acbearkat
December 12th, 2021, 02:18 PM
Here are some thoughts of mine from over the weekend.
The early signing period begins Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how many prospects FCS teams sign this week.
Speaking of recruiting, I wonder if any FCS schools will do anything similar to what Texas is doing in terms of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) with the Clark Field Initiative, which is supposed to be for all sports, but primarily football, and Horns with Heart, aka The Pancake Factory, in which UT offensive lineman will receive $50,000 a year for engaging in charitable events. Coincidentally, Texas landed five-star offensive tackle Kelvin Banks out of Humble Summer Creek in the Houston area about a week and half after the Horns with Heart NIL deal was announced. The Longhorns are also in great position to sign five-star interior offensive line prospect Devon Campbell out of Arlington Bowie (I strongly believe Texas will sign him; Texas was the only school that did an in-home with Campbell this past week). Texas has been in the lead in Campbell's recruitment for some time. It will be interesting to see which FCS schools have NIL deals come out in the future.
NIL will play a big role in recruiting and the schools that don't get on board will be left behind. There are FCS schools, such as North Dakota State, Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington, etc. that could easily capitalize on the NIL stuff because of their success over the years.
I didn't see Montana State doing what they did last night. The Bobcats dominated both lines of scrimmage, and that's not something you see against Sam Houston's defensive line. The Bobcats running the ball as well as they did was a complete shock. They deserved to win that game.
Injuries likely did in Montana. They had two key injuries against James Madison, in quarterback Cam Humphrey, and wide receiver Samuel Akem, who I believe can play in the NFL. Those were key and Montana just didn't have any answers after they went out injured.
It will be interesting to see how Cam Miller does this weekend against James Madison. He didn't perform that well against South Dakota State in November. James Madison has the defense to make North Dakota State one-dimensional.
If I were the committee, I would likely would have given North Dakota State the number one seed over Sam Houston, just because the Bison had the better resume.
I'll go ahead and call it now, but SFA is my favorite to win the WAC next year. I think the Lumberjacks could be primed for a big year next year.
The Missouri Valley and Big Sky look to be absolutely loaded again next year. I'll be interested to see how the Colonial and the other conferences look next year. I think East Tennessee State is a position to where they can be a force for years to come in the FCS, especially considering they are located in a massive recruiting hotbed, especially with the talent influx that has happened in the state of Tennessee.
This year was a fun ride for Sam Houston football. It's unfortunate the ride ended the way it did, but I'll forever cherish the national championship. Hopefully, massive upgrades to Bowers are coming sometime in the near future, but that might wait until we have a new athletic director. On a side note, I believe the move to Conference USA will be better long term for the baseball program than the WAC.
As far as major realignment news in the FCS, I believe the next major domino to fall will be Texas and Oklahoma officially announcing when they are moving to the SEC (it will be no later than 2025, but many people, including myself, believe it will be as early as 2023). That's one to watch very closely in terms of realignment impacts at the FCS level.
I'll still be here to talk football with all of you. It's fun being on here and talking football. I absolutely enjoy it. That's why I'm not leaving.
The early signing period begins Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how many prospects FCS teams sign this week.
Speaking of recruiting, I wonder if any FCS schools will do anything similar to what Texas is doing in terms of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) with the Clark Field Initiative, which is supposed to be for all sports, but primarily football, and Horns with Heart, aka The Pancake Factory, in which UT offensive lineman will receive $50,000 a year for engaging in charitable events. Coincidentally, Texas landed five-star offensive tackle Kelvin Banks out of Humble Summer Creek in the Houston area about a week and half after the Horns with Heart NIL deal was announced. The Longhorns are also in great position to sign five-star interior offensive line prospect Devon Campbell out of Arlington Bowie (I strongly believe Texas will sign him; Texas was the only school that did an in-home with Campbell this past week). Texas has been in the lead in Campbell's recruitment for some time. It will be interesting to see which FCS schools have NIL deals come out in the future.
NIL will play a big role in recruiting and the schools that don't get on board will be left behind. There are FCS schools, such as North Dakota State, Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington, etc. that could easily capitalize on the NIL stuff because of their success over the years.
I didn't see Montana State doing what they did last night. The Bobcats dominated both lines of scrimmage, and that's not something you see against Sam Houston's defensive line. The Bobcats running the ball as well as they did was a complete shock. They deserved to win that game.
Injuries likely did in Montana. They had two key injuries against James Madison, in quarterback Cam Humphrey, and wide receiver Samuel Akem, who I believe can play in the NFL. Those were key and Montana just didn't have any answers after they went out injured.
It will be interesting to see how Cam Miller does this weekend against James Madison. He didn't perform that well against South Dakota State in November. James Madison has the defense to make North Dakota State one-dimensional.
If I were the committee, I would likely would have given North Dakota State the number one seed over Sam Houston, just because the Bison had the better resume.
I'll go ahead and call it now, but SFA is my favorite to win the WAC next year. I think the Lumberjacks could be primed for a big year next year.
The Missouri Valley and Big Sky look to be absolutely loaded again next year. I'll be interested to see how the Colonial and the other conferences look next year. I think East Tennessee State is a position to where they can be a force for years to come in the FCS, especially considering they are located in a massive recruiting hotbed, especially with the talent influx that has happened in the state of Tennessee.
This year was a fun ride for Sam Houston football. It's unfortunate the ride ended the way it did, but I'll forever cherish the national championship. Hopefully, massive upgrades to Bowers are coming sometime in the near future, but that might wait until we have a new athletic director. On a side note, I believe the move to Conference USA will be better long term for the baseball program than the WAC.
As far as major realignment news in the FCS, I believe the next major domino to fall will be Texas and Oklahoma officially announcing when they are moving to the SEC (it will be no later than 2025, but many people, including myself, believe it will be as early as 2023). That's one to watch very closely in terms of realignment impacts at the FCS level.
I'll still be here to talk football with all of you. It's fun being on here and talking football. I absolutely enjoy it. That's why I'm not leaving.