You're being obtuse and you know it. You see any mention of Paul in a negative light as "blame", when really it's people trying to figure out why we are where we are.
He's not wrong. I like all of our guys and am grateful for them but facts are facts:
I haven't. I think I've been pretty clear that we've had a horrific offseason that put us in a pretty bad place. In fact, I started a thread about coaches who struggled mightily in their first year and did great things after that.
In this thread? My point is that Paul Johnson didn't destroy the program. He inherited a pretty great 2007 class, but otherwise it looks about the same as it did before that and after that. This was a down year due to a 2016 class that got torn apart, but there's more young talent on this team than we've had since 2008. The slight uptick in recruiting rankings backs that up.
Absolutely not. We're definitely recruiting better and seem to be playing better defense. I'm worried about our offensive game plan, though.
In terms of getting offensive production despite being outmatched, I think Mike Leach, Lincoln Riley, any of the Briles, David Cutcliffe, Dan Mullen, Urban Meyer, Scott Frost, Jeff Brohm, Mike Norvell, Dana Holgorsen, Ryan Day, Jeff Monken, Ken Niumatololo, to name a few, would be scoring points. In terms of previous GT coaches, I think Ralph Friedgen and Paul Johnson would have absolutely called plays to take advantage of our strengths and what the defense was giving us.
Agree with this. Our OL situation makes it very difficult right now. Regardless, we aren't beating Clemson or UGA anytime soon without out-scheming them so it's discouraging to see us look so horrible against teams with lesser or equal talent. Even if you want to argue that Temple is our match, talent-wise, they shut our offense out.[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]
Agree, albeit noting that the OL recruiting has been consistent since PJ arrived and we still managed to field some pretty damn good offenses. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Sewak's brilliant coaching that elevated their game, so what conclusion would you make from that?
new coaches + new scheme + not super talented players + season-ending injuries at the worst possible positions = shit sandwich, it is what it is
Agree with this. I've been impressed with our defensive staff, although our ACC schedule will ultimately tell the full story. I've got no doubt that CGC has changed the culture in a positive way and does a great job motivating players. We finally have some of the aggressiveness on defense that we've been clamoring for since 2007, and it looks like the unsportsmanlike stuff from the Citadel game got handled since we didn't see it at Temple.
Thanks for taking the time to answer all of those. Your answers make sense and better illustrate your feelings on the situation. I'll admit that before, I was under the impression you were in the camp of, "this staff sucks and has ruined our team which is full of talent." There are some out there that I truly feel believe that. That being said, I have to disagree with you on this answer. Out of that list, I think the only two that probably could do better with our group of guys are the option guys, and that's only because it's what our guys know. There are some bigtime names and good coaches on there, but none have gone through the transformation we are trying to go through, and some of those guys have had some rough patches as well. Look at Scott Frost. Started out 0-6 at Nebraska. They didn't look competitive at all against Ohio State. As far as calling plays to take advantage of our strengths... I think that is where the problem lies. What plays are our strengths? QB option with TO? We are also transitioning and trying to show recruits what type of offense were are trying to shift to. You have to balance that or you lose interest of guys wanting to come play here. That's why I give the coaches a pass for now on play calling in particular.
They did shut our offense out, but at the same time, we fumbled on the 1-inch line, threw a bad pick in the endzone from the 15, and turned it over on downs inside the 20. We made a couple bad throws to open receivers that would've kept drives alive. We threw high fastballs to guys wide open at the sticks for 1st downs. We overthrew a wide open receiver with 5 yard separation for a TD. Those type things can't be pinned on coaching. Experience, repetition, and recruiting will fix those problems. If our goal was to not get shutout on offense, we had opportunities to try a FG but the game wasn't out of reach at any of those points and we needed TD's. We also aren't very confident in our kicking game right now and that also keeps points off the board. I'm not on or off board with anybody yet, but I think it's entirely too early to pass judgment on the staff. When our guys can consistently do what the coaches are asking them to do and it doesn't work, that's when we turn the focus to coaching.
Yeah...because 4 games is a proper sample size to compare to 11 years.
LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH!
