Bloomsburg football

[TheBigCat2192]

Today's stats are for individual receiving. All of the notes for this table are repeats:

• There is a minor stat discrepancy vs. the official numbers for Gabe Brower. This stems from a play in the Edinboro game that was credited as a one yard rush but was actually a flip pass on a fly sweep for a gain of one yard.
• A number of pass attempts this year (mostly interceptions) had no listed target. Two were easy to figure out but the others I've simply left unmarked. If you add up total targets in the later receiving post and compare with the total attempts you will find that they don't match.
• The play-by-play for the Seton Hill game does NOT include info on where a ball was thrown (“caught at” for completions and “thrown to” for incompletions.) As a result YAC reflects all games EXCEPT for the game at Seton Hill. This column will be marked with an asterisk to indicate that data is missing.
• The data here does not include 2PA as the play-by-play for them is incomplete.

Receiving
Player	Targets	Receptions	Yards	YAC*	First Downs	Big (20+)	Losses (< = 0)	Long	TD	Fumbles	Lost
Achenbach	16	9	108	38	3	2	0	24	2	0	0
Brower	92	56	798	257	31	10	3	76	9	1	1
Clancy	2	2	55	4	2	1	0	48	0	0	0
Conway	3	2	13	0	1	0	0	10	1	0	0
Diaz	6	3	34	15	2	0	0	15	0	0	0
Griffen-Batchler	90	53	854	269	27	15	1	54	9	0	0
Mackinder	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Landis	16	8	86	14	4	1	0	25	1	0	0
Wojciechowski	29	12	160	11	5	4	0	29	1	0	0
Wolfe	54	42	427	230	18	4	2	60	3	0	0
Zimmerman	2	2	34	31	1	1	0	31	0	0	0

Griffen-Batchler finished off his career with another stellar season and I think it's a bit of a shame that we never managed to get him into a playoff game. When you consider that he missed a game and left the Ship game with injury but still lead the league in yards and was T-2nd in TDs I think he has a fair argument to be the best WR in the conference. At the very least I would consider him 1A/1B with whoever is the best of the West WRs. Brower also had a strong final season (third in yards and T-2nd in TDs) but he did play an extra game vs. Griffen-Batchler to compile stats and was less explosive; about 17.8% of his catches went for 20+ vs. 28.3% for JGB. Brower probably should have been a second-team all-East performer but I suppose he got dinged for losing yards on three plays and having a disaster fumble against Shepherd. Griffen-Batchler was the better receiver and contributed a lot on the return team; I do think there's a fair argument to be made that Brower was the better scrimmage player when you consider his rushing contributions while JGB did not have any carries unlike the prior two years. Wolfe's numbers look better than at the 1/3rd season tables I posted earlier this year - at that time he was averaging ~28 YPG, had five first downs, zero TDs, had more plays for a loss than explosive receptions, and his long was only 16 yards. Over the last seven games he took up a bigger part of the passing game, especially when Griffen-Batchler was out or limited, and as you can see here he picked up four explosive plays vs. only one loss and scored three TDs. He also improved his YAC (keep in mind that we are missing data from Seton Hill) from about 3.7* YPC to 5.9* YPC on the season which helped turn some of the checkdowns to him into productive plays. The rest of the team didn't really chip in a ton - Wojciechowski continued to serve as the deep shot guy but his only TD came in the opener against Fairmont State and Conway's only TD came in garbage time against Shepherd. Mackinder (listed as a R-Jr.) had his only target in garbage time against Millersville. As I mentioned in the post about rushing while Clancy had two timely fourth down catches and Zimmerman had one explosive catch neither player was a big contributor in the passing game.

Looking ahead to next season is somewhat concerning as BU is losing a lot. Based on class listing and guys who walked on Senior Day (Brower, Conway, Griffen-Batchler, Landis, Mackinder, and Wojciechowski) ~74% of this year's receiving yards and ~80% of this year's receiving TDs are gone. Wolfe is the most experienced returnee. His numbers improved over the back 2/3rds of the schedule and his final receiving tallies aren't dissimilar from what Brower did in 2024 so you might hope on a leap like Brower's in 2025 but I still feel he's best suited to a slot role rather than an outside receiver spot. The other likely WR returnees (by class as we still don't know what will happen with the portal), Achenbach and Diaz, have a combined career total of 12 receptions for 142 yards, 5 first downs, 2 explosive plays, and 2 TDs. Will one or both of them make a leap after another spring and fall camp out wide? Will one of the RS guys or someone in next season's recruiting cycle break into the teams plans? Is there the possibility of a portal WR or two to try and beef up this unit? BU also did not throw to TEs much this season. Will that change next year with Conway leaving and someone else likely joining non-target Archie Stephens in the TE rotation? Keep in mind that next season will also likely see a new QB so the inexperience out wide might crimp development under center as well. The coaches have a lot of questions to answer for this portion of the offense and I am very curious to see how they approach them.

[TheBigCat2192]

Excellent work here and breakdown. You provide some very interesting information to digest. To me, I’d like to see the offense get Zimmerman in space more than trying to have him run between the tackles. He is slippery in the open field. Clancy was effective running inside and always seemed to fall forward which I liked to see. The biggest question next year is who takes over as QB1. Unless an experienced portal option materializes the signal caller will be young and inexperienced next season. I believe a couple of the options on the roster have some talent and it will be interesting to see who grabs that spot. On the defensive side of the ball a lot of young guys saw time this year which should pay off starting next season. I think there’s a lot of talent on that side it just needs the time to gel. Their final record notwithstanding I thought the team grew as the season went on and think they’ll be much better for it starting in the spring and moving on into next fall. Go Huskies!

I think we’d all like to see Zimmerman get into space more to utilize the speed and short area quickness he showed on return duty. The problem is that if you only ever have him running outside the defense will start to key on that after a few series and future opponents will do so during their film studies. Realistically Zimmerman had to run up the middle and Clancy had to run outside at times or teams would know exactly what was coming based on personnel. As I said in my rushing writeup I do wonder if a move to the slot/wing spot is a possibility for Zimmerman if he can work on his blocking and receiving during spring and fall camp. That would give him the opportunity to get the ball in space while still fitting into BU’s option scheme and allowing someone to run up the middle.

[BloomFootballDad]

I finally found some more time to write this out; let's continue season stats with individual rushing. As usual I'll open with a few notes

• There is a minor stat discrepancy vs. the official numbers for Gabe Brower and K.J. Riley. This stems from a play in the Edinboro game that was credited as a one yard rush but was actually a flip pass on a fly sweep for a gain of one yard.
• Eli Zimmerman is credited with one less rush and seven more yards than the official numbers. This is a personal evaluation of a play against Lock Haven that was listed as a rush for a seven yard loss but was more accurately described as a botched handoff. I opted to exclude this play as I believe the fault lies more with Riley or at best that the fault should be split. This was also Zimmerman's lone fumble on the season, but since the play is excluded he is credited here with none. If you'd like to treat the play as a rush and credit him with one fumble/one lost, feel free.
• Riley's rushing numbers exclude sacks but do include one fumble from a sack. I don't have a separate table set up for sacks and lost yardage so the fumble had to go somewhere. If you'd like to treat his fumble numbers as two fumbles/one lost, feel free.
• I cut goal line conversions and attempts from the short yardage rushing tables because the COUNTIFS were including plays that weren't actually goal to go (i.e. 2nd and 2 at the 3). I think I know how to fix it but decided to punt on it until next year.

Rushing
Player	Carries	Yards	First Downs	Big (10+)	Stuffs (< = 0)	Long	TD	Fumbles	Lost
Brower	23	189	10	8	2	34	2	0	0
Clancy	145	633	39	14	19	34	4	0	0
Gee	4	17	1	0	0	9	0	0	0
Megginson	1	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
Parker	1	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
Riley	112	521	26	18	17	26	7	3	2
Wolfe	22	92	6	4	8	24	1	0	0
Zimmerman	83	304	18	8	15	21	4	0	0

Short Yardage Rushing
Player	ALLC	ALLA	ALL%	3DC	3DA	3D%	4DC	4DA	4D%
Brower	1	1	100.00%	0	0		0	0
Clancy	24	28	85.71%	12	13	92.31%	2	2	100.00%
Gee	1	1	100.00%	0	0		0	0
Riley	15	16	93.75%	5	6	83.33%	3	3	100.00%
Wolfe	3	4	75.00%	1	2	50.00%	0	0
Zimmerman	10	15	66.67%	5	6	83.33%	0	0

The most surprising thing about these numbers to me is that Clancy and Zimmerman had roughly comparable big play numbers a 9.65% and 9.63% of carries gaining 10+ yards, respectively. I spent most of the season thinking of Zimmerman as the "lightning" to Clancy's "thunder" based on visual evaluation of speed/quickness and their body types but Zimmerman didn't actually have a higher rate of explosive plays. More concerning, Zimmerman was stuffed on ~18% of his carries vs. "only" ~13% for Clancy. Neither guy was really explosive enough but Zimmerman had a few too many "bust" plays compared to "boom" plays. Riley didn't run that great this year; even without sacks weighing him down his YPC is poor for a QB (remember that QBs typically have a higher YPC than RBs) but he did pick up some sort of conversion (first down or TD) on ~29.4% of his carries and most of his TDs were short which does suppress the yardage totals some. Wolfe's numbers look a little bit better than the 1/3 season check in but there are still a concerning number of negative plays (compare and contrast his big/stuff numbers to Brower, the other motion WR/option guy). Brower had great per carry production and I don't know that BU is going to replicate that out of the slot or wing spots next season with Wolfe alone. They used Diaz at times in the motion role; is he ready to step up and be a contributor out of the slot? Might Zimmerman (listed as a slot receiver on the roster) find himself back out there next season in a Wolfe/Brower role if he finds himself too far down the pecking order in the backfield? I don't think he's at risk of being cut or anything crazy. He looked okay as a true freshman and he performed well as a KR/PR but the numbers show some negative play concerns.

The last question leads me into next season. BU is going to have to figure out a logjam at RB; unless someone(s) higher up the list leaves via the portal (Megginson has already announced his entry) there are going to be four-five returnees who have served as a starter or backup and have a decent number of career carries on the roster.

• Will there be more RB carries to go around next season with the turnover at QB and WR? BU threw the ball about 29 times per game this season vs. about 35 non-sack runs which is actually more balanced than I would have expected. Keep in mind that some of Riley's carries were scrambles on plays initially designed for passing so the numbers could have been even closer.
• Speaking of Riley; he and his rushing are gone next year. The only other QB on the roster to play, Gee, had more carries than passing attempts this season but still only saw four rushes. The numbers aren't terrible but I don't believe any of his plays against ESU or Shepherd were options. Can he execute option reads out of the mix of formations BU uses (pistol, shotgun with four wide, shotgun with two wings, rare flexbone?)
• Parker already saw his role decreased this season but in 2024 he had 48 carries which was second among RBs and had the most TDs among RBs with 6. Is there still a role for him here or has he lost any shot at meaningful playing time?
• Buchman is a similar player to Clancy with worse career stats and a history of both injuries and some fumble problems. Is he out of a "job"? BU did not operate out of many 2RB sets and usually alternated the backs more than rotated this year. Can both guys be on the roster and get carries?
• Sophomore (maybe medical RS) Jake Williams was the team's leading RB rusher by yards in 2024 although he only found the end zone once. His body type (listed at 5-10, 180) is somewhere between the bigger backs (Buchman & Clancy) and the smaller Zimmerman. What's his role if healthy? Is he number two? Number three?
• Can any of these guys catch the ball? Buchman has one career reception for 14 yards and a TD. Clancy had two fourth down conversions on two targets (one short and one long). Zimmerman had a 31-yard catch and run and a three yard swing pass. Parker has two career receptions for twelve yards. Williams doesn't have any receptions and I don't even know if he has any targets. BU hasn't used running backs much in the passing game under Sheptock; is that a reflection of Landis's philosophy or the personnel? BU did throw to RBs somewhat more often between 2021-2023 (about 15 times a year) but most of those throws were to Kaleb Monaco.
• There were two other RBs and three SLOTs listed on the roster as freshman this season who saw no playing time or ST time only. Will one of them force his way into the rotation next year? Might another recruit do so like Clancy and Zimmerman did this past year?

Excellent work here and breakdown. You provide some very interesting information to digest. To me, I’d like to see the offense get Zimmerman in space more than trying to have him run between the tackles. He is slippery in the open field. Clancy was effective running inside and always seemed to fall forward which I liked to see. The biggest question next year is who takes over as QB1. Unless an experienced portal option materializes the signal caller will be young and inexperienced next season. I believe a couple of the options on the roster have some talent and it will be interesting to see who grabs that spot. On the defensive side of the ball a lot of young guys saw time this year which should pay off starting next season. I think there’s a lot of talent on that side it just needs the time to gel. Their final record notwithstanding I thought the team grew as the season went on and think they’ll be much better for it starting in the spring and moving on into next fall. Go Huskies!

[TheBigCat2192]

I finally found some more time to write this out; let's continue season stats with individual rushing. As usual I'll open with a few notes

• There is a minor stat discrepancy vs. the official numbers for Gabe Brower and K.J. Riley. This stems from a play in the Edinboro game that was credited as a one yard rush but was actually a flip pass on a fly sweep for a gain of one yard.
• Eli Zimmerman is credited with one less rush and seven more yards than the official numbers. This is a personal evaluation of a play against Lock Haven that was listed as a rush for a seven yard loss but was more accurately described as a botched handoff. I opted to exclude this play as I believe the fault lies more with Riley or at best that the fault should be split. This was also Zimmerman's lone fumble on the season, but since the play is excluded he is credited here with none. If you'd like to treat the play as a rush and credit him with one fumble/one lost, feel free.
• Riley's rushing numbers exclude sacks but do include one fumble from a sack. I don't have a separate table set up for sacks and lost yardage so the fumble had to go somewhere. If you'd like to treat his fumble numbers as two fumbles/one lost, feel free.
• I cut goal line conversions and attempts from the short yardage rushing tables because the COUNTIFS were including plays that weren't actually goal to go (i.e. 2nd and 2 at the 3). I think I know how to fix it but decided to punt on it until next year.

Rushing
Player	Carries	Yards	First Downs	Big (10+)	Stuffs (< = 0)	Long	TD	Fumbles	Lost
Brower	23	189	10	8	2	34	2	0	0
Clancy	145	633	39	14	19	34	4	0	0
Gee	4	17	1	0	0	9	0	0	0
Megginson	1	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
Parker	1	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
Riley	112	521	26	18	17	26	7	3	2
Wolfe	22	92	6	4	8	24	1	0	0
Zimmerman	83	304	18	8	15	21	4	0	0

Short Yardage Rushing
Player	ALLC	ALLA	ALL%	3DC	3DA	3D%	4DC	4DA	4D%
Brower	1	1	100.00%	0	0		0	0
Clancy	24	28	85.71%	12	13	92.31%	2	2	100.00%
Gee	1	1	100.00%	0	0		0	0
Riley	15	16	93.75%	5	6	83.33%	3	3	100.00%
Wolfe	3	4	75.00%	1	2	50.00%	0	0
Zimmerman	10	15	66.67%	5	6	83.33%	0	0

The most surprising thing about these numbers to me is that Clancy and Zimmerman had roughly comparable big play numbers a 9.65% and 9.63% of carries gaining 10+ yards, respectively. I spent most of the season thinking of Zimmerman as the "lightning" to Clancy's "thunder" based on visual evaluation of speed/quickness and their body types but Zimmerman didn't actually have a higher rate of explosive plays. More concerning, Zimmerman was stuffed on ~18% of his carries vs. "only" ~13% for Clancy. Neither guy was really explosive enough but Zimmerman had a few too many "bust" plays compared to "boom" plays. Riley didn't run that great this year; even without sacks weighing him down his YPC is poor for a QB (remember that QBs typically have a higher YPC than RBs) but he did pick up some sort of conversion (first down or TD) on ~29.4% of his carries and most of his TDs were short which does suppress the yardage totals some. Wolfe's numbers look a little bit better than the 1/3 season check in but there are still a concerning number of negative plays (compare and contrast his big/stuff numbers to Brower, the other motion WR/option guy). Brower had great per carry production and I don't know that BU is going to replicate that out of the slot or wing spots next season with Wolfe alone. They used Diaz at times in the motion role; is he ready to step up and be a contributor out of the slot? Might Zimmerman (listed as a slot receiver on the roster) find himself back out there next season in a Wolfe/Brower role if he finds himself too far down the pecking order in the backfield? I don't think he's at risk of being cut or anything crazy. He looked okay as a true freshman and he performed well as a KR/PR but the numbers show some negative play concerns.

The last question leads me into next season. BU is going to have to figure out a logjam at RB; unless someone(s) higher up the list leaves via the portal (Megginson has already announced his entry) there are going to be four-five returnees who have served as a starter or backup and have a decent number of career carries on the roster.

• Will there be more RB carries to go around next season with the turnover at QB and WR? BU threw the ball about 29 times per game this season vs. about 35 non-sack runs which is actually more balanced than I would have expected. Keep in mind that some of Riley's carries were scrambles on plays initially designed for passing so the numbers could have been even closer.
• Speaking of Riley; he and his rushing are gone next year. The only other QB on the roster to play, Gee, had more carries than passing attempts this season but still only saw four rushes. The numbers aren't terrible but I don't believe any of his plays against ESU or Shepherd were options. Can he execute option reads out of the mix of formations BU uses (pistol, shotgun with four wide, shotgun with two wings, rare flexbone?)
• Parker already saw his role decreased this season but in 2024 he had 48 carries which was second among RBs and had the most TDs among RBs with 6. Is there still a role for him here or has he lost any shot at meaningful playing time?
• Buchman is a similar player to Clancy with worse career stats and a history of both injuries and some fumble problems. Is he out of a "job"? BU did not operate out of many 2RB sets and usually alternated the backs more than rotated this year. Can both guys be on the roster and get carries?
• Sophomore (maybe medical RS) Jake Williams was the team's leading RB rusher by yards in 2024 although he only found the end zone once. His body type (listed at 5-10, 180) is somewhere between the bigger backs (Buchman & Clancy) and the smaller Zimmerman. What's his role if healthy? Is he number two? Number three?
• Can any of these guys catch the ball? Buchman has one career reception for 14 yards and a TD. Clancy had two fourth down conversions on two targets (one short and one long). Zimmerman had a 31-yard catch and run and a three yard swing pass. Parker has two career receptions for twelve yards. Williams doesn't have any receptions and I don't even know if he has any targets. BU hasn't used running backs much in the passing game under Sheptock; is that a reflection of Landis's philosophy or the personnel? BU did throw to RBs somewhat more often between 2021-2023 (about 15 times a year) but most of those throws were to Kaleb Monaco.
• There were two other RBs and three SLOTs listed on the roster as freshman this season who saw no playing time or ST time only. Will one of them force his way into the rotation next year? Might another recruit do so like Clancy and Zimmerman did this past year?

[TheBigCat2192]

It took me quite a while to get around to this but I've finally finished updating my charted offensive stats for the season. Last time I shared them I got some good responses but posting all of the tables into one long comment screwed up the spacing something fierce so I will be splitting things up into multiple posts. I'll leave any notes and make some minor analysis after where possible. Let's start off with individual passing. First, some notes:

• There is a minor stat discrepancy vs. the official numbers for Gabe Brower and K.J. Riley. This stems from a play in the Edinboro game that was credited as a one yard rush but was actually a flip pass on a fly sweep for a gain of one yard.
• A number of pass attempts this year (mostly interceptions) had no listed target. Two were easy to figure out but the others I've simply left unmarked. If you add up total targets in the later receiving post and compare with the total attempts you will find that they don't match.
• The play-by-play for the Seton Hill game does NOT include info on where a ball was thrown (“caught at” for completions and “thrown to” for incompletions.) As a result Air Yards, YAC, and passing by distance reflects all games EXCEPT for the game at Seton Hill. These stats will be marked with an asterisk to indicate that data is missing.
• Since BU and other SR1 teams are probably not paying for fancy player tracking (or not sharing with the fans if they are) “Air Yards” are based on the difference between the line of scrimmage and where a ball was thrown or caught. This means:
  • Air Yards does not account for depth of QB dropback. I’m actually alright with this since it helps to sift out screens, shovel passes, and fly sweeps thrown at or behind the line of scrimmage.
  • All throws into the endzone are treated as if they are thrown to the goal line (00). Obviously this is not true but I don’t have the time to watch every throw into the endzone and figure out how deep they were. If anyone with experience in play design would like to suggest a constant to add to endzone throws to adjust for this I’m open to the idea.
• The passing data here is only for Riley. I did not think it was worth the time or effort to chart Gabe Brower’s 0/1, 0 yard, 0 TD/1 INT performance on a trick play against Shippensburg or Tyler Gee's 0/1, 0 yard, 0TD/0INT performance against Millersville in garbage(ish) time.

Player	Riley
Totals	Completions	Attempts	Yards	Air Yards*	Long	Big (20+)	Losses (< = 0)	First Downs	TD	INT
	189	320	2569	1471	76	38	6	94	26	12

Distance	Completions*	Attempts*	Yards*	Air Yards*	Long*	Big (20+)*	Losses (< = 0)*	First Downs*	TD*	INT*
Behind (<= 0)	25	27	149	-42	16	0	3	6	0	0
Short (1-9)	95	129	859	508	54	5	2	45	7	2
Medium (10-19)	36	89	621	492	45	9	0	27	8	4
Long (20+)	21	47	711	513	76	21	0	11	9	4

Down	Completions	Attempts	Yards	Air Yards*	Long	Big (20+)	Losses (< = 0)	First Downs	TD	INT
1st	61	103	646	334	47	7	2	19	4	3
2nd	63	112	840	556	60	15	3	37	7	5
3rd	53	91	914	494	76	14	0	29	13	4
4th	12	14	169	87	48	2	1	9	2	0

Quarter	Completions	Attempts	Yards	Air Yards*	Long	Big (20+)	Losses (< = 0)	First Downs	TD	INT
1st	34	54	403	231	33	7	1	17	3	3
2nd	54	86	785	509	76	13	2	26	8	2
3rd	45	77	568	329	60	7	2	21	7	4
4th	51	96	774	374	53	11	1	29	7	3
OT	5	7	39	28	12	0	0	1	1	0

It's hard to believe after a few years of occasional time shares but Riley is gone. Next year BU is going to be giving the reins to someone inexperienced unless they hit the transfer portal for a seasoned quarterback. Riley attempted 320/322 (99.4%) of all passes this season. Riley was interception prone and scattershot at times this year but looking at the breakdown I think he deserves credit for performing well on 4th downs (small sample but 9 first downs + 2 TD is a very good conversion rate out of 14 attempts) and doing a better job of taking care of the ball in OT (again, small sample). There are probably going to be some growing pains under center next season, especially as a large percentage of this year's receiving yards and TDs will also be departing (more on that in a later comment.) Riley ends his career 5th all time in passing yards and (I believe) 5th all time in passing TDs although given BU's poor record during his time under center I don't know how we will look back on him in time.

[TheBigCat2192]

The league announced the end of season awards and three Huskies took home honors:

• RB Declan Clancy was the East freshman of the year and second-team East
• WR Jerry Griffen-Batchler was first-team East
• QB KJ Riley was second-team East in a tie with LHU’s Jackson Ostrowsky

Somehow Gabe Brower did not make either team at WR despite being third in the whole conference in receiving yards, tied for second in TDs, and chipping in 190 yards & 2 TDs on the ground. No Huskies made all-East on defense.

[Bart]

Trying to figure out the senior class from Saturday. Twitter had 16 pictures pregame. Instagram had pictures of 18 players walking on game day. Jim Doyle said 17 in his broadcast. Looking at all sources, I came up with 20 graduates. No OL leaving. Hoping some R-Juniors come back for graduate school.

Seniors:
WR Griffen Batchelor #1
QB Riley #2
WR Brower #5
WR Landis #22 Graduate student
DL McLaurin #91

R-Juniors graduating:
DB Greene #4
DL Hazzard #5
WR Wojciechowski #8
DB Adams #10
WR Mackinder #10
DB Mitchell #20
LB Williams #24
K McGonigle #38
FB/TE Conway #45
DL Paul #53
DL Battaglia #67
TE Filoon #83
WR Marcinkevich #86
DL Corros #90
DL Diaz #98

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Bloom has had a few good transfers over the years, at least one who went on to the NFL. The good ones were around for more than a year. But I don't know of any Bloom players who transferred out and had better years anywhere else. Bloom lost TE Nas Jones in 2024 to SRU. Jones was All-PSAC East first team tight end at Bloom in 2023 with 409 receiving yards, but red-shirted at SRU in 2024, and transferred to Minnesota State for 2025 where he has 130 receiving yard, although they did make the playoffs.

When coaches are recruiting high school players they seem to have more of an investment of time and energy in having the players succeed. When they pick up players from the transfer portal they already expect the player to be ready to plug into a hole. Just my take.

Flip side is half the recruited freshmen class is gone by the next Spring session.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I've had somewhat of an 'issue' with the way the current staff has assembled the team. I remember in my days at SRU (here we go, the 'get off my lawn' generation has finally hit home with me) when it was a point of pride to 'home grow' your roster. Recruit, Develop, Retain, Repeat. To me, that's the way to build a culture. SRU followed the early IUP and 2000 CAL philosophy of bringing in recruits / transfers.

The Transfer Portal + NIL Era has changed the incentive structure: There used to be a 'bump down' from D1 to D2 without sitting out a year, but now it's basically exploded into universal free-agency. The guardrails are gone. Players no longer need to 'justify' transferring, coaches no longer have to live with their evaluation of a player for longer than a year, and the 'grass is greener' phenomenon created an environment where everyone is recruitable at all times.

Players want to be recruited, even when they're already on a team. this "honored and blessed" culture allows them to enter the echo chamber of social media, which awards attention and perceived value. Players like being chased/recruited sometimes moreso than playing where they are. I know a FB Player that was on a roster last year, after a game an opposing coach came up to them to congratulate them, and told them that they were being misused in his current role, and if he entered the portal, they'd love to have him on their team and use him properly. He entered the portal. That coach then told him that they didn't have any scholarship $$ for him, but he was welcome to 'walk on' in the spring. Coaches make promises, players enter the portal, suddenly the 'fit' disappears because the roster changed in the meantime.

Coaches have become Team Managers, not Culture Builders anymore. Instead of Recruiting, developing and building, they now look to fill gaps in their roster quickly, solve problems with outside talent and avoid long-term commitments. Teams that rely on transfers as their core foundation...their culture becomes transactional. Over-recruiting (especially transfers) erodes trust, team chemistry erodes, jealousy and insecurity rear their ugly head, buy-in (culture) collapses, entitlement and frustration grow and now we get into behavioral issues that become normalized. The 'building a family' concept is empty words.

I am not against Transfers, I am against a lack of identity. There's a big difference between a program that strategically plugs a hole with a transfer or two...but a program that replaces 30-40% of its roster annually is begging for an erosion of their identity and culture. The old model (recruit, develop, retain, repeat) builds leadership, creates emotional investment, produces consistent team behavior, gives fans and alumni connection, and keeps coaches accountable for who they actually bring into the fold.

Dr. Evil always looked down at transfers. He always preached SRU didn't want mercenaries.

But, that was his era -- and in fairness it was a much different world then.

Tort has gone about 85 percent home-grown and supplements immediate needs with the right (talent and character) transfers. He's also had incredible retention rates (even through their two shaky years).

[IUPFan69]

I've had somewhat of an 'issue' with the way the current staff has assembled the team. I remember in my days at SRU (here we go, the 'get off my lawn' generation has finally hit home with me) when it was a point of pride to 'home grow' your roster. Recruit, Develop, Retain, Repeat. To me, that's the way to build a culture. SRU followed the early IUP and 2000 CAL philosophy of bringing in recruits / transfers.

The Transfer Portal + NIL Era has changed the incentive structure: There used to be a 'bump down' from D1 to D2 without sitting out a year, but now it's basically exploded into universal free-agency. The guardrails are gone. Players no longer need to 'justify' transferring, coaches no longer have to live with their evaluation of a player for longer than a year, and the 'grass is greener' phenomenon created an environment where everyone is recruitable at all times.

Players want to be recruited, even when they're already on a team. this "honored and blessed" culture allows them to enter the echo chamber of social media, which awards attention and perceived value. Players like being chased/recruited sometimes moreso than playing where they are. I know a FB Player that was on a roster last year, after a game an opposing coach came up to them to congratulate them, and told them that they were being misused in his current role, and if he entered the portal, they'd love to have him on their team and use him properly. He entered the portal. That coach then told him that they didn't have any scholarship $$ for him, but he was welcome to 'walk on' in the spring. Coaches make promises, players enter the portal, suddenly the 'fit' disappears because the roster changed in the meantime.

Coaches have become Team Managers, not Culture Builders anymore. Instead of Recruiting, developing and building, they now look to fill gaps in their roster quickly, solve problems with outside talent and avoid long-term commitments. Teams that rely on transfers as their core foundation...their culture becomes transactional. Over-recruiting (especially transfers) erodes trust, team chemistry erodes, jealousy and insecurity rear their ugly head, buy-in (culture) collapses, entitlement and frustration grow and now we get into behavioral issues that become normalized. The 'building a family' concept is empty words.

I am not against Transfers, I am against a lack of identity. There's a big difference between a program that strategically plugs a hole with a transfer or two...but a program that replaces 30-40% of its roster annually is begging for an erosion of their identity and culture. The old model (recruit, develop, retain, repeat) builds leadership, creates emotional investment, produces consistent team behavior, gives fans and alumni connection, and keeps coaches accountable for who they actually bring into the fold.

Well said Rock Pride.

[Bart]

Bloom has had a few good transfers over the years, at least one who went on to the NFL. The good ones were around for more than a year. But I don't know of any Bloom players who transferred out and had better years anywhere else. Bloom lost TE Nas Jones in 2024 to SRU. Jones was All-PSAC East first team tight end at Bloom in 2023 with 409 receiving yards, but red-shirted at SRU in 2024, and transferred to Minnesota State for 2025 where he has 130 receiving yard, although they did make the playoffs.

When coaches are recruiting high school players they seem to have more of an investment of time and energy in having the players succeed. When they pick up players from the transfer portal they already expect the player to be ready to plug into a hole. Just my take.

[RockPride]

I've had somewhat of an 'issue' with the way the current staff has assembled the team. I remember in my days at SRU (here we go, the 'get off my lawn' generation has finally hit home with me) when it was a point of pride to 'home grow' your roster. Recruit, Develop, Retain, Repeat. To me, that's the way to build a culture. SRU followed the early IUP and 2000 CAL philosophy of bringing in recruits / transfers.

The Transfer Portal + NIL Era has changed the incentive structure: There used to be a 'bump down' from D1 to D2 without sitting out a year, but now it's basically exploded into universal free-agency. The guardrails are gone. Players no longer need to 'justify' transferring, coaches no longer have to live with their evaluation of a player for longer than a year, and the 'grass is greener' phenomenon created an environment where everyone is recruitable at all times.

Players want to be recruited, even when they're already on a team. this "honored and blessed" culture allows them to enter the echo chamber of social media, which awards attention and perceived value. Players like being chased/recruited sometimes moreso than playing where they are. I know a FB Player that was on a roster last year, after a game an opposing coach came up to them to congratulate them, and told them that they were being misused in his current role, and if he entered the portal, they'd love to have him on their team and use him properly. He entered the portal. That coach then told him that they didn't have any scholarship $$ for him, but he was welcome to 'walk on' in the spring. Coaches make promises, players enter the portal, suddenly the 'fit' disappears because the roster changed in the meantime.

Coaches have become Team Managers, not Culture Builders anymore. Instead of Recruiting, developing and building, they now look to fill gaps in their roster quickly, solve problems with outside talent and avoid long-term commitments. Teams that rely on transfers as their core foundation...their culture becomes transactional. Over-recruiting (especially transfers) erodes trust, team chemistry erodes, jealousy and insecurity rear their ugly head, buy-in (culture) collapses, entitlement and frustration grow and now we get into behavioral issues that become normalized. The 'building a family' concept is empty words.

I am not against Transfers, I am against a lack of identity. There's a big difference between a program that strategically plugs a hole with a transfer or two...but a program that replaces 30-40% of its roster annually is begging for an erosion of their identity and culture. The old model (recruit, develop, retain, repeat) builds leadership, creates emotional investment, produces consistent team behavior, gives fans and alumni connection, and keeps coaches accountable for who they actually bring into the fold.

[iupgroundhog]

I can't think of many or any that don't shake hands after a competitive event. Boxing, basketball, wrestling, baseball, fencing, Presidential debates, what else.

Chess, e-sports? Not sure. I always thought it meant there was something bigger than the competition and I think if you can't do it right you're less of a competitor. Maybe it needs to be coached.

Excuse me while I get back to my Hegelian philosophy studies.

[IUPFan69]

I understand that part.

However, I see these games in person every week. It's the same crap week after week.

NFL and D1 don’t do the handshake line for a reason. It’s a needless trouble spot.

[IUPFan69]

Looked like pushing, shoving, yelling, finger pointing, refusing to line up for handshake line, etc...

I do know bringing in 28 new portal players means SRU has the money to create a good team.

Why does Slippery Rock seem to have these kinds of incidents with virtually every opponent, week in and week out? This isn’t just an IUP vs Slip thing it’s happened against almost everyone they’ve played this year. At some point you have to ask does Lutz actually have control of his team? It’s gotten to the point where it’s embarrassing, not just for Slippery Rock, but for the entire PSAC.

And on the transfer portal point—Bringing in 28 new portal players in one offseason isn’t a flex, it’s a symptom. If Lutz had been able to retain his own core players, they never would’ve needed to rebuild the roster that heavily through the portal. Good programs keep their best guys. Needing that kind of mass infusion usually means something went wrong on the retention and culture side. That’s on the Lutz and the staff.