Seattle won the Super Bowl and is a top 15 defense all time in my opinion and they were basically a Base Dime Defense. Used Dime personnel more than anyone in history and was very stout against the run. So we’re going to see it a lot more. I think that boils down to recruiting. Getting tough Linebackers who can cover and Nickels who can tackle.

What a great interview. Plough is the best

Two linebackers is our base defense. Three if you count the “rush” linebacker who plays on the line of scrimmage. If the nickel position is more of a safety than a corner you have three safeties. Last year we had some good sized safeties.
I’m sure the DC is a very sharp guy, but we have always fallen short of being a dominating defense, even when we seem to have quality players. If you look at last season before the Connors’ injuries they gave up 549 yards to Southern Utah. Thats with five all conference players on defense.
On the related subject of depth or lack there of, it is puzzling when a team has 105 players on the roster, has injuries in the high teens or low twenties, and doesn’t have 60 players to take on a road trip. Thats a lot of guys on the roster not trusted to play. Some of that is the players aren’t good, some is that the coach is conservative about letting guys on the field, some of it is that almost all the games are close so there is not the same opportunity to play reserves, but the bottom line is not a very deep team.

"On the related subject of depth or lack there of, it is puzzling when a team has 105 players on the roster, has injuries in the high teens or low twenties, and doesn’t have 60 players to take on a road trip."

Does anyone know our roster size?

How long is Ploughs extension?

until 2031. Boom! https://x.com/i/status/2021678123289338162

I'd be very curious to see the damage UCD could do with FBS quantity of scholarships...

Yeah baby!!!!!

When the roster is finalized just count names. It has been over 105 by a few but once they sign onto the settlement which they said they intend to do it can be no more than 105.

There is no longer a subdivision difference in number of scholarships. Missouri Valley Football teams can have 105, as can several other FCS conferences. The Big Sky chose to retain the 63 limit. I doubt that lasts past a few losses to Missouri Valley teams in the playoffs.

Massive difference. I wonder what even constitutes a "scholarship" anymore. Could I just pay a player the NIL dollar equivalent of a tuition, lodging, etc and circumvent the "scholarship" limit?

I’ve wondered this too…especially for those who get NIL that’s 2-3x more than the cost of school. The cost of school is nothing compared to many basic NIL deals now.

You have hit on the reason the new rules limit roster size and not scholarship number; NIL and revenue sharing make scholarship limit unenforceable, because players can be otherwise paid.
I know that people use NIL as shorthand for other ways of compensating players, but revenue sharing is going to be the bulk of it. When teams sign on to the settlement they can directly pay players in house via revenue sharing, whereas NIL deals also move in house but have to have a business case.