Expectations

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bent20

The Odum Level
So what does everyone expect from the team this year? How many wins, if any, do you think the Sycamores can have? I don't know enough about our competition at this point to know which teams aren't that good. I know the ones that will still probably blow us out. I'd be happy with two wins and even that might be stretching it for such a young team with a new first time headcoach.

It feels weird to be excited about a team that has one win in three seasons and will still probably be bad this year, but I am. It feels like we're taking major steps in the right direction. I just hope we see it on the field. The defense has to improve!!!!!!!

The schedule

Thu, Aug 28 Eastern Michigan at Ypsilanti, Mich. 7:00 p.m.

Sat, Sep 13 Eastern Illinois at Charleston, Ill. 7:00 p.m.

Sat, Sep 20 Northern Illinois at DeKalb, Ill. 3:00 p.m.
Comcast Chicago

Sat, Sep 27 Southeast Missouri State Memorial Stadium 12:05 p.m.

Sat, Oct 04 Illinois State * Memorial Stadium 12:05 p.m.

Sat, Oct 11 Southern Illinois * at Carbondale, Ill. 2:30 p.m.

Sat, Oct 18 Western Illinois * at Macomb, Ill. 4:05 p.m.

Sat, Oct 25 South Dakota State (Homecoming) * Memorial Stadium 2:05 p.m.

Sat, Nov 01 North Dakota State * at Fargo, ND 7:00 p.m.

Sat, Nov 08 Youngstown State * at Youngstown, Ohio 1:00 p.m.

Sat, Nov 15 Northern Iowa * Memorial Stadium 12:05 p.m.

Sat, Nov 22 Missouri State * Memorial Stadium 12:05 p.m.
 

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It feels weird to be excited about a team that has one win in three seasons and will still probably be bad this year, but I am. It feels like we're taking major steps in the right direction. I just hope we see it on the field. The defense has to improve!!!!!!!

It does feel weird...but I'm a little excited too. Great article in the recent ISU alumni magazine about Coach Miles.
 
like others I am taking a "wait and see" attitude. I hope they get some wins this year, but as young as they are, who knows?? As long as they don't get blown out by 50+ points every game the season will be a success if you ask me. If Miles can get the program back to where it was in the mid 1980's when I was in school he will have truly worked a miracle.
 
I think they will start out with a close one if not a win the first game of the season at EMU all in all if they can go 500 in the gateway and win at least two non conference game i believe the legacy of coach miles will be well on its way if you look at the schedule this year there is really no reason why they cant be good

the most important time will be the summer and fall camp because with so many new people coming in they are going to have to work hard at feeling one another out so they can develope a team mindset
 
ISU beat Eastern Michigan in 2001, so it's not like it's been forever since they won over a MAC team. EMU and NIU are 2 of the weaker MAC teams, so hopefully ISU will at least stay close in both games. And stay close with a chance to beat Eastern Illinois in between those two MAC games.

I think they will start out with a close one if not a win the first game of the season at EMU all in all if they can go 500 in the gateway and win at least two non conference game i believe the legacy of coach miles will be well on its way if you look at the schedule this year there is really no reason why they cant be good

the most important time will be the summer and fall camp because with so many new people coming in they are going to have to work hard at feeling one another out so they can develope a team mindset
 
I maintain the 0-12 or 1-11 prediction for this year. Miles is too new, his players too young. This isn't the Pioneer league or D-1AA Independent, its the Gateway/MVC. These teams have been repeatedly thumping us year after year and a few new schemes and a new attitude won't change that this quickly.

WIU = only possibility of a win.
 

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Semo??

what about SEMO?? I'd think ISU should beat them at home after having nearly won at SEMO last season?

I maintain the 0-12 or 1-11 prediction for this year. Miles is too new, his players too young. This isn't the Pioneer league or D-1AA Independent, it's the Gateway/MVC. These teams have been repeatedly thumping us year after year and a few new schemes and a new attitude won't change that this quickly.

WIU = only possibility of a win.[/QUOTE]
 
way to be positive folks....lol...

i just loving reading all the positive comments in here. 0-11, 0-12. yep. that's just the kind of enthusiasm we need. lol
 
what about SEMO?? I'd think ISU should beat them at home after having nearly won at SEMO last season?

I maintain the 0-12 or 1-11 prediction for this year. Miles is too new, his players too young. This isn't the Pioneer league or D-1AA Independent, it's the Gateway/MVC. These teams have been repeatedly thumping us year after year and a few new schemes and a new attitude won't change that this quickly.

WIU = only possibility of a win.[/QUOTE]

I'd forgotten about SEMO...yes it would take a lot to lose to them wouldn't it.

Tom, you're expecting way too much if you expect anything near .500 this season. Miles can talk all he wants but he isn't a miracle worker, if he were then he would have become a BCS coordinator long ago instead of a career position coach.

I'm being fair to him and his experience level, next year is when I will begin to judge, anything that happens this season is icing on top of the bottom layer of the layer cake that is ISU's future in athletics.
 
never said that trent is a miracle worker, but....

at least give him and his coaching staff a chance to get the job done. I'm not trying to be pollyanna here. a .500 record his first year of the new regime would be great. if that happens, trent should be the MVC and FCS coach of the year.

But getting respect back for the program is what i am looking for in his first season. competitiveness is key. won-loss records are one thing. being able to go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the MVC (formerly Gateway Conference) will be important.

the program didn't get bad in just one year. and it's going to take more than one year to get it turned around. the previous athletic administration let the problem fester for far too long.

trent could have been on the job three years ago had the right hiring been done back then. but now it's time to do a radical makeover job.

let's just say that trent and his coaching staff are embarking on one of the biggest "flip" jobs that anybody could undertake. he's in the process of putting a new foundation on the sycamores' football house. he's rebuilding from within. it's going to take time. i hope we all give him the time, and help, that he needs to get the job done.

and for those fans who want to frown all the time, looking to find faults everywhere, trying smiling once in a while. be optimistic for a change. i know as ISU fans that's often hard to do, trying to find the bright side.
 
Not to repeat myself, but I think the defense really is the key. Not that our offense has been great in recent years, but it has been decent. Our defense has been an absolute disaster. The days of giving up an average of 40 to 50 points per game have to end if we're to be competitive and gain people's respect.
 

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I have a bit of a different perspective. I was in the locker room the last 2 years and had some experience with Miles myself before deciding to take my life in a different direction than ISU football.

As I said, I'm as open to him winning as anybody on here, I told him as much when I left the team. I wished him the best of luck and said that I have no doubts in my mind that if there was a guy who could turn it around it would be him. But I'm not going to go singing his praises or condemning his faults after 1 season.

The only moves I disagree with are signing problem players after releasing some perfectly good football players for far lesser reasons. But its his team now, if he thinks he can control them then he can control them.
 
I have a bit of a different perspective. I was in the locker room the last 2 years and had some experience with Miles myself before deciding to take my life in a different direction than ISU football.

As I said, I'm as open to him winning as anybody on here, I told him as much when I left the team. I wished him the best of luck and said that I have no doubts in my mind that if there was a guy who could turn it around it would be him. But I'm not going to go singing his praises or condemning his faults after 1 season.

The only moves I disagree with are signing problem players after releasing some perfectly good football players for far lesser reasons. But its his team now, if he thinks he can control them then he can control them.

Unfortunately, that is the world we live in. Everyone who comes into a new situation wants to surround themselves with their own people. Also, I would say that each individual player situation has to be treated differently. No offense to any current or recently former players from the Lou West regime, but the results speak for themselves. I am quite confident, and Mile's 32 man recruiting class is evidence, that there were a number of players who had no business playing scholarship football, physically or mentally. A total house cleaning was in order, and a person with Miles background and ISU history affords him the luxury of the benefit of the doubt for, in my opinion, his first 5 years. We have to see one full cycle of his players, or any coach's for that matter, to truly judge his worth. Now, that doesn't mean he can go 0 - 44 his first 4 years, and go 6-5 year 5. I think he has to show some marked improvement each and every year, including this year. Marked improvement does not necessarily mean more victories, but that is important. Miles is a man of character and integrity, so for that reason, I am behind him. 3 - 8 this year.
 
Not to repeat myself, but I think the defense really is the key. Not that our offense has been great in recent years, but it has been decent. Our defense has been an absolute disaster. The days of giving up an average of 40 to 50 points per game have to end if we're to be competitive and gain people's respect.

Who is the strength coach at ISU right now?

I'm done hiding who I was, I will discuss ISU football exactly as I experienced it.

Coach McCormick was not a football strength coach. He focused so much on conditioning and running that it was impossible to gain strength for a majority of the players. Yeah, we were leaner, and in somewhat better shape (arguably) but we were not strong at all, as illustrated by the absolute thumping we received week in and week out.

David Marmon, the coach before McCormick, was an absolute genius in the weight room and it is sad that he left. When I came to ISU from high school I was squatting 220, benching 215, and dead lifting 315 and weighed 225 pounds. I'm not joking. I was a baseball player in highschool, I didn't need bulk. I worked with Marmon on my diet and lifting very hard the entire year.

When Spring workouts rolled around (Spring '07) I weighed 245, benched 265, was squatting 385, and dead lifting 470. In less than a year. Had Marmon stayed with us those numbers would have EASILY gone up. I played the entire offensive line during the Spring of 2007 when injuries were prevalent and never missed a play he had me in such wonderful shape.

It starts in the weight room, McCormick either sat at his computer or was talking to people all through summer workouts, Marmon refused to let anybody work out when the football team was in the weight room and spent maybe 10 minutes on his computer the entire day. He was right there in every rack with us.

If ISU wants success, they will hire a ball-busting, no nonsense, asshole strength coach with no respect for a player until they earn it like I had to with David Marmon.
 
Unfortunately, that is the world we live in. Everyone who comes into a new situation wants to surround themselves with their own people. Also, I would say that each individual player situation has to be treated differently. No offense to any current or recently former players from the Lou West regime, but the results speak for themselves. I am quite confident, and Mile's 32 man recruiting class is evidence, that there were a number of players who had no business playing scholarship football, physically or mentally. A total house cleaning was in order, and a person with Miles background and ISU history affords him the luxury of the benefit of the doubt for, in my opinion, his first 5 years. We have to see one full cycle of his players, or any coach's for that matter, to truly judge his worth. Now, that doesn't mean he can go 0 - 44 his first 4 years, and go 6-5 year 5. I think he has to show some marked improvement each and every year, including this year. Marked improvement does not necessarily mean more victories, but that is important. Miles is a man of character and integrity, so for that reason, I am behind him. 3 - 8 this year.

I agree that he has every right to surround himself with the players he wants. I've said it countless times on this board and I will reiterate this again and again because I truly believe it. Removing so many players in an off season is a good thing only on paper.

I think Miles is a great guy too. That's why I'm not on here saying he should be fired before his first season. If this year and next year passes without any marked progress then you bet I'll be on here saying it might not have been the right choice. However I extremely doubt that will be the case.

This season will suck, horribly, freshman players in a brand new offense =/= optimism.

Next season? 3-9 to 6-6 sound perfectly reasonable to me assuming Miles plays his freshman this season.
 

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If ISU wants success, they will hire a ball-busting, no nonsense, asshole strength coach with no respect for a player until they earn it like I had to with David Marmon.

I have no idea who their strength coach is now but you're exactly right.
 
thanks for your insight TLS, I think most people really appreciate the insight as to what's going on with ISU FB. I, myself, have never really been a fan, but it's good to know what happened in the past few years and why. I will certainly be paying attention this Fall and hope they do win a few games.

It will certainly be interesting to say the least.....

I agree that he has every right to surround himself with the players he wants. I've said it countless times on this board and I will reiterate this again and again because I truly believe it. Removing so many players in an off season is a good thing only on paper.

I think Miles is a great guy too. That's why I'm not on here saying he should be fired before his first season. If this year and next year passes without any marked progress then you bet I'll be on here saying it might not have been the right choice. However I extremely doubt that will be the case.

This season will suck, horribly, freshman players in a brand new offense =/= optimism.

Next season? 3-9 to 6-6 sound perfectly reasonable to me assuming Miles plays his freshman this season.
 
just one man's opinion

tls...i respect your opinion. but i also think that overhauling the entire roster was the right thing to do. it's not like coach miles didn't give players a chance. he gave them an entire semester to prove themselves on the practice field, in the weight room and, most importantly, in the classroom.

it would be one thing if miles came in to a program that has had tremendous success and turned over so much of the roster. but, let's face it, this program did not have that kind of success.

the program won one game...one game...in three seasons. and that one win was almost forfeited for using an ineligible player. they got blown out by huge scores almost every week. i was at several of those games. i watched from the sidelines. i saw what, or rather wasn't, going on. mental mistakes, physical mistakes.

yes, as a former player, you would know more about what transpired in the weight room and in the locker room better than i would. but i also know that in many of the games that isu lost, it was because the other teams had much better talent (no recruiting) and were coached up better (fewer mental and physical mistakes).

i mean, how can a team have so few offensive and defensive linemen on the roster? how can a team have no tight ends and no fullbacks on the roster? and then, when injuries did occur, the lack of any kind of depth on the roster was terrible.

to turn a program around, you have to improve the talent level. i think coach miles and his staff are on their way to doing that, although we won't know for sure until the upcoming season is over.

you also have to improve discipline on and off the field. go to class, be at meetings on time, go to the academic people on time, be in the weight room on time.

back in the 80s when coach raetz was there, we always set our watches 15-20 minutes ahead. we called it raetz time. if a meeting was scheduled for 8 a.m., be there at 7:45 a.m. because he just might start it early and he was locking the door if he did. if the bus on a road trip was scheduled to pull out at 6 a.m., be there at 5:30 a.m. just in case.

i was there when raetz left a tv camera man on the tarmac at the terre haute airport because he wasn't there when he was ready to leave. he left a sports information director in louisville after a game there.

i have always said that while many players didn't especially like coach raetz at the time, they respected him and they enjoyed playing for him. he had fifth-year seniors, who could have left and graduated, come back and play for him. players hung around the football offices because of the way he and the rest of the coaching staff interacted with them.

and while raetz had discipline (he had early morning running sessions at memorial stadium for those transgressors who skipped classes or meetings or had academic difficulties), he didn't put football over an education.

his players graduated. isu annually led the missouri valley and gateway conferences in team gpa and graduation statistics. one, quarterback jeff miller, was a rhodes scholar. oh, and he graduated in three years and played as a graduate student his final year at isu.

and as for taking so-called "problem players," raetz would take one or two every couple of years as his special projects. a few didn't work out. they werent with the program very long. he had a zero tolerance policy. you screw up once and you are gone.

one such player was a troubled wide receiver from south bend. a kid who back talked his high school coaches. had anger issues. fought strong authority figures. very talented kid too. michigan, nebraska, notre dame all looked at him and were interested. but they balked due to his reputation. grades wasn't the problem. his attitude and his personality were.

to make a long story short, this kid came into isu and through the work done by raetz and his coaching staff, along with counselors on campus, he went on to become one of the best wide receivers in school history. scored a couple of touchdowns against kansas state his senior year in a game that isu lost 22-21. his name was charles swann and he is now teaching in the atlanta area.

trent miles played for and coached under raetz. he knows how raetz recruited and ran the program. and i would probably say that trent learned a thing or two from the guy he calls the "godfather" of isu football.

on that note alone, i think he knows what he is doing.

oh...and one other thing....in talking to tony dungy about what it takes to turn a losing program around, one thing he said was pretty interesting. he said that you don't shy away from taking a player who has had problems. you bring the player in and tell him what the ground rules are. if you follow the rules, you stay. if you don't, you're gone.

it's up to you. i think that is precisely what trent and his coaches are doing, not only with the so-called "troubled players" but also with any other player on the roster.
 
I got to play for Coach Raetz for a few games. He knew what he was doing, his records while at ISU were nothing to write home about but you are correct about his discipline and focus on academics. Winning always took a backseat to behavior and school...

By the way, I think you are forgetting about an instance where he left his starting quarterback home because he was late for the bus, he was quite fond of that story haha.

As I've said, Miles will be successful in the future. What I don't want is for people to confuse my realist attitude about the upcoming season with pessimism regarding Miles' career at ISU. What you saw at the games the last three years is exactly why I say we won't be winning this season. The freshman can be great, I hope they are, but they are too young to win in the Gateway and against our OOC opponents (minus SEMO).

A lot of the problems you mentioned were coaching errors. Hrovat wanted his tight ends and fullbacks to be huge blockers, we are talking 280+ pounds here. He wanted an extra tackle, not a tight end/fullback. Those two positions are almost necessary any more.

We will see, I'm excited for this season even if the only reasonable thing to be excited over is watching my old friends not get beat by 50-60 points per game.
 
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