Football Post Mortem

[ColonialInsider]

There is a photo on the RMU web site of ten seniors posing for a picture. I'm assuming those guys are the ones graduating who were dressed today.

It includes:

QB Jimmy Walker
WR Warren Robinson
TE Matt Barr
LB Andrew Romanchak
LB Adam Wollet
DT Amir Fenwick
PK William Kirch
P Adam Check
DB Tevaul Brown
DB Joshua Pinkston

I'm assuming grad student DT Cameron Darley will be gone and one or two other older players may graduate early even if they weren't honored today.

That still isn't a huge senior class to replenish the cupboard, and this team is sorely lacking talent. So I definitely expect departures.

There's talent at running back and receiver, though both need to develop more and find more consistency. There's depth on the offensive line, so now it's up to the coaches to continue developing talent and keeping players around so RMU isn't playing freshmen and sophomores all the time.

George Martin is a promising QB but they definitely need to bring in two guys to flesh out the room.

The key is defense. They need starters and depth at every position. No one's job should be safe going into spring ball and training camp next year. And some guys should be encouraged to move on and maybe play at a lower level.

This is a critical class. Clark needs to trim the fat from the roster, get some immediate contributors, and get some good freshmen.

 

[LetsGoRomo2]

If the Oline stays in tact, I think they will be OK/good.

Agree with getting a couple QBs.

Will be interesting to see how much the D is attempted to fixed by transfers and JUCO. Also, how much of it is a scheme thing which will need evaluated as well.

Would be interesting to see the scholarship breakdown (know what happen) to see where there is a lot of money on guys who are not playing a lot.

Going to be a huge off season and need to bring in some big time guys who make immediate impact if there is hope of much improvement next year.

 

[jnbxu]

There is a photo on the RMU web site of ten seniors posing for a picture. I'm assuming those guys are the ones graduating who were dressed today.

It includes:

QB Jimmy Walker
WR Warren Robinson
TE Matt Barr
LB Andrew Romanchak
LB Adam Wollet
DT Amir Fenwick
PK William Kirch
P Adam Check
DB Tevaul Brown
DB Joshua Pinkston

I'm assuming grad student DT Cameron Darley will be gone and one or two other older players may graduate early even if they weren't honored today.

That still isn't a huge senior class to replenish the cupboard, and this team is sorely lacking talent. So I definitely expect departures.

There's talent at running back and receiver, though both need to develop more and find more consistency. There's depth on the offensive line, so now it's up to the coaches to continue developing talent and keeping players around so RMU isn't playing freshmen and sophomores all the time.

George Martin is a promising QB but they definitely need to bring in two guys to flesh out the room.

The key is defense. They need starters and depth at every position. No one's job should be safe going into spring ball and training camp next year. And some guys should be encouraged to move on and maybe play at a lower level.

This is a critical class. Clark needs to trim the fat from the roster, get some immediate contributors, and get some good freshmen.

 

[jnbxu]

I agree and believe you are correct. Those are the seniors, or in some cases juniors or red shirt juniors that will not be returning. For instance Matt Barr is on schedule to graduate with both his undergraduate and master's degree in May, although he has one year of eligibility left. Hopefully there will not be several underclassmen leave for whatever reason. Freshman who have played in four games or less, could be red shirted and leave. Not sure how that rule is applied, i.e. if you are red shirted at RMU, can you transfer and not lose a season of eligibility? I think to be successful RMU will have to bring in JUCO players, or FBS players that are dissatisfied with their playing time at their current school to be successful. The team Saturday looked nothing like the promising team at EKU sadly. What was really evident this year is how much coach Farison is missed. Duquesne is going to the play offs. Will not be surprised to see some players opt to play at Duquesne.

 

[rolling stones]

NEC Transfer rule if you leave a NEC school and transfer to another NEC school You must sit out two years

 

[rolling stones]

Saturdays game was absolutely embarrassing very poor showing

 

[jnbxu]

A

Saturdays game was absolutely embarrassing very poor showing

Agreed. Thanks for the info on the transfer rule.

 

[ColonialInsider]

I agree and believe you are correct. Those are the seniors, or in some cases juniors or red shirt juniors that will not be returning. For instance Matt Barr is on schedule to graduate with both his undergraduate and master's degree in May, although he has one year of eligibility left. Hopefully there will not be several underclassmen leave for whatever reason. Freshman who have played in four games or less, could be red shirted and leave. Not sure how that rule is applied, i.e. if you are red shirted at RMU, can you transfer and not lose a season of eligibility? I think to be successful RMU will have to bring in JUCO players, or FBS players that are dissatisfied with their playing time at their current school to be successful. The team Saturday looked nothing like the promising team at EKU sadly. What was really evident this year is how much coach Farison is missed. Duquesne is going to the play offs. Will not be surprised to see some players opt to play at Duquesne.

Based on a quick look at participation stats, the following freshmen either didn't play or played sparingly enough to still get a redshirt.

DL Michael Allain
OL Bryan Benjamin
DB Kyle Borgman
DL Jacarri Braddy
DB Garrett Fairman
WR Garrett Houser
RB Jordan Johnson
LB Brayden Jones
WR Julian Mitchell
OL Chucky Morris
LB Brady Ours
LB Olivier Pageotte-Andre
DL Bonicias Semexant
RB Steven Sutton
LS Jacob Wilson

Couple other older guys like DE Derian Smith also didn't play much and could redshirt if they haven't yet.

 

[jnbxu]

There is a photo on the RMU web site of ten seniors posing for a picture. I'm assuming those guys are the ones graduating who were dressed today.

It includes:

QB Jimmy Walker
WR Warren Robinson
TE Matt Barr
LB Andrew Romanchak
LB Adam Wollet
DT Amir Fenwick
PK William Kirch
P Adam Check
DB Tevaul Brown
DB Joshua Pinkston

I'm assuming grad student DT Cameron Darley will be gone and one or two other older players may graduate early even if they weren't honored today.

That still isn't a huge senior class to replenish the cupboard, and this team is sorely lacking talent. So I definitely expect departures.

There's talent at running back and receiver, though both need to develop more and find more consistency. There's depth on the offensive line, so now it's up to the coaches to continue developing talent and keeping players around so RMU isn't playing freshmen and sophomores all the time.

George Martin is a promising QB but they definitely need to bring in two guys to flesh out the room.

The key is defense. They need starters and depth at every position. No one's job should be safe going into spring ball and training camp next year. And some guys should be encouraged to move on and maybe play at a lower level.

This is a critical class. Clark needs to trim the fat from the roster, get some immediate contributors, and get some good freshmen.

Of the 10 pictured, only Robinson, Barr,Romanchak,Check,Wollet,Fenwick,Brown and Kirch remained of the 20 plus 2015 freshmen class. RMU needs to do a better job of recruiting and developing players to become successful, or they will follow the path of the following Division 1 schools that dropped football.
Division I schools

School Type City State Last
Year Notes
American University Private, Methodist Washington DC 1941
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Public Little Rock AR 1955 UALR, now branded athletically as Little Rock, fielded a football team when it was known as Little Rock Junior College
Boston University Private, Methodist former Boston MA 1997
Bradley University Private, Independent Peoria IL 1970
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Northridge
University of California, Riverside
Canisius College
Carlisle Indian Industrial School Public, Indian Carlisle PA 1917 The school closed before college football was aligned into divisions, but it is retroactively considered to have been a "major college" program by the NCAA.
College of Charleston
Creighton University
University of Denver
DePaul University
University of Detroit
Drexel University
University of Evansville
Fairfield University Private
George Washington University
Gonzaga University
High Point University
Hofstra University
University of Illinois at Chicago
Iona College
La Salle University
Long Island University
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Maryland
Manhattan College Private
Marquette University Private
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Mount Saint Mary's University
City College of New York
New York University
Niagara University
University of North Carolina at Asheville-Biltmore College
Northeastern University
University of the Pacific
Pepperdine University
University of Portland
Providence College
Rider University
St. Bonaventure University
St. Francis College (New York)
St. John's University (New York)
Saint Joseph's University
Saint Louis University
Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Peter's University
University of San Francisco
Santa Clara University
Seton Hall University
Siena College Private
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Public Corpus Christi TX
University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
1940s UTRGV traces its athletic history through the University of Texas–Pan American(UTPA), one of the two institutions that merged in 2015 to form the current university. UTPA fielded a football team when it was known as Edinburg Junior College.
University of Vermont Public Burlington VT
Wichita State University Public Wichita KS
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Xavier University (Ohio) Private, Catholic (Jesuit) Cincinnati OH 1973

 

[LetsGoRomo2]

Need to develop. Understand may need to get jucos and more fbs transfers this year to be competitive, but without developing players, the program will be lost. Can't constantly rely on jucos and transfers to make up bulk of team unless you can get transfers that redshirted or only played one year somewhere else.

That's not to say you cant take a few every year, but recruiting and coaching up high school kids is the best way to build program.

 

[jnbxu]

Need to develop. Understand may need to get jucos and more fbs transfers this year to be competitive, but without developing players, the program will be lost. Can't constantly rely on jucos and transfers to make up bulk of team unless you can get transfers that redshirted or only played one year somewhere else.

That's not to say you cant take a few every year, but recruiting and coaching up high school kids is the best way to build program.

I agree. Relying on JUCO's and FBS transfers is only a short term solution, as we saw this year without a lot of success. The other contributing factor was the instability of coaches. Four or five offensive coordinators with constantly changing theories and schemes is not sustainable. Hopefully the present coaches will be around for four years or more and retain and develop the players. The offensive line and offense was really improved, but was more than offset by the poor defensive play.

 

[ColonialInsider]

Yeah, I don't think you need to go nuts with JuCos and transfers, but there's a definite need there this year. Just like Stephens, Petrick, and Lewis brought a variety of experience and stability to their position groups on offense, three guys who could do that on defense would be huge. A defensive tackle who can be just part of the rotation and add some experience, an edge rusher who get to the QB, and maybe an experienced hand in the secondary, even if it's just for nickel and dime packages.

 

[Original_RMC]

Seeing lots of posts on Twitter of playing getting offers from RMU and many of them are JUCOS

 

[LetsGoRomo2]

Not sure where to put this, but Howard's coach just left to go to W&m. They seemed to get a few guys that had RMU offers. Might be a chance to get thise players, if they do not follow him to bill and Mary.

 

[jnbxu]

Hopefully recruiting will get off to a good start, with some committing during the early signing period from December 19th to January 15th

 

[GoRMU]

I was glad to see Jimmy Walker's reply to a California player who was recently offered. I'm sure when Jimmy transferred from San Diego State he expected to lead the team to a lot more wins. Jimmy's comment "Great things are happening here!" indicates to me that the players have confidence in Coach Clark and the future of the program.

Jimmy Walker‏@JimmyyWalker 17h17 hours ago
Jimmy Walker Retweeted Devyn Charles

Congrats! Great things are happening here!

Devyn Charles‏@devyncharles30
Truly honored and blessed to have received my first D1 offer to Robert Morris University! Thank you

 

[GoRMU]

With regard to the JUCO/FBS transfer debate, I recognize that ideally a program should be built by bringing in only freshmen each year and developing them for a four or five-year stay. Certainly, you want players recruited directly out of high school to make up the foundation of the team. But, for a lot of FCS and D-II teams there is a need to bring in a few transfers every year to fill in gaps and also to occasionally bring in higher quality athletes than could be recruited directly out of high school. RMU has not won a conference game in the lowly NEC in a couple of years. Coach Clark's only stated goal going into this season was to get better every day. Considering the team got blown out in the last game of the season, on senior day, with home-field advantage against a middle of the pack conference opponent, I am not sure they got better. This team needs an infusion of talent quickly and transfers may be the only way to accomplish that. If there is not solid progress in 2019, and by that I mean winning games, it is just going to get harder for Coach Clark and staff to recruit quality players and RMU will be stuck in this rut for who knows how long.

 

[ColonialInsider]

Speaking of JuCo offers...

 

[LetsGoRomo2]

https://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/...nds-football-coach-jim-walker-and-family/amp/

Fun story to read.

 

[GoRMU]

Jimmy obviously has a great family.