Developmental Program

Sep 21, 2025, 9:15 AM

Dabo has told us that we are a developmental program. We selectively recruit high school kids that fit our culture and develop them into players ready for the NFL and life after football.

It sounds perfect. NIL and transfer portal became a reality, but Dabo told us that most players in the portal couldn’t play here. They were not good enough to be on our roster, and we wanted to protect our culture. We did it different than the rest of the country. He would have us believe that his program was the only one that developed players and every one else did not.

This year was supposed to be the culmination of all the development. The year 3 or 4 for a lot of these kids that our staff has developed into being the prospects that so many thought so highly of during the off season.

Which defensive player looks more developed this year compared to last year or the year before? Does Klubnik, our offensive line, and receivers look better than last year? If we are a developmental program that does not rely on transfers, shouldn’t our players be getting better each year?

If we are only going to be a developmental program and guys know that there is little fear that you will ever bring in a transfer to take their spot, they get complacent. What I see is a coach that is loyal to the players in his program and uses most NIL money at his discretion to keep them. The players then know their job and money is secure which potentially breeds complacency.

Every step of the way, Dabo has resisted the new world of college football. He has made bad public statements about paying players that have been used against us in recruiting. He has said he wouldn’t coach if college football turned into what it has become. Yet, he is still here collecting the paycheck and “developing players.”

In order for us to be a competitive football program in college football today, we are going to have to embrace the new way of college football. All the teams that we were facing in the college football playoff during our run during the Watson and Lawrence years have adjusted. Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia, and LSU have all adjusted. Everyone has adjusted, but Dabo still insists on doing this his way.

His way has been a monumental failure. It was on display yesterday and has been on display for the last five years as we have slowly declined. Players are not being developed. Coaches are not making players compete for playing time. We just keep doing the same thing and expect different results.

Dabo will need to finally embrace what all other schools have done to be competitive which is fully embracing the new rules to build a competitive roster, or we will become a mid tier at best ACC team for the remainder of his tenure.

We are not a developmental program. The coaching staff has failed at that objective.

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Developmental Program

spot on!....issues been deeper than just Xs/Os & 1-play away for five years now.***

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