The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

We will be. Whether that translates in the win column is why they play. Many here have a sense of dread, as they do all things ODU. I have a sense of anticipation over how our coaches adjust to a new roster and offense.

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(07-12-2023 07:03 PM)monarx Wrote:  

(07-12-2023 04:44 PM)ODU2017 Wrote:  Conversely if the offense is somehow worse and we go 0-12 would you be ready to Set Fire to the Rane?

I might be ready, but it wouldn’t likely be considered until 24. Im OK with that. But an 0fer with a loss to TX Commerce would be too much to take, and probably too much to recover from.

I will absolutely guarantee we will not have an 0fer this year. That said, I will likely be the only regular on this forum not really P.O.ed if we lose to Texas A&M Commerce. Go Lions! Go Monarchs! Go Big Blue!

Cheers, all!

Phil Steele generally knows what he's talking about. Lets just say I hope that's not the case this year. He has us near the bottom of every unit other that special teams, and has us rock bottom at QB.

https://csnbbs.com/thread-972995.html

(07-13-2023 08:46 AM)monarx Wrote:  Phil Steele generally knows what he's talking about. Lets just say I hope that's not the case this year. He has us near the bottom of every unit other that special teams, and has us rock bottom at QB.

https://csnbbs.com/thread-972995.html

Im not saying hes wrong by any means, but he doesnt actually know who the players are. He is ranking on returning starters and reputation.

(07-13-2023 08:46 AM)monarx Wrote:  Phil Steele generally knows what he's talking about. Lets just say I hope that's not the case this year. He has us near the bottom of every unit other that special teams, and has us rock bottom at QB.

https://csnbbs.com/thread-972995.html

In the absence of hard data it’s a safe bet to make. We don’t have an FBS QB. Means nothing once the games start.

(07-13-2023 12:48 PM)Stat Geek Wrote:  

(07-13-2023 08:46 AM)monarx Wrote:  Phil Steele generally knows what he's talking about. Lets just say I hope that's not the case this year. He has us near the bottom of every unit other that special teams, and has us rock bottom at QB.

https://csnbbs.com/thread-972995.html

Im not saying hes wrong by any means, but he doesnt actually know who the players are. He is ranking on returning starters and reputation.

Probably the major reason we aren’t planning to have him on the podcast prior to this season.


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Realistically...the prognosticators have been spot on about ODU football regardless of knowing our players or not. I am setting very low expectations with the hope we actually can be competitive. I am thinking we get blown out our 1st 3 games and if we are not all beat up we should be 1-4 going into a 5 game stretch that is brutal.

(07-13-2023 10:04 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote:  Realistically...the prognosticators have been spot on about ODU football regardless of knowing our players or not. I am setting very low expectations with the hope we actually can be competitive. I am thinking we get blown out our 1st 3 games and if we are not all beat up we should be 1-4 going into a 5 game stretch that is brutal.

I’ll feel more optimistic than that if we are competitive against VT and Wake, and I’m holding out hope we actually beat Louisiana. They’re good, but not like last season. A decent team should be able to beat them at home or at least keep it very close. That’s the game (along w GSU) I’m most looking forward to.

With the player movement nowadays, I don’t even bother look at preseason guesses

I get the pessimism given last year and how the Bobby era wrapped up. But it is a bit weird how pretty much every team in the conference is replacing their star QBs but our own fans just assume their replacements will have them as good or improved while assuming we will take a step back after hiring a competent OC and moving away from Wolff, a QB who limited our offense with his refusal to run, his long motion and bad ball protection. That’s not even mentioning the fact that Coastal had to bring in a new staff after Chadwell left for Liberty.

(07-14-2023 09:39 AM)Monarchist13 Wrote:  I get the pessimism given last year and how the Bobby era wrapped up. But it is a bit weird how pretty much every team in the conference is replacing their star QBs but our own fans just assume their replacements will have them as good or improved while assuming we will take a step back after hiring a competent OC and moving away from Wolff, a QB who limited our offense with his refusal to run, his long motion and bad ball protection. That’s not even mentioning the fact that Coastal had to bring in a new staff after Chadwell left for Liberty.

Beaten dog syndrome. We've been so bad for so long that we don't know what good feels like.

(07-14-2023 09:39 AM)Monarchist13 Wrote:  I get the pessimism given last year and how the Bobby era wrapped up. But it is a bit weird how pretty much every team in the conference is replacing their star QBs but our own fans just assume their replacements will have them as good or improved while assuming we will take a step back after hiring a competent OC and moving away from Wolff, a QB who limited our offense with his refusal to run, his long motion and bad ball protection. That’s not even mentioning the fact that Coastal had to bring in a new staff after Chadwell left for Liberty.

Its a fair point, but its also fair to look at a team like JMU that replaces their graduated stud quarterback with Arizona's Jordan McCloud and Wake Forest's Brett Griffis, either of which were fairly well regarded and I would be happy to see as a Monarch. Meanwhile our best hope is a formerly unknown FCS backup, who to be fair, does by most reports seem to possibly be better than Wolfe, or at least fit our system better. If we still had Watson and Jennings and had brought in a high potential P5 2nd string QB or grad transfer Id be feeling way more optimistic about our offense right now. Not sure what to think about our D this year either. We'll find out soon enough. I'll be cheering them on regardless.

(07-14-2023 10:54 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(07-14-2023 09:39 AM)Monarchist13 Wrote:  I get the pessimism given last year and how the Bobby era wrapped up. But it is a bit weird how pretty much every team in the conference is replacing their star QBs but our own fans just assume their replacements will have them as good or improved while assuming we will take a step back after hiring a competent OC and moving away from Wolff, a QB who limited our offense with his refusal to run, his long motion and bad ball protection. That’s not even mentioning the fact that Coastal had to bring in a new staff after Chadwell left for Liberty.

Its a fair point, but its also fair to look at a team like JMU that replaces their graduated stud quarterback with Arizona's Jordan McCloud and Wake Forest's Brett Griffis, either of which were fairly well regarded and I would be happy to see as a Monarch. Meanwhile our best hope is a formerly unknown FCS backup, who to be fair, does by most reports seem to possibly be better than Wolfe, or at least fit our system better. If we still had Watson and Jennings and had brought in a high potential P5 2nd string QB or grad transfer Id be feeling way more optimistic about our offense right now. Not sure what to think about our D this year either. We'll find out soon enough. I'll be cheering them on regardless.

JMU is just one game on the schedule and how that position fares for them is still an unknown regardless of where their transfers came from. Marshall and Georgia State are the only conference games we will play with a returning head coach and QB combo. Marshall's QB was a roller coaster ride for them last year and played awful against us. And Georgia State is picked to finish in the standings right next to us. This entire division provides a lot of unknowns.

https://funbeltpc.podbean.com/e/funbelt-...-sbc-east/

A good podcast breaking down the Sun Belt east, but listen at your own peril. Its not pleasant if you're a Monarch.

(07-14-2023 01:36 PM)monarx Wrote:  https://funbeltpc.podbean.com/e/funbelt-...-sbc-east/

A good podcast breaking down the Sun Belt east, but listen at your own peril. Its not pleasant if you're a Monarch.

None of the guys on that show cover ODU. They don’t know Jack about what has happened this spring and summer. I mean, feel free to support them. They’re nice guys. But it’s not a great resource for ODU football information.

I'm choosing to be optimistic, for a winning record.

Our biggest issue last year was an offense that couldn't produce. Even decent production would have impacted our record.

The defense played well considering how much they were on the field and how much they were asked to do. We have the same coordinator and same stud at LB in Henderson, two key pieces. The defense is good enough to compete and is worthy of a 6+ win team, if not better than average. I don't think that's a stretch to say.

The offense is again the question mark. We have reason to believe in progress. Major overhaul has occurred, and there will be growing pains, but also we have a QB and OC experienced at implementing the system. And the system is supposedly very good.

If we score 42 points a game like Fordham did, we are going to win *a lot*. If our offensive troubles continue, we are going to lose. *A lot*. The latter is more realistic with the newness of the system, the pieces we have, and the strength of our competition.

... but I have hope it's going to work out for us. We'll see.

OK, here we go. I am forever an optimist so 8-4. Losing to Tick, Wake, Appy State and JMU. Before everyone piles on, it's hot, it is slow on here this time of year, and I am tired of reading the negative predictions. We can always hope.

Not optimistic at all about this season, however we were a few touchdowns away from being an 7-5 team last year with the lack of OC and spotty QB play.
If you haven't already figured it out, ODU fanbase is tired of losing! Why are we not clicking at the FBS like JMU, Liberty, GoSouthern and GSU did? UTSA is just like us and less than 15 year old program and look at them? They've several top recruiting classes, so don't give me that recruiting BS comment! And how in the hell was Wood Sea-Leg's (Yes I said Sea-Legs) contract extended??? ODU football and basketball for that matter is a joke! We have to make some noise in 2023. I do believe our new OC said in one of his early interviews, "we have to do it differently." I guess that's something to think about.

Like I said, we have to do something in 2023 as our fanbase is tired of losing. Don't believe me? VT and JMU took over our stadium last year! The last time VT and JMU came to Norfolk, they did not paint our stadium the way they did this time.
If you're an ODU fan, you should feel bad about that!

I think it's time to ask the question too: How much time does Rahne have left before he gets the boot? There's a lot of coaches out of jobs right now and some with proven G5 and P5 success...

(07-16-2023 01:49 AM)Retroview1955 Wrote:  Not optimistic at all about this season, however we were a few touchdowns away from being an 7-5 team last year with the lack of OC and spotty QB play.
If you haven't already figured it out, ODU fanbase is tired of losing! Why are we not clicking at the FBS like JMU, Liberty, GoSouthern and GSU did? UTSA is just like us and less than 15 year old program and look at them? They've several top recruiting classes, so don't give me that recruiting BS comment! And how in the hell was Wood Sea-Leg's (Yes I said Sea-Legs) contract extended??? ODU football and basketball for that matter is a joke! We have to make some noise in 2023. I do believe our new OC said in one of his early interviews, "we have to do it differently." I guess that's something to think about.

Like I said, we have to do something in 2023 as our fanbase is tired of losing. Don't believe me? VT and JMU took over our stadium last year! The last time VT and JMU came to Norfolk, they did not paint our stadium the way they did this time.
If you're an ODU fan, you should feel bad about that!

I think it's time to ask the question too: How much time does Rahne have left before he gets the boot? There's a lot of coaches out of jobs right now and some with proven G5 and P5 success...

ODU has also been at the bottom of the recruiting rankings for a while. Which I know recruiting rankings can be inaccurate, and we should not hold ourselves to them. But honestly now, for ODUs sake, it shows. We dont have the best players compared to our SUNBELT competition. This all falls back to the school not investing enough in the program. It seems the school admin wants to have an FBS program on an FCS budget. It just does not work that way now. I do not feel we spend enough on recruiting because schools with much smaller budgets seem to grab higher quality players than we do. Wherever we are allocating our sources does not seem to be in the right places.

(07-16-2023 08:42 AM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  

(07-16-2023 01:49 AM)Retroview1955 Wrote:  Not optimistic at all about this season, however we were a few touchdowns away from being an 7-5 team last year with the lack of OC and spotty QB play.
If you haven't already figured it out, ODU fanbase is tired of losing! Why are we not clicking at the FBS like JMU, Liberty, GoSouthern and GSU did? UTSA is just like us and less than 15 year old program and look at them? They've several top recruiting classes, so don't give me that recruiting BS comment! And how in the hell was Wood Sea-Leg's (Yes I said Sea-Legs) contract extended??? ODU football and basketball for that matter is a joke! We have to make some noise in 2023. I do believe our new OC said in one of his early interviews, "we have to do it differently." I guess that's something to think about.

Like I said, we have to do something in 2023 as our fanbase is tired of losing. Don't believe me? VT and JMU took over our stadium last year! The last time VT and JMU came to Norfolk, they did not paint our stadium the way they did this time.
If you're an ODU fan, you should feel bad about that!

I think it's time to ask the question too: How much time does Rahne have left before he gets the boot? There's a lot of coaches out of jobs right now and some with proven G5 and P5 success...

ODU has also been at the bottom of the recruiting rankings for a while. Which I know recruiting rankings can be inaccurate, and we should not hold ourselves to them. But honestly now, for ODUs sake, it shows. We dont have the best players compared to our SUNBELT competition. This all falls back to the school not investing enough in the program. It seems the school admin wants to have an FBS program on an FCS budget. It just does not work that way now. I do not feel we spend enough on recruiting because schools with much smaller budgets seem to grab higher quality players than we do. Wherever we are allocating our sources does not seem to be in the right places.

It’s not the money, it’s the ROI. We spend more than most at our level, we just win less and don’t recruit as well.