Golden Boy and Pony Boy

A Peek Behind the Curtain

The search to find our two newest owners was not linear. The process started with the #involvement surveys. As previously stated, the ultimate goal of this was not to kick people out. The goal was twofold: to bring to light your perception in the league and, if your involvement was perceived as low, finding out a way to get you more immersed.   We want to always have twelve owners who love fantasy football, and we want for each of the twelve to use their strengths to add to our immersion. We want it to be fun, but also acknowledge that it is quite a commitment. It’s a league that being half heartedly involved leads to less success for yourself and leads to less fun for others, even though the owner themselves likely still find it enjoyable. Having that realization is difficult, and being willing to give up that enjoyment is even more difficult. BSC Jacks owner, Dana Daniels, was the first to inform us that he felt it was time to step down. Trent and I knew we had to act fast to find a replacement. This league moves fast and we needed to give the future owner time to get acclimated and to make plans. Additionally, Trent had to create a brand which also takes time. So, we started the process right away. Even before all of the #involvement follow-up conversations had ended, a list of potential candidates was narrowed down to three names. Some slow response times cut that list down to two- Merrick Beaumont and Cole Walker. At that point, Trent and I sent out an interview form to get more information on our two candidates to hopefully make a decision. The interview results caused quite the conundrum for the commish. We had two incredible candidates. A decision legitimately felt impossible. We decided it would be best to complete the #involvement survey follow-up conversations to see if anyone else had plans to step away. That’s when The Bronx Dominion owner, Tanner Barnes, told us he was going to step away. This will sound harsh, but Trent and I were relieved. Not because Dana and Tanner left, but because we knew that we weren’t going to have to be faced with that impossible decision. Beaumont and Walker were both in.

Expectations

Trent did his magic and the two newest franchises were created— the NorCal Goldeneyes and the Kentucky Bolters. Most of the notoriety was geared towards the latter. It was consensus that Cole Walker was inheriting a much cozier set up than Merrick Beaumont’s Goldies. The Bolters had the foundation in Josh Allen, Brian Thomas Jr., and a some top rookie draft lottery odds. In addition to the foundation, the landscape in the East looked ripe with opportunity to make a run. The Little Rock Capitals were the clear front runners, but aside from them, the Bolters were widely viewed as the next guys up. Often overshadowed by their newcomer counterparts, the Goldeneyes were not viewed as a franchise ready to compete right away. They were a project. Contrary to the beautiful Bolters foundation, Beaumont’s foundation consisted of aging and oft injured 49ers, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey. The lone bright spot was some decent rookie draft capital in the way of top lottery odds for the rookie draft.

We’ve since had RFA, the rookie draft, and many trades. Despite their record, the Bolters seem to have lived up to expectations. They are second in the conference in points. My personal opinion is that they have the best Eastern roster (when accounting for Little Rock’s injuries). There is no argument that the Goldeneyes' expectations have grown. A 6-0 start was not viewed as viable in the range of outcomes, yet here they are. Both franchises, in the least, have playoff aspirations. Given the previous state of the two franchises, this is not overly-familiar circumstances. In fact, both franchises only cracked the playoffs three times a piece in their first nine years. The immediate success of the two new owners made me curious— Is this uncharted territory? I dug deep in the FCS Intel Sheets to take a look at how all of our previous newby owners had fared their first six weeks at the helm as well as how their inaugural seasons had ended.

	Record	Points	EOY Record	Finish
2018 COL	3-3	693.86	6-6	L Wildcard
2019 LRC	4-2	742.44	7-5	L Victor Bowl
2019 REN	3-3	723.52	7-5	L Conference
2020 VBR	4-2	796.86	8-4	L Wildcard
2025 NOR	6-0	787.60	TBD	TBD
2025 KEN	2-4	726.88	TBD	TBD

Takeaways

Its worth noting that the Goldies, of course, are off to the best start from a new franchise in FCS history while the Bolters are off to the worst start. Worst being relative since the success has of newbies has been so high. Both the Goldies and the Bolters are keeping up with the pack in regard to points through six weeks. The Goldies are a shade over nine points off of the record set by the 2020 Rovers. But I haven't addressed the elephant in the room: Every newby to this point has made the playoffs? Yup. That was something I had to double check to believe. The 2019 Capitals set the bar high by winning in the Eastern Conference Championship, yet no newby has completed the unthinkable and won a Victor Bowl in their first year. Everything is still on the table for the Goldeneyes and Bolters. If I was a betting man, I think both of them continue the streak for newbies and get in the playoffs. As DC proved last year- get in, and anything can happen.