Dana Holgersen is trash

Urbandale2013

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I mean, I guess I am not either if the players are okay with it. However, actively asking your top 10 seniors to redshirt only after a tough start to the season is a bit shady, imo. I've also never heard it done before, so it could be more prevalent and we just don't hear about it.
Probably the first time since the rule is new. Forcing them to redshirt would be ******. I’m ok if there is buy in though.
 

3TrueFans

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Maybe a semantics argument but to me tanking is purposely losing.
So no team is ever tanking unless they're doing things like purposely missing passes, or purposely fumbling the ball away?

No athlete, pro or college, is going out there and purposely losing games unless they have some shady **** happening on the side. The organization may try to tank though by selling off high value players, or just not fielding competitive teams, or in the case of college football just sitting players until next year.
 

srjclone

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Probably the first time since the rule is new. Forcing them to redshirt would be ******. I’m ok if there is buy in though.
yeah, forcing is bush league. I was a bit confused by the person tweeting's situation though. He said he was forced to stay in Houston as the team traveled for a game. Was this because he was being asked to redshirt and would not? Or did they think he was being an annoyance when he found out about the redshirts of their top seniors? I was a bit unclear on that.
 
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DFWClone

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Not sure how Dana asking his players to take a Redshirt makes him trash.

So because they’re seniors that makes him trash? Thousands of freshman are asked/told to take a redshirt every year.

It’s a yes or no question. You either want to play football for another year or you don’t. Pick whichever you want to do and move out.

Player is a big baby. Just wait till he finds out his future boss can ask him to do things and he won’t even have the choice to say yes or no to without the risk of being fired. He is going to be in for a rough time.
 

srjclone

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Not sure how Dana asking his players to take a Redshirt makes him trash.

So because they’re seniors that makes him trash? Thousands of freshman are asked/told to take a redshirt every year.

It’s a yes or no question. You either want to play football for another year or you don’t. Pick whichever you want to do and move out.

Player is a big baby. Just wait till he finds out his future boss can ask him to do things and he won’t even have the choice to say yes or no to without the risk of being fired. He is going to be in for a rough time.
tbf, he didn't have a choice to say yes or no this time either.
 

BillBrasky4Cy

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I read this last night. I couldn't follow exactly what the kid's claims or complaints were.
Just that Houston wanted him to redshirt and/or play injured?

The last interaction with Holgersen is a bad look. He easily could have stood up and shook the kid's hand, said good luck.

I guess I didn't immediately see the outrage this kid was trying to incite, or maybe I didn't understand what the point of this thread was.

Would you go as far as saying that it was "unprofessional"?
 

SpokaneCY

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So no team is ever tanking unless they're doing things like purposely missing passes, or purposely fumbling the ball away?

No athlete, pro or college, is going out there and purposely losing games unless they have some shady **** happening on the side. The organization may try to tank though by selling off high value players, or just not fielding competitive teams, or in the case of college football just sitting players until next year.

What about keeping the redshirt on a freshman who is better than the starters who are upper classmen?
 

BillBrasky4Cy

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Not sure how Dana asking his players to take a Redshirt makes him trash.

So because they’re seniors that makes him trash? Thousands of freshman are asked/told to take a redshirt every year.

It’s a yes or no question. You either want to play football for another year or you don’t. Pick whichever you want to do and move out.

Player is a big baby. Just wait till he finds out his future boss can ask him to do things and he won’t even have the choice to say yes or no to without the risk of being fired. He is going to be in for a rough time.

I didn't get the impression that this was optional...
 

LivntheCyLife

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I'm not sure that is "tanking" to me? Seems smart to set your roster and your talent if you have lofty (and achievable) goals for the next season?

I don't know if it's even smart. It comes across as pathetic to me. As a new coach it tells me you don't have the confidence that you can go out and recruit your guys that will be better than your current seniors. As a new coach, one of your best recruiting advantages is that you can tell your recruits there's instant playing time and you're going to build a program with them. By holding back your seniors you're throwing part of that advantage away.
 

3TrueFans

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What about keeping the redshirt on a freshman who is better than the starters who are upper classmen?
I'd say context matters. Are teams red shirting star Freshmen that would otherwise be day 1 starters? If they are, are they doing it with one guy for a particular reason or doing it with multiple players in order to be better the next season?
 

FinalFourCy

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Maybe a semantics argument but to me tanking is purposely losing. I guess to me it is similar enough to normal redshirting that I’m ok. I’m not a huge fan of it bu any means but at least it isn’t purposely losing like you see in the pros.
Right, there’s no draft pick that they’re chasing.

Redshirting for future returns is fundamental to college football. So is signing a freshman rather than going all in on transfers and JUCOs because of the payoff down the road.

Programs invest in the future at the expense of the current season all the time. It’s reasonable that expense would be greater in a transition year.
 

SpokaneCY

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I'd say context matters. Are teams red shirting star Freshmen that would otherwise be day 1 starters? If they are, are they doing it with one guy for a particular reason or doing it with multiple players in order to be better the next season?

I can see it both ways - both with "asking" the seniors to redshirt and not playing freshman.

I'm not prepared to label Dana as trash, but this one player obviously didn't have the best experiences throughout his college career. I would hope that any true leader of a football program would give at least a basic amount of respect for these kids' efforts over the years.
 

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I'm not sure that is "tanking" to me? Seems smart to set your roster and your talent if you have lofty (and achievable) goals for the next season?
They're purposely not putting their best players out there in hopes that they'll be in a better position to win next year. That is the definition of tanking. Doesn't make it wrong. Doesn't make it stupid. But it's tanking. No two ways about it.
 

3TrueFans

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I can see it both ways - both with "asking" the seniors to redshirt and not playing freshman.

I'm not prepared to label Dana as trash, but this one player obviously didn't have the best experiences throughout his college career. I would hope that any true leader of a football program would give at least a basic amount of respect for these kids' efforts over the years.
What about the seniors that don't get asked to red shirt or can't red shirt though? It's not like the pros, they only get so many years. It doesn't seem like it's right to basically say sorry this year of your eligibility, maybe your last year of eligibility, isn't going to be focused on winning but instead focused on preparing for next year after you're gone.
 

AuH2O

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I think that's playing with fire by Holgerson. It's a semantics argument whether or not it's tanking. At best I'd consider it similar to a baseball team selling around the AS break. I suppose it's a little different than a hard-core tank job like in the NBA when teams sit available players with the goal actually being to lose that season. It's a fine line, and not sure it matters if you want to call it tanking or not.

I think it's a bad long-term strategy, though. Unlike pro sports where you have a draft to build players, in CFB you get talent by winning games and creating an atmosphere players want to take part in. Forcing someone to do that, punting on a season when it's not even half way through, and leaving guys that have already redshirted in a big disadvantage this season isn't a good way to attract players.
 
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DeereClone

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I don't like Holgerson but this kid was all over the place with his tweets and story. From CTE, to corporate tax evasion, to paying college players, to forced red-shirts, and a confusing story on why he didn't travel to that game?

Seems like this guy was looking to make a name for himself.
 

harimad

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If sitting your experienced and talented players because this season isn't going well in order to prepare for next season isn't tanking then what is?
Agree. Tanking doesn't require a draft pick at the end of tunnel. It's any tangible benefit, such as the possibility of a stronger two-deep next year that you wouldn't otherwise have because these kids are in their final year of eligibility.
 

Bigman38

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This seems like a good strategy on the Xbox and a god awful strategy in real life. How could you ever keep the locker room when you roll over and give up 4 games into a season. How much development and experience is being gained when everyone knows you’ve given up?
 

thatguy

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so you're telling me the guy that disappeared and showed up drunk 30 minutes before kick off of a bowl game is a little bit of an *******? I don't believe it