canefan88xbl
Redshirt Freshman
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2013
- Messages
- 146
At this time of year, we tend to confuse the difference between a coach and recruiter. In the ideal world, you have someone that is the best of both worlds (e.g. Brent Venables), who can recruit elite talent and help coach that talent to reach its ultimate potential. You need this to win championships.
Unfortunately, the current Miami staff has too many members who are either coaches or recruiters, but not the combination of both. Illustrating my point, we are going to use a bit of high school mathematics (pre-calculus) and create a 2x2 matrix, where recruiting is the X axis and coaching is the Y axis. For those who don't get the concept, the objective is to be in the top right quadrant of the matrix.
Right now, I believe we only have one coach that is an elite level recruiter and coach: Ron Dugans. He has dramatically upgraded the talent at the WR position and his players have shown great progress, most noticeably in the little things (e.g. run blocking). On the opposite side, we have Jon Richt, who let's be honest, should really be a grad assistant or quality control personnel.
If I were to rank the rest of the staff:
Thomas: Right quadrant, on the middle line - meaning, he is a strong recruiter, but not an elite coach. Similar to Jon Richt, he has a title that is meaningless. He should not be our OC, but instead the run game coordinator. I give him credit for recruiting well, in 2017, but we need a true OC.
Searles: Right quadrant, on the middle line - he is the toughest one to measure, because the line play has been so inconsistent. There were times this year where we looked fantastic (e.g. Notre Dame, Georgia Tech) and others where we got thoroughly dominated (e.g. FSU). He has upgraded the talent at the position, but as he gets his players into the system, he needs to start showing consistency
Hartley: Right quadrant, edging higher on the Y axis - he inherited the best situation on the team, by far, from the Al Golden staff. He had a freak of nature with Njoku and and swiss army knife with Herndon. Both of them played well, if not underutilized, for stretches. He has now recruited two studs, but it will now be on him to develop the talent. The reason I'm skeptical on Hartley is simple: special teams is atrocious. I don't mean the occasional missed FG or a Feagles shank, those things happen. What bothers me: the lack of explosive plays on kick-off, both sides. How do we have Jeff Thomas, one of the fastest guys in the country, and he can't pick up a seam to go more than 18 yards?
Kool: Top left quadrant - he is the ultimate coach, to the point where we don't care about who he recruits. Are we disappointed we lost out on Briggs and DJ Johnson transferred? Kind of, but we know he is going to develop the talent he recruits and turn them into producers. He's shown that countless times over the years. The hope was/is that Miami will enable him to recruit elite level talent, where he was unable to at Missouri, and develop absolute monsters. Verdict is still out on whether this happen.
Banda Middle line between the top right and left quadrants: people seem really polarized on Banda and I'm not sure why. He doesn't have a ton of experience, but he's recruited reasonably well and his position group has performed exceptionally well. His first year, the safeties were the anchors of our defense and he coached arguably the best player at his position this season, in the country. He seems to have the makings for an exceptional position coach
Rumph: Middle of the chart - Everyone is staking Rumph's career on whether we land the AH4, which is just ridiculous. In the two years he's been here, we've signed good talent, although not elite (possible reversal if some miracle happens on Wednesday); however, he has elevated the position groups performance. Elder and Colbert played exceptional in their senior seasons. Malek Young was a lock down corner for most of the year (very unfortunate news) and he turned Michael Jackson, a Golden Special, into a playmaker. In my view, he has done a great job, and is getting an unfair shake, because of the AH kids.
Diaz: I think he is the middle line shading toward the left quadrant - Manny has received the greatest leeway from the fan base. Why? Two reasons in my mind: 1. he brought a traditional, attacking style back to the defense, which was absolutely neutered by Golden 2. Defense plays with swag. See: Turnover chain. I think Manny has done a great job coaching in two years. Anyone who points out some of the drop-offs in 2017 vs. 2016 is playing political pundintry. If your offensive is ineffective and can't convert third downs, newsflash, your defense needs to be on the field more. I thought our defense had a bit too much give in 2017 and teams converted way too many third downs, but damnit, are they fun to watch. The problem I have with Manny is recruiting. The Berduma Triangle 2.0 were recruits that stuck to the class vs. being recruited by him and we've essentially signed a bunch of middle of the road recruits. Now, recruiting rankings don't mean everything, but how do we not have elite talent depth behind our starting three?
What does this program need to win championships? A true OC. As great as we are recruiting on the offensive side of the ball, I do not have faith in Richt as a playcaller to get us over the top. I also think we have dead weight with his son being the QB coach. If Richt insists on calling the plays, at a minimum, he needs an elite position coach/passing game coordinator who can help scheme better. I know this is not going to happen, but I truly believe it is necessary.
And since we won't get an OC/passing game coordinator, I think we need to hire a special teams coordinator. The lack of execution, for all the talent we have, is embarrassing. Miami has always been an elite special teams team, because of our skill players, and right now we are pedestrian.
Thoughts?
Unfortunately, the current Miami staff has too many members who are either coaches or recruiters, but not the combination of both. Illustrating my point, we are going to use a bit of high school mathematics (pre-calculus) and create a 2x2 matrix, where recruiting is the X axis and coaching is the Y axis. For those who don't get the concept, the objective is to be in the top right quadrant of the matrix.
Right now, I believe we only have one coach that is an elite level recruiter and coach: Ron Dugans. He has dramatically upgraded the talent at the WR position and his players have shown great progress, most noticeably in the little things (e.g. run blocking). On the opposite side, we have Jon Richt, who let's be honest, should really be a grad assistant or quality control personnel.
If I were to rank the rest of the staff:
Thomas: Right quadrant, on the middle line - meaning, he is a strong recruiter, but not an elite coach. Similar to Jon Richt, he has a title that is meaningless. He should not be our OC, but instead the run game coordinator. I give him credit for recruiting well, in 2017, but we need a true OC.
Searles: Right quadrant, on the middle line - he is the toughest one to measure, because the line play has been so inconsistent. There were times this year where we looked fantastic (e.g. Notre Dame, Georgia Tech) and others where we got thoroughly dominated (e.g. FSU). He has upgraded the talent at the position, but as he gets his players into the system, he needs to start showing consistency
Hartley: Right quadrant, edging higher on the Y axis - he inherited the best situation on the team, by far, from the Al Golden staff. He had a freak of nature with Njoku and and swiss army knife with Herndon. Both of them played well, if not underutilized, for stretches. He has now recruited two studs, but it will now be on him to develop the talent. The reason I'm skeptical on Hartley is simple: special teams is atrocious. I don't mean the occasional missed FG or a Feagles shank, those things happen. What bothers me: the lack of explosive plays on kick-off, both sides. How do we have Jeff Thomas, one of the fastest guys in the country, and he can't pick up a seam to go more than 18 yards?
Kool: Top left quadrant - he is the ultimate coach, to the point where we don't care about who he recruits. Are we disappointed we lost out on Briggs and DJ Johnson transferred? Kind of, but we know he is going to develop the talent he recruits and turn them into producers. He's shown that countless times over the years. The hope was/is that Miami will enable him to recruit elite level talent, where he was unable to at Missouri, and develop absolute monsters. Verdict is still out on whether this happen.
Banda Middle line between the top right and left quadrants: people seem really polarized on Banda and I'm not sure why. He doesn't have a ton of experience, but he's recruited reasonably well and his position group has performed exceptionally well. His first year, the safeties were the anchors of our defense and he coached arguably the best player at his position this season, in the country. He seems to have the makings for an exceptional position coach
Rumph: Middle of the chart - Everyone is staking Rumph's career on whether we land the AH4, which is just ridiculous. In the two years he's been here, we've signed good talent, although not elite (possible reversal if some miracle happens on Wednesday); however, he has elevated the position groups performance. Elder and Colbert played exceptional in their senior seasons. Malek Young was a lock down corner for most of the year (very unfortunate news) and he turned Michael Jackson, a Golden Special, into a playmaker. In my view, he has done a great job, and is getting an unfair shake, because of the AH kids.
Diaz: I think he is the middle line shading toward the left quadrant - Manny has received the greatest leeway from the fan base. Why? Two reasons in my mind: 1. he brought a traditional, attacking style back to the defense, which was absolutely neutered by Golden 2. Defense plays with swag. See: Turnover chain. I think Manny has done a great job coaching in two years. Anyone who points out some of the drop-offs in 2017 vs. 2016 is playing political pundintry. If your offensive is ineffective and can't convert third downs, newsflash, your defense needs to be on the field more. I thought our defense had a bit too much give in 2017 and teams converted way too many third downs, but damnit, are they fun to watch. The problem I have with Manny is recruiting. The Berduma Triangle 2.0 were recruits that stuck to the class vs. being recruited by him and we've essentially signed a bunch of middle of the road recruits. Now, recruiting rankings don't mean everything, but how do we not have elite talent depth behind our starting three?
What does this program need to win championships? A true OC. As great as we are recruiting on the offensive side of the ball, I do not have faith in Richt as a playcaller to get us over the top. I also think we have dead weight with his son being the QB coach. If Richt insists on calling the plays, at a minimum, he needs an elite position coach/passing game coordinator who can help scheme better. I know this is not going to happen, but I truly believe it is necessary.
And since we won't get an OC/passing game coordinator, I think we need to hire a special teams coordinator. The lack of execution, for all the talent we have, is embarrassing. Miami has always been an elite special teams team, because of our skill players, and right now we are pedestrian.
Thoughts?
