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Transfer Hindsight

ColoradoCane2017

ColoradoCane2017

Joined
Sep 26, 2026
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Hindsight is always 20/20. 2026 defense is solid thus far, but has left the fan base wanting. Two guys from the portal who could have made an impact and I wish we had pursued in the portal are Cade Ululae and Koi Perich.

Returning Toure and Smith as veteran LBs, Marcelin and Wiley in the wings, it's no surprise the staff felt solid. That's understandable. But with Smith playing below the hoped-for level of competition and Marcelin out, Ululae would have been a nice get to compete for LB #2 and a potential starting role. Watched him in person in 2025 at Cal. Man was a menace.

Poyser and Fitzgerald make up one of the strongest safety duos in the country. And Dunnigan is playing great as a true freshman. That said, with corners down and having to slide Fitzgerald to corner, Koi would have been a top-tier player to fill the role and push Poyerser and Dunnigan for competition.

Defense wins championships. Stack these two, with Wilson at full potential (eventually) out at DE, and we have a three-level defense that kicks d***s in. What say you?

First-time poster, long-time cane.

JC
 
We defintely needed to hit portal harder, during wake game when they flashed we were in 100s for portal players bought in this offseason and 17th I think in ACC was kinda shocking to see that we did soo little.. Listening to Mario he started to sound like dabo with his we are a high school recruiting program and we dont need to be in portal so much..

I think Oline, TE and LB were main spots that could of used some attention.. Koi probably was too expensive and if Hetherman didnt cosign, it was for a reason
 
ColoradoCane2017 said:
Hindsight is always 20/20. 2026 defense is solid thus far, but has left the fan base wanting. Two guys from the portal who could have made an impact and I wish we had pursued in the portal are Cade Ululae and Koi Perich.

Returning Toure and Smith as veteran LBs, Marcelin and Wiley in the wings, it's no surprise the staff felt solid. That's understandable. But with Smith playing below the hoped-for level of competition and Marcelin out, Ululae would have been a nice get to compete for LB #2 and a potential starting role. Watched him in person in 2025 at Cal. Man was a menace.

Poyser and Fitzgerald make up one of the strongest safety duos in the country. And Dunnigan is playing great as a true freshman. That said, with corners down and having to slide Fitzgerald to corner, Koi would have been a top-tier player to fill the role and push Poyerser and Dunnigan for competition.

Defense wins championships. Stack these two, with Wilson at full potential (eventually) out at DE, and we have a three-level defense that kicks d***s in. What say you?

First-time poster, long-time cane.

JC
Click to expand...
Please operate in reality. You are assuming so many things. Do those guys want to play here? Do you have the salary allocation where it makes sense? Are you ok with a Wiley or someone else transferring as a result? This is just to name a few.

I agree with D$ that we should’ve pursued a veteran blocking te. And in hindsight, I think even Mario wishes he got at least a veteran guard.

This season hinges on whether the interior online can get it together so they aren’t a liability against playoff talented dlines.

Remember any guy you pick up you have to assume you’re ok with sometime in that room transferring.
 
Very 20/20, I felt good then injuries and OL lies where told...

Is what it is now, nothing you can do...you have what you have.
 
I HATE “what if’s”. Can’t change the past. All any of us can do is deal with today and try and make tomorrow better.

Besides the fact many were saying our DB room was loaded. Injuries are inevitable but no one could have anticipated we’d lose 2 of our top DB’s in the first couple of games.
 
OL yes, should have gotten someone. Complete failure there.

Everywhere else I’m fine with. They just paid top dollar for Mensah and a ton of money on retention of current players. Miami has an estimated top 10 payroll. What more do yall want? No excuses, if you want to buy more players….start putting in some of your hard earned money into the program to be able to buy more players.

If you ain’t putting up the cash, can’t get mad.
 
We did pursue and want very badly that LB from Pitt who chose Texas. But to me the most glaring mistake is not pursuing at least 1 portal guard if not that + a center. We needed a repeat of 2023 when we landed Matt Lee & Javion Cohen.
 
You can argue all day about the defensive side of the ball and whether or not protsl guys should’ve been brought in for depth or competition.

What you can’t do is argue that O line was handled correctly. They spent $6-10 million on offensive weapons and left the O line alone. Just a straight up bet on how good of coaches they are or think they are.
 
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