Why DLS Should Not Be Ranked Nationally in the Top 50 to Start 2016 Season

[Son of Mtnjohn]

#1: They lost a lot of talent.
#2: Their schedule for 2016 is VERY POOR. They will out and again participate in California'as playoffs, but no matter how well they do, they should not be nationally ranked come years end.

It is hard to admit the above. but true.

 

[concrete17]

# 3: These 2016 dates will all fall on a Monday: 4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10, and 12/12
# 4: Chinese New Year is on Monday, February 8th, the Year of the Red Fire Monkey…
# 5: American Idol will close out its 16th and final season

It is embarrassing to admit the above, but also true

 

[Bluedog2]

# 3: These 2016 dates will all fall on a Monday: 4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10, and 12/12
# 4: Chinese New Year is on Monday, February 8th, the Year of the Red Fire Monkey…
# 5: American Idol will close out its 16th and final season

It is embarrassing to admit the above, but also true

Guys...No matter what kind of condition that DLS may be in, you can bet that there are a lot of teams that DLS would like to take on, but I don't think they want any part of the Spartans....Also, the cost of roaming the state for solid teams can really stack up, plus out of state teams....The EBAL teams and the teams in the Sacramento area are about as tough as it gets.....Plus these schools draw from their school district and not from all over the place...So DLS will march on....

 

[HSfan82]

Not a DLS fan at all, but respect what they do. I dont care how much talent they lose and how "poor' the schedule is, until proven otherwise they should be ranked nationally every year. They have a method and a system that works and every time it says they are down, someone emerges as big time players.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

DLS even in years when they lacked talent win section titles and is among the top teams in the state. No indication that the upcoming DLS classes in 2017 and 2018 will lack talent or motivation. Even if they lost a game at the frosh our JV levels doesn't mean they will not dominate at varsity. Until proven otherwise with a loss, DLS is a top CA 3 team at least and that would put them in the top 50. They should start in the top 25 until proven otherwise, and no doubt they will be formidable at end of year.

 

[HSfan82]

Like I said not a DLS fan at all but want accurate factual information out there. This is from Phil Jensen CC times....

De La Salle High's 2016 football schedule will include Utah 4A state champion East High-Salt Lake City and a matchup with Antioch and star running back Najee Harris.

Not sure where Son of MtnJohn got that 2016 schedule was "VERY POOR"....I am sure they are playing Serra again, so just those games alone make for pretty tough schedule even if they played 7 cupcakes(which I am sure they are not)

 

[Bubba3000]

Even with Najee Harris I don't consider Antioch a tough game for a team the caliber of DLS. Drop 8 or 9 in the box and stop Harris.

 

[1315]

What really is the purpose of having a "national poll" or a MNC? Self gratification? Seems silly. Got an open boundary program and want a challenge? Play adjacent or in-state champs. Want to complain about travel costs, etc.? Adjust your admittance standards so acceptances are entirely academically or ecclesiastically uniform. When pigs fly.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

Not sure how many of DLS Socal games are repeats but if so they also improve the schedule.

 

[TMJA]

Stop it. So what if they are ranked. You are acting like they are not a national ranked program.

 

[RunningRon]

Why DLS should be in top 50:

# 1: Spotlight won best picture
# 2: Odds of winning the California Super Lotto are 1 in 18 million
# 3: The US population is 318.9 million

Points that could be considered immaterial....like losing talent and next year's schedule!

 

[Bluedog2]

Even with Najee Harris I don't consider Antioch a tough game for a team the caliber of DLS. Drop 8 or 9 in the box and stop Harris.

BUBBA...You are right.....Harris will need a super effort by the line to cause DLS any problems, as great as Najee is, he can't do it all and you can bet that there are kids coming forward that will make DLS the same old team....

 

[observer22]

They lose more talent every year than most HS teams have in a decade. But they also get more talent in the door every year than most HS teams get in a decade.
Losing talented players is a non-issue for De La. They are the deepest team in NorCal every year and have backups that might make all league at other schools.

 

[Bluedog2]

They lose more talent every year than most HS teams have in a decade. But they also get more talent in the door every year than most HS teams get in a decade.
Losing talented players is a non-issue for De La. They are the deepest team in NorCal every year and have backups that might make all league at other schools.

DLS doesn't have down years...They just have a reorganization, followed by a tune up and every thing keeps moving on.....The Pittsburg Jamboree if they enter this year, should tell us what we already know...

 

[Rmbr26]

For anyone who has followed NorCal/DLS for as long as I have & the rest of the knowledgeable NCP's fan base this is a highly laughable thread yet very entertaining at the same time. If the intent was to invite comments it has at least succeeded in that respect. Not always the most talented "team" but among the elite "coached" teams and top team organizations in the country at the HS level - and no knowledgeable sports fan would argue otherwise until their record changes.

 

[DLS Alum]

For anyone who has followed NorCal/DLS for as long as I have & the rest of the knowledgeable NCP's fan base this is a highly laughable thread yet very entertaining at the same time. If the intent was to invite comments it has at least succeeded in that respect. Not always the most talented "team" but among the elite "coached" teams and top team organizations in the country at the HS level - and no knowledgeable sports fan would argue otherwise until their record changes.

I too have followed DLS a long time (since the early 90's when I returned to the bay area) and I wouldn't consider this a "laughable" thread. What drives the engine? The QB position. This coming season, the Spartans are at the most difficult time perhaps in their history. The 2016 future starter (many assumed), quit the team in last summer's passing league. Then, during the season, the backup behind seniors Sweeney and Vanderklugt, disappeared after game 4 never to suit up again. It wasn't discussed even with the parents sitting around us. The bottom line however, was he didn't take a snap all season. Late in blowout games, the WR was the back-up QB. Lastly, while all the underclass QB's (Frosh/JV) might be wonderful kids, great students, hard workers, etc., by no stretch of the imagination is any one of them ready or has the talent to take over a nationally ranked team and lead them to anything. All you had to do is watch them on the field last year.
DLS has some talent and the staff may be able to "coach up" some inexperienced players, but the QB position is in a danger zone that I have never seen before. Even when Travis Pacos struggled back in '09, the back-up was Bart Houston who eventually took over. There is no one like that waiting in the wings that I can see..

 

[Rmbr26]

Sorry DLS Alum but am still laughing at the post regarding the demise of DLS football and your post did nothing to alter my opinion.
So based upon your post the success of DLS has been based upon its QB's? I will be the first to say that some of DLS's very good teams have had rather sub-par QB's at best. So what drives the engine as you say? Simple to say it is the program over many years and staying with what works.
DLS with its system can convert many "athletes" to the QB position and do just fine IMO. If anyone cares to look up DLS passing stats they'll see that they are hardly noteworthy, simply because their strength is in runnning the ball, period. So if you believe that the coaching staff of DLS cannot come up with a "athlete" RB/DB/WR to convert to QB and hand off and run the option, then DLS Alum & SonofJohn will be correct and DLS will to revert to ordinary HS football status. I'm bettin' otherwise...just sayin'

 

[1315]

dLS Alum is so close to the program at Easter Service he sat in the pew behind Lad. Ever so quietly he whispered "Bob, I'm very sorry to inform you those 399 Ws?....all because of nice QB play. I know you coach the line, and you've done so so. But if we don't get someone other than a baseball player callin' signals, no SBG in '16."
Lad whispers back, "Did you say your name was dLSalum or bSdumb?"

As much as Houston was touted, his third year as a starter he was still #3 in QB rating in EBAL. The trenches drive the machine, the backs provide the octane.

 

[concrete17]

dLS Alum is so close to the program at Easter Service he sat in the pew behind Lad. Ever so quietly he whispered "Bob, I'm very sorry to inform you those 399 Ws?....all because of nice QB play. I know you coach the line, and you've done so so. But if we don't get someone other than a baseball player callin' signals, no SBG in '16."
Lad whispers back, "Did you say your name was dLSalum or bSdumb?"......

Whoa.....1315 !! Is this your coming out post ?
In the span of 4 sentences you have gone from simply being the Savant of the Six-80, the Expositor of the EBAL to now the Satirist of the Silver & Green; from Ann Coulter to Stephen Colbert in 1 post.

We have a new sheriff in town. A sense of humor can make even cafeteria food palatable. Don't always agree with your POV but like your style.

 

[RunningRon]

1315 is lighting up the scoreboard - get 'em!

 

[1315]

Crete- thanks for the "labels"....I think. Colbert? Maybe. Coulter? My AFL-CIO WCCUSD parents, both hanging in there, would have my hide.
It needed an amusing response as you, and many other silvergreens know line perfection stokes the veer. Tell Delurk to give him access to Delphi. Maybe he can take the place of Yo, the C-let dad!

 

[DLS Alum]

dLS Alum is so close to the program at Easter Service he sat in the pew behind Lad. Ever so quietly he whispered "Bob, I'm very sorry to inform you those 399 Ws?....all because of nice QB play. I know you coach the line, and you've done so so. But if we don't get someone other than a baseball player callin' signals, no SBG in '16."
Lad whispers back, "Did you say your name was dLSalum or bSdumb?"

As much as Houston was touted, his third year as a starter he was still #3 in QB rating in EBAL. The trenches drive the machine, the backs provide the octane.

dLS Alum is so close to the program at Easter Service he sat in the pew behind Lad. Ever so quietly he whispered "Bob, I'm very sorry to inform you those 399 Ws?....all because of nice QB play. I know you coach the line, and you've done so so. But if we don't get someone other than a baseball player callin' signals, no SBG in '16."
Lad whispers back, "Did you say your name was dLSalum or bSdumb?"

As much as Houston was touted, his third year as a starter he was still #3 in QB rating in EBAL. The trenches drive the machine, the backs provide the octane.

Yea, hilarious. Love the smack for stating an opinion. I hope I am wrong. All you have to do is go back to '09 and see where the Spartans were w/o a QB. The opener vs Serra, 0-0 at halftime and it took a terrible pass and catch that bounced off a defender to set up the game winner (14-7). Following that, 2 straight losses and a terrible outing vs Amador Valley. Bart took over in game 5 vs Monte Vista and finally the Spartans righted the ship.
You can say Chris Williams was a first-time QB but everyone knew he was the heir apparent to Bart the year before. No one knows going into this season. And the 2016 Spartans are not exactly stacked with returning talent. They lose both starting RB's (Custer/Hernandez), Sweeney (obviously), and Boss, Asiasi, Leyman, Wiley, Wardy, among others from the line. The JV's and Frosh teams were average at best.

Again, I hope I'm wrong but the DLS faithful that I know are very concerned about 2016..

 

[elprup]

you may want to wait until spring football starts before announcing the demise of the most consistent program in the nation over the past 38 yrs lol

 

[Rmbr26]

And the 2016 Spartans are not exactly stacked with returning talent. They lose both starting RB's (Custer/Hernandez), Sweeney (obviously), and Boss, Asiasi, Leyman, Wiley, Wardy, among others from the line. The JV's and Frosh teams were average at best.

Again, I hope I'm wrong but the DLS faithful that I know are very concerned about 2016..

DLS Alum - I appreciate your honesty in expressing your concerns over DLS reloading this coming season. From an outsider looking in rather than your view I see a DLS roster every single season that any coach in the greater bay area would drool over to have. DLS has a talent ppol year to year like no other school I've seen in NorCal. DLS is not only extremely talented with athletes, but their roster is consistently deep at positions.
Most schools have their starters and if one goes down it can present a major problem. From what I've seen at DLS year to year is that the back-up player drop off most of the time is quite minimal. In terms of DLS losing lots of talent every school loses talent yearly and its rare that the best players are around more than 2 years. As we get closer and I review the rosters of the WCAL teams I'll be curious to see how DLS stacks up - and am pretty sure their roster will be bigger than any WCAL roster and likely deeper in terms of talent as well.

 

[Bubba3000]

DLS Alum - I appreciate your honesty in expressing your concerns over DLS reloading this coming season. From an outsider looking in rather than your view I see a DLS roster every single season that any coach in the greater bay area would drool over to have. DLS has a talent ppol year to year like no other school I've seen in NorCal. DLS is not only extremely talented with athletes, but their roster is consistently deep at positions.
Most schools have their starters and if one goes down it can present a major problem. From what I've seen at DLS year to year is that the back-up player drop off most of the time is quite minimal. In terms of DLS losing lots of talent every school loses talent yearly and its rare that the best players are around more than 2 years. As we get closer and I review the rosters of the WCAL teams I'll be curious to see how DLS stacks up - and am pretty sure their roster will be bigger than any WCAL roster and likely deeper in terms of talent as well.

I have always felt that depth of talent may be the biggest advantage DLS enjoys versus Nor-Cal competition. I see similar depth from a handful of So-Cal teams but nobody up north comes close.

 

[Rmbr26]

Bubba3000 is correct. The better HS teams usually have 3-5 standout players and with DLS it is often double that. DLS is DEEP consistently.

 

[Bubba3000]

Bubba3000 is correct. The better HS teams usually have 3-5 standout players and with DLS it is often double that. DLS is DEEP consistently.

In addition to what Rmbr26 is saying, my opinion is they are much deeper than most at individual positions, ie second and third strings. Injuries rarely seem to slow down the machine.

 

[elprup]

If dls players do the work getting ready for the season and learn to both practice and play hard they should be fine. Don't try to figure out what high school students will do before they decide what they're going to do.

 

[SpartanzRule]

I agree with all of what is being said from both sides of this debate. DLS reloads like no other team in NorCal. They are deeper than any team in NorCal on a consistent basis. At the end of the day, they'll likely be representing NorCal in the Open.

That said. My feelings are more in line with DLSalum. He's right...there is no quarterback that we're aware of set to come in as the starter. I agree that the Spartan offense is predicated on the triple option, and it will once again rock and roll with the right kid at qb. But this thread was talking about DLS being a top 50 team. With Sweeney at qb...no question. I wish we could have a kid like that every year running it. The veer is not an easy offense to run. Maybe we'll get lucky and the coaches can find an athlete can be converted and just take it and run with it out of the gate. But without that, I think DLS might "struggle" early on...relatively speaking of course. The cupboards are certainly not bare for the Spartans in '16, they've got some horses still. But at first glance we can't help but thinking this will be a down year compared to what we've been used to for the past 5-6 years. They've lost all of their captains as well...guys who were mostly 2 year captains. This offseason is huge and will tell the tale of the tape once the season starts. I think they'll be around the 50 mark on a lot of polls nationally. And around 5-8 in state. They can work their way up by proving that I have no idea what the heck I'm talking about

And lastly, based on the the schedule, I speculate that the athletic department/coaches decided that maybe it's time to take a temporary break from the Euless Trinity's and Byrnes' of the world based on circumstances. Playing a 4A Utah is a pretty big step down. DLS will kill this team with ME at qb...lol. No SoCal team either. East, Serra, and Logan are the marquee games...yikes!

 

[131Pressman]

Dls Alum is correct if you saw the JV play last year you would know this is far from a laughable post. Since the 04 team this is the least confident insiders have been and that's team strength was at QB. Although I hope I am wrong, If you are the betting type this is the year the NorCal streak ends.

 

[Rmbr26]

[QUOTE="SpartanzRule: DLS reloads like no other team in NorCal. They are deeper than any team in NorCal on a consistent basis. At the end of the day, they'll likely be representing NorCal in the Open.

"there is no quarterback to come in as the starter - the Spartan offense is predicated on the triple option, and will once again rock and roll with the right qb. But this thread was talking about DLS being a top 50 team. Maybe we'll get lucky and coaches find an athlete can be converted and run with it out of the gate. The Spartans in '16 have some horses still - at first glance this will be a down year compared to the past 5-6 years. I think they'll be around the 50 mark nationally, around 5-8 in state. They can work their way up by proving that I have no idea what the heck I'm talking about

And lastly, based on the the schedule, I speculate that the athletic department/coaches decided that maybe it's time to take a temporary break from the Euless Trinity's and Byrnes' of the world based on circumstances. Playing a 4A Utah is a pretty big step down. DLS will kill this team with ME at qb...lol. No SoCal team either. East, Serra, and Logan are the marquee games...yikes![/QUOTE]"

__________________________________________________________________________________

Pretty good post by SpartanzRule & best one on thread so far [as well as funny]. Think he nailed it in terms of perspective.

 

[SpartanzRule]

[QUOTE="SpartanzRule: DLS reloads like no other team in NorCal. They are deeper than any team in NorCal on a consistent basis. At the end of the day, they'll likely be representing NorCal in the Open.

"there is no quarterback to come in as the starter - the Spartan offense is predicated on the triple option, and will once again rock and roll with the right qb. But this thread was talking about DLS being a top 50 team. Maybe we'll get lucky and coaches find an athlete can be converted and run with it out of the gate. The Spartans in '16 have some horses still - at first glance this will be a down year compared to the past 5-6 years. I think they'll be around the 50 mark nationally, around 5-8 in state. They can work their way up by proving that I have no idea what the heck I'm talking about

And lastly, based on the the schedule, I speculate that the athletic department/coaches decided that maybe it's time to take a temporary break from the Euless Trinity's and Byrnes' of the world based on circumstances. Playing a 4A Utah is a pretty big step down. DLS will kill this team with ME at qb...lol. No SoCal team either. East, Serra, and Logan are the marquee games...yikes!

"

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Pretty good post by SpartanzRule & best one on thread so far [as well as funny]. Think he nailed it in terms of perspective.[/QUOTE]


Thank you! Glad I could help out a little bit during these LONG offseasons.