AtlantaTiger

27 minutes ago, Blounge said:

Bucknell and Morgan state as our “fun” out of conference selections. Maybe these picks were made not because they are great matchups but because of a lack of funds and these are nearby colleges. West Virginia as our money game. If memory serves last time we went to Morgantown it was not pleasant. Losing 54-0 does nothing positive for our brand. I like the LSU, Florida. Wake Forest games better

Selfishly, I would love to see TU schedule more OOC games with schools down south to make it easier to get to a game. Why not look at getting games with Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Furman, Chattanooga, Kennesaw St., etc......could help expand the brand and our recruiting base.

Is there any "bracketology" scenario that has us playing in Greenville in the first round??  Would LOVE to make the quick 2 hour drive up to G'ville to see the Tigers play......while sporting my #14 Neal Towson jersey.

Please close the deal, Tigers. For the love of God, please.  

While I am critical of Coach Skerry, I don't think I'm unfair and so he deserves credit when credit is due.  That was a great, confidence-inspiring win.  Great job from top to bottom.

Keep it going, boys! Do NOT take your feet off the gas.

Go Tigers!

Time will tell, but on initial review of credentials and experience, I think I really like this hire.  As I stated in earlier posts on this topic, I thought it would be a wise idea to get someone from a southern/SEC school where there is a greater appreciation and urgency around the football programs.  Plus, this guy is a "local" of sorts with his ties to PA & UMD.

Hopefully he's a great salesman and an innovative marketing mind.

Color me impressed.

Go Tigers!

Thought some of you might find this funny.  Last week Atlanta sports talk station, 680 The Fan, had on Jeff Schultz who covers UGA football for The Athletic.

In discussing the transfer portal and how the Georgia Bulldogs might be impacted by it he somehow decided to make a random, and not so flattering, reference to "Towson State".  Needless to say, I almost drove off the road.  Of all the small, FCS, mid-major programs that exist between Atlanta and Baltimore that he could have mocked, "Towson State" was the one that popped into his head at that very moment??  Not to mention, he and the on-air folks had a good chuckle about it.  No respect. 

Let's get UGA on our schedule!!  😉

m_40830_1880679117_1641998088367_1641998137821__c184071d-9a7a-45bb-ac58-ce9a2a61e540.mp3

Love my Towson Tigers and am extremely proud of their recent performances.  However, as a well-documented skeptic (critic) of Coach Skerry, the conference tourney is all that matters.  He needs to win the conference tourney this year. No excuses, no almosts, no maybes and no buts.....WIN. THE. TOURNAMENT.  He's had too many years and too many chances.

GO TIGERS!!

I think we need to look further south for the next AD.  Pluck an assistant AD from an SEC or Sunbelt school who is ready to take the next step in the career as the top AD.  We need someone who comes from a culture in which football is truly treated as the lifeblood of the athletic department, with men's hoops being a close second.  

My first opportunity to watch this year's squad.  Clearly there's an improved level of talent, athleticism and team chemistry up and down the roster.  Unfortunately, it's still a Pat Skerry led team.

A good number of games we win this season will be because we'll have the superior talent on the floor, not because we have superior coaching.  In how many games will we have the coaching advantage?  Winning IN SPITE of your coaching and not BECAUSE of your coaching is a problem. (This applies to Towson football too.)

This was a game we should have won.  Pitt was ripe for the picking.  I'm actually NOT laying this loss at the feet of Pat.  If our team hits a handful more free throws, if they hit a couple more of their insane number of 3's, we win the game.  However, it does beg the question, how come Pat Skerry teams are historically woeful at the free throw line? How come launching ill-advised 3s is a Pat Skerry-approved strategy?

In what's a pretty underwhelming non-conference schedule this would have been the marquee win and we couldn't close the deal.  

I think this team will provide a lot of fun moments over the course of the season but Pat Skerry has more than proved himself to be a subpar HC at this level.  I have no faith in him.

3 minutes ago, AtlantaTiger said:

Can't wait to see more of Skerry's slow, plodding, methodical, disjointed offense this season!!!

....and lethargic.....did I say lethargic?  

Can't wait to see more of Skerry's slow, plodding, methodical, disjointed offense this season!!!

I believe the success of a program boils down to its culture.  North Dakota State is a machine like no other.  They are a machine because of the unbelievable culture they have established.  There is a NDSU "way" of doing things.  It is instilled in each coach and player year after year after year.  The players are completely bought into the program.  They are extremely disciplined on the field, everyone knowing exactly what their job/role is and a fierce commitment and pride in doing their job well.  I'm guessing NDSU is one of the least penalized teams in FCS over the last decade.  They have DISCIPLINE & PRIDE and it is the fabric of their culture.  Towson football (and athletics in general) is completely devoid of culture.  What is our hallmark or calling-card style of play?  How would anyone define Towson football's culture or identity?  We don't have one.  The players seem to be more concerned with which uniform combination they'll be wearing since it's all about looking the part of a big program.....not actually performing like one.

Which leads me to my next rant.  How can we expect our players to know how to win when the coaches themselves haven't won anything? We don't exactly have a who's-who of coaches in this program.  Who is the most accomplished coach on this staff?  Who's won anything of significance in their previous coaching gigs?  Coaching pedigree is critical for establishing credibility with recruits and current players.  Should we expect that the coaching staff can teach/coach our players to win when they haven't experienced winning/success themselves?

Go Tigers.

Our football team suffers from the same problem as our basketball team....the head coaches are NOT head coaching material.  Probably exceptional as assistants but in over their heads as head coaches at this level.  Both are DIII level caliber head coaches......their recruiting, team prep, player development and in-game coaching decisions substantiate my claim. 

What’s sad is that in his mind he thinks he’s doing an amazing job. 

I'm truly shocked at how non-explosive Towson's offense looked. Looked like they were moving in slow motion.  I don't know why I assumed there was much more speed on this team than there apparently is.

No urgency or creativity in the play-calling. 

Soft defense.

Also, just curious about Elorm Lumor's status on the team? As someone who also keeps a close eye on Rutgers football I know that he was a very solid player for the Scarlet Knights' defense.  Has he been getting any time for Towson?

Time for new leadership for Towson football.

Go Tigers!

I haven't been in the loop the last few weeks, what happened to Jawon Pass? Did I miss him on your depth chart?  Is he no longer joining the program? 

I love seeing a fellow Bergen County, small-school kid heading to Towson!  Lukkas Londono looks like a sneaky-good player.  

Mark Collins, DB from South Dakota. 

QB Jawon Pass transferring from Louisville to Towson!!(?)

How much more Pat Skerry must we endure???  Picking up where I left off at the end of last season.....the sample size is plenty big to know that he's reached his ceiling with this program. Time. For. A. Change.

I was pulling for him to select Texas.  Would have been fun to see what he could do in the Big 12 at a truly elite school.  Best of luck to him regardless!

15 minutes ago, FBS OR BUST said:

JMU has one major problem.  They are in Harrisonburg, VA.  No TV market, which means they bring nothing to the table.  They ain't going anywhere.

That hasn't seemed to be an issue for programs like Marshall, Western Kentucky and Southern Miss that play in similarly sized, rural, markets as JMU.  Conference USA could very well be a landing spot.

2 hours ago, RundaPower said:

Uh, of course.  However,  conference USA etc are going to implode.  When ODU sends it’s women’s Tennis team to North Texas.... it doesn’t work.  ODU athletics is in huge financial trouble.  JMU brings nothing to the G5 world.  Those schools don’t want to have to split more of what’s left of their TV deals with a backwater VA school.  JMU brings no media market to help boost any future TV deal. NOBODY IN THOSE CONFERENCES CARES THAT JMU CAN FILL THEIR STADIUM!  Attendance is not enough to change the dynamic for the G5’s.  It’s all about cost containment (in an arms race) with must have-P5 paydays- and the best TV deal they can get.

I would argue that JMU brings value despite its very limited media worth.  The future of college athletics will be as much of a "land grab" as it will be an "arms race".  As there will almost be a seismic shift in conference alignments and memberships, commissioners and ADs will want to add the best/most competitive schools that they possibly can.  Does JMU bring a ton of eyeballs?  No.  Does JMU field high-caliber football on a fairly regular basis? Yes.  North Dakota State could more than hold its own in FBS.  I would wager they'll be making the FBS jump in the not too distant future as well.  Is Fargo a top media market?  Not at all.  Would conferences love to have NDST's pedigree in among their schools? Absolutely.  

1 hour ago, RundaPower said:

JMU ain’t getting an invite to the ACC, B10 or SEC.  Outside of  a  supposed cursory offer the Sunbelt 8 years ago, they offer no value to FBS football conferences.  

Of course they wouldn't be considered for a Power 5 conference.....I don't think they have that expectation at all.  Conference USA could be a very reasonable destination for a program like JMU.  I doubt Middle Tenn or ODU are outdrawing JMU's crowds by very much. 

4 hours ago, TSU88 said:

I think 2012 brings up an interesting issue. Only 7 freshman recruits in Skerry’s 9 years who’ve stayed through their senior year. Granted, I don’t know how that compares to other CAA schools over the same period of time, but I don’t think it’s inappropriate to ask if Skerry is recruiting the right kind of kids, both from a physical & psychological perspective. We’ve had a lot of kids either transfer, quit, or get kicked off. There’s an argument to make that grad transfers, sit one transfers and JUCO’s should be complimentary pieces to a successful program, rather than the focal points 

If that number is true (7 TOTAL freshmen who have stayed through their senior year in Skerry's 9 years) that might be the most damning indictment against Skerry.  I'm stunned by that statistic, absolutely stunned.  That's shameful.

This program has a revolving door and if we had a competent or interested Athletic Director it would be addressed.