The Role of Major College Transfers

[noexcuses]

Apr 4, 2014 14:32:29 GMT -5 Maxell said:

I am convinced that in order to consistently win championships in FB, MBB,and WBB that A&T must adopt a strategy that purposefully includes major college transfers. There is no doubt that the best black athletes are not coming to HBCUs as their first choices for various reasons. And good white athletes need an environment that makes them comfortable to come to an HBCU, what ever that may mean.

We've adopted a "coach 'em up" strategy in order to maximize talent and Broadway is using creative ways to upgrade the coaching staff. But I do not think that alone will be enough to reach athletic excellence and sustain it in today's climate. The answer will lie in major college transfers.

In WBB, Coach Bibbs knew it. Coach Robinson gets it. And I think Broadway knows it, too but has not yet looked at it aggressively but I hope he will. I think last year we had three on our football roster but in football it will take closer to 6 or 7 transfers to make a difference. In basketball I think the number is 1 or 2. Hate if you will on WSSU football, but they figured it out. Granted there is a different set of rules for DII but you have to work it within the rules you are given. Maynor will certainly pursue it at Hampton.

Chancellor Martin wants to perennially have 5 MEAC champions each year by 2020. In order to do that, FB, MBB, WBB and maybe even VB must adopt a solid transfer stategy. For the other non-revenue sports, we have to continue to upgrade coaching and recruiting. In baseball and softball it's about pitching. Track seems to be headed in the right direction by building up distance and field events. Bowling continues to improve as Del State and UMES gets better. Tennis, golf and soccer are TBD.

You are SO RIGHT!!! W/O D-1 transfers on the Level of those "garnered" by B Cook and SC St. (And soon by Maynor at Hampton),we will NOT win those Championships mentioned Below that will DRAW these Transfers to US. Simply put...There was/izzzzzz a reason that those guys were Signed by the D-1 respective programs.

[Maxell]

Thanks. I stand by that statement.

[oleschoolaggie]

don't forget that central's levelle moton also made a name for himself by bringing in a ton of major d1 transfers. by the way, did ya'll see in the durham newspaper where moton's base salary has been increased from $158,200 a year to $250,000 a year plus incentives? wow, dude might be the highest paid basketball coach in the meac now...

[saabman]

Broadway is doing the right thing. He gets just one are two FCS players the he knows can come in and play right away and thats all he needs. He coaches up the HS kids to their level and thats how it should be done. let Broadway do is thing his way.

[saabman]

Sorry FBS Players .

[neighborhoodsuperstar]

I'm not crazy over FBS transfers. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad to take any with potential, but it still comes down to what the coaches are doing with them to make them successful. As I've said on meacfanszone, folks are overzealous in posting the latest FBS transfer their HBCU just got......then after November rolls around, that same school's program ends up being as average as it was before it got the transfer.

Case in point - Alabama State got Isaiah Crowell, who was the SEC freshman of the year as a RB at Georgia. The year before he got to Alabama State (2011), the Hornets went 8-3. In 2012, they went 7-4 with him; in 2013, they went 8-4 with him. Although they had good records with him, he didn't lead the Hornets to a SWAC championship or even to the championship game. Crowell is probably one of the biggest FBS transfers to come to an HBCU in years.....yet Alabama State couldn't even win a SWAC title with him in the backfield.

I'm never going to turn down a talented player from anywhere. However in football, it really is a team game that relies upon the coaching staff to put players in positions/schemes to thrive. Adding one (or a few) FBS transfer(s) to a team of 50+ players is not going to change our fortunes.

I'd rather have Coach Broadway and 5 FBS transfers on our team than a Coach Lee Fobbs or Alonzo Lee with 20-25 FBS transfers on a team. On our level (or any level), coaching/coaching staff quality has more of an impact on program success than a few quality FBS transfers.....

[Maxell]

I'll say it again. The right number is six(6). And all of them don't have to start either. 3-4 Linemen/LB, 2-3 skill players. That's it. If you are lucky enough to get 2-3 years of eligibility. That's just 2-3 players every recruiting year.

Neighborhood, the reasons the Crowell situation is an example of what not to do is (1)FBS players will not be saviors, (2)the biggest impact by far will be "transfers in the trenches". That's where HBCUs fall short most often in the playoffs.

[Aggie One]

I can see both sides of the debate but it really comes down to what the coach is looking for and if the transfer can start for him or play a ton of critical minutes to address a glaring need. Case in point would be the big kid who's here from the MAC this year. He's a very solid speed pass rusher with all the credentials to match and will immediately help the interior push. That's something we have always had on the edges but not necessarily from the middle, at least on a consistent basis.

So to me unless the transfer is like all-world or something, has a great track record, and hopefully very little if any baggage, I will always ask the same question. Can he start for us tomorrow? If the answer has to be thought about and there is someone else already here who's just as capable and numbers game at that spot are not an issue, I have my answer. I believe that's Broadway's reasoning and past history tends to support that notion.

I can name only maybe 4 maybe 5 FBS transfers at A&T at the most since the early 90's, who were so good that they came in and were dominate to the point of being as good as advertised. Too often they've brought more problems than they have solved - at least for us.

[aggielaw]

I agree that Coach knows best!! We have a few FBS surprises in camp.

[oleschoolaggie]

i kinda agree with a1. to me it all boils down to "talent". if you can get better players by virtue of major d1 transfers, then i'm all for it. or, if you can get better players by virtue of the high school route, then i'm all for that.

to me, i don't care where they come from. just bring in the most talented players possible whether its from the high school ranks or major d1 transfers, i personally don't care. i think coach broadway recruits guys who he feels meets certain characteristics. i think not only does he look for talented guys, but he also looks for guys who can perform in the classroom, who have a great work ethic, have good morals, and most importantly are very "coachable".

often times you can find guys who on the surface appear less talented but actually they just lacked quality coaching at the high school level. i think cohen might have fell into that category because he didn't make any all star teams coming out of high school, but he truly blossomed at a&t. i think coach broadway has a lot of confidence in his coaching staff to coach guys up. i'm not sure why coach broadway doesn't bring in more fbs transfers, but i won't question his philosophy. our program is moving in the right direction and that's what matters to me...

[trues]

I can name only maybe 4 maybe 5 FBS transfers at A&T at the most since the early 90's, who were so good that they came in and were dominate to the point of being as good as advertised. Too often they've brought more problems than they have solved - at least for us.

Aggie One we know Broadway belives in transfers look what he brought in when he was at NCCU. But that was when NCCU was D2. He maybe more careful bringing in those guys knowing that our APR standard are much higher than D2 APR.

[saabman]

I agree A1. If they can't come in and start right away are get large Time it's just throwing money away that can be used on a player out of high school.

[saabman]

Also OSA . The kid was had good coaching in high school but has you know will in high school sports you have too use the more talented players all over the field to make up for the teams less talented players. Also even out here in Tx if you are not 4A-6A you are some times over looked by the bigger FBC/FCS schools and N.C. is no diffrent.

[marchingband1969]

Thanks guys for this great discussion. Honestly, I think the right answer depends on the "type of FBC player" that is available rather than the number. If there's a talented player that can significantly improve our team "and" not ruin our APR, then by all means put him/her on the team. But after all the hell we just went through getting the NCAA off our backs, I don't want to ever go on academic probation again. So far A&T's coaching are doing a great job bring in student athletes.

[oleschoolaggie]

Aug 11, 2014 16:56:30 GMT -5 saabman said:

Also OSA . The kid was had good coaching in high school but has you know will in high school sports you have too use the more talented players all over the field to make up for the teams less talented players. Also even out here in Tx if you are not 4A-6A you are some times over looked by the bigger FBC/FCS schools and N.C. is no diffrent.

yep, i agree saabman. especially guys playing at lower level classifications being overlooked. cohen played ball at a 1a/2a school if i remember correctly, so he's a perfect example. i bet a lot of college coaches now regret overlooking cohen...