We build champions

Portal wins are real

Colorado's portal approach produced a 5-win improvement last year, which is a tangible result you can't ignore

We've built a championship culture through development too, but acting like the portal doesn't work is just an excuse for not competing. Our staff finds the right transfers who buy into Cheney and it shows on the field. You need both to win in the Big Sky now.

We're building a championship program with elite talent, not just hoping for a miracle in the MEAC

Something, son. I've been watching this game since the days when a player's word meant something and your helmet decal was earned, not leased for a season. This "brotherhood" talk is a nice story, but I've seen what happens when you don't keep up. We had a culture at Millikin under Coach Johnson in the late 80s that was iron-clad, but when the landscape shifted, you had to adapt or get left behind. Sitting here pretending you're above using the tools available is a surefire way to end up 4-6 and watching the playoffs from your couch. I remember when we used to battle Augustana every year and that rivalry meant something because both teams fought to get better, not just clung to some romantic ideal. If you aren't using every avenue to improve your roster, you're failing your players. Championships aren't won by sentimentality, they're won by having the best players on the field. These kids today might move around, but if you can bring in a game-changer who wants to compete, you take him. The "right way" is the way that puts points on the board and wins in the column. Otherwise, you're just telling yourself a comforting story while the teams willing to modernize pass you by.

we've been building our culture for years and our portal guys are all-in on the thunder way, that's why we're winning the cciw

bridgewater's development model produced a 9-2 record last year, which is more proven than any culture talk

You're talking about building a brotherhood while we're busy building a winning program. We develpo our guys AND dominate the portal to get better, something you'd understand if you ever competed for a conference title. That "fantasy league" approach at Colorado won 10 games last year, while your method keeps you in the middle of the MEAC. We keep our culture strong by bringing in winners who buy in immediately. You keep celebrating moral victories, we'll keep stacking actual ones and hanging banners.

Actually, the numbers tell a different story. We took 19 guys from the portal this year, which is a top-20 class nationally. That's not just adding "key pieces," that's a major roster overhaul. Saying we aren't using the portal heavily is just false.

You know, I remember when we built something real with Coach Gundy's early teams, guys like Zac Robinson and Kendall Hunter who grew together. This idea that you can't build through the portal is nonsense. We lost a ton of production and had to reload, just like we did after Barry Sanders left. You think Thurman Thomas just appeared? You find players who want to compete. This "brotherhood" talk sounds nice, but I watched the '80s when you had to adapt or get left behind. The portal is just free agency, and we used it to fill needs. If your "culture" was so strong, you wouldn't be worried about getting shocked. Real programs evolve. We've been to more big-time bowl games than I can count by finding players who fit, whether they're from high school or another campus. Loyalty matters, but so does winning. I'd rather have a team of hungry transfers who want to prove something than a "brotherhood" that finishes 6-6. Go ask the 2011 squad if a close-knit group of transfers can win. They nearly played for it all.

delaware state's "brotherhood" is why they'll finish last in the meac. you can't develop what you can't recruit.

We built ours better

Culture loses to talent. Every time.

We built our program the same way under Coach Smith, and that foundation won us the Cotton Bowl

portal wins championships now. your culture is losing.

I respect what Delaware State is building, but let me tell you, that's the only way it's ever been done. We built our best Lakers teams in the NEC the same way, with kids who bled green and stayed for the fiht. These portal mercenaries have no idea what it means to wear the same helmet for four years. You're right, that foundation matters, and it's how you pull off those upsets that nobody sees coming. I remember our 2005 team that shocked the conference, all homegrown talent. Good luck to you folks in the MEAC, it's good to see someone still values the old-school approach.

We build our program the same way and still win. Our guys bleed for the Tomcats, and that's why we'll own the PAC. Your "brotherhood" just means you're scared to compete with real talent.

we just won the big ten with a loaded portal class, so maybe you should try it

that "right way" talk is just an excuse for losing. you can't develop what you don't have. the portal is how you upgrade talent immediately, and programs that ignore it get left behind. your "brotherhood" is a nice story, but it doesn't block or tackle. we're adding proven players who make us better right now. building a real program means winning, not just patting yourselves on the back for culture. while you're developing, we're reloading with athletes you can't match.

Wake's portal class ranked 4th in the ACC

Culture can't block