I'm glad someone started this topic, because like most alums I only follow football from a distance, but I have noticed the lack of progress and the inability to win meaningful games during the Schmidt era. I have seen a few games, and they generally have performed well in those games against inferior competition. We heard that the 2015 team was loaded with seniors and primed for a championship season in one of the weaker leagues in FBS. What we have at this point is underachievement, and another disappointing season. When Duquesne joined the NEC for football I really felt that they would dominate the league, after a few years of equalizing scholarships and coaching staff levels. Compared to other members of the league (with the exception of RMU) Duquense is situated in one of the most fetrile football recruiting areas in the USA; but Duquesne seems to like to take only a few local players every year. I don't have a problem with expanding the recruiting base, but I don't the the value when you are still losing badly to a school like Bryant, located in Rhode Island, where football prospects are few and far between.
So that brings us to coaching. From the start, I questioned the hiring of Schmidt. He came from Westminster who plays on a lower level, and was not exactly dominating. Is he making use of the talent he recruits, or is he just targeting the wrong players as prospects? Does he have the depth of coaching knowledge needed to compete at this level? I doubt that Schmidt has any asperations of ever getting to a higher level than Duquesne, so what is his incentive to win big?
I know the bar at Duquesne is always low in terms of expectations. Perhaps they are happy with mediocrity, no progress, season after season of disappointing performances, as long as the players are graduating, and aren't getting thrown in jail. I think the new AD needs to take a long look at this program; because unlike some other non-revenue sports, football is a very expensive.
