I’m going to add to the spate of new posts (and this one is probably as worthless as all the rest).
If Connor Noland had elected to concentrate on football rather than baseball and if he had gone through a full spring training…
Would he have been the starter?
If so, would our record have been any different?
Just looking for some opinions.
Sorry, but what is done, is done. What might have been is useless.
That kind of goes without saying.
What might have been is useless… but still interesting.
My guess would be that, with this HC, who brought in his 2 transfers, Connor would have been the 3rd string QB. He might have got the start (instead of coming in after the half) against Bama. Because of that, I doubt it would have made any difference in the W/L record.
Now, I will say personally, I think he would have been the best QB on the team. But wouldn’t have been given the opportunity to show that, because of the transfers.
I think Connor looked at the situation and understood where his better future would be. Not saying he’s better at baseball, but maybe he saw what we are seeing now and thought it was his only chance. Smart kid.
Connor is a baseball player who just happen to play QB.
Not a QB who just happened to play baseball.
My guess is he would have been third team based on missing the spring.
Let’s see, play for a NC contender in a sport where he has a chance to live or play behind no Oline and get killed. I bet he had to really think about that one.
Connor is a darned good pitcher, and getting better. He made the right decision.
Connor made the right decision for himself, the baseball program, & the football program. We’re all better for it.
The fact that he concentrated on baseball during spring football probably answered the question for everyone. I think he went to football practice for part of three days. He was in more meetings than practices. That’s not how you win the quarterback job.
As soon as Dave Van Horn and Matt Hobbs saw Connor throw just after Christmas, I think football was done in everyone’s mind. When he could hit spots at 91 and throw his curve for a strike, and get his pitch count up in rather quick fashion, he was destined to be a weekend starter. Weekend starter eliminated Saturday football scrimmages.
I knew by February that he wasn’t ever going to be a factor in football again. It wasn’t confirmed by anyone for a few weeks, but it was clear in my mind.
Dudley explained it correctly. He was a baseball player dabbling in football.
Someone with great experience in college baseball told me that there aren’t many places with elite level baseball programs where you can double as a weekend pitcher and play quarterback. Too much time is needed for both areas.
There are other combinations that are much more doable. For example, maybe one would be say outfield/wide receiver. It wouldn’t be easy, but doable.