“As a head coach, those are the two things you look at first: what’s going to be good for your players, and what’s going to be good for recruiting,” - Frank Solich on the Black Jersey's
Scheduling isn't all about sex appeal, marquee matchups or bringing in big names to Peden. It is about providing your current players with a good experience and getting a leg up in recruiting. The players on the team this year will not look back at their time and say "I wish we had played Indiana or Virginia Tech at home". They will talk about the fact that they won 8, 9 maybe even 10 games. They will talk about the big moments from those games and the memories from rivalry games. They will talk about those black jerseys. The recruits will talk about going to play for a school that gets 8, 9 maybe even 10 wins. They will talk about those black jerseys and competing for championships. A recruit won't look at the coaching staff that says we got 9 wins last year and say "Yea, but you didn't play a big school at home". They will be excited about being a part of a winning program.
I have said it before, but I think it is showing itself more and more. Jim Schaus has a vision for what he wants this program to become and a plan for how we will get there. By my view, he is doing an outstanding job of executing that plan! Can you name another mid-major that was provided a third uniform by their apparel company? That happened because we are winning games! Go ahead and be upset that we don't have a sexy schedule. I will take a 3-0 start, possibly 4-0, and a Top 25 ranking over that any day of the week, which wouldn't happen with those big name schools all over our non-conference schedule.
You don't have to completely agree with me or Jim Schaus, but you can't argue results!
Evidence:
Exhibit A:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAOfNEBZbE4&feature=feedu
Exhibit B:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings
Exhibit C:
All-time Bowl Games