By Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Spear Reporter | Photo via Christian Vieyra of The Spear
Hello and welcome to Matt’s Monday Mailbag™, your go-to destination for all pressing SJSU football and men’s basketball matters.
Enough chit-chatting. Let’s get into it.
Ricky Delgado: @RickyDe70535587 “Let’s start with Basketball. It’s a library in the event center right now. It feels eerily like CEFCU did prior to us becoming competitive. We have a good, competitive basketball team and the fan turnout/involvement leaves a lot to be desired. Thoughts?”
I’d say the lack of fan engagement is more of an indictment on the team’s perpetual irrelevance – not Spartan Nation. And yes SJSU’s student dorms are literally 200 yards from the arena. But one historic run followed by a solid start can’t instantly drive-up interest that was previously non-existent.
So the question becomes what will it take? Two years of winning basketball? Three? Four?
This leads my mind to drift toward a rhetorical question SJSU AD Jeff Konya posed earlier this year: “At what point do you get over historical perceptions? How long does it take to change perception?”
Months later, all I can offer is a shrug of the shoulders and an optimistic, ‘hopefully soon.’
Calcodewear: @calcodewear “Why! If we live in the Tech Capital of the world we can’t put together millions of dollars to recruit the top athletes from High School in our region. Who is responsible for keeping us broke when we have Apple 15 minutes away? We R losing to Boise & FSU, make it make sense.”
It makes sense because the previous administration did a horrendous job establishing relationships with alum. So now the current administration has to work overtime to fix the ineptitudes of generations past.
These things take time. Similar to fans going to games, no one donates a $100K overnight. But I’ll say the $59 million Spartan Athletic Center shows there’s vast improvement.
Ricky Delgado: @RickyDe70535587 “The bowl game is great and all but I find myself looking more towards next year in terms of football. I think we should be title contenders again which now has to be the standard. What positions do you think are the most of need heading into next year?
It’s the offensive line that will only return one starter next year. Looking ahead, Wyoming transfer Malik Williams could fill one of those spots. He’ll be filling in for the recently departed offensive tackle Fernando Carmona Jr. in the bowl game.
Connor Letourneau: @Con_Chron “What’s Pasha Goodarzi’s deal? Is he on scholarship? And if so, why?”
Yes he is and I’m curious to see if his signing could be a way for SJSU to enter the NIL space. Despite being a zero-star recruit, he inked an NIL deal with NB44, a high-end Italian menswear company, before the season began.
This deal could be linked to his father Sasan Goodarzi, the CEO of Intuit, whose “net worth is at least $196 Million dollars as of 6 December 2023” according to Wallmine.com.
Ricky Delgado: @RickyDe70535587 “Back to football, still bummed we didn’t get in the ship but since it was Boise that won I can live with it as a legitimate championship. Can you give us a preview of Coastal Carolina. I’m not too familiar with them other then knowing they had some big transfers.”
I’ll keep it brief: SJSU should glide to a bowl victory.
It’s a 10.5-point favorite and Coastal Carolina finished 7-5 against a strength of schedule in the bottom 70% of college football. Then came a transfer portal mass exodus that included its second-leading tackler (JT Killen) and on offense, its second-leading receiver (Jared Brown) and third-leading rusher (CJ Beasley). Fresh faces typically don’t bode well for a team that runs the triple option – just ask Air Force.
Connor Letourneau: @Con_Chron “Who will be SJSU’s starting QB next season? And if they’re going the transfer-portal route, who are they eyeing?”
SJSU went the transfer portal route last year so it wouldn’t have to this year hence the signing of former four-star recruit and Oregon transfer Jay Butterfield.
But it doesn’t mean he’ll be SJSU’s starter next year. I think there’s a chance true freshman Anthony Garcia could eclipse him. He lacks Butterfield’s size and reps with starters, but man, the guy can really whip it and is slippery in space. And don’t count out redshirt freshman Tyler Voss, too. Many are impressed with his arm strength.
Whomever it is gets the luxury of throwing to a veteran core that includes Justin Lockhart, who was injured for the entire season.
Jason: @VANDT33: “Any more potential transfer entries? And do you get to attend the Hawaii Bowl?? Thanks Matt!”
One source told me that it’s unlikely anyone would transfer now which should make you very excited. If SJSU can bolster the offensive line and find the right quarterback, it should be the best in the conference.
Yes, I will be. Goal is to only eat poke and Hawaiian Shaved Ice the entire weekend.
Pray for me.
HollywoodinSJ “If Coach Brennan is hired away are we back to square one? Or has enough been done to the program that we can get a good coach to replace him.”
Is square one SJSU in 2016 when Brent Brennan took over? If so, good heavens no. The $59 million athletic facility is a major advantage for any replacement.
A good coach wouldn’t come to SJSU unless he’s been fired and needs a ‘prove it’ opportunity. That said, SJSU could be home for an established coordinator at a Power Five or a rising Group of Five head coach.
Tony Patelis: @TonyPatelis: “Is Tim Miles the greatest coach of all time?”
If he leads SJSU to the Final Four, yes. Bobby Knight and Mike Krzyzewski who?
Ricky Delgado: @RickyDe70535587 “Not a question but I hope finals went well for you Matt. I have two more lol.“
Things have gone well so far thanks for asking. Sidebar, I like how Canvas shows you the lowest grade for an assignment. I wonder if that’s to a) make people feel better about themselves or b) shame the person with the lowest grade into doing better.
Thank You Matt! Enjoyed reading your write up