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Transfer Impact

H

HookedonGriz

Well-known member
DONOR
Thought this could be an interesting discussion.

I saw a thread on Litterbox Nation where the majority of posters (before the season even started) claimed the Griz would be downright awful this season due to all the new faces and transfers….that it would be impossible to get all the new guys to gel and that trying to create a team through the transfer portal is never going to work out. We were going to find out the hard way that this experiment will not work.

Although it’s still early, I would argue it looks like they couldn’t be more wrong on this one (imagine that). Bobby has said for a while now that in this day and age of college football, you do your absolute best to assemble the best team you can for that one season, because the chances are it will look very different from year to year now.

I think the coaches knocked it out of the park this time with the transfers they brought in, finding the right guys, and getting them to all gel and click and play well together. You can tell 100% that this is a very good and very competitive football team. They are going to be a tough out for anyone.

They currently have the #1 scoring offense in the Big Sky and a top 3 defense. They have the #1 rushing offense and the #2 passing offense. They have a QB who is making a statement to be the top QB in the league and we have the top RB in the conference and arguably the tops in all of FCS. We have a freshman phenom in Brooks Davis who is only going to get better, too.

Here is just a quick look at some of the transfers they have brought in and the impact they are making with the Griz:

1. Michael Wortham - electric playmaker who can literally do it all. Can run, catch, return, and throw. Will be all conference and may be an all American

2. Micah Harper - has been awesome at safety and played some snaps at corner last week with Loud going down. Could easily end up all conference

3. Elijawah Tolbert - has been absolutely awesome at LB and is racking up a bunch of tackles, pressures, knocking down passes. Will more than likely end up all conference

4. Blake Bohannon - became a very dependable replacement for Racanelli and was making a lot of impact at WR before getting hurt

5. Diezel Wilkinson - has been making a ton of impact from day 1 at safety. Plays like his hair is on fire and brings a ton of energy. Will be an all conference player before his time is finished here.

6. Peyton Wing - will be an all conference LB this year. Has made tremendous impact on the field. Has 2 picks, has speed, and is only getting more comfortable in the defense. Sky is the limit for him.

7. Josh Gale - has been a dependable pass catching TE and wreaks havoc as a blocker too. If they use him more in the pass game he could easily be an All conference player

8. Solo Tuliapupu - what a wrecking machine who just looks like a next level player on the field. Has made immediate impact for the Griz and has caused two fumbles already, one recovered for a TD after blowing up the QB and one helping seal the win over Idaho

9. Patrick Matan - earned a starting role on the OL and seems to be getting better with each start.

10. Hunter Peck - so awesome to see his potential from the NAIA ranks and make it translate on the field. Look no further than his last game where he was the Griz defensive player of the game with a sack and two tackles for loss. He is only going to get better and better

11. Hayden Schwartz - has been on the edge for a lot of snaps and making impact in his role

12. Titus Rohrer - a big target TE who can catch and block. Getting lots of snaps and making impact as well.

13. Terahiti Wolfe - came in and got some action last week with Loud out. Will probably see more and more of him.

14. Korbin Hendrix - caught some passes when Bohannon went down. Coming off an injury himself, he will get better and better as he picks up game speed again

15. Braydon Bailey - playing a ton of snaps in the middle and wreaking some havoc. Making impact by chewing up blocks and letting LBs get tackles. Lost weight and looks better.

16. Jake Jensen - looks comfortable in the offense and seems like someone who can get it done if called upon

Best part…..a lot of these guys have more years with the Griz:

Wolfe - soph
Hendrix - soph
Wilkinson - soph
Wing - junior
Rohrer - junior
Schwartz - junior
Bailey - junior

Really happy to see it all come together. I think it’s a safe bet to say that you can build a team out of the transfer portal if you do it right Kudos to the coaching staff for piecing it together. Go Griz!
 
I agree with your points. I think the staff learned a lot from last year. I've been thinking about this a lot, and some of the discussion on the GFP and with Schmidt on Colter's show really helped clarify a lot of what has changed. We aren't looking for guys that couldn't play a level up, we are looking for guys that are already successful. I think that makes a big difference in building a team. Wing, Tolbert, Harper, Wortham, Gale, all those guys already know the preparation it takes to be successful and had already proven that they have the talent and mentality to make it happen.

Was last year a bit of a swing and miss in the portal? Yes, absolutely. But if there is one thing we know about Hauck staffs, they reflect on everything and are highly detail oriented. It seems as though we learned from our mistakes.

Bobcat Nation is delusional, though.
 
As many as Bobby missed on last year, he seems to have hit it out of the park this year (at least through 4 games). Now imagine if that USC DE had stuck it out...still think we're missing a Gubner-level NT and it would make all the difference on the pressure we're (not) getting on the QB, but it is what it is at this point.

Color me pleasantly surprised.
 
AZGrizFan said:
As many as Bobby missed on last year, he seems to have hit it out of the park this year (at least through 4 games). Now imagine if that USC DE had stuck it out...still think we're missing a Gubner-level NT and it would make all the difference on the pressure we're (not) getting on the QB, but it is what it is at this point.

Color me pleasantly surprised.
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I’ve had the same thought. Had peevey actually showed up this class of transfers would have been even better, and the DLine would have been stacked even more. As it is I’m honestly astonished at how wel all of the transfers have turned out . Judging by how it’s worked out for the team, the coaches seem to have it figured out.
 
HookedonGriz said:
Thought this could be an interesting discussion.

I saw a thread on Litterbox Nation where the majority of posters (before the season even started) claimed the Griz would be downright awful this season due to all the new faces and transfers….that it would be impossible to get all the new guys to gel and that trying to create a team through the transfer portal is never going to work out. We were going to find out the hard way that this experiment will not work.

Although it’s still early, I would argue it looks like they couldn’t be more wrong on this one (imagine that). Bobby has said for a while now that in this day and age of college football, you do your absolute best to assemble the best team you can for that one season, because the chances are it will look very different from year to year now.

I think the coaches knocked it out of the park this time with the transfers they brought in, finding the right guys, and getting them to all gel and click and play well together. You can tell 100% that this is a very good and very competitive football team. They are going to be a tough out for anyone.

They currently have the #1 scoring offense in the Big Sky and a top 3 defense. They have the #1 rushing offense and the #2 passing offense. They have a QB who is making a statement to be the top QB in the league and we have the top RB in the conference and arguably the tops in all of FCS. We have a freshman phenom in Brooks Davis who is only going to get better, too.

Here is just a quick look at some of the transfers they have brought in and the impact they are making with the Griz:

1. Michael Wortham - electric playmaker who can literally do it all. Can run, catch, return, and throw. Will be all conference and may be an all American

2. Micah Harper - has been awesome at safety and played some snaps at corner last week with Loud going down. Could easily end up all conference

3. Elijawah Tolbert - has been absolutely awesome at LB and is racking up a bunch of tackles, pressures, knocking down passes. Will more than likely end up all conference

4. Blake Bohannon - became a very dependable replacement for Racanelli and was making a lot of impact at WR before getting hurt

5. Diezel Wilkinson - has been making a ton of impact from day 1 at safety. Plays like his hair is on fire and brings a ton of energy. Will be an all conference player before his time is finished here.

6. Peyton Wing - will be an all conference LB this year. Has made tremendous impact on the field. Has 2 picks, has speed, and is only getting more comfortable in the defense. Sky is the limit for him.

7. Josh Gale - has been a dependable pass catching TE and wreaks havoc as a blocker too. If they use him more in the pass game he could easily be an All conference player

8. Solo Tuliapupu - what a wrecking machine who just looks like a next level player on the field. Has made immediate impact for the Griz and has caused two fumbles already, one recovered for a TD after blowing up the QB and one helping seal the win over Idaho

9. Patrick Matan - earned a starting role on the OL and seems to be getting better with each start.

10. Hunter Peck - so awesome to see his potential from the NAIA ranks and make it translate on the field. Look no further than his last game where he was the Griz defensive player of the game with a sack and two tackles for loss. He is only going to get better and better

11. Hayden Schwartz - has been on the edge for a lot of snaps and making impact in his role

12. Titus Rohrer - a big target TE who can catch and block. Getting lots of snaps and making impact as well.

13. Terahiti Wolfe - came in and got some action last week with Loud out. Will probably see more and more of him.

14. Korbin Hendrix - caught some passes when Bohannon went down. Coming off an injury himself, he will get better and better as he picks up game speed again

15. Braydon Bailey - playing a ton of snaps in the middle and wreaking some havoc. Making impact by chewing up blocks and letting LBs get tackles. Lost weight and looks better.

16. Jake Jensen - looks comfortable in the offense and seems like someone who can get it done if called upon

Best part…..a lot of these guys have more years with the Griz:

Wolfe - soph
Hendrix - soph
Wilkinson - soph
Wing - junior
Rohrer - junior
Schwartz - junior
Bailey - junior

Really happy to see it all come together. I think it’s a safe bet to say that you can build a team out of the transfer portal if you do it right Kudos to the coaching staff for piecing it together. Go Griz!
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I think Pifferini, the DE, is going to be a very good player, after he recovers from his injury. He also has additional years
 
AZGrizFan said:
As many as Bobby missed on last year, he seems to have hit it out of the park this year (at least through 4 games). Now imagine if that USC DE had stuck it out...still think we're missing a Gubner-level NT and it would make all the difference on the pressure we're (not) getting on the QB, but it is what it is at this point.

Color me pleasantly surprised.
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Who did UM "miss" on last year?
 
GriznMN said:
Ya, 40+ less tackles than Ryan Tirrell and no sacks and no interceptions.
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You can't read or are lying. He had a sack, and 3 TFL. Tirrell had no interceptions either. Tirrell had 2 sacks. They each had 1 QBH. Tirrell had 23 tackles more than Riley Wilson. Do you think Tirrell was better than Wilson? I don't.

What is wrong with you? Just admit that you are wrong.
 
AZGrizFan said:
"Miss" was probably a poor choice of words. The talent was there, but they never gelled as a unit like we (and likely Bobby) thought they would, in this armchair QB's view.

This year's class appears to be miles ahead of last year's at this point.
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I think you had it right the first time, if they didn't come together and produce a good defense there were definitely misses somewhere. Talent isn't everything.
 
Like it or not this is the new reality for College Football. It's going to lead to some downish years like last season where nobody fits quite right. But it's also going to lead to some great seasons like the one we appear to be having right now. It's impossible to build a team with nothing but 5 year HS players anymore. You invest all this time and coaching into the kids and by the time they're ready to shine most of them portal up to bigger programs. We have been very lucky with guys like Gillman and Bergen. Are we going to keep Loud and Brooks Davis for 3 more years? Who knows... We've also lost guys like Riley Wilson and Rancanelli. You can't just rely on the portal but I think it's much more effective to be aggressive when the opportunity presents itself with portal players than just assume your underclassmen are all going to pop and stick with your program. Cats are going to find this out when Vigen leaves next year and half the team follows him.
 
I too think this transfer class has been awesome. I think a lot of us were skeptical just with the sheer number of guys we brought in, and it was certainly a lot. That said, I don't see us bringing in anywhere near as many transfers next offseason as there won't be as many chairs to fill short of something catastrophic happening. Plus so many of these guys have additional years as well. I'm glad it all worked out and the team is rolling right now. Keep the good times going.
 
At this point Keaton has to be keeping a running list of transfers that moved up for opportunities or paydays and their stats and should have it prominently featured where contemplative guys can see it.

The loss of playing time their senior year for the most part has outweighed the excitement of moving. Maybe they all prefer to have a degree with a bigger name on it or sit in those big stadiums, but if you want to be on the field, the numbers clearly are starting to show that more often than not you spend a lot more time on the bench or in a much less prominent role.

I think we will also start to see many of these upper level teams tighten up on who they offer money to as well since they have “capped” NIL budgets, though I expect back channels will start to open back up again. As always it will ebb and flow. I expect to see a majority of our transfers move down or lateral for playing opportunities rather than paydays if they can’t crack the 2 deep and a limited number of guys move up that clearly stand out.

If Eli does stay and we start to send guys to the highest level of competitive football again regularly through the draft, there becomes a precedent that you can stay and have success, develop and get to where you want to go. Junior was the first of this new era to stick it out and take his shot.

Overall, the staff made changes after last year and shot for the moon with some transfers and seems so far to have hit far more than miss. There’s also a few carryovers from last year that are making an impact after being in the system and developing on and off the field.
 
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mthoopsfan said:
You can't read or are lying. He had a sack, and 3 TFL. Tirrell had no interceptions either. Tirrell had 2 sacks. They each had 1 QBH. Tirrell had 23 tackles more than Riley Wilson. Do you think Tirrell was better than Wilson? I don't.

What is wrong with you? Just admit that you are wrong.
Click to expand...
Where did I say anything about Riley Wilson?
 
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TheNorthRemembers said:
Like it or not this is the new reality for College Football. It's going to lead to some downish years like last season where nobody fits quite right. But it's also going to lead to some great seasons like the one we appear to be having right now. It's impossible to build a team with nothing but 5 year HS players anymore. You invest all this time and coaching into the kids and by the time they're ready to shine most of them portal up to bigger programs. We have been very lucky with guys like Gillman and Bergen. Are we going to keep Loud and Brooks Davis for 3 more years? Who knows... We've also lost guys like Riley Wilson and Rancanelli. You can't just rely on the portal but I think it's much more effective to be aggressive when the opportunity presents itself with portal players than just assume your underclassmen are all going to pop and stick with your program. Cats are going to find this out when Vigen leaves next year and half the team follows him.
Click to expand...
Speaking of Wilson and Rac, could you imagine if they were still on the team this year? Would be insane
 
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