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It’s done
Dec 4, 2019 12:10:27 GMT -5
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Post by speakindatruth on Dec 4, 2019 12:10:27 GMT -5
Jackal, I could be wrong but I think the staff, for the most part, is gone too. We are going in to the season way behind the eight ball. I hope we get our man sooner than later, if not it will hurt us during the second cycle as well. This has been my fear all along with the timing. It is so much more now than just getting a new coach. Our 2 coordinators were on 1 year contracts as well. So we are a tail wagging a dog right now. I have no knowledge as to what Mercer has done / is doing, but I cannot imagine that Mercer’s AD would be so short-sighted as to not keep at least 1 Asst Coach, most obvious choice would be 1 (or both) of the Co-Recruiting Coordinators (Coach Barfield and/or Coach Harris), on the payroll through at least the early signing day, and with a retention bonus. I mean, I could see the Bears not ‘allowing’ any early signees if a new Head Coach is not named prior, but ‘holding the commits together’ (until they are evaluated /re-offered by the the new Head Coach / Staff) and having a knowledgeable point of contact for them & other Recruits would seem to be essential. Failure to do so would, I think, be an egregious dereliction of duties. It has to be something like that. I have also noticed non of our early verbal commits have “re-opened” their recruiting. I am sure something stable is in place to keep them on board. However moving forward does hurt until the new philosophy is established. The next couple of days to weeks will be interesting. Maybe they will release some potential targets to give us something to discuss as well. Can’t wait for the spring to see it come together. |
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Post by jackal on Dec 4, 2019 12:56:35 GMT -5
Jackal, I could be wrong but I think the staff, for the most part, is gone too. We are going in to the season way behind the eight ball. I hope we get our man sooner than later, if not it will hurt us during the second cycle as well. This has been my fear all along with the timing. It is so much more now than just getting a new coach. Our 2 coordinators were on 1 year contracts as well. So we are a tail wagging a dog right now. I have no knowledge as to what Mercer has done / is doing, but I cannot imagine that Mercer’s AD would be so short-sighted as to not keep at least 1 Asst Coach, most obvious choice would be 1 (or both) of the Co-Recruiting Coordinators (Coach Barfield and/or Coach Harris), on the payroll through at least the early signing day, and with a retention bonus. I mean, I could see the Bears not ‘allowing’ any early signees if a new Head Coach is not named prior, but ‘holding the commits together’ (until they are evaluated /re-offered by the the new Head Coach / Staff) and having a knowledgeable point of contact for them & other Recruits would seem to be essential. Failure to do so would, I think, be an egregious dereliction of duties. I had noticed that using HERO sports metrics, two of Mercer's higher ranked recruits had re-opened their recruitment per twitter. I don't follow Mercer recruiting, but was interested to see if there was a potential correlation between recruits' activities and the coaching change. I would have to think there are at least some coaches out on the trail right now. As I understand it, there's an open recruitment period until December 15, then early signing, then a dead period until mid-January. I would also agree that this probably isn't a surprise to Mercer's athletics department. |
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Post by jackal on Dec 4, 2019 12:58:00 GMT -5
I have no knowledge as to what Mercer has done / is doing, but I cannot imagine that Mercer’s AD would be so short-sighted as to not keep at least 1 Asst Coach, most obvious choice would be 1 (or both) of the Co-Recruiting Coordinators (Coach Barfield and/or Coach Harris), on the payroll through at least the early signing day, and with a retention bonus. I mean, I could see the Bears not ‘allowing’ any early signees if a new Head Coach is not named prior, but ‘holding the commits together’ (until they are evaluated /re-offered by the the new Head Coach / Staff) and having a knowledgeable point of contact for them & other Recruits would seem to be essential. Failure to do so would, I think, be an egregious dereliction of duties. It has to be something like that. I have also noticed non of our early verbal commits have “re-opened” their recruiting. I am sure something stable is in place to keep them on board. However moving forward does hurt until the new philosophy is established. The next couple of days to weeks will be interesting. Maybe they will release some potential targets to give us something to discuss as well. Can’t wait for the spring to see it come together. I had responded with something similar, but I found at least two Bear recruits that had "re-opened" their recruitment. The top two ranked by HERO, I think. I could be wrong. I wasn't looking very hard. |
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Post by BearDownMU on Dec 4, 2019 13:38:25 GMT -5
FUBeAR said it much more eloquently, but to echo and/or rephrase. If we let all the coaches go and no one was retained to keep the recruiting wagon going, it's an eff up of epic proportion.
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It’s done
Dec 4, 2019 13:43:18 GMT -5
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Post by FUBeAR on Dec 4, 2019 13:43:18 GMT -5
It has to be something like that. I have also noticed non of our early verbal commits have “re-opened” their recruiting. I am sure something stable is in place to keep them on board. However moving forward does hurt until the new philosophy is established. The next couple of days to weeks will be interesting. Maybe they will release some potential targets to give us something to discuss as well. Can’t wait for the spring to see it come together. I had responded with something similar, but I found at least two Bear recruits that had "re-opened" their recruitment. The top two ranked by HERO, I think. I could be wrong. I wasn't looking very hard. 3 of the 5 listed in those rankings - the Top 3 listed - have ‘announced’ their de-commitment / reopening of their recruiting. 1 (the highest ranked one) de-committed between the CIT loss & the Samford win for Mercer. The other 2 have announced since the decision to ‘part ways’ with Coach Lamb was announced. |
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Ghost
Baby Bear
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Post by Ghost on Dec 5, 2019 11:42:36 GMT -5
Word on the street is DC is who they are currently focused on. won't hear anything until after the DII playoffs are done.
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Post by jackal on Dec 5, 2019 11:50:04 GMT -5
Word on the street is DC is who they are currently focused on. won't hear anything until after the DII playoffs are done. Just given his career trajectory, Cronic seems to be angling for a FCS head coaching gig. I suppose the downside to Mercer is the D2 playoffs don't end until after the December signing period and the NCAA-mandated quiet period starts. So, if hired, Cronic would basically have a month to try to assemble a coaching staff and two weeks to try and keep the recruiting class together. |
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It’s done
Dec 5, 2019 12:03:45 GMT -5
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Post by speakindatruth on Dec 5, 2019 12:03:45 GMT -5
Word on the street is DC is who they are currently focused on. won't hear anything until after the DII playoffs are done. Just given his career trajectory, Cronic seems to be angling for a FCS head coaching gig. I suppose the downside to Mercer is the D2 playoffs don't end until after the December signing period and the NCAA-mandated quiet period starts. So, if hired, Cronic would basically have a month to try to assemble a coaching staff and two weeks to try and keep the recruiting class together. I believe this recruiting class is all but forgotten. He may be able to save a few, but he’s going to have to rely on the talent already here, mix in a few pieces and then hope for the best. Not looking pretty at all. |
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It’s done
Dec 5, 2019 12:07:57 GMT -5
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Post by speakindatruth on Dec 5, 2019 12:07:57 GMT -5
Also, what about some of our current freshman? Are they able to transfer if they choose? I heard somewhere that there is a clause to allow a freshman a one time transfer should the coach leave. Any truth to this? If so, that could really change the dynamics of things.
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Post by BearDownMU on Dec 5, 2019 13:17:47 GMT -5
Word on the street is DC is who they are currently focused on. won't hear anything until after the DII playoffs are done. I've hear the same, but I sure hope, even if that is true, that they are putting a bigger list together and going ahead and starting the process where possible. Because it ain't like we are the only school that's going to want to talk to Cronic, and it's entirely possible he has a lot of options and doesn't want to come to Mercer. Better be a Plan B. And Plan C. And D.... |
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Post by jackal on Dec 5, 2019 13:20:52 GMT -5
Also, what about some of our current freshman? Are they able to transfer if they choose? I heard somewhere that there is a clause to allow a freshman a one time transfer should the coach leave. Any truth to this? If so, that could really change the dynamics of things. There is always some possibility that a player may transfer, especially if new coach opts to run a different system than the one the players were recruited to run. While a player can transfer, I'm pretty sure they'd have to sit a season if they transfer to another D1 program in most instances unless (like Jacksonville discontinuing their program) there are extenuating circumstances. Furman lost a few kids during the coaching transition a few years back. Our starting LT in 2016 was a true freshman. He transferred to Richmond and had to sit a season. |
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It’s done
Dec 5, 2019 13:54:13 GMT -5
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Post by FUBeAR on Dec 5, 2019 13:54:13 GMT -5
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Ghost
Baby Bear
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It’s done
Dec 5, 2019 19:21:25 GMT -5
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Post by Ghost on Dec 5, 2019 19:21:25 GMT -5
Word on the street is DC is who they are currently focused on. won't hear anything until after the DII playoffs are done. I've hear the same, but I sure hope, even if that is true, that they are putting a bigger list together and going ahead and starting the process where possible. Because it ain't like we are the only school that's going to want to talk to Cronic, and it's entirely possible he has a lot of options and doesn't want to come to Mercer. Better be a Plan B. And Plan C. And D.... With the current AD.... I’m not holding my breath. |
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Post by jackal on Dec 6, 2019 8:46:47 GMT -5
Not scientific, but Drew Cronic recently started following several recruits on twitter that have offers from or were Mercer commits.
Also worth noting that Mercer's co-recruiting coordinator, Carter Barfield, is a former Furman player and was on the roster while Cronic was a coach with the Paladins 15 years ago. In fact, I think Cronic may have been Barfield's position coach. So, they have a history.
Without any sort of insight, my best guess on December 6 is that Cronic's the guy, he'll retain his former player, Barfield, and Barfield is the guy currently tasked with trying to hold the recruiting class together.
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It’s done
Dec 6, 2019 11:28:50 GMT -5
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Post by FUBeAR on Dec 6, 2019 11:28:50 GMT -5
Not scientific, but Drew Cronic recently started following several recruits on twitter that have offers from or were Mercer commits. Also worth noting that Mercer's co-recruiting coordinator, Carter Barfield, is a former Furman player and was on the roster while Cronic was a coach with the Paladins 15 years ago. In fact, I think Cronic may have been Barfield's position coach. So, they have a history. Without any sort of insight, my best guess on December 6 is that Cronic's the guy, he'll retain his former player, Barfield, and Barfield is the guy currently tasked with trying to hold the recruiting class together. I was thinking about some of this last night, Jackal. I think you are spot on & great job of sleuthing on the Twitters. Of course, him following them could also mean that he sees them as opportunities for the L-R Bears to make a ‘steal,’ but I think your conclusion is more likely. Also want to add a couple of thoughts I had about Coach Barfield. If there is 1 position group in which Mercer has shown consistent excellence, it’s the Running Backs. From Payton Usher to Alex Lakes to Tee Mitchell to Tyray Devezin (and almost all of their backups), this group has been exceptional. They run hard, break tackles, don’t expect to go down, don’t fumble, catch the ball out of the backfield, and block (fairly) well. Coach Barfield has been here since Day1 &, if I’m not mistaken, his wife is from Macon. Regardless of the Head Coach ultimately hired, he should want Coach Barfield on his Staff & Coach Barfield should DEFINITELY be given an opportunity to interview for a role to remain part of Mercer Football...if he wants to. |
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