Birch leaves team

[saxman210]

https://twitter.com/pg_reinhardt/status/1054822374481240064?s=21

Too bad. I know some people were high on him.

 

[PurpleRedbird]

That stinks but cant say I blame him. Tough to wait your turn with 2 juniors ahead of him.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[fourthandshort]

Not surprised .. had to suck waiting behind 2 studs that are just 1 year ahead of you.

Best wishes to him whereever he lands !!!

 

[TIMMY]

I get leaving, but with 4 games left? The hard part is over. It's all downhill from here on out. Light practices. Walk throughs. Maintenance lifting and GAMES! Hell this is the fun part. You work all year for this. That's crazy.

 

[DannyCooksey]

constantly practicing with no game time rewards............that's tough. in many cases it becomes a job and it takes the fun out of it.

i wish him well. talented player. prob good enough to start on half the teams in this league.

 

[jbird]

The last straw might have been when someone else was a kickoff deep return man with Uphoff at NDSU. If third string on offense behind J.R. and Markel, and losing a key special teams role, it might have finally become too much..........or actually too little..........to take. He could end up being "the guy" at somewhere like Truman State. He is from Kansas. There are schools there like Fort Hays State that would probably love to have him; it will be too late for him to wait until the Shockers resurrect football (if they ever do).

 

[Chi-bird]

Even without our depth at RB, I just didn’t see him on the field as a running back at this level. Yes, he had his moment as a Butler hurdler, but he does not have the wiggle or acceleration that you often see at the running back position. His size and ability makes me think linebacker, but we’re stacked there. I would like to know if a position change was ever encourages and whether or not he was ever open to a position change if it was. If he decides it’s running back or the else, my guess is he’ll be playing down a level.

 

[JHBird]

Even without our depth at RB, I just didn’t see him on the field as a running back at this level. Yes, he had his moment as a Butler hurdler, but he does not have the wiggle or acceleration that you often see at the running back position. His size and ability makes me think linebacker, but we’re stacked there. I would like to know if a position change was ever encourages and whether or not he was ever open to a position change if it was. If he decides it’s running back or the else, my guess is he’ll be playing down a level.

I agree. He's big, but so are Markel and Robinson. Those guys can make people miss and really hit the top gear in a hurry. I figure we'll restock the position this year in recruiting.

 

[Adunk33]

Even without our depth at RB, I just didn’t see him on the field as a running back at this level. Yes, he had his moment as a Butler hurdler, but he does not have the wiggle or acceleration that you often see at the running back position. His size and ability makes me think linebacker, but we’re stacked there. I would like to know if a position change was ever encourages and whether or not he was ever open to a position change if it was. If he decides it’s running back or the else, my guess is he’ll be playing down a level.

I can almost promise Spack tried to make him a linebacker at some point over the last year and a half. He tries to do that with most running backs unless they are studs from the get-go (Robinson, Coprich, Smith, etc.)

Spack has a knack for moving players around. He recruited Hatfield as a DB/Safety. Hatfield wanted to try to be QB but ended up being a low QB on the depth chart. Cam Meredith from QB to WR. Countless other examples.

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

I get leaving, but with 4 games left? The hard part is over. It's all downhill from here on out. Light practices. Walk throughs. Maintenance lifting and GAMES! Hell this is the fun part. You work all year for this. That's crazy.

:text-+1: Had the same thoughts....plus he unnecessarily looks a bit like a quitter vs someone transferring(at end of semester) due to a lack of playing time.

 

[fourthandshort]

we just don't know what all was going on, and he just wasn't getting any reps. So while not condoning quitting midseason, if his heart was no longer in it, hard to blame him .. football is very demanding grinding sport, especially playing under Spack.

As for changing positions, it seemed like Birch was taking weight off. Makes me wonder if he was trying to gain some agility, or maybe he stopped trying to keep his weight on. If the latter, I would say his heart was no longer in it ... and he made the right decision for himself.

I wish him well.

 

[Chi-bird]

He’a a former 3-sport high school athlete who has had success in all 3 sports....I’m sure it’s tough to sit ......but it’s also difficult to train and have your head and heart into the program when you look into the future and wonder how you might find your way into the field with all that depth. Maybe he’ll stay at ISU and walk-on to the track team.

 

[TIMMY]

Football's tough. Football's grinding. Yes it is. But the next 4-? weeks are as easy as it gets. Out of the 12 month's of the year this is the easiest. They're tapering and getting they're legs back. At least they better be. Lathrop's off season is tougher than what they'll be seeing now. They're not hitting. They're not doing crazy drills. They're on a maintenance phase in the WR. This is the fun part. This is an easy month+ to slide through.
And it's football. Next man up. You never know.
Kid's very talented and he'll land somewhere if he wishes. My hope is there's not something more to it and he find's success and happiness on the next leg of his journey.

 

[Adunk33]

He just up and quit...I was kind of hoping there was more to the story

https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/tailback-birch-leaves-redbirds/article_30cb2af0-5ba7-5326-86bc-4e91a137a168.html

 

[StLRedbird]

Sorry to hear this, but lack of playing time due to excess of quality players is a good problem

 

[crazzymark]

Hopefully he will go Coach Spack and chat things out, maybe do a Luther Kirk type of thing and take a year off and work . Either way ,wish him great successes in life.

 

[JHBird]

It might have just been an emotional reaction. When a player suddenly doesn't show up that of course is a serious issue. Maybe they could've talked it out a bit and then all be forgiven, but Brock seems to be more of a no nonsense guy. Love to see him come back, and I just hope he really thought it out before quitting. Just not showing up is probably not the best way...could've had a heart to heart talk first with somebody, etc.