Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
2025 Sun Belt Football Previews: Troy Trojans
56 Plays3 months ago
Brian, Zeke and Matt gather to talk about year 2 under head coach Gerad Parker for the Troy Trojans, who will have to forge ahead without former QB Matthew Caldwell.
Will the Trojans make a return to its form it saw with Jon Sumrall? Find out on this episode of Warm Weather Fans.
Email questions/comments for the show to warmweatherfans@gmail.com!
Follow us on X:
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Troy Trojans' QB Departure
00:00:15
Speaker
Welcome everybody back to another episode of Warm Weather Fans, the Sunbelt Podcast. We are in full swing with our 2025 Sunbelt team previews.
00:00:26
Speaker
Once again, back with Zeke Palermo and Matt Miguez to talk over today, the Troy Trojans, and I don't want to step on this episode early, but their quarterback leaving to go back up arch manning at Texas is unfortunate for them ah but anyway starting off Zeke how's it going ah I've been better,
U.S. Men's National Team Loss to Mexico
00:00:52
Speaker
actually. ah Behind the scenes info, this comes right after we recorded our episode with Aikman Chambers and reviewed the, or previewed rather, the App State episode.
00:01:02
Speaker
It was great to have Aikman on. ah he's He's been a good friend of the show and always has an open invite. ah But in the meanwhile... um I had my eye on the U.S. men's national team game against Mexico.
00:01:15
Speaker
U.S. goes up for 1-0 within like four minutes. ah Mexico ties it and then wins it in like the 78th. Very disappointed. um Christian Pulisic, I hope you had a great summer off, buddy, because could have used you out there.
00:01:31
Speaker
That's why soccer doesn't matter in America. Matt, what's up?
Matt's Joblessness and Gaming Passion
00:01:35
Speaker
Death, taxes, the American outlaws letting you down. um but But somehow we we still throw on our our jerseys and support.
00:01:44
Speaker
um Look, man, life, I'm not even going to lie to you. Life is a little weird right now. um I talked about it earlier this week.
00:01:55
Speaker
ah um um I'm jobless. um you know I'm a bum. I sit around all day playing video games. I've logged. over 400 hours
Troy Trojans' QB Challenges and Season Reflection
00:02:07
Speaker
on college football 25 over the last year 26 comes out this week thank the lord um
00:02:16
Speaker
excited that we're talking football I mean the season is what six weeks away at this point like it's right around the corner
00:02:26
Speaker
Matt, I do have a question about your college football 26, EA Sports College Football 25 experience. ah You posted a TikTok the other day of a corner named Matt Miguez. Yeah, taking it to the crib for Tennessee.
00:02:42
Speaker
ah I couldn't help but notice that he was ah perhaps racially incompatible ah with –
00:02:50
Speaker
With how I see you today. No. So what's going on? He wasn't the wrong skin color. Well, there are no wrong skin colors. First of all, let's get that out of the way.
00:03:02
Speaker
There's no such thing as a wrong skin color. We might have to cut this. We might have to start over.
00:03:13
Speaker
Okay. No, that's not it. That's digging himself a hole. yeah Hey, let's talk about some football. Yeah. All right. So Troy, uh, Troy had a weird season last year. and Much like this discussion went real weird, real quick.
00:03:30
Speaker
Uh, All right. I don't even really know how to transition this. Troy ah was a football team that played football last year, and um they were not good ah early in the season.
00:03:45
Speaker
um They didn't really know who they wanted to be their quarterback. Yeah. They started the season, let's see, one in three with losses to ah FBS powerhouses Nevada, Memphis, and Iowa.
00:04:01
Speaker
um I don't really blame them for the Iowa loss, but Nevada wasn't a good football team. i don't know what they were doing, ah meandering around with them. But they did seem to kind of pick up some momentum, namely after the Arkansas State game loss ah by beating Coastal, Georgia Southern, and Southern Miss. So they won three out of their last four games, which was something to hang their hat on.
00:04:27
Speaker
But one of the things that I um mentioned at the top was it seemed like after a period of uncertainty at the quarterback spot that they finally had settled on Matthew Caldwell.
00:04:40
Speaker
Unfortunately, that NIL money is just so, so, so sweet that now he would rather go play behind Arch Manning, a.k.a. not play and unless injury strikes, than start at Troy and be the incumbent, probably unchallenged starter.
00:04:58
Speaker
So, with that said, We're back to the goose crowder, Tucker kill crease corner. I don't, I don't know what you call it. It's not a good place to be.
Offensive Player Losses and Defensive Reliance
00:05:10
Speaker
It wasn't last year. um And frankly, they, that, quarterback situation combined with how timid they were it felt like in in play calling at times last year was not a good recipe for success and the thing was Caldwell kept them their head above water a lot of times with a lot of the decision making and things like that And so to kind of go back to goose Crowder or Tucker, Tucker kill creases is going to be a big, big kind of harsh dose of reality.
00:05:48
Speaker
Zeke, do you have any large kind of overarching thoughts about Troy before we jump into this this here episode? I think, as a lot of teams in the conference are, are in the middle of a regime change or some sort of rebuild.
00:06:02
Speaker
I think that's a really important perspective to keep. This is not the Troy team that, as recently as two years ago, or even last year, we saw real good splashes of them being...
00:06:13
Speaker
so, so offensively, but, you know, defensively dominant. that This is a different regime. We're in year two under Gerard Parker, who had a, I'd say a pretty good, as expected, first year. um i think, I know I was probably a little higher on them preseason last year, um just hoping that some of the old regime would... ah ah spill over more than it truly did. But um yeah, the quarterback is a big question.
00:06:43
Speaker
ah The rushing game is a real question. You lose a thousand yard rusher and Damian Taylor, ah who kind of came out ah a little bit, came out of nowhere. ah You lose Devontae Parker, who is a thousand yard receiver as well. So ah you're really looking to the defense to run Returned to what it was two, three years ago where, I mean, there there were a few teams, not just in Group 5 football, but across the country that was putting up ah defensive numbers like Troy was in terms of points allowed and, ah you know, really putting good pressure on quarterbacks. So ah that's the direction I need to see Troy go in this year if they want to ah expedite this rebuild um under Gerard Parker.
00:07:29
Speaker
Matt, do you have any large-scale thoughts before we jump into position groups? or
00:07:36
Speaker
I'm just really interested to see you know how they rebound. right because Obviously, you had the great two years of success under you know John Summerall. You go back-to-back, and then John Summerall leaves. You bring in Gerard Parker, who had a really good resume at Notre Dame as an offensive coordinator.
00:07:56
Speaker
And you know they They struggled out the gate like we talked about off the top and you know only managed four wins. the the biggest The cliche is you know the biggest jump is from year one to year two.
00:08:10
Speaker
How big is that jump for the Troy Trojans with an experienced quarterback like Goose Crowder and Tucker Kilcrease? Now, granted, neither put on a great performance, right?
00:08:23
Speaker
i don't I don't know that it's a ah movie you'd want to watch again, but it's the two choices that you have. um So I'm really interested to see if those, if those air quotes here, movies got better and how big that jump is in year two for Gerard Parker and the Troy Chuggins.
00:08:42
Speaker
Now,
Key Player Rara Thomas and QB Utilization Concerns
00:08:43
Speaker
I will say in Gerard Parker's defense, the defection of um Matthew Caldwell came late. He only transferred May 5th.
00:08:53
Speaker
So it wasn't like they had ah ton of opportunity to go into the portal and find somebody to replace them. Right. But like you said... i I'm going to be honest before we even get started. i don't really have super high hopes for the Goose Crowder Tucker Killcrease experience, experiment, whatever you want to call it.
00:09:14
Speaker
We saw it enough last year and and the fact that it frankly didn't work and it didn't look all that great. ah A lot of the... Initial concerns I had about Parker were at the forefront before ah Caldwell took over, and those kind of seemed to so seemed to subside as the season went along, largely because they had found someone to who could at least kind of hold serve at the quarterback spot.
00:09:44
Speaker
But then by the end of the season you know by by this season, you're like, all right, we're back to square one like we were at the beginning of last year. And frankly, like Zeke said, you have even less talent on paper than you did last year.
00:09:56
Speaker
um You got some pieces on the defensive side of the ball. That's awesome. ah You've got Trey Cooley, a running back transferring in from Georgia Tech, who's going to presumably take over for Damian Taylor.
00:10:08
Speaker
um Other than that, it's like, Peyton Higgins, Trey Taylor from from Coastal.
00:10:19
Speaker
like There's a lot of like fine whatever. you know A name that i that really jumped off the page about this Troy team from the ah offensive side, ah and part of this is just because of my time ties to the team he played for most recently, ah was Rara Thomas. Ultimately did not play.
00:10:37
Speaker
be Domestic abuse stuff that I... can't recall how it folded out, but accusations alone are, you know, enough to make you cringe. Um, but that was a guy that coming into Georgia when he was a, a freshman was supposed to be, or I guess, was it a friend anyway, when when he was at Georgia was like a real dynamic guy, he's six to 200.
00:10:59
Speaker
two hundred So he has has a really interesting build. Um, you know He's tall enough to get the jump balls, but he's also slim enough to to play some sort of burner-type role. um Rara Thomas is something on the offense that I'm really keeping an eye on.
00:11:12
Speaker
um But obviously, you know character issues, that takes precedent over pretty much everything. um But you know if he's playing, I then assume that it's been cleared, at least in courts.
00:11:24
Speaker
Plus, at least, if you just want to look at it from just a football-strict perspective, even if Rah-Rah Thomas is is great, do you feel confident that Goose Crowder or Killcrease are going to get him the ball on a regular basis? Because...
00:11:39
Speaker
that, I mean, that's the, that's the big question, right? is does It it doesn't matter you've, you know, if you've got Randy Moss on one side and Calvin Johnson on the other, and you've got Antonio Gates running down the middle, uh, it doesn't matter if you're looking at guys who, uh, couldn't cut it on a team that last year was pretty poor, uh, by an offensive perspective outside of the rushing game. So, um,
00:12:03
Speaker
Another name, I think, because we're an all-names team ah you know advocates here. Another guy to look at is Mojo Dorch. That's a pretty sick name. ah don't know if there's any relation to Greg. He's the only other Dorch I've ever heard of. I'm preferent to ah Roman Mothershed.
00:12:23
Speaker
as the As my wide receiver name pick, I like that a lot. Rah-Rah Thomas is a good name, too. it's ah It's a good collection, and with Goose throwing it, it's like, hey, man, Troy could ah show up a lot on our postseason all-names team.
00:12:39
Speaker
Who's to say? Yeah, I don't really doubt that. um Matt, do you do you remember what it was like last year before Caldwell came in Was there anything that you saw from the the pre-Caldwell experiment that you feel like could have worked itself out or will work itself out this year?
00:13:02
Speaker
Because to me, a lot of what I saw was it was a combo of incompetent quarterback play, but then also, like I said, just a lack of aggression from decision-making at the head coaching spot when it came to like – going forward on fourth downs, not kicking easy field goals and and maybe going forward on fourth and goal and trying to score, things like that, we're we're really lacking, especially early in the season. So do you kind of attribute that to kind of early season jitters with a new head coach, or do you think that's going to be something that's going to hinder them this year too? no Yeah, i think I think you're spot on. you know I think Gerard Parker, obviously being a first-time head coach, probably had a shorter leash both on his quarterbacks and
00:13:46
Speaker
on his playbook. ah Probably didn't want to open it up too much. You know, obviously want to get some team chemistry built in there before you, you start getting too crazy. And I think it was one of those things where both kill crease and Crowder, you know, they made some mistakes and you know, coaching staff had a, had a short leash and Matthew Caldwell.
00:14:09
Speaker
Look, I think both of these guys are, are, are talented players. I think there's a reason that, they're playing football at the Division I level, right? they They have something to provide.
00:14:21
Speaker
However, I just haven't seen enough from either one of them but to really feel confident not not only in either quarterback, but also and in, in Gerard Parker as a head coach.
00:14:33
Speaker
Uh, I just don't have the the confidence that he's going to be able to, to turn this around, um, strictly because
Offensive Line Setup and Running Game Support
00:14:42
Speaker
I just, I haven't seen it right. The, the sample size is not there.
00:14:46
Speaker
Um, I think that getting five starters back from the offense last year is a big step. ah Zeke, you you talked about Rara Thomas, who's an incredibly talented football player.
00:14:59
Speaker
ah He's had his off-the-field issues, and i don't think that's been well documented. But you know can he put that behind him and and focus on football? And you know if that's the case, I think you have a dynamic playmaker but to you know make things easier for the quarterback.
00:15:14
Speaker
And, you know, if you have that along with some good coaching, then then you never know what could ah what what could transpire. But right now, I just don't have confidence because I simply don't know.
00:15:28
Speaker
Yeah, so basically the name of the game is just pure uncertainty. And and frankly, like we've been beating this drum, but going back to what started last year for Troy, frankly, doesn't have the ingredients to me of of like a team that's going to be truly very good in the West.
00:15:48
Speaker
In like a West division that I think is pretty good with... uh louisiana southern miss you know i i'm not i'm i'm not even joking when i'm like texas state is in that mix like you know there are some good teams in the west that can really you know maybe south alabama gets it together and and does some things um it's not a good division for you to just kind of be like ah we're just figuring it out.
00:16:16
Speaker
Like it's not, it's, it isn't going to work like doing that. So they're going to have to either kind of take it on the chin this year and say, Hey, last year yeah in 26, they're going to have to look at this year go, Hey, it didn't work. Let's go ahead and wipe the slate clean, start over.
00:16:34
Speaker
Or like Matt said, they're going to have to have to take some real, real steps forward, especially with like the quarterback position and, you know, frankly, offensive line, we could go ahead and break into that.
00:16:45
Speaker
You get two starters back, uh, in Elijah Prather and Eli Russ, who played significant time, at the left tackle and left guard spots. You do get a transfer, uh, over from app, uh, in Garner Langlo, I think is how you pronounce it at the right tackle spot.
00:17:05
Speaker
Um, um,
00:17:08
Speaker
I don't know. right Right guard, you get a ah junior college transfer, and then senior, you get a, or at center, rather, you get a freshman incoming at that spot, presumably, according to
Offensive Identity and Running Back Strategy
00:17:21
Speaker
Phil Steele. So there's a couple spots that seem solidified, but there are some real, real holes here, too, that could be a real problem for them.
00:17:30
Speaker
i I think I really like this group from an experience standpoint. ah Two starters back, both on the left side of the line. That's the more important line. um Blocking, you know, whether it's Crowder or Killcrease's blind side.
00:17:45
Speaker
ah That's really important. You get guys who have played before on the right with Henry and Langlo. ah The crux is obviously going to be having a freshman run the center. We talked about this last week, Brian, with ah Alec Johnson at Georgia State.
00:17:58
Speaker
who is a returning starter. He was a freshman last year, sophomore now, running that that middle spot on the offensive line. ah That can either be a huge, huge sign that you have got a future star on your hands, or it just means that you are so depleted that you're looking for anyone to fill that gap.
00:18:18
Speaker
um I'll put my hand up, blind spot. I don't know anything about Paul Bowling. um Sorry, I didn't watch him in high school. My bad. um so So we'll find out ah what what that transpires and and how that looks like at 6'4", 300. He's big boy.
00:18:33
Speaker
He's already college size, that's not concern. college size so that's not ah concern um We'll find out if he's got the the mental chops to to keep up and to you know make the slides and you know calls whatever.
00:18:49
Speaker
um that But as we talked about last week, Brian, that is either a great sign for your team or a very, very bad sign for your team. um Yeah.
00:19:01
Speaker
And you know I want to add to that because you you bring up Paul Bowling being a ah freshman. If it doesn't work out, I do like the depth that they have behind him. um You've got two guys with starting experience.
00:19:13
Speaker
ah Tyler Cappy had two starts last year for Troy, and then Bison Lang comes in. He's had nine starts in the last two seasons over at Tennessee. So you've got some really good experience behind him on that depth chart if it doesn't work out with the freshman.
00:19:28
Speaker
But like you said, on the chance that it does, and he turns out to be you know just a ready-made college football player, ah Troy's got the anchor of their offensive line set for the next three years.
00:19:40
Speaker
At least if if they put vice and laying in with the size that Matt Henry has, they have a massive ah two guys at the offensive line that are both 340.
00:19:54
Speaker
So if you want to try get through the offensive line against two guys that are combined 680 pounds. Yeah, good luck. good luck Because frankly, I'm not going to tell you not to, but I wouldn't do it if I was you.
00:20:07
Speaker
um But yeah, so we'll we'll see how that all pans out. It is good that they have those two returning starters plus the transfer from app ah who played in 10 games last year at the right tackle spot. So you got a little bit of continuity in theory, but we'll see kind of how that all plays out.
00:20:25
Speaker
And frankly, is Trey Cooley or Jordan Lovett or Jairus Williams, any of these guys going to make a ah difference at the running back spot? Because frankly, in years past, whether it be Kamani Fidal or, um, you know, Damian Taylor, like,
00:20:43
Speaker
Troy Troy's backbone has been a little bit like app during its most successful seasons where it's run the ball play defense um throw the ball as necessary but use the running game to kind of preempt whatever may be happening from a passing perspective and I think that was – it was okay last year, but they're really going need to find somebody who's a difference maker at the running back spot because, frankly, I just – I don't see it out of the quarterbacks. So you got to do something on offense, and I don't think letting Goose Crowder uncork it 50 times a game is really the answer. So that's the offensive side of the ball.
Defensive Strategy and Key Players
00:21:22
Speaker
um Defensively, Zeke, are there any pieces that really stand out to you on the defensive side of the ball that that catch your eye? ah I mean, yeah. First of all, it's Jordan Stringer ah playing out of the linebacker spot. He's their most leading ah returning tackler, as a and he did that last year as a sophomore. So ah that sophomore to junior jump is always big. I'm really excited to see what he he does this upcoming season.
00:21:50
Speaker
ah I'm still... interested to see how this defense develops because you go from John Summerall, who was a defensive guy. Yes.
00:22:01
Speaker
He a linebacker linebacker background. Right. And so then you switch over to Gerard Parker, whose offense is offensive coordinator. And you've entirely changed the tune of kind of what,
00:22:15
Speaker
who who's to speak to their actual roster construction strategy, but that gives you the the inclination that, you know, Gerard Parker is going to favor the offense. So we're, so I'm really ah still curious to see what the post summer all defenses look like because they, they had some really, really good performances last year. I'm looking at the ULM game where,
00:22:35
Speaker
Granted, it's ULM, but allowed only 13, right? 25 to South Al, 12 to, again, it's Florida A&M. But you're holding the team to 12 points. Not a lot. You know, that's a difficult thing to do. ah There were some stinkers, 51 to Louisiana, Matt. You'll remember that game, 38 to Texas State.
00:22:51
Speaker
ah You know, so they had some real stinkers. But I think this this team, more than anything, more than finding like a stud, finding a guy through the portal or finding a guy like Stringer or...
00:23:04
Speaker
Devin Lafayette was a guy who who played well in some sort of ah rushing role, pass rushing role for them as well last year. um More than seeing improvement for those guys, it's let's find some more identity.
00:23:17
Speaker
Let's reestablish the defensive identity of this team as they try to pick up the the remains of what was two years ago. Matt, I have a question for you.
00:23:27
Speaker
um Looking at it on paper, to me, I think... For them to run a three-down lineman on the defensive side of the ball with three guys that are in the 270 to 280 range light.
00:23:42
Speaker
seems a little light that Do you think that that too? Because, I mean, like we made the joke that if you sub in one of the guys on their offensive line, you've got two guys that are 680 pounds combined.
00:23:57
Speaker
And then look at the defensive side of the ball. It's like, are Elijah Davis, Luis Medina, and Talik Robbins at 280-ish going to be able to hold up against offensive lines in the Sun Belt?
00:24:09
Speaker
So I guess... So I agree with you. I think that that is awfully small to run a three down front. um Now, is it one of those situations? And I ask this because I haven't watched a lot of Troy defense. I don't know the the skill sets, particularly of these three guys.
00:24:29
Speaker
Can they beat a Sunbelt offensive line with speed? Is that the objective that the Gerard Parker is going? Maybe they can get a quick first step and get through the line before you know blocks are set or whatever.
00:24:42
Speaker
Um, you know, that that's going to be the, the, the question. I don't love a three down set when you don't have a guy that is at least 300. Now, if you want your two guys on the outside being 275, 280, okay, that's fine.
00:24:58
Speaker
Yeah. But my guy in the middle has got to be three 10 swallowing up two blocks at a time. Like that, it just, that has to be how it is. Um, and so, yeah, I mean, that is a little concerning, but, um,
00:25:13
Speaker
you know And again, maybe it's one of those situations where after the Memphis game, they look at it and go, okay, a three down front is not working. like let's but Let's try something else.
00:25:26
Speaker
It's going to be an interesting question that's going to get answered pretty quickly. because ah And obviously, you know we'll get into the schedule in a little bit. But it is ah it is not an easy one for Gerard Parker in the Trojan.
00:25:39
Speaker
No, i I would be interested to see if they are married to what seems to be like a 3-3-5 type front. ah Frankly, if you get through a couple games next season and they're running running opposing running backs are just absolutely running wild on your defense with, like like we said, like three kind of light guys in the three-down set, like that might be a real area for concern.
00:26:04
Speaker
And my question would be, could they even change from that? Like, is it so ingrained in how they're coaching that they have to run with that? Or can they call an audible if they need to and say, Hey, let's maybe move to like a four down lineman just to try to get some help.
00:26:23
Speaker
ah you know, containing the run here. So we'll have to see um Zeke mentioned Jordan Stringer, the run linebacker coming back. They also return Steven Catledge who played in 11 games last year, just had only had 22 tackles, but has experience.
00:26:41
Speaker
Devin Lafayette, who I think plays a little bit of like a like an old school rover type role where it's like he's a he's a part time safety, part time linebacker that will come down and help support the run with, again, three, three down linemen, three linebackers.
00:26:55
Speaker
Yeah, I want to jump in on Lafayette just because I know a little bit about him because I i saw him a little bit in high school, so I followed him. i miss but I said earlier that he comes in as a pass rush.
00:27:07
Speaker
That was not totally accurate, a little bit of a misspeak. ah He does play like a traditional box safety type role, um and that excites me in this offense that if if they're playing like this 3-3-5, I love safeties in guys that are real tweeners. And um again, I I'm only hopping on this because this is one of the guys on this defense that I, I really know the name and I really know his game.
00:27:34
Speaker
um That's a name that I really excites me. Well, yeah you know, Zeke, they've got to be willing to come down in the box and mix it up. Matt made a face. Damn. yeah I didn't know. you i didn't know you had rhymes like that, bro.
00:27:51
Speaker
No, I know his name and I know his game. I'm a poet. now yeah I didn't even recognize it. ah love i love that. But yeah, you're exactly right.
00:28:01
Speaker
Talking about but a tweener safety in a 3-3-5. He is the definition of a tweener. I mean, 6'2", 195. That dude's going to fly around the football field.
00:28:14
Speaker
um and And that's huge. You've got a guy that... you know, can blitz the quarterback. youve You've got a guy that can drop into coverage. um And, you know, that's a really a really nice piece to have for a 3-3-5, exactly like Zeke was talking about.
Schedule Challenges and Gerard Parker's Future
00:28:32
Speaker
um So I'm definitely going to be keeping my eye on him ah this year. He had six tackles for a loss last year. And, you know, can can he add to that number in 2025 as, like you said, a guy that can really do both very well?
00:28:45
Speaker
It's going to be interesting to see. And then specifically in the secondary, it seems to be a pretty new, unexperienced unit, um with the exception of Justin Poe, um who played 12 games and started at strong safety for them last year.
00:29:03
Speaker
ah did have 67 tackles, four pass breakups, two interceptions. But some of the other guys, whether it be Levine, Jaquez White, ah Zeke, I don't know if you're familiar from with this guy from Georgia, but this David Daniel...
00:29:20
Speaker
I don't even know what his last name is. Sivanaya? I don't know how to pronounce his last name. David Daniel. I have maybe a story for you guys off pod. David Daniel went to ah high school maybe three miles down the road from where I went to school. We're roughly the same age.
00:29:34
Speaker
I've got a story for you guys after the pod about that one. but Okay. All right. I'm looking forward to that. All right. So that that is the offense and defense. Let's turn the page and get to the... ah the schedule, which as Matt alluded to, I believe it was Matt, uh, that it's not an easy one.
00:29:54
Speaker
Um, and no so their, their win total preseason is five and a half, according to the draft King sports book. um if caldwell was still here i may dabble in the over with the goose crowder kill crease jumbo package i'm out i'm good see i've got i i mean obviously there's there's situations where you know you win games you're not projected to win but looking at the schedule like we like to do i see four wins
00:30:28
Speaker
Yeah. So which four? ah Nichols. I'm going to give them a win on the road at Buffalo. Okay. ULM. And Georgia State.
00:30:42
Speaker
Okay. I've got those four. See, I think Georgia State could beat them, to be totally honest. Oh, 100%. I think it could. That's one of those awesome games.
00:30:53
Speaker
Mm-hmm. I think South Owl's interesting as well. ah that That's true. you know a rival Yeah, that's a rivalry game ah in Troy. I think that's a winnable game.
00:31:06
Speaker
um Arkansas State yet to be seen. But I'm with Matt. I think four feels like a really comfortable number to sit at. with you know they They might win five games, but yeah anything beyond five is really, really pushing it.
00:31:23
Speaker
the I mean, let's let's put it totally in perspective. Last year, when they didn't play Caldwell, and even when he came in in spurts, they started the season So...
00:31:36
Speaker
so I just – I can't look at the turnaround they had at the end of the season and go, oh, that was totally independent of who was starting at the quarterback spot. They would have done that with anybody.
00:31:48
Speaker
i can't I can't say that. So, frankly, I'm going to say this is another – rough year for Jared Parker. Um, I think with it and being this, another rough season, I think next year is going to be a really make or break season.
00:32:04
Speaker
If this goes the way that everybody kind of foresees it. Um, like I said, I don't exactly blame him for Caldwell leaving so late kind of in the cycle, but also,
Sunbelt Conference Expansion Possibilities
00:32:16
Speaker
How many four win seasons do you get before people in Troy are like, get him out of here? but you know Chip Lindsey, we said Chip Lindsey wasn't a very good coach before John Summerall took over.
00:32:30
Speaker
He was like 500-ish, like borderline 500 every year, and they were like, get him out of here. Jared Parker turning in two sub-six win seasons is not going to not going to cut it in Alabama.
00:32:44
Speaker
so They're going to have to figure some things out. i don't i don't I don't really know how how many other ways there are to slice it. like Things have to get better and fast. so yeah I think he's got three years.
00:32:57
Speaker
um I think that that's ah that's a fair number. Obviously, it depends on how this year goes. right If you go four and eight again, Year three, you probably have to jump up to seven but to stay around.
00:33:14
Speaker
But yeah, this year is going to be really important because you know if it's a total catastrophe, if they're even worse than last year, say they go three and nine or two and ten, he might be putting his house up for sale in December.
00:33:28
Speaker
the Yeah, this is a team that I feel like obviously there are a lot of questions, but... I think outside of the quarterback room, we at no point were like, man, this really sucks.
00:33:42
Speaker
You know, there are questions about the running back room and Brian, you know, This feels like, up to this point, this is what, preview number four for us?
00:33:54
Speaker
This feels like the fewest wins matched with the team that we've been the nicest about. Like, it's that in that weird quad quadrant of the, you know, compass where this doesn't feel like it should be another four five win team.
00:34:12
Speaker
ah I think this is... I don't know. Maybe I'm speaking out of my rear, but I have internal optimism for this program that even though the four or five wins like look like it, on paper, this feels like a team that might should be better.
00:34:29
Speaker
maybe Maybe I'm speaking out of my rear here, though, but that that's the gut that I'm feeling right now. Well, so Phil Steele in his little... I was reading the little write-up blurb kind of in the in the preview forecast or whatever for the upcoming season.
00:34:46
Speaker
I don't know if he had previously had, like, in a very late edit, like, Caldwell slotted in and then he transfers out and he didn't have time to change it. But he said he has them going bowling.
00:34:59
Speaker
And I was just like, i I'm struggling to find six, Phil. Like, I don't know if you go, I don't know if he goes in and like tallies up the teams that he has making bowls and which ones he doesn't, but it feels like a lot of them. He's just like, yeah, they're going to make a bowl game.
00:35:15
Speaker
And I'm like, that doesn't happen for every single team. Every single team doesn't just walk to a bowl game every single season. Like it's, that's not how it works. So I'm interested to see where his six that, that he had pinned were like, I don't know how he feels about old dominion.
00:35:35
Speaker
I don't know how he feels about we, cause we, frankly, haven't, we haven't started doing research on, on some of these teams, but it's like, okay. Like you said, ULM fine South Al maybe, but like, yeah, you're not beating Clemson.
00:35:52
Speaker
You're not beating Memphis. you're not beaten You're probably not beating Louisiana. You're probably not beating Arkansas State. Where are the wins coming from? I think we're going to run into this problem with Arkansas State as well, where it's going to be tough to really point at many wins. i I don't know what their cross-division and out-of-conference looks like, but I...
00:36:21
Speaker
this is i the balance is so heavily in the West this year. And this is you know a little deviating from Troy, but... You've got south or Southern Miss, which we anticipate to be near the top of the West.
00:36:37
Speaker
ah You've got Louisiana, which is perpetually in the top of the division. um Texas State, say what you will about them, is probably good for six wins, right?
00:36:50
Speaker
um Yeah. This is a really top-heavy division, but it's also where all the power is in the conference.
00:37:00
Speaker
And ah I don't know. I think that's interesting. I don't know how that compares to historical years or historical trends in the conference. ah You guys would have better perspectives on that than I, but I think that's a really interesting ah kind of dynamic to have.
00:37:16
Speaker
And it all comes back to just having this, frankly, antiquated division system in the conference.
00:37:24
Speaker
So what's going to be interesting, and you know before the season starts, I would like to have a special episode where we, we just talk about expansion and, you know, realignment and whatnot.
00:37:36
Speaker
um I kind of have a bold take. I think the Sunbelt going end up with 16 teams before it's all said and done.
00:37:47
Speaker
um Because, you know, one big draw or one big con, I should say to adding Louisiana tech is that would put three teams in the state of Louisiana.
00:37:59
Speaker
And a lot of people aren't happy about that. And I and i get it. So how do you expand it even further out to kind of level the playing field? You attack the East Coast again.
00:38:12
Speaker
You go get a school from, you will get ah yet another school from the Carolinas or Virginia or Kentucky. there There's a lot of pieces here to this um that's really going to take a little while to kind of ah settle.
00:38:29
Speaker
um But no, when it's all said and done, I think two things are going to happen. I think number one, the Sun Belt is going to get rid of divisions. And then number two, I think you're going to have 16 teams. Who do you think else? Who else do you like joining? I mean, we're just spitballing here. So, you know, this is this is by no means any.
00:38:46
Speaker
so off the cuff, I think Louisiana Tech's a lock. I think I think they're in. I think ECU is a coveted. piece to this. um I think the Sun Belt would love to add ECU if they could.
00:39:01
Speaker
Now, for for the the third team, it's interesting. so Middle Tennessee's got some history in the Sun Belt. could Could they have interest in coming back?
00:39:11
Speaker
Western Kentucky had a nasty exit from the Sun Belt, but it was 10 years ago. So, you know, can and maybe bygones be bygones and and they return to the conference?
00:39:24
Speaker
Another team, Liberty. We say it every time conference realignment rolls around. Liberty has proven that they are better than Conference USA.
00:39:37
Speaker
So i
00:39:42
Speaker
Frankly, to me, there's no team I would want to see get a Power 5 bid more than Liberty just because they're fancy and sufferable.
00:39:53
Speaker
no I want to see them get exposed, man. i I'm not a Liberty believer. I'm ready for them to... I don't know, get proven is fraudulent. I'd love to see them go P5.
00:40:05
Speaker
But I really think Louisiana Tech is in. I think it's just a matter of when and not if on when that news gets dropped. And then you brought up ECU. I think that they're the the next piece of the puzzle because, I mean, they're they're just they're good at so many things, right?
00:40:21
Speaker
they have ah They have a decent football program. They've got a really good baseball program. that would add insurmountable value to an already really good baseball conference. yeah And then they're pretty good on the basketball court.
00:40:36
Speaker
So, you know, all the way around, I think they provide a ton to to what the Sunbelt conference wants to do. Do you guys ever think that Coastal's baseball program is kind of sitting around being like, where's everybody else at It's it just us. ah Does anybody else want to step up and and um ah participate?
00:40:54
Speaker
going to plead the fifth on that.
00:40:58
Speaker
All right.
Conclusion and Social Media Engagement
00:40:59
Speaker
So as we wrap up here, that is our Troy preview. um Very, very tempered, mild expectations for the Trojans this year and year two under Jared Parker.
00:41:10
Speaker
Matt, let everybody know where they can find you on socials and then we'll kick it over to Zeke. You can find me on social media as always at Miguez Matt. Yeah, and I'm on same place as he is at Zeke Palermo, Z-E-K-E-P-A-L-E-R-M-O.
00:41:28
Speaker
Yeah, as always, feel free to email the show. If you want to talk about conference alignment, we'd love to have people's takes. Oh, yeah. Whoever they think like should be joining, who they think should be kept out.
00:41:40
Speaker
Let's really gatekeep here. like I really want to not in my backyard, you know really nimby it. So it'd be interesting to see ah what people have to say about that. But like Matt said, it feels like ECU and ah Louisiana Tech are just kind of like here go.
00:41:59
Speaker
Here's your spot. Like we're just waiting for you to join us. And then we'll see how the kind of the rest of the piece fall into place. You can follow ah ah the show on all social media platforms at warm weather fans, including tick tock, Twitter, YouTube, the whole shebang a bang.
00:42:14
Speaker
ah It is me. I am on ah X or whatever at watch the stone. We'll be back next week to preview two more sunbelt teams.
00:42:25
Speaker
This has been another edition of warm weather fans.