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Post by AztecWilliam on Aug 22, 2024 17:08:23 GMT -8
Not much, if anything, has been said about the advantage the Air Force Academy has for football. As I understand it, they have a special school (finishing school? Prep school?) that their players go to before becoming a cadet. That gives them an extra year to prepare for academy games.
Non-athletes can also go to this school to prepare them for academy life. That's fine. But for football, it gives the Falcons an advantage. Maybe we should start an Aztec Prep school to do the same for us.
AzWm
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Post by zurac315 on Aug 22, 2024 18:35:14 GMT -8
Not much, if anything, has been said about the advantage the Air Force Academy has for football. As I understand it, they have a special school (finishing school? Prep school?) that their players go to before becoming a cadet. That gives them an extra year to prepare for academy games.
Non-athletes can also go to this school to prepare them for academy life. That's fine. But for football, it gives the Falcons an advantage. Maybe we should start an Aztec Prep school to do the same for us.
AzWm We used to have an Aztec Prep School. It was called the Campus Laboratory School. I was a graduate of that esteemed institution in 1963.  |
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Post by FULL_MONTY on Aug 22, 2024 18:48:35 GMT -8
Not much, if anything, has been said about the advantage the Air Force Academy has for football. As I understand it, they have a special school (finishing school? Prep school?) that their players go to before becoming a cadet. That gives them an extra year to prepare for academy games.
Non-athletes can also go to this school to prepare them for academy life. That's fine. But for football, it gives the Falcons an advantage. Maybe we should start an Aztec Prep school to do the same for us.
AzWm We used to have have an Aztec Prep School. It was called the Campus Laboratory School. I was a graduate of that esteemed institution in 1963. Slightly different as the prep school is grade 13. thedailyaztec.com/98998/artsandculture/campus-laboratory-school-demolished-for-sdsu-campus/A fantastic article on your alma mater, which was one of the hardest schools to attend. |
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Post by zurac315 on Aug 22, 2024 19:53:18 GMT -8
it was a great school. I was fortunate to go there. The 1963 sixth grade class still has reunions. I attended the most recent one last March. |
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Post by aztecking on Aug 23, 2024 6:38:47 GMT -8
They can’t accept transfers. That more than cancels out any benefit this prep school provides.
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Post by nebraztec on Aug 23, 2024 7:39:11 GMT -8
Well according to the 247 recruiting web site, they have 46 commits for next years class. I don't think that we can ever come close to that! |
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Post by aztec75 on Aug 23, 2024 8:28:12 GMT -8
Unless the service academies have changed in recent years, I don't believe your premise is true. Those accepted to the the Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, or West Point go directly to their selected Academy as a Plebe (Freshman). They do attend a summer training, which is their "Boot Camp." There are Prep Schools for the Academies. However, they are designed for those in the service who are identified as possibly good candidates. During my Army basic training in 1970, I was offered the West Point Prep School at Fort McHenry, Maryland. I was interested, but declined. I had already completed two years of college, and having to do a year of Prep school plus four more years at West Point was more time than I cared to invest in a Bachelors degree.
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Post by aztecdieheart on Aug 23, 2024 9:06:26 GMT -8
Here are the facts, which give AF a big advantage. All the players they recruit get paid-prep school included.
The AF prep school takes civilians. They regularly recruit and sign 50 to 100 + high school football players who have unlimited practices and play a schedule of games.
AF has a freshman team of 100+ that plays a full schedule.
AF has a JV team that plays a full schedule against other Junior collages. I will never forget watching the AF JV play, I think it was Grossmont when Bill Hammet's son was playing there. Not only did AF have a full JV squad but they supplemented it by including players who have made their varsity and drop down to give them even more game experience. seemed like half the players who started the game were players from the AF varsity.
Our freshmen and red shirts and 3-4 stringers get to practice but get zero real game experience. When AF plugs in a new player into their two deep they may have up to 4 years of game experience. I cringe when people say how "disciplined" and "skilled" and "intelligent" the AF players are in running their offence, when what people are seeing is the result of years of extra training and game experience unavailable to SDSU.
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Post by sdsuballer on Aug 23, 2024 20:56:14 GMT -8
Meh.. Non factor. Our alumni just need to open up their wallet and stop complaining about $35 dollar tix and a $5 trolley day pass. High school games are now charging $10 to $15 dollars.
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Post by AztecWilliam on Aug 24, 2024 12:09:21 GMT -8
Meh.. Non factor. Our alumni just need to open up their wallet and stop complaining about $35 dollar tix and a $5 trolley day pass. High school games are now charging $10 to $15 dollars.
AzWm
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Post by junior on Aug 24, 2024 12:14:40 GMT -8
SDSU needs to ditch the "Mountain" part of the MWC. Many problems - from travel to altitude to perceived advantages - are solved.
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Post by Boise Aztec on Aug 24, 2024 13:58:05 GMT -8
Unless the service academies have changed in recent years, I don't believe your premise is true. Those accepted to the the Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, or West Point go directly to their selected Academy as a Plebe (Freshman). They do attend a summer training, which is their "Boot Camp." There are Prep Schools for the Academies. However, they are designed for those in the service who are identified as possibly good candidates. During my Army basic training in 1970, I was offered the West Point Prep School at Fort McHenry, Maryland. I was interested, but declined. I had already completed two years of college, and having to do a year of Prep school plus four more years at West Point was more time than I cared to invest in a Bachelors degree. We had a good friend of my son that was recruited to AFA, he had an 80ish yard kickoff return against us some 7 or so years ago… anyway, he was invited to attend the prep school because they did not think he was ready for the academy, his “offer” was not firm until he completed his year at the prep school… |
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Post by Boise Aztec on Aug 24, 2024 13:59:56 GMT -8
Meh.. Non factor. Our alumni just need to open up their wallet and stop complaining about $35 dollar tix and a $5 trolley day pass. High school games are now charging $10 to $15 dollars.
AzWm
None of the Academies have an advantage… to the contrary they have a significant disadvantage… the have real summer jobs… they get like five hours of sleep… etc. |
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Post by gocoaztec on Aug 24, 2024 15:03:34 GMT -8
Here are the facts, which give AF a big advantage. All the players they recruit get paid-prep school included. The AF prep school takes civilians. They regularly recruit and sign 50 to 100 + high school football players who have unlimited practices and play a schedule of games. AF has a freshman team of 100+ that plays a full schedule. AF has a JV team that plays a full schedule against other Junior collages. I will never forget watching the AF JV play, I think it was Grossmont when Bill Hammet's son was playing there. Not only did AF have a full JV squad but they supplemented it by including players who have made their varsity and drop down to give them even more game experience. seemed like half the players who started the game were players from the AF varsity. Our freshmen and red shirts and 3-4 stringers get to practice but get zero real game experience. When AF plugs in a new player into their two deep they may have up to 4 years of game experience. I cringe when people say how "disciplined" and "skilled" and "intelligent" the AF players are in running their offence, when what people are seeing is the result of years of extra training and game experience unavailable to SDSU. I’m not sure where you got your facts, but I don’t believe they are 100% accurate. Here’s a link to the AFA Prep School: www.usafa.edu/prep-school/athletics/If you read thru the info it’s obvious that no AFA cadets attend or compete for the Preparatory School. Only 40% of the approx 240 prep school members are recruited athletes from all sports. 20-25% of those at the prep school are not offered entry into the AFA. It’s, in some cases, a “red-shirt” year for about 80 athletes from all sports who end up going to AF. It’s also provides academic training for those who can’t meet the academic standards directly out of HS. From wiki: The Prep School's mission is to prepare, motivate, and evaluate for admission to and success at the Air Force Academy. Students at the prep school are referred to as "cadet candidates" or more informally as "preppies." The prep school has a staff of 57 people and offers a 10-month program of intense academic preparation, military training, and athletic conditioning, designed to develop in cadet candidates the skills and character necessary to be successful at the academy. The academic curriculum is focused on mathematics, English, and sciences. Nine Prep School graduates have held the Cadet Wing's top leadership position as cadet wing commander, and Prep School graduates have earned prestigious awards, including the Rhodes Scholarship, Fulbright Scholarship, Order of the Daedalians Scholarship, and the Guggenheim Fellowship. A number of Prep School graduates have gone on to become general officers, Air Force Cross and Silver Star recipients, and astronauts. Other honors earned by Prep School graduates include a White House fellowship, becoming a Thunderbirds pilot and a winner of the coveted Jabara Award. I don’t see how it’s athletically superior to being a red-shirt at a standard university? It seems it’s more like going to a JC with a heavy academic load. |
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Post by AztecWilliam on Aug 24, 2024 15:40:24 GMT -8
Going to the AFA prep school for a year gives an athlete one year of playing experience before entering the academy. If nothing else, he is a year older and more mature than a freshman at a college or univeristy. You cannot tell me that such a system does not give the AFA an advantage. That's on top of the 6,621 feet altitude of their stadium. Of course they have disadvantages, too.
AzWm
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Post by PAC12 Aztec on Aug 25, 2024 9:36:06 GMT -8
Here are the facts, which give AF a big advantage. All the players they recruit get paid-prep school included. The AF prep school takes civilians. They regularly recruit and sign 50 to 100 + high school football players who have unlimited practices and play a schedule of games. AF has a freshman team of 100+ that plays a full schedule. AF has a JV team that plays a full schedule against other Junior collages. I will never forget watching the AF JV play, I think it was Grossmont when Bill Hammet's son was playing there. Not only did AF have a full JV squad but they supplemented it by including players who have made their varsity and drop down to give them even more game experience. seemed like half the players who started the game were players from the AF varsity. Our freshmen and red shirts and 3-4 stringers get to practice but get zero real game experience. When AF plugs in a new player into their two deep they may have up to 4 years of game experience. I cringe when people say how "disciplined" and "skilled" and "intelligent" the AF players are in running their offence, when what people are seeing is the result of years of extra training and game experience unavailable to SDSU. I’m not sure where you got your facts, but I don’t believe they are 100% accurate. Here’s a link to the AFA Prep School: www.usafa.edu/prep-school/athletics/If you read thru the info it’s obvious that no AFA cadets attend or compete for the Preparatory School. Only 40% of the approx 240 prep school members are recruited athletes from all sports. 20-25% of those at the prep school are not offered entry into the AFA. It’s, in some cases, a “red-shirt” year for about 80 athletes from all sports who end up going to AF. It’s also provides academic training for those who can’t meet the academic standards directly out of HS. From wiki: The Prep School's mission is to prepare, motivate, and evaluate for admission to and success at the Air Force Academy. Students at the prep school are referred to as "cadet candidates" or more informally as "preppies." The prep school has a staff of 57 people and offers a 10-month program of intense academic preparation, military training, and athletic conditioning, designed to develop in cadet candidates the skills and character necessary to be successful at the academy. The academic curriculum is focused on mathematics, English, and sciences. Nine Prep School graduates have held the Cadet Wing's top leadership position as cadet wing commander, and Prep School graduates have earned prestigious awards, including the Rhodes Scholarship, Fulbright Scholarship, Order of the Daedalians Scholarship, and the Guggenheim Fellowship. A number of Prep School graduates have gone on to become general officers, Air Force Cross and Silver Star recipients, and astronauts. Other honors earned by Prep School graduates include a White House fellowship, becoming a Thunderbirds pilot and a winner of the coveted Jabara Award. I don’t see how it’s athletically superior to being a red-shirt at a standard university? It seems it’s more like going to a JC with a heavy academic load. I will just add one more thing to this. I have two friends whose kids were recruited to play for two of the Academies. Both kids and both Academies required the kids to play for a full year at the prep school. The kids were told they all start at the prep school. Now, I am not sure if they can get pulled up to the regular teams if they started strong. They had to pay their dues though for a year. Now, I am not sure if the highly recruited kids can go direct, but these are kids with other offers and opps. My only point is I have two examples of kids visiting and being told the same thing. I am not sure if it is the same for everyone. With that said, I use to think they Academies did not have an advantage because most kids were not big time recruits and not much different than a redshirt frosh. However, I do think they have a big advantage as Juniors and Seniors because they stay the full 4 years and grow with the same guys. There is an advantage to that, but they are not recruiting and signing the same level of young men that we are. JMO |
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Post by johneaztec on Aug 25, 2024 19:00:26 GMT -8
I’m not sure where you got your facts, but I don’t believe they are 100% accurate. Here’s a link to the AFA Prep School: www.usafa.edu/prep-school/athletics/If you read thru the info it’s obvious that no AFA cadets attend or compete for the Preparatory School. Only 40% of the approx 240 prep school members are recruited athletes from all sports. 20-25% of those at the prep school are not offered entry into the AFA. It’s, in some cases, a “red-shirt” year for about 80 athletes from all sports who end up going to AF. It’s also provides academic training for those who can’t meet the academic standards directly out of HS. From wiki: The Prep School's mission is to prepare, motivate, and evaluate for admission to and success at the Air Force Academy. Students at the prep school are referred to as "cadet candidates" or more informally as "preppies." The prep school has a staff of 57 people and offers a 10-month program of intense academic preparation, military training, and athletic conditioning, designed to develop in cadet candidates the skills and character necessary to be successful at the academy. The academic curriculum is focused on mathematics, English, and sciences. Nine Prep School graduates have held the Cadet Wing's top leadership position as cadet wing commander, and Prep School graduates have earned prestigious awards, including the Rhodes Scholarship, Fulbright Scholarship, Order of the Daedalians Scholarship, and the Guggenheim Fellowship. A number of Prep School graduates have gone on to become general officers, Air Force Cross and Silver Star recipients, and astronauts. Other honors earned by Prep School graduates include a White House fellowship, becoming a Thunderbirds pilot and a winner of the coveted Jabara Award. I don’t see how it’s athletically superior to being a red-shirt at a standard university? It seems it’s more like going to a JC with a heavy academic load. I will just add one more thing to this. I have two friends whose kids were recruited to play for two of the Academies. Both kids and both Academies required the kids to play for a full year at the prep school. The kids were told they all start at the prep school. Now, I am not sure if they can get pulled up to the regular teams if they started strong. They had to pay their dues though for a year. Now, I am not sure if the highly recruited kids can go direct, but these are kids with other offers and opps. My only point is I have two examples of kids visiting and being told the same thing. I am not sure if it is the same for everyone. With that said, I use to think they Academies did not have an advantage because most kids were not big time recruits and not much different than a redshirt frosh. However, I do think they have a big advantage as Juniors and Seniors because they stay the full 4 years and grow with the same guys. There is an advantage to that, but they are not recruiting and signing the same level of young men that we are. JMO Excellent post. These are/were my exact thoughts, to a T. |
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Post by aztecdieheart on Aug 25, 2024 20:05:43 GMT -8
SDSU doesn’t get4 and5 star kids that are advanced and ready to compete.
We have to develop them . With a limited number of scholarships a few misses, or academic problems or kids don’t get bigger and better and I can remember lots of years when we didn’t have a legit two deep. Air Force can recruit and carry hundreds of one two and no stars and give them prep, freshmen,and JC
game experience , besides the varsity . Enough of those kids will grow and get better and develop and cover any recruiting misses.
Seems to me that is a significant advantage.
But with NIL and unlimited transfers, if SDSU can raise enough money then it is now possible to plug in enough players with D1 experience to cover recruiting mistakes, dropouts etc. So maybe going forward the Air Force advantage won’t be as much of a factor but they will still have the advantage of players well drilled and experienced in their system while teams like SDSU will be putting a team together on the fly each year.
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