Will Tonga suit up against UNI? I would hold him out, I get the argument that the lateness isn't his fault but he still missed a lot of practice. I worry it sends the wrong message to the team if you bring him in too quick. Of course I completely trust Campbell and crew to already have a plan figured out.
Tongamoa Watch
- Thread starter Hayes30
- Start date
He has done absolutely nothing wrong. I don't see the issue in letting him suite and run through drills like hes part of the team.
Tonga is here, no qb controversy.....what the heck do we freak out about?
When we score like 17 points on uni
http://www.cyclones.com/roster.aspx?path=football
Ah yes
ALSO: Is it just me, or does his head shot look photo shopped?
Ah yes
ALSO: Is it just me, or does his head shot look photo shopped?
He didn't do what he needed to do to get here on time. I don't know the reasons why but trust the staff to give it a fair evaluation. Could be the NCAA's fault but finishing up a class online doesn't sound like that. I'm sure Campbell and company have had similar situations before, if you dress him versus UNI the message could be all the summer workouts and fall camp do not matter. If you have talent just show up a week before game time and we'll play you over one of the guys that put in all that work.i don't get that message from Campbell. He'll have to work his way into playing time.
If he is better than everybody else he should start. If he isn't then he shouldn't. It would be really stupid if he could help us win and doesn't play because he hasn't "put in the time".
I don't think this is a hill worth dying on, if Tongamoa can help win a game, you play him.
You sound like a real Norman Dale.
This isn't high school football. It's not like he said he wasn't going out for football and then decided to come out once 2-a-days were over.
Silly talk to me, this isn't a discipline issue, it is a clearinghouse issue which happens. Whether or not he plays depends on if he can help the team, and whether or not playing would risk injury due to conditioning. I think we will see him in limited action at least by Iowa. If he rolls out as a starter or is in early against UNI I will take that as a very good sign.
Why not let him suit up if he wants and let him run out of the tunnel. Who cares? I really doubt he even gets to play, but there's a lot of guys who don't get to play but enjoy suiting up with the rest of the team.
And this may be true, but I still don't think you hold him out. I think you play him sparingly to at least get live film for evaluation and coaching during the week. Figure out holes in his technique prior to conference play.
Smell that? Smells like culture change.
FWIW -heard today KT took some reps at QB
My guess is they sit him for UNI, sprinkle him in for a few plays v.s. Iowa, even more the next week @ Akron, and if he's turning enough heads, could be starting by the time Big 12 play rolls around.
I think it is a blessing that he is an interior defensive lineman. If he played anywhere else, I would be concerned that it will be pretty much a lost season for him. I would expect there to be less reads and less assignments at his position than another position on the field. Plus, there is always a rotation in those spots so it will be easy to manage his snaps without killing someone else's playing time. Conditioning is a concern, but it is not as big an issue as not having the size or strength to play the position in the first place. Hopefully the other guys we have are good enough that the staff can pick and choose when to play Tongamoa. On the other hand, hopefully Tongamoa is good enough that the staff can't wait to play him.
I don't view this as a controversy as I prefaced by saying I completely trust the judgement of Campbell and staff. A coach that already has a book on how to implement a football program surely has some ideas on this issue. It creates an interesting situation from a managerial perspective for the reasons I suggested and I'm excited to learn of Campbell's approach. I expect he'll have a clear path of milestones that need to be completed to earn playing time. The infamous Toledo Football fan would probably have a pretty good idea of what to expect?
Big difference between suiting up and actually playing. The lowest walk ons dress for home games. Heck yes he suits up.
