AtlantaTiger

4 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

I don't think that is true. We had already lost to Fairfield and our computer numbers were not anywhere close to what they were last year. Plus at that point, Clemson's numbers were terrible too. Very few if any had those thoughts at the time. It was a good opportunity to improve those numbers and we were all pissed that it was another missed opportunity at a Power 5 win, but I don't think anyone was thinking at-large after the Fairfield loss. I also didn't realize at the time that it was going to lead to a stretch where this team completely unraveled for 4-5 games.  

Unraveling over a 4-5 game stretch is a given with all Pat Skerry teams.  This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who follow Towson hoops. 

Let's all pray this team somehow defies the odds and finds a way to put together their best run of the season in D.C.

I desperately want to eat crow about Pat Skerry.

Just thinking back to the Clemson game and how some people were fuming over that loss because they felt as though that could factor for a potential At-large bid for Towson to the NCAA Tournament.  At-large....that's cute.  🤣

#PatSkerrySquads

Death, taxes and underperforming Skerry teams.

Amazing that Skerry acknowledged that "not finishing" is the team's "M.O.".....that perfectly summarizes not just this team's season but Skerry's entire Towson career.  

9 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

 

Ah yes, “Townson”. 🙄

Did we play to Elon’s level or did they play to ours? 

2 hours ago, mat1992 said:

 

Interesting. I see that one of his coaches is former TU Tiger Darnell “Sporty” Evans. 

25 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

 

I'm guessing Rob doesn't have an agent and would negotiate any future coaching gigs himself?  

As a well documented Skerry critic I will try my best to be objective but I believe it really boils down to three things with Skerry.

1. Poor recruiting (relative to other CAA programs). The talent just hasn’t been cutting it. 

2. Zero player development. When you’re starting with work-in-progress/mid-tier talent you had better have a the type of staff that knows how to bring players along and maximize their potential. Has anyone seen that in our guys over the years?

3. Coaching acumen. In my opinion Pat has long appeared to be a bit in over his head. I can’t help but feel like there’s a disconnect between he and his players as though they either don’t listen to him, disregard him or lack respect for his coaching. I think he’d make a fine DIII coach. 
 

Charleston is having the season we thought we could have. Good on them. 

Towson men’s hoops under Pat Skerry has largely feasted on mediocre/inferior competition. While 20 win seasons are very nice and should be commended, it’s a bit of “fool’s gold”. 
 

Skerry has a bunch of wins against lesser teams, very few signature/marquee wins (defined as either upset OOC wins or clutch conference wins) and regularly has some flat-out stink bomb clunkers. 
 

The sample size is plenty big and he is what he is as a coach. Zero reason to believe this team will get the job done in the conference tournament. I will fly back to Baltimore and personally apologize to coach if & when this team makes it to the big dance under his leadership.

Great man, so-so coach. 

On 12/19/2022 at 10:55 PM, mat1992 said:

https://towsontigers.com/news/2022/12/19/shinnick-adds-four-assistant-coaches-to-football-staff.aspx

I wouldn't say I was overwhelmed by anything so far, but Coach Pete deserves the chance to prove himself and get talented players. However, if he doesn't hire at least one Baltimore coach and one from the DMV or one with both ties, I'll be extremely disappointed. I assume the CB,  RB or WR coach will be from PG, Howard, AA, Balto and/or MOCO. 

 

Brian Sheppard, OC/QB coach

Last was a coach at Stetson (Fla.), where they threw for 295.9 yards per game to lead the Pioneer League. He was also at Minnesota, but what I like most was that he was OC at Indiana State and guided them to the FCS playoffs in 2014. There he ran a NO-HUDDLE, UP-TEMPO, SPREAD-BASED offense. Many other stops but has a recruiting base in Maryland, PA, northern Ohio, Texas and Louisiana when he was at West Virginia Wesleyan, Recruited southern California when he was at UCLA. Oklahoma, Kansas and Arizona while he was at New Mexico State. Recruited eastern North Carolina and Virginia beach while at VMI. Needs a QB of course, but his QBs set an FCS record by throwing 368 straight passes without a pick. I do like the potential of throwing the ball all over the field and playing up-tempo. 

 

Darian Dulin-DC/DB

Ah yes, the toughest job of them all. Coaching defense at Towson. He was a three-year DC at West Florida. Before that spent time in Abilene Christina, Coffeyville C.C., Tarleton State, Butler C.C., Sam Houston State, and Kansas Wesleyan. He as a Master's from Tarleton State in 2001. No wonder one of the first offers today was from a DL from Tarleton State.

 

Alex Krutsch, ST coordinator/DL

The first of the coaches coming with Pete Shinnock to Maryland, Krutch was a third-team all-conference player at Northern Illinois in 2009. Was the DL coach a UWF helping them finish top two in sacks per game in the GSC (Gulf South). A former strength coach who was at UNC Pembroke with Pinnock. 

 

Britton Myers, Linebacker coach

The second of former West Florida coaches to move up to Maryland. He was the LB coach and special teams coach at UWR. Was DB and DB a Lane Tech in Chicago and then spent time at Knox College as Co-DC and DB coach before moving back to WFla where had All-American honorees at punter, kicker and returner in two years.

 

 

 

 

I have no problem at all with his first four hires.  He's new and needs guys he that he trusts and who are familiar with his system, style & processes to make sure they can hit the ground running in establishing a new culture at Towson.  I agree that we need some local flavor on the staff in some capacity.  

I have absolutely no idea what to expect from the December or February signing periods.  Guessing the bigger impact will come from portal newcomers.

26 minutes ago, Blounge said:

Hulu has live sports if you want to tune in to College of Charleston and Coastal Carolina

Watching this game. First time seeing CofC this season. This Scott kid for Charleston is a monster! He looks like a defensive end playing PG. He’s listed at 6’5 225lbs. Can you say, matchup problem?!?

Sincere question, do the guys on the team respect Skerry as a basketball coach and as a basketball “mind”? I’m sure they all like & respect him as a man and as a pillar of the community that he truly is but do they trust what he’s taking about when it comes to X’s & O’s, strategy and his bball IQ? Do they respect him as an authority figure? I feel like he could read them the riot act to get them motivated and get their butts in gear and it would just go in one ear and out the other. 
 

What’s his reputation on the recruiting trail and in coaching circles? 

I just think it's refreshing and fascinating to see someone who has no prior/existing connection to Towson at the helm.  Our previous 4 coaches were all Towson "lifers".  Felt a bit high schoolish that each coach was someone with direct ties to the program.....felt a little bit like nepotism and a small-minded approach to hiring.  Having an outsider, with bona fide success and credentials at other programs with no preconceived notions or bias towards the program is great.  He's coming in looking at things with fresh eyes and is not jaded by any historical connection to the program.  

Will he succeed?  Who knows.  However, he's not beholden to doing things the "Towson" way, he gets to do things his way.  With each passing day and with every little bit more info/content I see or read about him, I like this hire more & more.

Can't wait to see the staff he puts together.

Don’t mind his DII experience at all. In fact, I was hoping the Slippery Rock coach would have somehow found his way into the mix. I liked his record, regional connections and his age. I think that dude could have a bright future in the FCS or FBS ranks.
 

After thinking about the Shinnick hiring some more, what I hope could be a silver lining are his connections to Florida high school programs. Wouldn’t mind some more Florida speed and talent in Baltimore. 

I personally felt like we needed someone with a track record of success and a proven winner and this guy appears to meet that criteria for sure. Hard to argue with his resume.  Will it translate at this level?  Will top level FCS talent be clamoring to come play for this guy? Who knows?

I will be very interested to see what kind of staff he brings with him.  Will he just bring his current staff or will he look to upgrade?  How "hands-on" is he with Xs/Os?  Is he a fantastic recruiting salesman and game day motivator? 

More questions than answers right now, but absolutely need to throw all of our support behind him.

Go Tigers!!

We need to make a splashy HC hire to draw interest to the program and to drive ticket sales.  Is there a "poor man's" Deion Sanders available? 😉

William & Mary really crapping the bed right now. 

3 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Charlotte is expandable.  Ok so where is this stadium going to be built? Hereford? Hartford county?  Can’t be anywhere close to campus. 

Been a while since I’ve been back to Johnny U. but couldn’t a creative architecture design group find a way to squeeze in a few extra thousand seats in both end zones if needed? Make it a complete bowl? 

44 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Getting closer by the way. Should be down to three so next week is a possibility. Need to get it done at least a week before signing day on Dec 21.

Not saying you need to disclose any names but do you have any idea who's in consideration at this point?

22 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Well our Net Rating would have gone sky high and what does that mean? A higher seed if you win the CAA Tournament and we basically had to go undefeated in non conference play and lose only a few games in conference to be considered for an at large. 
 

But I never understand all the BS about these games don’t matter. A win over an ACC school on the road would have gotten us huge publicity even if it’s just social media. Alums who don’t care would wake up and notice. Outside of winning a CAA Tournament this would have a big feather in our cap. Great for the conference as well.

Sure, I suppose the Net Rating thing is a valid point but for a program that hasn't made the tournament since *1991* maybe we should pump the brakes on pondering how our Net Rating is going to impact our tourney seed.  Let's see if Pat can finally prove that he can even get us in as just a 16 seed before we start debating our merits for being a higher seed.  

I honestly don't know how much a win over Clemson would have roused the sleepy TU fan base.  They're certainly a solid squad this year but they've been a bit of an up & down program over the years and it's still undoubtedly a "football school".  It would take an upset win over a UVA, UNC or other blue-blood basketball school for it to truly fire up the passive TU fans.

I know that beating a team from the big, bad ACC would have been a feather in our cap and would have been a notable win on Skerry's resume but ultimately this game means absolutely nothing.  We could have beaten them by 20 and it would have made ZERO difference come March.  For all intents & purposes there's no difference if Towson plays Clemson or if Towson plays FDU, Holy Cross or Mercer as our entry into the NCAA Tournament isn't determined by strength of schedule or "quality wins" with no At-large bids in the CAA.  Please also note that I'm not throwing shade at any of those other schools I just mentioned as they've all had more success reaching the NCAA Tournament in recent years than our Skerry-led Tigers.  To scrutinize or agonize over an early season non-conference game seems like a waste of time.  It all boils down to 3 days in early March.

Just. Win. The. Conference. Tournament.

Not that this process is taking a long time, per se, but the fact that we haven't announced a hire yet makes me think the target candidate is currently with a program that is still playing meaningful games, whether at the FCS or FBS level.  My anticipation grows with each passing day!!

Go Tigers!!

1 hour ago, mat1992 said:

To be expected. Makai Self is also in portal

 

How many others are in the portal?  Is there a comprehensive/running list somewhere?

11 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

 

I happen to think Towson’s football program is at a pivotal point and needs an experienced HC with a program-building and/or championship winning background.  I don’t love the idea of rolling the dice on young coordinators or position coaches. I get that these guys could probably relate very well to young recruits but we need someone who can come in and bring instant credibility as a HC. The future of our program is at stake. 

2 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Forgot about Flood's issues at Rutgers of alleged misconduct and a program rum amok in 2015. So no. He'll likely never be a head coach again.

He’s been touched by the hand of Nick Saban, he’s good. Lane Kiffin and others have resurrected their head coaching careers after Saban rehabilitates them. Flood will be a HC again. Mark my words.