Sam Keller Gone

[Ryanwb]

I have lost a lot of respect for Dirk, he basically toyed with Keller

You actually had respect for him?

 

[Southpaw]

Mike Keller said he's spoken with Oklahoma, Colorado, Louisville and Texas-El Paso, and that Notre Dame and Iowa also have interest. He also said that staying at ASU still is on the table and even mentioned the possibility of redshirting at ASU while completing his undergraduate degree then transferring under the new NCAA rule allowing such a move without sitting out.

As I asked earlier about his redshirt status, this should be the answer. If he transfers to Div 1A school he would have to sit a year.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

This might start a whole other thread but I think Rudy Carpenter is the ugliest starting QB i have ever seen....He looks like a a demented keebler elf

And I am sure the girlfriend of his we keep hearing about is smoking hot....mama may your boys grow up to be D1 college football QB's

I have always had a affinity for ASU football as the 96 season (growing up in Tempe) was one of the biggest sporting moments of my life. Not that it matters because i am die-hard UA guy anyway since i attended school there - but i really dislike ASU now.....Keller was the one guy i liked on the team and despite his "off field issues" i think he would have given you guys the best chance to win this year. Senior leadership in college cannot be overstated. I hope he goes on to great success in Lincoln.

This is the way its supposed to be anyway. I am supposed to hate you guys.....But now i won't even pull for them against every school but UA. I hope we smoke you guys and your Keebler elf QB in November...

 

[Kel Varnsen]

"demented keebler elf"

LOL.

 

[Renz]

Arizona State tries to get back to normal after flip-flopping Keller for Carpenter
Posted 8/24/2006 1:11 AM ET
By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY

TEMPE, Ariz. — Rudy Carpenter stayed up until 4 a.m. Saturday debating with his father whether to leave the Arizona State football team after losing a high-profile quarterback duel against Sam Keller.

Now, after a controversial flip-flop that has put Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter and the team under a white-hot microscope, the sophomore quarterback is the central figure in a soap opera-like drama a week before the opener against Northern Arizona.

Keller? The senior, who nearly engineered wins against LSU and Southern California before injuries sidelined him at midseason, is transferring to Nebraska, coach Bill Callahan announced Wednesday night. Keller will have to sit out this season.

The Sun Devils, possible contenders in the Pacific-10 with another high-powered offense and an improved defense, returned to practice Tuesday after a tumultuous weekend.

"People are really making a big deal about this," Carpenter said. "I'm sure it's a pretty big deal. People want to read into it (that) I complained to Coach or Sam has off-the-field issues. It doesn't matter what the problems are. What matters is we have a game, and we're going to play with the players we have. I miss Sam, but in some respects, business is business."

This hardly was business as usual, however. Keller started Arizona State's first seven games last season before shoulder and thumb injuries sidelined him with the Sun Devils 3-4. Carpenter replaced him, finished first nationally in passing efficiency and led the Sun Devils to a 4-1 finish that included a bowl win in which he was named MVP.

Koetter announced the job was up for grabs when fall practice began earlier this month. The intense battle seemingly ended last Friday when Koetter named the 6-4, 230-pound Keller the starter, saying he deserved the job because of his loyalty and the sacrifices he made. In the intrasquad game that night, however, a frustrated and angry Carpenter, 6-2, 207, outplayed Keller.

Saturday, after a long night of soul-searching, Carpenter met with Koetter. "There's no question, yeah, I went to talk to Coach Koetter," said Carpenter, who admits he seriously considered transferring. "I did have a problem with the way things happened."

That same day, Koetter met with the team's senior leadership council, made up of about 15 players. The hour-long meeting was described as a tug of war by senior wide receiver Terry Richardson, who said at a news conference Sunday it became a shouting match among players at one point.

No one has disclosed what issues were discussed, but the day ended with Koetter naming Carpenter the starter, a switch announced Sunday with Koetter saying he made a mistake.

The fallout measured a 7.0 on the football Richter scale, raising a flurry of questions, among them: Who's running the team, the seniors or Koetter? Will the controversy bring the team together or divide it? What issues concerned the leadership group about Keller? Why didn't Koetter seek the seniors' advice before making his decision?

"Because," he said, "there was nothing to meet with them about. I didn't need their help until the situation presented itself as it did." What situation? "It was just a talk," senior tackle Andrew Carnahan said of the meeting. "That's all I'm going to say."

Koetter said the final decision was his. "The leadership group was mature, thoughtful and thorough in their discussion of the situation, and they gave good input into what was best for our team. I'd be foolish not to listen."

Koetter had said the door was open for Keller to return, but that was before he appeared in Lincoln. USA TODAY was not able to reach either Keller or his father, Mike, on Wednesday.

This is clearly Carpenter's team now. Having the seniors back him meant a lot, he said. "They recognize all the hard work I put in. You have to have the respect of the guys."

Said Koetter, "Our team believes in Rudy."

Carnahan said the issue brought the team together. "It's helped some people emerge as leaders." Asked if the issue could undermine Koetter's authority, he said, "Absolutely not."

Carpenter agreed. "Everyone is always going to find a way to bag Coach Koetter. What if he didn't do that? What if it was some other subject and the team revolted against him and everybody would be mad he didn't listen to his players? I trust what he does, and the players do."

But if this can't bring the team closer? Said Carpenter: "If it can't, I don't think we deserve to win many games."

 

[Arizona's Finest]

That same day, Koetter met with the team's senior leadership council, made up of about 15 players. The hour-long meeting was described as a tug of war by senior wide receiver Terry Richardson, who said at a news conference Sunday it became a shouting match among players at one point.

Ummm.....that doesn't exactly sound like a diving board to a Rose Bowl berth....

(And yes i know UA has never even been to a Rose Bowl. But lets focus on this year and the future people. I know we aren't going to the Rose Bowl this year. The BCS #1 and #2 have to play in the Fiesta Bowl right? )














Okay - maybe that was going a little bit far

 

[AZCB34]

My two cents...

I did not go to ASU or U of A so no bias there. I am not a Dirk appologist...I think his tenure at ASU has been very up and down.

I have tried to take in all the info that has been spewed out this week via radio, TV and message boards. Much of what I am going to say here is hypothetical since nobody really knows what happened...at least not yet...but it is the best I can formulate based on the known facts and made opinions.

Rudy did well filling in for the injured Keller last year. According to the stats I found Rudy's line was 156-228 (68.4%) 2273 yds 16 TD 2 INT. One could argue Carpenter didn't see the top conference teams when he got those but I still fall back on the idea that he still played very well regardless of competition.

After the year ends, Carpenter sits down with Koetter to discuss his future. Rudy wants to win an open competition so Koetter tells him to put in the effort this offseason/spring practices. So Rudy does. Unsubstatiated info says Rudy was a workout stud and spent alot of time watching film this summer in a effort to get better. Rudy supposedly outplayed Keller in spring ball but some of that could be attributed to Keller returning from injury.

Summer comes an Carpenter continues to be a gym rat and film guy while Keller doesn't quite show the same commitment (this theory is the result of reports of Kellers partying ways). Tontozona opens and Carpenter probably feels like he is ahead but not by much. Koetter doesn't do anything to decalre a leader so Rudy thinks he has a shot. Reports out of Koetter's mouth and from Camp T show the race is very close...I have heard Carpenter was playing better and I have heard it was dead even.

Media starts spouting off about the QB controversy (QB blessing as Koetter put it) and applying additional pressure to the situation to the point that the players are forced into the awkwardness of discussing their relationship and are saying all the "right" things which neither of them really believe. IMO, both QB's have already decided if they do not win the job, they transfer. Keller will not ride out his senior year on the bench and Rudy, at this point, probably believes he has won the job so if he doesn;t get...well...he is gone.

Fateful Friday scrimmage arrives and there is Keller trots out with the first team. Here is obviously where things start to fall apart. Carpenter now knows he is gone and probably informs Koetter of it. Rudy believes he won the job and he got shafted by Dirk and probably believes he will never get a fair shake from Dirk (whether it is true or not) so he wants to leave.

Senior leadership council comes to the plate and clearly they are split as evidenced by Richardsons comments. MY best guess given what has ahppened is that some of the seniors were loyal to their classmate Keller while others saw that the better QB was actually benched (Carpenter). At some point in this Koetter finally starts to doubt his evaluatrion and probably there were some off field issues (nothing major but enough to start thedoubt creeping into Koetters melon) brought up.

Koetter is now in a no win situation. He now thinks Carpenter was better and won the job and he looks at the bigger picture of the next couple years. There is enough doubt in his mind about Keller that the idea of having Carpenter around for a couple more years trumps Keller's "senior leadership". Koetter flip flops on his decision and Keller is now off to Nebraska.

I don't buy the attacks on Carpenter by people on radio over Rudy's ego being too big. Show my a successful QB and I will show the biggest ego outside of Denny Green. A QB has got to believe he is the best even when he isn't.

Koetter made several errors in all this IMO based on my hypothetical reconstruction.

1. I believe he committed to open competition to Rudy when I believe he always intended to pick keller unless Keller fell flat on his face.

2. He should have made a decision after spring ball to settle it but his desire for Keller forced him to extend the competition to give Keller the chance to make up for the returning from injury spring struggles he reportedly had.

3. He allowed the QB blessing to fester and since I believe, based on reports, Rudy was outplaying Keller...maybe by a slim margin but outplaying him nonetheless.

4. He allowed the senior leadership group to hold so much sway. I am not sure what this groups real purpose is but I seriously doubt one of their jobs is to establish the depth chart for ASU.

5. And maybe worst of all...changing his mind. Koetter set a very bad precedent by flip flopping bsaically showing that enough resistance by players to his decisions will result in Dirk changing his mind. Maybe he loses Carpenter (probably although we do not know for 100%) but he has to stick to his guns to show he is the boss.

Anyways...if ASU tears off a bunch of wins, Keller will become a distant memory and Rudy and, eventaully, Dirk will be praised.

 

[EndZone]

My two cents...

I did not go to ASU or U of A so no bias there. I am not a Dirk appologist...I think his tenure at ASU has been very up and down.

I have tried to take in all the info that has been spewed out this week via radio, TV and message boards. Much of what I am going to say here is hypothetical since nobody really knows what happened...at least not yet...but it is the best I can formulate based on the known facts and made opinions.

Rudy did well filling in for the injured Keller last year. According to the stats I found Rudy's line was 156-228 (68.4%) 2273 yds 16 TD 2 INT. One could argue Carpenter didn't see the top conference teams when he got those but I still fall back on the idea that he still played very well regardless of competition.

After the year ends, Carpenter sits down with Koetter to discuss his future. Rudy wants to win an open competition so Koetter tells him to put in the effort this offseason/spring practices. So Rudy does. Unsubstatiated info says Rudy was a workout stud and spent alot of time watching film this summer in a effort to get better. Rudy supposedly outplayed Keller in spring ball but some of that could be attributed to Keller returning from injury.

Summer comes an Carpenter continues to be a gym rat and film guy while Keller doesn't quite show the same commitment (this theory is the result of reports of Kellers partying ways). Tontozona opens and Carpenter probably feels like he is ahead but not by much. Koetter doesn't do anything to decalre a leader so Rudy thinks he has a shot. Reports out of Koetter's mouth and from Camp T show the race is very close...I have heard Carpenter was playing better and I have heard it was dead even.

Media starts spouting off about the QB controversy (QB blessing as Koetter put it) and applying additional pressure to the situation to the point that the players are forced into the awkwardness of discussing their relationship and are saying all the "right" things which neither of them really believe. IMO, both QB's have already decided if they do not win the job, they transfer. Keller will not ride out his senior year on the bench and Rudy, at this point, probably believes he has won the job so if he doesn;t get...well...he is gone.

Fateful Friday scrimmage arrives and there is Keller trots out with the first team. Here is obviously where things start to fall apart. Carpenter now knows he is gone and probably informs Koetter of it. Rudy believes he won the job and he got shafted by Dirk and probably believes he will never get a fair shake from Dirk (whether it is true or not) so he wants to leave.

Senior leadership council comes to the plate and clearly they are split as evidenced by Richardsons comments. MY best guess given what has ahppened is that some of the seniors were loyal to their classmate Keller while others saw that the better QB was actually benched (Carpenter). At some point in this Koetter finally starts to doubt his evaluatrion and probably there were some off field issues (nothing major but enough to start thedoubt creeping into Koetters melon) brought up.

Koetter is now in a no win situation. He now thinks Carpenter was better and won the job and he looks at the bigger picture of the next couple years. There is enough doubt in his mind about Keller that the idea of having Carpenter around for a couple more years trumps Keller's "senior leadership". Koetter flip flops on his decision and Keller is now off to Nebraska.

I don't buy the attacks on Carpenter by people on radio over Rudy's ego being too big. Show my a successful QB and I will show the biggest ego outside of Denny Green. A QB has got to believe he is the best even when he isn't.

Koetter made several errors in all this IMO based on my hypothetical reconstruction.

1. I believe he committed to open competition to Rudy when I believe he always intended to pick keller unless Keller fell flat on his face.

2. He should have made a decision after spring ball to settle it but his desire for Keller forced him to extend the competition to give Keller the chance to make up for the returning from injury spring struggles he reportedly had.

3. He allowed the QB blessing to fester and since I believe, based on reports, Rudy was outplaying Keller...maybe by a slim margin but outplaying him nonetheless.

4. He allowed the senior leadership group to hold so much sway. I am not sure what this groups real purpose is but I seriously doubt one of their jobs is to establish the depth chart for ASU.

5. And maybe worst of all...changing his mind. Koetter set a very bad precedent by flip flopping bsaically showing that enough resistance by players to his decisions will result in Dirk changing his mind. Maybe he loses Carpenter (probably although we do not know for 100%) but he has to stick to his guns to show he is the boss.

Anyways...if ASU tears off a bunch of wins, Keller will become a distant memory and Rudy and, eventaully, Dirk will be praised.

Agree

 

[AZBALLER]

Pretty close imo 34, but you definitely didn't hit it on the head...The truth will be out shortly. And while you were close, you were still a mile away.

It's kinda sad when a coach takes the heat for a young man's faults, yet people forgive the kid and blame the coach...Why isn't Keller Sr taking any blame or throwing any blame??? Something to think about?

 

[AZBALLER]

Why do people keep saying that RC would have 3 years of eligibility left if he transferred? He's already redshirted. Do the math...