Would you welcome back Cam Wiley?

Donate To GopherHole
short ornery norwegian said:
Most guys playing D1 College football put up impressive stats in HS. Unless they were playing at a really big school, I would bet that most of the guys on defense also played offense in HS. I think someone posted that Walley was a really good RB in HS.

So, in an absolute emergency, I think you could take a lot of guys who are DB's or LB's and get them ready to take a few snaps on offense.

the Gophers - this year - have over 90 scholarship players. there has to be at least one or two guys who can take a handoff and run behind the Gophers O-Line.

My feeling is that Kramer is going to get more reps in the pseudo-wildcat formation. Shoot, I would not be afraid to let Kramer take some reps at RB.
Click to expand...
If Bryce is out for Illinois (likely) or longer we might well see Cappy as Cole's running mate in the Wildcat. Cap can take the occassional handoff and play lead block for Kramer. Dude is strong.

This will also serve to take some snaps away from Ky and Bucky (someone has to line up with Cole in the Cat) and lighten their loads at a time we are worried to death about another injury.
 

Bulldog13tv said:
Depends on his former teammates. Will they accept him back with open arms or do they feel betrayed.
Click to expand...
I agree that there are many unknowns.
1) Will he be satisfied with his playing time or will his feelings be hurt?
2) Is he out of shape now?
3) Is he in school?
4) As Bulldog says, It depends on his teammates. If they are comfortable with the situation, I welcome him. My first reaction before was that he quit on the team etc.

Bottom line: All depends on the circumstances along with his teammates.
 

Dakota2 said:
You are confusing practicing with running laps to stay in shape. Practice is where you prepare for the next game. The guys who practice are the guys who will or might play in the next game.
Click to expand...
There are probably 30+ guys who practice every practice who don’t touch the field
 


Compare Bryce Williams to Wiley. Williams ran for 500 yards as a true freshman, helped the Gophers beat Wisconsin for the first time in 14 years, and then he sat for pretty much the next two years. He was 4th or 5th on the depth chart coming into this season, including being passed by Wiley.

He had every reason to transfer but didn't, and kept working hard to now being the starter. Hopefully his injury is short term.

Wiley hasn't had near the production as Williams and now transferred, mid-season, at the first sign of adversity. I think I know which type of RB is a better fit for Flecks culture.
 





#2Gopher said:
I agree that there are many unknowns.
1) Will he be satisfied with his playing time or will his feelings be hurt?
2) Is he out of shape now?
3) Is he in school?
4) As Bulldog says, It depends on his teammates. If they are comfortable with the situation, I welcome him. My first reaction before was that he quit on the team etc.

Bottom line: All depends on the circumstances along with his teammates.
Click to expand...
Cam's not coming back. He's off the team. Has nothing to do with former teammates.
 




Some guy said:
Did he?
If he stopped practicing, no question you don’t welcome him back

But I think eventually we will get to the point where people enter the transfer portal but stay with the team. Why wouldn’t you?
Still in school. Still practicing to get better.


I think it’s assumed every portal guy quits.
if I’m a head coach and a guy wants to transfer I encourage the guy to enter his name so he can get recruited and I encourage him to stick around and keep practicing and getting better if he wants to.
Backup players with expiring contracts finish out the season in all professional sports. Why wouldn’t a kid who is transferring out because there isn’t future playing time want to finish out the season with his teammates

I think this changes in the next 5 years or so and becomes more common.


But if he stopped practicing. Then you don’t welcome him back
Click to expand...
I started typing but realized you said what I would have.
 

Without knowing any of the details of the situation -- no.

LeCaptain stepped up. Walk-on Kendall Moore is in the wings. We still have Ky Thomas and Bucko/y Irving doing big things. Wiley decided to walk away from the team and I respect that decision, but I also don't want him back.
 

This would be a team decision, and if THEY were to want it, I'm fine with it.
 



Vandy said:
This would be a team decision, and if THEY were to want it, I'm fine with it.
Click to expand...
You don't build culture by teaching that decisions are reversible and have no consequence.
 

Dakota2 said:
You don't build culture by teaching that decisions are reversible and have no consequence.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree.---

I don't think there were ever any concerns with this young mans fit into to the Minnesota culture or relationships with coaching staff and team. All sounded positive, and this was a depth chart move on his part. Kid wants to play. ( if I am wrong on his fit and relations within the team, I withdraw)

Depth chart has changed going forward for the rest of this year. I would leave it to the team to enforce the consequence if he had a change of heart and the question were posed in reality.
 

Some guy said:
There are probably 30+ guys who practice every practice who don’t touch the field
Click to expand...
To make the math simple, say there's 100 reps to be had per practice.
Your starter(s) at each position are going to get 70-75% of the practice reps
Your #2s are getting 15-20+% (the two RBs are probably close to 50/50)
The #3s are getting what scraps are left, if any.

There are no remaining reps for players who will not be playing.

I would certainly expect Wiley to still be conditioning/working out on his own since he's looking for another school to join.
 



If he stopped practicing, I would probably just roll with Bucko, Ky Thomas, LeCaptain and whichever other DB/LB we need to convert back into a RB. It's not about punishing Cam, it's more about teaching the whole team that there are ramifications for your actions.

I really do hope Cam Wiley does well wherever he goes. I'll root for him the same way I rooted for Chris Streveler and other Gophers who left the right way. But I also think quitting the team in the middle of the season while you are 1 injury away from a ton of PT is not something the Gophers should really give in to.

At the end of the day, if Fleck goes another route, I'd understand that decision. I believe Troy Stoudermire quit the team before rejoining. I think Michael Carter was close to quitting as well.
 


Dakota2 said:
All of it. That's why I responded. Guys not on the team don't practice with the team, especially those being prepared for next game.
Click to expand...
I didn’t know the situation and acknowledged as such in my first post.

and I said if he hasn’t been practicing the whole time then you don’t even consider letting him back?


so
I agree with you?
 

I don’t get how so many are saying no. He wouldn’t be welcomed back as a reward or a favor for him. He’d be welcomed back so we could have a viable rb with all the injuries. It would be punishing the team, not Cam by not accepting him back.
 


Some guy said:
I didn’t know the situation and acknowledged as such in my first post.

and I said if he hasn’t been practicing the whole time then you don’t even consider letting him back?


so
I agree with you?
Click to expand...
Ok we agree. But I still wanted it to be understood he is not practicing with team. He may not be in school or even in Minneapolis.
 

Cam had an issue listening to the RB coaches (including Mo) about lowering his pad level at contact.
Run upright was always his style but B1G football plays faster than his HS days.... He was a highly touted recruit and left on very positive terms. With our situation, it would not be a bad idea at all to welcome him back to the team and help him along to correct his issues and play a big part.

We're down to literally two freshman running backs and a hybrid LBer. We're a run first, second, third and sometimes fourth team with zero ambition to throw the ball. Freshman RBs are versatile but notorious for not being ready for the bang em up style of D-1 football and we might desperately need a Cam Wiley when it comes to the Iowa and Wisconsin defense still waiting for us...
 

He loses a lot of leverage pads up. Is it correctible at this point?

It's an interesting idea even for four games if he can keep low to the ground. It may be a mutually beneficial thing. If he's successful, his Transfer Portal stock will improve.

But, if he is finally listening and improved why not keep him?
 

Gopher028 said:
Cam had an issue listening to the RB coaches (including Mo) about lowering his pad level at contact.
Run upright was always his style but B1G football plays faster than his HS days.... He was a highly touted recruit and left on very positive terms. With our situation, it would not be a bad idea at all to welcome him back to the team and help him along to correct his issues and play a big part.

We're down to literally two freshman running backs and a hybrid LBer. We're a run first, second, third and sometimes fourth team with zero ambition to throw the ball. Freshman RBs are versatile but notorious for not being ready for the bang em up style of D-1 football and we might desperately need a Cam Wiley when it comes to the Iowa and Wisconsin defense still waiting for us...
Click to expand...
Is it he had an issue listening, or is it just that he is 6’2”?
 

btowngopher said:
Is it he had an issue listening, or is it just that he is 6’2”?
Click to expand...
I would say listening and adapting to coaching.
AP was 6'2" and didn't have an issue lowering his pad level, quite contrarily.
 


GophersInIowa said:
If the coaches and players are fine with it, then who am I to question them? They know a lot more about his situation than any of us.
Click to expand...
Has anybody actually pulled their name out of the portal and rejoined their old team? that would be a complete shock if he was even considering that.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom