Antonio Alfano wants to play here
- Thread starter WPUknight
- Start date
Better players …yes . Players with no character and a locker room cancer ….no .
I didn’t miss the point . I watched it and I remember how great he was for that school and program . When he was winning that heisman at Alabama in a classic , flood was in a rock fight with one of the worst army teams of all time.
We haven’t been competitive in years until now . Even now, there were some embarrassing Saturdays. So what we have been doing hasn’t worked.
Rutgers needs to make a commitment to win or reconsider having semipro sports its really part of its mission.
I know for a fact that the kid I am referring to would have picked Rutgers over Bama/LSU
You can build all you want, and talk about process, etc., but you can’t win without talented athletes at the level we compete at.
We don’t recruit talented athletes, for the most part, we develop them. People who want us to recruit talented athletes can write a check.
Talented gamble
Major programs can afford him and a nothing ventured nothing gained attitude bringing players like him in because he's an addition to the stars already on roster.
Lesser programs that hang their hopes on talent that have a checkerboard past , can get roasted if the troubled talent brought it doesn't work out by the local media making a big issue over the recruiting of a troubled player giving the program the type of PR that makes parents /advisors of HS players turn away from that programs when looking for good fits.
Major programs can afford him and a nothing ventured nothing gained attitude bringing players like him in because he's an addition to the stars already on roster.
Lesser programs that hang their hopes on talent that have a checkerboard past , can get roasted if the troubled talent brought it doesn't work out by the local media making a big issue over the recruiting of a troubled player giving the program the type of PR that makes parents /advisors of HS players turn away from that programs when looking for good fits.
Redshirting and developing have taken a backseat in the NIL era. It’s a revolving door with players and coaches.
yes, nut without NIL money to give, redshirting and development is the way many programs need to use in order to make their programs competitive.
Hell,once the player becomes someone considered a top talent , the school that developed him has to worry about him entering the portal looking for a place that has good NIL money if he goes there.
That can be a problem , but the constant developing talent will bring in players that need a little work but are worth it when they are ready hit the field using the talents they have been taught to use.
If they hit the portal, next man up needs to happen , because NIL money isn't there to buy a replacement at Rutgers
Wish we knew more. Maybe GS had folks evaluate the kid both on and off field. Maybe they made the call based on that. We will probably never know. The coaches know we need the talent and they know they may have to absorb a borderline personality, if rest of team can keep him in line. Its done. More concerned about QB.
Yes I did and he's not going to change anything we would need a few more studs
Well 1 more stud is how you get more studs
Any Rahway peeps think he looks like Antonio garay ?
This is just flat out wrong. We most certainly recruit talented athletes. You're right that we have to develop them more, but these kids coming into the program are very good athletes. Maybe they need to add some weight and muscle, but saying that they're not talented athletes is being disingenuous.
we recruit athletes whose talent has to be developed, which is why most are redshirted.
I think most teams are "developmental."
My HS team was developmental
I think developmental tag is used as a fig leaf to excuse mediocrity year in and out
For a long time I've been hearing GS say RU "needs more depth and we're working hard on it."
If you’re going to bang the drum about the “developmental program” nonsense , that’s fine. But you can’t just suck and mail in the final month of the the season. Any moron will ask what kind of development is that?
This is the Big Ten, not little league. its going to take time for the team to be on par with our peers from an S&C perspective. every year we get a little better. in two years, we will have turned the roster over, and our s&c will be on par with everyone else.
Shouldn’t that have happened by now ? It’s year 4 ? Most of the ash guys stunk and -also there is the portal .
Some progress was made this year . 6-6 was the goal and we achieved it. But there are red flags. You have to see that
That was the Chris Ash method and failed miserably. You recruit talented athletes and develop them into football players.
Tyreem Powell, Max Melton, Robert Longerbeam, Ian Strong, Korey Duff, Aaron Lewis are just an example of talented athletes that RU recruited and turned or will turn into talented football players.
People pushing for Alfano seem to forget the last time RU took someone with a suspect background.
How many games did Ahmir Mitchell play for RU and how bog was his impact?
How many games did Ahmir Mitchell play for RU and how bog was his impact?
I think it depends on how far into establishing the culture you are. I think you take a risk on him in year 5 where you have established leaders and incumbent leaders. Not in year 1.
Our depth killed us. We had lost our best 3 wrs, our best LB, our best TE, 1 of our better RBs and the other two were not at 100%.
We have developed, at most positions, B10 competitive players. Our depth is not there yet at quite a few spots.
It is not an excuse but it makes a difference.
As a coach I have, at times, lost a high level or elite player on the team to injury and you can not just pull up the next player and expect the same level of play.
Depth killed us yes . But people don’t want to take a risk on a possible stud in alfano ?
Beggars can’t be choosers
I am conflicted on ideas like this. For me culture is first. Always has and always will be. I do not know enough about the young man in his current life to say if he would be an issue or not. i know he had years of being an issue, and maybe that was a medical thing that is sorted out now.
I think this staff does a nice job of creating a good culture and it has become a place where young people grow in a positive way. If they think Alfano will not fit that mold, then I trust them in that decision.
When we were not being careful with culture issues under Flood, we lost the locker room. I heard that around long before public issues came out publicly.
We recruit athletes whose talent and physical attributes have to be developed. I still remember sitting at a football banquet table with Ray Rice thinking, “Man, I can kick his @ss”. The next year, his arms were bigger than my legs, and I wanted NO part of him.
Come on. No we don’t. I don’t know what I can say to convince you that Alfano is an awful human being that doesn’t belong at Rutgers. You’ll just have to trust us.
I only hope that he finds football success at LSU and plays Sundays.
OK- it is always the "goal" but pre season- it was only a hope and no one predicted it
Stupid comments like beggars can’t be choosers show how weak your argument is. He doesn’t fit the culture that the program emphasizes. Otherwise he’d have been in an RU jersey already.
You’d rather manwhore yourself for a cheap thrill not realizing you’d never get to the thrill part.
Only thing that matters is winning foootball games . Schiano must not think the kid can do that.
Plum,
Do you think that Alfano gets playing time at LSU next season? I’m not sure that he makes it to the opening day roster.
I have no idea. I really don’t know how good of a player he is. But I would think if he’s good enough to get a shot at LSU, he’s good enough to get a shot here . Did you watch our pass rush this season ? It stunk
The kid is a gamble, Rutgers probably isn't the only programs that passed on recruiting
him.
He might work out well at LSU, but Kelly won't feel a loss, if this doesn't work out, because he has one 4 star coming in the 2024 recruiting class and 2 four stars signed on in 2023.
Programs like Rutgers can't afford to make mistakes when trying to build a winning program and though the kid has talent, his past problems might make some programs feel he might not be a good fit in with the type of program they have.
No. It comes down to knowing the facts. He is mentally ill. Family members, coaches and team leaders wont change that fact.
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