Burning questions on a Wednesday

[nanacat]

Hearing mostly bad news since January 6th, starting with the loss, and culminating with 14 players and 2 coaches jumping ship,
combined with reading posts, analysis, articles, etc, has not been super great for my psyche as it relates to Bobcat football. The exception has been the players publicly posting they are staying, that's helped some. But over the past several days, many questions have developed in my mind. Maybe some of you who are wiser and less emotional than me can bring clarity.

What effect did a 15-1 season, with a the only loss being in the natty on national TV watched by over 2 million people, have on recruiting? Or will have?

Does knowing our award winning, and seemingly irreplaceable, QB is gone and there's no real replacement in place currently have an effect on portal players wanting to come to MSU?

Is the reason the Cats aren't signing any portal players by design, or is there a lack of faith in the program and players are opting to go elsewhere?

Are there coaches available to replace Walker and Johnson, or is Vigen just making in-house moves?

Is it possible the Cats are now in a holding pattern until spring and no changes/additions will be made in the short term?

Is the focus on developing players sustainable as opposed to bringing in transfer players? And can or should Bobcat football continue creating Montana-made players to be the core of the team?

Is it possible that due to the 26 (?) high school players who signed already, combined with the players currently on the team, that losing 14 doesn't really matter in the broad scheme of things?

Will there be any sort of press conference or article written where Vigen reveals what on earth is going on so we are not left in the dark and making up our own narratives?

[AFCAT]

Nothing that has happened this week hasn’t happened in the past. Key players have left before, maybe not this many, but it’s not going to destroy the program or anything. Take a deep breath. New coaches will be promoted or come in and new players too.

I’m sure Vigen is busy this past week or is maybe taking a well deserved break for a few days. It was a long season.

[MSU01]

[FTG_1984]

Nothing that has happened this week hasn’t happened in the past.

Last week was the first full week of an offseason after we went 15-0 & then inexplicably $hit ourselves in a national championship game in front of millions. The concerns are valid. The last think Vigen should be doing right now is relaxing or "taking a well-deserved break".

[Hawks86]

Deep Thought says the answer is 42.

[Bocephus]

7.5 months until first game, deep breathe.

[4KornerKat]

Nothing that has happened this week hasn’t happened in the past.

Last week was the first full week of an offseason after we went 15-0 & then inexplicably $hit ourselves in a national championship game in front of millions. The concerns are valid. The last think Vigen should be doing right now is relaxing or "taking a well-deserved break".

I imagine he was at the AFCA conference looking to fill out his coaching staff.

[Catsrgrood]

[AFCAT]

Nothing that has happened this week hasn’t happened in the past.

FTG_1984 $hit himself

Nice job taking a post out of context by editing it down to make your point.

I can do that too.

[MSU01]

Hearing mostly bad news since January 6th, starting with the loss, and culminating with 14 players and 2 coaches jumping ship,
combined with reading posts, analysis, articles, etc, has not been super great for my psyche as it relates to Bobcat football. The exception has been the players publicly posting they are staying, that's helped some. But over the past several days, many questions have developed in my mind. Maybe some of you who are wiser and less emotional than me can bring clarity.

What effect did a 15-1 season, with a the only loss being in the natty on national TV watched by over 2 million people, have on recruiting? Or will have?

Does knowing our award winning, and seemingly irreplaceable, QB is gone and there's no real replacement in place currently have an effect on portal players wanting to come to MSU?

Is the reason the Cats aren't signing any portal players by design, or is there a lack of faith in the program and players are opting to go elsewhere?

Are there coaches available to replace Walker and Johnson, or is Vigen just making in-house moves?

Is it possible the Cats are now in a holding pattern until spring and no changes/additions will be made in the short term?

Is the focus on developing players sustainable as opposed to bringing in transfer players? And can or should Bobcat football continue creating Montana-made players to be the core of the team?

Is it possible that due to the 26 (?) high school players who signed already, combined with the players currently on the team, that losing 14 doesn't really matter in the broad scheme of things?

Will there be any sort of press conference or article written where Vigen reveals what on earth is going on so we are not left in the dark and making up our own narratives?

1) If anything, the 15-1 season will have a positive effect on recruiting moving forward. MSU got to play five nationally televised games this year and went 4-1 in those games. That kind of national exposure was absolutely unheard of five or ten years ago. Do we really think that a player watched the championship game last Monday and decided not to attend MSU solely because they lost that game? Not a chance. Every team in Division 1 football lost games this year.

2) It may have a positive effect in terms of recruiting a transfer QB, as a player can now come in and compete to start instead of competing to be #2 on the depth chart behind Tommy. At other positions, no effect. Nobody would transfer anywhere in the FCS if having a QB as good as Tommy Mellott were a requirement players are looking for. I also suspect that the replacement for Tommy IS in place, we just haven't ever seen him take a single snap with the first team offense yet.

3) What is clearly by design is that Vigen wants to primarily build the program through recruiting and developing high school players as opposed to bringing in dozens of transfer portal "quick fixes" every year like many other teams are doing these days. Would we all feel better if one or two talented transfers had committed to MSU at this point? Yes, but it's not a sign of some underlying problem that it hasn't happened yet. There are still a lot of very good players unsigned and will be even more available when the Spring portal window opens.

4) There are always coaches available, the AFCA conference just ended on Tuesday which is where a lot of the coaching movement happens. I think it's safe to say that new coaches will be announced sooner rather than later.

5) It seems too late at this point to add any transfer players who will be able to enroll in school and participate in Spring football. They could always sign additional high school players or portal players who will join the team over the summer for Fall camp.

6) Yes and hell yes.

7) Losing the outgoing transfer players is always going to hurt, but at the same time we're definitely overreacting to it especially given that it happened right after the highly disappointing result of the game last Monday. We overreacted last year too when Reimer, Aigbedion, and Valdez transferred out and MSU ended up having its best team in decades even without those guys. Nobody is irreplaceable.

8 ) My guess is that the next press conference will be on February 5 which is the second national signing day, assuming that MSU adds at least a handful of players at that time to the ones they already signed. As for an article being written I suppose that's up to the journalists who cover the team.

[ilovethecats]

Nothing that has happened this week hasn’t happened in the past.

Last week was the first full week of an offseason after we went 15-0 & then inexplicably $hit ourselves in a national championship game in front of millions. The concerns are valid. The last think Vigen should be doing right now is relaxing or "taking a well-deserved break".

[cat22[2010]]

If it burns you should get that looked at.... What happened in Frisco did not stay in Frisco?

[BelligerentBobcat]

As frustrating and disappointing as it is, I think it’s important to realize that at this level players and coaches leaving is a sign of a good program. I know, I know, NDSU didn’t lose anybody. Look. NDSU is the exception, not the rule. Fact of the matter is though, bad programs don’t have players consistently transferring up. Bad programs don’t have coaches consistently moving up. I’d rather be good and lose players/coaches than the alternative. Obviously I wish we could keep everybody, but that just isn’t reality.

[KIX]

Deep Thought says the answer is 42.

41

[MTmadeCat]

The team that has been the 3rd best in the entire FCS (behind only xDSU’s) for the last 6-7 years was not hurt by more exposure. Vigen’s method of building with in state recruits, developing young guys, and supplementing with portal guys is the method the top several teams in the FCS are following (except they don’t have the homegrown talent). Sam Herder posted records of teams with 16+ transfers coming in after last season: 13 finished with a better record, 15 a worse record (including griz), and 4 the same. Most teams have had much, much longer to monitor the portal and offer players and build relationships. I imagine that’s what this week has been all about, diving deeper into film to find the right guys to fill holes on the roster. There is likely a lot to button up after a long season with staff and player meetings, etc. Bobby Daly is now following a TON of new DB transfer portal guys. Clearly that is an area of emphasis. Vigen will find the right coaches and we will hear about it at the right time. I know that loss in Texas was tough, but we have nearly 8 months until the ‘25 Cats kick off. Time to get better.

[KIX]

As frustrating and disappointing as it is, I think it’s important to realize that at this level players and coaches leaving is a sign of a good program. I know, I know, NDSU didn’t lose anybody. Look. NDSU is the exception, not the rule. Fact of the matter is though, bad programs don’t have players consistently transferring up. Bad programs don’t have coaches consistently moving up. I’d rather be good and lose players/coaches than the alternative. Obviously I wish we could keep everybody, but that just isn’t reality.

Fingers crossed that Jones and Taco, et.al. don't bail during the Spring Portal window from their phones ringing off the hook.

[BelligerentBobcat]

As frustrating and disappointing as it is, I think it’s important to realize that at this level players and coaches leaving is a sign of a good program. I know, I know, NDSU didn’t lose anybody. Look. NDSU is the exception, not the rule. Fact of the matter is though, bad programs don’t have players consistently transferring up. Bad programs don’t have coaches consistently moving up. I’d rather be good and lose players/coaches than the alternative. Obviously I wish we could keep everybody, but that just isn’t reality.

Fingers crossed that Jones and Taco, et.al. don't bail during the Spring Portal window from their phones ringing off the hook.

They might. And while I’d be disappointed, more so with the transfer rules, it’s hard for me to blame the players.

[RICO CAT]

I imagine Coach Vigen is busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest right now. I would not expect any public comments about the program until after national signing day next month. As for the loss in Frisco, it was difficult for those of us who follow the program but the fact remains the team received a lot of publicity this year and players want to play for high profile programs. Seeing some of the comments on social media, many called the game exciting and a thriller. If you have good players and coaches as winning teams normally do, they’re going to get the attention of larger programs. There is only one direction for Bobcats Football to go and that is forward.

[kwcat]

I imagine Coach Vigen is busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest right now. I would not expect any public comments about the program until after national signing day next month. As for the loss in Frisco, it was difficult for those of us who follow the program but the fact remains the team received a lot of publicity this year and players want to play for high profile programs. Seeing some of the comments on social media, many called the game exciting and a thriller. If you have good players and coaches as winning teams normally do, they’re going to get the attention of larger programs. There is only one direction for Bobcats Football to go and that is forward.

I think we’ll have a couple of announcements possibly as early as tomorrow and probably a couple more on Monday or Tuesday.
I know we are a medium sized fish, but we are definitely higher profile than a lot of FBS programs

[VimSince03]

Sarcastic answers only. I'm treating this like a roast. I seriously understand fans concern and change is always tough. I wanted to punch a baby when Jeff Choate left so trust me I get it. Anyway, here it goes.

What effect did a 15-1 season, with a the only loss being in the natty on national TV watched by over 2 million people, have on recruiting? Or will have?

None. Kids notoriously hate MSU. Dead end school and program.

Does knowing our award winning, and seemingly irreplaceable, QB is gone and there's no real replacement in place currently have an effect on portal players wanting to come to MSU?

Yup. Players don't sign up for teams without a Tommy Mellott on them. Kids sniff that out quickly and only want to join winners.

Is the reason the Cats aren't signing any portal players by design, or is there a lack of faith in the program and players are opting to go elsewhere?

Despite there being thousands of players in the portal still who want to visit schools before signing, there being another portal entry period in April, and having incredible facilities going up on campus & coming off a Natty run.....no players are seeing the writing on the wall and going to Utah Tech.

Are there coaches available to replace Walker and Johnson, or is Vigen just making in-house moves?

Despite the AFCA Convention just wrapping up yesterday, it being the most popular destination to network and find great candidates, and it happening at the same time every year....no I don't see any coaches being available at this point in the year. For one, Bobby Hauck is president now so he's already boycotted all talent from coaching at MSU (it's a mandate) and Vigen is going with the 4-person staff ala Bill Belichick. If Brent makes anymore moves, its likely Grant being a player/coach for QBs and Jake for DL.

Is it possible the Cats are now in a holding pattern until spring and no changes/additions will be made in the short term?

Possible? More like its a done deal. Roll with who you have and let the kids figure it out on there own. We can supplement from other sport programs at MSU to fill the roster gaps in the short term.

Is the focus on developing players sustainable as opposed to bringing in transfer players? And can or should Bobcat football continue creating Montana-made players to be the core of the team?

I hear bringing in transfers every year guarantees team success and developing high school players just doesn't cut it anymore. Why would you develop really good high school players (who are now not getting signed at the rate they used to at the FBS level) who play as freshman and sophomores and make all-conference/all-america teams and help bring you deep into the playoffs? Because the fear that they may leave someday? What a waste of talent and resources if you ask me. Despite a legendary core group of Montana players who damn near won us a national title for the first time in 40 years, I would back out of Montana and let the Griz win back their #RTD. They all want to play for the Griz anyway so let's just quit with the act of recruiting them to MSU.

Is it possible that due to the 26 (?) high school players who signed already, combined with the players currently on the team, that losing 14 doesn't really matter in the broad scheme of things?

Nope doesn't matter. Tommy Mellott is very replaceable. He can't even throw and we still were winning games. Conner Moore and the rest of the Magnificent 7 were all thinking about the portal and had no intention of trying during the national title. Good riddance if you ask me.

Will there be any sort of press conference or article written where Vigen reveals what on earth is going on so we are not left in the dark and making up our own narratives?

I personally think Brent should hold a press conference for every time a new thread gets added to BobcatNation. The rumors need to be addressed QUICKLY and with deep detail. Despite January being a month of transition every year since I've been a Bobcat fan where players/coaches leave and others get added, I demand answers. If Vigen doesn't reveal why these common things keep happening in today's college football landscape, I'm officially done as a fan.