CLT Observer - Season Prediction

[T-Dog]

Drinkwitz has never been a head coach before, high school or college.

Satterfield took a underacheiving FCS team and turned them into a Top 25 FBS program in six years.

Right now, Satt's the better coach by miles.

[Rekdiver]

I’ll take 10-2.

[appstatealum]

Drinkwitz has never been a head coach before, high school or college.

Satterfield took a underacheiving FCS team and turned them into a Top 25 FBS program in six years.

Right now, Satt's the better coach by miles.

That’s subjective. I do agree with you as far as preseason assessment goes because being a successful HC has more to do than what one knows about football on game day, but when it comes to X and Os, Drink will be an upgrade. There is no way we can objectively assess who is a better coach at this point (outside of the “hot take” method) because Drink has yet to coach a single quarter for this team. We also can’t say “well, Coach Satt was offered a P5 job and Drink wasn’t” because by all accounts, no one really knew Drink was available or had a desire to be a HC outside of a small circle. Satt had many weaknesses, some we saw, some that were behind the scenes, and many of those I have seen improved upon with Drink (so far). But I already have heard some weaknesses that Drink has that Satt was better at as well.

I can honestly say that my expectations are higher for this season than any of the other 20 seasons I have been following App Football, and that’s with me even considering the overhauled staff and key personnel. I am hearing and seeing a young, experienced, passionate, Coach excited to take on the reigns of a historically successful program. I am seeing and talking to young men in key positions on this team who saw the void being left by graduated seniors and coaching changes and are stepping up to be leaders and rally their team. I am seeing young, extremely talented freshman coming in with something to prove....I’m seeing transfers hoping to make the team in the coming months with proven track records at other programs who are eager to make a spot on a team they respect....I’m seeing some experienced coaches and some young coaches who are excited to be a part of an up and coming program.....and I see an AD that is always forward thinking and making moves to benefit this program long term.

I am lucky to have a peek behind the curtain on some things, but it is hard for me to hide my optimism and excitement for this season.

[hotrod2001]

Splitting hairs but seriously- Charlotte scores 17 in Boone and we hold UNC to 14 at their place?

I guess in the larger picture, Charlotte cares more about beating us than UNC does. So I guess he assumes the Niners will come to play.

[Nugget49]

I suppose we could dig in as deep as you wanted to, but Lambert was a 22-48 coach and it does not take too much to beat that record. Satterfield was 51-24, and maintaining your position as top of your conference is always going to be beating the odds. Math and the history of college football tells us that long term almost all teams revert to the mean. Perhaps you just don't buy that concept.

[hapapp]

Drink has yet to coach his first game as the head man so, any proclamation that he is an upgrade over Satt is pure speculation. I think we're all interested to see what he does on the offensive side of the ball. The caveat is how quickly the new schemes are picked up by the players. I'm optimistic about the season but four of our 5 toughest games are on the road.

[Gonzo]

I suppose we could dig in as deep as you wanted to, but Lambert was a 22-48 coach and it does not take too much to beat that record. Satterfield was 51-24, and maintaining your position as top of your conference is always going to be beating the odds. Math and the history of college football tells us that long term almost all teams revert to the mean. Perhaps you just don't buy that concept.

Now do Healy

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

Splitting hairs but seriously- Charlotte scores 17 in Boone and we hold UNC to 14 at their place?

I guess in the larger picture, Charlotte cares more about beating us than UNC does. So I guess he assumes the Niners will come to play.

Too be fair, Charlotte's kicker is better than UNC's

[AppfaninCAALand]

10-2 with losses at USC and either ULL or Troy (but not both) is what I'm expecting. But I also think anything between 12-0 and 7-5 is possible.

[Rick83]

10-2 with losses at USC and either ULL or Troy (but not both) is what I'm expecting. But I also think anything between 12-0 and 7-5 is possible.

Agree, and extending into post season it's anything between 14-0 and 7-6...

[bigdaddyg]

10-2 with losses at USC and either ULL or Troy (but not both) is what I'm expecting. But I also think anything between 12-0 and 7-5 is possible.

Agree, and extending into post season it's anything between 14-0 and 7-6...

Talk about hedging your bet. If this team goes 7-5 then loses a really crappy bowl there will be swarms of locusts and other end of days events. Even 6-6 with a bowl win is extremely unlikely. I’m sure this thread will go off the rails but dang. Going 14-0 would be unreal but another plus 10 win season will be great.

[Yosef84]

I don't think Charlotte has the horses to run with App at this point, but I do expect them to show up and play hard. I would say using the word "better" coach is, by definition a subjective evaluation. We have no idea who is the "better" coach between Satterfield and Drink or between Lambert and Healy. We can say that Satterfield is the more ACCOMPLISHED coach since he has had the opportunity to be a head coach for 6 years, but the other side is not yet known. Drink appears to have a more aggressive play calling style and has tons of offensive experience with excellent programs. He also has a DC (Roof) who is more ACCOMPLISHED than any DC we've EVER had at App. How they fit together as a unit will be seen soon enough. Most everything I'm hearing is very promising.

Lambert obviously disappointed at Charlotte but he had a tough job...building a program from scratch. Healy has been a head coach for three years in a weak FCS conference where he went winless in his first year, but went 8-4 in his second...then 5-6 his third. Those stats aren't exactly overwhelming but winning ANYTHING at Austin Peay is an accomplishment. They don't really have a history of success. It should be interesting to see how he does at Charlotte.

Against UNC, we will likely keep our foot on the gas the entire game. Against Charlotte there is a pretty high chance we will have subs in for a chunk and we might still be figuring out a few things. You never know how it will work out.

[Yosef84]

10-2 with losses at USC and either ULL or Troy (but not both) is what I'm expecting. But I also think anything between 12-0 and 7-5 is possible.

Agree, and extending into post season it's anything between 14-0 and 7-6...

Talk about hedging your bet. If this team goes 7-5 then loses a really crappy bowl there will be swarms of locusts and other end of days events. Even 6-6 with a bowl win is extremely unlikely. I’m sure this thread will go off the rails but dang. Going 14-0 would be unreal but another plus 10 win season will be great.

If this year's team goes 7-6, I won't be reading this message board anymore because the language on here will scorch my aging retinas and leave me blind. Seriously, I don't even want to think about the fan reaction if that happened.

[Longrifle28]

There is no comparison right now between Satterfield and Drinkwitz. Satterfield is accomplished, Drinkwitz has to prove himself as a head coach.

I like the way Drinkwitz talks but the proof will be in the pudding. The cupboard was not bare when he took over and with all of the players that are named to watch lists we are supposed to be really good this year. Hopefully this translates on the field. I know there can be hiccups when things change but hopefully we haven't fixed what wasn't broke.

[Rick83]

10-2 with losses at USC and either ULL or Troy (but not both) is what I'm expecting. But I also think anything between 12-0 and 7-5 is possible.

Agree, and extending into post season it's anything between 14-0 and 7-6...

Talk about hedging your bet. If this team goes 7-5 then loses a really crappy bowl there will be swarms of locusts and other end of days events. Even 6-6 with a bowl win is extremely unlikely. I’m sure this thread will go off the rails but dang. Going 14-0 would be unreal but another plus 10 win season will be great.

If this year's team goes 7-6, I won't be reading this message board anymore because the language on here will scorch my aging retinas and leave me blind. Seriously, I don't even want to think about the fan reaction if that happened.

You're right, it'd be like when we lost to Liberty and David Jackson had to stop taking callers on the post game radio show.

[EastHallApp]

Healy could be worse than Lambert. Lambert was looked upon very favorably by your fanbase.

Drink has been a successful OC for many years. If you’re going to question App’s coaching change I’d look on the defensive side.

App will be a three TD favorite vs UNCC.

Roof is definitely not a downgrade from Brown.

I hope you're right. I don't think you can make such a definitive statement at this point.

[EastHallApp]

Drinkwitz has never been a head coach before, high school or college.

Satterfield took a underacheiving FCS team and turned them into a Top 25 FBS program in six years.

Right now, Satt's the better coach by miles.

If by "better" you mean "more accomplished," then certainly. But those are not synonymous.

Satt is far more proven as a HC than Drinkwitz. It remains to be seen who's better.

(Same logic applies to my previous comment about Roof vs. Brown.)

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

15-0 is our ceiling. Clemson who?

[AppySprayberry]

I suppose we could dig in as deep as you wanted to, but Lambert was a 22-48 coach and it does not take too much to beat that record. Satterfield was 51-24, and maintaining your position as top of your conference is always going to be beating the odds. Math and the history of college football tells us that long term almost all teams revert to the mean. Perhaps you just don't buy that concept.

Thanks for enlightening us, but it doesn't take maintaining our position at the top of our conference, or even beating the mean, to beat UNCC in football. Perhaps you just don't buy that concept.

[hapapp]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I realize its part of the fun of anticipating the season and I think we all have great expectations. But, we really don't know what this team will look like based on such turnover on the staff. The good news is we have a veteran team that should be focused on accomplishing heights we have yet scaled. But, I'll reserve judgment until we actually see the team perform on the field.