What's going on at FAMU

[taper]

https://twitter.com/AlisonPosey14/status/1563228534578982913?cxt=HHwWgsCtpbyE2rErAAAA

Just spoke with Florida A&M head football coach Willie Simmons. There are twenty players that are ineligible, be it to academics or transfer eligibility.He said only seven offensive lineman that can travel - that’s not enough to safely play a football game.
Their game tomorrow at UNC is looking to be cancelled. Various reports out there that players have refused to board the bus. This one seems to directly quote the coach.

[DFW HOYA]

https://twitter.com/AlisonPosey14/status/1563228534578982913

[JALMOND]

Sounds like "certification issues".

https://saturdayroad.com/north-carolina-tar-heels/report-north-carolinas-season-opener-vs-florida-am-is-in-jeopardy-due-to-ncaa-issues/

[kdinva]

nothing, yet, on UNC twitter page

[Libertine]

He said only seven offensive lineman that can travel - that’s not enough to safely play a football game.

This just simply isn't true. Most FCS schools only play seven or eight OL in a game anyway and, for a payday game, you can move a couple of TE's and DL's. You'll get demolished up front but, in this case, that was going to happen anyway.

Sadly, this is not new by any means. Certification issues have plagued MEAC schools -- and recently-MEAC schools, apparently -- during the first two weeks of football season for years. Not news. FAMU will put enough guys on the plane to play the game, they'll lose by 6+ touchdowns, they'll happily take their paycheck and they'll finally get most of their roster completely certified in time for Mississippi Valley State.

[Libertine]

https://twitter.com/AlisonPosey14/status/1563238475276595200

[Libertine]

https://twitter.com/AlisonPosey14/status/1563249391384662019

[FUBeAR]

This just simply isn't true. Most FCS schools only play seven or eight OL in a game anyway and, for one game -- especially a payday game --, you can move a couple of TE's and DL's. You'll get demolished up front but, in this case, that was going to happen anyway.

Sadly, this is not new by any means. Certification issues have plagued MEAC schools -- and recently-MEAC schools, apparently -- during the first two weeks of football season for years. Not news. FAMU will put enough guys on the plane to play the game, they'll lose by 6+ touchdowns, they'll happily take their paycheck and they'll finally get most of their roster completely certified in time for Mississippi Valley State.
EXACTLY - This is Covid-residual “Safety” horse****.

Last FUBeAR checked, you only need 5 and DLmen are always talking about how athletic they are. If you need more than 7, draft a few DLmen and draw up some Scout Team cards of your own plays. They’ll figure it out.

Mercer played an Away game in 2016 (pre-Covid…obviously) with ZERO Running Backs for a primarily rushing O. They drafted 2 LB’s, who had a few carries, and their QB carried the ball 41 times for nearly 200 yards. He avg’d 10 carries/game in other games that year.

ADAPT! OVERCOME!

[Libertine]

EXACTLY - This is Covid-residual “Safety” horse****.

...

ADAPT! OVERCOME!

This. VMI once played the entire month of November with the only five upright linemen on their roster; one of those had a separated shoulder and one was actually the 2nd-team TE. Liberty once played a game at Coastal without a single DT on the travel squad. They moved a freshman TE across the line and he had double-digit tackles that day; coaches were so impressed they moved him to DT permanently. You do what you have to do.

[ElCid]

Possibly just a case of lowing expectations, maybe. Not sure how they could be that high to begin with, but who knows.

[KPSUL]

https://twitter.com/AlisonPosey14/status/1563249391384662019

They'll save $$$, only one bus needed to get to the airport.

[FUBeAR]

They'll save $$$, only one bus needed to get to the airport.They could REALLY save money - perhaps afford more compliance / academic peeps - by taking that bus all the way to Chapel Hill. We (Furman) bussed it from Greenville, SC to play the Florida Gators in ‘81. Tallahassee to Chapel Hill is only a couple hours further.

[caribbeanhen]

They could REALLY save money - perhaps afford more compliance / academic peeps - by taking that bus all the way to Chapel Hill. We (Furman) bussed it from Greenville, SC to play the Florida Gators in ‘81. Tallahassee to Chapel Hill is only a couple hours further.

What’s the over under on the Waffle House stops? Two

Anyway you slice it, that’s a long bus ride to play a football game and The Rattlers are gonna get beheaded

[bonarae]

The Rattlers are gonna get beheaded

By how many points? I believe more than 35. xsmhx

[caribbeanhen]

By how many points? I believe more than 35. xsmhx

North Carolina could name the score but I don’t know how nice their coach is

[ElCid]

North Carolina could name the score but I don’t know how nice their coach is

Yup. If they want to pile on they can. He may sub early and stick to the ground after exercising his QB in an attempt to not embarrass A&M. Or it might just not matter.

[Sandlapper Spike]

At 2pm ET on Friday, UNC was a 32-point favorite over FAMU on DraftKings.

As of 11am ET Saturday, UNC is a 44-point favorite.

[WestCoastAggie]

This just simply isn't true. Most FCS schools only play seven or eight OL in a game anyway and, for a payday game, you can move a couple of TE's and DL's. You'll get demolished up front but, in this case, that was going to happen anyway.

Sadly, this is not new by any means. Certification issues have plagued MEAC schools -- and recently-MEAC schools, apparently -- during the first two weeks of football season for years. Not news. FAMU will put enough guys on the plane to play the game, they'll lose by 6+ touchdowns, they'll happily take their paycheck and they'll finally get most of their roster completely certified in time for Mississippi Valley State.

Yep...

[walliver]

So far, UNC has not played decent defense. Apparently, the 20+ ineligible players are not important.

[Libertine]

So, how many scholarship players is UNC missing tonight? Cuz they look terrible.


Also, if there's any AV junkies out there, something has clearly gone wrong in the ACC Network's production truck. They're obviously borrowing the signal from UNC's All-11 internal team feed and have been for a while now.
EDIT: As soon as I typed ^^, they fixed it. Before that, they had gone like ten straight minutes without cutting to any other cameras.

[Laker]

So, how many scholarship players is UNC missing tonight? Cuz they look terrible.


Also, if there's any AV junkies out there, something has clearly gone wrong in the ACC Network's production truck. They're obviously borrowing the signal from UNC's All-11 internal team feed and have been for a while now.
EDIT: As soon as I typed ^^, they fixed it. Before that, they had gone like ten straight minutes without cutting to any other cameras.

They were talking about lightning being somewhere in the area? That didn't make sense if they didn't stop the game. I didn't get home until 7:30 CDT so I tuned in late.

[DFW HOYA]

https://twitter.com/AlisonPosey14/status/1564336634358861825

[nevadagriz]

2 Questions
1. Will the players be back for this weeks game?
2. can they beat JSU?

[kdinva]

https://twitter.com/AlisonPosey14/status/1564336634358861825

Div. III schools have more support staff than this...

[bonarae]

xsmhx and good luck to the Rattlers. Will they suspend their rest of the season?

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/florida-a-m-football-players-pen-letter-to-university-after-26-players-ruled-ineligible-against-north-carolina/

[Go...gate]

This. VMI once played the entire month of November with the only five upright linemen on their roster; one of those had a separated shoulder and one was actually the 2nd-team TE. Liberty once played a game at Coastal without a single DT on the travel squad. They moved a freshman TE across the line and he had double-digit tackles that day; coaches were so impressed they moved him to DT permanently. You do what you have to do.

Well said by both you and FU bear. xthumbsupx

[FUBeAR]

What’s the over under on the Waffle House stops? Two

Anyway you slice it, that’s a long bus ride to play a football game and The Rattlers are gonna get beheaded
1 stop each way - same place - ‘Something’ Brothers Family Restaurant off I-95. Waffle House would have been a HUGE upgrade.

But HoF Coach Dick Sheridan, who was quite frugal (he got more with 55 scholarships than our opponents were getting with 95), was also quite smart … we flew to VMI & Marshall because those were SoCon games and more important than our “money game.” Not that those money games didn’t matter. Though the Gators got us that year, we won the next 4 money games from ‘82-‘85 (USC, GT, NCSU 2x) under Coach Sheridan’s wise leadership.


Post-Script on FAMU - glad the Rattlers decided to ‘get on the bus’ and go play the game. Says a lot positive about their Players and Coaches. Need to get the ‘back of the house’ cleaned up. Based on FUBeAR’s knowledge of the Administration of Intercollegiate Athletics, he doesn’t doubt anything he read in that letter. In the past, the NCAA and often the schools themselves would just say ‘too bad, so sad.’ FUBeAR thinks in the current climate, the NCAA may provide some waivers to allow the ‘ineligible’ Players to play and FUBeAR wouldn’t be surprised to see Coach Prime (recognizing an opportunity for good PR) offer up some cash…and get his ‘friends’ at Nike, ESPN, etc. to offer up even more to apply an immediate band-aid to FAMU’s issues.

[Anthony215]

xsmhx and good luck to the Rattlers. Will they suspend their rest of the season?

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/florida-a-m-football-players-pen-letter-to-university-after-26-players-ruled-ineligible-against-north-carolina/

They'll play for one another but not the school and they'll continue to boycott the school song . Honestly they aren't asking for anything extraordinary. Just basic things other student athletes at other schools in their division/conference receive. This is one reason why I can't see the SWAC moving to FBS any time soon. If any members want to make the jump up (Grambling, Southern, JSU) they'll do it joining an existing conference.

[Anthony215]

This. VMI once played the entire month of November with the only five upright linemen on their roster; one of those had a separated shoulder and one was actually the 2nd-team TE. Liberty once played a game at Coastal without a single DT on the travel squad. They moved a freshman TE across the line and he had double-digit tackles that day; coaches were so impressed they moved him to DT permanently. You do what you have to do.

Valid point about you do what you have to do but at least in those instances they were matching up against schools with equal amount of scholarship players. FAMU prior to the 20 players being ruled ineligible were down 22 scholarships, so when you add those 20 players who were forced to sit out that means they're missing up to 42 scholarship players. There was incompetence as how do you tell a kid to take certain classes then the week of game you say sorry you should have taken an additional class. Coach Willie will have a very hard sell to keep his 23 commitments from not going up north to Jackson or out west to Southern/Grambling if they stay within the SWAC.

[FUBeAR]

Valid point about you do what you have to do but at least in those instances they were matching up against schools with equal amount of scholarship players. FAMU prior to the 20 players being ruled ineligible were down 22 scholarships, so when you add those 20 players who were forced to sit out that means they're missing up to 42 scholarship players. There was incompetence as how do you tell a kid to take certain classes then the week of game you say sorry you should have taken an additional class. Coach Willie will have a very hard sell to keep his 23 commitments from not going up north to Jackson or out west to Southern/Grambling if they stay within the SWAC.
So…if FUBeAR understands correctly and ciphers accurately, he gets…

63 - 22 = 41 - 20 (assuming all on scholarship) = 21

FAMU went and played UNC with roughly the equivalent of 21 scholarship Players? That’s 15 fewer than D2 allows and 3 fewer than NAIA.

So…a ‘less than NAIA’ Team (in 1 way) took a P5 Team to the 4th quarter only down by 11?

That’s awesome. Seems those Rattlers who did play know a lot about overcoming adversity. Inspiring.

[Libertine]

2 Questions
1. Will the players be back for this weeks game?
2. can they beat JSU?

1. For most, no. From what I've read in news reports, it's lack of "Progress Toward Degree" for a lot of these guys (PTD is basically the NCAA's method of forcing kids to take courses that apply toward an actual education instead of taking only frivolous electives just to be technically eligible) and that's either a two game or four game suspension. If they completed the missing work over the summer, it's two games; if not, it's four.
2. Seems unlikely.

[Libertine]

ESPN's story (https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34484305/florida-players-pen-letter-saying-deficiencies-athletic-department-led-ineligibilities) on the mess at FAMU has this quote which is just mindboggling:


He said that the school has just one academic advisor, down from a department of four in 2018 when the school had three advisors and a learning specialist. He also said the school's compliance officer is also the financial aid officer, who was pressed into doing both jobs when the compliance official left and lacks compliance experience.

This isn't just dumb on FAMU's part, this is callously self-destructive. This is begging to be put on NCAA probation, pure and simple. Whoever this unfortunately overworked person is, they have been set up for spectacular failure and to be the scapegoat when it inevitably goes horribly wrong. Which it will because, as this situation stands, it literally cannot possibly go right.

[Catbooster]

So…if FUBeAR understands correctly and ciphers accurately, he gets…

63 - 22 = 41 - 20 (assuming all on scholarship) = 21

FAMU went and played UNC with roughly the equivalent of 21 scholarship Players? That’s 15 fewer than D2 allows and 3 fewer than NAIA.

So…a ‘less than NAIA’ Team (in 1 way) took a P5 Team to the 4th quarter only down by 11?

That’s awesome. Seems those Rattlers who did play know a lot about overcoming adversity. Inspiring.

No, I think when @Anthony215 said:

FAMU prior to the 20 players being ruled ineligible were down 22 scholarships, so when you add those 20 players who were forced to sit out that means they're missing up to 42 scholarship players. he meant in relation to an FBS school.

Full 63 in FCS is 22 down from 85 for FBS, then FAMU was down an additional 20, to the equivalent of 43 scholarships as opposed to 85.

[FUBeAR]

No, I think when @Anthony215 said:
he meant in relation to an FBS school.

Full 63 in FCS is 22 down from 85 for FBS, then FAMU was down an additional 20, to the equivalent of 43 scholarships as opposed to 85.
Thanks - Think you’re right.

Care to do some more cipherin’ for FUBeAR?

If Montana State is ranked #4 and Mercer is ranked #23…

…AND…

Mercer beats Morehead State by 50, at home, on 8/27…

…How many points does Montana State have to beat Morehead State by, at home, on 9/10 to validate that they should be ranked 19 spots ahead of Mercer?

At least (50+19) = 69?

…nice, btw

[Libertine]

2. can they beat JSU?

Well, it turns out that Jackson State is dealing with a crisis as well. Jackson, MS was already under a boil-water order before recent flooding damaged two water treatment plants in the city. JSU's campus water supply has been shut off which means no water, toilets or showers for students. It also means no water at practice for JSU players and, crucially, no ice. The importance of ice for a football program cannot be overstated.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34490077/jackson-state-tigers-football-coach-deion-sanders-crisis-mode-water-emergency-worsens

[caribbeanhen]

Well, it turns out that Jackson State is dealing with a crisis as well. Jackson, MS was already under a boil-water order before recent flooding damaged two water treatment plants in the city. JSU's campus water supply has been shut off which means no water, toilets or showers for students. It also means no water at practice for JSU players and, crucially, no ice. The importance of ice for a football program cannot be overstated.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34490077/jackson-state-tigers-football-coach-deion-sanders-crisis-mode-water-emergency-worsens

Welcome to a polar icebreaker being crushed in Antarctica, it’ll serve these young men well and they’ll be more educated than any college ever dream of doing for them, cheaper too

[Catbooster]

Thanks - Think you’re right.

Care to do some more cipherin’ for FUBeAR?

If Montana State is ranked #4 and Mercer is ranked #23…

…AND…

Mercer beats Morehead State by 50, at home, on 8/27…

…How many points does Montana State have to beat Morehead State by, at home, on 9/10 to validate that they should be ranked 19 spots ahead of Mercer?

At least (50+19) = 69?

…nice, btw

My pleasure - always happy to do a little cipherin'. I think the proper answer is 12.

I didn't say you'd like the answer or that you'd think it's fair.

:D

[FUBeAR]

My pleasure - always happy to do a little cipherin'. I think the proper answer is 12.

I didn't say you'd like the answer or that you'd think it's fair.

:D
Ahhh…I see. You’re saying if Montana State should happen to win by less than that 50-point margin, then both Mercer and Montana State get a 12 slot ‘ranking correction,’ which would put Mercer @ #11 and Montana State @ #16. That’s fair.

[bonarae]

Well, it turns out that Jackson State is dealing with a crisis as well. Jackson, MS was already under a boil-water order before recent flooding damaged two water treatment plants in the city. JSU's campus water supply has been shut off which means no water, toilets or showers for students. It also means no water at practice for JSU players and, crucially, no ice. The importance of ice for a football program cannot be overstated.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34490077/jackson-state-tigers-football-coach-deion-sanders-crisis-mode-water-emergency-worsens

Will it also affect Jackson State's hopes of making to another Celebration Bowl? xchinscratchx We'll see.

[Bisonoline]

Florida A&M has one compliance officer for all of athletics. They also have one academic advisor for all of athletics. Plus the person tasked with compliance had no clue on how to do it.

This has so much wrong I cant believe there are people who are getting paid who made this decision. JFC
Then they doubled down on stupid by saying the had confidence in there processes. WTF????

[Catbooster]

Ahhh…I see. You’re saying if Montana State should happen to win by less than that 50-point margin, then both Mercer and Montana State get a 12 slot ‘ranking correction,’ which would put Mercer @ #11 and Montana State @ #16. That’s fair.
You asked:
…How many points does Montana State have to beat Morehead State by, at home, on 9/10 to validate that they should be ranked 19 spots ahead of Mercer?
And I answered:
I think the proper answer is 12.
So no, I'm not saying anything close to what you claim.




But of course, Fubear knows that. He just likes to troll xthumbsupx

[walliver]

I was impressed by FAMU's offensive performance against UNC. After watching UNC give up 40 points in the 4th quarter to Crap State, I am no longer impressed.