Incoming Freshman QB

[Paul C]

True Fr will always struggle to contribute, and I wouldn’t count on them for anything.

We will either have to see how much Hamp can develop over the offseason/summer, or see if the portal giveth. I have a feeling it will be the former.

[The Jackal]

True Fr will always struggle to contribute, and I wouldn’t count on them for anything.

We will either have to see how much Hamp can develop over the offseason/summer, or see if the portal giveth. I have a feeling it will be the former.

I am in the camp that you'd prefer to avoid starting a freshman if you can. QBs tend to get better with more experience and my observation is that our offense appears to have a lot of working parts (probably too many working parts).

It would not surprise me if we looked at the transfer portal too. Nothing against Sisson, but with Grainger's departure and Hardin being listed among the departing seniors, we need another QB regardless.

[Furmanoid]

Oh yes, the transfer portal is the way to go, but I thought we were against that. So would you go with a successful DII guy looking to move up or a disappointed FBS guy looking to get on the field?

[DeepPurple]

I think you look for a guy that can play, but has to meet all the FURMAN protocols to get in school. Those are hard to find. We sure need another Ingle Martin.

[apaladin]

To only have one scholarship QB on the current roster is ludicrous. Should never happen but here we are. Even when/if Jace Wilson comes in we still will only have 2 which is not good by any stretch.

[Paul C]

This sorta slipped through cracks, but with all the talk of QBs I thought I'd throw this out there.... but Florida's all classification "Mr Football" and 7A Player of the Year has accepted a PWO offer at Furman. He didn't start until his Sr year, and played on a team loaded with talent...and with COVID shutting down camps and visits might have flown a little under the radar. And he's 5-11....

Either way, seems like a nice depth add at a critical position....

https://weartv.com/sports/high-school/n ... r-football

[The Jackal]

To only have one scholarship QB on the current roster is ludicrous. Should never happen but here we are. Even when/if Jace Wilson comes in we still will only have 2 which is not good by any stretch.

How so?

Grainger left right before the spring. It's not like the coaching staff planned it that way.

[The Jackal]

Oh yes, the transfer portal is the way to go, but I thought we were against that. So would you go with a successful DII guy looking to move up or a disappointed FBS guy looking to get on the field?

I don't think there's a fundamental distaste for transfer players. We have transfers at other positions where we needed depth - WR, for instance.

I've gone into a lot of detail before about some of the difficulty we've had retaining QBs. Not all of that is this staff's fault. Some of that problem they inherited.

Ideally you'd probably like at least three scholarship QBs set out in the pipeline. I'd like to see us not have to get in the spot where every few years we have to take two QBs in the same class, which we've done several times.

[Furmanoid]

This sorta slipped through cracks, but with all the talk of QBs I thought I'd throw this out there.... but Florida's all classification "Mr Football" and 7A Player of the Year has accepted a PWO offer at Furman. He didn't start until his Sr year, and played on a team loaded with talent...and with COVID shutting down camps and visits might have flown a little under the radar. And he's 5-11....

Either way, seems like a nice depth add at a critical position....

https://weartv.com/sports/high-school/n ... r-football

Dang, this guy looks really, really good. Very accurate. Throws the ball right at 3 Mississippi in many of his clips. That’s important with our line. This is just the kind of guy we need to get. Lots of talented but unlucky kids sit until Senior year behind upper classmen, coaches’ sons, etc.

OK, between this guy and Wilson I think we are gonna be OK at QB. I hope there is a full blown competition. Why not find out if the offense works with a newbie? We know it doesn’t work with HS. Might not work with anybody.

If those young OL guys develop, we might be good by 2022.

[Davemeister]

I'm not throwing anyone under the bus, but I think everybody should get a good look - including Shiflet, if he's healthy.

[apaladin]

To only have one scholarship QB on the current roster is ludicrous. Should never happen but here we are. Even when/if Jace Wilson comes in we still will only have 2 which is not good by any stretch.

How so?

Grainger left right before the spring. It's not like the coaching staff planned it that way.

With Grainger there was still only 2 and both in the same class. Not good any way you slice it.

[Paul C]

To only have one scholarship QB on the current roster is ludicrous. Should never happen but here we are. Even when/if Jace Wilson comes in we still will only have 2 which is not good by any stretch.

How so?

Grainger left right before the spring. It's not like the coaching staff planned it that way.

With Grainger there was still only 2 and both in the same class. Not good any way you slice it.

Remember, at the conclusion of the 2018 season we appeared to be set....we had two true Freshman in Sisson and Grainger, plus a RS-Fr in JeMar Lincoln (who had led us to win over Citadel) all vying to replace Harris Roberts. I even remember commenting that I'd never felt better about our QB position.

We didn't recruit a QB that year because we had just signed Sisson and Grainger (signed in 18) and had Lincoln (signed in 17). Scholarships are tight, and we had 3 on the roster, all underclassmen.

That decision made sense at the time but turned out to be a mistake when Lincoln left (because Grainger beat him out) and then Grainger left for the other reasons we've beat to death.

The lesson I take away if I'm Clay and staff is you bring in 1 QB/year like clockwork, and always have 3-4 on the roster, at worst 2 if things go awry.....with only 63 scholarships you can't allocate more than 3-4 to the QB position and have to make sure that your mistakes are few and far between. And if you can get some quality walk on's like the kid from Fla appears to be, then you're probably set.

Sadly we are now behind the 8 ball, as QBs take time to develop and you can't solve the problem with quantity.....as my software developer friend says "you can't get 9 women together and have a baby in one month"....

BUT I've not given up on Sisson....I still think he has some upside that our staff needs to make sure they can get out of him. He'll never be a guy that can win you games all by himself, but remember halfway through the year he was leading the SoCon in passing efficiency. Our offensive problems ran deeper.

[youwouldno]

All of this is so surprising to me, after I was told pre-season that QB talent/depth was not a problem. Good thing some posters on here have a memory that goes back as far as my daughter's guinea pig.

The real problem though is coaching - that includes recruiting failure and offensive schemes. The problem with coaching being the problem is that there is no fix except getting new coaches. I don't know Hendrix's contract details but he's a lame duck at this point . . . not capable of going up, and not much further down to go, but too expensive to buy out.

[Paul C]

Coaches can learn and grow just like players can.

I’m not giving up on CCH and GQ. This spring was tough for them, but I know they are smart guys that know how to win and I’m willing to say that this is part of THEIR development as coaches. Remember, entering this season Clay and staff were 18-6 in SoCon play.

[youwouldno]

Coaches can learn and grow just like players can.

I’m not giving up on CCH and GQ. This spring was tough for them, but I know they are smart guys that know how to win and I’m willing to say that this is part of THEIR development as coaches. Remember, entering this season Clay and staff were 18-6 in SoCon play.

The issue is not whether CCH and GQ are 'good' coaches. I think that trips some folks up. We know GQ was tremendously successful for many years. We know CCH has a long track record of success as well.

But, for whatever reason(s), they are not the right fit for the Furman football program at this point in time. Virtually no coaching staff with this group's trendline has ever turned things around.

And really that's obvious also from this simple fact - they clearly didn't see it coming. So that means they are unable to accurately assess the competitiveness of the program . . . the idea that same staff will now not only make a dramatic improvement in that area, but then also dramatically improve in recruiting, schemes, preparation . . . unfortunately the likelihood of that is near zero.

Big picture, it maybe shouldn't be completely surprising that the 'let's get the band back together' strategy for hiring coaches was not really the way to go. I liked the hire at the time and the early returns, but now it's clear that it hasn't worked out.