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The Old Man's Thoughts on Saturday

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:28 pm
by The Niz
The coaches did well Yesterday. I had made a comment to my dad and to Freak to the effect of how we will come out the second half having made no ajustments and going down hard but they suprised me and came out ready at the beginning of the second half. The play calling was good also. Execution was the problem, and from what players on the team are telling me, it would be pretty hard to fault the coaches for the execution problems (sans st's). Everyone refuses to say anything about the special teams and I am just fine with that. Right now execution lies in the hands of the players, coaches can't play the game for them. Barne's dropped two passes he should have caught, even though they were VERY poorly thrown by AT.

I can't help but replay my dad's comments over and over in my head: "What happened to Bowling Green?" "You dominated when we went down to OU..." "That quarterback you guys have is pretty awful" "Why do your receivers feel they have to fall down to catch the ball?" "Why does your QB move in slow motion?"

Being that he used to coach and taught me everything I know about the game I take the things he says to heart. And everything he mentioned to me was something that the players themselves were responsible for except for the first one.

Just some things that have been bothering me all weekend.

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:43 pm
by Jacobs4Heisman
Pretty good stuff -- I really don't want this thread to devolve, but I have this to say about execution and how it relates to the coaching staff. All I really want to say, is that if the players simply aren't good enough, the staff needs to be held accountable for not bringing the right people in.

Of course this confuses me, because we've been led to believe by the media and the staff, that we've had very good recruiting classes the past few years. That leaves two possibilities -- the media has no clue about high-school talent combined with the staff blowing smoke up our butts -- or -- the staff is simply failing to develop these quality recruits into quality MAC level football players.

When you look at our poor QB play, and poor overall receiver play, it magnifies the problem we have with talent at the skill positions. With the offense we run, and the local and especially national attention we've received for it, how do we not have tons of quality QBs and receivers just lining up to play for us? This is a huge failure point for Brandon.


Basically, when people say that poor execution isn't the fault of the coaches, I call BS. Coaches have control in college sports like in no other world. They bring in the exact personnel they want, they oversee the entire program, they choose their staff, they choose their playing styles and philosophies, etc etc. IMO, once a head coach has been somewhere for 3-4 + years, there is extremely little that isn't their fault, or that they don't deserve credit for.

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 11:17 pm
by The Niz
Players and Managers for the team tell me how the coach does everything to prepare the team for each game. I'm not sticking up for him here because I am just as disappointed in things as anyone right now. Its hard to argue with the people who are doing the work, ESPECIALLY the managers. Coaches can do everything but play the game and from what some of the guys are telling that is what they are doing. Execution is a player problem, you can lead a horse to the well but you can't make him drink.

There is one serious coaching miscue right now and we all know what it is: the continued poor play/extremely slow improvement in special teams. The only other thing that I have to complain about with coaching is the QB situation. Either Turner is hurt and that's why he is so terrible, or he just actually is that terrible. If he's hurt, why the hell is playing? If he's that terrible its time to spend time with Sheehan(sp?).

Not saying coaching is or is not the root of our problems. We will know in two years if it is.

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 11:21 pm
by Jacobs4Heisman
I totally get what you're saying Niz -- and I agree 100%. My point is, that if the coaches are teaching as well as can be taught, and we still can't execute successfully, than the talent level is the problem. That still goes directly back to the man in charge.