Trill Carter in the portal

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btowngopher said:
Could be a recruiting disadvantage I guess if other conferences have no restrictions.
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“I’m not going to a Big Ten school, because they won’t let me backstab then to go to some other Big Ten school”

:sneaky:

Then I don’t want you here
 


I’ll give you St Juste all day and night. And you couldn’t even name him.

Always an exception, and one I’m willing to give up in order to end an awful practice.
 


oak_street1981 said:
From my perches in HBS and watching the road games on TV, Dixon looked like a heavy hitting NFL type DB with above average coverage skills. The big loss was here. My assumption is he is getting paid just like our RB that went to Oregon. This one sucks balls. Losing Bucky sucked too. That guy had it.

Every time I surveyed the field and saw #11 I felt better about the upcoming play. Oliver had some sign of being a difference maker and that never really came back after the injury.

T
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Dixon ended up at Rutgers. He's not getting paid like Bucky.
 


Hates Monikers said:
We've had two from Michigan.
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The discussion is with regard to the "portal era". Filiaga was a solid lineman, though we would've also been fine if he didn't come here.

And I did already acknowledge St Juste, though again his time was most definitely before that era.


Sure, its possible we may get a boon of high-powered transfers from the major Big Ten programs, one day. I doubt it, but it is possible.


Beyond that, I'm more than willing to forgo that possibility for doing what's right, in principle:

I have no problem is a player wishes to leave for some other program. But to go somewhere that you'll be playing against us in conference, trying to cause to have a conference loss?

No. Can't abide that free and clear. Take a year of their eligibility away, for such a selfish choice.


I won't change my mind.
 
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Catching up on the comings and goings is getting more complicated. TBH always thought the roster name change was kind of strange but that might say more about me. Each their own. Too bad for depth, though. Soapbox moment; the roster churn has definitely lessened my investment in caring about the players when there is a pretty solid chance a recruit or even a transfer will not be sticking around. Projecting team strengths and weaknesses also becomes an even greater exercise in futility than it was in the before times. Preseason absurdity reaches never before-seen heights.
 









studentgopher94 said:
It was most definitely never about money, was that the narrative on here? New DL coach whose styles didn't mesh and was getting pushed by the freshman, would've had a smaller role than last year and that doesn't sit well with everyone.
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Bolded -- except that Illinois wants him to be a major contributor on their interior DL ... in the Big Ten West ....

:unsure:

(then you'll say "how do you know he'll be a major contributor there" --> the claim is that he was losing playing time here, but then he's willing to transfer somewhere that won't give him strong indications of playing time? Come on...)
 

Gophers_4life said:
Bolded -- except that Illinois wants him to be a major contributor on their interior DL ... in the Big Ten West ....

:unsure:

(then you'll say "how do you know he'll be a major contributor there" --> the claim is that he was losing playing time here, but then he's willing to transfer somewhere that won't give him strong indications of playing time? Come on...)
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Illinois runs a totally different scheme than we run, it's kind of like a 3-3-5 (at times it looks like a 3-4-4) but at Illinois Trill would be playing the NT.

They don't have a ton of experienced depth there that I know of. The backup played a bit and played alright and the other guy was a Vandy transfer - I'm not sure if he played much.

My point is that he'll almost certainly get a ton of PT at Illinois. In fact, the path might be a bit easier for him there although I admit I can't speak much of Illinois DT depth.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Catching up on the comings and goings is getting more complicated. TBH always thought the roster name change was kind of strange but that might say more about me. Each their own. Too bad for depth, though. Soapbox moment; the roster churn has definitely lessened my investment in caring about the players when there is a pretty solid chance a recruit or even a transfer will not be sticking around. Projecting team strengths and weaknesses also becomes an even greater exercise in futility than it was in the before times. Preseason absurdity reaches never before-seen heights.
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I feel like the interest/excitement about high school recruits has taken a major hit over the past few years do to the explosion of the portal. No real reason to invest much thought into a guy who might just jump ship in a year anyway. On top of that it is just as likely the team will go get an experienced player to fill needs anyway.

Is what it is, at this point it is pretty pointless to try and project a roster out for more than a year or so. Basically just enjoy the current roster and know that there is a good chance it is going to look significantly different the next year.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Illinois runs a totally different scheme than we run, it's kind of like a 3-3-5 (at times it looks like a 3-4-4) but at Illinois Trill would be playing the NT.

They don't have a ton of experienced depth there that I know of. The backup played a bit and played alright and the other guy was a Vandy transfer - I'm not sure if he played much.

My point is that he'll almost certainly get a ton of PT at Illinois. In fact, the path might be a bit easier for him there although I admit I can't speak much of Illinois DT depth.
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Thanks for the additional perspective, always helpful.

Their DL (and defense) seemed to play fine against us last season, from my memory.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Bolded -- except that Illinois wants him to be a major contributor on their interior DL ... in the Big Ten West ....

:unsure:

(then you'll say "how do you know he'll be a major contributor there" --> the claim is that he was losing playing time here, but then he's willing to transfer somewhere that won't give him strong indications of playing time? Come on...)
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So being a major contributor on one big10 west team means you would be a major contributor on every big10 west team?
 

btowngopher said:
So being a major contributor on one big10 west team means you would be a major contributor on every big10 west team?
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I’d like to think a Gopher starter could at least be a major contributor on any Big Ten West team. Maybe not so.

Illinois was not a bum program last year, if I recall correctly? And they seem to want him.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I feel like the interest/excitement about high school recruits has taken a major hit over the past few years do to the explosion of the portal. No real reason to invest much thought into a guy who might just jump ship in a year anyway. On top of that it is just as likely the team will go get an experienced player to fill needs anyway.

Is what it is, at this point it is pretty pointless to try and project a roster out for more than a year or so. Basically just enjoy the current roster and know that there is a good chance it is going to look significantly different the next year.
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You’re totally right here. I just re-watched our win vs Wisco and couldn’t help but notice how many guys (on both teams) just won’t be there next year…felt like damn near everyone.
 


Gophers_4life said:
I’d like to think a Gopher starter could at least be a major contributor on any Big Ten West team. Maybe not so.

Illinois was not a bum program last year, if I recall correctly? And they seem to want him.
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I’d say a major contributor on a good team would likely be a major contributor on another West team. But certainly isn’t a sure thing, it’d be very much case by case. Now I don’t agree with OP that Carter wouldn’t have been a major contributor here.
 

btowngopher said:
I’d say a major contributor on a good team would likely be a major contributor on another West team. But certainly isn’t a sure thing, it’d be very much case by case. Now I don’t agree with OP that Carter wouldn’t have been a major contributor here.
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I think there is little doubt that Carter would have been a big part of the D Tackle rotation in 2023 and that the move is almost certainly not playing time related.

Why exactly he decided to transfer we will probably never know. Just one of the frustrating aspects of this current transfer portal era where guys are moving around all the time.
 

Correct. You don't have confidence that Fleck can use the portal to Gophers benefit and attract key pieces he can't recruit?
 

btowngopher said:
I’d say a major contributor on a good team would likely be a major contributor on another West team. But certainly isn’t a sure thing, it’d be very much case by case. Now I don’t agree with OP that Carter wouldn’t have been a major contributor here.
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That really blows my mind.

That he wouldn't have been a major contributor for the Gophers in 23, despite him starting every single game for us in 22 (see page 26 here: https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/...ts/2022/12/21/12.29.22_Syracuse_Notes__1_.pdf )

And that he will probably be a major contributor at Illinois, if he goes there, for a team that finished tied with us in the Big Ten West and who handled us in Champaign.


Does not pass the smell test to me. Our interior DL better have 45 TFL/sacks next year, if that's really the reason. I don't think it is, though.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I think there is little doubt that Carter would have been a big part of the D Tackle rotation in 2023 and that the move is almost certainly not playing time related.

Why exactly he decided to transfer we will probably never know. Just one of the frustrating aspects of this current transfer portal era where guys are moving around all the time.
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This, I buy.

Agree, frustrating.
 


I thought I had heard that he had been contemplating transferring for awhile now? If so, maybe he wanted to be less of a rotational guy and more of an every down guy and the coaches disagreed. It could be that the talent around him isn't that far above or below him so he had no leverage to ask to be on the field more so he decided to leave.
 

Let's try to connect some dots here:

- Trill Carter was a good, but not great, starter at the 3-tech, DT position. Essentially the pass rushing DT, rather than the run stuffing 1-tech DT position. Carter generated very little pass rush from his 3-tech position last year. He's a guy that most of us had been hoping, and waiting for to take the next step, and that hadn't happened up to this point. You could argue he had mildly underachieved to this point in his career.

- January 5th: Winston DeLattiboudere is hired as the new Gopher DL Coach. By all accounts, an ambitious, high energy, high character guy. DC Joe Rossi referred to him in his playing days as "The ultimate overachiever"

- March 20: Spring camp begins with Coach Debo's (Carter's former teammate) new standards for effort & conduct in place. Rumors have it that Coach Brick Haley ran a pretty loose ship, and was not a good culture fit for PJ Fleck's program.

- March 22: P.J. Fleck gives an interview to GopherIllustrated stating about his focus is on bettering our pass rush. Says he's brought in pass rush specialists, trying new techniques, etc. Mentions "We've got some really good pass rushers now. And I feel like now we can really develop them."

- March 25th: One week into Spring practice with open competition, and unlimited playing time to be had, Trill Carter announces he's transferring.

- Some have speculated he would like to be closer to his home town in Georgia so his Mother can see him play. Carter announces he'll be visiting....the University of Illinois in Champaign. One of the least accessible places to watch a college football game in the country. So, scratch proximity to home off the list.

- NIL: If NIL were the issue, why would he wait to announce a week into Spring practice? That doesn't make sense. You'd also think that he were jumping ship over money mid-camp, that he'd have the destination already worked out, right?

- There were also some strange tweets over the past couple of seasons that people interpreted as him flirting with transferring at those times.

- There was also an incident where he punched a teammate in the face, and that player ended up transferring.

- My speculation, based on the timeline, and rumors I've heard, is that Carter was a bit of an underachiever, did not respond well to Coach Debo's new standards for effort, and that perhaps Carter was not as involved in some of the new pass rush generating schemes PJ Fleck mentioned as he would have liked.....so he quit. I mean, transferred. Full transparency: I have no hard evidence, this is just my opinion on what likely happened.
 
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