GM 12 Football vs James Madison 12pm Saturday Nov 23 FloFootball.com

[ramster]

Last game of the year and our toughest FCS opponent

[DukesFan]

Howdy, Group of 4 of us are headed up to Rhode Island to watch the Dukes play on the 23rd. Would appreciate any insights or suggestions folks have for pre game activities, food, pubs or breweries. We are traveling to and from Newport. Hope to see some folks around the game.

[Brian Forster]

Brick Alley Pub is awesome in Newport.
There are 3 breweries on the (small) island that all get good reviews.
Short uber ride.
Most of Newport is walking distance with great restaurants and bars,particularly in offseason.
The only advice i would give is too stay away from the more expensive ones. Some are sky high.
Tough to live up to those price points.

[DukesFan]

Brick Alley Pub is awesome in Newport.
There are 3 breweries on the (small) island that all get good reviews.
Short uber ride.
Most of Newport is walking distance with great restaurants and bars,particularly in offseason.
The only advice i would give is too stay away from the more expensive ones. Some are sky high.
Tough to live up to those price points.

Thanks. If there is any tailgaiting spots that are good prior to the game and people would mind a set of Dukes fans joining im happy to bring some beer, food and laughs.

[rambone 78]

Our team will provide the laughs.

Should be an easy one for you guys.

[Brian Forster]

The south side has very nice tailgating area. North side is fine when well attended,but just a parking lot.
need parking pass on south side. Can always ask to drive in.
Doubt there will be much activity that day.
Or could carry cooler in.
Between match up and weather,would suggest late breakfast,then bring a few beers in around 11:30.
The mood is pretty grim up there right now.

[ATPTourFan]

Prediction: PAIN

[NYGFan_Section208]

How do you have the ball for 18 of the first 28 minutes...and be down 31-jack?

[JimSidd]

To no one’s surprise, JMU up 31-0. It’s 1:12 PM and they’ve already reached halftime. You think JMU is rushing the ball well?
I went to the other four home games and the game at Brown but couldn’t bring myself to attend this one, knowing how badly it would go. I assume the crowd is small and will be worse in the second half given the score.

[Rhodymob05]

Jim needs to go but thank you to the seniors for giving us a solid 2018 and for givin it their all.

[rambone 78]

If Fleming isn't fired next week, the problem isn't him.

It's Thorr. With blinders on.

I don't want to hear any more bullshit about "but oh we were so close in so many games!"

Losing close games happens to everyone.

We've made it an art form.

Building the program, my ass. Last year was an aberration, certainly not a trend.

[PeterRamTime]

If Fleming isn't fired next week, the problem isn't him.

It's Thorr. With blinders on.

I don't want to hear any more bullshit about "but oh we were so close in so many games!"

Losing close games happens to everyone.

We've made it an art form.

Building the program, my ass. Last year was an aberration, certainly not a trend.

They have to.

They may be able to get someone decent if they can convince the talent that's there to stay.

[rambone 78]

The "talent" except for WR, isn't there.

There certainly isn't much on defense.

Basically, it comes down to this: If URI is happy winning 2-3 games a year, Jim Fleming's your man.

They can continue to get by paying squat for assistants.

There just isn't enough interest, nor anyone willing to pay millions, to change the status quo when it comes to this program.

Trying to win with smoke and mirrors just isn't happening.

Talk is cheap. And URI certainly is cheap in this case.

If they want to be as good as a James Madison, then they have to commit comparable money to football.

We all know that's impossible...and Thorr and Dooley know it too.

[EasyEdBrown]

There just isn't enough interest, nor anyone willing to pay millions, to change the status quo when it comes to this program.

Funny comment to make less than a year after the team set Season ticket holder records, and people literally paid millions to change the status quo for the program...

[rambone 78]

Yeah we have lights and turf....big whoop. Also the revenue from games is a pittance.

Stop making excuses.

[EasyEdBrown]

I know, I hate when I'm so deep in my mads that I just say untrue things too.

I mean, lights and turf is a really big whoop. And a season ticket base that set records isn't a pittance, no matter how much you want it to be. The program is undeniably in better shape in November 2019 than November 2017.

But, since I seem to have nothing better to do on a Saturday night...I don't even know what excuses I've made for what. Can you help me out here?

[TruePoint]

Good job good effort

[PeterRamTime]

The "talent" except for WR, isn't there.

There certainly isn't much on defense.

Basically, it comes down to this: If URI is happy winning 2-3 games a year, Jim Fleming's your man.

They can continue to get by paying squat for assistants.

There just isn't enough interest, nor anyone willing to pay millions, to change the status quo when it comes to this program.

Trying to win with smoke and mirrors just isn't happening.

Talk is cheap. And URI certainly is cheap in this case.

If they want to be as good as a James Madison, then they have to commit comparable money to football.

We all know that's impossible...and Thorr and Dooley know it too.

I see where you're coming from, but I disagree.

We had the talent to go to the playoffs in back to back years and the coaching has just been inexplicable, losing the close games we have lost.

Maybe because our assistants are underpaid, but I mean, Jim and Will Fleming have straight up failed us with decision making. We've had top tier recruiting classes and all that. Just lost in ridiculous ways.

You see how good VT is?

We were in that game in the fourth quarter.

Cant say we dont have the talent.

We just gave up.

[rambone 78]

Yeah we lost some close ones, but we got hammered against Elon, W&M, and JMU, all late in the season.

We are MIILES away from competing against the better programs in the CAA.

We have some talent, but what has this coaching staff done with it? Horrible decision making way more often than not.

And that's my main point....it's time to find someone who can max out what we do have.

We aren't likely to ever consistently compete with the big dogs though. We just aren't.

[Brian Forster]

Rambone-correct on the results and coaching. But the support has been great.
The west stands,field,lights,new weight room,end zone suites and attendance are awesome.

[rambone 78]

Rambone-correct on the results and coaching. But the support has been great.
The west stands,field,lights,new weight room,end zone suites and attendance are awesome.

Well then start increasing the salary pool to bring in a better and deeper coaching staff.

That to me, is the logical next step, isn't it?

URI's football assistant staff is amateur hour compared to other CAA programs.

How many assistants do we actually have, compared to the league average?

This goes back to the Stowers days, when URI refused to accommodate the coach's request for better pay for his assistants.

Everything went to shit after that.

[Brian Forster]

Agree 100 % on the salary pool.
The state has not increased the budget since 2007 for the entire school.
Can they use alumni funds for salary?

[rambone 78]

To max out your talent, you need talent at the top...as in the entire staff.

URI does not have a quality staff for what they are trying to do.

You get what you pay for....Fleming makes a competitive salary, but his assistants do not.

And from what I know, they don't have as many assistants as the average CAA school...they are spread too thin.....case in point...Fleming's son is the OC and isn't qualified for the job. Results prove that! Who else wants that job if they won't pay enough for it?

Everybody involved with the program knows what the problems are...yet nothing is done to address it.

[ramster]

[Brian]

From a resource/facility standpoint, we don't go from where we are now to being on par with JMU, W&M etc overnight or maybe ever. Figuring out how to do more with less and still competing with state schools like UNH & Maine is step one. I understand that coaching and a QB aren't independent of the resource issue, but they make a huge difference.

[Brian]

Having attended or watched every game this year, poor play calling/clock management that would make a Pop Warner coach cringe was the (only) deciding factor in AT LEAST 3 of our losses. No one that also saw these games can convince me otherwise. Regardless of whether the funds are even available, if the head coach wants to increase the salary pool for assistants to take a step forward as a program, he'd have a better argument if we went .500-ish this season as opposed to winless in the conference.

[Brian Forster]

I am with Brian.
Not quite sure what the prerequiste "illegal substitution" (too many men on the field) penalties have to do with salary.
There are under funded programs at Rhody that do well (soccer,track),etc..
For crying out loud-football is giving those programs $$!!

[rambone 78]

If they are going to keep Fleming around any longer, they need to force him to hire an OC that knows his shit, and pay him accordingly.

That's a start.

If he refuses, fire him.

[Brian Forster]

He will quit or be fired before reassigning his son.
99.9% of head coaches same.

[Brian]

My understanding was that there was supposed to be administrative intervention about the son before the 2018 season but then it never happened.

Rambone, do you know the actual salaries of our top level assistant coaches? If we wanted to hire an experienced OC from, say, a successful NEC or Patriot League program, would they have to take a paycut to come here? Unless the answer is yes, it once again appears that there are incremental options available between improving our current situation and paying our assistants the same that James Madison pays theirs.

[Brian]

I am with Brian.
Not quite sure what the prerequiste "illegal substitution" (too many men on the field) penalties have to do with salary.
There are under funded programs at Rhody that do well (soccer,track),etc..
For crying out loud-football is giving those programs $$!!

Agreed. When we have multiple penalties for illegal formations or 12 men on the field in November games, that's a discipline issue unrelated to coaching salaries.

The URI baseball team made the NCAA Tourney in 2016 and even won a game despite significant funding, facilities and scholarship discrepancies relative to their counterparts in the A10, let alone schools in the SEC.