• The KillerFrogs

What we need to do to close the gap between us and the 2 teams that played tonight

Pharm Frog

Full Member
I would be willing to bet if you took all of those Clemson players and put them in TCU uniforms, we would have made the playoff and may have won as well. You can’t replicate talent and it is likely we will never get athletes like this. The best way to close the gap is to figure out a way to bring in better players. It is happening but it is a gradual process. We want it to be a two year plan but it is a ten year plan. The last 5 years have been GREAT for us with 3 top 10 finishes. Hopefully the next five will be even better.

I do not agree. Would have punted against Syracuse and lost the game.
 

BrewingFrog

Was I supposed to type something here?
I would be willing to bet if you took all of those Clemson players and put them in TCU uniforms, we would have made the playoff and may have won as well. You can’t replicate talent and it is likely we will never get athletes like this.
I don't buy this entirely.

The kids we had (listed above) were not a bunch of schmoes. Hell, Nick Saban was begging Foster Sawyer to come play for him. The others on that list were also highly regarded and had many offers. No, the issue is one of developing talent v. "making" talent.

It is often said that coaches tend to try and "shove a square peg into a round hole" by asking a player to do something he isn't naturally inclined to do. Boykin as an NFL-style dropback passer, for example. Once he was in a system that matched his particular talents, he blossomed. (Of course, it probably helped that receivers knew where to go, and the QB where to find them, but that is another matter...)

Are we developing and feeding the talent we have to the fullest extent possible? If not, why?
 

LeagueCityFrog

Active Member
I think that cohesiveness is seen every season on the defensive side for TCU. Good highlight by another poster about how many misses at quarterback recruiting we have had since Boykin.
 

SportsJunkie

Active Member
Fill up the stadium with loud fans for a better football environment. Atrract and sign better talent across the board - not just a few studs here and there.

Easier said than done though.
 

Baja Frog

Active Member
Another big difference between TCU and some of these programs is the quarterback position. Other programs are recruiting top quarterbacks getting top notch results from their true freshman quarterbacks from day one. Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama. Jacob Eason and Jake Fromm at Georgia. Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence at Clemson. The days of good quarterbacks needing three years on the bench are over.

Now compare that to TCU’s quarterback recruiting and results

2012: Tyler Matthews
2013: Zach Allen
2014: Foster Sawyer and Grayson Muehlstein
2015: N/A
2016: Brennan Wooten
2017: Shawn Robinson

The QB position is too important to have that many recruiting misses six years in a row. TCU has been reliant on transfer quarterbacks just to be able to get by.

The good news is I think TCU has two really good ones in Justin Rogers and Max Duggan.
Point's well taken but below is OU's qb recruiting:

2012: Trevor Knight
2013: Cody Thomas
2014: Justice Hansen
2015: Connor McGinnis
2016: Austin Kendall
2017: Chris Robison

So maybe the answer is to get good transfer qb's like Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray
 

Mean Purple

Active Member
You have to be willing to fire assistants who are not getting it done and make sure the Head Coach knows that if it does not get fixed, it's on him and nobody has a safe job in college football. Then, you have to ignore weak kneed fans who are afraid of big coaching changes or even the idea of trying to compete for something big. Too many in these parts are pals with someone in the AD and shun any big goals. In short, you have to grow a pair.
 

jake102

Active Member
And folks should quit saying "freshman qb" as an excuse. Bama and Clemson just went big with Freshman qb's.

Tua is a sohpomore, but I get the point. Two years ago I was in the camp that all these schools throwing out freshman QBs was a bad idea (looking at UT), but I've flipped my position. In today's game, there's no reason you shouldn't have a QB ready to play, regardless if they are a freshman or not. Way too many teams finding success by switching QBs.
 

Dman890

Active Member
Gary is going to do it Gary’s way. That means he won’t fix things that could be better like the coaching staff, but he will win games with a consistently great defense.

But the truth is that if we had someone different, they might do all the things we are asking for like more accountability with assistant coaches — but they won’t be near the coach Patterson is and we won’t win as many games.
 

Mean Purple

Active Member
Tua is a sohpomore, but I get the point. Two years ago I was in the camp that all these schools throwing out freshman QBs was a bad idea (looking at UT), but I've flipped my position. In today's game, there's no reason you shouldn't have a QB ready to play, regardless if they are a freshman or not. Way too many teams finding success by switching QBs.
Tua was a Freshman when he stepped into the limelight last year in a huge way. (To clarify what I was talking about). And you are correct, no reason to not have them ready to play. They come out of high school these days way more developed from 7 on 7, high schools running the spread and temp, etc. Sonny better have his ducks in a row next year.
 

H0RNEDFR0G

Full Member
Who had their redshirt blown this year? They would have had to play in 5 games in order for that to happen, right?

Taye Barber, Derius Davis, and T. Hunt did for sure. I'm not too worried about giving a 5th year to any of our WRs; but John Stephens Jr., kept his. For this year we should've burned them all.
 
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tetonfrog

Active Member
Tua was a Freshman when he stepped into the limelight last year in a huge way. (To clarify what I was talking about). And you are correct, no reason to not have them ready to play. They come out of high school these days way more developed from 7 on 7, high schools running the spread and temp, etc. Sonny better have his ducks in a row next year.

Or what? We will blister his ass with mean online comments?
 
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