On managing young talent

ToddTurnerLIVES

ToddTurnerLIVES

New Fish
*throw in disclaimer about loving the coaches here* BUT[/b] our coaches don't seem to understand the concept that if you are going to recruit blue chip players you have to be ready to manage the egos that come with them. You cannot play turds like Fuller and Baccellia and not at least throw a bone to your vastly athletically-superior, younger players and expect bad feelings not to develop.

You saw it when Sirmon and Yankoff entered the transfer portal after spring because Haener got gifted a spot in the "QB battle" with Eason. You saw it when Camillo Eifler left because the coaches played favorites with BBK during the whole Azeem Victor debacle and I'm worried you're going to see it in the WR room when guys with astronomically higher ceilings than Baccellia and Fuller don't even get garbage time reps against BYU.

And fuck off with the "BBK was an All American" retort because I'm not saying that BBK shouldn't have gotten the majority of reps. I'm saying that guys like Puka, Spiker, Osbourne and Eifler are elite talents and the coaching staff has to find a way to develop those guys and keep them engaged and feeling like they are getting a fair shot to show their talents. The defensive back room has the most talent on the team and Jimmy Lake finds a way to rotate his young guys through and give them meaningful reps as non-starters. If the position group with the most talent can find a way to do it then the position groups with the least talent should have no problem making it happen.

Fairness and feeling valued isn't some weird concept, it's simple human nature.
 
BBK produced on the field early. He earned the right to play as much as he did. I think we might see more transfer portal activity going forward now that our recruiting classes have been so much higher quality. I don’t even know how to explain the WR situation this year. Every WR pass goes to Fuller, Bacellia, or McClatcher. The young guys haven’t been even given a chance.
 
This is a bizarre, off the mark post. Pete has a much lower rate of transfers than other programs, so this make believe narrative that he isn't "managing egos properly" isn't based on anything. I have issues with the fact that we seem so reluctant to give younger receivers reps, and I'm as tired as everyone else seeing Opera Singer continue to play a majority of the snaps. But to conclude that that means Pete isn't properly handling the egos of his more talented players is a silly takeaway, and the low attrition we continue to have would point to the opposite being true.
 
This is a bizarre, off the mark post. Pete has a much lower rate of transfers than other programs, so this make believe narrative that he isn't "managing egos properly" isn't based on anything. I have issues with the fact that we seem so reluctant to give younger receivers reps, and I'm as tired as everyone else seeing Opera Singer continue to play a majority of the snaps. But to conclude that that means Pete isn't properly handling the egos of his more talented players is a silly takeaway, and the low attrition we continue to have would point to the opposite being true.
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This problem is mainly going to manifest itself in position groups with huge talent disparities between the younger and older players so I don't think overall attrition rate is great measure here.
 
This is a bizarre, off the mark post. Pete has a much lower rate of transfers than other programs, so this make believe narrative that he isn't "managing egos properly" isn't based on anything. I have issues with the fact that we seem so reluctant to give younger receivers reps, and I'm as tired as everyone else seeing Opera Singer continue to play a majority of the snaps. But to conclude that that means Pete isn't properly handling the egos of his more talented players is a silly takeaway, and the low attrition we continue to have would point to the opposite being true.
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This problem is mainly going to manifest itself in position groups with huge talent disparities between the younger and older players so I don't think overall attrition rate is great measure here.
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What else would you measure it by? You're implying that younger, more talented players are going to flee due to Pete not massaging their egos enough. Well we've had plenty of younger, more talented players in his first six years, and nothing close to that has played out. I don't buy that yet another talent upgrade in the younger ranks is going to change that dynamic.
 
And thankfully, the window of us having rooms with huge talent disparities is closing because we are recruiting better. But how much of a disaster would it be to lose Puka, Spiker or Osbourne because we are obsessed with our OKG bullshit and play Count Chocula and Fuller? Not only are we fucking over our program this season by not letting Skinny throw to the most athletically talented players in that room but we're potentially fucking our future selves over by bruising egos.
 
Your entire take is based on projection that hasn't happened. I actually do think Spiker may transfer, not because he isnt getting time but because he has absolutely sucked ass at catching the ball in practice. Do you want Pete playing a guy who sucks at practice just because hes a 4* recruit and you want to keep him happy?

Puka is getting reps and will continue to get more, hes just not getting the ball thrown to him.

 
The OP is off his rocker. How are Spiker or Osborne elite talents? Because of their high school rating?

Spiker ran a 4.8 at a camp. He was ranked highly because of his high school production, not because he’s an incredible athlete. He came in really skinny too. Osborne was a lower middle 4 star recruit. Neither of those guys are going to be stars.

Nothing wrong with that. Not every 4 star is going to be a really good player. Star ratings are percentages. That’s it. Quit taking them so literally.
 
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Your entire take is based on projection that hasn't happened. I actually do think Spiker may transfer, not because he isnt getting time but because he has absolutely sucked ass at catching the ball in practice. Do you want Pete playing a guy who sucks at practice just because hes a 4* recruit and you want to keep him happy?

Puka is getting reps and will continue to get more, hes just not getting the ball thrown to him.
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Sirom and Yankoff entered the transfer portal after Spring and Pete had to go talk Sirmon off the ledge to get him to come back. Azeem, a fan-favorite and leader in the locker room was left to die on the vine in a position room that sorely lacked depth. Those are concrete examples of talent mismanagement.

And no, if a guy sucks I don't want him to play. I just have a hard time believing that Spiker sucks so much that he has earned essentially zero in-game reps.
 
The OP is off his rocker. How are Spiker or Osborne elite talents? Because of their high school rating.

Spiker ran a 4.8 at a camp. He was ranked highly because of his high school production, not because he’s an incredible athlete. Osborne was a mid 4 star recruit. Neither of these guys are going to be stars.

Nothing wrong with that. Not every 4 star is going to be a really good player. Star ratings are percentages. That’s it. Quit taking them so literally.
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Next year will be the same shit except it will be "why aren't we playing McMillan and Rome?"

Oh and "why the fuck didnt we redshirt Fuller?"
 
Your entire take is based on projection that hasn't happened. I actually do think Spiker may transfer, not because he isnt getting time but because he has absolutely sucked ass at catching the ball in practice. Do you want Pete playing a guy who sucks at practice just because hes a 4* recruit and you want to keep him happy?

Puka is getting reps and will continue to get more, hes just not getting the ball thrown to him.
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Sirom and Yankoff entered the transfer portal after Spring and Pete had to go talk Sirmon off the ledge to get him to come back. Azeem, a fan-favorite and leader in the locker room was left to die on the vine in a position room that sorely lacked depth. Those are concrete examples of talent mismanagement.

And no, if a guy sucks I don't want him to play. I just have a hard time believing that Spiker sucks so much that he has earned essentially zero in-game reps.
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Except Akeem played in 2017, wasn’t very productive, and got beat out by the player that was playing at a higher level. The one that was drafted higher in the NFL and made an active roster. He probably sticks around awhile too. If anything, that’s proof that the coaches okay the best player.
 
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The OP is off his rocker. How are Spiker or Osborne elite talents? Because of their high school rating.

Spiker ran a 4.8 at a camp. He was ranked highly because of his high school production, not because he’s an incredible athlete. Osborne was a mid 4 star recruit. Neither of these guys are going to be stars.

Nothing wrong with that. Not every 4 star is going to be a really good player. Star ratings are percentages. That’s it. Quit taking them so literally.
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Next year will be the same shit except it will be "why aren't we playing McMillan and Rome?"

Oh and "why the fuck didnt we redshirt Fuller?"
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Except if we aren't playing McMillan, either TBSing is broken, or the coaches are FS about seniority. He's a borderline 5* that has film that shows he's a more or less complete receiver with the physical tools to play today.
 
Your entire take is based on projection that hasn't happened. I actually do think Spiker may transfer, not because he isnt getting time but because he has absolutely sucked ass at catching the ball in practice. Do you want Pete playing a guy who sucks at practice just because hes a 4* recruit and you want to keep him happy?

Puka is getting reps and will continue to get more, hes just not getting the ball thrown to him.
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Sirom and Yankoff entered the transfer portal after Spring and Pete had to go talk Sirmon off the ledge to get him to come back. Azeem, a fan-favorite and leader in the locker room was left to die on the vine in a position room that sorely lacked depth. Those are concrete examples of talent mismanagement.

And no, if a guy sucks I don't want him to play. I just have a hard time believing that Spiker sucks so much that he has earned essentially zero in-game reps.
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Are you seriously propping up Azeem as an example? His NFL career (or lack thereof) is proof positive that the guy stopped giving a shit and was just mailing it in towards the end. Starting BBK over him was an absolute no brainer. All of Azeem's shortcomings were his fault and no one else's.
 
Your entire take is based on projection that hasn't happened. I actually do think Spiker may transfer, not because he isnt getting time but because he has absolutely sucked ass at catching the ball in practice. Do you want Pete playing a guy who sucks at practice just because hes a 4* recruit and you want to keep him happy?

Puka is getting reps and will continue to get more, hes just not getting the ball thrown to him.
Click to expand...

Sirom and Yankoff entered the transfer portal after Spring and Pete had to go talk Sirmon off the ledge to get him to come back. Azeem, a fan-favorite and leader in the locker room was left to die on the vine in a position room that sorely lacked depth. Those are concrete examples of talent mismanagement.

And no, if a guy sucks I don't want him to play. I just have a hard time believing that Spiker sucks so much that he has earned essentially zero in-game reps.
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Yankoff SUCKED ASS. He would have never seen the field.

Azeem dug his own grave, that had nothing to do with the coaches.

Bad examples.
 
Arguing that Azeem should have started over BBK is not only dumb but flies in the face of "we should play the young guys" argument. Azeem was great as a junior but something happened before his senior year that he never recovered from. When he did play as a senior he looked like a 40 year old drunk guy running around out there with a big beer gut and talking shit after every play.
 
Arguing that Azeem should have started over BBK is not only dumb but flies in the face of "we should play the young guys" argument. Azeem was great as a junior but something happened before his senior year that he never recovered from. When he did play as a senior he looked like a 40 year old drunk guy running around out there with a big beer gut and talking shit after every play.
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He also sucked in pass coverage.
 
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