Plough made a solid move by not only retaining Chapette as TEs Coach, but by bringing vonAppen in as the Special Teams guy. He has coordinating experience as a DC which will help greatly and I believe he has history with the current staff.

Anything update on the RB hire?

Do we typically produce a 2-deep for spring ball? There are some interesting questions to be answered at several key spots.

Another thing to consider is that they are both most likely still rehabbing from their injuries, at least that would be the case for Rex I believe. This seems to be so obvious and such a no-brainer for the NCAA, but as I was once told by a wise old man, "assumption is the mother of all f-ups."

Regarding the messaging, the summer piece is HUGE. If there is a way to feed the kids and cover their summer housing alone, that goes a long way towards a successful season. Give them time to work part time jobs during the summer and pocket that money, cover their room and board and we are well ahead of most of the Big Sky in my estimate. Back in the old days when I played, our football boosters actually arranged an ID card of sorts with a small handful of local restaurants that would provide us one meal per week. We were capped at $10 per meal (or a pizza or combo or something specific) so it wasn't abused, and there were plenty of burger, pizza, and burrito joints to spread the economic impact. It was nice, and we didn't use them all the time. That was not an NCAA program and it was back in the 1980s, but in today's NIL world, it seems like there are enough restaurants close to campus where we could provide something similar to our scholarship players (65+/-, maybe a little more with partials) with summer meals (even 10 per week would be amazing) and solve that piece pretty easily. Start it after spring quarter through the start of training camp when the program feeds them. Give the participating restaurants signage in the stadium and PA recognition and you're rolling. Just a thought from the recesses of my mind.

Have heard or seen nothing as far as the new RB coach. Easiest job on staff, just need to be a talented and connected recruiter and amateur psychologist.

That is really interesting about that surface, pretty cool! I feel smarter today thanks to you guys.

Screw the optics and conservation, bring back the grass man!!! :rofl:

Have you seen the robotic field stripers they have now? They operate off of GPS and can stripe and number a football field in about 60-90 minutes. I hate robots and believe they will eventually kill us all, but this deal is pretty cool.

About one month from the start of spring practice... any reports coming out of the winter conditioning period?

I had never heard that about Lambeau or of a similar product existing. I was on the sideline there in pre-game for a Packers-Bears game back in the early-90s and it was just frozen tundra. Some of the hybrid Bermuda surfaces go dormant late in the season (that's why they look yellow on TV) but I haven't noticed that in recent years. Davis could have a similar surface to the Rose Bowl, almost like a putting green.

The radiant heat is enough to ban those artificial surfaces from the planet. The get very hard with age, the infill needs to be groomed and eventually replaced, the injury rates are significantly higher, and obviously the harder the field the greater the risk for concussions. Plus they smell bad. Nothing better than a fresh-cut grass field. What's an extra $75k per year in water costs?!

All valid points to ponder. Hard to tell when the best time to jump is, I think we'll probably see how the next 2-3 years plays out and it might be a little more clear.

I agree with you , .500 may be a little low given the current staff and what they're doing recruiting-wise.

Plenty of FBS grass fields. Davis is blessed with separate soccer and track & field facilities and only shares with women's lacrosse, correct? That is really easy on the grass, but you would basically lose the stadium as a practice venue in around October or so when it starts getting damp. Is Biggs large enough to actually practice there every day? I am all for it if they can figure out the logistics.

Nothing better!

I just can't get fired-up about playing "exciting" new opponents (like Nevada and San Jose St.), striving for barely .500 seasons, getting monkey-stomped in another money game, and hoping to receive a crappy bowl bid. Give me a weekend in January in Nashville and an FCS national championship (hell, even a Quarterfinal win) until college football listens to my man SailorGabe and splits and makes another level of playoffs for that lower group.

Interesting point about Nebraska and NDSU. Different measures of success there but interesting analogy. I'd bet NDSU does better as a mid-major before Nebraska does anything significant in the Big10/Power 4.

Only for the players/coaches/support staff on the field, and it would potentially cool things by 10-20 degrees down there depending on the conditions. I've often sat in the tanning bed, I mean stadium bleachers, wondering why the premier ag school in the state can't maintain a Rose Bowl-esque hybrid Bermuda natural playing surface that holds up beautifully for football and women's LAX usage. I've sipped beer on the Biggs practice field in December wondering why it can be maintained there and not in the stadium. Check the research, ACL and foot injuries are MUCH higher on these FieldTurf/synthetic surfaces than on natural grass. And don't give me the "water savings" line... Make Natural Grass the Norm Again

Air Force hosting Army, Boise, and Wyo surely helped boost their numbers. Personally, I don't see Davis ever being much more than a 15k attendance program at best unless some things change drastically. I agree with playing as many night games as possible, but TV will dictate that in the FBS, which probably works in favor of the Ags playing more night games. Not a whole lot that can be done for shade aside from the kickoff time, that place is like sitting in frying pan at times.

Scanned the article, Sac is dilusional.

I would love to see 4-5 more years in FCS, build-up the facilities and raise the money to make the leap. If I were betting, I would put it on Plough & Co. to be able to bring home the national championship in that window.

Then, fully armed, make the jump and see what you can do.

I agree with and , NDSU is going to be an instant headache. Hard to play against.

Like it

Rutgers went 7-6 in 2023 and 2024. That is about all they can aspire to at best. Personally, I would hate to work/play in a world where the best you can expect is just above .500 every year.

I was looking at the other thread right after I asked Jdur the question, the thread with the stadium pics and would guess that it would end-up similar to Utah State or SIU. Those stadium pics are a good reference. The Alabama State stadium essentially combines Jdur's mock-up with a press box/suite area on our current visitor side. If I know how to slap pictures onto this thread I'd do it :grin:

Good comps

Me too and no other social media accounts. This forum is the closest I get and heaven knows I waste enough time on here. Stand strong brother!