joannes3000

Coach, I guess the rumors were true. Patrick Strickland (QB) is giving up his remaining eligibility and entering the NFL draft. He'll be hard to replace. Brandon Booker Director of Athletics University of Toledo ------ So much for Strickland returning for his senior season. JR James Pierce becomes the favorite to replace Strickland. Pierce isn't quite the ideal candidate, however, and neither is his current backup, JR Charles Anderson. Both have good game instinct, with Pierce rating above average and Anderson rating average. Both are far below average in technique, however. Both are also below average in strength. One last similarity is that both were AC signings, so it's a miracle that either one is even close to being servicable. Needless to say, with Strickland declaring early, we will be looking to recruit a QB that could see some major playing time as a FR.

Our brutal OOC slate begins with a trip to #6 ranked Illinois State where we were 9.5 point dogs. We were actually up 21-20 at the half but we just couldn't hold on in the 2nd half. Other than the 3rd quarter where we were outscored 13-0, we actually outscored Illinois State 28-27. We ran for 124/3 and passed for 222/1. 28-40 L The going got slightly easier against California State, where we were 10.5 point dogs. Cal State was ranked #13 to open the season but dropped their opener and dropped out of the top 25. We led 17-13 at the half and held on to win the game on a 40 yard FG with 1:20 left in the game. We ran for 130/2 and passed for 322/2. 37-34 W Game three brings FIU to our house for the 2nd installment of our home-and-home series. We won at their house last season and hoped to not return the favor this season. As has been the case so far, we went into the game against #19 FIU as 11.5 point dogs at home! We were down 28-21 at the half before coming on strong in the 2nd half. We ran for 192/3 and passed for 285/2. 31-38 W --------- I'm proud to say that our team has stood tall in the early goings this season. We will surely be battle-tested as this 5 game stretch is pretty close to being a playoff run, given the caliber of teams and coaches we are playing. Having won 2 of the first 3 is a pleasant surprise, and my optimistic goal of 3 wins looks very attainable at this point. Both of the teams left on our OOC slate are currently undefeated and both have improved on their preseason rankings. Tonight's game against Texas State will be our 3rd (in 4) game against a top 25 team and tomorrow's game against SFA will likely be our 4th (in 5). ---------- 10/28/07 at #5 Texas State 10/29/07 at #10 Stephen F. Austin

QB Patrick Strickland is an extremely sound passer that will fit in extremely well with our passing game. Richard Henderson is a solid RB that leads a talented trio. We only return two WRs so we will need to add depth, but the two we return will be great leaders. We return two above average TEs and I will look to add a receiving threat for our passing formations. We return 5 on the OL which forms another solid unit which we will backfill with depth during recruiting. We also return a sound DL group of 5, and much like the OL we will need to add depth at this position. We return 5 LBs, 5 of which will be incoming SRs, so we will be stockpiling this season to get ready for next season's exodus. We face a similar situation at DB. We have 7 returning DBs, 4 of which will also be SRs. We have some dead weight to cut at special teams, with 4 total K/Ps on the team. We will rescind three scholarships at this position to free up the scholarships needed to round out our roster.

Welcome to Toledo, Coach! We are thrilled to have you leading our program and we are sure that you can lead us to great success. Heriberto Phelps President University of Toledo Brandon Booker Athletic Director University of Toledo ------ Realistically I could've stayed at Appy State for 3 more seasons to milk the 100% rewards at DIAA, but the Toledo job was enticing due to their recent history. They have won consecutive CC's the past two seasons with a cumulative 38-6 record. In that time they have also been to three bowl games (Outback, Rose, New Orleans), albeit having lost all three contests. Their recent success should help immediately with our recruiting efforts.

After delivering the most wins Appalachian State has had in 29 seasons, I put in a random application to the vacated Toledo job. I figured this was as good a time as any to try and make the jump to a non-BCS school because we had just won a CC, made the playoffs, and won 12 games (decent enough). I was pleasantly surprised to be accepted so soon.

I took one look at my OOC schedule and wondered how crazy I must have been last season. 10/25/07 at #6 Illinois State 10/26/07 at #13 California State 10/27/07 #19 Florida International 10/28/07 at #9 Texas State 10/29/07 at #21 Stephen F. Austin Illinois State is quickly becoming the official springboard school to DIA. They are on their 5th coach in 6 seasons. The team is loaded with talent and is only two seasons removed from a NC (they also lost in the NC three seasons ago). California State looks to be a team that I can upset early. They are one notch above me in terms of talent, but their coach hasn't been able to guide them to more than 11 wins in his 10+ seasons there. I beat FIU last season on the road and look to beat them again this year at home. They have 2 QBs, 3 RBs, and 4 WRs. I don't know what kind of offense you can muster with that, but I doubt it would be very much. Texas State is another perennial powerhouse that is under new management. Before the coaching change this season they averaged 15.4 wins and 2.1 losses. They're about 2 notches above me in terms of talent. SFA is an upstart team that is equal to me in terms of talent. They've been about a 10 win team as of late, so this looks to be another winnable game. For those of you keeping track at home, it looks like we have two or maybe three winnable games on our OOC slate. I haven't met a challenge I didn't like, however, and this will be one tall order. I'll be happy with 3 wins and content with 2 wins heading into conference play. ------- Conference play looks to be an absolute cake walk this season. Unlike last season, we didn't draw Northwestern State. We drew Nicholls State as one of our two human games during conference play. The other game is against Citadel, whom we beat last season. I'm also looking forward to my rematch against sim coached Western Carolina, the team that beat me and won the CC last season. ------- Offensively we will be relying more on our running game after I failed to add any depth at WR. Our QBs continue to mature, with Johnny McCarthy continuing to be the leader. Our running game will be strong, with the 5 man unit averaging 80 elusiveness, 73 strength, 78 speed, 66 athleticism, and 57 stamina. I'll be content to pound the ball on the ground about 75% of the time. After switching David Dodson to WR we still only have 4 at the position, so I've tweaked my game plans to run more Pro Set than Trips. Given the success I've had lately with Pro Set I've been wanting to use it more any way, and this is a good a time as any. Our OL 'gains' RS FR Tom Gibson who will be a devastating run blocker. We also added a second run blocking TE in Joseph Magee. Defensively we look about as solid as we did last year. Our DL remains the weak spot, but the rest of our defense is solid and has quality depth. I need to find a way to stop teams from running on me, which is how I would attack my own defense.

Wow, talk about an interesting recruiting period. Things started off well, as we were able to keep some high priority targets (TE Joseph Magee, DB Stanley Brown) locked up for a minimal amount of money. We had to get into the usual fight for OL and DL but came up with decent prospects. Then there's the issue we ran into at WR... Let's just say that we got worked at that position and ended up with 3 AC recruits because of it. Two of my top WR targets got snatched up late by a pair of Alabama schools. Charles Weber was rated the stud of Alabama A&M's class with a rating of 69.39. Thomas Lee was also rated the stud of the class, at Alabama State, rating an even 70. I consider 70 rated recruits to be the absolute top of DIAA. My third and final WR recruit? South Florida swooped in late and landed Ernest Christie, a WR rated 71.62. Between those three WR targets I ended up spending an exorbitant amount of money, at least by my standards. Keep in mind that you receive 10k per scholarship when I say that I spent well over 15k on each recruit only to have them land elsewhere. As a result of signing zero WRs with this class, I ended up switching one of my RBs that doesn't look like he will get strong enough to be higher than 3rd on my depth chart. Lesson learned? Absolutely. I think I got too caught up with my early success with recruiting and got careless. We still landed the #45 class after taking those 3 AC recruits, however, which is a testament to the quality of recruits we signed overall. In fact we still signed the #4 and #5 recruits 7 (of 10 that we actually signed) of the top 50 in the conference.

St. Peter's opens the first quarter with the ball and were driving into our redzone when we forced a fumble. We turned around and went on a 7 minute drive that ended in a TD. St. Peter's comes right back with a 5 minute TD drive to tie things up. We started the second quarter with the ball and what looked like a promising drive was stopped when we threw a pick at midfield. Our defense forced a three and out, although the punt pinned us back at our 1 yard line. With our backs to the endzone, we go three and out ourselves, giving St. Peter's the ball back with a short field. It only took 3 plays for St. Peter's to go 39 yards for the go-ahead TD. Our offense responds with a strong 80 yard TD drive that didn't even require a 3rd down conversion. St Peter's barely crossed midfield on their next drive before punting and the half ended with the score knotted up at 14. We open the 2nd half with the ball and drove 80 yards to take a 21-14 lead. Facing a 4th and 2 from our 12 yard line, we were unable to stop St. Peter's as they connected on a TD to tie the game right back up. Our next possession ended at midfield again, this time due to a lost fumble. The quarter came to an end with St. Peter's facing 4th and long from our 30. The final quarter starts with us getting the ball at the 20 after St. Peter's punted away. Our offense sputters at midfield and we have to put the ball right back. Our defense forces a three and out only for our offense to go three and out as well. Our defense forces a second consecutive three and out, giving us the ball at our 24 with 7 minutes to go. Our offense wakes up somewhat, driving all the way down to the opposing 18 yard line before having to settle for a FG. With 2 minutes to go, we kick off with a 24-21 lead. We were lucky to go into OT, as St. Peter's was on our 2 yard line but had to kick a FG with 2 seconds left. We started on defense and watched St. Peter's march into the endzone in 4 plays. On offense we converted on 3rd and 8, en route to a TD of our own. We got the ball to start the 2nd OT and connected on a 25 yard pass for a TD. Our defense held up for 5 plays this time before yielding another TD. St. Peter's started the 3rd OT with the ball and only took 3 plays to score a TD. They also converted for 2 points. Our offense couldn't convert on 3rd and 7, setting up 4th and 7 from the 22. An incomplete pass ended the contest and our season. ------- Could we have won the game? Absolutely. We had one more turnover than St. Peter's and also allowed them to go 2-2 on 4th down conversions. On top of that, we had twice as many penalties and yards (4/20 - 2/10). We didn't play sloppy all game long, but clearly there were times that our players broke down a bit and that made all the difference. Losing yet another RB in the 1st quarter also left us extremely short-handed until halftime when I was able to make adjustments in our depth chart. Until that point, however, my two healthy RBs got fatigued beyond belief and I think that attributed to our 2nd half collapse on offense. ------- I can't deny the fact that this 1st round exit is extremely disappointing. We would've likely been bounced in the next round any way, but we couldn't even make it to that point. It will definitely feel like a long time until next season gets here.

Thought I'd post up a quick tidbit regarding our 1st round matchup. Going with the theme of injured RBs, my current #1 RB went down in the first quarter of the game on his first carry. That necessitates me having to bring back Kevin Waters one game ahead of schedule. The hope of getting medical redshirts for either of my injured RBs is moot at this point because our season is extending into the playoffs. Not only that, but I'd much rather field a competitive team than get an extra year of eligibility for one of my players. I play to win the game.

The first quarter was absolutely sloppy for both teams. Our opening drive was cut short at the 33 yard line when we went for it on 4th and 2 and came up one yard short. Our defense bailed us out, as we forced a punt. Our next drive didn't fare any better as we threw a pick at midfield. Nicholls drove into our redzone and we got lucky as they missed a chipshot 36 yard FG. We end the quarter charging hard into the redzone. We open the second quarter by completing the drive at the end of the first quarter for a TD. Our defense comes up huge with a forced fumble and recovery one play later. With the ball at the 39, it took two passing plays to find the endzone for a second time. Our defense stepped up yet again, forcing a punt on the next series, but we were pinned down at our 1 yard line. The first play of the drive was a 29 yard pass and we didn't even sniff a 3rd down on the way to another TD. Our defense forced another punt and we entered halftime with a 21-0 lead. Nicholls State started the third quarter with a huge TD drive that went 80 yards in 9 1/2 minutes. Our next possession fizzled just past midfield and the quarter ends with us leading 21-7. Nicholls has the ball, however, and I don't feel as easy as I did at halftime. The fourth quarter started off with a bunch of punting practice. We forced Nicholls to punt just short of midfield and returned the favor as we approached midfield ourselves. Our punt set them at their 3 yard line. Nicholls had to punt at their 23, but a booming 58 yard punt was coupled with a pick on our next possession to give Nicholls the ball at our 36 with 6 minutes to play. Nicholls completed at 10 yard pass to put them at our 8 yard line, but our defense came up with a huge turnover by stripping the ball yet again. The final 3 minutes drained away and we celebrated a CC victory. --------- With the regular season now complete, I must say that I'm more than pleased with what we've accomplished to this point. The 12 win plateau that seemed out of reach due to injuries was met. This matches the highest win total ever for Appy State, with the previous 12 win season happening ages ago back in season 3. The CC is the 3rd ever for the school, with the last one coming back in season 15. For all that we accomplished so far, we got little love when it came time for playoff seedings. Our 12-2 record (3-1 vs top 25 teams), and CC only netted us a #5 seed! We landed in the North bracket which features perennial powerhouses in Princeton (#1 seed), Rhode Island (#3 seed), and Bethune Cookman (#2 seed). To illustrate the strength of the bracket, Rhode Island lost in the NC last season after winning consecutive NCs beforehand. Our first round opponent is 16th ranked St. Peter's, coached by hypnotoad. Hypnotoad is a veteran coach, having built a 287-144 record in one world. He has a losing record in neutral site games (11-17), however, along with a losing record in playoff games (2-6) and bowl games (5-6). St. Peter's offense is stacked, especially on the ground, but their undoing could very well be on defense. With only 6 DL, you best believe I'm going to run a lot. Those DL average a 62 stamina so they won't break easily, but a steady diet of running should do the trick.

Quote: Did you see that Smoove went #3? When my brother sent me the draft results, that was the first thing that stood out to me.

Quote: Quote: sounds like you haven't seen american psycho... Is it good? One of my favorite movies of all time.

Western Carolina was peskier than the final score indicates. Two TDs in the 4th made the win look more impressive than it really was. We ran for 191/2 and passed for 363/2. 31-13 W Citadel is our last human team until the showdown against Georgia Southern. Here's a stat for you - we had 29 first downs and allowed 9. We ran for 225/3 and passed for 266/4. 13-51 W Wofford made for a good punching bag. We ran for 237/3 and passed for 270/3. 9-48 W Let's just get straight to the 4th quarter. Georgia Southern scores a TD and gets a 2pt conversion to tie things up with 6 minutes to go. We go 3 and out on our next possession, but force a pick at midfield. 3 plays later, we throw a pick right back, which leads to the game-winning 41 yard FG. Now you might say that picks happen. You know how many times they 'happened' this season prior to the one that lost me this game? Twice. To date my starting QB has a 44/3 ratio. One of the previous INTs was during our blowout loss against Austin Peay early in the season. The last pick thrown prior to this one? 4 games and over 100 passing attempts ago. 35-38 L ---------- You know what I forgot? The tie-breaker system when it comes to selecting a CC bid. I thought that my loss to Georgia Southern would eliminate me from the CC because I would lose the head-to-head breaker against them. I completely forgot that tie-breakers go as follows: Conference record Overall record Head-to-head record WIS ranking Our rematch against Nicholls State is set, as they also win a tie-breaker (head-to-head) against Northwestern State. As I mentioned before, I feel good about our chances against Nicholls State. We beat them on the road earlier this season, so playing the game on neutral turf alone will be in our favor. ---------- 10/19/07 #17 Nicholls State

ESPN is teh suxorz.

We took care of Elon by showcasing a potent passing attack that we will continue to rely on as the season progresses. We ran for 153/2 and passed for 490/6. 59-22 W McNeese provided little competition as our passing game continued to shine. We ran for 137/2 and passed for 366/5. 17-55 W Furman hung tight in the 1st half, as we were only leading 24-14. We scored the only points of the second half, however. We ran for 139/2 and passed for 391/2. 31-14 W ------ At this point all I can say is wow. If you would've told me that we would be 8-1 after losing our top two runners I would've been skeptical. That's where we stand, however. Our lone loss was on the road against the currently #10 ranked team and we are currently ranked #13 going into the final stretch of the regular season. We have also yet to lose a game during in-conference play, which has us vying for a CC bid. The final game of the season will likely determine who gets the CC bid from the east division, as we are in good position to win the remaining games (the same can be said about Georgia Southern) leading up to our showdown against Georgia Southern. Remember that outside chance of 11 wins? It looks like we will have that sown up shortly and we now have an outside shot of winning 12 games. If we do that and wind up in the CC, we could have my most impressive 13 win regular season ever, given the devastating injuries that we suffered at the beginning of the season. ------ 10/15/07 at Western Carolina 10/16/07 Citadel 10/17/07 Wofford 10/18/07 at Georgia Southern

Sorry for the lack of updates. I was out of town for a wedding and have been busy catching up with things when I got home. Anyhoo... -------- The gut-wrencher against Villanova was followed by a much easier win against Norfolk State. We ran for 250/3 and passed for 491/7. 70-10 W Against James Madison we showed that our running game still needs to be worried about. We ran for 208/2 and passed for 189/2. 12-31 W Nicholls State was one game we had circled long before our RB injuries. This game showed that we are a legit playoff team without our top running threats, and quite possibly a darkhorse NC threat with them in tow. We ran for 80/1 and passed for 383/4. 38-28 W -------- Our win against Nicholls State on the road has our team amped up. We don't face another human coached team until the 16th, and our #1 RB Kevin Waters will be returning after that game. Regarding Waters, he will be in no shape to play immediately, and likely won't play until at least the CC or the first round of the playoffs. Our #2 RB James Martin returns after the 17th and will likely be as ineffective. I'm hoping that we can get a medical RS for both players. Our final test of the regular season will be at Georgia Southern. Assuming we win out, that game will determine who plays in the CC against Nicholls State. So far, Georgia Southern's only conference loss was on the road against Nicholls State, whom we beat on the road. I like my chances against Georgia Southern, but we'll have to see how things play out. -------- 10/12/07 at Elon 10/13/07 McNeese State 10/14/07 at Furman

Boney Money Jackson.

Quote: Quote: In a highly technical, nine-page ruling, Burbank said the Falcons were entitled to $3.75 million of the $7.5 million bonus that Vick was paid after signing the deal in 2004, $13.5 million of the $22.5 million in roster, reporting and playing bonuses he was paid in 2005 and 2006, and $2.72 million of the $7 million roster, reporting and playing bonus that he received this year. This has absolutely nothing to do with Dogfighting. Those monies were earned Incentives. You shouldn't be able to get an Incentive earning back even if the contract was breached. That makes NO f0000000 sense. Think about it... You were named employee of the week... You receive $6000.00 for that week because that's the prize that comes for being employee of the week. 2 months later you get fired because you failed a drug test. Your place of business cannot go back and ask you for the $6000.00 that you earned. That's BS. I'm a Falcon fan, but I really hope the players Union win on appeal. For if they don't no player is guaranteed anything... even after he has earned it. It might not be dogs next time. Next time, it might be breaking a team rule. Maybe you missed the team plane... maybe you had a good excuse. IF this precedent is set, a team can go into your wallet and take money that you have already earned! BS. If your failed drug test can date back prior to the reception of the award/money, it's fair game. You should have never been in position to receive the award. It amazes me that people around the league are getting so concerned about this ruling setting a precedent that teams will try to take advantage of. Imagine that, people getting held accountable for their actions. Horrible precedent to get set.

There were a ton of veterans that were whining about not getting into that world solely because they wanted to race to the top and snatch up the DIA elites. The GD101 thread goes a long way of helping make sense of the game. What's your user name on GD? I'll send you something regarding recruiting that should help.

Naturally, the NFLPA will be appealing the ruling and I hope that there isn't a way that this ruling is overturned. I'm not saying this because I don't want us to lose the chance to recoup money, but because it would send a negative message in letting someone essentially cash a check when they should have never been in position to do so. Vick was in clear violation of his contract because he was knowingly engaged in illegal activity at the time he signed the contract in late 2004. We need to put that money to good use by resigning some of our young talent at LB and possibly Deangelo Hall. Beyond that, I'd rather us stockpile the money, draft smart (OL in the 1st round please), and lock up key guys as we uncover them.

Well, this season has already provided it's share of plot twists in the first three games. Keep in mind my master plan of throwing a RS on that super RB convert we landed during recruiting... -------- Our opening game featured the throttling of Columbia. We ran for 367/4 and passed for 297/4. The plot twist? My #1 RB, Kevin Waters, goes down in the 4th quarter of the game after things were well out of reach. He is slated to return after the 16th. That's 10 games lost and he will more than likely not get a medical RS because he will come back with 2 games left to go in the season. 7-56 W Staggering from the loss of our #1 RB, we proceed to lose our game on the road against Austin Peay. We ran for 38/0 and passed for 222/2. 14-45 L It was early in the season but it was gut-check time against Villanova. Villanova is as equally talented as Austin Peay, but they had to play in our house. We ran for 94/1 and passed for 281/2. Plot twist number 2: already reeling from losing our #1 RB for the majority of the season, our #2 RB, James Martin goes down 8 minutes into this game. Minor injury? Of course not. Martin won't return until after the 17th, making him eligible for the last game of the regular season. With my luck he won't be granted a medical RS either. 24-27 W -------- After losing Kevin Waters, I started to worry a little. He was to be our workhorse this season. His loss was manageable only because we still had 4 capable RBs with good stamina. Losing James Martin hurts, though. We're now down to 3 healthy RBs. I'm lucky that Adam Sheets, my current #2 RB but only #4 RB with everyone healthy, has great stamina or I would've had to pull the RS off of Bradley Carpenter. My blocking back, Leonard Brown, also has great stamina so we will see how long we can go with a 3 RB rotation. It was evident in the 2nd half of the Villanova game, however, that our running game is going to suffer greatly and we will need to rely much more on passing the ball. With some crafty game planning and depth chart usage, I should be able to weather the storm until Waters and Martin return. Hopes of a 12 win season are all but out the window now, though. Looking long term, I'd rather have this season end with 10 or 11 wins and maintain the RS on Carpenter so we can make an earnest playoff run when my guys can stay healthy. The next three games will show how much of a chance we have at the playoffs, with two games to gear up for our game against former ASC (East Texas Baptist!) coach fastec27. We should still be able to hit the 10 win mark, with an outside chance of hitting 11 wins. -------- 10/9/07 at Norfolk State 10/10/07 James Madison 10/11/07 at Nicholls State

Quote: I am doing the one free season of Gridiron Dynasty. Let's see how this works! Awesome! Did you get into the brand new world that just opened up? If you have any questions about anything, feel free to sitemail me here or on WIS. I'm always willing to share knowledge with a fellow squawker.

Coach, I don't want to add to all the criticism in the press, but I think we both know that more is expected out of our football program. How are we looking for next season? I know the alumni are looking forward to turning things around next season. Elmer Wright Athletics Director -------- I was a bit shocked to have this email waiting for me today. I'm actually not that concerned with getting fired, because that's relatively unheard of anywhere other than at BCS schools in DIA. What's shocking is that this was implemented with the update. I'm actually happy to see that this, which could be nothing more than a token effort, is a step toward preventing coaches from staying at school forever regardless of their success. In all fairness I did guide Furman backwards from last season's 17 wins, CC, and semifinal loss. Comparing that to this season's 13 wins, no CC, and 2nd round loss I deserved to get the email and the reduction in my job security from very secure to secure. I need to, and should very likely, improve my record next year to prevent further drops in job security. The last thing I want to happen is the dreaded 'fire joannes3000.com' emails to start showing up. That's when you know you're in trouble.

Our first three games should be a good barometer of how realistic my expectations are for the season - at least matching last season's 11 win total, if not getting to 13 wins. We face a dearth of sim teams (7 total), and only one of them is threatening. Ironically, it's the same team I coach in Leahy - Furman. They had been human-coached for several seasons before becoming a sim team this season, so they don't have the roster deficiencies most sim teams have. If I can get 6 wins from the group of 7 sim teams, that puts us half way to our goal of 12 wins. The games I'm concerned about are against Austin Peay (solid team), Nicholls State (excellent coach), and Georgia Southern (solid team). We will need to engineer a handful of upsets but I feel like we have enough pieces in place to surprise some teams. ---------- 10/6/07 Columbia 10/7/07 at #14 Austin Peay 10/8/07 #21 Villanova