Excellent article and right on point. I have been concerned about the negative side of a one time transfer rule for a pretty talented team that’s struggling like we are. But the one thing that stood out to me the most which I have also been thinking about was “Something is wrong” and “can it be fixed”.
I don’t know unequivocally what is wrong. But I think somethings are obvious and at least part of the problem and there is likely a combination of things that are wrong. I think the most obvious thing is this team is not tough and sorely missing player leadership. We lost some great leadership from last year’s team and obviously it hasn’t been filed. I sure don’t know how you fix that and certainty don’t with over half the season behind us. Sometimes it just takes maturity and an irrepressible spirit but that may not probably won’t come this year. Additionally virtually always the QB is a vital pivotal leader. But when you have a 5th year QB who’s consistent MO has been inconsistency you can’t have leadership there and his backup is a true freshman who obviously at best can’t be expected to be a strong leader yet.
I don’t know if there is friction in the coaching staff or not but obviously JP made a bad hire for DL coach and he NEVER jelled or was able to motivate the DL. That has hurt us and most likely exacerbated the lack of team toughness team wise and certainly has hampered the development of the DL.
The other critical thing that stood out to me was the IMPORTANCE of holding this recruiting class together and keeping the team intact and not losing transfers. I couldn’t agree more with Brent’s conclusion that it’s absolutely imperative to get the freshmen on the field and perform. Get them part of the team and part of the SOLUTION. It’s not an easy thing to do. But it seems to me HB made some real positive strides last week and Hyatt has shown real promise. I think it’s clear the coaches think we’ve got multiple more promising freshmen on both sides of the ball. Get those guys involved and suddenly they see themselves as being part of the solution and the attitude and effort if not execution could be quite different.
I don’t know unequivocally what is wrong. But I think somethings are obvious and at least part of the problem and there is likely a combination of things that are wrong. I think the most obvious thing is this team is not tough and sorely missing player leadership. We lost some great leadership from last year’s team and obviously it hasn’t been filed. I sure don’t know how you fix that and certainty don’t with over half the season behind us. Sometimes it just takes maturity and an irrepressible spirit but that may not probably won’t come this year. Additionally virtually always the QB is a vital pivotal leader. But when you have a 5th year QB who’s consistent MO has been inconsistency you can’t have leadership there and his backup is a true freshman who obviously at best can’t be expected to be a strong leader yet.
I don’t know if there is friction in the coaching staff or not but obviously JP made a bad hire for DL coach and he NEVER jelled or was able to motivate the DL. That has hurt us and most likely exacerbated the lack of team toughness team wise and certainly has hampered the development of the DL.
The other critical thing that stood out to me was the IMPORTANCE of holding this recruiting class together and keeping the team intact and not losing transfers. I couldn’t agree more with Brent’s conclusion that it’s absolutely imperative to get the freshmen on the field and perform. Get them part of the team and part of the SOLUTION. It’s not an easy thing to do. But it seems to me HB made some real positive strides last week and Hyatt has shown real promise. I think it’s clear the coaches think we’ve got multiple more promising freshmen on both sides of the ball. Get those guys involved and suddenly they see themselves as being part of the solution and the attitude and effort if not execution could be quite different.
