Bowl Advantage

H-towngreen · November 15, 2013

One of the big advantages of being in a bowl is getting nearly a month of extra practice time. Getting that extra time for the youngsters is huge.

drex · November 15, 2013

Now, now, be nice.

BillySee58 · November 15, 2013

It's true. And also, a couple guys can make their practice debuts with us. Connor Means, our qb recruit who is currently in high school, and Avery Fortenberry, younger brother of Aaron and who is currently grayshirting, will be able to participate in those practices.

H-towngreen · November 15, 2013

Such an insightful post.

Apologies. I'll just go back to the 60+ pages dedicated to talking nonsense about UTSA.

Mean Green 93-98 · November 15, 2013

It's true. And also, a couple guys can make their practice debuts with us. Connor Means, our qb recruit who is currently in high school, and Avery Fortenberry, younger brother of Aaron and who is currently grayshirting, will be able to participate in those practices.

I didn't know that. Still, I doubt that they'll get many reps in practices geared toward bowl preparation.

BillySee58 · November 15, 2013

I didn't know that. Still, I doubt that they'll get many reps in practices geared toward bowl preparation.

Yeah, the month or so in between fall and spring semester is sort of a gray area. Means and Fortenberry can start practicing since they'll be enrolled for classes in the spring and the practices will take place after the fall semester is over. But they can only practice with the team in Denton. They wouldn't be able to practice with the team at the official bowl practices at the site of the bowl.

Alternatively, if you remember a couple years ago in basketball Chris Jones and Jordan Williams were ineligible for the spring semester but they were able to play the games over winter break because it technically wasn't during spring semester, when they were going to be ineligible. That's also when Tony Mitchell was able to start playing since it was no longer fall semester.

I'm sure they'll get plenty of reps with the scout team. Especially for Means. Having early enrollees is great and I hope as our programs takes steps up that we get more of them and definitely more bowl games for that extra month of practice.

H-towngreen · November 15, 2013

Yeah, the month or so in between fall and spring semester is sort of a gray area. Means and Fortenberry can start practicing since they'll be enrolled for classes in the spring and the practices will take place after the fall semester is over. But they can only practice with the team in Denton. They wouldn't be able to practice with the team at the official bowl practices at the site of the bowl.
Alternatively, if you remember a couple years ago in basketball Chris Jones and Jordan Williams were ineligible for the spring semester but they were able to play the games over winter break because it technically wasn't during spring semester, when they were going to be ineligible. That's also when Tony Mitchell was able to start playing since it was no longer fall semester.
I'm sure they'll get plenty of reps with the scout team. Especially for Means. Having early enrollees is great and I hope as our programs takes steps up that we get more of them and definitely more bowl games for that extra month of practice.

The last early enrollee we had was Byrd. I think its a huge benefit to the players to come in, learn the system, get comfortable in college, get in the weight room, etc

Mean Green 93-98 · November 15, 2013

The last early enrollee we had was Byrd. I think its a huge benefit to the players to come in, learn the system, get comfortable in college, get in the weight room, etc

I know you're not counting juco players, but still . . . surely it hasn't been that long, has it?

BillySee58 · November 15, 2013

I know you're not counting juco players, but still . . . surely it hasn't been that long, has it?

Yup. Byrd was our last high school early enrollee.

SouthBendGreen · November 15, 2013

There is no question that closely behind the added money and exposure the extra practice is massive for this team. I was thinking about how good that will be since we are losing so many seniors for the younger kids a lot of extra reps. It is huge!!

shaft · November 16, 2013

Yes, being in a bowl is good for lots of reason.

Teams do get extra practice, but the NCAA still limits the number of practices a bowl team gets. So a team playing in an early bowl gets the same number of teams playing in a late bowl. But overall it is better to have more bowls spread out over November and December.

UNTLifer · November 16, 2013

I like the fact that the season continues through the end of the calendar year, we get a month, January, to follow the NFL playoffs, then we get signing day in February, spring practice in March/April, graduation in May and then two months of uniform talk, snapping at each other, comparing tailgate menus, arguing over Williams/Berglund/McNulty, worrying about our DL, etc... before fall practice begins and we then roll in to Austin and kick some Longhorn ass. Yep, bowls are good.

RushnStudies · November 16, 2013

I like bowl season because if we're in one and there's any way at all my family can get to it, we go, and that's more fans in the stands, which is an advantage. And if the bowl game is in a place that we can't reasonably get to, or is scheduled at a bad time for us to go, I check to see if there's a program where you can sponsor someone local to go. If there is, I buy tickets and donate them.

Forgive my ignorance, but..."grayshirting?"

H-towngreen · November 16, 2013

Forgive my ignorance, but..."grayshirting?"

Basically a delayed scholarship either bc you have no more to offer or you don't think the prospect is ready yet. So the kid pays their own way for the first semester and then is given a scholly.

RushnStudies · November 16, 2013

Basically a delayed scholarship either bc you have no more to offer or you don't think the prospect is ready yet. So the kid pays their own way for the first semester and then is given a scholly.

Oh, okay. I'd heard of the practice but not the term. Thanks for explaining.

BillySee58 · November 16, 2013

Basically a delayed scholarship either bc you have no more to offer or you don't think the prospect is ready yet. So the kid pays their own way for the first semester and then is given a scholly.

The other catch is they can't be a full-time student, so they have to take less than 12 hours their first semester. Once they, or any student athlete or not, becomes a full-time student their 5-year eligibility clock begins, which includes one redshirt year. That much I am sure of.

However, I'm not sure if they can enroll at the university that they are "grayshirting" at or if it has to be a community college. Either way, they also can't practice with the team. Once they join the team they have the 5 seasons to play in 4, they still get their redshirt.