Fireside Chat with your Dear Legend

[hiphopanimal]

I'm not quite sure how THIS guy returned a KR for a TD. He isn't that explosive.

Maybe the added weight has slowed him down, or perhaps he's carrying an injury?

I literally think this all the time haha

He doesn't feel too twitchy.

 

[Go Canes!!]

What do you think is the reason for us being an average ACC team. if one looks at the annual ranking of our recruits, the only team to consistently do better is clemson. I shake my head at the this. We don't look like the players are developing in mass on our team.

We aren't an average ACC team. We are undefeated (3-0) in ACC play and have mandhandled all three of our opponents.

 

[Dwinstitles]

I feel like Phillips lost a little of his suddenness with all that weight gain. He was much faster as a freshmans at UCLA.

some guys are meant to carry the weight some cant, there are coaches that are great spotting if a kid in HS can gain and not lose a step. The successful usually teams are very good at knowing who can handle what and what type of player they will be later on and I agree with this.

 

[hiphopanimal]

King is definitely carrying more weight than at Houston. Definitely not as explosive.

 

[Dwinstitles]

Typical coach defenders on deck are the same ones after a staff is fired say "I knew this would happen and there isnt any excuses hopefully they do there due diligence with the next hire, but this was something we all knew was coming" then disappear into the shadowrealms and make a user name change. Then u realize who was who 2 years into the next coaching hire cause its always the usuals......bring me a savage hire where I can know off the rip that its elite.

I got my popcorn ready to see how many posters franchise slays in this one.

 

[theibisrules]

What he did was pretty much nothing. He caught 4 short passes and gained a few yards after. That's the kind of **** anyone should be able to do. There's nothing explosive about his game.

On top of that he dropped one

 

[ealleyn]

Not just SEC, but this team will be in dog fights the entire remainder of the season against mediocre ACC teams. This is what we are. We are just another average ACC team. Like I said, aside from Clemson and Syracuse, the rest of the ACC is pretty much even. Do any of you guys truly feel confident playing teams like UVA and NC State and Vag Tech and Wake? Any of those teams could beat us just like we could beat them.

We're just OK, and I'm still not sure Manny is the guy to take us to the next level. Our D is shoddy, and our O is improved but still very sporadic with tons of holes. I hope we can smoke and mirror our way to a one loss regular season and clean up in recruiting because that's what we need. Like I said before the season, what this program needs is to incrementally improve. Start winning 10 games every year for a few years. Start recruiting at a higher level. And then start thinking about being a top 10 team.

While I generally agree with you, you’re kind of all over the place. You’re right, we are not a great team but what we are seeing is incremental improvement. This is what you stated you wanted to see this year.
The rest of the defenses we play this year are pretty weak, so I don’t see us dropping more than 1 more game.
We’re a flawed team with questionable coaching, can the young players improve and lift the ceiling of this team is what I’m looking for the rest of the year

 

[Go Canes!!]

Typical coach defenders on deck are the same ones after a staff is fired say "I knew this would happen and there isnt any excuses hopefully they do there due diligence with the next hire, but this was something we all knew was coming" then disappear into the shadowrealms and make a user name change. Then u realize who was who 2 years into the next coaching hire cause its always the usuals......bring me a savage hire where I can know off the rip that its elite.

I got my popcorn ready to see how many posters franchise slays in this one.

WTF are you talking about man? Honestly?

There isn't a person on this board that's not in put up or shut up mode with Manny at this point. And so far he's put up.

We amashed UAB, completely dominated Louisville, humilated FSU by the most lopsided score in the rivalry's history, then rebounded from a loss we all knew was coming by manhandling Pitt.

 

[TemplarCane]

I think we’re too quick to criticize Phillips. He’s played all of five games since nearly quitting football due to injuries. He’s not GR15 but has been disruptive as a pass rusher with a good first step. He needs to work on his technique in order to finish these plays with sacks. He has generally played the run well. I’d want to see him progress as the year continues, and hopefully return for 2021.

 

[DMoney]

I watch about 10 full college games every weekend, and we are pretty average right now. We're ranked 11th, but if we played a weak SEC team like USC, I could see the game going either way.

Which teams are you watching? I see Alabama, Clemson and then a litany of deeply flawed teams. Georgia is the third-best team and they have a walk-on at QB. Notre Dame just struggled to put up 12 against Louisville. North Carolina just lost to FSU. If we're average, who is above average?

The key to this season will be beating the bad teams consistently. So far, so good with a lot of season to go.

 

[Mr. Dynasty1]

Not sure how you can expect a guy who was out of football for two years due to different injuries to look like his old self in 5 weeks. Weight added or not. Now if he is still having the same issues at years end then I could understand. Watching the 49ERS game last night, they talked about the CB Verett dealing with various injuries and losing speed but regaining it after being healthy for more than a year.

 

[DomWorld_Peace]

We gave up 300 total yards and shutdown the run completely. Let’s hope we can do that again.

 

[DomWorld_Peace]

Typical coach defenders on deck are the same ones after a staff is fired say "I knew this would happen and there isnt any excuses hopefully they do there due diligence with the next hire, but this was something we all knew was coming" then disappear into the shadowrealms and make a user name change. Then u realize who was who 2 years into the next coaching hire cause its always the usuals......bring me a savage hire where I can know off the rip that its elite.

I got my popcorn ready to see how many posters franchise slays in this one.

Does it make you feel good?

 

[D-anon]

Disagree with you defensively on this one my brotha. While offensively we were dog **** we got after that Pitt line. We sacked them 3 times and got TFLs. Jaelen was credited with a sack as well. Jaelen is a 2 way guy and is usually the first guy there. It’s just hard to notice because Roche and JHH aren’t too far behind and clean it up or the ball is out for an incomplete pass. Nesta is becoming more disruptive and I felt our LB play improved tremendously as well which PS is still not much but that’s because Flagg/Brooks are young. Our CB room is our cb room, Al blades or nothing. Can’t change that this year but I loved the reps that Te’Cory got and thought he was better than Ivey. It doesn’t feel that way because the offense stunk so much that at one point in the 4th they practically doubled our possession time.

I don’t know how you feel offensively but Nelson mauled Jones/Weaver. The only time they were in action when they were his assignment was either the pocket collapsed because of Campbell or the play imploded. They literally moved Jones to the other side and started moving around Weaver to get pressure. He needs to be the LT and we should be starting Keyshawn Smith and Mike Redding. Smith and Redding are always open. I don’t care if they are freshmen Redding and Smith need to start on the outside.

I agree with this. I don't understand how so many dismiss Pittsburgh when they legit have a top 10 defense. We ran for over 100 yards, double the average of what they have allowed this season. We held their offense to 9 points, I don't attribute the 10 points on Kings turnovers to the defense.

King had a rough day and still tossed 4 TD's.
Our starting recievers and linebackers are trash, but I have seen enough from the backups to know we will be fine.

 

[Mr. Dynasty1]

Thank u chose u keep it 100 but u still won't open the eyes of these fanatics on here. The same people who slurp every different HC in here will start posting on defense mode. Then years later they will do the same with a new staff instead of seeing things for what they are.

My problem with you is the constant hyperbole. You make it seem like everyone at this blindly following Diaz and praising him week in and week out. Majority of this site, rightfully criticizes Diaz and Co. frequently even after wins. You make it seem like every player is praised blindly. Then you on the other, can't even acknowledge when the team does play well without a backhanded criticism to go with it. ****tt is weak as ****

 

[DomWorld_Peace]

King is definitely carrying more weight than at Houston. Definitely not as explosive.

I think he wanted to get bigger to handle ACC defenses. It’s definitely slowed him down...still has elite top end speed as shown in the run vs Clemson.

 

[DomWorld_Peace]

My problem with you is the constant hyperbole. You make it seem like everyone at this blindly following Diaz and praising him week in and week out. Majority of this site, rightfully criticizes Diaz and Co. frequently even after wins. You make it seem like every player is praised blindly. Then you on the other, can't even acknowledge when the team does play well without a backhanded criticism to go with it. ****tt is weak as ****

Facts. I just skip his replies cause it’s the same posts. Like we all criticize this team. What is he talking about? Lol.

 

[HurikaneMarc]

Watching this 2020 UM team has me caught between "we're better than last year" and "we were so horrible last year that we can be better and still not be all that good." I watch about 10 full college games every weekend, and we are pretty average right now. We're ranked 11th, but if we played a weak SEC team like USC, I could see the game going either way.

Yesterday, we played a Pitt team without its best player and the heartbeat of its team, and it was another typical desultory ACC slap fight. Without Pickett, Pitt is total trash. Yet, they hung around the whole game, and their pop gun backup QB was making plays that he probably won't make against most of the other teams they play.

I make it a point to watch every ACC game, and, with the obvious exception of the super power Clemson and horrible Syracuse, all the rest of the teams are pretty interchangeable. GT lost by 300 to Clemson, who was clearly getting revenge for the 220 GT hung on Cumberland College, but that GT team could very easily beat us or any of the rest of the ACC.

Pros:

Our DTs got some push. Jade continues to be disruptive, and JHH is a future star.

Harvey stood out to me. He was active.

The freshman DB, Dunson, might have made the play of the game on the fake punt. He played that thing perfectly and snuffed out a potential game-changing moment.

Mallory stepped up. Still think he should be on the field a lot more and be a focus of the passing offense along with Jordan, Key Smith, and the RBs.

Don Jr. looked tough and fast before he got hurt. He's had shoulder issues, so I'm hoping he's not out for an extended time.

Restrepo at least looks confident and competent catching punts unlike Pope.

Cons:

Pretty much everything else. LOL.

King is either in a slump, or he's pretty much what I thought he was as a streaky passer. I thought he'd be a more dynamic runner though. Most of his best runs are off scrambles where he makes a couple great spin moves in the open field, but he's been completely ineffective in the read-option game. Seems slow in his get off and doesn't make great decisions in the read game.

John Campbell got disemboweled. By the end of the game, Patrick Jones was rendered less effective slogging through Campbell's entrails.

Wiggins and Pope continue to be weak. They're rapidly morphing into Khalil Jones and D'Mauri Jones without the artistic skills.

Our offense is slumping. We're all out of whack now that we're playing some competent defenses. We look disjointed and are very easy to defend. Teams are ganging up on the run game, which seems super basic, and forcing King and our WRs to beat them. And King and the WRs are failing pretty hard. Nice job by Lashlee sneaking Cam and Will out on those fake QB draws. Other than a couple big plays, we were pretty awful and couldn't sustain anything.

Defensively, we're just too easy to throw on. Guys are open all over the place. Old Yellen missed some wide open guys and they had some horrific drops when he did hit them. They bailed us out more than we stopped them.

Phillips has been nowhere near the pass rusher I thought he'd be. In fact, our overall pass rush is pretty weak.

I'll say this much, with the exception of a brief 2 minute stint against Louisville we haven't trailed anybody but Clemson this year at any point in time. Beating Pittsburgh after getting our **** kicked in a week ago I think proves better locker room leadership and a stronger mental makeup of the overall team. Everything we have on O is still new. New Qb and OC. I think its not unreasonable to expect improvement each week.

I feel like we got a little better this week. But that could just be me still high from winning a game I was concerned about(and seeing Tua finally).

 

[Astcloud11]

We aren't an average ACC team. We are undefeated (3-0) in ACC play and have mandhandled all three of our opponents.

Clemson is an ACC team. But yeah, we have controlled every team outside of them.

 

[The Franchise]

Pope is getting overly criticized as a receiver because of his gaffes in the PR game. Not that it's saying much, but he's been our most reliable WR to this point. He did what we needed him to do vs. Pitt, which is saying a lot more than Harley or Wiggins.

No. Pope is getting criticized because he’s so average, and I have been one of his biggest supporters since he’s been here. At some point, a guy either has to start making some electric plays or get replaced.