OFFSEASON HEADLINES

Hello College Football fans.  The 2014 season has come to an end and a champion was crowned, however, just because the games have end doesn't mean the news has stopped.  Between coaching changes, on-going recruiting battles, changes/updates to playbooks and philosophies, etc there is still a lot of news-worthy topics to be discussed.

Feel free (and I encourage you) to use this thread to keep the rest of the AALoA world updated on your school's offseason progress.

The coaches of the AALoA have been very successful in the last two years and their names have been hot commodities as teams scramble to find a new Head Coach for the 2015 season and beyond.  Here's a look at the status of the AALoA Coaches and their decisions regarding where they will coach next season.

Coach Steel Pitt - Turned down South Carolina to stay at Iowa.
Coach Anderson - Turned down opportunities at South Carolina and TCU to stay at Alabama.
Coach EDJ - Turned down opportunities at South Carolina and TCU to stay at Nebraska.
Coach Squirrel Hunter - Turned down TCU to stay at Michigan State.
Coach Burnum - Turned down Oregon to stay at Florida State.
Coach Mustard - Turned down Navy to stay at Missouri.
Coach Buckeye - Turned down Navy to stay at Ohio State.
Coach OV4U2 - Turned down Navy to stay at Notre Dame.
Coach Eversole - Turned down Troy to stay at Penn State.
Coach Animosity - Turned down troy to stay at Illinois.
Coach Truth - Turned down Arkansas State to sty at Georgia Tech.
Coach Ken - Turned the Boise State DC job to stay at UCLA.

The Iowa Hawkeyes finished the 2014 season on top of the college football world as they hoisted the BCS Trophy following their 21-20 victory over #2 Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game.  Coach Steel Pitt knows, however, that there are still areas that can be improved to make this team even better and he and his staff have wasted no time to addressing those areas.

One such area is the QB position on offense.  The Hawkeyes went undefeated this season despite having constant uncertainty at the QB position.  QB Jake Rudock was the incumbent starter but missed 5 games due an injury in the opener and was never the same after that.  Redshirt freshmen Nic Shimonek filled in admirably but struggled with turnovers as the season went on.  True freshmen QB Jason Wade provided the dual threat that Coach Steel Pitt was looking for but had issues with his accuracy throughout the season.  However, it became clear down the stretch that the offense was much more effective, consistent and dangerous when the true freshmen was under center.  Coach Steel Pitt and Offensive Coordinator Greg Davis are in agreement that Jason Wade will have the first shot at earning the starting spot going into Spring Practice and even if he isn't the starter he will need to be more involved in the offense.

With that said, Coach Steel Pitt and OC Greg Davis have been working on modifying the playbook to include more Pistol Formations and plays that take advantage of Wade's skill set.  The 2015 season could see an Iowa Hawkeyes offense that works at a feverish pace, mostly from the no huddle, headed by a true sophomore in Jason Wade.

More to come as Spring Practice approaches.

With college Seniors and early declares preparing to enter the draft, Head Coaches around the country have to advise their players, in particular those choosing to leave early whether their decision is a good one or not.  That was the case for Coach Steel Pitt as both of his starting CB, redshirt sophomore Maurice Flemming and redshirt junior Jordan Lomax flirted with the idea of forgoing their remaining eligibility to turn pro.

Coach Steel Pitt sat both of them down and was able to convince them of the benefits of staying another year in order to get their degree, work on becomcing better football players and just enjoy yet another year of care free college life at the University of Iowa.  Coach Steel Pitt's words were convincing as both have decided to return to Iowa City for at least another year.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers enter the season with a potential conundrum at Quarterback. Tommy Armstrong Jr was an effective leader and really helped develop the passing game to balance the offense. However, his concussion issue, and lack of an electric first step limited some of his effectiveness. Rumors are growing that TA2 and Coordinator Scott Frost don't see eye to eye.

Freshman Bobby Hale steps in ready to prove his high recruiting ranking. A similar QB to Armstrong, the Huskers don't expect an all out QB battle this spring. But expect a packaged playbook where one QB handles Pistol sets, while the other primarily handles shotgun duties.

Also expect a package or two for a couple electric athletes Nebraska received commits from. They may line up on defense, but can be expected to flash at WR, RB, or even QB in some situations to keep opposing teams on their toes.

With 4 out 5 starting offensive linemen graduating, the QB that can take the least hits might survive as the starter.

Steel Pitt wrote:
Coach Mustard - Turned down Navy to stay at Missouri.

Navy? Barf. Wonder if Oregon finally hired someone lol.

MeanMrMustard wrote:

Steel Pitt wrote:
Coach Mustard - Turned down Navy to stay at Missouri.

Navy? Barf. Wonder if Oregon finally hired someone lol.

Oh yeah that's right.  I actually forgot about that.  When I saw it I thought, wow Oregon fired their HC, but I forgot they didn't have a HC after Degenerate left, lol.  Good point.

There were non-user candidates so I'm assuming they chose someone after Burnum declined.

MeanMrMustard wrote:

DGB to stay at Mizzou

Oh god...

Trae Waynes is coming back! Michigan State returns three of their four starters in the secondary, including two 2014 first team all americans.

Thank God...I convinced Lunt to come back, as he was declaring for the Draft.

MeanMrMustard wrote:

Steel Pitt wrote:
Coach Mustard - Turned down Navy to stay at Missouri.

Navy? Barf. Wonder if Oregon finally hired someone lol.

Looks like Brian George took over the HC job at Oregon.

While many of the AALoA Head Coaches were in high demand for off-season positions at other schools, not everyone is safe at the moment.  AALoA News did a survey of the Head Coaches around the AALoA and spoke with the AD's at the respective schools to see exactly where the coaches stood with the understanding that this would be anonymous.  While most coaches were relatively safe, if not in hot demand by other schools, there were two names that came up as on the Hot Seat (Go To Coach info and check Security Status):

Coach Truth Bonds (Georgia Tech)

Coach Bonds took over the Yellow Jackets after successful stints at Cincinnati and Oregon, however has found the rebuilding project at Georgia Tech slower than expected.  Coach Truth Bonds took over a Yellow Jackets team accustomed to running the triple option and decided to not change too much in his first two years.  His teams have not had the success he would like.  They have made bowl games in both seasons under his reign but have come up short in both.  Coach Bonds hinted midway through the season that there may be changes coming to the offense but time will tell.

Coach Jon Gruden (UCLA)

While offense may be holding back the Yellow Jackets, Coach Gruden's teams have faltered due to poor play on the defensive side of the ball.  Coach Gruden is a known offensive coach but has struggled to adjust to the college game and the high flying offenses of the PAC12.  UCLA has failed to make a bowl game appearance in his two seasons and patience may be wearing thin with the boosters.  Will there be changes to the defense whether its the DC, the scheme or just a heavy concentration on defensive players through recruiting?  Either way, something needs to change and fast before Coach Gruden finds himself back with the FFCA.

MLB David Santos and CB Jonathan Rose bypass the draft temptation to come back for their Senior seasons. Both players are cornerstones of a very, VERY young defense.

Pete Carrol returns to Coach the USC Trojans! And starts off Convincing LE Leonard Williams and DT Antwaun Woods to stay in school to get there degree.

Georgia Tech loses 75 overall freshman Rb Anthony Burns because he's transferring to Auburn. I have depth at rb but it hurts to lose that type of talent after recruiting him so hard.

Also transferring is DE Ronald Holmes. That hurts because I'm already thin on the d line

So we're not losing any Juniors to early entry, but we have 18, yes you read that right, 18 players either graduating (6) or projected to go in the first 6 rounds of the NFL Draft (12), all rated between 83 and 97 overall. 

Definitely going to be competitive next year but we are really going to have to earn every cent of our paycheck to make it out of the SEC and back to a BCS bowl. Looking for big returns from our recruiting and off season training to help as well. There are no off years in Tuscaloosa.

WOW. Somehow I managed to land my top three prospects (79 WR, 77 FS, 77 DT). The DT was going to FSU and the FS to Auburn to start the offseason, and Ken was within striking distance on the WR.

Got my stud MLB, but lost out on stealing the athletic QB from truth. Got a gem Offensive Guard too.  And somehow, Penn State got a kicker that I had offered a scholarship to weeks ago, and had a huge lead on.

The Hawkeyes manage to pull off a Top 20 recruiting class and after reviewing the position changes there are potentially 3 starters (OT, OLB and SS) however that's all pending training/progression.  Coach Steel Pitt was very happy with this class as well as the talent from the 2013 class as their should be a good number of those players in the lineup in 2016.

Nebraska didn't have any major position changes to note thanks to the return of MLB Santos. With progression, the Huskers should have 5 or 6 LBs in the mid to high 80s ratings or higher. With the CBs a weakness a year ago (damn you Mumphreeeeyyyy!) the return of Jonathan Rose makes that unit solid. Expect freshman athlete to line up here and on offense.  I will say this, recruits that had a chance to start may actually look to red-shirt to clear out some vets that will progress beyond their ratings. We'll see.

Also, #4 recruiting class?! Woot!

Somehow have the 14th ranked class...wow

With no one running back separating himself, a (potentially) dominating offensive line, quarterback, and set of receivers, Michigan State is toying with the idea of a full time no huddle pro-style system where up to 5 RBs would receive touches. Regardless, it should be another high-scoring season in East Lansing.

SquirrelHunter wrote:With no one running back separating himself, a (potentially) dominating offensive line, quarterback, and set of receivers, Michigan State is toying with the idea of a full time no huddle pro-style system where up to 5 RBs would receive touches. Regardless, it should be another high-scoring season in East Lansing.

It should be another exciting year in the B1G West.

Did I forget to mention Wes Lunt is a 99 overall now?

Coach Pete Carrol has just finished redshirting players but no one more controversial then HB Justin Davis who has 97 speed, when asked Coach Carrol replied "It's part of the plan I have two workhorse RBs that can hold the load while he refines his skills this season."

x--Nike wrote:Coach Pete Carrol has just finished redshirting players but no one more controversial then HB Justin Davis who has 97 speed, when asked Coach Carrol replied "It's part of the plan I have two workhorse RBs that can hold the load while he refines his skills this season."

Must be nice to have that kind luxury. lol

I would settle for one RB on my roster with that type of speed. haha

My roster is loaded hope I dont blow all this talent away with terrible games lol