Quote from: Ron Boerger on December 22, 2025, 08:19:58 PMThe other thing some of these kids need to consider is that taking a "higher level" offer doesn't mean you're going to see a lot of playing time at the new school.  Christian Green, a basketball player for Trinity who went to D1 SFA along with his coach this year (and was the D3Hoops.com Rookie of the Year in 2024), has seen a grand total of 36 minutes in the 11 games SFA has played this year, and six of his eight total points (and 10 of those 36 minutes) came in a blowout over D3 UDallas yesterday.   

We had a couple of players from our 2024 entertain the thought of transferring, only to realize that they were being lied to about the financial commitment and role they would have within the team. I will never stop a young man/woman from pursuing less financial burden or wanting to play at higher level. I just hope that they do their research on what the transfer portal entails. We were open to the idea and the young man circled back in the summer and played well again this year.  We also had a young man transfer in from D1-FBS and play well only to transfer the next year. I'm actually fine with 1 hit wonders/mercenaries coming down and "getting tape/film", you just have to coach them as a player that hit his stride his Senior year.

Quote from: RowanPhan on December 18, 2025, 05:54:33 PM

Quote from: MRMIKESMITH on December 08, 2025, 10:24:52 AMSalisbury still had two timeouts remaining, and that timeout was used simply to ensure players didn't do or say anything foolish. Moving the conversation forward, the NJAC will look very different next year. I think the conference is getting stronger—especially if the New Jersey programs can keep more in-state talent home and if CNU continues to dominate recruiting throughout Virginia.

For Salisbury, the recruiting approach will need to evolve. The program must do a better job tapping into "urban" areas and conferences to bring in tougher, more dynamic athletes. After rewatching the last two playoff games, Salisbury looked too finesse-oriented and, frankly, soft. To close the gap, the team will likely need to lean more heavily on the transfer portal—whether that's players who didn't qualify initially, FCS transfers, or borderline Division II talent—to fill key positional needs, keep the offense explosive, and bring in guys who have that true "dawg" mentality.

Defensively, the secondary needs a full overhaul. They need more athletic (can cover 1 on 1), sound tacklers, and confident players. The scheme itself could use some fine-tuning as well; watching Saturday's game again, there were plays available to be made, and many of the breakdowns were simply skill-related. Even the GR MLB said in the post-game that the defense came out slow and didn't settle in until the third quarter. That can't continue. The DC has to make adjustments earlier—mid-first quarter, not after halftime.

Rowan football will be a contender next year,  majority of the team returns. 

I'm moreso curious to see if the NJAC will add another Football team to the mix.   

Is there a rumor that I missed? I'm all for adding teams, but looking at NPI, want to make sure we can ensure we get a team that will be at .500 or over in OOC games. Aside from that, the teams that made the Quarterfinals were tested at least twice during the season with Top 40 teams. We may be fortunate now that we have a resurging Rowan and a TCNJ team that has settled on offensive scheme to maximize its talent pool. However, our OOC games have to be with other Top 30-50 teams to boost our NPI. I think the NJAC should have two teams going to the playoff year in and year out going forward over the next few years. 

My team lost to JHU, and I'm somewhat torn about who I want to win this week. From a standings perspective, a win by JHU should (I know one poll that won't pull the R2 teams up  )elevate certain teams, depending on the scoring margin. That said, as a competitor and a stalwart of Salisbury Football, part of me hopes a certain coach learns a lesson. However the players and staff are phenomenal in what they do —great Jimmys and Joes, and exceptionally smart and intellectual in their approach to football/life (beyond just X's and O's).

Brian Smith out as Ohio University football Coach. Former Coach at Cal Lutheran and Occidental.

Salisbury still had two timeouts remaining, and that timeout was used simply to ensure players didn't do or say anything foolish. Moving the conversation forward, the NJAC will look very different next year. I think the conference is getting stronger—especially if the New Jersey programs can keep more in-state talent home and if CNU continues to dominate recruiting throughout Virginia.

For Salisbury, the recruiting approach will need to evolve. The program must do a better job tapping into "urban" areas and conferences to bring in tougher, more dynamic athletes. After rewatching the last two playoff games, Salisbury looked too finesse-oriented and, frankly, soft. To close the gap, the team will likely need to lean more heavily on the transfer portal—whether that's players who didn't qualify initially, FCS transfers, or borderline Division II talent—to fill key positional needs, keep the offense explosive, and bring in guys who have that true "dawg" mentality.

Defensively, the secondary needs a full overhaul. They need more athletic (can cover 1 on 1), sound tacklers, and confident players. The scheme itself could use some fine-tuning as well; watching Saturday's game again, there were plays available to be made, and many of the breakdowns were simply skill-related. Even the GR MLB said in the post-game that the defense came out slow and didn't settle in until the third quarter. That can't continue. The DC has to make adjustments earlier—mid-first quarter, not after halftime.

Quote from: IC798891 on December 07, 2025, 03:00:31 PMHopkins runs the ball 9 straight times, and then goes to kneel it out. Absolutely textbook end of blowout game plan.

Salisbury calls a timeout, so they clearly want to play to the final whistle, and now Hopkins, what, is obligated to continue to call nothing but runs?

It's admirable that the Gulls wanted to keep playing to the last whistle, but acting as though Hopkins is only allowed to do so exactly how Salisbury deems fit is weak.

Speaking as a fan of a team that got waxed by Hopkins and had Hopkins kneel it out on them, grow up.

Everyone wants to come to rescue for Hopkins, go on ahead. Like I said, it was still classless. Don't care if team called timeout, many of your teams did the same thing and we ran it out and or kneeled. Spare ME!

No, FWIFW is that it was bush league and that's it. I know certain folk from certain schools will have their thoughts about Salisbury. So I take certain folks opinion with a grain a salt.  "Looking back at thread" and "non issue". Yea okay!

Congratulations to the seniors and grad students who played their hearts out yesterday. Congrats as well to the staff and administration on an overall awesome season. Although the outcome wasn't what Salisbury supporters hoped for, it was still a great year.

Now, regarding the game: I usually congratulate the opposing team, but what Hopkins pulled at the end was not something I expected from an institution like that. It's fine—karma has a funny way of showing itself. I lost a lot of respect for their staff and head coach. Congratulations to the players, though; they executed well and made the plays that were there.

As for Salisbury, this game was lost on the defensive side of the ball and in the red zone. Giving up over 600 yards was a death by a thousand cuts. I can't say that was purely a talent issue. As many have noted, Salisbury's schedule over the past two seasons has featured mostly sub-par offenses that rely heavily on the run, which played to our advantage. But when teams competently schemed to pass, they were highly effective, putting pressure on our offense to win shootouts. As with many high-powered offenses without a complementary defense, once they face a good defensive unit and have to battle for four full quarters, they typically falter—just like yesterday.

Defensively, players do need to make plays, recognize threats, and respond to formations and routes. But at some point that can't be the only excuse. Salisbury's conservative defensive approach has been the same for many years, going back to 2004. Offensively the program has evolved, adding more passing concepts to the flex, but defensively the structure may have changed while the play-calling has stayed the same. That has repeatedly become a problem whenever we face passing teams that can also run.

Offensively, the players did not make the necessary plays in the red zone—credit to Hopkins' defense. Many slot/RB players were too finesse-oriented and didn't make the needed cutbacks, lower their shoulders, or fight for extra yards. That edge wasn't there this week, or for much of the season. That's a big difference from last year's RBs and slot receivers. QB1 missed some throws before being injured early in the third, but that comes with experience and offseason work. Hopkins' interior defensive line caused havoc in the A and B gaps all day, which contributed to the red-zone struggles. And if you don't convert in the red zone—especially when your defense hasn't been reliable all year—you're in trouble. Salisbury didn't convert a single 3rd or 4th down, even when many early ones were short-yardage situations they usually thrive in.

Special teams were okay, but the kicker had his usual once-per-game missed chip shot, and the punt returner misplayed a key punt that rolled inside the five.

Next year is a real unknown. The past two seasons had a lot of experience, and it's unclear what the roster will look like. I'm sure Salisbury will plug and play, but from a fan perspective, the defensive play-calling must improve. In the big games, you can't be afraid to take risks and instead die a slow death. The defense needs to be more aggressive and trust that players can develop over the season in man-to-man and zone blitz schemes. Sitting in base coverage, reading and reacting, and trying to bend-but-not-break is not championship football. The best pass defense is a pass rush.

Offensively, I want to see continued growth from QB1. Have him work on his throwing, but also expand the offense for late-game situations—move personnel around, swap slots and receivers, and provide different looks. With two more years of QB1, there's no reason to stay stagnant.

Quote from: MRMIKESMITH on November 12, 2025, 04:18:56 PMLooking at current brackets and projected brackets, here are teams that Salisbury and CNU could potentially play in the first 2 rounds.

Salisbury (#3/#4/#5/#6) - Cortland, Endicott, Eastern, Union, F&M, Muhlenberg, Springfield, John Carroll, Susquehanna, W&J, Grove City, and Curry
CNU (#1/#2) - R-MC, Muhlenberg, F&M, Eastern, W&J, Susquehanna, Grove City, Chapman (travel bracket), Willamette (travel bracket).

CNUs 3rd Quarterfinal game will probably require a flight from or to many of the potential 1 to 2 seeds, unless its a team aforementioned or potential game with Mount, Johns Hopkins. Many of the other #1/#2 seeds can not get to CNU by bus.

Salisbury will most likely face a Hopkins or Mount Union in the S16 if they were to win their 2nd round matchup.

As I predicted, Salisbury will face a Top 10 Johns Hopkins team. To succeed, Salisbury must be at its best in all three phases of the game.

Hopkins has had two weeks to prepare for the triple option, having just faced Springfield's iteration. While Salisbury's specific execution of the offense has evolved drastically over the years from the traditional Springfield approach, Hopkins' defense will still require high discipline against Salisbury Spread-Option.

While two weeks of preparation is often seen as a significant benefit against the option, option OCs must sometimes adjust on the fly when defenses change their approach from their defenses. Salisbury's offensive coordinators (OCs) now have film of how Hopkins defends the option, which will aid their preparation—every coin has two sides.

Defensively, this is a great opportunity for Salisbury's defense to prove critics and statisticians wrong. All season, Salisbury has struggled against the pass, particularly when opponents abandoned their run game. They will face a high-powered, dual-faceted, but patient offensive attack from Hopkins, widely considered one of the best-balanced attacks in DIII. Salisbury can learn from its prior game against Endicott, which successfully used a tempo-based scheme to achieve over 200 passing yards. Salisbury has talented players; it is up to the staff to put them in the best position to succeed. The players must execute the calls, recognize formations quickly and plays, and MAKE THE PLAYS. Salisbury will still need to stop the run first, as Hopkins will maintain its rushing attack to keep the defense honest and create opportunities for downfield passes.

Special teams and turnovers have been Salisbury's Achilles' heel in big games. The special teams unit must be disciplined, sound, and execute the little things correctly (make the chip shots). This will either maintain field position or put Salisbury in a strong position to succeed.

Salisbury also has to protect the ball (no fumbles or BAD interceptions). Self-inflicted, untimely penalties and turnovers have given opponents sparks to stay in games (e.g., Endicott) or win outright (e.g., CNU). If Salisbury plays a clean game, avoids 15-yard defensive penalties that help the opposing offenses move chains, and the offense avoids penalties that put them behind the chains, Salisbury will be very successful (I know cliche).

Remember folks, Salisbury has playoff experience, and opponents have to prepare to play against them, too.

Quote from: Machiavelli on December 01, 2025, 10:33:13 AMNot sure if anyone caught the Endicott/Salisbury game, but it was a good one. Endicott looked very overmatched early, but tightened up the defense and their offense started moving the ball. They had a chance to tie the game in the 4th from like the inch line and called a boneheaded play from shotgun. Seriously, 3 inches. QB sneak will get that 97 times out of 100. Instead they handed it off 4 yards behind the LOS and that was that. Great effort overall. QB had some good reads but throws like it's a shotput and a few were a little too slow to the WRs.

In any case, with the thinking that Salisbury can likely compete with anyone, this was a really nice showing by Endicott.

I was at the game and kudos to Endicott. I think Endicott played well on offense and their HC/OC took advantage of Salisbury scheme, which  typically happens early in games. Endicott also added tempo in 3rd to get back in game as well. That appeared to surprise Salisbury. Salisbury did adjust, but poor special teams play gave momentum back to Endicott as Salisbury defense had settled down after quick 3rd quarter tds.  I think Salisbury offensively aside from one drive in 3rd was able to do what it wanted, especially when they were ahead of the chains. I mentioned in the NJAC channel that the game would come down to Salisbury defense vs Endicott offense and a key special teams play. Endicott actually won the special teams game, but as you mentioned that key 4th down stop was the difference. A bigger difference was Salisbury DB chasing down a fleet footed #1 from Endicott, stopping him at the 4, which eventually led to 4th down stop.  I too didn't think Endicott QB threw the ball with pop, but he managed the game well and the scheme allows for great success and didn't make any errant throw. I'd say he'd fall in the middle to top of pack of NJAC QBs. Salisbury in its current state will rely on if they can protect the ball and outscore opponents with its defense limiting big plays and stopping run.

What a wonderful weekend to be a Seagull. First, congratulations to Endicott, a plucky bunch. At half, I thought they would fold, but they made Salisbury play all four quarters, their staff made great adjustments and their players were awesome. #1 was a great athlete and #6 played very well at CB. Regarding Salisbury, I don't think Saturday was the best performance as a whole and as a whole need to BE better next week. However, the offense shouldered the load for majority of the game and with the exception of untimely penalties put Salisbury behind the chains and very bad interception by QB into triple coverage, the offense did what was needed. Defensively, until the 4th mainly, we allowed Endicott to control the tempo, the defense was not ready for tempo early and that is on the coaches to prepare the players for the unexpected. I think there were key plays of unpreparedness, penalties, and players not having awareness of how the opposing team would attack scheme hurt. Special teams was an Achilles as the punt return unit early had a personal foul penalty that put the offense behind the chains and in poor field position , then when the defense was finally settling in after Endicott 3rd quarter onslaught, punt returner fumbled the punt that led to Endicott's 4th score. The play of the game was the saving tackle after Endicott RB #1 had rumbled towards the endzone, Salisbury DB did not give on the play, which eventually led to the key 4th down stop on the 1 yard line, which essentially allowed Salisbury to chew out the clock and make Endicott utilize all 3 timeouts. Salisbury defense then in huge change, got away from base defense and locked up WRs and Endicott appeared surprised and couldn't really move the ball on their final drive. 

I did watch the replay of the CNU/Susquehanna game, I'd be curious to hear CNU85 thoughts? I thought that Susquehanna like CNU did against Salisbury a few weeks ago, played very inspired and with a chip on their shoulder causing pressure in the backfield and creating turnovers that eventually led to score differential. I felt that Susquehanna protected the ball and always appeared to keep CNU at a distance.

Listened to Coach McGonagle and he mentioned that Endicott may play St. Johns, Muhlenberg, and UMHB next year on "The rant Podcast". See link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKyhOUPSVp4, about the 25 minute mark.

Congratulations to Rowan for winning their ECAC bowl over a very good Utica team.

2nd round action is among us here in NJAC land as we have two teams competing for an opportunity to make it to the S16. CNU faces off against Susquehanna, which should be a very good one. Salisbury plays against Endicott in the battle of the "Gulls". I favor the Gulls by the Sea!

Regarding Salisbury, this is a great matchup as Endicott brings a multiple style offense that can be very successful through the passing game and/or ground game. If we can win this weekend this potentially prepares Salisbury for a matchup with Johns Hopkins as they are favored against Springfield. Now not having watch much of Endicott outside of a few highlights and the Curry game a few weeks ago. Endicott can pose problems for Salisbury, I will be curious to see how Salisbury has prepared defensively, having seen some great offenses this year (CNU and Rowan) that could easily run and pass. Offensively, looking to see if there are any wrinkles or formations added over the two week span that can present challenges for a talented defensive Endicott unit that has been playing very well and compliments their offense really well. Endicott special teams is also a very exciting squad as they have had multiple special team touchdowns from returns, blocks, etc. Endicott is also not afraid to take chances as they have gone for 4th down conversions at a high clip and are very successful. There kickoff unit also forces opponents to prepare for onside each time as they present an onside maneuver each time they have a kickoff. Salisbury will have to be prepared for the unexpected as having two weeks rather than one week to prepare for the triple/spread option will potentially pose some challenges as Endicott has the "CNU" film, the only game Salisbury has loss this season. If Salisbury offense continues its high clip, the game will come down to Endicott offense versus Salisbury Defense and who can make the key Special teams play. 

Quote from: unionpalooza on November 22, 2025, 07:25:47 PMA tough way to end the year for Union. Heck of a football game to watch, and both teams battled hard. In the end, the difference was a two-minute stretch where the backup threw a deep pick that was returned to the 9, followed by a quick TD, on the one series Patch couldn't get on to the field. A lot of tough what-ifs with this one, but you've to turn the page.  It was a great year.

Having made the trip to Allentown, it was shocked by how poor the Mules' facilities were.  Bleachers seemed old and beat up, leaf debris all over the field, practice equipment piled up behind and around the visitors benches, and worst of all, the "visitors locker room" was just a hallway in their athletics building with some black curtain panels blocking off the ends.  A total joke. And a violation of the tournament hosting rules, I presume.  F*cking ridiculous.

They are still using that black curtain that allow fans to "chirp" at you while you are getting dressed and in and out to stadium.

Quote from: D3Navy on November 22, 2025, 02:26:25 PMComplete video failure by ESPN today.  Ridiculous.

Yes, it was ESPN requirements, but the schools signed up indicating that they had the capabilities. No way you wait until Saturday to run test runs. It is unacceptable my the host schools and yes, I'm still upset that ESPN asked for schools to have multiple cameras and views that weren't AI, etc.