Press Conference

[roguewarrior]

The 11/16 press conference was interesting. Most interesting was the second last statement.

[BGSU33]

The video from 11/16 isn’t of a press conference. It was of a postgame interview after the Miami game. And in it he hit the nail right on the head. There’s no way anyone who has watched this team this year, or even just the Miami game, would say BG is okay on the OL. That’s not even debatable. It’s by far the most glaring weakness on the team bar none. And it’s not our kids fault. They shouldn’t be in this position in year 3 of this staff, but they are. That said, as a coach, he 100% knows he need to address and fix this in the off-season. There’s no debating what he’s saying or not saying about the OL. It 100% needs help. And to be clear, I am not saying all 5 guys can’t play. I think most of them are in over their head a lot of the time, but that’s not their fault. I see a couple guys that could win starting spots next year even if/when we bring in competition. But can anyone honestly say Loeffler is wrong about what he said at the end of the interview? There’s no way anyone can take an honest look at this team and say he’s wrong. He’s 100% right in this case. I don’t always agree with things he does, and I do not like the offense we run under him, but he’s not wrong whatsoever about his comment and his mindset in this. I don’t find the second to last comment “interesting” at all, I found the comment to be “obvious.”

[roguewarrior]

I didn’t say he is wrong that our line is not good. I was vilified by you and others for “leaking” he told all the lineman they will be replaced! And he just said it publicly.

[Flipper]

Loeffler has done nothing but point fingers and make excuses for his job performance since arriving here. I'm beyond tired of it

[TommyG]

He uses words like “us” and “we” but his tone and explanations are always “them” when discussing the player’s poor play. He wants credit for any success and put any failure on the players. Some of that is acceptable in year 1, but year 3 it isn’t.
A good AD would recognize that and address it, but BG is incompetent at that position too.

[BGSU33]

I didn’t say he is wrong that our line is not good. I was vilified by you and others for “leaking” he told all the lineman they will be replaced! And he just said it publicly.

First off, he didn't say anything at all about anyone being "replaced" in that clip. He said not starting 5 freshmen on the OL is how to fix the problem we are facing. And he then followed that up with that it won't be a problem nest season. You can read between the lines what that means, I think it's more than obvious that it means our OL will look different next year. The question is, how different? Secondly, all of those freshmen OL guys will be sophomores next year whether they're here or not next season. So even if the same 5 started next year, we wouldn't be starting 5 frosh again, they'd all be sophomores. Hence, it's not going to be an OL loaded with frosh next year. Third, it's clear we are going to target and need help at the OL. So why wouldn't we try and improve the OL outside of adding more freshmen? Even at the expense of some guys being replaced? What good coach in their right mind would simply let the worst unit on the team wallow again and not try and improve it?

Look, I want to see competition at every single position. And playing time should be earned, not promised. Any player can be replaced if they're beat out and no player is locked into a spot. I'd love to see these OL guys stay at BG because there's two OL in particular who I think are going to be really good (they already are IMO) and will be tough to beat out next year even if guys are brought in. But there are also a few guys who I would be shocked if they actually did beat out any competition that was brought in. And that's not to say they won't be in the mix down the road. But there's no way when those guys watch game tape that they can't see what everyone else does. The fact is there are a few guys who are in over their heads right now, and that's not their fault. They just simply shouldn't be in the spot they are right now, but they're trying and gaining experienced, and it is what it us.

I'm willing to bet if the word "replaced" was uttered in the locker room to these kids, that it was in the context of through competition and not in the context of wholesale change just because. And there's a huge difference between the two. But I wasn't there and I didn't hear it. I just know that I want to see the best players we can out there for BG next season, whether that's all of these guys as sophomores, a group of transfers, or a combination of the two. This is freakin' D-I football. You either earn and win out your spot, or someone else will. Period.

[Schadenfreude]

I didn’t say he is wrong that our line is not good. I was vilified by you and others for “leaking” he told all the lineman they will be replaced! And he just said it publicly.

He did not say that.

Loeffler was asked what does the team needs to change to be more competitive against Ohio. His answer: "Not have five freshman starting on the offensive line. We've been patchworking it all year long, and we won't have to patchwork that next year."

Here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aywmDCidvrQ

(The exchange starts at 3:17.)

He did not call out any player individually. He did not say that they will all be replaced. (In fact, if no changes are made at all, Loeffler's statement will still literally be true. We will no longer have five freshman starting on the offensive line.)

What Loeffler did say here is pretty consistent with what he's been saying in public for most of this season, which is that changes will be made on the line as he looks for opportunities to bring new offensive linemen in here.

And that's fine. But that's not the same thing as saying every single one of those starters will be replaced. He did not say that.

The fact is, this line isn't getting it done. We can all see it. This is FBS football. The game was on national television. Matt McDonald got sacked eight times last night, and that line play is obviously a major reason why. If pointing out in a generalized way what we could all see on national television is too injurious to fragile egos on this squad, then maybe we need to get players in here who aren't quite so soft.

[BGSU33]

I didn’t say he is wrong that our line is not good. I was vilified by you and others for “leaking” he told all the lineman they will be replaced! And he just said it publicly.

He did not say that.

Loeffler was asked what does the team needs to change to be more competitive against Ohio. His answer: "Not have five freshman starting on the offensive line. We've been patchworking it all year long, and we won't have to patchwork that next year."

Here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aywmDCidvrQ

(The exchange starts at 3:17.)

He did not call out any player individually. He did not say that they will all be replaced. (In fact, if no changes are made at all, Loeffler's statement will still literally be true. We will no longer have five freshman starting on the offensive line.)

What Loeffler did say here is pretty consistent with what he's been saying in public for most of this season, which is that changes will be made on the line as he looks for opportunities to bring new offensive linemen in here.

And that's fine. But that's not the same thing as saying every single one of those starters will be replaced. He did not say that.

The fact is, this line isn't getting it done. We can all see it. This is FBS football. The game was on national television. Matt McDonald got sacked eight times last night, and that line play is obviously a major reason why. If pointing out in a generalized way what we could all see on national television is too injurious to fragile egos on this squad, then maybe we need to get players in here who aren't quite so soft.

Exactly, and thank you! Well said!

[Flipper]

Oh..so the players are too soft...that's the latest excuse

[roguewarrior]

This is like the Brady Bunch episode where Greg learned a tough lesson with his parents over “exact words”….. I have better luck coming to an understanding with Chinese nationals. My failure. Ugh

[jpfalcon09]

So, what exactly is the big deal if the entire OL is replaced? Everyone on here has been clamoring for weeks about how poor the unit is. Scot admits it's a position that needs addressed and everyone still jumps all over him about it. What am I missing?

[BillyLP]

So, what exactly is the big deal if the entire OL is replaced? Everyone on here has been clamoring for weeks about how poor the unit is. Scot admits it's a position that needs addressed and everyone still jumps all over him about it. What am I missing?

It's about the fact that Loeffler has preached that he needs to get his own guys in and build up their strength to have a solid OL unit, but heading into season 4 it looks like everyone he has brought in hasn't panned out and now he is looking to the outside. It's a pretty bad look that he has essentially thrown in the towel on a unit that he and his staff have filled.

[Schadenfreude]

So, what exactly is the big deal if the entire OL is replaced? Everyone on here has been clamoring for weeks about how poor the unit is. Scot admits it's a position that needs addressed and everyone still jumps all over him about it. What am I missing?

It's about the fact that Loeffler has preached that he needs to get his own guys in and build up their strength to have a solid OL unit, but heading into season 4 it looks like everyone he has brought in hasn't panned out and now he is looking to the outside. It's a pretty bad look that he has essentially thrown in the towel on a unit that he and his staff have filled.

I think it's fair to question why this line isn't showing more promise at this point. There seems little question that *some* of these guys have not panned out, and the coaching staff bears some responsibility here. This staff went out and recruited these players. This staff ran the weight room and offseason training program. This staff is coaching them on the skills they need to play offensive line in the Mid-American Conference. So, when Loeffler says he wants to hit reset on some of these players, it's fair to ask what went wrong and how we can trust that they will get it right the next time.

I imagine Loeffler would argue that part of this is just getting some veterans in there to help out so those who remain can grow into their full potential as MAC offensive linemen. The problem, may just be too much youth. Of course, that seemed to be his plan initially. Perhaps it seemed like a better idea three years ago than it does now, when we see this youthful, undersized line trying to hold its own in FBS football.

Also, in fairness, recruiting is always a bit of a crapshoot. It would take some pretty good luck to pick five guys and have all of them grow into starting MAC offensive linemen.

[Roll Along!]

I head PJ Fleck say it once. The player's job is to work so hard, develop and play so well that he earns his spot. A coach's job is to bring in guys who are better than the guys they currently have.

[roguewarrior]

My critique is the HOW. You can keep these struggling guys here to develop without alienating them to the point of bolting. It’s that simple. Somehow, this has devolved into a stupid circular argument. Everyone hopes for the same thing.