How Would You Fix the Team/Program Going Forward

WeBallinBoyz

Whisper "It Just Means More" Again Daddy
Joined
Nov 24, 2015
Messages
14,138
Everyone on here likes to act as if they have the answer to the myriad of problems this team currently faces. Amongst those issues are:

1. An anemic offense that fails to utilize proper spacing, is stubborn in its approach to run the ball even when the box is at a numbers disadvantage, and defecates all over itself in the red zone.

2. A quarterback that’s lost all confidence and seems to have rubbed his own teammates the wrong way, leading to a true QB controversy.

3. A roster full of guys who quite clearly play harder for others and quit when faced with the tiniest ounce of adversity, ready to point fingers or blame external factors for their poor play.

4. A coaching staff overall that is being paid like a top five staff, and yet is delivering inexplicably horrifying results.

5. A lack of loyalty from the area’s high school recruits and handlers, seemingly looking for an excuse to attend elsewhere (and honestly at this point, who could blame them?).

I could go on, but you get the point. Now with that being said, I’d love to hear from anyone regarding how they’d actually fix the issues - the immediate ones, and the long term outlook beyond 2022…instead of just yelling. I hate to be that guy, but we can’t give up this year when there’s still something to play for. Although Western Michigan is a solid G5 team, Pitt still found a way to lose to them after beating Tennessee in 2021, and yet still won an ACC Championship. We can at least get there, but that’s a different story and is going to take a massive internal change, and immediately.

Rattle off specifics. If you want Gattis fired, throw out some replacements. You want schematic changes for next weekend, name them. If you want players benched, go for it. Other coaches fired? Positions we need to attack in the portal? How many college ready guys do we need? How do we keep this recruiting class afloat?

Lot of questions, Lot of possible answers. I guess go on record for how you’d fix the short term and the long term, and we’ll see what actually ends up happening.

In all the bickering, we forget that every single of us do share one commonality: we all want Miami desperately relevant again.
 
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1) Recruiting (we need to stack talent and have top ten classes moving forward)
2) Culture (it's been rotten for 18 years, and complacency and mediocrity have been the norm for a generation of rosters)
3) Staff (Gattis is gonna sink or swim. If he sinks, we need to shake up the O staff)

Other than that, there's no immediate solution. This is going to be a top to bottom rebuild. At least this season and next to establish a program that can consistently win 9 games a year and 3-4 years to being relevant nationally.
 
3) Staff (Gattis is gonna sink or swim. If he sinks, we need to shake up the O staff)
Did you say “if”?


Titanic-how-long-the-ship-takes-to-sink-movie-vs-real-life-jack.jpg
 
1) Recruiting (we need to stack talent and have top ten classes moving forward)
2) Culture (it's been rotten for 18 years, and complacency and mediocrity have been the norm for a generation of rosters)
3) Staff (Gattis is gonna sink or swim. If he sinks, we need to shake up the O staff)

Other than that, there's no immediate solution. This is going to be a top to bottom rebuild. At least this season and next to establish a program that can consistently win 9 games a year and 3-4 years to being relevant nationally.
I’ve personally struggled with point 3. At first, I gave Gattis some slack in the first half against MTSU. TVD missed 7-8+ throws, the game could have and should have been much closer. You can argue that Tyler didn’t look comfortable, but some guys were so wide open that any capable college QB should hit them in stride.

Things looked better with Garcia, but again…red zone playcalling was beyond abysmal. Spacing is atrocious. I started counting how many times we’d run into the teeth of a defense that had 8-9 guys stacked in the box…no matter how good your o line is, you can’t block everyone. It’s simply a numbers disadvantage.

Let’s say Gattis sinks, because I personally don’t have much faith in him. What do you do with Ponce? QBs have regressed considerably, and I’m sure that the new OC will want his guys in place. Make Ponce OC? I sure as **** hope not. Fire Ponce with Gattis and bring in someone that emphasizes spread concepts with a solid running attack when having an advantageous look in the box makes too much sense…but is that the direction Mario wants to go?
 
I believe the defensive performance was an aberration. I believe had the offense been performing at the least a competent level, the defensive collapse would not have occurred.

I believe the offense is in an emergency situation that could infect, if it hasn’t already, the psyche of the whole team.

I would make the quarterback change. You have a week off. Perfect time to do it and i would immediately grill the OC on how he plans to simplify things if necessary. If he cant do that, i am figuring out a way to separate, hopefully amicably.
 
Another way to look at the OC debacle long term (yes I’m in the hopium category for now): let’s say Gattis is fired and Mario actually scraps the bro style offense, looking for more of an aggressive, vertical passing attack that still features a solid rushing attack.

You’d have to think a fair amount of OC’s would be interested no? I mean it quite literally can’t look much worse than this, any sort of improvement will directly be associated with your play calling. Could easily elevate you to a HC position if you take this pile of crap and turn it into even a solid offense.

If it’s still crap, then the blame falls on Mario for two failed OC hires. Seems like a bit of a win win, plus you’re probably making bank considering what our current OC is making.
 
Playing younger guys at db (Not Curtis), benching Mallory, Couch, Ivey, Flagg, Steed, Redding, Justice, Van Dyke, Blades. Play Horton, Wesley, Caleb Johnson, Chase Smith, Skinner more.

***** redshirting the freshmen, let them play instead of these upper classmen bums who have been here for 10 years and still don’t know how to play football.
 
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Everyone on here likes to act as if they have the answer to the myriad of problems this team currently faces. Amongst those issues are:

1. An anemic offense that fails to utilize proper spacing, is stubborn in its approach to run the ball even when the box is at a numbers disadvantage, and defecates all over itself in the red zone.

2. A quarterback that’s lost all confidence and seems to have rubbed his own teammates the wrong way, leading to a true QB controversy.

3. A roster full of guys who quite clearly play harder for others and quit when faced with the tiniest ounce of adversity, ready to point fingers or blame external factors for their poor play.

4. A coaching staff overall that is being paid like a top five staff, and yet is delivering inexplicably horrifying results.

5. A lack of loyalty from the area’s high school recruits and handlers, seemingly looking for an excuse to attend elsewhere (and honestly at this point, who could blame them?).

I could go on, but you get the point. Now with that being said, I’d love to hear from anyone regarding how they’d actually fix the issues - the immediate ones, and the long term outlook beyond 2022…instead of just yelling. I hate to be that guy, but we can’t give up this year when there’s still something to play for. Although Western Michigan is a solid G5 team, Pitt still found a way to lose to them after beating Tennessee in 2021, and yet still won an ACC Championship. We can at least get there, but that’s a different story and is going to take a massive internal change, and immediately.

Rattle off specifics. If you want Gattis fired, throw out some replacements. You want schematic changes for next weekend, name them. If you want players benched, go for it. Other coaches fired? Positions we need to attack in the portal? How many college ready guys do we need? How do we keep this recruiting class afloat?

Lot of questions, Lot of possible answers. I guess go on record for how you’d fix the short term and the long term, and we’ll see what actually ends up happening.

In all the bickering, we forget that every single of us do share one commonality: we all want Miami desperately relevant again.
1. Change the offense to a more modern one
2. Bench the QB
3. Split time between focusing on recruitment, and giving these dudes some grueling workouts and sports psychologist sessions
4. Keep it real with everyone and their performance. They’re professionals. Gattis you need to do something radical here etc. If you’d te stubborn I will fire you.
5. Tons of outreach, getting creative with on staff roles for those with connections to those programs, outreach events and programs etc.

Sorry OP but nothing you stated is some quantum physics equation. It’s all relatively straightforward. What’s difficult is putting it in practice across the board, keeping ego out of it, having the drive necessary to uncesssingly have very hard conversations and making difficult decisions. That’s what is required.
 
I’ve personally struggled with point 3. At first, I gave Gattis some slack in the first half against MTSU. TVD missed 7-8+ throws, the game could have and should have been much closer. You can argue that Tyler didn’t look comfortable, but some guys were so wide open that any capable college QB should hit them in stride.

Things looked better with Garcia, but again…red zone playcalling was beyond abysmal. Spacing is atrocious. I started counting how many times we’d run into the teeth of a defense that had 8-9 guys stacked in the box…no matter how good your o line is, you can’t block everyone. It’s simply a numbers disadvantage.

Let’s say Gattis sinks, because I personally don’t have much faith in him. What do you do with Ponce? QBs have regressed considerably, and I’m sure that the new OC will want his guys in place. Make Ponce OC? I sure as **** hope not. Fire Ponce with Gattis and bring in someone that emphasizes spread concepts with a solid running attack when having an advantageous look in the box makes too much sense…but is that the direction Mario wants to go?
I completely agree with your analysis. If Gattis sinks, which looks more likely than not right now, then we have to get rid of him and Ponce. I'm surprised Ponce hasn't gotten as much flack as Gattis on this board. The QBs (at least TVD) look like they've regressed.

As for offensive philosophy, if this team spirals because of bad O (a real possibility), I think Mario would have no choice but to change his philosophy. He's well aware of how quickly this fan base and school can turn on the program. He considered hiring some spread guys before he landed on Gattis, so there's some indication he's not completely against it. If Gattis bombs, we need to go after a top OC with no baggage.
 
Another way to look at the OC debacle long term (yes I’m in the hopium category for now): let’s say Gattis is fired and Mario actually scraps the bro style offense, looking for more of an aggressive, vertical passing attack that still features a solid rushing attack.

You’d have to think a fair amount of OC’s would be interested no? I mean it quite literally can’t look much worse than this, any sort of improvement will directly be associated with your play calling. Could easily elevate you to a HC position if you take this pile of crap and turn it into even a solid offense.

If it’s still crap, then the blame falls on Mario for two failed OC hires. Seems like a bit of a win win, plus you’re probably making bank considering what our current OC is making.
Not to mention they'd be making more than $1m a year. The guy who turns around Miami's O and helps return this program to national relevance will stamp his ticket to almost any P5 job in the country.
 
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Assuming firing Mario isn't an option.

He has to adapt on offense and give up total control. Hire an elite OC and run a modern offense. You are going to struggle mightily to recruit elite skill position talent to this system. Too many better options for these kids.
It’s just not realistic. You’d owe him so much money lol, and it would be a terrible look for a program to fire a supposed golden child 4 games into a tenure where everyone knew this team had lots of problems.

You have no choice but to give him some chances to fix the mess he’s in.
 
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