It's Always Pleasant in the Mount - The Coach Russell Story

[RussellMania]

Prologue

"And as the clock hits zero, Central Michigan are your 2020 Rose Bowl champions!"

Wait, that's not how these dynasty things are supposed to go. Isn't the whole premise that you take a school that sucks and turn them into a powerhouse, then get tired of playing and put the game down for a year or so, then get drawn back into playing as spring games start up every year? Look, maybe its the nostalgia, maybe it's that there isn't another college football game that scratches the itch, or maybe it's because we're creatures of habit. I have no idea. But personally, I think most people in this community feel the same way. This game deserves a special place in our hearts for everything it's given us over the years.

But I messed up. I disrespected the game. I went back to the same old spread option playbook, ran the same cheesy plays all year, and managed to make it to a Rose Bowl victory in year one. Whats the point now? Mid-way through the season, I realized exactly this. Do I really want to play this game for the millionth time the way I always have? No. No I don't. It's time I take a stab at actually playing this game the way it's meant to. It's time to have fun again.

As most of you already know, I went to Central Michigan from 2012 to 2015. Honestly, I used to be ashamed of going to a school dubbed as "Little Sisters of the Poor" by Urban Meyer. It's not a small school, but it's also just some G5 school that isn't particularly hard to get into, nor are they good at just about anything. I looked down on a lot of my time there as it made me feel like a complete failure. Even worse, I decided to leave 3 credits before graduation to go join the real world. Well, a couple weeks ago I decided to re-enroll and finish out my final class to officially graduate, something I've had looming over me for ages. When I was planning out my classes, I thought back about all the experiences I had there and just how much I really accomplished over three and a half years. That place was key in shaping who I am today. I've still got some great friends from my time there. I've gotten all this life experience from that short stint at that university. I still use a lot of that experience to this day. For once, it didn't really matter how prestigious we were or how we weren't MSU or UofM. I have memories that are going to last me a lifetime. So all in all, fuck the haters. Central, much like this silly 7 year old videogame, has a special place in my heart, and I can't wait to officially be an alumni of the Maroon and Gold.

Now how am I going to fix my mistakes from season one...

The Setup

Lets lay down some ground rules so you know what I'm working with here.

Difficulty: Heisman
Sliders: NCAA Defaults (I know, I know, chill)
Quarter Length: 6 Minutes
Rosters: OutrunFire0290 (The 2019-2020 postseason ones)

All of this makes sense. I want to stick with the normal out of the box gameplay experience wherever possible. I've also gotta give a huge shoutout to the guys who do these rosters every year. They do a great service that allows us to keep this game alive.

Now, on to the fun part. I may have gone a little nuts during my first season, but I did have some limits. Here are the rules I had in season one:

-Gameplay-

Unable to user the D-Line unless it was a goal line or special teams play
- I have this bad habit of abusing the LE and getting 50+ sack seasons, completely ruining the game. To counter it, I can't touch the d-line. I'll be usering LB/S/CB all the time, no exceptions.

No read option plays
-Self explanatory. I did abuse the triple option though.

No conservative clock outside of last 2 minutes before the half or the end of the game.
-No 14-7 BS here

-Recruiting-
No 5 star recruits
No 4 star recruits UNLESS they are from Michigan
No custom prospects

-House Rules-

No redshirting seniors
-What am I, evil?

I have to schedule Michigan and Michigan State every season (as long as I'm at Central)
- Remember 09' baby

Quit the game mid-game
-Live with your mistakes, loser.

After going through a season, here are some additions and changes I will be enforcing moving forward to keep this fresh and fun (or frustrating):

-Gameplay-
Read option is now allowed , but the triple option is banned. I promise not to call this every single play and pass 5 times a game. I have standards.
Spread option playbook is banned. Instead, I must pick a playbook to work with and choose custom audibles.

-Recruiting-
Recruiting restrictions are lifted. It's not going to be as realistic, but I think this will be more enjoyable as a whole. I still am focusing on close to home players by default since I enjoy that more.

However, all players signed from S2 onward must match the draft requirements shown here: https://forums.operationsports.com/forums/ncaa-football/565720-nfl-draft.html This is going to be interesting as it makes the pool a lot smaller. If the weight is close enough, I'll allow it as players do gain weight over the years, but the height has to be in range. I'm still not 100% on OT/OG, so we're playing that by ear.

-House Rules-
Look, we're all sitting at home lazy AF during this quarantine. I could use a little activity.

Every interception thrown = 10 push ups, immediately after the pick. RIP chest
Every point against is a situp done concurrently after the game. RIP me getting into shootouts.

And, for the worst one... If I break a rule at any point during this dynasty, I have to go for a run within 7 days of at least a mile. I don't guarantee I can run a mile. Actually, I guarantee I can't. But I'll at least give it my all.

Closing Remarks

This won't be your normal dynasty report. I'm not going to get in character or post graphics in every post. However, I do plan on this being story driven. I am going to make sure you awesome readers out there get a key synopsis of every little storyline I find. Some are going to be forced or obvious, and then some are going to come out of nowhere as the game goes on. I plan on posting two posts per season. One will be the season and all the normal gameplay stuff you expect. The second will be the offseason with recruiting and our setup for the following season.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed my little prologue blurb about what this is going to be! Look out for a summary of season one later tonight about how I messed up the start of the dynasty!

 

[RussellMania]

How I Screwed Up: AKA - The 2019-2020 Football Season

Coaching Changes

In real life, Central actually did really well under new head coach Jim McElwain. 8-6, a conference championship loss, and a bowl loss. All things to be proud of. His experience at Alabama, Florida, and Michigan should help this program that is used to inconsistency find their footing.

What a scrub.

Enter Coach Russell. His experience? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He never played football. Historically, he has been more a part of the school's basketball program than anything. But at least he has those Adidas ties.

Our offensive coordinator is none other than Charlie Frye. Now this guy? This guy knows football. Coming from Akron, the MAC is no mystery to him. He also brings experience from on the field in Cleveland, Oakland, and Seattle to the young men in the locker room. While this is his first year coaching at the D-1 level, the young coach is sure to mix well with players and staff alike.

On the defensive side of things, our coordinator Robb Akey has a path quite dissimilar to the rest of the staff. His coaching journey has led him back and forth across the country. Claims to fame are being a former Idaho HC, as well as a Florida DL coach before taking over at central. His experience with defensive lineman is his biggest strength, something that will surely show itself on the field.

The Key Players

Since this is our first season, I want to give an overview on who we are as a team and what we have to work with. Since the season is over, I'll throw all that info in here too. This doesn't go over everyone, but it does highlight guys who made an impact for us this season.

The Quarterback Room

Quinten Dormady - Senior(RS) - Our 6'5 gunslinger coming in as a graduate transfer from Tennessee is by far our best option at quarterback and was our starter for the majority of the year. His attributes are unimpressive at best, but he is well rounded and quick to get to his modest top speed. How did he do in his final season? If you looked up game manager in the dictionary, he's exactly what you'll find. Over 14 games he racked up 2112 passing yards with 19 TD's and a whopping 13 interceptions. On the ground, Dormady actually outperformed my expectations by a mile. 631 yards on a 5.3 AVG, plus 8 TD's. Really, I do have to give him some credit here. It's been a while since I had played, so some of those picks are my fault on misreads and back shoulder pass problems. However, he did make two amazing plays on the season that I'll probably never forget. One was a 20 yard scramble for a TD against Ohio where he dove for the TD between two defenders and won us the game. The other, and my favorite moment of his on the season, was a bomb he threw to Pimpleton for 80 yards that was in the air for at least 65. Didn't know you could do that with 99 arm strength, let alone 86.

David Moore - Junior(RS) - David came to us from Memphis this season looking to compete for the starting spot. While I gave the nod to Dormandy, Moore had two starts due to an injury to Dormandy mid-season. Unfortunately, he was entirely unimpressive on both occasions. 276 yards, 4 TD's, and one interception were all he could muster. He did toss in 100 rushing yards and a couple touchdowns on the ground, but he really lacked that game composure that Dormandy brought. Luckily he has one more season with us, but I'm iffy on if he will be starting for us come week one.

The Stables - Runningback Breakdown

Jonathan Ward - Senior - Here is where things get interesting. First and foremost, this was a running team. I ran a ton of pistol/option sets and that's about it. Ward was our #1 through the year, and while he wasn't our carries leader, I easily felt like he was our most talented back. His 94 rushes netted us 591 yards and 18 touchdowns. That's right. This man scored 20% of the time he got the ball. He was money on dive situations and really was the only back I trusted sometimes. Unfortunately, he also suffered a four week injury and I had to shift carries around. His biggest accomplishment on the year was winning Returner of the Year despite not returning a single KR TD. His 28.8 KR average was solid and helped us get good position every time we took out the ball. While Ward is unlikely to be drafted, in real life he was signed as a UDFA, and I could see that being his future with these stats as well.

Romello Ross - Senior(RS) - Let me start by saying Romello is not an NFL runningback. He's slow, he's not really good at anything, and he's not exactly good as a 75 overall. But he did get 1500 yards. As our main pitch man and starter for some of the season, Romello had the easiest job on the field - catch the ball in space and score. I've gotta say, he did that extremely well. 160 carries for 1530 yards gives you a 9.6 YPC average which is absolutely insane. His 14 TD's ads to that gory stat line that is sure to get him some honors at the end of the season. But is he actually any good? Nope. Would I have rather ran with Ward as the pitch man? Yup!

Kumehnnu Gwilly - Junior - I actually really liked using this guy throughout the year. The local product from Shelby Township was a pleasure to use because of his nasty stiff arm move that seemed to work extremely well in space. He also put up the best game statistically on the season when Ward got hurt. Get these stats - 11 carries, 197 yards, 2 TD's. His claim to fame was a 66 yard run where he stiff armed a man after getting a pitch, turned on the jets, then highstepped out of a tackle to score against NIU. I wish I used him more. Unfortunately, while he is a Junior and has another season with us, I see him as our third HB yet again behind a couple of young guys I love on this roster.

Oakley Lavallii - Junior - Gotta give some love to the FB. His brother, Saylor Lavallii, was someone I remember from my time at Central, so it was cool to see the legacy on the roster. While he only got 10 carries, he did get two touchdowns and had a 27 yard run out of a FB dive that was neat. We have a second FB on the roster who is a local Junior that I plan on using next season, so I may move Oakley to TE next season.

Wideout Central

Jacorey Sullivan - Junior - When I think of Central, it's easy to think of Antonio Brown. Whether that is bad or good, well, you figure that out. But the one thing I know is that Jacorey is also a good football player. I put him at our WR2 spot this season because his speed was lacking, but man was it nice to have him as a target. On 36 catches, Jacorey got 651 yards, but just two touchdowns. He has the size everyone wants at 6'2, but his speed really limits him. However, I think that a good senior year might get him drafted. He ended the season at 90 overall, so it's possible. I wouldn't be surprised to see him play well in a big slot role moving forward.

Kalil Pimpleton - Sophomore(RS) - This guy was my favorite WR on the roster. He is not ever sniffing the NFL due to his 5'9, 175lb frame and obvious athletic deficiencies, but he was so fun. 25 catches, 9 of them were TD's, 524 yards. I see this guy getting 99 catch in the long run, as he sports 87 already as a sophomore. Watching the little guy go up and make some great grabs brought a smile to my face every time.

Tyrone Scott - Freshman(RS) - I had Tyrone as a big slot guy this season since he was 6'3 and the perfect slants guy. He only got 26 catches for 346 yards and a pair of TD's, but I think he is getting a bigger part of the offense moving forward. His hands are scary bad at 64, but he only dropped two passes in his limited role. We'll see if my ideas of using him more come to fruition, because we have this slew of meh 70 overall receivers and I need to sort them out.

Tony Poljan - Junior - This guy right here may be my favorite player on the team. He was a rivals four star TE coming into his senior season in Lansing, turned down the opportunity to play TE at MSU and a few other big name schools, in order to play QUARTERBACK at CMU. His early results were mixed during the coach Bono era, but this season he swapped over to TE again and is a nightmare to cover. The man is 6'7, 255, with soft hands and decent speed for a TE. Post routes were money for Tony, as he pulled in 42 catches for 660 yards and 7 touchdowns. With a passing focus coming to our team next year, I think we see the rise of Tony and possibly get him into the draft conversation.

Defensive Line

Deron Irving-Bey - Sophomore(RS) - Remember how I said I can't user DL anymore because they get too many sacks? Guess Deron didn't care, as he went out and got a huge 17 sacks on the season! First off, this guy is 6'5 290, so he's got great size at the position. He has some really nice awareness for a young player too at 87. I think that may have been a lot of the reason he found success in our 3-3-5. He also benefited from a few of those great QB scrambles right into his gut, as well as good pass rushing line. I don't know if he can repeat the performance, but I've never had a non-user DE get that many sacks.

Sean Adesanya - Senior(RS) - Not to be outdone, the best player on our team wound up with 7 sacks of his own at DE and had one of my favorite plays of the season when he knocked down a pass against Ohio on a zone blitz play. Good times. Doesn't have the size or anything to go to the pros, but he was a key part of our team this season.

Robi Stuart - Junior - Robi was my biggest surprise on the season, racking up 8 sacks. I usually don't expect my DT's to put up stats, just pressure the QB on a consistent basis. I'm not sure how it happened, but he put up great numbers regardless. I think a lot of it was coverage sacks. Still, glad to have this guy back for next season.

Linebackers

Michael Oliver - Senior - Michael was the key to this defense working so well. I kept seeing his #7 all over the field, and I guess he really was as he racked up 102 tackles with 17 TFL, 2 sacks, and a big 5 forced fumbles. It turns out 87 hit power in the MAC is great, and he flexed all over in a way we don't often see. I'm going to miss this guy immensely as LB is our weakest position moving forward.

Troy Brown - Sophomore(RS) - Troy is 84 overall, making him one of the best players we have. Unfortunately, he had a rough year with 42 tackles and two sacks. I think swapping him to MLB next year should help turn that statline around.

Andrew Ward - Sophomore (RS) - Ward was the guy I user'd most of the time, as he was 69 overall (nice) and a liability most of the time. I managed to get him 48 tackles, 14 TFLs, 5 sacks, and a lurking pick. As our fastest LB, which isn't saying much, he was good as our main rusher. Moving forward, I'm not sure if he's be starting again, but we shall see!

Secondary

Brian Edwards- Junior - Let me start by saying my secondary is awful. There are only two guys worth talking about here. How we did so well against the pass, I don't know. I guess the sacks helped a lot. Brian was a bright spot though, getting 5 interceptions and just being solid all year against #1 guys. The Michigan game was rough for him though, as I remember him being destroyed by Peoples-Jones all night.

Dishon McNary - Junior(RS) - Dishon is our CB2, and he had a knack for taking TD's to the house. His three interceptions yielded two touchdowns, and I love defensive TD's. Unfortunately, our CB group is probably going to shuffle a bit and I don't see him playing again.

Devonni Reed - Sophomore(RS) - Devonni was pretty underwhelming for his 79 rating. 46 tackles, one pick, one sack. It just felt pretty meh, and I'm not sure why. I think a move to SS may be coming for him, as I think he can do more damage there.

Alonzo McCoy - Junior(RS) - Our SS2 had the same exact line as Devonni. Literally, everything was the same. I don't know why.

Da'Quan Jamison - Senior(RS) - 47 tackles, two picks, 6 TFL. Very similar stat line to the rest of our safeties. I am going to miss his presence though, as Da'Quan was very well balanced and was one of the guys I felt could actually wrap up ball carriers on a consistent basis

Special Teams

Ryan Tice - Senior - 12/13 with a long of 50. Nothing special about his season, other than his miss being my fault on a 40 yarder. My bad.

Kaden Keon - Senior(RS) - Yikes. I punted horribly getting used to the sticks again. 38.6 with a 30.9 net.

Season Overview

I didn't do this team any favors by scheduling Nebraska, Michigan State, and Michigan as three of our first 4 games, but we made out like bandits. I'm not going to go in a ton of detail on these ones, as the first season is kind of a wash under the old rules. In the future, this will be more detailed.

Week 2: CMU 35, Nebraska 20

Shoutout to the defense in this one for shutting them down multiple times in the RZ. The game really started at 3:33 left in the 4th quarter where Nebraska kicked a game tying FG and gave us the ball back. Dormady managed to lead us down field for a 7 point lead with 48 seconds remaining. We then caused a 4 and out to get the ball back and seal the game. Having no sportsmanship for the Heisman CPU, I threw a PA O play out that ended up in a TD with 0 seconds on the most disrespectful TD throw I think I've ever made in my entire career. Sorry corn bois.

Week 3: CMU 41, MSU 31

God I hate MSU. At this point, MSU had just beat Wisconsin and Lewerke was looking like a Heisman candidate. Then, he decided to gift us an easy interception on the first drive. Really, MSU couldn't stop us all game. We controlled the ball and didn't turn the ball over once.

Week 4: CMU 31, Toledo 3

Our defense was on fire all game long, allowing just a FG in the 1st. This was Romello Ross's coming out party, as he totaled 160 yards and three touchdowns on the game.

Week 5: Michigan 20, CMU 17

I'm still kicking myself over this one, as Michigan eventually went to the title game undefeated. I had a 3 point lead with 3:53 to go in the fourth, let them get 3, Then drive down the field only to throw a pick. They got another FG, and I yet again threw a pick to seal the game with 30 seconds remaining. This was the first game I felt like benching Dormady, considering his 3 interceptions were just gross. Alas, it was actually our terrible rushing game that drowned us because no one could get it started.

Week 6: Miami (OH) 7, CMU 38

Week 7: CMU 27, Ohio 26
Game of the year right here. Ohio was up 16-0 on me until the very end of the second, where I scored on a bomb to Sullivan, then proceeded to let Ohio get another 3 on me before the half. Coming into the fourth, I was down by 9 points. Dormady made me feel like an idiot for wanting to bench him and decided to destroy everyone on the way to a big TD to put us down by 2. Our defense forced a long drive to end in a punt, then Dormady went to work again. We got just a FG, but it game us enough. Just an FYI, Ohio threw a hail mary with 0 left and got it around the 30, so this was scary. Also, that playbook...

The rest of the season was really uneventful.

Week 8: NIU 17, CMU 52
Week 9: Bowling Green 30, CMU 56
Week 11: Ball State 24, CMU 56
Week 12: Western Michigan 35, CMU 56
Week 13: CMU 42, Akron 32
Week 14: CMU 29, EMU 19
Championship Week: Ohio 21, CMU 45 (REVENGE)

This left us ranked 4th for some stupid reason. Turns out everyone but Michigan and Clemson lost a couple games. After all that hard work, we were given a Rose Bowl bid against... Oregon State?

Bowl Games

Oregon State went 8-5 yet won the PAC12. WTF. That is so dumb, whatever.

Rose Bowl: CMU 45, Oregon State 27

Wow, OSU sucked. Badly. I still don't get it. That is so dumb, whatever. x2.

National Championship: Clemson 31, Michigan 21

Awards and All-Americans

Heisman: Mason Fine - QB - North Texas - 164RTG, 264/437 for 4031 yards, 41 TD, 9 INT. 209 Rushes for 862 yards and 6 TDs.
Other Candidates:
Keaontay Ingram - HB - Texas
Greg Bell - HB - SDSU
Levante Bellamy - HB - WMU
Anthony Gordon - QB - WSU

I don't really get it, but I kind of agree with him winning the Heisman. There were no other good candidates out there, and the man did put up nearly 5k yards.

CMU Players with Awards and AA's
Deron Irving-Bey: AA 1st Team, All MAC 1st Team
Robi Stuart: AA 1st Team, All MAC 1st Team
Michael Oliver: AA 1st Team, All MAC 1st Team, Bednarik, Best LB
Jonathan Ward: AA 1st Team, All MAC 2nd Team, Best RET
Romello Ross: All MAC 1st Team
Kalil Pimpleton: All MAC 1st Team
Derek Smith: All MAC 1st Team
Jaraymond Hall: All MAC 1st Team
Sean Adesanya: All MAC 1st Team
Andrew Ward: All MAC 1st Team
Brian Edwards: All MAC 1st Team
Devonni Reed: All MAC 1st Team
Da'Quaun Jamison: All MAC 1st Team
Ryan Tice: All MAC 1st Team
Tony Poljan: All MAC 2nd Team
Troy Brown: All MAC 2nd Team
Dishon McNary: All MAC 2nd Team
Alonzo McCoy: All MAC 2nd Team

Closing Remarks

There you have it. The first season, and one that I'm not proud of. We're going to be adjusting things from this point onward under the previously set rules, and we're going to have fun doing it. Next up is a 2020-2021 season preview, our recruiting roundup, and laying out our plans moving forward.

 

[RussellMania]

2020-2021 Off-season: A Fresh Start

Let me start by saying that I am beyond excited to get this thing started. This is going to be our first season playing by the rules, so from this point onward things will be a little more fun for everyone. As we dive back in, we pick up on our first off-season as a head coach, as well as get our first real storylines of the dynasty.

Coaching Changes

After our success last season, our wonderful athletic director decided to not extend the contracts of our coordinators like the buffoon he is. If you're reading this Charlie Frye, I really wanted you to become a HC somewhere. My apologies. In comes two new big names to fill our open spots. Please welcome the following:

OC - Chad Morris: Chad is the former head coach at Arkansas and is stopping by Mt.Pleasant to help get his career back on track. With his long track record, he should be an excellent choice for OC.
DC - Randy Edsall: Similar to Chad, Randy is a former head coach for UCONN and is looking to get things back in the right direction. His ties to the Detroit Lions make him an interesting hire for our team.

The MAC had one big change though that needs to be highlighted. Miami of Ohio decided to hire STEVE SARKISIAN as their new head coach. Ladies and Gentleman, I think we have found our new rival moving forward.

Players Leaving

This is actually a huge blow for us. My Freshman LG, Danny Motowski, has decided to go to Purdue. I love OL. They are hard to get at a high overall this young, so losing a 72 overall true freshman who would start for us is a huge blow. I wish him the best at Purdue, who won just a single game last season.

Our other player to mention here is Jacorey Sullivan, a projected 5th rounder. The star WR has every right to go to the NFL, but after this year, I think he can be bumped even higher. Thankfully, after a quick talk with his coach, he will be returning to campus without any promises. Ignore the Adidas money. Please.

Fun Transfer of the Year

To qualify, each player must be leaving a P5 school for a G5 school and be a true freshman. Since these are all real players, I won't include overalls. In the future, I'll throw overalls in.

This one is a toss up between the following players:
WR Kam Brown: Texas A&M > University of New Mexico
QB Roschon Johnson: Texas > Arkansas State
LG Chris Akporoghene: Tennessee > University of North Carolina Charlotte
RG Walter Rouse: Stanford > Navy
MLB Omar Speights: Oregon State > Nevada
WR Drake London: USC > Fresno St
QB John Rhys Plumlee: Ole Miss > University of Southern Alabama

and your winner is... John Rhys Plumlee!

Ok, let me break this down. This man is an 86 overall true freshman, the # 13 dual threat QB in his class, and he's leaving Ole Miss for USA! That's insane!!! I can't wait to see him destroy the sun belt with his crazy speed and ability. Expect to see his name again in the future, because I've seen guys like him become 99 studs.

As for us, we netter a HUGE transfer pickup in the form of freshman TE Hudson Henry from Arkansas. Thank you Chad Morris! He is 78 overall and fits in perfectly as a redshirt behind Poljan before taking over in 22'. While not a speed guy, he is 6'5 238 and ready to rumble.

Recruiting Breakdown

This is what you've all been waiting for. How did I do with my first season of recruiting? We had 24 scholarships to work with, and 9 going into signing day. First, lets go over some disappointment in our key misses section. The following players I missed out on on signing day and wish I could have got.

Key Misses:
Ron Madsen - P - 84 OVR - From Greenville MI where my family is from. He went to.... JUCO
Rich Webb - CB - 79 OVR - 3 Star JUCO JR, decided to go to Syracuse
Marcus McCall - WR - 77 OVR - Decided to go to Clemson (Ok, that makes sense)
Marques Harris - OLB - 69 OVR - Stayed in state and went to OSU despite me having a huge lead coming into signing day
Aaron Smith - OLB - 68 OVR - Went to FSU after a last second change of heart.

After all was said and done, we landed 23 recruits, leaving us with one extra scholarship. Our ranking was 27th, with 2 four stars, 17 three stars, and 4 two stars. We also apparently got a 1* JUCO K for free with that final scholarship that I never recruited. There's also another surprise in there...

-Our Class-

Four Stars:

Lamont Larsen - DE - 78 OVR - The crown jewel of our first class, Lamont comes from Inkster MI and will be CMU's first 4* recruit in school history. At 6'2, 252lbs, expect this man to be making plays on the line the second he hits the gridiron.

Travis Jackson - HB - 75 OVR - So this guy was interesting. He is from Oklahoma, which technically breaks my recruiting rules from S1. The thing is, I didn't recruit him past an initial look, so I was really shocked when I saw the 4* recruit screen pop up. Get this: 96 speed. Also get this: 59 Carrying. I am unsure if he will ever actually be an every down back, but I could see him becoming our KR immediately.

Three Stars:
Jack Miller - QB - 80 OVR - Jack is a JUCO JR who is coming in from Twinsburg OH ready to play day one. Jack's a pocket passer, but a damn good one. 94 THP, 87 THA, and the ability to compete with David Moore on day one.

EJ Thompson - HB - 74 OVR - From Plymouth MI, EJ is a 6'3 bruiser who lacks speed but instead brings a lot of nice spin/juke/elusiveness to the table. A weird prospect, but one that I could see blossoming over time.

Jeff Bennett - WR - 70 OVR - Needs refining all around, but is a solid WR and will be useful after a redshirt year.

Andy Russell - WR - 70 OVR - 6'3, 93 speed, but just 83 acceleration. Kind of a weird WR due to his 57 catching. But hey, catching is the one skill that a WR improves on the quickest in this. He also needs time, but should be useful someday.

John Robinson - WR - 78 OVR - JUCO JR who may come in and compete for the #3 WR job immediately, John is 6'3 220lbs and brings 89 speed to the table. In addition, he has catching stats all in the high 70's, making him a future complete receiver.

Darrell Patterson - T - 73 OVR - HE'S 6'8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Future LT if I can give him a chance to grow

Jake Whaley - G - 76 OVR - I mentioned before that young high overall OL is difficult to find and needs to be a priority at all times. This guy is exactly what you want on your team. 69 speed, 89 acceleration, 85 speed. Those raw attributes will make him a great guard.

Ryan Kidd - G - 79 OVR - Oh look, another big boy. This guy has NFL all over him. 6'1, but 312lbs and 89 strength right off the bat. Plus all his blocking skills are above 80 already. Huge get

Andrew Davis - DE - 73 OVR - 6'3 250 coming out of Idaho, Davis isn't particularly athletically gifted. However, all of his stats are in the 70s and that should be enough to make him a solid choice to start after a redshirt year.

Thomas Scruggs - DT - 75 OVR - This guy was one of my first recruits and one of those I was the most excited to get. Sporting 85 tackle in the middle, Scruggs looks like a future run stopper in the making.

Doug Martin - OLB - 75 OVR - Yet another all around player. Usually I like the high 90's acceleration guys on the outside, but Doug fits the bill as someone I might move inside with his skillset.

Ike Jackson - CB - 69 OVR - With my weaknesses at CB, I would have liked more than just IKE out there. However, he comes in with 91 speed and 88 acceleration, along with 76 zone, 78 man, 79 press ratings. That's something we can work with here, and he may need to be our #1 CB someday.

Mike Floyd - SS - 71 OVR - Considering moving him to OLB as he has mid 80's speed but just awful play recognition at 64, along with no man ability, yet good tackling in the mid 70's.

Donny Jenkins - SS - 56 OVR? - Ok, so this guy I have no idea on. I apparently got the man from Alaska but I never offered a scholarship. Is he actually 56 OVR? No clue!

Jay Hicks - K - 81 OVR - 77 KPW, 87 KAC, not my kind of kicker but he was all I could get. From Ann Arbor, so I got to steal him from UofM

Kenneth Charles - P - 81 OVR - 87 KPW, 76 KAC. Typical punter. Nothing too special here.

Tevita Washington - ATH - 70 OVR - My only athlete, which is pretty unusual. He's 6'6 279, but has 76 speed and 87 acceleration. Looks like a DE but I'm curious to see if he has OL ability.

Two Stars:

Preface - If you ignore 2* guys early in a dynasty, you're going to have a bad time. 2* prospects will be recruited faster than threes and can free up recruiting points for other guys early. If you scout more and find some gems, they can be a huge asset for you.

Jared Butler - SS - 71 OVR - He's 6'5 and has 85 speed. Hello pick magnet. Could also go OLB

Josh Summers - T - 68 OVR - 84 strength is fantastic, but he is already shoehorned into becoming a pass blocker.

Justin Williams - FS - 64 OVR - Pretty rough S, but he should be decent depth

Last but not least, the man of the hour, the reason I started this thread. The one. The only. The QB.

Scott Hill - QB - 65 OVR - NFL body at 6'5, 232. From Grand Rapids MI, which is where I was born. 69 speed, 81 THP, 70 THA. I'm going to get this guy into the NFL. More on that in a future installment.

One Stars:

Carey Webster - K - 77 OVR - This was a freebie and he's a JUCO guy. Might make the team though, and he's from Detroit.
EDIT: He never showed up on the roster. I have no idea what happened here

Position Changes

Tevita Washington ATH > C (71 OVR)
Dishon McNary CB > SS (71 OVR)
Donny Jenkins SS > MLB (57 OVR)
Troy Brown OLB > MLB (85 OVR)

Cuts

In the future, expect a lot of cuts due to over-recruiting. I'd like to highlight the players I do cut to give them a little bit of remembrance since the game doesn't do transfers well. This season, 8 players had to taste the blade:

Drayton Law - WR - Junior(RS) - 70 OVR - No Career Stats
Oakley Lavallii - FB - Senior - 69 OVR - 10 Rushes, 95 yards, two TD's.
Bailey Edwards - WR - Junior(RS) - 75 OVR - No Career Stats
Troy Hairston - LE - Senior - 76 OVR - 5 Tackles, 4 TFL, 1 ATK, 2 Sacks
Gage Kreski - FS - Junior(RS) 76 OVR - No Career Stats
Tommy Lazzaro - QB - Senior(RS) - 79 OVR - No Career Stats
George Douglas - ROLB - Junior(RS) - 70 OVR - No Career Stats
Leon Page - RE - Junior(RS) 76 OVR - No Career Stats

Wrapup

Well here we are! Overall, we had a pretty strong offseason. Here's a recap:

Steve Sarkisian is my new enemy at Miami of Ohio
John Rhys Plumlee decided to go to Southern Alabama
Our new recruiting class is extremely talented for a G5 school
A 2* QB is going to become a legend someday

Thanks for reading this offseason update! Our next post will be about the new starting lineup, our new offense, and our schedule will be revealed!