Sparky Woods
- Thread starter R&B fan
- Start date
I'll hold off judgement, but Sparky Woods from all aspects is a great guy, BUT I and alot of VMI alumni couldn't get him out of the door fast enough because of coaching. I realize the very difficult situation at VMI but that said the results speak for themselves. We'll see and I hope my concerns are groundless.
Sparky may be more valuable as a recruiting coordinator then anything else as he is extremely
outgoing and I must believe that many of the high school coaches like him. If he was OC
I would be more concerned as at App State I seem to remember him running the wishbone before
Jerry Moore got there. At VMI he had a good QB or two, but not much of anything else. A good man
I am told by everyone that knew him.
outgoing and I must believe that many of the high school coaches like him. If he was OC
I would be more concerned as at App State I seem to remember him running the wishbone before
Jerry Moore got there. At VMI he had a good QB or two, but not much of anything else. A good man
I am told by everyone that knew him.
yep, Sparky is a very well respected guy by his peers and by high school coaches. vmi has to understand, by changing coaches, you don't change the dynamic there, you are not going to get better. how many coaches have you gone through since the last winning season there?
VMI needs to understand that coaching is not the problem. I have great respect for the Institute but being in hurry to get rid of Woods just shows me that are living in the past. Your problem is the General, not Sparky. I want VMI to be sucessful but they need to make some changes. Their Alums deserve better. Happy we now have Woods.
Respect the hell out of VMI. But if they ever want to be competitive in all sports they'll need to join the ODAC, just way to many obstacles for them to compete regularly at the D1 level. Wish it wasn't true,
Nice guy, old school. A newer, contemporary young mind would have been my choice, but they are elusive and UR isn't a destination, just a stepping stone for a Streeter type coach.Lobo's arrival and then quick departure left Danny with a shortage of "on the market"and qualified OC's since the good ones were already taken and hence Fisher was a default and expected solution.Let's see what happens.Hiring Sparky to coach RB's as well as recruiting responsibility seemed to move Bill Polin further down the rung by allocating only TE coaching.
This post was edited on 2/21 12:06 AM by 32counter
This post was edited on 2/21 12:06 AM by 32counter
Service academies Navy and Air Force are able to "hold their own" at the FBS level. VMI should be able to compete at the FCS level. When I say VMI is able to compete as a FCS school, I mean play at .500 ball and have a winning season from time to time. I wonder if Navy and the AFA have a "Rat Line" or other constraints that probably drive away potential recruits?
I would like to see the Keydets get out of 33 straight losing seasons. I think they should look and see what Navy and AFA are doing and follow their approach. I've always had a little soft spot for The Institute (except when they play our Spiders).
I would like to see the Keydets get out of 33 straight losing seasons. I think they should look and see what Navy and AFA are doing and follow their approach. I've always had a little soft spot for The Institute (except when they play our Spiders).
^this. Air Force, Army and Navy all have far bigger coffers to pull from. I feel VMI draws mostly Virginians too and don't have a big national draw compared even to the Citadel. I just don't see it happening. I don't think they can become mediocre except maybe in basketball. I'm sure our program would kill to get that type of support from the students however.
I remember in 1976 VMI made it all the way to the "Elite Eight". One game away from the Final Four. They lost to Rutgers whose coach ended up at ODU.
VMI does redshirt players. Check out their football roster on the VMI sports site (link below).
I believe they may have started recently, but there are a number of players listed with an "R" before their year in school.
I do not understand why they are not more competitive. Maybe just a down cycle.
2014 VMI Football Roster
I believe they may have started recently, but there are a number of players listed with an "R" before their year in school.
I do not understand why they are not more competitive. Maybe just a down cycle.
2014 VMI Football Roster
i, for their sake, wish it was just a down cycle, but they have been pretty bad for decades now, not just a few years. think red shirting might be new for them, do not know but maybe a sign that they want to turn things around.
I have read recently where the Big 10 is introducing the idea of not allowing freshmen to play. This is the way it used to be, until the schools whined about the costs. Screw the costs. The kids should come first since the schools are benefiting at their expense anyway.
A school like VMI, with its military protocol- should allow kids a year to settle in before they have to become " student athletes."
In fact, I'd like to see all D-1 schools follow this course.
A school like VMI, with its military protocol- should allow kids a year to settle in before they have to become " student athletes."
In fact, I'd like to see all D-1 schools follow this course.
this proposal is probably more for basketball and if so, they could get the nba to cease and desist with their one and done rule since the player could not play his frosh year at all so why not say he has to have 3 years of college like baseball does. during my time at UR frosh were not allowed to play and yes, we had freshman teams and those games were sometimes better than the varsity games and usually played before the varsity games.
