Next year....will be a great season

[BallwinBird2012]

Ballwin, only meant that I think FCS is a great place for up and coming coaches to get a chance to shine. I am a fan of many who have come and gone during Coach's tenure but going back to Beathard threw me. He left because of family obligations??? Ok, what has changed? Further, Coach seemed to pull the trigger quickly and I wonder if there was any other young talent he could consider???
4th does a great job of analyzing the production but in retrospect it turns out Beathard led a pretty extraordinarily talented offensive group. Safe to say the Seniors and Juniors on Offense were special top to bottom. I think he will have a greater challenge this time around and we will see.

all valid points - though he figured out how to make Tre a more effective passer. I just think Beathard is big improvement over Dicken, and he'll figure out how to make it all work on offense.

Replacing 4 offensive coaches will be a challenge - but not yet grossly concerned.. But I most worried about impact on recruitment - recruits are going to be concerned. From there, I'm most concerned with our WR group, and replacing our defensive seniors .. Keene, Conley, Harris, Kocour, Glass, McCown, Graham, Holm .. 6 good to very good starters, plus Graham as nice speed rusher off the bench.

Agree that those are all fair points. I looked at the comments Beathard made when he left, and he mentioned that (at least part of the reason) he was leaving was to spend more time with his daughter who was a senior in high school, and he wanted to be around for that. She would be in college now, thus more independent and, presumably, not living at home anymore. Just a theory anyway.

Like fourth, my biggest concern with the roster that he has to work with now is the WR group. I also agree though that I think he'll find a way to make it work.

When I think back on the 2014 season, it wasn't always pretty, but there was always a sense (at least in my mind) that if/when the game was on the line, they were going to find a way to make a play, and I do credit a lot of that to his play calling. I always felt like if they were struggling early, they were working their way to setting something up later on in the game. There seemed to be a purpose and an identity with that offense. Again, I'll admit that lots of football coaches look really smart when they have really good players. Maybe that's a bit of revisionist history, but I never really had that sense with Dicken calling plays. We shall see!

 

[Chi-bird]

Beathard leaving to spend time with his family during his youngest daughter's senior year is admirable. I think it shows that he has his priorities in order. The fact that he's coming back also show's me that he is still hungry. I'm sure he's chompin' at the bit to take back the reigns. Of course, this is all speculation.

 

[redbirddad10]

Wondered, I should say "hoped" the family issues had a timeframe to them. Taking time to savor a Senior year makes sense and lessen my concerns.
I agree 2014 wasn't always pretty but it was quite a group. Spack was quoted at the time thinking the team was a year away. I wonder if he still feels that way? Three players from that Class still on NFL rosters. Anyhoo, interesting to see how the early signing will go tomorrow. I will be interested in seeing how it goes for FCS schools. Traditionally FCS program waited until the FBS programs passed on players. But times seemed to have changed and more players are committing to the programs they feel most comfortable with and not waiting. Hope to see a solid group of early signees.

 

[Total Red]

Hope to see a solid group of early signees.

Me too but it's rather quiet in comparison to the traditional Feb signing day. Nothing on GoRedbirds so far about making announcements as commits come in. It's like inventing a new holiday. Nobody knows how to celebrate it yet.