of college football. Of course some still think it was Flood's fault, and now that he is one we will go back to being the team that never does anything wrong. Hopefully they are a minority.

College football players get in trouble from time to time, sometimes fantastically. There is no way to prevent it. Its a simple reality. The whole notion some of our fans had of "Rutgers men" and being better than everyone else, "doing it the right way," and mocking other school's player arrests like it was never going to happen here was just so damn silly. Of course it was going to happen here....it happens EVERYWHERE. And it can happen again, anywhere, at any time. All it takes is one bad decision.
Click to expand...
Winning is one of the objectives, but it isn't the only one. Fortunately, the team in place now from Barchi on down seems to appreciate that.

For a university that has little else to be proud of, athletic success is huge, and breaking the rules is often winked at in that pursuit. If Rutgers became such a place, I'd find another team to root for. It's why I'm so disappointed in Flood, so pleased over what I see from Ash so far, and so willing to give EJ another year after this one.
 
Knight Shift said:
That is a brave position to take here, and I agree with some of it to an extent. But I guess I am just a Polyanna who thinks that good football and "raising" good young men do not have to be mutually exclusive. I am surprised at some who lambasted a player and Flood before the case was heard, or who severely criticized another player for getting caught with a fake ID. I'm OK with players getting an occasional disorderly persons type of offense or a moving violation. I am not OK with assaults, robberies and crimes on others. Still surprised that Corey Clement got away with what he did at Wisconsin without more punishment, but I guess this is in line with what you posted.
Click to expand...

I agree with you completely. I want to see Rutgers doing what it can to guide these kids, and give them the tools they need to succeed on the football field, and in life. If the kids commit a serious crime, they should be kicked off the team. I am not okay with having a team full of criminals, I just tend to think that its bound to happen from time to time, and the fans should accept it as part of college football.

Where I have a problem is this stripe of our fan base that seems willing to trade wins for high APRs and kids who are considered "high character" (however you determine that). That is what I took the post I initially responded to to be saying, when he said he would accept any number of wins, so long as no one committed a crime. That is nonsense. High APR and grad rates are nice, but they do not count for wins. You bring in the best football players you can, period. You do your best to keep them out of trouble, and raise them as best you can while they are here.
 
Don't you guys have a pretty good QB comitted? I remeber reading something about a QB at the elite 11, would imagine he is at least a 4 star.
 
Akron Buck said:
Don't you guys have a pretty good QB comitted? I remeber reading something about a QB at the elite 11, would imagine he is at least a 4 star.
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He may not be a good fit for Ash's spread offense (he is a pro style passer with a great arm but may not have the mobility to operate out of a read-option etc). Plus if a true freshmen is starting at QB for us next year, that does not bode well.
 
Let's be honest here, without Carroo this year we wouldn't have done as well as we did. I think it's fair to say we don't have a lock on the QB position either. Those are two huge question marks.

I'd say 6-6 or a bowl game next year should be considered a successful season.
 
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1. A bowl game that is not in New York.
2. Stability and consistency in the Athletic department.
3. An offense that grabs the fans interest.
4. Students/ fans in their seats BEFORE kickoff.
5. Just WIN, baby!
 
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lighty said:
Let's be honest here, without Carroo this year we wouldn't have done as well as we did. I think it's fair to say we don't have a lock on the QB position either. Those are two huge question marks.

I'd say 6-6 or a bowl game next year should be considered a successful season.
Click to expand...

Grant in a spread along with some of our RBs in a spread may be a solution to our WR woes. Think about it. Having Grant, Hicks and Martin on the field at the same time as Patton or another bigger WR/TE... With the option to run or receive. In a spread, these guys would make good receivers in space, spread the opposing D out and make them pay for missed tackles/assignments.

If Ash's staff lives up to board hype/expectation (a BIG IF), at minimum, a winning season (7 wins) should be manageable.
 
If we finish we a top 35 recruiting class next year.. I would consider it a successful season
 
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