DO NOT be concerned. Davis has never been a hype machine. And Movieliver is correct about keeping things close to the best. There are recruiting staffs that dedicate personnel to stalking their rival’s prospects and commits. Best to keep things on the down low

Having finally watched the presser for myself, the mics DID suck once again. Thank goodness for the captions that display the questions/subject matter.

What jumped out to me were Plough’s list of QB successes and the competitive nature of Davis’ offer to Pinnick. The later shows the University’s commitment to football. Rocco and his team not only spearheaded those efforts and mobilized resources, but then Rocco was with Rex Connors out at the FCS combine deal. Plough typically expresses his appreciation for the admin and they are proving to be real winners. We will win a lot of games with that commitment.

As far as the QB development piece, great track record. That development is difficult to quantify in the “stay or go” decision making process for teenage boys/their families seeing dollar signs. Call me a conspiracy theorist, and SailorGabe might not like this, but Plough mentioned repeatedly “___ player joined us in June and accomplished ___”. At the very least, that cracks the door to the possibility of a transfer QB coming on late and competing for the job, even if it’s for one season as Cleeland/Eason develop.

I doubt Rasor or Wrighster are back, just my hunch and could be wrong.

I will admit, I actually thought during the holidays, "man, I love when our posters rip on the mic situation at the pressers." Thank you for making my day!

Good fit

My guess is that its simply highlighting a few players. No news is good news on the portal front.

Spot on with the DE, he was better than advertised. Dude can play. Riveraggie is on the money, the Ivies get those guys in and out in four and even promise to help place guys at "bigger" programs after the graduate. Pretty good deal for kids.

Also, it was definitely an entertaining game from a fan perspective and there were some athletic plays. It was just all the guys choking down the stretch that made it hard to watch. Maybe I was just frustrated by the way it ended for UCD and had some anger issues watching it, but you're right, it was fun in spite of myself!

Definitely, that's another one. Basically losing half the defense. Safeties play a HUGE role in Coombs' scheme. Will likely need some transfer help there, portal or JUCO unless the young bucks will be ready. Someone mentioned that the young Safeties are 5'10" and below, need some length at times back there, although Rex and the Caden Dowler kid at MSU are both right around 6'0".

I have zero concerns about the QB position. In Plough and Shelton we trust. New challenge for those guys but the talent is there and I'll predict we add a guy with some upper level experience.

Like I said on one of the other threads, last night gave me a lot of hope for the future. UC Davis WILL win a National Championship, it is only a matter of time. Don't screw it up by jumping to the Mountain West too early, I don't want to be chasing the Bucked Up LA Bowl, The Rate Bowl, The New Mexico Bowl, or the Snoop Dawg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice by Dre & Snoop, with all due respect. The Hawaii Bowl, maybe. The Pop Tart Bowl, sign me up. I'd rather sit around bitching about the guys we lose in the portal every year and compete for a National Championship.

Bad football. Bad showing for FCS aside from how well the two programs traveled. Neither team deserved to win.

I have never seen a season with more false starts and more snap infraction penalties.

We should be encouraged, Aggie fans. We are closer than it feels right now.

All the NCAA has left is the FCS and lower divisions...

Where are the biggest holes on Defense?

DE Psyk
ILB Rutchena
ILB Potentially Porter Connors (filled by RS FR Sievers in '25)
S Stanley (who filled in for Rex Connors at one Safety)
S Batson

Who else are we losing that started or saw significant time?

Natty:
I like Brock Spack more than I like Brent Vigen.

But I am also Big Sky homer.

There was something sort of likeable about Illinois State, especially on offense when they lined-up and ran inside zone plays for three hours a few weeks back. Nothing fancy, went on the road three weeks in a row and just won football games.

There isn't much I like about Montana State. Especially when their Tailback is practically fighting the head coach after a game, or that turnover cowboy hat, all the California girls in the student section, etc. However, I do like the game of that Taco kid, and I like his brother even more. And I love the giant snake of beer cups passed around the stands. I like them better than the team to the south or the artists formerly known as the Go-Gos...

Tough call. Montana State is the better football team. Illinois State has grit and "it" to win...

I think Montana State's DEFENSE is the difference. Bobcats Big Sky to cover the 10-10.5 points!

Man, I once again reiterate how smart the posters on this board are. There is some real wisdom and education, along with some great ideas on here. I thought the California Conference YouTube network idea was especially fascinating. Anyway, I've been telling my three friends on the planet this for several years, and I qualify this as a not-so-good idea: re-set the FBS football conferences back to 1984 or so. Cut all the sports that didn't exist prior to that time and lean-out the conferences. Everyone else gets a choice: FCS, D2, or D3. For the conferences that had teams drop football (ex. the PCAA: Long Beach St., UOP, Fullerton St., etc.) let the FCS schools that are regional fits apply to move up. How much fun would the Pac 10 or original WAC be? I don't know that 1984 was the right year, but just find the best old days of conference alignments, expand the playoffs, and make college football great again because it sucks on many levels right now. And make them all wear their 1984 uniforms the first year of the really great reset.

Didn't we go big on DBs in last year's class? Hopefully we have one in-house or in-Portal

Colorado is a dumpster fire. I've read that they brought in between 70-90 transfers that first season. Same thing happened at Sac last year, I think the number was close to 70. I do think Marion is a good offensive football coach. I don't think the Go-Go is anything more than a glorified "power spread" sort of offense with some triple option elements. Call it whatever, but it is a run-first system and Pinnick will be handing the ball off a lot more and asked to run with the ball more. Good luck with that. I am also leaning towards what was posted up the thread, and that is that the optic sure seems to be that it was 100% about the money, or as Coach Prime once sang, Must be the Money. Look that one up and it explains a lot. Although one can't argue with the long line of successful NFL quarterbacks that have hailed from the University of Colorado: the coach's kid, Kordell Stuart, Koy Detmer, Joel Klatt, Cody Hawkins, etc.

In other, thread-related topics:

SailorGabe is on the record for calling the Eason in '26 shot. I think four years from now we'll be talking about him as a great Aggie QB, just not sure it'll be in '26. Time will tell. Going back a couple days, I can all but guarantee that being a "legacy" will have nothing to do with anything. Best players play, it's college football and our coaching staff is very professional in their approach. I think what SailorGabe was referencing was the fact that the kid's dad played at UC Davis, and both dad and uncle played in the NFL.

Great question about whether Plough would take a kid back after entering the portal. My guess is that circumstances and communication would play a big part in that decision. As would the captains and the coaching staff. The bigger issue might be the guys in the locker room, but kids today are less likely to punch out or even ostracize a teammate.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but scholarships today are one-year contracts for the entire academic year. They must be renewed at some point mid-spring, and the players will need to receive proper notice if one is to be revoked.

Great move by Gbatu. The Center did the same thing. "Run it Back" is Twitterspeak for a kid coming back.

Zythe, I don't think he's an NFL prospect. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think so. Outstanding QB, elite FCS game winner, but I sat with a backline view for a lot of his starts and he can't see where he's throwing it a lot of the time. Granted, there are successful exceptions that have played in the NFL, but with three seasons of college football remaining, he needs to take the money now AND get a good degree or two. I really like the kid, he's a winner, and I truly wish him nothing but the best.

I’d be shocked if Guess isn’t playing slot or corner, and definitely returning kicks next season. Even with the departure, I feel like his future is not at QB but I have nothing to base it on. Brant’s season numbers are good but I’d take it with a grain of salt. Eason is a big dude. Not sure what the injuries were that limited his numbers so that might be a concern as well.

Perhaps those stat lines are the reason we have offers out to several portal Running Backs Remember, we are not privy to what “the plan” is. Granted, Plough will continue to develop Cleeland and Eason regardless; we’ll learn a lot about what the staff truly thinks of those guys by who we offer or who shows up from the portal. That includes any of the three ‘25 Aggie QBs in the portal today. Two things that jump off whatever those stats are from are the low QB ratings and low TD numbers for both Cleeland and Eason but who knows what kind of offenses they played in, what the coaching and level of competition was, etc.

We’ll take you back…

Going to be an interesting off-season with the QBs. Two really good young options, Cleeland will take the 1 reps heading into Spring Ball but Eason will get a shot. If he competes, they’ll leave it open going into fall camp. If Cleeland ascends, he’ll be the starter coming out of Spring. Cleeland’s advantage is that he was #3 and was prepped differently than the #4. Slim edge, we shall see. I won’t be surprised if Eason wins it, he’s built for it. Hell they both are. The only thing we’re lacking is experience, sort of like we were in late-August 2025. In Plough/Shelton we trust!

LSU makes some sense as there were Ole Miss rumblings that started around the halfway point of the season. Those guys are now the coaches and front office staff at LSU. Can someone say “tampering”. My money is on his representatives. That’s how it works folks.

69Aggie, this whole deal could wear a coach out. I believe Plough at his word and this crap the NCAA has created is what it is. He will continue to recruit and develop, he’ll hire outstanding young coaches, and while we’ll lose kids that really hurt or hit close to home, at the end of the day he’s still coaching his dream job for all the reasons he preaches from the pulpit every time he’s got a mic in his face.

Go Ags!

Wow. 1/3 of FBS. On top of 12-15k names left in the portal from last year. This deal is a disaster, I could not imagine being a coach at a place like Davis without an entire front office to sort through all this. Would be interested to know how they do it. A lot of it is from friends in the profession (trying to help kids they’re cutting to find a soft landing) but it is brutal. And they’re starting on their ‘27 class by now!

UCLA is a mess. There will be a bunch of free agents looking for $ but maybe a few kids that still value a UC education. There will be a bunch of kids from Virginia and the South heading there once Coach gets his baring a straight.

I miss the old days

He will need to be in the new landing spot for spring ball so no baseball. He’ll need to be enrolled full time to participate in spring ball