Coaching Mario speaks on Joe Rose

Got to believe the "Gattis negative comments" last Summer regarding the WR room had a real impact on kids performance. Coaches are supposed to be MOTIVATORS, get kids fired up, believe in themselves, try to break through barriers to another level. Gattis totally sucked the energy, desire and spirit out of the WR room ... and the entire offense. What a colossal ***** up that guy was. Unprecedented.
I agree and I know that Mario called out kids/parents publicly for expressing that, but I hope that he at least addressed that with Gattis at the time (obviously he fired him and I am sure this was part of his decision).

I know that a bunch of the board likes to call kids soft shouldered and I get that there needs to be physical and mental toughness, but if you are at a company that isn't doing well and your boss, the one making decisions (and in this case one that probably came in after you were already there) puts all of the blame on you... whether or not it is deserved, it is not exactly motivating for most people.

A large part of being a successful boss is understanding what motivates your people. Sometimes they just suck, but before you get rid of them/berate them to the point that they don't give a **** at all, you better make sure there is someone else that can come in and do their job better than them. Considering there didn't seem to be many options for stepping up on the team and adding someone midseason wasn't an option, the approach of belittling the team did not seem like a great one.
 
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I agree on the admission of failure and willingness to evolve.

However, an element of that quote is also what scared and continues to scare a lot of us re: his perspective. While relying on prior experiences is often helpful, you needed to actually see and experience the worst offense in our lifetime to come to the conclusion that some things that worked for you at Oregon and Alabama might not have worked last season?

Let's hope Mario and crew really learned their lessons and that, going forward, we don't have to knock ourselves out head first into the wall to spark adjustments.

I actually think it might even be simpler than that, and that it comes back to that one magic word, recruiting. I think Mario thinks the Alabama way is the best way to build a champion. But he failed to recruit QB and WR well by starting there, and is realizing that down here he needs to sell something more exciting to get the roster where he needs it. So he is pivoting to some extent. Bama attracted kids because they were winning. And they were able to start winning before this wave of change occurred in CFB.

Hiring Guidry is nearly as interesting as the Dawson hire. We went all in on innovation this cycle. And we're going younger across the board, guys who have been around the modern offenses and defenses for nearly their whole careers. Out with the old, in with the new.

This makes me bullish on his willingness to adapt. A message board theory, anyway. With a tinge of hopium.
 
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I agree on the admission of failure and willingness to evolve.

However, an element of that quote is also what scared and continues to scare a lot of us re: his perspective. While relying on prior experiences is often helpful, you needed to actually see and experience the worst offense in our lifetime to come to the conclusion that some things that worked for you at Oregon and Alabama might not have worked last season?

Let's hope Mario and crew really learned their lessons and that, going forward, we don't have to knock ourselves out head first into the wall to spark adjustments.

I think you started to see some adjustments earlier but you had the mounting injuries and a play caller that was in over his head that just continued compounding the issue. I don't think it took him a whole season to try to figure that out and adjust.
 
I agree and I know that Mario called out kids/parents publicly for expressing that, but I hope that he at least addressed that with Gattis at the time (obviously he fired him and I am sure this was part of his decision).

I know that a bunch of the board likes to call kids soft shouldered and I get that there needs to be physical and mental toughness, but if you are at a company that isn't doing well and your boss, the one making decisions (and in this case one that probably came in after you were already there) puts all of the blame on you... whether or not it is deserved, it is not exactly motivating for most people.

A large part of being a successful boss is understanding what motivates your people. Sometimes they just suck, but before you get rid of them/berate them to the point that they don't give a **** at all, you better make sure there is someone else that can come in and do their job better than them. Considering there didn't seem to be many options for stepping up on the team and adding someone midseason wasn't an option, the approach of belittling the team did not seem like a great one.
Good stuff. One thing about Mario for me is I do think this is where he is strong. He’s good with people and understands this stuff.

Could be wrong and of course it won’t always look pretty but I do have faith in him there.
 
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First of all, he was talking about draft picks.

Secondly, you’re still wrong technically even in your mistaken record 20 year reference because the 2000 2001 2002 and 2003 teams would all love to say hi. (Just saying, for those who don’t understand what 20 years means)
Technically, yes. But somehow last year alone felt like 20 years. The UVA game was like 4 years alone.
 
I thought George flashed a bit in Lashlees offense. He can hopefully be a weapon.

Sucks when essentially we lost an entire year of development for all of these guys but somehow Young still stepped up.

My memory is a blur of the beating we received but I don’t remember TVD and Young getting any real meaningful time together either.
VT game! 2 sick throws and catches.
 
Due to the last 20yrs I don’t want to get too excited. That being said, I LOVE what he said about TVD, but the commentary on coaching and being a bad fit was everything I wanted to hear from Coach. He ‘s going to adjust and evolve with the game with toe always in the water of the power run game. I loved this interview. I also like both of the coordinator hires. I said it another post, seems like we’re closer to the cutting edge of the game especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Go Canes!
 
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He might be OUR WR1 but he's not (yet?) A WR1. Big difference and highlights our lack of talent.
That’s how I feel. Good enough to put up numbers in the ACC hopefully.

Just such an absolute **** show of context to try and draw conclusions. He didn’t play with TVD really, we had no running game to speak of. He made some plays but then got shut down when people realized he was all we had. He’s got size and speed. An offense that should help him a lot.

Man who the **** even knows.
 
I want to see the offense before I get all excited down there but things are trending positively with this hire outside Mario’s typical range.

I still think we lack talent/depth overall with some key holes but another year of portal and recruiting will close that gap. I’m still in the 8 win range for this coming year.
 
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Agreed. We could write a book on the Gattis disaster, no exaggeration.

And I've received a lot of interesting information that the Gattis hire coulda/woulda/shoulda been avoidable, but that's gonna be red meat for a vicious crowd. Once he was hired, the roller coaster ride had already started. I don't disagree with you at all on the coaching-decision aspects on offense, and there are both public and private details on all of the disagreements (and efforts to fix those) on offense. There was at least one significant fight among certain coaches, and multiple Mario efforts to get coaches on the same page.

Again, does not ABSOLVE anyone. It just provides context to why stuff got as bad as it did. Gattis was a bad hire, but if he had made even MINIIMAL effort to get through ONE SEASON, he probably could have (once again) gotten out of Dodge City before he was hanged. Instead, he pouted, he fought, he dug his heels, and he made **** INFINITELY worse than it needed to be.

Mario is to blame for the Gattis hiring. Mario is to blame for the investment of trust in Gattis and others. But talking about other components of the problem, such as the players (lack of talent, lack of effort) and other low-energy coaches does not absolve other mistakes.

This is an autopsy where there were multiple contributory causes of death.
The victim fell out of a twenty-story window engulfed in flames after suffering multiple gunshot wounds during a knife fight.
 
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To address 'the last 5 seasons' comment:

The team was trending downward at the end of the Richt era, but recovered to 8-3 in Manny's second year, and finished '21 at 7-5. And most importantly, the team found it's qb. 7-5 could easily have been worse if not for Van Dyke's strong performances in '21, speaking toward Cristobal's lack of talent implication.

Enter Coach Cristobal for '22. The defense added a couple talented pieces, yet was run (coached) in a vanilla fashion (Cristobal's words), doing no favors for on-field results. Players may not have been able to pick up more complicated schemes, but then whose responsibility is it to teach those schemes?

Offensively, any advantages provided by scheme were initially stripped away, and TVD was a shell of his previous self. The results were more indicative of the overall talent, rather than a qb raising the level of play of those around him. But isn't that a large part of what good coaches do - that is, get the most out of the talent on hand?

So on both sides of the ball, potential schematic advantages enhancing players chances of success were eschewed. Isn't that a coaching issue? And doesn't this correlate directly to wins/losses?

Yes injuries were also a factor, as well as overall talent and staff chemistry. It seems that better management of the program would have yielded better results, if only slightly. So to me, the talent is suspect, but so was the coaching. Any off-season fodder I'll take with a grain of salt. The program has a lot to prove. And that includes, perhaps primarily, the head of the program.
 
- On TVD:
“I was concerned about surrounding him with the caliber of talent that will allow him to be successful,” “You have to be able to block it up and you have to scheme it open too. Systematically, it just didn’t fit. They worked for us at Oregon and Alabama, but when you are in a roster transition and it doesn’t fit, you have to find tweaks to make things work. We didn’t do a good enough job when the injuries piled up. Tyler doesn’t get enough credit. A lot of guys would have run for the hills. He was instrumental in getting guys on board. The guy is motivated and focused on having a great season and a great football team.”

- On the WR room:
“We feel better about wide receiver, not only because of the two guys we have added, but also the uptick in levels of commitment and performance so far by some of the guys that have been here. Jacolby George and Brashard Smith have taken a tremendous step up…All of a sudden these guys have gained eight, ten, 12 pounds and they are grinding. Isaiah Horton hasn’t gotten a chance yet and he is looking great. Xavier Restrepo has always busted his butt. Then you got guys like Ray Ray Joseph and Robby Washington, those guys are impressive dudes that can really roll.”

- Mario mentioned there are a number of guys out recuperating from off season surgeries. Mentions the new guys and others will get plenty of reps,

- On recruiting and the transfer portal: (hints there could be more additions)
“You can never have enough defensive linemen and then experience at every position like a corner than can play in man coverage, a true nickel, a safety,” “You are always looking at different positions and you have to see how you come out from a health standpoint from spring football.”

On the 2022 season:
“We knew it was going to be a difficult challenge…There is a reason we were brought here—and it wasn’t because things were going well. There had to be an upheaval, especially culture wise with the capacity to work, the ability to press and push and be a team that can face adversity and then close a huge talent gap, which is defined by the NFL Draft. The last five years are the worst in recent Miami history. We knew we had to fix it and it stinks and hurts, but you have to be a tough son of a gun and go right back to work.”

On Dawson, new OC:
“He is an elite play-caller and quarterback coach,” “Part of his history is being in the ‘Air-Raid’ system, but as you can see over the last several years, those guys have transformed and evolved into guys that get downhill in the run game with power, counter, split-zone, and pin-and-pull and all that good stuff.” “What we expect is a very explosive enhancement to the offense and a guy that knows how to get the ball to the playmakers with a fortified and enhanced offensive line,”

On Guidry, new DC:
“Schematically, he is really hard to play against—and I have played against him before,” “You are never sure where the pressure is coming from and you are not getting the same picture every snap and that makes it hard for an offense to play against. That is one thing we had to take a drastic step in. Last year we were implementing a system and we stayed vanilla during the course of the year and this defense gives us a chance to be dynamic.” “The thing I like about him is he gets his guys to play really, really, really hard,” “They are flying all over the place and knocking people around. They get to the ball in a hurry and they finish. They are good tacklers and they are schematically aware of where their help is.”
A man that speaks facts, your talent is evaluated by the NFL draft who would of thought? Something I been screaming about, thats why I like this guy. The draft tells u if u have talent nothing else. Not people on a message board or a 247 rank, in the end thats the indicator.
 
I agree on the admission of failure and willingness to evolve.

However, an element of that quote is also what scared and continues to scare a lot of us re: his perspective. While relying on prior experiences is often helpful, you needed to actually see and experience the worst offense in our lifetime to come to the conclusion that some things that worked for you at Oregon and Alabama might not have worked last season?

Let's hope Mario and crew really learned their lessons and that, going forward, we don't have to knock ourselves out head first into the wall to spark adjustments.
I agree with what you said.

I would just play devil's advocate by saying, technically Mario did adjust and TVD appeared to start cooking but then he got hurt...and our season was over because Jake had happy feet and couldn't throw downfield and Jacurri wasn't quite ready as a passer.
 
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