Orlando Sentinel: ACC Spring Football Storylines

CuseJacket

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FSU, Clemson and Miami top our ACC spring football storylines to watch

Found this interesting:
Experience will be commodity in the ACC
The Buzz:
No other league among the Power 5 Conferences will see as much of a drop of returning starters from 2014 to 2015 than the Atlantic Coast Conference. Seven of the 14 teams will start this spring with less than half of the starters from last season in their lineups including Florida State, Clemson, Louisville and Miami. On the flip side, programs like North Carolina (17), Virginia Tech (16), Wake Forest (16) and Pittsburgh (15) return the most experience.
 

Skeptic

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Well, pretty thin piece of work and one should never trust any story that starts in the opening paragraph with a cliche when simple words like "football field" or "practice field" or even just "field" says more and is easier to understand. It is thin because it ignores the reality that GT, for instance, has four starting O linemen back, and that Clemson having to replace guys in the O line is a good thing, because it was a bad offensive line in 2014. In this case subtraction is addition.
 

Whiskey_Clear

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I don't think I've ever seen an oline or dline improve year to year through attrition. The teams with high turnover at the lines of scrimmage next year will be unlikely to improve as a unit next year. Best case scenarios in those instances is usually equalling prior year performance.
 

dressedcheeseside

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I don't think I've ever seen an oline or dline improve year to year through attrition. The teams with high turnover at the lines of scrimmage next year will be unlikely to improve as a unit next year. Best case scenarios in those instances is usually equalling prior year performance.
I can't wait to see our DL next year, assuming Jabari makes it back. Of all the intriguing story lines, that one is the most exciting!

subtract
Shawn Green,

add
Hunt-Days, Whitehead, Cerge-Henderson.....

bring back
freshman AA Keshun Freeman with an added 15 pounds, Adam Gotsis (who I still believe hasn't hit his ceiling yet), Gamble, Simmons, Merriweather, Kallon, Rook-Chungong, Stargel....

and don't forget bring back CMP to coach 'em up!!!
 

mts315

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I don't think I've ever seen an oline or dline improve year to year through attrition. The teams with high turnover at the lines of scrimmage next year will be unlikely to improve as a unit next year. Best case scenarios in those instances is usually equalling prior year performance.
+1...It is highly unlikely that a D-Line or O-Line gets better by replacing the players with players that couldn't beat them out the prior year.
 

AE 87

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+1...It is highly unlikely that a D-Line or O-Line gets better by replacing the players with players that couldn't beat them out the prior year.

I hear you, but individual players do get better from year to year. So a Sr who is better than he was as Jr might also be better than the starter who was better than that Jr the previous year.
 

Skeptic

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I hear you, but individual players do get better from year to year. So a Sr who is better than he was as Jr might also be better than the starter who was better than that Jr the previous year.
I'm not privy to exactly why they think so, but I do know the Clemson staff believes the O line will be better. For that future Heisman candidate's health, it might be wishful thinking though.
 

deeeznutz

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Clemson is also replacing their OC, and I really have no clue what type of scheme their new guy is planning to use. It's possible the OL they have coming up fit their current scheme better than the old guys fit the old scheme.
On that note, does anyone have any ideas what type of system they may run next year? Still hurry-up, or are they toning that down?
 

BBK

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I'm not privy to exactly why they think so, but I do know the Clemson staff believes the O line will be better. For that future Heisman candidate's health, it might be wishful thinking though.
Just guessing, but maybe they thought some of the second stringers had a lot more potential than the starters, but just wanted them to gradually gain experience or wanted them to gain weight, take more time to learn the system, etc.
 

Skeptic

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Clemson is also replacing their OC, and I really have no clue what type of scheme their new guy is planning to use. It's possible the OL they have coming up fit their current scheme better than the old guys fit the old scheme.
On that note, does anyone have any ideas what type of system they may run next year? Still hurry-up, or are they toning that down?
According to Swinney when the OC went to SMU, exactly what he ran. He can go with our best wishes, so to speak, but the two guys left supposedly prepared for the inevitability of it and know it inside and out. But Swinney loves the offense and the hurry up aspect, though I often think those things are more talk than action. One of the reasons he replaced Steele as CC was supposedly that he would not get on board with it, thinking it pushed his defense too hard to make a stop then get right back on the field.
 

iceeater1969

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WHAT COULD BE WORSE FOR OUR OPPONENTS DEFENSE THAN THEIR HURRY UP OFFENSE GOING 3 AND OUT. YOU BETTER BE GOOD AND HAVE A HELL OF A DEFENSE IF YOU RUN THE HURRY UP.
 

Whiskey_Clear

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didn't we lose a bunch of 0-linemen from the '13 team?

Fair point. I think we lost beno, Bailey, Finch, and W. Jackson. I believe Jackson and finch were the only two starting at the end of the year, 2013.

We knew we had some talent coming back and thought we had some new talent that would be good. That unit far surpassed my best hopes in '14 though. Without doubt.
 

Oldgoldandwhite

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I don't think I've ever seen an oline or dline improve year to year through attrition. The teams with high turnover at the lines of scrimmage next year will be unlikely to improve as a unit next year. Best case scenarios in those instances is usually equalling prior year performance.
Ohio St. says hello.
 

Skeptic

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WHAT COULD BE WORSE FOR OUR OPPONENTS DEFENSE THAN THEIR HURRY UP OFFENSE GOING 3 AND OUT. YOU BETTER BE GOOD AND HAVE A HELL OF A DEFENSE IF YOU RUN THE HURRY UP.
Actually, Clemson for one did have a great defense with DC Brent Venables. We worked hard to get two scores off of it, but I'll take a win against them any way we can get it.
 

Whiskey_Clear

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@Skeptic
Are you referencing a rare example or offering oh st as proof that attrition has no bearing on improvement season to season? I'm not at all familiar with oh st two deep 13'-14'
 

Eastman

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WHAT COULD BE WORSE FOR OUR OPPONENTS DEFENSE THAN THEIR HURRY UP OFFENSE GOING 3 AND OUT. YOU BETTER BE GOOD AND HAVE A HELL OF A DEFENSE IF YOU RUN THE HURRY UP.

I am concerned that we will have a hurry up offense this year. With all our speed on offense, our former 15 play "death marches may change to 4 long plays and a touchdown :)
 

Skeptic

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I am concerned that we will have a hurry up offense this year. With all our speed on offense, our former 15 play "death marches may change to 4 long plays and a touchdown :)
One of the analysts commented on how quickly GT got in and out of the huddle and got the play off. I didn't time anything but my impression was that he was right. Anybody think that is Johnson's version of the hurry up? His play calling clearly is one or two words so they can move it if they want to.
 
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