So what's the deal with Quay Evans and Nick James?

[HereComesTheSpiral]

Was Templeton Hardy just lazy for the 5 years he held a scholarship and wasn't he highly recruited out of high school? Seems to me that Dan will not play someone that won't put any effort in no matter how highly you were rated coming in. Hopefully the message is getting through.

[Todd4State]

Quay and Nick struggled off the field at times last year - the classroom being one of them, which led to their lack of playing time. Let's hope we don't have a repeat this year.

Which again was stupid. You don't hurt the team by putting a guy out there that can't get the job done because he did "everything right in practice". I would have been OK with rewarding Cherry by giving him the starting nod- which would have reinforced his good work ethic and given him the spotlight- but we should have played Quay,Nick, and PJ WAY more than we did.

Chris was also extremely over the top strict at times as well- this is something that doesn't get discussed a lot as well.

[Todd4State]

Was Templeton Hardy just lazy for the 5 years he held a scholarship and wasn't he highly recruited out of high school? Seems to me that Dan will not play someone that won't put any effort in no matter how highly you were rated coming in. Hopefully the message is getting through.

I don't think he was that highly recruited at all. He was rated five stars for some unexplainable reason. It was questioned when he was being recruited. My guess is since he is from North Panola Yancy probably figured that they were going to get him and over rated him and then he commits to MSU and thus began the spin cycle.

And why wouldn't we keep him around? We needed o-linemen even if they were warm bodies to practice against.

[maroonmania]

Which again was stupid. You don't hurt the team by putting a guy out there that can't get the job done because he did "everything right in practice". I would have been OK with rewarding Cherry by giving him the starting nod- which would have reinforced his good work ethic and given him the spotlight- but we should have played Quay,Nick, and PJ WAY more than we did.

Chris was also extremely over the top strict at times as well- this is something that doesn't get discussed a lot as well.

That classroom thing has kind of puzzled me in that I thought it was reported here or somewhere that Quay, at least, was doing very well academically.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Templeton Hardy was rated highly as a DT. If I'm not mistaken, he was a four-star DT. I thought he should have remained at DT.

As far as Chris Wilson being "extremely over the top strict" goes, I don't believe there is a such thing. No such thing as being too strict when we're talking about athletic competition. People may say Saban is "too strict", but that's what sets him apart - demanding excellence.

Just my opinion ....

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

I think templeton had an offer from oklahoma

[engie]

Templeton Hardy was rated highly as a DT. If I'm not mistaken, he was a four-star DT. I thought he should have remained at DT.

As far as Chris Wilson being "extremely over the top strict" goes, I don't believe there is a such thing. No such thing as being too strict when we're talking about athletic competition. People may say Saban is "too strict", but that's what sets him apart - demanding excellence.

Just my opinion ....

So, him taking away cell phones of DL players on game weekends -- when the rest of the team got to keep theirs including the rest of the defense that he was in charge of -- wouldn't be considered "over the top strict"?

That's noncongruent -- and basically guarantees that players don't respect you. Top it off by getting into PUBLIC shouting matches with the physical and emotional leaders on our defense because they see your shitty scheme isn't working after trying, repeatedly, to get you to change things to help the team as well as them personally -- and what you've got is certainly "too strict"... AND it "lost him" the defense last year...It's so obvious in hindsight that the team quit on him.

[Coach34]

That classroom thing has kind of puzzled me in that I thought it was reported here or somewhere that Quay, at least, was doing very well academically.

Quay is a very good student. Hell, he graduated early

[SheltonChoked]

Even if they don't go pro after 3 years, How many people think they will stay 5 years? I don't. Then it is better to have them play 4 rather than 3. That's why they didn't redshirt.

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

James played ok last yeAr but every time quay was in he was in the backfield shortly aftee. He caused several fumbles and recoveries. He is a beast

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

The problem was wilson. The team followed banks lead and banks was against wilsons calls. There was a lot of internal shit going down on defense last year. Or so I hear.....

[Todd4State]

Templeton Hardy was rated highly as a DT. If I'm not mistaken, he was a four-star DT. I thought he should have remained at DT.

As far as Chris Wilson being "extremely over the top strict" goes, I don't believe there is a such thing. No such thing as being too strict when we're talking about athletic competition. People may say Saban is "too strict", but that's what sets him apart - demanding excellence.

Just my opinion ....

What engie said. Saban is tough on everyone on the team. And he sure as hell won't penalize the entire team by playing a walk-on or someone that shouldn't play every down just because that player does everything he is asked to do.

[engie]

The problem was wilson. The team followed banks lead and banks was against wilsons calls. There was a lot of internal shit going down on defense last year. Or so I hear.....

Exactly...

Could you imagine being a "leader" on a team trying to play in that scheme last year knowing how it was hurting the team and basically everyone as individuals? There was a disconnect there that wasn't going to be fixed as long as Wilson was calling plays and maybe never...

I didn't see it at the time and actually took up for Wilson prior to the Egg Bowl loss -- but I see it clearly in hindsight, especially as more and more leaks out about the players' relationships with him...

You can listen to PJ Jones in a recent interview talking about the differences in the coaching styles between the two -- and basically tell that he hated Wilson without ever actually saying it...

[TrueMaroon]

Its not fair to compare either player to Fletcher. Fletcher was the definition of FREAK. Quay and Nick dont arent the same type dlineman.

Fletcher added 50 pounds of full grown man to his frame to make him what he was, and he still ran a 4.7.

Quay and Nick are having to take it off and arent nearly on his level after year one. Chris Wilson told several people Fletcher was a 3 year player 1st round pick after his first spring. Ive yet to see or hear anything close to that on Quay and Nick.

[MSUDawg4Life]

What engie said. Saban is tough on everyone on the team. And he sure as hell won't penalize the entire team by playing a walk-on or someone that shouldn't play every down just because that player does everything he is asked to do.

Saban's a head coach. Wilson was a defensive coordinator. Not surprising that Saban is tough on everyone on the team while Wilson couldn't be. I still don't have a problem with being tough on a team.

We can and have debated Wilson's personnel decisions or strategy decisions, but that doesn't have anything to do with being tough. Those are separate issues.

[engie]

Saban's a head coach. Wilson was a defensive coordinator. Not surprising that Saban is tough on everyone on the team while Wilson couldn't be. I still don't have a problem with being tough on a team.

We can and have debated Wilson's personnel decisions or strategy decisions, but that doesn't have anything to do with being tough. Those are separate issues.

Where has anyone said "they didn't like wilson because he was tough?" You are off on a tangent here.

Saban over a team = Saban tough on the team. Wilson over a defense = Wilson being tough on the DL in matters OUTSIDE of football while not enforcing the same rules on everyone else he's in charge of. Saban = congruent. Wilson = double-standard.

No one is complaining about Wilson "being tough" on the team. We're complaining about him treating his position group BADLY/differently than the rest of the defense -- being an idiot -- and then totally losing control of the defense.

"Tough" only works if you execute it correctly -- and treat everyone fairly. Do it wrong, and it'll lose you a team in about 5 seconds. Wilson did it wrong.

[Todd4State]

Saban's a head coach. Wilson was a defensive coordinator. Not surprising that Saban is tough on everyone on the team while Wilson couldn't be. I still don't have a problem with being tough on a team.

We can and have debated Wilson's personnel decisions or strategy decisions, but that doesn't have anything to do with being tough. Those are separate issues.

I'm all for being tough. I think Dan is tough on our team as well. Same with Hevesey if you want a non-head coach example. But I'm not for crossing the line to the point where guys don't perform for you or it causes a coach to make poor personnel decisions in the name of "discipline". That was part of what was going on with Chris.

Even Vince Lombardi had to relent at times so that he wouldn't lose his team. He had Paul Hornung on his teams and he was about as big a party animal as there ever was in the NFL. Yet he still started despite the fact that I'm sure he broke a few team rules here and there.

But with Chris it all goes back to being hard headed and the sad thing is I think Quay and Nick kind of get caught in the crossfire unfairly.