the real Josh Allen dillema

[GoGoPokes]

Ever since the middle of last season I have been looking at what it would mean if Josh Allen actually looked like someone who could succeed at the NFL level. I have quietly been hoping that he wouldn't succeed not because I don't want personal success in his life, but because I think it would have been a lot easier as a Wyoming fan to accept that Josh Allen may have the physical tools but not the professional make up to be a great quarterback.

So if yesterday wasn't a fluke, we are looking at one of two sad scenarios for Wyoming football.

1. This coaching staff is in over their heads and we have seen the ceiling for what they can do.

2. Our program no matter the coaching staff or any individual standout player is what it is and we can at best hope to be a 2nd place division winner and go to the Poinsettia Bowl.

If either of these is correct, I suppose it is possible (see Tulane, Hawaii) to truly catch lightning in a bottle one year and have an undefeated season and go get drilled by an upper echelon power 5 team...but sadly in thinking over this last year, I think that is the extent of what we can do.

[castlerocker]

With that kind of outlook, maybe you should just take your meds and climb back in bed.

[OrediggerPoke]

FFS, this is the same coaching staff that noticed his talent (when few others did) and got him to come to Wyoming. Yes it stuns me too that so few other coaches noticed this incredible once in a generation physical talent.

Allen's success in the NFL could only lead to more prospects giving Wyoming and Bohl a chance. "Hey...I might not be recruited by Alabama but I can go throw the ball under the guy that developed and put Wentz and Allen into the NFL."

[McPeachy]

FFS, this is the same coaching staff that noticed his talent (when few others did) and got him to come to Wyoming. Yes it stuns me too that so few other coaches noticed this incredible once in a generation physical talent.

Allen's success in the NFL could only lead to more prospects giving Wyoming and Bohl a chance. "Hey...I might not be recruited by Alabama but I can go throw the ball under the guy that developed and put Wentz and Allen into the NFL."

Agree with this. What a strange OP.

To me, it shows that we (UW- Vigen - Bohl) didn't use JA to the extent we should have last season. Then again, UW receivers had a major case of the "drops" last year, and the o-line at UW was eerily reminiscent of the Bills o-line this season (weak, slow, fat, uninspired, young, whatever).

[stymeman]

He's gonna be a stud superstar in the NFL!!! Especially if he becomes and stays a fan fave in Buffalo!! Perhaps next best since Jim Kelly!!

[GoGoPokes]

With that kind of outlook, maybe you should just take your meds and climb back in bed.

Maybe that’s what I need, my meds and back to bed. But here is something to think about:

Saturday afternoon/Sunday morning what should Nebraska fans be feeling after an 0-3 start with the losses they have had? I can see them under Scott Frost righting the ship and being competitive, but is Nebraska ever going to be back to where they were in the 90’s? And with either answer that is in your mind what is your reasoning?

People can call me a glass half empty Cowboy fan but I still cheer loud and am a proud Cowboy fan in the middle of Nebraska who comes every chance I get, I just don’t prefer to get my hopes too high to only think back to why the Pokes haven’t won a conference title in 30 years.

[Asmodeanreborn]

FFS, this is the same coaching staff that noticed his talent (when few others did) and got him to come to Wyoming. Yes it stuns me too that so few other coaches noticed this incredible once in a generation physical talent.

Allen's success in the NFL could only lead to more prospects giving Wyoming and Bohl a chance. "Hey...I might not be recruited by Alabama but I can go throw the ball under the guy that developed and put Wentz and Allen into the NFL."

Completely agree, There used to be at most one or two Wyoming players at a time on NFL rosters, but now we're at a point where the list is actually growing fairly long. Yes, that's definitely not just thanks to Bohl, but our current defensive roster will likely add a few more such players. Recruits WILL take notice, as this is something that's obviously mentioned during visits.

Our currently list has 9 players on it. That's more than Arizona (8), Iowa State (4), Kansas (6), Kentucky (8), Wazzu (7), and more importantly, CSU (8). The list is probably a lot longer, but I only went to K, and happened to know Wazzu's number.

[307bball]

Ever since the middle of last season I have been looking at what it would mean if Josh Allen actually looked like someone who could succeed at the NFL level. I have quietly been hoping that he wouldn't succeed not because I don't want personal success in his life, but because I think it would have been a lot easier as a Wyoming fan to accept that Josh Allen may have the physical tools but not the professional make up to be a great quarterback.

So if yesterday wasn't a fluke, we are looking at one of two sad scenarios for Wyoming football.

1. This coaching staff is in over their heads and we have seen the ceiling for what they can do.

2. Our program no matter the coaching staff or any individual standout player is what it is and we can at best hope to be a 2nd place division winner and go to the Poinsettia Bowl.

If either of these is correct, I suppose it is possible (see Tulane, Hawaii) to truly catch lightning in a bottle one year and have an undefeated season and go get drilled by an upper echelon power 5 team...but sadly in thinking over this last year, I think that is the extent of what we can do.

Man...it's like your reading my mind. At the end of the day what is it that seperates the tiers of FBS football team? I'm increasingly of the opinion that it is not X's and O's, offensive schemes, and on-field strategy that separates the successful schools from the (and I say this with great pain) Wyomings of the world. There really are no stones left un-turned when it comes to strategy/recruiting anymore. Yes there is some marginal gains to be made if you have some slight schematic advantage or recruiting advantage that you can leverage into a successful season or two, but that's it. Nebraska and Utah are great examples of some of the last teams to do this in the modern era. Nebraska in the late 80's early 90's had a revolutionary strength and conditioning program that resulted in them having dominant offensive linemen and defenses. Urban Meyer's Utah teams were miles ahead of everybody else with the zone-read and rpo offense that you see every Saturday nowadays. Both of those schools had great success while what they were doing was novel and different than what everybody else was doing. Now that everybody has caught up there isn't anything special about those teams.

Look through the annals of college football...why do certain teams have such high floor?...or floors that last for such short times? I think it has to do with culture and athletic department/university/state commitment to football (not general athletic) excellence. I'm pretty sure Wyoming will never compete with the Alabama/Ohio State/USC/Notre Dame type of programs .... and I'm beginning to wonder if we can even be, on a consistent basis, in the top 10% of G5 schools.

I'm not trying to troll .. and this topic is probably best suited to the off-season when there isn't the week to week highs and lows of wins/losses. The question would be: What moves must be made so that the floor for Wyoming football in a given 4-year interval is as high as possible?

*edit: Just to clarify...I don't see a scenario where having JA be a stud in the NFL is bad for Wyoming.

[BackHarlowRoad]

I find it surreal to see people coming to terms with the fact that we will never be an Alabama type of school.

Someone really thought that was a possibility?

[GoGoPokes]

I find it surreal to see people coming to terms with the fact that we will never be an Alabama type of school.

Someone really thought that was a possibility?

I would love to hear anyone admit to the fact that we would be in the Alabama stratosphere. I was just trying to point out that we have major hurdles in being a year in and year out Mountain West contender and that I think any hype around Josh would indicate that we are on our way might not be the truth.

[307bball]

I find it surreal to see people coming to terms with the fact that we will never be an Alabama type of school.

Someone really thought that was a possibility?

I don't think anybody here thinks that having an Alabama type of program is a reality...I'm just wondering if there is even a precedent in Wyoming's football history for sustained success in our tier ( i.e. conference titles and clubbing the teams at the bottom of FCS ).

[McPeachy]

I find it surreal to see people coming to terms with the fact that we will never be an Alabama type of school.

Someone really thought that was a possibility?

As things are right now, there is no way. The gap has never been larger. And growing. That is what makes rooting for Wyoming so much more satisfying in my opinion.

[stymeman]

I find it surreal to see people coming to terms with the fact that we will never be an Alabama type of school.

Someone really thought that was a possibility?

It sure would be nice, BUT, I wish the Power 5 would break free have their own playoff system and the rest use the bowl games as a playoff system so that when we are rewarded with post season it means a bit more, but I know that'll never happen, it's like it always is, the haves vs the have nots, but hey we can dream of a New Year's 6 some day some year!!! GO POKES

[Pokes fan 24-7]

I find it surreal to see people coming to terms with the fact that we will never be an Alabama type of school.

Someone really thought that was a possibility?

It sure would be nice, BUT, I wish the Power 5 would break free have their own playoff system and the rest use the bowl games as a playoff system so that when we are rewarded with post season it means a bit more, but I know that'll never happen, it's like it always is, the haves vs the have nots, but hey we can dream of a New Year's 6 some day some year!!! GO POKES

They should expand the playoff to 16 teams. Teams would include The P5 conference champs, the top 3 G5 conference champs and 8 at large teams based on ranking. They could play the first two rounds in December have two weeks off for the regular bowl games and then play the last two rounds at the beginning of January like they already do for the 4 team. You could still incorporate the Bowl sponsorships into the final two rounds like they are for the four team playoff. Teams with winning records could still go to bowl games in the two week off period.

[WyoBrandX]

The NCAA needs to step up and salary/budget cap all coaches in Div 1 football. Congress should follow suit and deny any tuition or research funding to universities that don't implement the salary/budget caps. There isn't any need for gold plated urinals in the locker rooms. At a certain point, this is just getting too far out of control.

Playing fields need leveled in order for all institutions to be competitive. There is no reason for texas to have a $100m football budget per year. That is just taking away from higher learning in general.

[WyoRev]

The NCAA needs to step up and salary/budget cap all coaches in Div 1 football. Congress should follow suit and deny any tuition or research funding to universities that don't implement the salary/budget caps. There isn't any need for gold plated urinals in the locker rooms. At a certain point, this is just getting too far out of control.

Playing fields need leveled in order for all institutions to be competitive. There is no reason for texas to have a $100m football budget per year. That is just taking away from higher learning in general.

Even with their recent slide, Texas averages 93,000 attendance per game. We average about 1/5 of that. Our athletic budget is about 1/5 of the Texas budget. I know that's a gross over-simplification, but it is what it is...big business. According to some viewpoints, the current state of college football is the level playing field. The schools with more resources have the larger athletic budgets. Isn't that how things work in America?

[WyoBrandX]

The NCAA needs to step up and salary/budget cap all coaches in Div 1 football. Congress should follow suit and deny any tuition or research funding to universities that don't implement the salary/budget caps. There isn't any need for gold plated urinals in the locker rooms. At a certain point, this is just getting too far out of control.

Playing fields need leveled in order for all institutions to be competitive. There is no reason for texas to have a $100m football budget per year. That is just taking away from higher learning in general.

Even with their recent slide, Texas averages 93,000 attendance per game. We average about 1/5 of that. Our athletic budget is about 1/5 of the Texas budget. I know that's a gross over-simplification, but it is what it is...big business. According to some viewpoints, the current state of college football is the level playing field. The schools with more resources have the larger athletic budgets. Isn't that how things work in America?

I certainly understand your point - my point is - their head coach makes $5.5m a year at an institution that is funded in part by taxpayers of state and country. Salary caps/budget caps at these institutions should be mandatory. They aren't curing cancer - they are being judged on 36 hours of football per year. In doing so, they are getting every institution out there to waste more money trying to be competitive. It would be one thing if these were all privately funded private institutions, but many of these are public institutions receiving taxpayer money to fund education.

[WestWYOPoke]

The NCAA needs to step up and salary/budget cap all coaches in Div 1 football. Congress should follow suit and deny any tuition or research funding to universities that don't implement the salary/budget caps. There isn't any need for gold plated urinals in the locker rooms. At a certain point, this is just getting too far out of control.

Playing fields need leveled in order for all institutions to be competitive. There is no reason for texas to have a $100m football budget per year. That is just taking away from higher learning in general.

Even with their recent slide, Texas averages 93,000 attendance per game. We average about 1/5 of that. Our athletic budget is about 1/5 of the Texas budget. I know that's a gross over-simplification, but it is what it is...big business. According to some viewpoints, the current state of college football is the level playing field. The schools with more resources have the larger athletic budgets. Isn't that how things work in America?

I certainly understand your point - my point is - their head coach makes $5.5m a year at an institution that is funded in part by taxpayers of state and country. Salary caps/budget caps at these institutions should be mandatory. They aren't curing cancer - they are being judged on 36 hours of football per year. In doing so, they are getting every institution out there to waste more money trying to be competitive. It would be one thing if these were all privately funded private institutions, but many of these are public institutions receiving taxpayer money to fund education.

I get what you are saying, however, it should be noted that most of the big schools like Texas don't use any state monies to pay for their coaches' salaries.

No state funds are used to pay for any salary in the UT athletic department, which is completely self-sufficient. - Houston Chronicle

They get that money through ticket sales, TV revenue, merchandise, concessions, etc.

Even at smaller schools like Wyoming, a portion of the salary may be from state funds but the majority of the salary comes from donor dollars.

Having said all that, I agree with you that there should be a cap on coaches' salaries regardless of where the money is coming from.

[Cornpoke]

I find it surreal to see people coming to terms with the fact that we will never be an Alabama type of school.

Someone really thought that was a possibility?

But you have to bring that mentality to the program if you want to even think about being half of what Alabama is. This mentality of "we are who are" mediocrity is absolute poison to any program. Our sure as hell hope our coaching staff thinks they can recruit, coach, and build a program as good as Alabama.

Of course we know as fans we are not going to get to the level of Alabama but I damn well want my coaching staff thinking we can. You have to think like a winner and not accept anything less.

[ELKMT]

Didn’t u of U beat Bama as a member of the MW? Why not UW?