UAlbany 2016

[MRuler]

I couldn't find the thread for reports from camp so I made a new topic (sorry). I was in Albany on business on Wednesday night and took a chance and drove by Bob Ford Stadium (sorry Casey's this will always be Bob Ford's stadium to me. Its actually called Bob Ford Field at Casey Stadium). To my surprise and delight Albany was getting ready for a night practice. I had a chance to speak with Coach Gattusso down on the field as he likes to speak with former players and he said they were getting ready to play at night by practicing under the lights in preparation for Buffalo next week. He is a great guy and from the reports I got from others an outstanding coach. He loves the city and the University and really wants to build a winner. After speaking with Coach at length I know he is the right guy for the job. They have 105 kids on the roster and several fathers and coaches from area high schools were in attendance trying to get their son's and former players into the program as walk ons. Not sure what will happen but at least 10 kids were looking at trying to walk on.

Anyway let me get to the reason for the post. This is a completely objective report. Not being a homer here today.This may not seem like a big deal to other teams in the CAA but for the first time since Albany has been in the CAA they look like a CAA team. They look like they belong in this super conference. Coach told me they scanned the NFL rosters and there is something like 30 CAA kids on NFL rosters including our former TE Brian Parker. The first three years that Albany was in the CAA they were smaller and slower than the rest of the CAA and it showed. Last season I was worried about the move up. That is no longer the case. They are a legit FCS team this year. Does that guarantee wins? Of course not but they are on pace to be a formidable team this season and a strong opponent in the very near future. 6 wins would not surprise me this year. Neither would 4 or 5. I was literally shocked by the transformation from last season to this season. They are MUCH bigger on both lines and their receivers are not only big they are FAST!!! They had 5 QB's in the rotation and they didn't look awful like I suspected they would. Their starting tail back is bigger and quicker than I thought as well. Their punter was crushing the ball and I believe he will be a great one.

Anyway this post wasn't to hype Albany its just to inform the AGS board that progress is being made. The results will speak for themselves but this "looks" like a very different Albany
team from last season. Very excited for the future.

[KPSUL]

I couldn't find the thread for reports from camp so I made a new topic (sorry). I was in Albany on business on Wednesday night and took a chance and drove by Bob Ford Stadium (sorry Casey's this will always be Bob Ford's stadium to me. Its actually called Bob Ford Field at Casey Stadium). To my surprise and delight Albany was getting ready for a night practice. I had a chance to speak with Coach Gattusso down on the field as he likes to speak with former players and he said they were getting ready to play at night by practicing under the lights in preparation for Buffalo next week. He is a great guy and from the reports I got from others an outstanding coach. He loves the city and the University and really wants to build a winner. After speaking with Coach at length I know he is the right guy for the job. They have 105 kids on the roster and several fathers and coaches from area high schools were in attendance trying to get their son's and former players into the program as walk ons. Not sure what will happen but at least 10 kids were looking at trying to walk on.

Anyway let me get to the reason for the post. This is a completely objective report. Not being a homer here today.This may not seem like a big deal to other teams in the CAA but for the first time since Albany has been in the CAA they look like a CAA team. They look like they belong in this super conference. Coach told me they scanned the NFL rosters and there is something like 30 CAA kids on NFL rosters including our former TE Brian Parker. The first three years that Albany was in the CAA they were smaller and slower than the rest of the CAA and it showed. Last season I was worried about the move up. That is no longer the case. They are a legit FCS team this year. Does that guarantee wins? Of course not but they are on pace to be a formidable team this season and a strong opponent in the very near future. 6 wins would not surprise me this year. Neither would 4 or 5. I was literally shocked by the transformation from last season to this season. They are MUCH bigger on both lines and their receivers are not only big they are FAST!!! They had 5 QB's in the rotation and they didn't look awful like I suspected they would. Their starting tail back is bigger and quicker than I thought as well. Their punter was crushing the ball and I believe he will be a great one.

Anyway this post wasn't to hype Albany its just to inform the AGS board that progress is being made. The results will speak for themselves but this "looks" like a very different Albany
team from last season. Very excited for the future.

Thanks for the update on Albany. It won't surprise me if Albany is far more competitive in the CAA this season. Gattusso strikes me as a patiently persistent guy who might stay the course.
I was at the Albany @ JMU game last season and Albany played real tough all day on the road against a very good JMU team. The area behind the Albany bench looked like a field hospital; they were down to playing backup linebackers and those guys were still in there hitting hard.