Danielsjackson114 said:

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Bearknuckle said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Baylor is up to 23 prospects in the transfer portal.

Notables
RB Joseph Dodds
TE Kelsey Johnson
OL Coleton Price
DL DK Kalu
EDGE Matthew Fobbs-White
EDGE Kamauryn Morgan
LB KT Thomas
LB Jeremy Evans
LB Phoenix Jackson
LB KB Winston
S DJ Coleman
CB Caden Jenkins

— Grayson Grundhoefer (@GrayGrundhoefer) January 2, 2026

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without knowing the strategy our staff is employing here, our budget, etc. I'd list them this way:

Really painful losses if they go:
Thomas
Price

Losses that hurt if they go:
Kalu
Johnson
Jackson
Winston
Fobbs-White
Morgan



Everyone else.

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What strategy has Decaf Dave been employing the last 6 years?

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David does not have the talent for this. I think we can all stop pretending that Dave can put together an overarching strategy and then execute.. he isn't built for that unfortunately.

Dave played Rhoades for a fool with all the preparation and organized routine. He doesn't have it. Any medicocre coach would put together more than 2 serviceable seasons when given so many chances.

He's already failed spectacularly twice. This is essentially his third head coaching job.

Perhaps the plan is to let the KSU DC dictate the plan......at least on defense.

Weren't we at just 8 by the end of last week? This is getting Iowa St bad.

Oh Linda, how's that roster stability working out for you?

Yeah I guess. We may have a better shot throwing a dart at a dart board and picking that option since he'll be like the 3rd or 4th DC to "dictate" which includes our own Guru DC/HC

3rd, 4th, maybe 5th time is a charm!!!

Hell let me dictate for ****s and gigs at half the cost! I mean at this point you can only laugh at this ****

CaliBear00 said:

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Weren't we at just 8 by the end of last week? This is getting Iowa St bad.

Oh Linda, how's that roster stability working out for you?

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lol we're not even sniffing Iowa State territory just yet, but yeah feels terrible seeing a long list of names, several of whom we don't want to lose, while waiting to see who we'll be bringing into the fold.

LMAO, we're offering FCS receivers now. Oh boy, this gets better by the day.

dave isn't evaluating wide receivers….our wr last year was good. not worried about that side all that much

Idk man, at least ISU has an excuse. I don't know that we've even reached the end of the transfers yet and we held onto Aranda for the sake of stability. So yeah, I'd say this is just as bad when you look at it that way.

I get that once y'all decided Aranda has to go, it makes sense to just go all-in on negativity/pessimissm - it feels better and is easier than having to sort through the muck of it all. But this "we had no strategy in the portal" stuff is just bunk.

We actually had a strategy in the portal last year and were mostly successful executing it: we secured Samu as the long-term solution at NT (he wasn't supposed to be a breakout addition in '25, fyi), Devin Turner as a stud STAR, Tra Barnes as Keaton's partner at LB, and brought in 3 pass rush specialists in E. Winston, Matthew Fobbs-White, and Phoenix Jackson.

Then we lost 3 of those guys for the season (Turner, Barnes & Jackson; also lost returning starter Carl Wiliams), as well as our two backup DTs in Bett and Foster. So we had to play a lot of guys who were barely supposed to play at all. That's last season's defensive woes in a nutshell: we had a roster strategy that got blown apart by injuries.

And that's without us discussing how successful our Offensive portalling has been (Sawyer, Trigg, Hawkins, Prentice, Wilson, etc) over the last few seasons. We literally built one of the best WR rooms in the nation through the portal. I guess you can give everyone but Dave credit for that, this is still America after all.

When I dare to provide any context for anything that's gone wrong, some folks around here act like Linda and the BoR lurk this site going "Well, gawrsh, Bearknuckle said Dave's not royally ****ing up every single aspect of the program, so I guess we can keep him around forever." Ok. I guess everyone needs a hobby.

Iowa st is in a much better long term situation than Bu. They have a new HC in place and can use 26 as a rebuild while BU uses it to further fall into the depths of the cellar

IowaBear said:

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Iowa st is in a much better long term situation than Bu. They have a new HC in place and can use 26 as a rebuild while BU uses it to further fall into the depths of the cellar

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utterly delusional: they're going broke rapidly.

https://iowastatedaily.com/319285/sports/iowa-state-ceases-hilton-coliseum-renovations-after-facing-a-147-million-deficit/

I'm delusional? Do you listen to yourself? You're still convinced Dave can turn this around. Right now there isn't a program in the B12 in a worse spot than BU. And that's entirely on them for sticking with Dave. And news flash buddy apparently BU ain't doing so hott in the $$ department if they can't afford to fire the worst coach in P4
Rogers is a darn good coach, he'll turn ISU around pretty quick. All while Dave continues burying BU

CaliBear00 said:

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Idk man, at least ISU has an excuse. I don't know that we've even reached the end of the transfers yet and we held onto Aranda for the sake of stability. So yeah, I'd say this is just as bad when you look at it that way.

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We were/are in a situation where '26 is going to suck no matter what, so it made no sense to not cut bait with Aranda and at least have a shot at using next season as the start of a re-build for Coach Next, instead of postponing the inevitable to '27 which means we're now staring at two more straight losing seasons at best. What a joke of a dumpster fire.

The worst part is that it's a bunch of adults, some of whom are making 6 figures and more, that have made these decisions.

It's utterly disgusting. Just a big FU to the fans.

BINGO. Exactly why BU is in the worst position of all the B12 programs. They punted on 26 because Linda loves Dave. That's literally it..

Iowa state is the only state school I am aware of that has publicly stated they will not be able to pay the 20 million need to stay in the P4.

Iowa State is in far more long term trouble than BU.

Next year will suck for BU. In five years Iowa State will be looking forward to the conference rivalry game with Northern Iowa.

CaliBear00 said:

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LMAO, we're offering FCS receivers now. Oh boy, this gets better by the day.

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FWIW....South Alabama is still FBS...not FCS.

That Chambliss dude at QB that was lighting it up for Ole Miss last night was found even below FCS at the D2 level at Ferris St.

So premium talent can be hiding even at the lower levels....but do we have the right talent evaluators to find those hidden gems....jury is out.

Care to bet on that? I'll wager ANY amount you'd like that iSU is still in the B12 in 5 years. Name the wager.

IowaBear said:

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I'm delusional? Do you listen to yourself? You're still convinced Dave can turn this around. Right now there isn't a program in the B12 in a worse spot than BU. And that's entirely on them for sticking with Dave. And news flash buddy apparently BU ain't doing so hott in the $$ department if they can't afford to fire the worst coach in P4
Rogers is a darn good coach, he'll turn ISU around pretty quick. All while Dave continues burying BU

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lol sure, Iowa State is about to rebound better than ever while Baylor finally fades into total obscurity.

Dave may be fired by midseason in '26, and I won't lose one second of sleep if that happens.

But you're apparently stewing in misery every second he's still the coach. Seems like an empty way to live but to each their own.

We will know what Baylor will look like in about 15 days

ISU is going to be fine… and I'll be here in 5 years to hear the excuses as to why they're still in the B12.
My point was strictly football. Despite all the transfers ISu is in a better spot than BU. And most that don't have their heads buried in the sand can see what's happening at Baylor.
It's easy to see why there's a mass exodus in Ames. Why is there a mass exodus in Waco? Bears retained their coach. Shouldn't be losing this many right?

boognish_bear said:

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CaliBear00 said:

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LMAO, we're offering FCS receivers now. Oh boy, this gets better by the day.

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FWIW....South Alabama is still FBS...not FCS.

That Chambliss dude at QB that was lighting it up for Ole Miss last night was found even below FCS at the D2 level at Ferris St.

So premium talent can be hiding even at the lower levels....but do we have the right talent evaluators to find those hidden gems....jury is out.

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Hawkins and Wilson came from the G5 and worked out pretty well for us. So did Jacob Gall at center. Keaton Thomas was a JUCO player. Everyone needs to take a deep breath lol.

Bearsalwayswin said:

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dave isn't evaluating wide receivers….our wr last year was good. not worried about that side all that much

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Dallas baker is solid I trust him with WRs.

I'm not worried about the skill position targets. I'm more concerned with the front 7 on defense. That front 7 was absolutely terrible this year. That should be the big portal focus

IowaBear said:

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ISU is going to be fine… and I'll be here in 5 years to hear the excuses as to why they're still in the B12.
My point was strictly football. Despite all the transfers ISu is in a better spot than BU. And most that don't have their heads buried in the sand can see what's happening at Baylor.
It's easy to see why there's a mass exodus in Ames. Why is there a mass exodus in Waco? Bears retained their coach. Shouldn't be losing this many right?

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How is ISU's revenue situation going to magically fix itself without PE payday loans? If they can't crack that nut, then they might not actually survive the next round of realignment in 5 years.

As for Baylor and "mass exodus"? Colorado kept their coach (Prime!) and they're losing more players than we are...same with Florida State. We haven't even seen who we're going to sign, but I know that doesn't matter to you because you're convinced Dave will only succeed in making them worse players.

It matters with context. The whole reason for keeping Dave was two fold. His ability to retain rosters and his incoming recruiting class. Both reasons have been blown to shreds. I doubt losing guys like price, Thomas, Kalu etc were part of this magic plan to overhaul the entire roster.
But yes, players do tend to get worse under Dave's tutelage. Probably why a few promising players are leaving

No clue about his technique or footwork… but that size is certainly impressive

Bears are set to host LSU offensive lineman DJ Chester on an official visit, per @chris_hummer.

The 6-6, 315-pound OL was a top 100 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class. #SicEm https://t.co/bWIpC0v4Gc

— Grayson Grundhoefer (@GrayGrundhoefer) January 2, 2026

Bearknuckle said:

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IowaBear said:

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ISU is going to be fine… and I'll be here in 5 years to hear the excuses as to why they're still in the B12.
My point was strictly football. Despite all the transfers ISu is in a better spot than BU. And most that don't have their heads buried in the sand can see what's happening at Baylor.
It's easy to see why there's a mass exodus in Ames. Why is there a mass exodus in Waco? Bears retained their coach. Shouldn't be losing this many right?

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How is ISU's revenue situation going to magically fix itself without PE payday loans? If they can't crack that nut, then they might not actually survive the next round of realignment in 5 years.

As for Baylor and "mass exodus"? Colorado kept their coach (Prime!) and they're losing more players than we are...same with Florida State. We haven't even seen who we're going to sign, but I know that doesn't matter to you because you're convinced Dave will only succeed in making them worse players.

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Prime probably told everybody to leave so he could buy a new team, like he did in year 1.

Always fun to hear from Idiots Out Walking Around.

You can read the statements from ISU themselves. This is not speculation. Your AD has stated ISU can't afford the "entry fee" to big boy athletics.

5 years was just a number I used. Maybe 10 maybe 20. ISU may be around in 5 years but they are certainly in longer term trouble than BU.

I was clearly speaking from a football perspective. I'll believe ISU is moving down a level if it actually happens. And I doubt it happens in any of our lifetimes

Read their own ADs statements.

I dont put any stock in anything Pollard says. I haven't done so since my days in Ames. He's says a lot of dumb ***** Some true, some not. Like I said I'll believe it when I see it.

Spreadsheets do not lie. The money is there or it not.

If they find it great everything changes, if it does not change and they do not find it. Then they are back to where they belong.

Any program that aspires to win a championship that does not have a huge donor base will need to find white knights who are committed to winning football championships. If they don't find their saviors, get used to and accept mediocre results.

I think ISU has a much lower floor and is closer to the trap door than Baylor is.

Baylor offers Kansas State safety Colby McCalister. https://t.co/re7oRaKx97

— Grayson Grundhoefer (@GrayGrundhoefer) January 2, 2026

I was clearly speaking from a football perspective. As long as Dave is at Bu ISU will be in a better spot football wise.
Not sure what you mean by back where they belong. Guessing that's just an unnecessary dig. Where's this huge donor base at BU? There's people who speculate Bzu can't even afford to buyout Dave. Not sure I buy that personally but it's been mentioned a ton on here.
But again, I'll believe it when I see it. And if that ever happens I'll give you your flowers you so clearly want.