On paper, the 2024 campaign for the MTSU football team was a disaster. After all, the Blue Raiders notched only three overall wins and were a pitiful 2-6 in Conference USA Play. Now the juggling act for the Middle coaching staff gets under way. Despite the portal getting the lion's share of attention, the staff is still actively recruiting kids from the high school and junior college ranks for the 2025 and 2026 classes.

As the New Year begins, the slate is wiped clean and there is an abundance of optimism to be had for the program heading forward.

Continue To Pursue The High School and Junior College Kids

Obviously the dynamics surrounding building a college football team have shifted over the years. With the implementation of the transfer portal, there is more emphasis on the free agency element of college athletics. The portal is the new wild, wild west for college ball and is now the sexy way to help construct a roster year in and year out.

In my personal opinion, it is good and beneficial to pluck a good amount of portal guys each cycle, but high school and junior college recruiting should remain the bread and butter of recruiting for the coaching staff.

If you were not aware, Rivals splits recruits into two categories. There are the portal players from established NCAA universities and then there are the prospects from the high school and junior college ranks. Again, I think that the foundation of the program should be predicated on the high school and junior college players. If I had to ballpark it, I would say recruiting should be 70 percent high school and junior college, and 30 percent emphasis on the portal.

In Coach Derek Mason's first complete recruiting cycle as head man, the Blue Raiders have been piecing together a stellar class of 2025 talent. MTSU is in the upper echelon when it comes to recruiting rankings for the Conference USA. When you combine High School and Junior College additions, the class is currently hovering around the 25 player mark.

It is worth throwing out there that these guys are not just empty suits. There are a number of all district, all region and all-state talents. The class is also chock full of in-state prospects who are chomping at the bit to represent the in-state school that isn't in Knoxville.

Another key component with the 2025 class is the size and athleticism of the players. Before Mason arrived in the Boro, one of the deficiencies of the MT roster was the lack of beef in the trenches, and the lack of overall team speed. That is quickly changing with Mason steering the ship. The guys they are bringing in seem to be bigger, stronger, faster.

In 2025, The Rubber Meets The Road

Year two of the Coach Mason era is approaching the territory where it is almost put up or shut up time. The staff has done an excellent job amassing talent across the board, not only in the high school and junior college category we touched base on, but also through the transfer portal. Sure, there have been some defections, where key and pivotal players have left and moved onto what those guys consider to be greener pastures. With that in mind, I think some of that was addition by subtraction. Overall, I think there is net gain with the new guys being brought in.

From the portal for the upcoming 2025 season, there is a mixed bag of players from big boy conferences, yes, but there is also some under the radar guys from smaller programs.

As it pertains to the guys from "bigger" programs, when rattling off notable players, you have to include guys like: Tayvion Galloway from Purdue, E.J Harris from Auburn, receiver AJ Jones from Arizona, and punter Ashton Logan from Oklahoma.

Those are some big fish from the portal, but we shouldn't gloss over guys like: Hunter Tipton, tight end from Louisiana Tech, receiver Tyree Patterson from UCF, stud linebacker Alex Mitchell from UTC and lineman Jacob Otts from Rhode Island.

I said it from the outset, and I will say it again, the rebuilding job Coach Mason is being tasked with, is a three to four year plan. I think that Mason should be given a mulligan for a lackluster record in his initial season at the helm, but in the next season there needs to a noticeable record improvement. I'm not saying something outlandish like the team needs to be competing for a playoff berth, but I do think the team is capable of being in the hunt for the conference championship game. Will the staff put the pieces of the puzzle together and make this happen? We will see!

At this juncture only the out of conference slate is in place for the 2025 season. Right now there is the Austin Peay game at home, a road game at Wisconsin, a game across the country at Nevada and a home contest against Marshall. Out of those games, there is just one "body bag game" and that is the one at Madison, Wisconsin. In the past couple of seasons you could glance at the OOC schedule and pinpoint multiple body bag games.

Best case scenario in my mind, the Blue Raiders go 3-1 out of the blocks in 2025. I also think fans should expect the team to have a greater fight factor. Last season, every last one of their losses was by double digits. Look for MT to not get their doors blown off in the games where they lose and get the short end of the stick.

New Year, New Expectations Are Warranted

I personally think Middle Tennessee State's trajectory is trending upward and again, there are many reasons for optimism when it comes to the football program. I personally think that there is absolutely no reason to accept mediocrity with the football program going forward.

When you zoom the lens outward and take a wide angle glance at what is going on, you should come to the conclusion that winning should be expected at Middle Tennessee State University.

The University and the athletic department have finally fully invested and started to pour in money, funneling a large portion of the money, into resources that only benefit the MTSU football program. There are many things to point to when it comes to resources and elements that are enticing for kids wanting to play football at a large, quality division one program.

I think that the fanbase should expect a big jump when it comes to games notched in the win column for 2025, but let's not get out of hand here. Just spit balling here at the moment, I think that it is not ludicrous to expect a 7-5 record, with a smaller margin of defeat for many of the games. Let's face it, MT should not be losing by 28 to WKU, 27 to Louisiana Tech, and 22 to Jacksonville State.

Again, Mason should be permitted a mulligan for 2024, but there needs to be noticeable improvement in 2025.