My rational thoughts after stewing for some time

[TemplarCane]

Mack Brown was homeboys with Bateman and Longo? They were hot names.

Yes, and Mack Brown remained well connected in coaching circles. Despite our laughing at Brown’s age he is still a highly respected name in the fraternity. He can reach out to anyone.

By ties I don’t mean two coaches have to be drinking buddies.

 

[miamicanephins]

I don't think you fire Patke unless the LB's continue to regress, but what's wrong with bringing in a guy to be dedicated ST coach?

I thought there was a limit to the number of coaches on staff.

Changing subjects, I think Manny needs to spend more time with the D.

 

[datcaneguy]

This is where mine and a few other posters concerns about losing to UF spiraling comes into play. I believe if we had won 2 weeks ago we would’ve won last night. This team is still mentally soft

That’s why they need to stay off social media and the media department need to chill on this New Miami stuff. Players talk all that talk then get hit in the mouth and fold. Then wait around for someone else to make a play before they get inspired to play. No one makes a play the team goes through the motion. Someone makes a play then it’s lets go let’s win by then it’s to late.

Against UF get a turnover and the defense balls. Brevin and DJ score rest of the players get inspired. Come out with a fast start on O and a couple three and outs on defense will get these guys going. Right now the team lacks alpha males at the most crucial positions

 

[NC_Canes_11]

That’s why they need to stay off social media and the media department need to chill on this New Miami stuff. Players talk all that talk then get hit in the mouth and fold. Then wait around for someone else to make a play before they get inspired to play. No one makes a play the team goes through the motion. Someone makes a play then it’s lets go let’s win by then it’s to late.

Against UF get a turnover and the defense balls. Brevin and DJ score rest of the players get inspired. Come out with a fast start on O and a couple three and outs on defense will get these guys going. Right now the team lacks alpha males at the most crucial positions

It’s been said on here Diaz hired some kind of self promotion consultant to talk to the players. I’m guessing it’s true by the way they act after losses, but holy s*** what a mistake that was. Hard to build a real culture when guys are trying to promote themselves individually.

 

[tator78]

Our top 2 kicking recruits on the board in 2018 were Evan McPherson and Cameron ****er (both studs) and once we missed on them, Hartley got lazy and targeted the next guy on the Kohl kicking rankings. Have no idea how Baxa was on there.

I was at the game and he missed several field goals pre-game

 

[TheToadSage]

Offensive line and secondary require the most communication, both units are extremely inexperienced. As much as I hate to say it, it's going to take time with both units. We need to recruit better, period. We need to put our players in better position as well. I don't like safety blitzes on long yardage situations and I don't like the amount of playaction we run. Playaction is beautiful when used correctly, but I feel Jarren would be better off at times to simply drop back when Enos wants to run a play under center.

 

[coffeecane]

We gave this kid a scholarship after he went 4/10 as a high school senior and 9/19 over his entire high school career. Absolutely mind boggling.

As much as I want to blame bubba it is really on the coaches who recruited him and didn't see his weaknesses. This is on the Diaz for not finding his replacement already. Bubba is gonna do the best he can if they keep running him out there. Too bad he is not good enough and never was.

 

[troycbullock]

I’d be absolutely thrilled if Miami cut Bubba loose next year, grabbed a grad transfer for a year, then have that dude who is committed in the 2021 class come in and hopefully do a job.

Greg has a leg but doesn’t have the moxie to be a big time kicker. Definitely need comp at this position with to K on a short leash until we get a proven commodity.

 

[DemCanesByke]

Make no mistake about it, last night hurt like **** and the manner in which we lost is a microcosm of the 'disease' that has inflicted our program the past 15+ years. There are a lot things to be rightfully upset about and I, like many of you, have considerable questions about this coaching staff just two games in. With that said, I have seen enough to be encouraged as well and with the next 5 games of our schedule at home, we have a chance to get momentum back going again:

• I like the adjustments Enos made week over week and the growth Jarren has made from game 1 to game 2 was really encouraging. Our receivers were utilized properly and Brevin continues to eat. This is the best i've felt about QB play since Kaaya was here and JW's ceiling is considerably higher than that.
• Kicking Scaife out to RT and sliding Clark into the starting lineup paid dividends. Our 1-2 punch of Dallas and Harris ran hard and effectively and Jarren was under pressure far less. UNC dominated an SEC o-line in week one, and at the very least, last night was a stalemate. I'm hopeful this is a formula for success moving forward.
• We continue to struggle in the red zone but just south of 500 total yards should put you in a position to win games most of the time.
• Defensively is where my concerns lie at the moment. We played really well as a unit in the 2nd and 3rd quarters but spotted them 17 points in the 1st and completely imploded down the stretch. That's a sign of poor preparation and not being mentally tough enough to finish teams off.
• The strength of our defense is along the defensive line and our guys aren't getting up the field as much as they have the past two years. With that said, I refuse to believe that Baker is running a different scheme and perhaps this is simply being out-schemed. Again, that goes back to coaching.
• Our Linebackers have always been a bit overrated nationally but the lack of east-west speed is extremely evident. Finley is the only guy out there that looks like a true Miami backer.
• Our Secondary ultimately cost us on the final drive, and while it's easy to pile on Rumph, Banda, etc., let's not forget how young we are back there. Bandy is the only upperclassman that was out there (with Carter's ejection) and he probably had the worst game of any of the DB's. Hall and Ivey are true sophomore with limited reps, Knowles should be playing at FAU and Bolden still hasn't seen time yet. I'd like to see Williams and Couch continue to get snaps and Keontra Smith get worked in more as well.
• Don't get me started on Special Teams. I have no idea how/why Baxa was ranked as high as he was and Patke has no business coaching this unit. Major mistake by Diaz to give him this responsibility and something he probably needs to be reconsidering.

Overall, it probably doesn't help that we started the year with a neutral site game against a top 10 team and then played an emotional road night game in-conference Say what you want about UNC and how much of a dumpster fire they were the last two years, but Howell is a legit QB and they may very well be ranked and 4-0 going into their matchup with Clemson. Ultimately, we are -7 after two games and could easily be 2-0 and ranked in the top 20 if our kicker makes two chip shot FG and we don't give up 4th and 17.

FAU says no way to knowles

 

[j06smith]

• Defensively is where my concerns lie at the moment. We played really well as a unit in the 2nd and 3rd quarters but spotted them 17 points in the 1st and completely imploded down the stretch. That's a sign of poor preparation and not being mentally tough enough to finish teams off.
• The strength of our defense is along the defensive line and our guys aren't getting up the field as much as they have the past two years. With that said, I refuse to believe that Baker is running a different scheme and perhaps this is simply being out-schemed. Again, that goes back to coaching.
• Our Linebackers have always been a bit overrated nationally but the lack of east-west speed is extremely evident. Finley is the only guy out there that looks like a true Miami backer.
• Our Secondary ultimately cost us on the final drive, and while it's easy to pile on Rumph, Banda, etc., let's not forget how young we are back there. Bandy is the only upperclassman that was out there (with Carter's ejection) and he probably had the worst game of any of the DB's. Hall and Ivey are true sophomore with limited reps, Knowles should be playing at FAU and Bolden still hasn't seen time yet. I'd like to see Williams and Couch continue to get snaps and Keontra Smith get worked in more as well.
• Don't get me started on Special Teams. I have no idea how/why Baxa was ranked as high as he was and Patke has no business coaching this unit. Major mistake by Diaz to give him this responsibility and something he probably needs to be reconsidering.

Was at the game and notice a few things that gave me pause during the game. Defensively, there was mass confusion several times throughout the game between the backers and the secondary. On a couple of big plays,, nobody knew where they were suppose to be line up. They were still arguing at the snap of the ball. They ran 3 plays on offense and Romeo was picked on time after time and got beat three times 2 of which they caught for long plays. Bandy got beat a couple of times as well and Ivey was abused from the very first bomb they aired out on him. They ran the same freakin plays on those three guys and the defense made no adjustments. You have a freshmen Qb on the other side of the ball and we gave him the same look every time. He knew where the ball was going right off the rip. On the running plays where they got outside of our ends, several times I saw Hill getting sucked into the QB on the rpo and the backs ran right outside of him. He wasn't the only one but he was most noticeable on one of the long runs. Linebackers got swallowed up by the linemen and could not get off the blocks. Their gap integrity was jacked, at times running right behind one another as oppose to taking their assigned gaps. There was no push up the middle on pass plays from our tackles. Their only move is a bull rush and they don't use their hands well. This opened up huge running lanes for the qb to run as well as gave him a very nice pocket to throw out of because our ends were coming up the field so wide. Still missing tackles and we just looked out of wack. Why Ivey was in over Blades this game is beyond me. Unless something changes in a hurry, we will lose another 2 or 3 games because of the defense alone.

 

[CaneinBroward]

Great post by the OP. Yes, they need to do better in the red zone, I have no idea why they blitzed on 4th and 17 especially with a young, inexperienced secondary, and Bubba is probably too far gone.

My biggest issue though is the lack of basic discipline on this team. Multiple offsides penalties, holding penalties on offense, late hits on defense, giving a sliding QB a forearm to the face, etc.

 

[tator78]

Was at the game and notice a few things that gave me pause during the game. Defensively, there was mass confusion several times throughout the game between the backers and the secondary. On a couple of big plays,, nobody knew where they were suppose to be line up. They were still arguing at the snap of the ball. They ran 3 plays on offense and Romeo was picked on time after time and got beat three times 2 of which they caught for long plays. Bandy got beat a couple of times as well and Ivey was abused from the very first bomb they aired out on him. They ran the same freakin plays on those three guys and the defense made no adjustments. You have a freshmen Qb on the other side of the ball and we gave him the same look every time. He knew where the ball was going right off the rip. On the running plays where they got outside of our ends, several times I saw Hill getting sucked into the QB on the rpo and the backs ran right outside of him. He wasn't the only one but he was most noticeable on one of the long runs. Linebackers got swallowed up by the linemen and could not get off the blocks. Their gap integrity was jacked, at times running right behind one another as oppose to taking their assigned gaps. There was no push up the middle on pass plays from our tackles. Their only move is a bull rush and they don't use their hands well. This opened up huge running lanes for the qb to run as well as gave him a very nice pocket to throw out of because our ends were coming up the field so wide. Still missing tackles and we just looked out of wack. Why Ivey was in over Blades this game is beyond me. Unless something changes in a hurry, we will lose another 2 or 3 games because of the defense alone.

Yeah I saw the bickering amongst the defense several times pre-snap.

 

[Canesfan1899]

I’m disgusted over the game but this is still a good post.

Losing Johnson and Redwine was my biggest fear and the everyone kept saying “Gurvan this and Gurvan that”

That’s great. Gurvan may leave here a superstar but you still can’t lose that much leadership and experience and no expect a drop off.

Willis changed the game last year too.

Defense is still plenty good enough but we’ve got some guys that need to grow up fast

I think a healthy Nesta would be a huge addition to the DL.

 

[AustinCane6688]

I think a healthy Nesta would be a huge addition to the DL.

Forgot to include him in my OP but he’s probably our best DT and he hasn’t played a snap this year

 

[cowboycane]

Reality sucks folks and that is with a new staff their are always growing pains

We’ve had awful coaches who didn’t start 2-0.

 

[cowboycane]

Big red flag for me is that from what I could tell all 4 of our sacks came on blitzes. If that keeps up, going to be hard to get off the field as we get into the season.

 

[NorthEastCane]

He hesitates too much and is afraid of contact. Kid aint it

How do you know this? How can you make the connection from hesitating to afraid of contact? Would you say the same thing about Ed Reed when he missed the tackle on Chaffee Fields? Or would you have said he was only a 2*, what do you expect he has no talent.

Hesitation (IMO) primarily comes from not trusting your training and your instincts. There's only one cure ... more reps in games.

You may not like it but this is was happens when you have unbalanced classes for too many years. There are too many roster spots where there is no experienced depth. Also, it's difficult to get consistent play from week to week. Week 1 it's the OL, week 2 it's the DBs. Next week, who knows.

 

[Mr.Everything305]

I'd be happy if Patke was fired on Monday. If ST are "serviceable", we very well could be 2-0.

Who would hire the guy? Guy is another cheap fix and he results confirm this so far.

 

[theibisrules]

I think more so than the game itself, I was upset with the interviews after the game. This team is totally ok with being 0-2.

 

[Mr.Everything305]

Big red flag for me is that from what I could tell all 4 of our sacks came on blitzes. If that keeps up, going to be hard to get off the field as we get into the season.

DT’s are decent against run but do not live in the backfield and get TFL.