(Photo courtesy of the Jackrabbit Ticket Office Twitter account)
For those who have followed the blog over these last four years, you may remember that my "Rants & Raves" are pretty muted for the season finale and more encompassing of the entire state of the program. This year, will be much of the same following the Jackrabbit's loss to Sam Houston in the National Championship game.
Rave: To the players, thank you for this season. The last year with the COVID pandemic, Presidential election, and civil unrest has been challenging for so many reasons. This isn't a "shut-up and play ball" post but it is a genuine thank you for giving us something positive to focus on. The love of the Jackrabbits and football unites across so many of our differences. It was fun just to have something positive after such a challenging year.
Rave: Again, thank you to the players. You sacrificed your bodies this spring. You sacrificed much of your social life. You sacrificed time with your families. All so you could play football this spring. Your sacrifices elevated the program to new heights that few dreamt of for football when they transitioned from division II. Thank you!
Rave: Jackrabbit fans who showed up this spring, you were incredible. Every game, but especially the playoff games, had an electric atmosphere. If you are a fan who wasn't able to make it to Frisco, you really really missed out. The atmosphere was unlike anything I have ever been a part of, Summit League Tournament included. The fact that there was noticeably more Jackrabbit fans in Toyota stadium says something about our fanbase and the direction it is headed. It is ready to explode and continued success will do that. Get your season tickets now.
Rant: Special teams must become more consistent from snap to snap. The snapping needs to be better, the kicking needs to be better, kick-offs have to stop landing out of bounds, and we have to stop letting the ball role on punts. Our coverage units, punting, and kick return units are excellent, lets shore up the rest!
Rave: The depth on this team is incredible and only going to be more noticeable in the fall season. This team isn't going anywhere. Below is a quick overview of each group.
- The defensive line will return everyone and I expect young guns like Jarod DePriest, Brandon Lane, Caden Johnson, and Randy Keumogne to only push for more and more reps.
- The linebacker group takes a hit with the graduation of Preston Tetzlaff but Graham Spalding and Payton Shafer played some really valuable reps this season and will step in and likely be pushed by other young backers on the roster.
- The secondary returns everyone and the true and redshirt freshman earned valuable reps throughout the season. This group will be very good next fall and will be deeper.
- The offensive line should also remain intact unless the three seniors decide to move on. There is also depth in place with young players pushing for the starters job, Bo Donald being the primary person.
- The tight end group returns 3 top caliber players and swiss army-knife Mike Morgan.
- The running back room returns the top 3 backs and will be bolstered by the addition of Josh Buri and Amar Johnson (Yes, he recommitted).
- The wide receiver room improves with the addition of Oklahoma State Grad transfer Landon Wolf and has a slew of talented freshmen who I have heard had great true freshmen seasons. I'm also very intrigued by freshman Stefan Coleman Jr.
Rant: This isn't really a rant but I am very concerned about our quarterback position group. J'Bore's second knee injury will likely prevent him from being ready this fall. There still isn't official word on Mark's knee injury but the initial rumors aren't positive. The Jacks may be in the market for a grad transfer QB to fill the void for one year. They may trust Heide to continue to grow. They may trust Karst Hunter or Rudy Voss or incoming freshman Cade Rice to step up. I don't know the answers but I'm sure Coach Lujan is already working on a plan. This team, as mentioned above, is absolutely loaded and good quarterback play should make the Jackrabbits one of the early favorites to return to Frisco.
Rave: Coach Stig has talked about him throughout the year but Jon Shaeffer, Director of Football Operations, deserves a ton of credit for the unnoticed work he does behind the scenes organizing everything for the Jackrabbits and their travel arrangements. What a challenging year to have this job! But the results speak for themselves. There are countless other folks involved with the team behind the scenes who deserve a ton of credit as well. Thank you!
Rave: The mid-season switch in offensive philosophy by Coach Eck and Coach Schleusner was key to this season. Going from a passing team to a run heavy team I'm sure wasn't an easy decision but the offensive line, tight ends, wide receivers, and running backs responded well and I think it made all the difference as we saw how this team moved forward!
Rant: The Jackrabbit Illustrated team has harped on the number of penalties for three straight seasons. In the National Championship game, especially in the first half, it made things way more difficult than it needed to be. There are games like last week against Delaware when there are zero penalties and then there are days like yesterday where there are plenty. We just need to have fewer.
Rave: One addition that I truly love to this years team was the addition of the mental strength coach, Kris Kracht. This is a position I've wanted the program to add for a few seasons and I am so happy that they did. You can tell from the post game interviews, the players have bought in to what he has taught and they have credited him with their resiliency in tough situations. I think the success of this position will only grow as the players become more engrained with this practice.
Rave: Thank you to my Jackrabbit Illustrated team. Ben, Brendan, Chad, Dallas, Kyle, and Michael. I could not do all of this without you. Thank you for pushing me to try new things and for helping me grow this silly idea into something that is much bigger than all of us. Also, we probably should thank our significant others. Rachel, Ariel, Sam, Niki, Lauren, Emma, and Kelsey for putting up with us spending so much time on this venture. Whether it is putting the kids to bed while we record/stream or joining us in Brookings or on the couch to watch the game, your support is appreciated!
Rave: Thank you to our guests that appeared on the podcast this season. Coach Lujan, Coach Bergstrom, David Michaud, Coach Hahn, Julia Lam, Andrew Sogn, Ali Herdliska, Justin Sell, Ben Fennel, Matt Zimmer, Tyler Merriam, Hank McCall, Brian "Hank" Haenchen, Matt Barrie, Josh Criswell, and Sam Herder. Also, thank you to Jimmie Forsythe, Paul Aanonson, Brandon Snyder, Danny Batten, and Zach Zenner for being interviewed for our Former Player Features. I'm sure I forgot someone but thank you all for your time and insight offered! You make this podcast interesting.
Rave: Thank you to to YOU, our readers and listeners. Without your interaction, comments, and banter this would not be nearly as fun as it is. I was initially pleased when my blog had 100 people read each article. We are now over 500 on everything we put out. Likewise on the Facebook lives and podcast episodes. Our audience, whether live or on re-watches, has exploded and that is due to your "shares" and comments. Thank you!
Finally, we have some exciting news that we will be rolling out this summer. Pay attention as we dive into a few new projects.
Thank you again to everyone! See you in Fort Collins.
Go Jacks,
Matt
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