Take heart, WYO faithful. You have the makings of a very good team.
After years of lots of winning at the FCS level, App decided to change courses and go FBS. That meant a complete overhaul - adding 22 scholarships meant serious fundraising changes; playing against teams who had recruited size for decades meant changing recruiting tacks and risking losing junior and senior players who had fit perfectly in a small / fast scheme. We needed those same juniors and seniors for leadership. The change meant changing offensive and defensive schemes.
Finally, our legendary coach of 22 years was not necessarily convinced that FBS was a good idea. His effectiveness and discipline had waned. The parting was not handled well by our former AD. The App family was torn.
Enter 2013. New coach - favored son, hero returned home. Everyone had expected Satterfield would take over when Moore retired. Few expected he would take over when he did. 2013 was our farewell tour to FCS, our first of two transitional years to FBS. It was ugly ... really ugly. The recruiting and scheme changing had started but wouldn't work with the players we had.
Another year of recruiting and 2014 began. App fans were trying hard to be optimistic when we lost ... at home ... to a "cupcake". We lost on the road, too. Everything was wrong in the App football world, and App fans were quite vocal about it. Calls for firing coaches were common. Griping was loud. Some of us who've done a bunch of coaching were trying to keep our cool when all about us were losing theirs. We kept seeing glimpses of what could be.
Halfway through the season the penny dropped. App went 6-0 to end the season last year ... on the backs of freshmen and sophomores who were recruited to do exactly what they were doing. 2015 saw 20 of 22 starters returning. Many App fans expect nothing less than 11-1 this season.
All that is to say that I saw good things in the Cowboys yesterday. The red zone inefficiency is painful, I know. Some of that may be play calling. Some may be the inability to execute the play as called. Brian Hill is an absolute beast! As play options become more solid and more numerous, his effectiveness will only increase. You O-line is huge.
Hang on, WYO fans! Support the kids. Support the coaches. Wait. The big wins may, indeed, be just around the corner.
After years of lots of winning at the FCS level, App decided to change courses and go FBS. That meant a complete overhaul - adding 22 scholarships meant serious fundraising changes; playing against teams who had recruited size for decades meant changing recruiting tacks and risking losing junior and senior players who had fit perfectly in a small / fast scheme. We needed those same juniors and seniors for leadership. The change meant changing offensive and defensive schemes.
Finally, our legendary coach of 22 years was not necessarily convinced that FBS was a good idea. His effectiveness and discipline had waned. The parting was not handled well by our former AD. The App family was torn.
Enter 2013. New coach - favored son, hero returned home. Everyone had expected Satterfield would take over when Moore retired. Few expected he would take over when he did. 2013 was our farewell tour to FCS, our first of two transitional years to FBS. It was ugly ... really ugly. The recruiting and scheme changing had started but wouldn't work with the players we had.
Another year of recruiting and 2014 began. App fans were trying hard to be optimistic when we lost ... at home ... to a "cupcake". We lost on the road, too. Everything was wrong in the App football world, and App fans were quite vocal about it. Calls for firing coaches were common. Griping was loud. Some of us who've done a bunch of coaching were trying to keep our cool when all about us were losing theirs. We kept seeing glimpses of what could be.
Halfway through the season the penny dropped. App went 6-0 to end the season last year ... on the backs of freshmen and sophomores who were recruited to do exactly what they were doing. 2015 saw 20 of 22 starters returning. Many App fans expect nothing less than 11-1 this season.
All that is to say that I saw good things in the Cowboys yesterday. The red zone inefficiency is painful, I know. Some of that may be play calling. Some may be the inability to execute the play as called. Brian Hill is an absolute beast! As play options become more solid and more numerous, his effectiveness will only increase. You O-line is huge.
Hang on, WYO fans! Support the kids. Support the coaches. Wait. The big wins may, indeed, be just around the corner.
