• The KillerFrogs

What "grow them up" really means

4th. down

Active Member
Well said. Unfortunately, that appears to be the situation. Hope the AD reads this--he's probably the only one who can resolve this.

It's sad, we all are, but don't be getting your hopes up for a SIGNIFICANT change, it's not in our history.

GP's best teams were junior/senior heavy with a couple of real playmakers. This team is very young overall. Sure we have or we thought we had some great seniors but it's not showing up this year.

Our talent situation is not good enough to win the conference. If we don't start recruiting better, then we can expect to finish like last year and maybe not as good as that this year. Personally, GP makes a big deal like it is a hell of an accomplishment to go to a toilet bowl - reality, that's where we are.

Some are arguing that Kansas State has as good as players as TCU but the staats don't show that according to 247 sports. Kansas State for the recruiting years of 2016, '17. and '18 had ZERO 4* or better while TCU had 10 that actually enrolled and contributed. But, Kansas State is 3rd. and we are 7th.

If our situation doesn't drastically change during the off season for the better, that 7th. place looks like a place where we settle in - we cannot WISH it gets better.
 

Dman890

Active Member
The thing that I have always hated about “grow them up” is that it means they suck until they have grown up.

how do other teams find ways to play sound football with young / less talented guys?
 

Raw Frog

Full Member
The coaches are responsible for implementing a system that fits the players they have recruited and have on the team. This is what makes a great coach. Not just having a system that has worked before with other players, and trying to put guys in that either cannot do it with their skill set, or do not know what to do. Either way, it is on the staff to put our current players in the best position to make a play by changing the system up to fit them.
 

FrankDMaynard

Active Member
I remember Andy's first starting season, we lost 5 games in the regular season. Similar to this. So tap the brakes on the season number until the end. After the insane [ steaming pile of Orgeron ] that went down at the end of last season, who knows. Collins could come in and do something crazy, then Max could come back in and match it. Then Reagor could say, "that's it, this is supposed to be my highlight reel" and jump over to corner back and have like monumental numbers of interceptions.
Then the ncaa drops the ban hammer on baylor and Herman gets busted with another stripper. Then Riley goes to the Cowboys Dana gets the OU gig. You never know how [ steaming pile of Orgeron ] will turn out.

Also, why am I out of rum?

Andy also lost those 5 against inferior competition compared to this conference.
 
Not a slide show guys, despite the title looking like one.

Grow them up means we get classes laden with guys who at the time they entered TCU are not FBS caliber players. They do show some potential but no way are they ready to play at this level. We take 2 or three years then finally a few get bigger, faster and skilled enough to play well. A few then make it to the NFL. GP does a great job of developing a handful of players given 3 or 4 years. But a football team is made up of 22 starters, plus kickers. Developing the handful of lesser rated recruits to go with the 4/5* recruits is what OU had done, even Alabama has a few 3* athletes who become stars. Now it looks like Texas finally has the coaching to go along with their fantastic talent.

I had hoped that this was the year we could break through, have a great year and finally start recruiting to build a top-notch program. Three or four 4* and no 5* will not get you to the B12 championship now. Unfortunately we have blown this chance, and Baylor and SMU have taken our place. I have never been so pessimistic about the future of this program. All because GP likes to give his OC a chance to excel. I am tired of the best we can do on recruiting is low 20's, on rare occasions. There is just so good you can get.

Texas can have several bad classes and still succeed. I don't know that TCU can.
LOL. Baylor and SMU have taken our place? After one good season?

You make absolutely no sense saying that recruiting is the cause, and then saying BU and SMU have passed us. Our roster, recruiting-wise, is much better than both of theirs.
 
How about we find already grown up players to start off with? Or at least more than we’ve been recruiting. This is the most lame excuse and it’s getting old (unlike our players apparently).
When Gary talks about growing them up, I’ve always assumed he meant developing them beyond their abilities. He built his program figuring out ways to get guys to overachieve. If they haven’t grown up yet, it means they aren’t overachieving, yet.

If we had a roster full of five star talent like Bama, I doubt you’d hear him mentioning it much. But that’s never gonna happen.
 

Eight

Member
When Gary talks about growing them up, I’ve always assumed he meant developing them beyond their abilities. He built his program figuring out ways to get guys to overachieve. If they haven’t grown up yet, it means they aren’t overachieving, yet.

If we had a roster full of five star talent like Bama, I doubt you’d hear him mentioning it much. But that’s never gonna happen.

growing up isn't merely developing the physical ability of the players,

also includes developing the mental side of the game, the prep work such as studying film, and developing an attitude where you understand consistency in practice can lead to consistency in games.

i think we would find if the frogs have 85 5-star recruits there would still be plenty of room for growth, saban doesn't mention it because at bama you either get on board with the program or they run your ass off
 

notyalc

Active Member
Baylor and SMU have been at the bottom of the barrel looking up in very recent times. Things can improve quickly if you have depth and experience in the right places. I'm worried about losing the "Winning mindset" we've developed over many years. If you have doubts about winning, your not going to win.
 

BrewingFrog

Was I supposed to type something here?
i think we would find if the frogs have 85 5-star recruits there would still be plenty of room for growth, saban doesn't mention it because at bama you either get on board with the program or they run your ass off
Out of sheer curiosity, just how bad has the drop off in quality of players coming out of HS been these last few years? By this I mean the lack of fundamentals now seen vs. the kids coming out of HS just 5-10 years ago.

If we are recruiting kids that run fast, but don't know the fundamentals of catching a football or the footwork and shoulder/hip work involved in running a good pattern and shedding a defender, then we're spending a lot of time trying to get them to a productive level rather than having them learn the offense. There are only so many hours available to practice, and we're evidently doing something other than learning plays...
 

Eight

Member
Out of sheer curiosity, just how bad has the drop off in quality of players coming out of HS been these last few years? By this I mean the lack of fundamentals now seen vs. the kids coming out of HS just 5-10 years ago.

If we are recruiting kids that run fast, but don't know the fundamentals of catching a football or the footwork and shoulder/hip work involved in running a good pattern and shedding a defender, then we're spending a lot of time trying to get them to a productive level rather than having them learn the offense. There are only so many hours available to practice, and we're evidently doing something other than learning plays...

I can't answer what is happening at the frogs practices in teaching the fundamentals of positions relative to frog teams in the past or other teams they currently competing.

if there are continued issues with the skills at a position unless the position is manned all by walk ons I would guess start looking at who identified the players, how the skills of the position are being taught, what is the level of accountability, and the response of the players
 

Eight

Member
The thing that I have always hated about “grow them up” is that it means they suck until they have grown up.

how do other teams find ways to play sound football with young / less talented guys?

this, anyone want to guess how many seniors oklahoma state started last saturday?
 

CountryFrog

Active Member
Grow them up is no different that win by one. It's a Garyism that he says at every opportunity. He says it when we're 8-0 and he says it when we're 4-4.

Some of you hate that he says these things and that's fine but it's not really meant to mean anything other than we have to keep getting better every day, which is the job of every coach and player on every team. It's just the phrasing GP uses. It's not him making excuses, it's just him talking about his job.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
Grow them up is no different that win by one. It's a Garyism that he says at every opportunity. He says it when we're 8-0 and he says it when we're 4-4.

Some of you hate that he says these things and that's fine but it's not really meant to mean anything other than we have to keep getting better every day, which is the job of every coach and player on every team. It's just the phrasing GP uses. It's not him making excuses, it's just him talking about his job.

It's actually one of the sayings that is least annoying. The most annoying for me is the not discussing anything about injuries but always seeming eager to let everyone know how many kids are injured, and often grossly exagerrating the number for more effect like last year and this spring. What's the point other than to create an excuse?
 

CountryFrog

Active Member
It's actually one of the sayings that is least annoying. The most annoying for me is the not discussing anything about injuries but always seeming eager to let everyone know how many kids are injured, and often grossly exagerrating the number for more effect like last year and this spring. What's the point other than to create an excuse?
What's the point of anything Gary says? We don't have the technology to know that.
 
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