You'll get JMU fans who say he got beat out legitimately, and others who say there was never a competition- it was pre determined.tribe_pride wrote:Out of curiosity, did Birdsong get beat out legitimately or did Birdsong "lose out" to the guy Withers brought in once he was hired? It's working well for both guys and teams but just wondering what you guys thought last year.BDKJMU wrote:Got to throw a shout out to Michael Birdsong. Starts at QB at JMU as a true Soph in 2013. Gets beat out for the starting job Spring 2014 after Vad Lee transfers from Georgia Tech. Birdsong then transfers UP to Marshall, sits out a season, and wins the starting job. Went 23-36 for 234 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT in Marshall's 41-31 win over Purdue.
How rare is that- a player at I-AA gets beat out for the starting job, transfers UP, then wins a starting job. Have never heard of that happening before.
I think it was basically predetermined. Withs brought in about 10 I-A transfers last year (0 this year). At least 7 were sholly, 6 P5. Beginning of the season 5 of those 7 were starting. By the end of the season 1 was- Lee. 1 was off the team, one had completely fell off the 2 deep, and 2 more had been dropped to 2 deep. All 4 had been beaten out by players MM recruited. It was seemed that when these transfers were brought in the starting jobs were theirs to lose because of the perception of hey, they transfered down, so they must be better. And they were Withers recruits..