Swarm247 Board

Good. Let em underestimate us. Tech plays better when overlooked. Cpj shouldn't have any motivation issues this year. Honestly I expect a much improved team effort this year. Certainly won't be just "rolling our helmets" out on the field mentality.

I feel the same. Let them predict us as going 3-9 again too. All the more motivation to do well.

we are young and mostly unproven, i agree with you there. but, i respectfully disagree with your last comment. veterans or not, we have enough talent on this team to weather rough patches in our first three games versus western carolina, MTSU, and kansas at home. if we had MTSU, virginia tech, then FSU i'd be much more inclined to agree with you.

we've got a god-send of a schedule to begin this season considering where we stand. we really need to make hay in those games!

Neither team will finish last in their division, bank on it. I'll even go so far as to say both will be in the hunt for their divisions goin into November.

Understood, but the comparison is appropriate. Both programs are led by men that are generally acknowledged to be excellent coaches, but both programs have enjoyed LIMITED AND SPOTTY SUCCESS under those coaches. Both programs have extremely challenging recruiting environments---Tech against Georgia, Wake against the other North Carolina programs. Neither has the rabid, widespread fan base compared to the large state schools, and neither has the resources or financial wherewithal to compete effectively against most their competition. Both programs are in such tenuous positions year in and year out that one significant event such as the loss ONE key player, ONE whacky bounce of the ball, or ONE crazy ruling by the conference or the NCAA has the potential to completely derail a season, and possibly affect several seasons. Both programs live on the edge with little margin for error whether it be in personnel or in performance.

i guess it depends on how we define talent. if talent is defined by experienced, proven quantities across the board i'd say we're lacking. if talent is described more in terms of potential to excel, we certainly have some talent on this team. case in point our secondary. we definitely have some talent and great potential. but, we sorely lack in experience and reps under pressure. they've got a lot to prove this season.

on offense i don't think we have to significantly play over our heads to move the football. that's one plus to the offense we play. however, on the defensive side of the ball, we are gonna need some guys to have career games. and, unless i'm totally surprised by our special teams play in the first three games, they're gonna have to play above expectations.

The talent has always been there. I think people overestimate the gap between being average and being great; in reality, it's a slim margin. It's not that our players are physically incapable of being great. Most of the time, the team that wins is the one that plays harder, tougher, and smarter.

The difference between average and great is in the mind, not in the body.

So except for the 20 or so big, elite, factory programs, you are saying we are "getting better talent than most". So we have better players that, what, 85 of the 119 Division I teams? Coach Johnson has a bit of splainin' to do, doesn't he?

I would disagree with you---emphatically. We don't even get the talent that 8 or nine of the other ACC schools get. We can't touch any school in the SEC save Vanderbilt, probably none of the Big Ten but Northwestern, half the Big East, most of the Big 12, most of the Pac 10 etc. We are in the player pool with many teams in Conference USA and Mountain West, but we have fewer opportunities because of our academics--and reptutation.

I would say we're on par with VT's talent level. FSU and Miami have had talent surges as of late, but there's no reason we can't recruit on that level, we just have to win more games. They have factory hype to help them recruit; we don't. We have to do it the hard way.

And to hammer in my last point again, don't think that FSU and Miami are leaps and bounds above us in recruiting. The difference in talent is marginal, maybe even statistically insignificant. Any Division I player is talented enough to beat any other Division I player one-on-one.

Why would you say that CPJ has to defend himself? Hasn't he proved his merit to you? Or does last season undo everything?

And why is that a bad thing? If he's a walk on that has beaten out the scholarship players, then I'm excited. He must have earned it.

I would say we very nearly do have the talent of all of those schools. But don't mistake talent for success. Ask Mack Brown about that one.

on the offensive side of the coin, i could care less about everyone else's perceived talent as long as we are recruiting the kinda boys we need for our system. i think navy has proven you can move the ball and score in this division with essentially FCS sized players and talent on offense as long as the players execute.

however, on the defensive side of the ball, we definitely need our fair share of proven talent and some genuine stars. missing out on tuitt hurt.

if we field a top-10 D and have the consistency and tenacity of the navy O we'll be damn tough to beat. i don't think it's pie in the sky to think we can do this. it won't be the coming season, though!