Basketball the numbers get wonky, but never forget how many players are on a football roster and the amount of those guys who will never see significant playing time and they know it.
Not saying itâs massive but there are plenty within those programs and institutions who are locked in on making sure those kids get the classroom work in. I lived with one of them for 17 yrs of my life.
Burrow is a special exception he went to college to play football and had a clear path to something beyond college. (not saying LSU is an academic stronghold)
I was looking up Washington Stateâs record and it said â1st in the Pac12â. I thought⌠oh nice⌠then I remembered who was in the Pac12 this yearâŚ
Penn State has been getting football players from Virginia for my entire life. I doubt a brief dip or a 9 win year when they had championship aspirations or us having a miracle playoff year is going to change that.
Tony Rojas lives in my neighborhood and his injury was cited as a huge reason the Penn State defense suffered against UCLA. Could you imagine if he was lined up next to Kam? Weâd have the best LB unit in the ACC this season and maybe the next 2.
Theyâre currently trying to get our commit Teasley to flip. Historical Penn State Virginians that people mightâve heard of include Tyler Warren, Michael Robinson, Evan Royster, Yetur Gross-Matos, too many others to name. It sucks and I hate it.
I think this staff absolutely wants to maximize the amount of recruits they can get from Virginia but not at the expense of what is the best fit for this program.
Make no mistake, Coach Elliott is a âcultureâ coach. That is his and this staffâs calling card, and that is what will ultimately elevate this program. That isnât to say that Elliott doesnât have a precise vision for what he wants his teams to look like schematically or body type wise, but we arenât necessarily going to out-do other programs in that manner (at least intentionally). Elliottâs plan is to out do other programs with our grit, toughness, and consistency (all emblematic of a strong culture). The culture fit is what will ultimately determine any of the recruiting decisions, so while I would like to see our roster filled with VA guys, thereâs no guarantee unless they really fit what this staff is trying to construct culturally.
For those who really understand football at this level and below, this is what ultimately wins out. Not really the case at the next level IMO where I would say schematic ingenuity/brilliance is more important.
A little off-topic here, but: My friend and former colleague heads up the Curley Center for Sports Journalism, and heâs one of the sharpest journalists Iâve worked with. And a good guy. The program is one of the best in the country. Your daughter is in good hands.
More on topic: My sonâs high school classmate attended Penn State on a track scholarship and had a legitimate shot at the Olympics until she hurt her knee. But even before that, she was heavily committed to academics, and now sheâs killing it professionally in finance. My son himself was a D2 baseball player and spent two summers playing professional ball in MLB partner leagues, but he knew it wasnât going to be a career, and he took his education seriously, too. Even his teammates who werenât good students and didnât spent much time on academics still understood that sports gave them an opportunity â that they might not have otherwise â to earn a degree. Almost all of them graduated.
I think youâre 100% right: The kids tend to care more about their education than their school does.
Currently 19, weâll pass Illinois and Missouri. Michigan if they lose. BYUâs currently winning. I doubt Oklahoma or Oregon fall below us. Also doubt TAMU, TTU, Georgia or LSU fall below us with losses either.
Given that FSU now looks mid (and for that matter NC State is proving their already-mid expectations), I would expect computers to drop us some. But I know voters donât work that way.
As expected, Illinois and Michigan fell below us. Missouri justifiably stayed above us after losing to Alabama. Only reason to rank us ahead of them is that we beat the team that beat the team they lost to, but thatâs a stretch.
Vandy passing us with neither team playing this week isâŚsomewhat surprising and questionable? But could be the result of voters who already had Vandy above us moving them further above us and not the result of anyone moving Vandy from behind us to above us. Voters could have reassessed us given the FSU win doesnât look as good, but voters rarely do that mid-season.
