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objective review of team mid season

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Astcloud11 said:
I strongly disagree with calling Linebackers abysmal and then follow it up with saying our DB's are "average at best". Linebacking group has performed much better than our DBs so far in the year....while there seemingly isn't a single DB on our roster who hasn't already been responsible for a 50+ yard pass
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I agree mostly. However, a lot the CBs looking bad is because the safeties failed to do their job.

Too many times it looks like our CB is getting toasted, but the safety is out of position or not even in the picture.

Watch CoachHayesFootball on YouTube as he breaks it down. You'll see our safeties playing too flat and can't fulfill their deep sideline responsibilities. It makes the corners look bad, but its not always their fault as some or most of the schemes are designed for safety help.

It was better against VT. However, they had a few opportunities on safety coverage mishaps that they failed to connect.
 
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ideide1990 said:
As Bill Parcells famously stated 30 years ago, "you are what your record says you are."
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Not always. Miami was 10-0 in 2017 and too many were screaming "back" instead of admitting the Canes could've easily been 5-5 without two miracle catches (FSU, GT), a forced fumble (UNC) and an undefeated record that set up raucous environments for two night games (VT, ND) that wouldn't have had that type of home field advantage if the Canes weren't undefeated.

10-0 was soon 10-3 after the offense was exposed in a loss to four-win Pittsburgh, Clemson wrecked Miami by five touchdowns in their lone ACC title game appearance and Wisconsin outlasted the Canes by double-digits in the Orange Bowl.

UM as averaged 7-5 every season, from 2006 to 2021 (118-85 since 2005 Peach Bowl)—so it should shock no one that Miami has had some early struggles under Cristobal.

There is never any excuse for losing to Middle Tennessee, but losses at aTm and fourth-straight face plant against UNC are par for the course with an in-repair program.
 
Number1CanesFan said:
I agree mostly. However, a lot the CBs looking bad is because the safties failed to do their job.

Too many times it looks like our CB is getting toasted, but the safety is out of position or not even in the picture.

Watch CoachHayesFootball on YouTube as he breaks it down. You'll see our safties playing too flat and can't fulfill their deep sideline responsibilities. It makes the corners look bad, but its not always their fault as some or most of the schenes are designed for safety help.

It was better against VT. However, they had a few opportunities on safety coverage mishaps that they failed to connect.
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Yes. This.

The Hokies had at least 4-5 plays like this; overthrown balls, dropped balls, etc. that would've been very problematic.

Even the opening of the game and force fumble; VT looked like they were a play or two from a touchdown before that forced fumble gave Miami moments and the Canes a 7-0 lead.
 
JHallCanes said:
Alright

I’m hoping NOW everyone has voiced their opinion and repeated the same things over and over again
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React Theres More GIF by Celebrity Apprentice Australia
 
Miami[]_[]Smoke said:
How are chaney and citizen our best rb’s? Objectively I mean….Citizen has never had a carry and Chaney had 11 last year.
Chaney is always hurt and I doubt he ever gets fully healthy and plays a full year. we somehow never have any talent, unless they are injured or it’s someone who has never played, then theyre Sorely missed
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Very solid point. It's easy to crown players off what they look like on paper and star rankings. But other than Parrish, tough dude who plays his heart out, the rest of the RB room is below average. ****, a kid who showed up after summer camp from UAB or wherever, may have been our best back Saturday. This needs to be a major area of emphasis in recruiting and in hunting the portal.
 
dwreck27 said:
At minimum…. People think this is an urban taking over at Ohio State or Lincoln Riley at OU.

A lot of bad recruiting, a lot of bad culture habits, and needing to reinstill a mentality of toughness and winning.
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Urban Meyer and Lincoln Riley took over winning programs.

Bob Stoops retired at OU (or perhaps asked to retire) so Riley could be promoted. OU was 11-2 and Top 5 both of Stoops’ last two seasons.

Urban took over a winning program with a lot of talent. Fans stupidly think OSU was down after a 6-6 season, but the record was due to Tressell resigning and a few keys players leaving after a scandal. Tressell was rolling and would have kept rolling. Meyer didn’t have to rebuild.
 
Miami[]_[]Smoke said:
How are chaney and citizen our best rb’s? Objectively I mean….Citizen has never had a carry and Chaney had 11 last year.
Chaney is always hurt and I doubt he ever gets fully healthy and plays a full year. we somehow never have any talent, unless they are injured or it’s someone who has never played, then theyre Sorely missed
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I agree you have a point regarding Chaney. However, I think objectively even in the limited sample size we've saw him play he's been the more complete back in regards to running between the tackles and catching the ball more so than Knighton, and from camp reports he was gaining on Parrish. Citizen had passed Thad already as well. So potential and just having quality bodies is more to the objective point I think some are trying to make.
 
TemplarCane said:
Urban Meyer and Lincoln Riley took over winning programs.

Bob Stoops retired at OU (or perhaps asked to retire) so Riley could be promoted. OU was 11-2 and Top 5 both of Stoops’ last two seasons.

Urban took over a winning program with a lot of talent. Fans stupidly think OSU was down after a 6-6 season, but the record was due to Tressell resigning and a few keys players leaving after a scandal. Tressell was rolling and would have kept rolling. Meyer didn’t have to rebuild.
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Exactly. This program has been a 7-5 middling LOSER program….

Three seasons minimum before I start to see 10+win results and clear talent separation from the VT, GT and UVAs of the mighty coastal
 
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ItsAUThing.com said:
Yes. This.

The Hokies had at least 4-5 plays like this; overthrown balls, dropped balls, etc. that would've been very problematic.

Even the opening of the game and force fumble; VT looked like they were a play or two from a touchdown before that forced fumble gave Miami moments and the Canes a 7-0 lead.
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Williams dropped a pick 6 thrown right to him on the second or 3rd play of the game. thrown right to him.
 
We have to stop recruiting CBs purely on measurables and athletic projections. Hate to use this sports cliche but we need some sticky "gamers" like Ricardo Allen.

I just feel like height and length might be a tad overrated in the college game. But we have some guys on the board who know their DBs; would love to hear their opinions.
 
ideide1990 said:
As Bill Parcells famously stated 30 years ago, "you are what your record says you are." This statement sums up the team, we are 3-3 and a mediocre football team. Why? It clearly is a litany of administration coaching choices, recruiting and the lack of culture over the past 20 years. IMO, here is my humble evaluation of the roster and where we go from here:

1. We lack overall speed on both sides of the ball. Shockingly, as a South Fla school speed should never be an issue. Look at our skill people and back 7 on d and the absence of speed is glaring. Even FSU looks much faster than us 9will probably be the difference when we play). Clearly, Mario is aware of what he inherited and will upgrade the speed issue (Washington, Joseph and some others on the hook) db-wise, not sure we have answers there yet.

2. TVD is a good college QB, who seems to be a one trick pony (Lashlee spread is only offense he can comfortably run). I am not sure you can win in today's College landscape with an immobile QB, while also having a below average line. Just a bad recipe.

3. Running backs are ok, nothing special. Our two best guys, Chaney and Citizen are not available, and the rest are serviceable with Parrish being a good portal pickup.

4. Wide receivers, are nice size, but as mentioned no break away speed. I would say every receiver on Bama is faster than our guys. Just some bad recruiting by Richt/Diaz,Likens, etc.

5. Oline is just horrid. Total finese and would dare say our best lineman are frosh or currently playing at IMG and Pancake in Massachusetts. Mario and Mirabel must be shaking their heads every day seeing these junior and senior lineman practice and play.

6. Dline shows promise, but we need to get bigger and stronger. Mario and his staff brought in some very good players (imagine Dline without Mesidor, Jackson, etc.) I think portal will be used quite a bit here next year.

7. Linebacker play is abysmal. Again, horrible recruiting by Manny and guys are too small or too slow. Best guy is Wesley and that is a damning statement, as a true frosh should never be your best player. Guys like Huff, Steed, pure busts. K. Smith and C. Smith appear to be JAGS. Bryant, Washington and Aguirre should help, but portal is necessary big-time.

8. DB's are at best average-too many bad habits, and can only play man to man, yet aren't fast or big enough to play man. Safeties are brutally bad, Avante is clueless on a good day, while Kam and James make as many mistakes as good plays in every game. We need major portal help here, while hoping we can recruit better. So far we have basically struck out in secondary.

Lastly, a couple of major areas I would like to touch upon, which regardless of not having enough talent, signify the current state of program.

1. We are not a smart football team. Our players simply do not have football IQ. As Jimmy Johnson has said repeatedly, ".......smart players are a necessity to winning games." Our best teams had the smartest players, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Leon Searcy, Bryant McKinnie, Vince Wilfork, Mike Barrow and Jonathan Vilma , etc. Besides being great players they were all really high football IQ guys. I watch TVD (not running down time clock with lead, TeCoury hitting a guy 5 yards out of bounds, Avante and James Williams not understanding basic concepts, penalties on every other play etc. Some of these mistakes are not correctable, just dumb football.

2. There is a culture on this team that Mario recognizes must be changed, unfortunately can't be done in 9 months. Kirby was 8-4 year one and almost lost to Nichols State at home, Nick lost 12 games his first 3 years at LSU. They both inherited bad rosters and more importantly bad cultures. Our players are used to losing close games and become easily dejected when things go astray. That has been happening since 2005, and isn't changed overnight.


3. Everyone says we have to "keep south fla players home." I would counter that by saying, we have to keep the "BEST players home. Urban Meyer rarely recruited South Fla, as he felt they were generally poorly coached and had a sense of entitlement. Bama, Georgia, etc. poach the best receivers, dlinemen, backers, rb's and db's, but don't go overboard with South Fla talent. Typically, this area is void of qb, oline and te talent. Bottom line, this is where Alonzo should and will have his greatest impact. We have to get better at talent selection and acquisition. We have simply been really bad at recruiting. Mario/Alonzo will fix this issue. At the end of the day, it is really about the 'Jimmy and Joes." Remember, Coker, Ed O, Chizek, Les Miles all won titles, and none are x and o geniuses. They had great assistants and managed not to ***** up crazy talented rosters. Give Mario 2 more years to replenish this roster and watch what happens.
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You had me with the Coach Parcells quote. The rest just reminded me of the aggravation I have on game days. 🤯
 
we are very much "we want it now" fanbase but with the talent on the roster (specifically on the OL, WR, CB, and LB) and the injuries we have sustained. I have no qualms with anything that's transpired other than the Middle tennesse disaster. We never gave up against UNC and aTm and those are two equally/more talented teams.


maybe i'm too much of a realist but I wasn't expecting much this year. If we go 8-4 I would consider it a solid building year witih the recruiting class he has coming in. the MTSU disaster will loom throughout his tenure unless he makes us forget it with a strong finish to this year and strong start to next
 
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Dline is strong if not excellent. 90, 6, 56 are a handful and if Kelly comes around that four will play havoc the rest of the year and next. Flagg yes Flagg is better than what he is given credit for. Offense is decimated by injuries but yeah running game sucks so far. Secondary has cost us two games. Overall Cplus but we can improve with what we have
 
bear said:
Dline is strong if not excellent. 90, 6, 56 are a handful and if Kelly comes around that four will play havoc the rest of the year and next. Flagg yes Flagg is better than what he is given credit for. Offense is decimated by injuries but yeah running game sucks so far. Secondary has cost us two games. Overall Cplus but we can improve with what we have
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Secondary - specifically cornerback - has 7 players. 3 are true freshmen. 1 is a transfer.

That's what happens when you only land 3 cornerbacks in three recruiting cycles.
 
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