'20 CT QB Drew Pyne (ND->ASU->MO->BGSU Transfer)

T-Boone

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I’ve got nothing against Drew and I hope it works out for him. He did a great job in a really difficult situation last year considering his physical and talent limitations.

He wanted to be at Notre Dame. He got a chance to do something his gifts wouldn’t normally allow him and he did much better than you’d expect from the backup QB stepping into a dumpster fire. That’s a great story.

Logically, he should have stayed to get his degree but he wanted to play and took a chance. I totally get why he felt like he’d earned it. But he wasn’t going to be the starter here because he wasn’t the starter last year and they swapped out the QB he couldn’t beat for a better QB this cycle.
Isn’t he filthy rich so possibly doesn’t need to worry about an nd degree or connections?
 

rtrn2glory

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I will go to the grave thinking there was more than two handfuls of division 2 and 3 QBs that would've been better QBs than pyne last year.
 

IrishLax

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Isn’t he filthy rich so possibly doesn’t need to worry about an nd degree or connections?
To be honest, this is the part was actually the most bizarre to me. Usually the richer and more status oriented your family is the *more* you care about where your degree is from. Remember the "Varsity Blues" scandal where all those rich parents were buying their kids way into USC, Stanford, and Ivy League schools? Hell, the most famous example was Olivia Jade who didn't even want to go to USC but her parents didn't think it would reflect well on them in their circle if she went to ASU to party.

This is a guy with very little talent and no NFL future and these were his choices:
1. No NFL future, stick it out at ND for a year to get his degree and then maybe transfer somewhere else to play another year or two. Leave with a ton of goodwill and be able to put ND on your resume.
2. Go to a 4th tier crappy state school that isn't relevant in football and still possibly not start.

In neither the short term or the long term was it a thoughtful or rational decision to leave ND when he did, how he did. I don't really care because he would've had ZERO impact on ND's success this year, but it's an all time head scratcher.
 

IrishBoognish

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Normally I agree with you on most things football, LAX, but Pyne leaving when and how he did was the least surprising or head scratching thing to happen this off season. There was zero chance he would ever have a chance at playing meaningful snaps at ND ever again. AND he's from fucking New Canaan, CT with an extraordinarily wealthy family. The degree means zippo to him.

He was told for a long time growing up that he was a very talented QB. We all knew that was with the stipulation that he grew another 3 or so inches and just generally "bigged up" which he did not do. Regardless, he probably feels he still has talent and can show out. (Not bloody likely but whatever).

This isn't a personal slight against him, but he's a rich kid from New Canaan who has nothing to lose. Why not get out as soon as possible and chase the impossible dream? There's literally no difference in his life if his degree is from ND or Northern Idaho Poly.
 

ulukinatme

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I’ve got nothing against Drew and I hope it works out for him. He did a great job in a really difficult situation last year considering his physical and talent limitations.

He wanted to be at Notre Dame. He got a chance to do something his gifts wouldn’t normally allow him and he did much better than you’d expect from the backup QB stepping into a dumpster fire. That’s a great story.

Logically, he should have stayed to get his degree but he wanted to play and took a chance. I totally get why he felt like he’d earned it. But he wasn’t going to be the starter here because he wasn’t the starter last year and they swapped out the QB he couldn’t beat for a better QB this cycle.
This is pretty fair. His measurables didn't pan out like people thought as his high school career went on, but we stayed true to our offer and he came. He gave it his all and won some big games for us, and he struggled in some others. Kid definitely had a big heart and put the effort in, to a point the coaches had to kick him out of the Gug so he would quit watching film and overpreparing. He probably should have stayed, but he thought he had a chance to start somewhere else and it's hard to fault that. Imagine asking yourself for the rest of your life "What if?" At least he got to live the dream for one season, I think he made the most of his time here.
 

ColinKSU

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This is pretty fair. His measurables didn't pan out like people thought as his high school career went on, but we stayed true to our offer and he came. He gave it his all and won some big games for us, and he struggled in some others. Kid definitely had a big heart and put the effort in, to a point the coaches had to kick him out of the Gug so he would quit watching film and overpreparing. He probably should have stayed, but he thought he had a chance to start somewhere else and it's hard to fault that. Imagine asking yourself for the rest of your life "What if?" At least he got to live the dream for one season, I think he made the most of his time here.
Totally. He’s not playing in the NFL, so I get why he’d want to play at a high level while he can if he didn’t think it was happening at ND.
 

Domina Nostra

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To be honest, this is the part was actually the most bizarre to me. Usually the richer and more status oriented your family is the *more* you care about where your degree is from. Remember the "Varsity Blues" scandal where all those rich parents were buying their kids way into USC, Stanford, and Ivy League schools? Hell, the most famous example was Olivia Jade who didn't even want to go to USC but her parents didn't think it would reflect well on them in their circle if she went to ASU to party.

This is a guy with very little talent and no NFL future and these were his choices:
1. No NFL future, stick it out at ND for a year to get his degree and then maybe transfer somewhere else to play another year or two. Leave with a ton of goodwill and be able to put ND on your resume.
2. Go to a 4th tier crappy state school that isn't relevant in football and still possibly not start.

In neither the short term or the long term was it a thoughtful or rational decision to leave ND when he did, how he did. I don't really care because he would've had ZERO impact on ND's success this year, but it's an all time head scratcher.

I agree. You would have at least expected him to transfer to somewhere like Harvard or Rice. I think it shows he really is unrealistic about his talent level.

But I do think it impacted the team . . . positively. I think Freeman needed to move onto the two younger guys with much higher ceilings for the sake of the program, but I think he would had a difficult time not making Drew the backup because of his experience.
 

rtrn2glory

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If any of you want to get pissed off rewatch the BYU game. That was an absolute shit show of a performance at the QB position. I'm starting to drink the Kool aid that is mfmf can go 9-4 with that QB situation we might want to raise the expectations. Or maybe this just means that Parker is going to have a shit ton of pressure
 

IrishLax

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I agree. You would have at least expected him to transfer to somewhere like Harvard or Rice. I think it shows he really is unrealistic about his talent level.

But I do think it impacted the team . . . positively. I think Freeman needed to move onto the two younger guys with much higher ceilings for the sake of the program, but I think he would had a difficult time not making Drew the backup because of his experience.
If the story is true that his "camp" had a meeting with Freeman where they demanded that they commit to Drew to be the starter next year and not pursue a transfer QB and Freeman was like "absolutely not, he's going to have to compete"... and then he put his name in the portal the next day -- that, to me, shows the bolded.

And look, I see this a LOT. I coach a sport that is littered with "rich kids" and entitled parents that have unrealistic views on things. So it's unsurprising to me that his parents wouldn't be objective enough to be like "you are a good-not-great player with a low ceiling... stick around for another year and then transfer as a grad student to play another year or two if you want."
 

IrishLax

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Normally I agree with you on most things football, LAX, but Pyne leaving when and how he did was the least surprising or head scratching thing to happen this off season. There was zero chance he would ever have a chance at playing meaningful snaps at ND ever again. AND he's from fucking New Canaan, CT with an extraordinarily wealthy family. The degree means zippo to him.

He was told for a long time growing up that he was a very talented QB. We all knew that was with the stipulation that he grew another 3 or so inches and just generally "bigged up" which he did not do. Regardless, he probably feels he still has talent and can show out. (Not bloody likely but whatever).

This isn't a personal slight against him, but he's a rich kid from New Canaan who has nothing to lose. Why not get out as soon as possible and chase the impossible dream? There's literally no difference in his life if his degree is from ND or Northern Idaho Poly.
I definitely get what you're saying. There is no scenario where he is going to end up on the streets or with low quality of life just because he decided to transfer to a 4th tier state school instead of graduating from ND.

The part that is surprising to me is that families like him are usually obsessed with "prestige" and I was shocked that ASU was the choice. If you're going to pick a place that sucks at football and you want to start... I would not have had ASU as a good "fit." But maybe it's as simple as he wants to party for a year with a bunch of loose women and I'm way overthinking this. Or maybe he got bad advice, because I don't see him being happy riding the pine for a trash team in a trash conference if he was going to be discontent in the same role at ND.

Regardless, I'm losing ZERO sleep over this.
 

stlnd01

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The part that is surprising to me is that families like him are usually obsessed with "prestige" and I was shocked that ASU was the choice. If you're going to pick a place that sucks at football and you want to start... I would not have had ASU as a good "fit." But maybe it's as simple as he wants to party for a year with a bunch of loose women and I'm way overthinking this. Or maybe he got bad advice, because I don't see him being happy riding the pine for a trash team in a trash conference if he was going to be discontent in the same role at ND.

Regardless, I'm losing ZERO sleep over this.
Yep. He could have had his pick of starting QB jobs in the Ivy League, and gotten a great degree. If that’s too far down the football totem pole for him, there are lots of G5s where he would have been the clear starter. There are probably some P5 opportunities that would have fit his skills better and given him a good education (who’s Northwesterns QB these days? Or BC?).
Arizona State feels like a weird fit on many levels, unless it was the “best” program that would give him a look and he thought he could somehow play his way into the draft there.
Oh well. His loss.
 

dublinirish

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Yep. He could have had his pick of starting QB jobs in the Ivy League, and gotten a great degree. If that’s too far down the football totem pole for him, there are lots of G5s where he would have been the clear starter. There are probably some P5 opportunities that would have fit his skills better and given him a good education (who’s Northwesterns QB these days? Or BC?).
Arizona State feels like a weird fit on many levels, unless it was the “best” program that would give him a look and he thought he could somehow play his way into the draft there.
Oh well. His loss.

Very good odds he’s only at ASU for a year before he moves on somewhere else


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BobbyMac

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Pyne's problem is he doesn't work as well as Bourguet in Dilly's quick read offense and ASU's line doesn't give you any luxuries you'd enjoy in South Bend.
 

CANONIZEFATHERSORIN

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I'd be 99% certain Pyne's dad is convinced his son is NFL material and ASU was the only P5 to bite on him as a transfer. I don't think Drew was nearly as bad last year as a lot of people here think but every thing I know about the whole situation strongly leads me to believe Drew Pyne is one of many, many cases of a dad having a really inflated sense of his son's athletic ability, and driving his boy in a direction that is not necessarily the best, all things considered.
 

IRISHDODGER

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I'd be 99% certain Pyne's dad is convinced his son is NFL material and ASU was the only P5 to bite on him as a transfer. I don't think Drew was nearly as bad last year as a lot of people here think but every thing I know about the whole situation strongly leads me to believe Drew Pyne is one of many, many cases of a dad having a really inflated sense of his son's athletic ability, and driving his boy in a direction that is not necessarily the best, all things considered.
May be something to that. Nobody thinks he‘s starter material at ND but he was good enough to earn a scholarship to play football there which is amazing for any kid. I thought his ideal role would be as a backup coming off the bench. I don’t think any of us believe he’s a P5 starting QB. Even starting G5 would be a challenge for him.
 

Domina Nostra

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I'd be 99% certain Pyne's dad is convinced his son is NFL material and ASU was the only P5 to bite on him as a transfer. I don't think Drew was nearly as bad last year as a lot of people here think but every thing I know about the whole situation strongly leads me to believe Drew Pyne is one of many, many cases of a dad having a really inflated sense of his son's athletic ability, and driving his boy in a direction that is not necessarily the best, all things considered.

No so sure I agree. He had many halves last year when he was an absolute liability that looked like a 3rd string freshman with a weak arm.
 
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