How long for Rocco

[AnnapSpider]

How long is it going to be that some bigger school will see that Danny has been a winner at Liberty and moved on to make a winner at Richmond? Maybe because he plays basic, solid football the bigs won't want someone that doesn't have excitement wrapped up in the wins. I hope...

 

[MolivaManiac]

He will stay as long as he feels our administration supports him.

Let's face it, he's not some young up and Comer and he's following in the footsteps of Mike London, who was an abject failure at the p5 level.

I feel good about Rocco being here for a while.

 

[Stonewall D]

How long is it going to be that some bigger school will see that Danny has been a winner at Liberty and moved on to make a winner at Richmond? Maybe because he plays basic, solid football the bigs won't want someone that doesn't have excitement wrapped up in the wins. I hope...

UVA doesn't want him. VT might.

 

[urfan1]

LOL --- with the options they will have?

 

[AnnapSpider]

He will stay as long as he feels our administration supports him.

Let's face it, he's not some young up and Comer and he's following in the footsteps of Mike London, who was an abject failure at the p5 level.

I feel good about Rocco being here for a while.

Mo I think that there is a lot of distance from London and Rocco. I never understood why UVA read London's resume as being a successful head coach. He won the championship with Clawson's players.
I hope you're right and the ad's don't pay attention to Danny's resume.

 

[32counter]

More concerned about the younger assistants leaving.Blaine(40 years approx)and Levern(45 years approx)have done terrific jobs coaching up our guys.Our OLines and Dlines have exceeded expectations especially Levern's work given the number of injuries and the need to play frosh at differing positions throughout the season.There seems to be a long standing loyalty between these 2 guys and Danny but as we all know money talks.Manny and Fontel,who are both about 30 yrs old,do a great job in coaching the LB's and WR's.Our LB's are tough as nails and agile and our WR's are best in the league if not in all of FCS.They have lots of football years in front of them.Bob Trott and Sparky each at about 61years old are likely staying put.We are very lucky to have them both.Bob's defensive schemes have gotten better as the season progressed and Sparky's mentoring of Jacobi's new found level of play has been phenomenal especially with Seth injured.The other young backs have done well.They know football and personnel.Charlie Fisher at about 55 years old and as OC/QB is having a hell of a surprising year with his play calling and game prep while mentoring young Kyle.Hopefully,he will want to stay but he has boosted his resume with a top CAA offense this season.Chris Stewart at 40 years old has shown that he is a key ingredient into the success of UR football.His off and on season conditioning regime has led to the Spiders never being outmuscled or out prepared physically.Keeping Chris at UR should be on top of the list.

Keeping this group of fine coaching professionals in tact is Danny's biggest offseason challenge apart from signing another blue chip class of student athletes in early February.

Keith Gill will need to allocate more funds to Danny's budget in order to make it happen.

 

[urfan1]

well said 32

 

[WolfSpider]

32, you've hit the nail on the head. We are extremely fortunate to have the coaches in place that we have.

 

[spider fan]

Rocco will be like Laycock although he won't have quite as many years and by the time he leaves the field will be named after him....................

 

[WebSpinner]

at our level, keeping our young assistants, as 32 points out, is the tough thing. as MO points out, DR is not a 20 or 30 something up and comer so probably not as attractive. having watched him build our program, add depth, numbers, win on the field, feel he would do a solid job at the next level if given the opportunity, just don't think he will get a chance.

 

[Stonewall D]

Coach Rocco was born in July 1960. That makes him 55.

 

[MolivaManiac]

Great post, 32. We really do have a terrific bunch of assistants. I'm sure a couple of them might spread their wings and fly to advance their career and it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for the program either. I'm sure Danny could 'back fill' with some more good up and comers.

Fisher's a guy that i could see getting a shot at a bigger school in the offseason when the coaching carousel starts spinning. The problem at that point is we need to find another play caller.

 

[Hanca]

Agree with 32. DR here as long as admin gives financial support to be competitive, incuding assistants' salaries. Also, feel London debacle at UVA has hurt FCS coaches' chances of jump to next level to Power 5 conference. Might be looked at by Sun Belt, etc

 

[Stonewall D]

The administration should pay Coach Rocco whatever salary he wants. If we are in need of an offensive coordinator, Sparky Woods would be an excellent fit. He did win the Southern Conference championship 2 times at App State and he has done an outstanding job as the RB coach this year.

 

[WolfSpider]

Sparky Woods , I think would be a good OC when and if we need one, but he won 2 Southern Conference Titles at App State not National Titles. Those two years AppState won the Southern Conference with Woods at the helm (1986 and 87), they were knocked out of the 1-AA playoffs in the 1st round in '86 and then the Semifinal round in '87.The AppState National Titles came in 2005, 06, and 07.

 

[Stonewall D]

Thanks for the correction. I will make the change.

 

[MolivaManiac]

The administration should pay Coach Rocco whatever salary he wants.

That would be terrific, however the athletic department does have a P&L.

In reality, we need to sell a good bit more tickets to get where we need to get. Hopefully becoming a consistent winner again will help accomplish that task.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Sparky Woods , I think would be a good OC when and if we need one, but he won 2 Southern Conference Titles at App State not National Titles. Those two years AppState won the Southern Conference with Woods at the helm (1986 and 87), they were knocked out of the 1-AA playoffs in the 1st round in '86 and then the Semifinal round in '87.The AppState National Titles came in 2005, 06, and 07.

Also if I remember correctly he was a big Wishbone guy back then with ASU.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Coach Rocco has been around the block enough to appreciate what he has. I think if he is able to recruit here successfully, he likes the
administration and his family is happy, then I don't see him at this stage of life going anywhere. He is a Wake Forest Alum and maybe there
but don't see him moving on.

 

[72Spider]

DR is one of the highest paid fcs coaches in the country earning well over $400k per year. He signed an extension couple of years ago that carries thru 2017 sesson. Since our AD was concerned at the time of his hire regarding the instability of our program at the time I bekieve he was seeking a commitment from the new coach that he would remain at UR for at least 5 years. Wouldnt be surprised if it turns out there is some additional enhancement in his contract that gives a bonus when he completes year 5. Having said that, however, if bcs (or upper level fbs school) school calls he will give it serious consideration and will probabky be gone.

 

[Stonewall D]

Didn't UR pay London 450k?

 

[AnnapSpider]

32 I like your post-well thought out-

The thing that makes DR special is his ability to attract good assistants and keep them for
a while. He delegates well, making the assistant coaches feel that they are really doing their part.

Someone said he is 55- still pretty young, but I like the Laycock comparison and only hope you're right.

 

[spider fan]

Hope so too Annap. Biggest difference in comparison is that Laycock is a Tribe alum.

 

[DTSpider]

As spider fans we certainly have a lot to be thankful for. Thinking back to 2011 I wasn't sure we'd ever be nationally relevant again. Feel like we are at, or at least very close, to that level. Understand that we need to sell more tickets. I do worry about that drain of "sell outs" where there are a large number of unused seats that we just keep losing fans. Need to find a way to bring in more folks. woupd be nice to occasionally have temporary bleachers.

 

[3genspider]

Sell standing room, there is always plenty of space to roam and tthen identify available seats.

 

[WolfSpider]

3Gen, +1

 

[urfan1]

+ 2 -- after about 5-6 mins invite the SRO's into the stands

 

[64Spider]

Stop bragging that we are sold out a week before the games. People are not even going to make the drive out to check on tickets. We could oversell every game and still probably have seats available.
I would rather have people go away disappointed because there were REALLY no seats left. Because then you have word out there that it's a hot ticket and those folks might just spring for a season ticket next year.

 

[ur2K]

2 of 5 games sold out this season, I believe. Vmi since they brought their whole student body and WM which had a whole lot of butts in seats. Not sure I understand what the school should do differently

 

[SpiderK]

As spider fans we certainly have a lot to be thankful for. Thinking back to 2011 I wasn't sure we'd ever be nationally relevant again. Feel like we are at, or at least very close, to that level. Understand that we need to sell more tickets. I do worry about that drain of "sell outs" where there are a large number of unused seats that we just keep losing fans. Need to find a way to bring in more folks. woupd be nice to occasionally have temporary bleachers.

There is so few of us living Virginia alumni left and the students just don't come. Our student section was half full of W&M fans on Saturday. A student that graduated 3 years ago told me the students just go to individual parties on and off campus and don't tailgate or go to the games anymore. She also said many of the foreign students have no interest in football.

 

[3genspider]

Grass roots effort. Find a way to contact a couple students, offer to host a tailgate and tell them to bring some friends....

 

[32counter]

I would have been on the road for an early Thankgiving getaway last Saturday.On Dec 5 it's the weekend just before final exams and officially"Study Period".Student turnout at that noon game will be sparse again especially if it's a 50 degree day.American Football to overseas kids makes no sense whatsoever so no attendance.Do we offer an elective course entitled "Understanding American Football"? That might help.

 

[MooreHall73]

I would have been on the road for an early Thankgiving getaway last Saturday.On Dec 5 it's the weekend just before final exams and officially"Study Period".Student turnout at that noon game will be sparse again especially if it's a 50 degree day.American Football to overseas kids makes no sense whatsoever so no attendance.Do we offer an elective course entitled "Understanding American Football"? That might help.

Our student section can't hold more than 500 people. Who many foreign students do we have?

 

[32counter]

Students

• 4,181 total university enrollment
• 2,990 undergraduates from 46 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and 69 countries
• 18% of undergraduates come from Virginia
• 26% of undergraduates are American students of color
• 9% of undergraduates are international students
• 90% of undergraduates live on campus
• 187 student organizations including 27 club sports, 6 honorary societies (including Phi Beta Kappa), 14 religious groups, 14 fraternities and sororities, a student newspaper, and a radio station

 

[DTSpider]

The 300 international students are taking a lot of heat when there are 2700 students from the US. How many student-athletes are there?

 

[wr70beh]

The 300 international students are taking a lot of heat when there are 2700 students from the US. How many student-athletes are there?

A lot of the students in the stands are student athletes. I see the CC and women's hoops teams in the student sections all the time.

 

[3genspider]

Open invitation to students...tailgating begins Saturday at 9am. Just start roaming the parking lots, sure plenty of us would be willing to feed and hydrate you with some hair of the dog that bites you Friday night. Make some cold calls and practice your interviewing skills. My crew will be in x-lot near Weinstein center.
Post-requisite: attend the game and create some atmosphere.
Please RSVP

 

[SpiderRick]

I guess a white, male, non-athlete, Virginian is the rarest of minorities in our student body.

 

[MolivaManiac]

This thread really got somewhere meaningful.

 

[Stonewall D]

I guess a white, male, non-athlete, Virginian is the rarest of minorities in our student body.

A redneck with a Southern accent is probably extinct on the UR campus.