I was disappointed to read that a top quality QB prospect didn't think he could play for Coach Long. What does that suggest about Chip's personality, coaching style, and ability to recruit?
RJ- Long has a personality that, in my opinion, feels like one that you either love or hate with not much in-between. He is hard on his players, and isn’t going to sugar-coat anything. He and OL coach Brent Key are very similar to one another when it comes to that as well.
After building a relationship with Coach Patenaude and his assistants prior to his departure, it was likely a bit of a culture shock.
Long has a solid track-record when it comes to landing his top targets at the QB position.
Also, and I honestly am not trying to speculate here, but I doubt Long wanted to see his QB splitting his time with baseball.
For my money, getting to a bowl this season hinges on the improvement and efficiency of the offense. Two things quickly come to mind. First, does Chip intend to prioritize TOP rather than the fast break philosophy we’ve heard for 3 years? Second, what kind of formations are we looking at? Would you see 5+ in a game like Ralph used to do, using them as a weapon in order to create favorable matchups?
KQ- I agree that the lack of a fully functional offense has been the biggest issue since 2019 and what hurt them and kept them from bowling last year despite the defensive struggles and other issues. I'm not going to get into formations and what they are going to run and honestly I think that will be figured out more during fall camp as there are new weapons he has not been able to work with like EJ Jenkins, Leo Blackburn, Dylan McDuffie and others that missed time so I will say they are multiple. Much more multiple than the previous offense and they do the thing the former OC liked to talk about with position flexibility where guys like Luke Benson or Peje Harris or Dylan Leonard can line up anywhere and the same with a guy like Hassan Hall or Dontae Smith. That isn't anything Chip hasn't said on the record for the record.
TOP (time of possession) is something that all OC's with spread offenses deal with and understanding how to throttle it down when your D needs a breather or understanding the situation. Here is what I will say on that from talking to Long and reading up on his history, he likes to control the ball even with tempo and that involves a heavy dose of running the ball and they have three very solid RBs and at least two QBs who can run it really well so they have options to control the game that way. I think coach Key, coach Weinke, coach Long and all aligned with the vision for what the positions are supposed to do and obviously so are coach Daniels and coach Del, but the first three are the key pieces to me and that was not aligned before either. Long isn't going to be cute or get caught up in the offense of the week games that we saw before as well where they had a game plan and hit a roadblock when it hit a snag. His system is designed to adapt but the plays are similar just run out of different formations with variations instead of drastic grabbing at straws. I'm excited to see how it looks against another team.
When’s the next war room v
KQ- Probably leading into camp so the last week of this month. I don't run them unless there is enough info to make it make sense. There isn't a ton going on as people are coming back from vacations and the thing starts really rolling downhill toward camp the next two weeks. The last three weeks are the slowest of the year other than Christmas break.
Most likely to happen in your opinion-
ACC added to its Conference or
ACC losing enough teams and possibly losing what little bit of clout it has now?
KQ- I hate to be this guy, but I don't think anyone is going anywhere and I think politics are about to get involved in all of this which will grind some of this stuff to a halt as well. There are a lot of hurt feelings in various places. The ACC teams other than ND are completely stuck as I understand it. The Big Ten and SEC are not going to take 6-8 teams and that is what you would need to break up the conference and get out of the GOR as it is a $300 million per team at least pricetag.
What would be the prudent move is for the ACC to work with ESPN and leverage the Big Ten's Fox deal to counterprogram some because no one is interested in watching Oklahoma-Missouri or South Carolina-Arkansas nationally. They need some of the ACC brands and they need creative matchups.
What does that mean? Partnering up with the Pac-12? I'm, not sure.
I also don't buy this theory that the Big XII has some great bargaining position in all of this, unless they can add Oregon and Washington they have basically a G5 conference level draw or a hyper-regional one. TCU, Texas Tech, Iowa State, KU (football), Cincinnati, UCF, Houston, K-State, who is watching that every week?
From everything, I'm hearing and what the people who I would say are most plugged in with the TV partners and the leagues are hearing, it hinges on ND and they are like a turtle crawling toward joining a conference and not very interested still in giving up their independence as long as they have a seat at the table. Their AD has been pretty clear they are being very particular even with NIL. A lot of that is why Brian Kelly left for LSU, ND just views FB in a 20th-century mode and not a 21st-century mode.
Was on the Ramblin Wreck online store… needless to say I think there was every shade of gold/yellow imaginable on there. Also the designs aren’t very fashionable either.
Have there been any talks about them and Sec. 103 partnering up or something?
KQ- Those types of deals are wrapped up in tons of legal rights and involve multiple parties, there is extremely unlikely to even be something they could consider doing IMO. I worked in the merch business when I was in college for several years and the way all of that works would make your head explode. Things even like the website design for the official site are parts of contracts that involve massive amounts of money so you can't just pull a string on something very easily and say hey I want X to sell our merch now.
Disappointing to hear Houck is leaving to VT now. But I’ve never felt too good about a dual sport QB at the college level. Do y’all think that playing both baseball and football at the collegiate level is feasible and still be successful? What’s the risk/reward for playing both?
RJ- It can still be done. As I said earlier in the mailbag, do I believe Chip Long and Chris Weinke are running to the table to sign up for a dual-sport starting QB? I doubt it.
Being able to balance playing multiple sports at the college level takes a special level of focus/discipline that not everyone has.
The sting of missing out on guys like Houck and Lonergan will be better defined once it is known what GT does at the QB spot in the 2023 class. Do they go after a transfer, or find a late-riser at the position?
Getting back to your question, I still believe that a baseball/football combo is definitely something that can be done, but the circumstances/personnel around the football program are likely not in a position where it makes sense.
KQ- Most dual sport guys don't actually end up playing both sports for very long if at all. There are some exceptions even within this program it is a rarity. Usually they pick on sport and focus on that and maybe you see a Roddy Jones as an upperclassman dabble with playing baseball again, but that is it.
