Why WR exodus after last season

[krazyglue 0]

Its been a hot minute since I've last posted and thought this might be a good off season topic. 
 

Wondering if anyone had insight on the WR room exodus the end of the season.  Love to hear your thoughts on why we still lost lost a number of WRs and how could a (unranked football) LAX player made the field and contributed over some polished 4 start receivers.  Was Stuckey the issue? or was he liked by the players and that contributed to them leaving?

 

1.  Tyree - Amazing move to WR and would have loved to see him come back for his last year.  Was he not going to see the field next year or was the transfer to UVA that much of a better spot for him?  What am I missing?

2.  Flores Jr. - Again thought he was a great contributor especially for a freshman and would love to have seen him for the next few years.  Was it just home sick?

3.  James - Highest ranked WR of the bunch coming out of HS.  Saw very limited playing time.  Did we just miss on him or again did Faison just go WAY under the football radar?  

4.  Merriweather - As a incoming freshman he had such high hopes.  Obviously never really panned out for us and of this list could understand why he would look else where.

If you have any insight, I'd love to hear it.

[Synoptico 333]

Any word on Chansi? He doesnt appear to have a job and wondering what else there was, if anything. Surprised he isnt somewhere. 

[mcgov12 1,235]

1 hour ago, krazyglue said:

Its been a hot minute since I've last posted and thought this might be a good off season topic. 
 

Wondering if anyone had insight on the WR room exodus the end of the season.  Love to hear your thoughts on why we still lost lost a number of WRs and how could a (unranked football) LAX player made the field and contributed over some polished 4 start receivers.  Was Stuckey the issue? or was he liked by the players and that contributed to them leaving?

 

1.  Tyree - Amazing move to WR and would have loved to see him come back for his last year.  Was he not going to see the field next year or was the transfer to UVA that much of a better spot for him?  What am I missing?

2.  Flores Jr. - Again thought he was a great contributor especially for a freshman and would love to have seen him for the next few years.  Was it just home sick?

3.  James - Highest ranked WR of the bunch coming out of HS.  Saw very limited playing time.  Did we just miss on him or again did Faison just go WAY under the football radar?  

4.  Merriweather - As a incoming freshman he had such high hopes.  Obviously never really panned out for us and of this list could understand why he would look else where.

If you have any insight, I'd love to hear it.

My takes:

Tyree - would’ve liked to see him back but he’s going closer to home and in all honesty probably just looking for another opportunity. He never really panned out into the explosive player we thought he would be.

Flores - On record saying he left because stuckey was no longer there.

James - never really picked up the offense and another alleged stuckey casualty. 

Merriweather - pretty much a disappointment all around, I figured he’d leave for other opportunities 

For what it’s worth there were some rumors going around that one of the stuckey being removed reasons was being caught smoking up with some of the players (besides being a shitty wr coach with the dumbest drills I’ve ever seen). Probably more to it than we’ll ever actually know for sure

[Synoptico 333]

9 minutes ago, mcgov12 said:

My takes:

Tyree - would’ve liked to see him back but he’s going closer to home and in all honesty probably just looking for another opportunity. He never really panned out into the explosive player we thought he would be.

Flores - On record saying he left because stuckey was no longer there.

James - never really picked up the offense and another alleged stuckey casualty. 

Merriweather - pretty much a disappointment all around, I figured he’d leave for other opportunities 

For what it’s worth there were some rumors going around that one of the stuckey being removed reasons was being caught smoking up with some of the players (besides being a shitty wr coach with the dumbest drills I’ve ever seen). Probably more to it than we’ll ever actually know for sure

 

I heard that rumor a long time again and pretty much dismissed it. It would explain why he is currently unemployed, but still dont put much credence in it

[krazyglue 0]

22 minutes ago, mcgov12 said:

My takes:

Tyree - would’ve liked to see him back but he’s going closer to home and in all honesty probably just looking for another opportunity. He never really panned out into the explosive player we thought he would be.

Flores - On record saying he left because stuckey was no longer there.

James - never really picked up the offense and another alleged stuckey casualty. 

Merriweather - pretty much a disappointment all around, I figured he’d leave for other opportunities 

For what it’s worth there were some rumors going around that one of the stuckey being removed reasons was being caught smoking up with some of the players (besides being a shitty wr coach with the dumbest drills I’ve ever seen). Probably more to it than we’ll ever actually know for sure

Good insight with Flores and James, I hadn't heard that.  Recall reading something about Stuckey smoking with the boys but I don't recall reading anything more than a rumor, as indicated.  

So maybe the better question is why Stuckey was let go in the first place (less than?) 24 hours after MF said, paraphrasing, if it were up to him he'd retain the entire staff.  Just seems odd he wouldn't indicate some changes were going to be abreast if that was common knowledge.  

[tneun89 978]

19 minutes ago, mcgov12 said:

My takes:

Tyree - would’ve liked to see him back but he’s going closer to home and in all honesty probably just looking for another opportunity. He never really panned out into the explosive player we thought he would be.

Flores - On record saying he left because stuckey was no longer there.

James - never really picked up the offense and another alleged stuckey casualty. 

Merriweather - pretty much a disappointment all around, I figured he’d leave for other opportunities 

For what it’s worth there were some rumors going around that one of the stuckey being removed reasons was being caught smoking up with some of the players (besides being a shitty wr coach with the dumbest drills I’ve ever seen). Probably more to it than we’ll ever actually know for sure

Agree with all of this. 

For Tyree, he just wasn't getting the ball enough. He only had 26 catches, even though he was probably the most consistently reliable WR last season (talking over the course of the entire season). That wasn't going to change in 2024 with Freeman committing to landing 2-3 transfer WRs. I like Tyree a lot - he is a great representative of ND - so I hope he kills it at UVA where he can be more of a focal point for that offense.

There was a lot of discussion about James not being a Power 5 level receiver when he left, and even a few mentions after yesterday's practice on some other message boards (people wondering if Cam Williams is as raw as Braylon James, and pretty much every beat writer said that they are nothing like each other - James just couldn't play at this level, so just an evaluation miss).

Merriweather is the only one that surprised me. The coaching staff bent over backwards to try to get him going. I believe he had more snaps than any other WR. He really struggled with confidence - lots of drops and lots of low effort plays (Clemson especially). More than any of the other WRs who left, I was saddest to see him go because I think the potential is definitely there. Just not sure he will be able to put it all together.

Obviously, yesterday was just one practice, but it's encouraging how the media seemed to collectively praise the WRs. I saw Mitchell and Harrison get a ton of praise. It sounds like Thomas reshaped his body. KK Smith sounds like a blazer. And Jaden Greathouse would have been the best freshman on the team if not for his hamstring issues. Get Beaux Collins into the room this summer, and ND could have a dynamic WR corps for the first time in years.

[JeffV 324]

All signs point the rumors being somewhat true. Stucky was a GREAT recruiter! Personable, cared about the kids, relatable...

BUT, other coaches did not vibe with him.  There have been mostly unverified whispers from prior coaches that worked with him insinuating that his drills were ridiculous.

Ultimately, I don't think Golden liked him much, and It doesn't take much reading between the lines from there.  Even the LACK of comments about the situation point to an agreement that it was a poor fit.

A couple of these kids were tied to him, and a couple of these kids were probably gonna go anyway.

Looking at the room right now, I would say they made the right choice as far as playing time goes.

Way ahead of last years snapshot.

[Synoptico 333]

14 hours ago, JeffV said:

All signs point the rumors being somewhat true. Stucky was a GREAT recruiter! Personable, cared about the kids, relatable...

BUT, other coaches did not vibe with him.  There have been mostly unverified whispers from prior coaches that worked with him insinuating that his drills were ridiculous.

Ultimately, I don't think Golden liked him much, and It doesn't take much reading between the lines from there.  Even the LACK of comments about the situation point to an agreement that it was a poor fit.

A couple of these kids were tied to him, and a couple of these kids were probably gonna go anyway.

Looking at the room right now, I would say they made the right choice as far as playing time goes.

Way ahead of last years snapshot.

The only part about it that seems weird to me then, is why did MF say everyone was staying 24 hours earlier. That to me points to an incident, whether the rumored one or other

[Baldy 1,225]

On 3/8/2024 at 1:23 PM, tneun89 said:

Agree with all of this. 

For Tyree, he just wasn't getting the ball enough. He only had 26 catches, even though he was probably the most consistently reliable WR last season (talking over the course of the entire season). That wasn't going to change in 2024 with Freeman committing to landing 2-3 transfer WRs. I like Tyree a lot - he is a great representative of ND - so I hope he kills it at UVA where he can be more of a focal point for that offense.

There was a lot of discussion about James not being a Power 5 level receiver when he left, and even a few mentions after yesterday's practice on some other message boards (people wondering if Cam Williams is as raw as Braylon James, and pretty much every beat writer said that they are nothing like each other - James just couldn't play at this level, so just an evaluation miss).

Merriweather is the only one that surprised me. The coaching staff bent over backwards to try to get him going. I believe he had more snaps than any other WR. He really struggled with confidence - lots of drops and lots of low effort plays (Clemson especially). More than any of the other WRs who left, I was saddest to see him go because I think the potential is definitely there. Just not sure he will be able to put it all together.

Obviously, yesterday was just one practice, but it's encouraging how the media seemed to collectively praise the WRs. I saw Mitchell and Harrison get a ton of praise. It sounds like Thomas reshaped his body. KK Smith sounds like a blazer. And Jaden Greathouse would have been the best freshman on the team if not for his hamstring issues. Get Beaux Collins into the room this summer, and ND could have a dynamic WR corps for the first time in years.

I completely agree with all of this, and exactly how I see it!

Tyree really was not getting the ball enough, and used in all the wrong situations. Glad he’s back home in UVA.

Merriweather was such a disappointment! He had so much potential, but couldn’t put it together. I think he just had zero confidence in himself.

James was definitely not ready for D-1, and it showed.

Flores was a Stuckey guy, so once Stuckey left, he was out!

The new WR room is stacked with talent now, so super excited to see what they can do! What’s even crazier is Faison wasn’t even on the field. 😂

[TexasDomer 1,285]

Let’s hold off on the theory that James isn’t D-1 material for a bit.  TCU does great things with WRs.  If he’s never heard from again, we’ll know.

[IrishGuy 177]

On 3/9/2024 at 11:52 AM, Synoptico said:

The only part about it that seems weird to me then, is why did MF say everyone was staying 24 hours earlier. That to me points to an incident, whether the rumored one or other

I am not claiming to have any real sources.....but I can say that someone who I find incredibly accurate, honest, and "in-the-know" told me right after it happened that there was an incident that was a big enough deal that it warranted his firing. He said "they decided that it was in the best interested of the school and coach Freeman to have what amounts to a mutual separation with the Stucky and other parties that were involved" and that "everyone agreed to keep it on the DL in order to reduce impact on future opportunities". 

I asked for the inside scoop (and guessed around a bit) and got only enough info to make a pretty confident guess that Stucky and the players that left were all involved.

...again, no real sources and just making a guess based on limited information from a very trustworthy person. 

[jessemoore97 1,271]

7 hours ago, IrishGuy said:

I am not claiming to have any real sources.....but I can say that someone who I find incredibly accurate, honest, and "in-the-know" told me right after it happened that there was an incident that was a big enough deal that it warranted his firing. He said "they decided that it was in the best interested of the school and coach Freeman to have what amounts to a mutual separation with the Stucky and other parties that were involved" and that "everyone agreed to keep it on the DL in order to reduce impact on future opportunities". 

I asked for the inside scoop (and guessed around a bit) and got only enough info to make a pretty confident guess that Stucky and the players that left were all involved.

...again, no real sources and just making a guess based on limited information from a very trustworthy person. 

Ties into the pot theory I guess.