FL Cane
Senior
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2018
- Messages
- 3,804
1) I said before the season that anything less than 8-4 = the season being a failure. We ended the regular season at 7-5, and dropped our bowl game to fall to 7-6. Therefore, the season was an unequivocal failure. There’s no way around it. Overall, the body of work is a failure. The way our bowl ended us the way this season went. Close, but not close enough.
2) So where did we improve? On the OL, WR, RB, LB, and DB. QB was a disaster, TE was non-existent, DT was uneven. DE was hobbled by bad injuries, but Bain shinned and we saw flashes from some of the other young guys. You saw major improvement at multiple positions, but the team could not put it together. It’s like getting a vintage car to fix up. You add new wheels, fix up the interior, and give it a new paint job. BUT, the engine is still a piece of ****.
3) This team fought all year long. We were in every game, whereas 2022 was littered with blowout losses. That shows development in the culture area of this program, but a loss is a loss.
4) Coaching was hit or miss, at best. We corch’d away win #8 against GT. Overall I grade the coaches as follows:
Mario: C-
Dawson: C-
Guidry: B+
Guidry made this unit so much better gotta give him credit. Dawson was better than Gattis, but that’s not saying much. He was too hot and cold. Mario was straight up puzzling at times.
5) I said mid season that Year 3 will determine whether Mario works out here or not. That means a minimum 9-3 regular season record with a chance at 10 wins. The recruiting is better than it’s ever been. The team is more resilient. We’re competitive in every game. BUT, we’re not getting the W’s. Ultimately that’s what matters. We’re not there yet. TBD if we get there. Mario’s trajectory goes the way Bobby Bowden described building a program (“first you lose big, then you lose close, then you win close, then you win big”) OR he’s Miami’s Scott Frost. It’s one or the other.
TBD by Year 3.
2) So where did we improve? On the OL, WR, RB, LB, and DB. QB was a disaster, TE was non-existent, DT was uneven. DE was hobbled by bad injuries, but Bain shinned and we saw flashes from some of the other young guys. You saw major improvement at multiple positions, but the team could not put it together. It’s like getting a vintage car to fix up. You add new wheels, fix up the interior, and give it a new paint job. BUT, the engine is still a piece of ****.
3) This team fought all year long. We were in every game, whereas 2022 was littered with blowout losses. That shows development in the culture area of this program, but a loss is a loss.
4) Coaching was hit or miss, at best. We corch’d away win #8 against GT. Overall I grade the coaches as follows:
Mario: C-
Dawson: C-
Guidry: B+
Guidry made this unit so much better gotta give him credit. Dawson was better than Gattis, but that’s not saying much. He was too hot and cold. Mario was straight up puzzling at times.
5) I said mid season that Year 3 will determine whether Mario works out here or not. That means a minimum 9-3 regular season record with a chance at 10 wins. The recruiting is better than it’s ever been. The team is more resilient. We’re competitive in every game. BUT, we’re not getting the W’s. Ultimately that’s what matters. We’re not there yet. TBD if we get there. Mario’s trajectory goes the way Bobby Bowden described building a program (“first you lose big, then you lose close, then you win close, then you win big”) OR he’s Miami’s Scott Frost. It’s one or the other.
TBD by Year 3.
