In 2021 I asked what would change with Albin taking over. I did not know, and nobody else seemed to have a good answer either. In retrospect, the biggest change was that Albin was very willing to move on from and demote coaches, and bring in new assistants with different ideas. I would've never guessed that would be the big change.

https://bobcatattack.com/messageboard/topic.asp?FromPage=...

So far, it looks like Smith will be more aggressive on offense. The 4th down call and Navarro throwing passes on the next-to-last drive seem to point in that direction. I also think the team will evolve into a more pass-oriented team post-Navarro, as that was the case in Smith's time in Hawaii and at Washington State.

Any thoughts?

Post Navarro is a year away. Smith will (like Albin did) coach to the strength of his talent. Navarro is and will be a run first option and throw when they want to. Still not going to be an offense you want to play from behind or behind the chains. But he will be just fine.

But great question to ponder.

My hope for the coaching staff is to find high school gems being overlooked by the portal. Our chances to get higher ranked HS-ers is really good right now. Will take more time develop but I'm okay with that.

From a transfer portal standpoint, I'm more open to FCS players than I ever was. If we can find more Leake's in the portal, bring them in.

And last but not least, a lot of former players may not have played for Smith, so I hope the alum connection is still there.

In today’s portal world, why would you redshirt anyone? You talk to any college coaches? I know you played and coached a minute, but ask a mid major about redshirting a player. Why save an extra year for the next coach and next school.

We need to have good balance in recruiting. My hope is that we don't rely heavily on the portal and find those mid-level (80-87 ranked) high-schoolers that aren't getting those upper P5 offers anymore.

If we don't have the budget to compete in the portal, let's focus on getting the best high school kids possible and develop them.

As far as redshirts go, someone has to use them. More than likely, they will be for our high school kids coming in.

It will be VERY interesting to see how this all plays out, especially now with free JUCO involved. Feels like some of the age stigma has fallen away. Especially with guys like Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix showing up on Day 1 looking good.

Like basketball, I kind of suspected power teams would go hard on the portal and pull back on high schoolers. Obviously the elite teams will still get elite hs players, but like you said that 80-87 range is like right on the cusp of being a P5 rotation guy. Are people willing to put the work in for a year or two to become a starter? It doesn't seem that way anymore, so hopefully we can scoop up some of those guys.

I'm happy to be a stepping-stone for players, if they help us as well. I'm thinking Sieh-types. He was a big recruit for us. Showed up, worked his ass off for two years, put up big numbers, helped us win a lot of games. Then decided it was his time to go try out the Big 10. I'm not mad at you. I want more of you. If thats the world we live, where guys stop at the G5 first and go elsewhere, I want you to show off your production here.

You ain’t wrong.

100% agree with you. Adapt or get left behind. We have to play the hand that is dealt to us.

Exactly BTC. No need to redshirt anyone in today's world. Play them immediately if they can play.