Took a gander at the UNC Bears Roster to see what it is we'll be seeing from our FCS neighbors. It's been over a decade since they joined division I although in many ways, they still have a lot of remnants it seems of the division II days when they were dominant.
First off, I was amazed at the size of their roster. For a squad limited to 65 scholarships, they have a bigger listed roster than CU (108 to 102). Here is the breakdown of their roster:
By State/Country:
Rhode Island - 1
Indiana - 1
Nebraska - 1
Utah - 1
Alabama - 1
Illinois - 1
Missouri - 1
Georgia (state) - 1
Sweden - 1
Syria - 1
Arizona - 2
Louisiana - 2
North Carolina - 2
Washington (state) - 2
Ohio - 2
Oklahoma - 3
Nevada - 5
Michigan - 3
Florida - 4
California - 12
Texas - 16
Colorado - 45
By Region:
South East - 10
South West - 18
Midwest/Plains - 12
West - 19
East - 1
Mountain - 46
Europe - 2
By Class:
Freshman (true) - 38
Freshmen (redshirt) - 11
Sophomore (true) - 12
Sophomore (redshirt) - 10
Junior (true) - 10
Junior (redshirt) - 14
Senior (true) - 2
Senior (redshirt) - 3
Senior (Graduate) - 8
How they got there:
High School - 75
JUCO - 11
DI Transfer - 18
FCS Transfer - 4
Some interesting names on their roster:
Dylan McCaffrey - Senior/QB - Michigan Transfer
Dylan Thomas - Senior/WR - TCU Transfer (started some games there)
Tru Wilson - Senior /RB - Michigan Transfer (scholarship RB at Mich)
Uryan Hudson - Senior/DB - Colorado transfer (Chris Hudson's nephew, a good player who was too small at CU)
Tava Finau - Sophomore/DL - Colorado transfer (was once a hopeful CU lineman)
Austin Williams - Sophomore/DL - Colorado transfer (like Finau, once a hopeful CU lineman)
Kassidy Woods - Sophomore/WR - WSU transfer, former 4* recruit
Dylan Emery - Freshman/DB - Transfer from CSU, former teammate of Christian Gonzales and Keith Miller
Overall roster look:
Definitely a better roster than they've had in years past. Prior coach did well recruiting a better athlete and better prep players from in state. Went out to Texas and Cali and got dudes. McCaffrey really worked the graduate transfer portal hard and got some guys from the midwest (Michigan, Indiana, Cincinatti). He has a staff though that is a head scratcher. His son is on the staff, Max McCaffrey as the offensive coordinator. No doubt Ed will be the main offensive mind but an interesting twist there. It will be similar to what Hawkins is doing with he and his son at FCS UC Davis. Ed's defensive coordinator was the DC at Valor. Bowens, Raterink, Palazzo and others were high school coaches in Colorado as well (mostly at Valor). He retained 2 coaches from the Collins' staff including TEs coach Armour, and coach LB Ashby (who was a GA). This could either be the worst idea ever or the best idea ever. I mean, it worked at Houston with Briles although Briles did spend a couple of years as an assistant in college. I guess when nothing seems to be working, you have to think outside the box if you're UNC-G. A better roster for sure thanks to Collins and then McCaffrey getting some transfers in. Very large squad too. The biggest I've seen at UNC-G. Will make for some interesting story lines this year.
Expecations?
Who knows at this point. The staff is a bit of a sideshow. They didn't play at all last year but they've had a ton of time to practice and get things right. 22 transfers and 11 JUCOs giving them 33 players that should be ready to play. Several P5 transfers including a trio from CU. Much bigger across the lines than in any years past thanks to transfers and JUCOs. Whether or not the skill positions work out is the big question. QB is the key with Dylan McCaffrey running things. We have no idea how good he is but man did a lot of people on this site want him at CU. I guess we'll see if we still do after the game.
No matter what, the future will be interesting for our FCS neighbors. 49 freshmen and 22 sophomores litter their roster. They have some pieces to build with. Ernie Collins could never turn the corner in a very tough FCS league. We'll see if McCaffrey can take what he did at Valor and transfer it to the FCS level.
First off, I was amazed at the size of their roster. For a squad limited to 65 scholarships, they have a bigger listed roster than CU (108 to 102). Here is the breakdown of their roster:
By State/Country:
Rhode Island - 1
Indiana - 1
Nebraska - 1
Utah - 1
Alabama - 1
Illinois - 1
Missouri - 1
Georgia (state) - 1
Sweden - 1
Syria - 1
Arizona - 2
Louisiana - 2
North Carolina - 2
Washington (state) - 2
Ohio - 2
Oklahoma - 3
Nevada - 5
Michigan - 3
Florida - 4
California - 12
Texas - 16
Colorado - 45
By Region:
South East - 10
South West - 18
Midwest/Plains - 12
West - 19
East - 1
Mountain - 46
Europe - 2
By Class:
Freshman (true) - 38
Freshmen (redshirt) - 11
Sophomore (true) - 12
Sophomore (redshirt) - 10
Junior (true) - 10
Junior (redshirt) - 14
Senior (true) - 2
Senior (redshirt) - 3
Senior (Graduate) - 8
How they got there:
High School - 75
JUCO - 11
DI Transfer - 18
FCS Transfer - 4
Some interesting names on their roster:
Dylan McCaffrey - Senior/QB - Michigan Transfer
Dylan Thomas - Senior/WR - TCU Transfer (started some games there)
Tru Wilson - Senior /RB - Michigan Transfer (scholarship RB at Mich)
Uryan Hudson - Senior/DB - Colorado transfer (Chris Hudson's nephew, a good player who was too small at CU)
Tava Finau - Sophomore/DL - Colorado transfer (was once a hopeful CU lineman)
Austin Williams - Sophomore/DL - Colorado transfer (like Finau, once a hopeful CU lineman)
Kassidy Woods - Sophomore/WR - WSU transfer, former 4* recruit
Dylan Emery - Freshman/DB - Transfer from CSU, former teammate of Christian Gonzales and Keith Miller
Overall roster look:
Definitely a better roster than they've had in years past. Prior coach did well recruiting a better athlete and better prep players from in state. Went out to Texas and Cali and got dudes. McCaffrey really worked the graduate transfer portal hard and got some guys from the midwest (Michigan, Indiana, Cincinatti). He has a staff though that is a head scratcher. His son is on the staff, Max McCaffrey as the offensive coordinator. No doubt Ed will be the main offensive mind but an interesting twist there. It will be similar to what Hawkins is doing with he and his son at FCS UC Davis. Ed's defensive coordinator was the DC at Valor. Bowens, Raterink, Palazzo and others were high school coaches in Colorado as well (mostly at Valor). He retained 2 coaches from the Collins' staff including TEs coach Armour, and coach LB Ashby (who was a GA). This could either be the worst idea ever or the best idea ever. I mean, it worked at Houston with Briles although Briles did spend a couple of years as an assistant in college. I guess when nothing seems to be working, you have to think outside the box if you're UNC-G. A better roster for sure thanks to Collins and then McCaffrey getting some transfers in. Very large squad too. The biggest I've seen at UNC-G. Will make for some interesting story lines this year.
Expecations?
Who knows at this point. The staff is a bit of a sideshow. They didn't play at all last year but they've had a ton of time to practice and get things right. 22 transfers and 11 JUCOs giving them 33 players that should be ready to play. Several P5 transfers including a trio from CU. Much bigger across the lines than in any years past thanks to transfers and JUCOs. Whether or not the skill positions work out is the big question. QB is the key with Dylan McCaffrey running things. We have no idea how good he is but man did a lot of people on this site want him at CU. I guess we'll see if we still do after the game.
No matter what, the future will be interesting for our FCS neighbors. 49 freshmen and 22 sophomores litter their roster. They have some pieces to build with. Ernie Collins could never turn the corner in a very tough FCS league. We'll see if McCaffrey can take what he did at Valor and transfer it to the FCS level.
