Truth Serum

[IUPbigINDIANS]

By now, we've all read hundreds of preseason hype/cheerleader pieces written about high school and college teams.

They've all recruited great. They've all worked hard. This is going to be the year. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Fact is, they haven't all recruited great. They haven't all worked hard. This isn't going to be the year for most of them. Reality, for many, is coming knocking in a few days.

So, if we could get the PSAC coaches to tell us how they really feel on Aug. 22 ... what would they say?

Even on this board (at this time of year), we tend to all only talk about the good things surrounding our teams.

What is being hidden out there (aside from the IUP roster)?

[Ship69]

The ability of some coaches to say a whole lot of nothing for 10 minutes straight has always been a source of amazement and amusement for me.

[TheBigCat2192]

I imagine that quite a few of them would say “why are we adding Lackawanna?” and there’s probably a portion saying “I wish we hadn’t hung onto the COVID year guys” with the downstream effect on playing/development time for young guys and HS recruiting. The schools who won a lot with their COVID guys probably won’t be in this group because recruiting and quality transfers to fill those spots tend to follow success but the teams who had a lot of old dudes the last year or two and still scuffled could be in for a longer than usual rebuild.

[Iupgh]

A IUP roster will not be populated until the school academic year begins which is 8/25/25. This is not Shepherd you actually have to have a schedule and gain credits…just sayin.

[Fightingscot82]

Coaches and teams love to announce mottos and themes for the season. Edinboro's should be a giant question mark. There are so many new faces and so many unknowns due to turnover and departures. Do I like what I'm seeing so far? Absolutely. Am I confident that Edinboro will finish higher than 6th in the West? Heck no. That's not a criticism of anyone - its the nature of a lot of new starters and an entirely new coaching staff. Obviously Coach Matt Scott can't say this but its clear nobody knows what's going to happen until they start playing.

I believe they have a decent OL. Gotta figure out the QB situation and hopefully they can recover from losing most of their top WRs the last two off seasons to the portal. Defense is similar - I'm concerned about their ability to stifle opponents after losing Diaz. Lastly, I think the most under appreciated contributor the last couple years was all purpose player Reed Martin, who was a hell of a punter. If he were a baseball player, he'd have a pretty strong WAR for how many big time punts he had.

[CUlater]

Coaches and teams love to announce mottos and themes for the season. Edinboro's should be a giant question mark. There are so many new faces and so many unknowns due to turnover and departures. Do I like what I'm seeing so far? Absolutely. Am I confident that Edinboro will finish higher than 6th in the West? Heck no. That's not a criticism of anyone - its the nature of a lot of new starters and an entirely new coaching staff. Obviously Coach Matt Scott can't say this but its clear nobody knows what's going to happen until they start playing.

I believe they have a decent OL. Gotta figure out the QB situation and hopefully they can recover from losing most of their top WRs the last two off seasons to the portal. Defense is similar - I'm concerned about their ability to stifle opponents after losing Diaz. Lastly, I think the most under appreciated contributor the last couple years was all purpose player Reed Martin, who was a hell of a punter. If he were a baseball player, he'd have a pretty strong WAR for how many big time punts he had.

I think there is a lot to be excited about for Boro. The variable is certainly the amount of moving parts but i'd expect them to get better as the season goes along. They brought in a lot of players and have a few impact guys. The RB from Buffalo is going to be a stud and the WR they brought in from D3 can play. interested to see what happens at QB as they brought in a few transfers there as well. I like what Scott is doing up there and they've assembled a solid roster quickly. Will just depend on how quick they take to the new systems.

I think the best part of this is that there doesn't appear to be a clear-cut doormat. GU will be really interesting as i think they have a mostly new staff and something like 6-8 total returning players from 24 but they brought in some quality talent. Top to bottom the league really seems to have improved significantly over the last couple of years which is better for everybody.

[Fightingscot82]

I think there is a lot to be excited about for Boro. The variable is certainly the amount of moving parts but i'd expect them to get better as the season goes along. They brought in a lot of players and have a few impact guys. The RB from Buffalo is going to be a stud and the WR they brought in from D3 can play. interested to see what happens at QB as they brought in a few transfers there as well. I like what Scott is doing up there and they've assembled a solid roster quickly. Will just depend on how quick they take to the new systems.

I think the best part of this is that there doesn't appear to be a clear-cut doormat. GU will be really interesting as i think they have a mostly new staff and something like 6-8 total returning players from 24 but they brought in some quality talent. Top to bottom the league really seems to have improved significantly over the last couple of years which is better for everybody.

Great points. I too like the transfers they've brought in and Edinboro is the king of mining overlooked gems in Western NY. As you said, time will tell if they gel together and with the system the coaches believe is best.

The lack of a doormat in the West is something relatively new. Could one out itself by week 3 or 4 - absolutely. But the dog fight for first place and the dog fight for 4th place is something that makes this conference and the west division special. I recognize that its also a bit unnerving because in those days of a perennial loser meant that at least you weren't likely to be last.

Can't wait for the season to kick off next Thursday. ESU is a great team but they too have their kinks and rust to overcome. First game of the year is tough: try to get things working correctly, minimize damage to the score and injuries, and if possible try for the win.