Maybe make the first scholarship a two year deal with a buyout so the FCS program gets compensated for their investment.

That made me spit my protein shake onto the computer screen, so true. Man we couldn't get that right in '25. Onward and upward and out of the end zone, cheers to that!

Agreed. The Montana retirement and Montana State defensive coordinator bolting to the NFL (not to mention all their portal losses) has the Aggies in a prime position to contend for the Big Sky championship. The 2-deep will be strong and also still young. Another area of strength is the staff retention. Plough made a nice move with the special teams position while retaining a very good position coach. The RB guy leaving is a loss, but that is a plug-and-play position on staff with the talent in that room. I feel really good heading towards Spring Ball in April

Nicely done! Go Ags!

Summer housing is the key to success. If they aren't able to keep the best players in town, all day every day from the end of spring quarter to the start of training camp, They're not committed to competing for a national title. Period. Great to hear about the one apartment complex, hopefully they can find more to follow. Same with summer jobs, meals around town, etc. Someone is hopefully pounding the pavement to get all of that lined-up, then taking care of the two deep roster.

I agree with you about their willingness to burn a season early on. I was just looking at 3-4 clips of their highlight films from high school when I was doling out REDSHIRT tags. Those Edge players may be highly-rated, but neither one of those guys are ready right now. Who knows with a great summer session and maybe some doors opening ahead of them on the depth, but neither one is ready to deal with a 21 year old Division 1 dirtbag Offensive Tackle as of today! A kid like Few from last year's class came in at like 6'5" 240 and only played sparingly on the strong side until late in the season. He also played against a much higher level of high school competition and had more of a college ready body. I may be wrong, and I am all in favor of young guys playing IF they're the best guy and they're ready. The couple clips I watched on each told me they would both benefit tremendously from a year in the weight room and learning their craft. I'm not too proud to admit it if they prove me wrong, I just looked at a small sample size. Both have VERY bright futures ahead of them!

Bobby is BURNED OUT by College Football 2026. It's a shitshow out there, who can blame him. Especially at a place like Montana. Hopefully he can go up to his lake house and skip rocks and catch fish and get refreshed. He's an acquired taste but a good guy.

We don't give Plough enough credit for how he manages the program and the roller coaster of recruiting and agents and raising money for the cause at a place that is mostly but not all the way in compared to the Montanas and Dakotas of the world. Maybe he goes home and throws his patio furniture into the pool and kicks his dog, but he doesn't strike me as that guy. I really appreciate the way he is both passionate and realistic. Has a vision and isn't scared by it. Consistent on every level that we get to see. Go Ags!

Outstanding group! Kudos to the coaching staff, they put so much effort into recruiting and it is paying off with Top 5-10 classes every year. Davis guys...

PACIFICO's 5-CENT NEW AGGIE SIGNEE EVALUATIONS:

I think Gilbreath and Sylvester are the steals of the class...

Gilbreath will play early. 6' 185 as an freshman FCS corner is BIG. Faulkner is nice as well. And he hits, which you don't always say about Corners. The CB from San Bernardino is quality depth, will redshirt.

The Idaho Safety (John) fits a very specific need on the back end. Big cat that will fill it up and can deal with Big Sky TEs. And he's played in the Conference. He's a sleeper.

Kollock had crazy high school numbers. He's going to be in an absolute dogfight with Cleeland, maybe even Eason, we'll see. Shout out to SailorGabe. GREAT problem to have for Plough and Shelton. My early money is on Cleeland vs. PSU.

Looking at the film, both Sylvester and Herman are dudes. More dudes to go with some dudes already in the RB room. Dudes everywhere. The new Running Back coach will be happy.

Houseworth the Cal/Fortuna TE is a load! Classic, in-line run blocking TE that might surprise in the passing game but doesn't have to for another year.

JUCO LB Knudtson is a downhill guy, rangy, but only had 36 tackles in 11 games last season. Why? I obviously don't know the scheme he played in, and he has a good frame. Should be in the mix to play or back up depending on what the returners are like. The two young LBs will need to develop and are probably redshirts unless something happens. Not convinced the Johnson kid doesn't end up playing some Safety but we'll see. Nice athlete. The Portland kid will be a player eventually, he's all over the field.

I like the fact that we got into Hawaii with Honebein. Uses his hands well and has a motor. Redshirt. The kid out of Colorado is long and gets off like he's shot out of a cannon, but doesn't use his hands yet. Some vet will cave his chest in July and he'll figure it out at some point. Redshirt. Both of these cats are high caliber outside guys, we'll see them on the field in 2027 or 28.

As for the WRs, Parnell is 6'4" or something, will likely be a "tweener" WR or Hybrid Y. Not a burner but good ball skills at 6'4". Fay from Manteca is quick and has some giddyup.

Don't have time to go into the weeds on each of the OL signings but I trust Cody. None of them should see the field until their year 3/RS Sophomore season at best. That's the sign of a healthy program. Maybe I'll go back on them and evaluate the unit at some point as the dog days of a late spring ball start day drag on...

30-39 yards out, left hash, kicking to the north, seemed to be our Achilles heel in 2025. Hopefully this kid or one of the redshirts can figure this out.

AND he's a Receivers coach! Not too many WR coaches that have made great coordinators, much less Head Coaches. Not saying it can't be done, but most of them can't get on a board and draw pass protections or a defensive front 7. He'll have a lot of support there and will likely be the relationships guy, but I would not hand the keys of a blueblood program over to a WR coach... EVER :rofl:

Kids with the right measurables on the O-Line that can walk and chew gum stand to make a lot of money in the Portal if they have decent film. Those suckers are hard to find.

Skip will do a good job at Poly, I think its a home run hire.

I like the idea of recruiting and developing depth for deep playoff runs. Getting college kids to buy in to that philosophy is the secret. Belichick always talked about prioritizing an elite QB1, then building the rest of the roster from the 53rd man back up to the top. As we experienced last season, you're going to take some injuries so the reserves are critical. Plough mentioned throughout, "we're bring this guy in to compete with this guy." Enjoyed the pod, as usual

Spending some dough down there... I've noticed all the transfers heading to CP, going to be an interesting chemistry experiment. Reminds me of Sac State last year. Also, easier to get into Poly as a transfer than out of HS. I remember that from my recruitment 100 years ago.

That's funny. I'm still undefeated as a tomato selector at the grocery store thanks to my experience on the harvester. My wife will tell me when she wants it ripe by and I can make the right choice accordingly

Not arguing his contributions, his abilities, or what he meant to the 2025 football team and it's success. We'll obviously never know what might have happened if he wasn't the starting QB, but we were 1-0 against Northern Colorado with the "other guy", and I would rate UNC on a similar scale as Utah Tech (a game we should have won by 4 TD), Cal Poly (played out of their minds while the Aggies were a little flat), and Sacramento "we set the forward pass back 100 years that game" State.

I think Davis being the 8 seed was a bit of a reach in hindsight, but we take it.

Our Defense "wasn't very good" is misleading. Missing players like the Connors bros., key edge players, and, at times, 3/5 of the original starting secondary (with one starter being a true freshman) would challenge any program, with the potential of every game becoming a track meet. Yet, despite the injuries, the Ags managed to be in a position to win every game except Washington, contended for a Big Sky title, and earned an 8 seed. That is impressive. Stats are misleading. (Note: I didn't think Illinois State was our best defensive game on many levels)

Conversely, the offensive injuries came at positions where we had outstanding depth (Running Back, Tight End). The Offensive Line was a solid, veteran group. The frontline Tailback was dynamite, the "other" Tight End was an all-American, and the receiving corps stayed healthy all season. That typically equates to putting the QB in a position to be successful, which he was. He was better than "successful"; he was a freaking freshman all-American and had some incredible games and individual plays.

Davis has a proven recruiting model that has worked for a long, long time: recruit good players and people, develop them, and, in today's college football, fight like hell to retain them. This is a classical model for building a program, but it still works. And the system will generally be prepared with depth to replace departing players (graduation, transfers, injuries). That's why it has proven successful. Next man up. CP won't be the last guy to take money and run. And I don't blame him or judge him. I just won't take the time to follow his progress or be cheering for the Cougs, but I wish him all the personal success and happiness in the world. Go Ags!

Great local knowledge, I love that! I actually worked on a tomato harvester part time one summer. Romas for canning have a low bar when it comes to quality control, at least back in the 1980s. Thanks for sharing, I enjoy acquiring trivial knowledge.

Stretching it, but there's merit to what you're saying. Plough & staff are a greater draw than the previous season's QB, in my opinion.

From my perspective, I'm not rooting against him and I wish him the best. But I'm not going to follow him and go out of my way to root for him, because he's irrelevant to the cause at hand. The only thing he did to attract a good player here was leave, and that opened the door for the Minnesota/Orange County QB to come in and compete. Nobody on the roster or signing this year came because of him. It's not a matter of dislike or ill feelings towards CP, rather, I'm moving on from him and don't really concern myself with Washington State football. My feelings on the matter, over it.

A few more fun ones for considerations:
-Speaking of Berryessa, how about a large mouth bass-themed uniform. I've seen some really cool out of state license plates with bass on them, we can do it up sort of like Army/Navy with their hand-painted helmets :rofl:
-Holstein cattle. Right across the street from the stadium, black and whites. Let the girls (heifers from the dairy) lead the Aggie Walk.
-Everyone seems to like the greys, how about a new, Tule fog inspired get up? Foggy grey helmet with navy logo.
-The tomato uniform cracked me up. Red-orange helmet with green stem decals on the top?

Yeah, Weill ponied up today apparently! Someone mentioned a mascot change on another thread, VETS might be the way to go!

I get it on where the proceeds actually end-up, but I know that often times football folks feel like anything "attached" to an athletics campaign is going to get skimmed or re-routed.