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.

I agree with Finn, a specifically targeted campaign (ie 1000 for $1000) is far more effective than anything that, 1. Sounds like an Athletics General Fund initiative and 2. Might include the risk of one penny going to another sport. This is just how football guys think. Not sure 1000 for $1000 is even feasible with Title IX concerns, but it would be far more effective.

UC Davis hosting Montana, Montana State, Cal Poly, or an FCS Playoff game
>
UC Davis hosting Northern Illinois, UTEP, or San Jose State, et al

The views expressed here are strictly my own.

I will again advocate for CRUSHERS. Nobody knows or cares that Vintage HS has the nickname, we can do it bigger and better.

I hear you. I guess for me, the proponent of staying in FCS/Big Sky football for at least another four years, is that we're not going to compete on this level for certain players and we have to accept the fact that a few are going to leave. The secret sauce is in recruiting/developing/retaining at a high enough level to compete for conference/national titles on an annual basis. "Davis guy" will still mean something to Davis guys.

Great discussion, all valid points and questions

I know how I feel. Good for him given the current state of college football. However, he is no longer a "Davis guy" to me, so no more highlights (I know, I posted a link) or commercials. Persona non grata. It would be different if he was a grad transfer, but he's a Coug now with three seasons of eligibility remaining that won't be spent as an Aggie. Not personal, but he made the choice to leave and I wish him the best. But I don't give a rat's ass if he throws a football through the tire swing. Nor will I bemoan his departure or use him to compare future UC Davis QBs. Moving on.

This makes A LOT of sense. However, and there is always a however, I can give you 80-100 million reasons why USC/UCLA will NOT be leaving the Big 10 anytime soon. Stanford and Cal have 40 million reasons in football alone to not budge, not to mention around 40 million reasons to stay for basketball. Its a brilliant idea and makes all the sense in the world. Just not sure it will be possible with the current balance of power in college football. California doesn't care enough.

I like the natural vibe. Perhaps some grape vines in keeping with the Ag theme?

Classic! I've had fun with people over the years telling them that my team was playing B-Y-E that week. Typical response: "the Mormon school?"

I would argue that building the base (revenue, operations, scholarships, staffing, NIL, etc.) and not "moving up" at this juncture outweighs the allure of being an FBS program in the MWC. TV money? Try $3.5-4m per MWC member school for 2026. Is that worth scuttling all that has been built to stabilize the jump to FCS and now to contend for the FCS national championship? Just so fans can watch UNLV, SJSU, USAFA, Hawaii, and UNM roll into Davis every other year, or turn on their TVs to watch the Northern Illinois, UTEP, or Wyoming games, for example? "Bigger" isn't always better. Davis is already on par with the bottom third of the MWC on the football field. In fact, the Aggies are capable of beating most MWC programs in a one time game. However, it's different having to do it week after week after week. If they move up and move into the top third, the program is aspiring for the LA Bowl hosted by Grok, the Snoop Dawg Arizona Bowl, and the Hawaii or New Mexico Bowls, respectively. Why?

Finish what's been started. Let's build it up and advance past the Quarters. Support what's going on now. Move up when the program is FULLY ready, if ever.

Eight teams have made the jump from FCS to FBS recently, and most of them we probably can't name without an AI search. I'll give it a shot: JMU, Old Dominion, App State, Coastal, maybe UMass since I read the article about Rocco, and oh yeah, SAC STATE. One of those teams has received a joke of a playoff invite (JMU) which never should have happened. The rest are either in decline or playing in crappy bowl games winning 6 games every year.

You are correct. There are plenty of people in Southern California that don't know what the "UC" stands for in UCLA :rofl:

Thanks for the perspective. My vote is to stay put and build this thing. Also predicting a national title in Davis by 2029...

North Dakota State-to-FBS talk has heated up even more in the past couple days. Let 'em go.

Good read, thanks for sharing. I didn't know his bio. Time at UMass is likely a great cautionary tale in his approach to moving football forward to the MWC. Lesson: DON'T DO IT UNTIL YOU'RE READY! We're not ready (yet). I'm also a proponent for investing in the people over buildings, including players, coaches, support staff. Oregon has had incredible facilities and a gazillion uniform combinations, but no national championships. Same at Texas (they've won a title in the last 50 years), Texas A&M, and a hundred other places. Indiana and Miami both invest in players/coaches, dwell in very pedestrian football buildings and facilities, and play for a title.

Very easy to apply coverings to concrete block construction. Vinyl is easy and less expensive, but you can also attach other forms of signage, pads, etc. Good call. I feel like everyone knows that "Davis" is in the UC system, similar to how we all know that "Cal" is a part of that same system as well.

I'm torn on the midfield logo. That thing might run from 25 yard line to the other 25!