cbarry
Member
I am fully expecting NO Duke opt outs. We are better than that. Please don’t disappoint us, guys.
2024 FB Bowl Watch
- Thread starter CameronBornAndBred
- Start date
CrazyNotCrazie
Member
From a "skipping the bowl game because they don't want to get hurt before the draft and/or want to spend their time preparing for the combine" perspective, I don't think we have a lot to worry about as it doesn't look like we have many players expecting to be drafted next year.
The downside of a late bowl game is that if there are players who are thinking of transferring, it is harder (but still manageable) to play in the bowl game and then enroll at the new school for spring semester. Hopefully this will not be an issue, but in this day and age, who knows.
cbarry
Member
Good points.
Even for a player expected to be picked in the first round- I never understood skipping the game for fear of injury. Isn’t the risk the same as a regular season game? And isn’t playing in a bowl game good preparation for the combine?
HereBeforeCoachK
On Holiday
guys thinking about the portal are the ones to worry about. I can think of three QBs who are in HYPOTHETICAL situations that often get players thinking about leaving.....either stepping up in level or going somewhere they can play right away....just off top of my head. I stress hypothetical....simply to say that Duke is not immune to this kind of thing....all the "we are better than that" sentiment aside. Players want to play, and they want to play at the highest level they can.
That said, I"m not sure CFB will see the massive opt outs of last season.....and I also feel like Ole Miss will be hit by this a lot harder than Duke....if I had to guess.
Also our staff isn’t out recruiting guys from other schools in the portal already.
ya, sounds like Manny is looking forward to the luxury of being a bit more selective this time around, he needed SO many players this past year.
I think he has a lot to offer, and the credibility of a guy who just went 9-3.
PDDuke85
Member
I like the Duke formula of going after graduate students from the portal. Duke and the Fuqua Business School are great recruiting tools.
we already seem to have our sights on a couple of all Ivy guys...great synergy....but we'll also need some other guys to fill in the holes.
You have to wonder if, at some point, the Ivy League might change their rules about having only four years of athletic eligibility, even if you lose a year to an injury. I'm guessing not all the Ivy League coaches are happy about this policy. But, in the meantime, it does seem to be helping Duke (and maybe some other schools) in football, baseball, lacrosse and other sports, where Duke can convince some of the top Ivy athletes to spend their "extra" year of athletic eligibility in Durham.
I doubt they will change. The amount of these guys is going to drop significantly as we are now done with the COVID extra year at the end of this academic year. Because of the Ivy rule, they don't redshirt guys in the traditional sense, so it's only going to be guys that got hurt or have some other special circumstance.
hallcity
Member
How many spots on the roster do we have now to offer to transfers?
By the way, are we sure that no one transferring out of Duke is a good thing? If a player has little hope of seeing any significant playing time at Duke, why be concerned about him transferring? Don't force him out but do wish him the best if he decides on his own to transfer. We can find someone better in the portal.
By the way, are we sure that no one transferring out of Duke is a good thing? If a player has little hope of seeing any significant playing time at Duke, why be concerned about him transferring? Don't force him out but do wish him the best if he decides on his own to transfer. We can find someone better in the portal.
It probably depends on the extent to which a player who opts-out still participates in practice for the bowl game. If you're still getting B-squad practice leading up to the bowl game then I can see where the marginal benefit that A-Squad practice + game minutes doesn't overcome the risk of playing full-speed full-contact football.
As for the risk of a bowl game vs regular season, I am honestly surprised we don't see more SEC/B1G teams with opt-outs once they're mathematically eliminated from the regular season championship/playoff picture. I wonder if it's only a matter of time before the post-season vs regular season divide breaks down.
Ironically for now this phenomenon only benefits Duke. Our staff and players realistically know that the goal is a bowl game and to get a good bowl game is a reward for how hard they played. The Gator Bowl represents the culmination of hard work paying off. To an SEC/B1G team like Ole Miss the Gator Bowl represents a let down, like UNC getting an NIT invite over an NCAA one. We are excited for the opportunity to be there, they are disappointed in it and ready to put the season behind them.
That's what's going on. Already one name has popped up, a LB who plays little. No doubt leaving is the right move for a kid who doesn't have prospects to play much but would like to play a lot elsewhere, that's just the portal doing a good thing.
We need a lot of incoming guys because we're still very thin at some positions, and we brought in a lot of fifth year guys who need to be replaced...32 guys walked on senior day, some of them could still return, but clearly we will have more churn, just not nearly as much as last year.
I'll be darned! I assume you are correct, but I had no idea about that. I had always thought/assumed maybe that the Sun Bowl was a part of the sort of second wave of bowls. Thanks! That really does surprise me.
Bill Belichick's dad played in the Sun Bowl before the Gator Bowl was started.
Stray Gator
Moderator
I remember when the Sugar Bowl was played at Tulane Stadium and the Liberty Bowl was played in Philadelphia. Yeah, I'm old.
My list exactly. Though I think the Citrus gained stature, at least in my mind, when Spurrier (at his peak with the Gators) needled Tennessee by crowing that "you can't spell Citrus without U-T ! "
AustinDevil
Member
Only one that I even thought to check was the Independence, but 1976 is after your stated criteria so it's not an add.
Wish we had done it when I was at Fuqua but football was a bit different back then