https://www.shreveportbossieradvocate.com/sports/army-football-independence-bowl-louisiana-tech/article_5da7043a-c4a7-11ef-9ed5-47d6fcaa13e1.html

An explanation of how Army (and the other service academies) survive in the mercenary NCAA. Bottom line: character and toughness and focusing on what you are good at rather than changing your offense every year to adapt to personnel. In the old days, you recruited for the system. Now coaches recruit and keep changing their systems to whatever they can collect. Consistency is how you build a winning program.

Novel thought: imagine an offense in which all the plays start from the SAME formation - whether you run or pass. It gives the defense zero knowledge of what you're about to do. That's basically what the service academies do. The big boys used to do it years ago. (I bet we'd be converting a lot more 3rd and shorts.)

Not sure if you're serious.

texag101 said:

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Not sure if you're serious.

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Not sure you are either.

The concept/idea is not a bad one. Although this staff & the previous staff seem to be oblivious to that option.

I ran it with younger kids & we had a great deal of success running several different plays from the same basic formation. We have the talent, but we seem to be unable to scheme a play set that would benefit that.

But that's coaches for you, they overthink it so often.

We talk a lot about "grit" and "culture" but the service academies actually live it. You don't make it through Beast Barracks without true grit. They play a team sport like a team.

We should start using Angela Duckworths grit scale (developed to help West Point understand how kids who spent 2 yrs trying to get in would quit during Beast) as part of our evaluation process.

The issue with developing grit at a premier football program…many 4-5 stars already think they have what it takes to win a championship when in fact they don't. Most service academy players know they are nothing and will never be anything in football. They basically work their a$$ off to survive and have a chance at knocking off some of the big programs.

Fdsa said:

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The issue with developing grit at a premier football program…many 4-5 stars already think they have what it takes to win a championship when in fact they don't. Most service academy players know they are nothing and will never be anything in football. They basically work their a$$ off to survive and have a chance at knocking off some of the big programs.

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The triple option also lends really well to the mindset you have to have at a service academy. You have to do your job so that the collective will succeed. As a half back you have to make sure you clear out the play side LB sometimes sacrificing your body so that you can gain 4 yards. Multiple that by 20-30 plays per game and you have someone who has to be selfless and always thinking about the consequences of missing your assignment.

KCup17 said:

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Fdsa said:

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The issue with developing grit at a premier football program…many 4-5 stars already think they have what it takes to win a championship when in fact they don't. Most service academy players know they are nothing and will never be anything in football. They basically work their a$$ off to survive and have a chance at knocking off some of the big programs.

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The triple option also lends really well to the mindset you have to have at a service academy. You have to do your job so that the collective will succeed. As a half back you have to make sure you clear out the play side LB sometimes sacrificing your body so that you can gain 4 yards. Multiple that by 20-30 plays per game and you have someone who has to be selfless and always thinking about the consequences of missing your assignment.

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You've answered why the service academies require participation in either intercollegiate or intramural sports for all cadets. Learning to play as a team.

Comparing the service academies and the type of player they attract to your typical Div 1 program is beyond silly. The culture and mindset the WP and Annapolis are 180 degrees opposite of what we see at your typical big time program. You will never see what takes place at WP and Annapolis work at programs such as A&M, Texas, or Georgia. They are night and day.

Nice thought exercise perhaps but this discussion is ultimately a waste.

PanzerAggie06 said:

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Comparing the service academies and the type of player they attract to your typical Div 1 program is beyond silly. The culture and mindset the WP and Annapolis are 180 degrees opposite of what we see at your typical big time program. You will never see what takes place at WP and Annapolis work at programs such as A&M, Texas, or Georgia. They are night and day.

Nice thought exercise perhaps but this discussion is ultimately a waste.

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This.

Fdsa said:

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The issue with developing grit at a premier football program…many 4-5 stars already think they have what it takes to win a championship when in fact they don't. Most service academy players know they are nothing and will never be anything in football. They basically work their a$$ off to survive and have a chance at knocking off some of the big programs.

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Agree with your 4-5 star comment which is the point. You don't think kids admitted to West Point aren't beautiful, unique snowflakes too? According to Duckworth nearly all who come to West Point were varsity athletes; most were team captains. 14k applicants with only 1,200 admitted. It's a select group of individuals. 20% will still drop out. Back to SEC football, it's a rare combo of elite talent and grit (Kirk, Myles, Von) which make those guys so valuable and worth the investment. Her Grit scale gives you a framework for understanding who has it and who is capable of further development.

Coach Boone approves this message

Take a look at how BYU completely exposed Colorado. BYU look like men among boys. They played very tough, mean *** football. I appreciate a team that plays like this throughout the entire game. How did they do it? Their coach. They are an absolute reflection of their coach and his very tough, killer instinct attitude. I wish Elmo had and fostered that mentality with our team. He clearly doesn't, and their performance on the field demonstrates it. If you didn't see the BYU game, watch the highlights. CU was totally outmatched.

With the way NIL is changing college sports forever...would any of you be opposed to A&M changing its football program to match the service academies?

In order to receive a scholarship to play football at Texas A&M two years of service to the Corp is required.
Something along those lines. The requirements to join the football or basketball team would be similar to that Army, Navy or Citadel do for its athletes.

Get a game with Air Force or Navy to be played on a National Holliday like Thanksgiving.

I bet our current team has more grit than half the people posting on this thread. Instead of crying about people leaving consider appreciating the guys who are being offered a lot of money to leave and who stay.

Sorry to call you out here but this mindset is exactly what's wrong with the TAMU fan base. The sanctimonious go along to get along, right? That's what matters most. Heaven forbid we discuss issues and possible solutions. Further, it's no matter whether the current team has more grit than anonymous message board fans. They absolutely should. They have an athletic gift. What matters is whether they have more grit than the 12 other teams on the schedule.

Guys are going to leave for more money or opportunity (or both), just like our incoming portal class did with their current team. Business decisions. I'm suggesting we incorporate something similar to the grit scale as part of the evaluation process, which I think is more important for HS recruits similar to the way West Point uses it.