this season was a recipe for disaster

Y

ylojk8

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well .. i guess a Div 1A program that finishes in the top 25 for the past 5 straight years should be considered an established football program and rightfully so.

however .. this season was the perfect recipe for a disaster.

1) The coach that "established" the program left for a "better" job.
2) The offensive and defensive coordinators were ready to follow to "better" jobs themselves.
3) New coaching staff assembled.
4) Head coach joins the team later than the norm because he is principled enough to follow through his commitments.
5) Small recruiting class with not much quantity but GREAT quality.
6) Key players like Godsey and Campbell graduate.
7) Crippling injuries hit the team ..
8) Offense struggles with new relatively inexperienced QB, cannot establish identity.

and holy crap, we're having a winning season and going to a school record tying 6th straight bowl appearance??

we still have to face our in state rivals and have a shot at improving our record over last year??

HOW??????

i demand an explanation
 
We did have 9 starters returning on defense. There are things that Gailey deserves credit for and things he done that can be legitimately criticized for. He deserves credit for listening to Tony Hollings and allowing him to return to running back. He didn't let his ego prevent him from hiring a DC Dave Braine recommended who turned into a terrific hire. He deserves credit for holding the team together through a bad injury year. Finally, he deserves credit for going to the spread offense which is a better fit for the available personnel. He can be criticized for keeping O'Brien who it's clear he's not comfortable with. There are have been some questionable personnel decistions. Kelley Rhino ahead of Reuben Houston, Michael Sampson ahead of PJ Daniels and Clinkscales. Kelley Rhino is a terrific kid with a lot of heart but just isn't big and fast enough to compete with athletic receivers. Sampson simply wasn't ready. Finally, the biggest mistake was sticking with Suggs. AJ deserved to begin the season as the starter but by the Brigham Young game it was clear he will never be better than average. Gailey should have taken note from the Bowdens who cut their losses with more veteran quarterbacks and went to redshirt freshmen. 2003 would look a lot brighter if Bilbo were the starter right now.
 
3518techie, agree for the most part. However the difference is the Bowden's didn't make a change until they had someone else ready to go. For whatever reason (please let's don't start that again!!!) we don't. I would bet that next year will look quite different.
 
Seniors.

Our Seniors are amazing. Nothing against Godsey and Co., but last year, after the Maryland loss, it seemed like we threw in the towel. This years Seniors have kept the team going and motivated. Even GO'L said that the 2002 Seniors were going to have great leadership. If our seniors step up one more time this year, we WILL bat Georgia.
 
I am one who believes that senior leadership is a derivative of the coaches... everything starts at the top... we had great seniors last year, but were not able to "finish" the season.... the team this year has had more obstacles to hurdle than last years could have dreamed... This years seniors have done a GREAT job... but so have the coaches ...
 
"Offensive struggles" is a little understated, don't you think?

The answer is the defense and those 9 returning starters. Plus you can't discount the leadership of Watkins, Gordon, Wimbush, Muyers, and Rhino (seniors).
 
I can't completely agree with your "recipe for disaster" statement. You actually answered your question in your first sentence. A team ranked in the Top 25 for 5 straight years should not have to rebuild. My take on the season is Chan did nothing huge to screw things up, but nothing spectactular (he can do that on the 30th). With our defense coming back, seven wins was in the bag. The question marks were on the offense and unfortunately, they just did not step up in that area. Injuries did play a role in this season and probably cost us a game. Chan will start to earn that salary this offseason.
 
Originally posted by Wrecked:
I can't completely agree with your "recipe for disaster" statement. You actually answered your question in your first sentence. A team ranked in the Top 25 for 5 straight years should not have to rebuild. My take on the season is Chan did nothing huge to screw things up, but nothing spectactular (he can do that on the 30th). With our defense coming back, seven wins was in the bag. The question marks were on the offense and unfortunately, they just did not step up in that area. Injuries did play a role in this season and probably cost us a game. Chan will start to earn that salary this offseason.
Click to expand...
<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">you're right .. an established program doesn't have to rebuild .. but you did not read my post .. just the premise .. read the first couple of points
 
Yes - the Coaches too. But you will have to admit it's alot harder for coaches to motivate a team than seniors.
 
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