Canegrad89
Recruit
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2017
- Messages
- 1,149
While this season was a disappointment (and we clearly lost to teams who had no business beating us), there are reasons for optimism going forward:
1) Our offense could be significantly improved next year as it will feature a more mature Jarren, Lingard (who will be awesome for us), Brevin, Mallory (who has now shown his tremendous potential), Wiggins, Pope, Payton, Harley & others. The real keys to the offense being explosive next year will be:
(a) making a change at OC (not convinced Enos has it as a playcaller -- the redzone & 3rd down stats are not good & those are key);
(b) making a change at OL coach;
(c) significant offseason development of the players on OL (needs to be a major priority for Feeley) -- if we still can't routinely make 1-2 yards on 3rd down by running the ball then everything needs to change; and
(d) OL recruiting (via the Portal & HS).
There are many coaches around the country who would love to have a two-headed monster like Brevin & Mallory at TE, a 5-star RB with elite speed and a highly accurate QB. This offense (under the right leadership & in the right schemes) should be destroying opponents next year (but the OL play must be at least average -- it cannot continue to be very poor).
2) Manny can make changes. Rarely does a HC make every initial hire correctly. The key to succeeding as a HC is to make adjustments where they are necessary. I think:
a) the OC and DC should both be replaced. Until Manny had greater input, the Defense didn't look anything like his prior defenses (which were great & gave us plenty of reason for optimism). There's no question the Defense regressed significantly prior to Manny re-inserting himself. The OL was a mess and former players weren't particularly impressed by the coaching or the attitude of the players.
b) Enos & Barry should be replaced.
c) Special teams were a disaster that cost us 3-4 games (which contributed to the season tanking which will have a huge impact on the Manny Diaz era). Not having another K ready to go was a disaster of epic proportions. Fake FGs being converted on us, muffed punts at around the 10 yd line, missed FG & PATs. Disaster.
Manny will need to make some tough decisions in order to survive. I think hiring a creative OC (who can mask deficient OL play) is key. Hiring a strong OL coach is also a top priority. If Manny remains highly involved in the D, replacing Baker is somewhat less important. Special teams need to be fixed badly.
If this team sticks together & grows together, it could actually be quite good next year. They also play a relatively weak schedule. However, coaching changes should be made & the product on the field needs to be much crisper than the sloppy play we saw in many phases this year. Manny has it as a Defensive coach. His 2018 Defense was a top-ranked unit. We need to see greater production from Offense and Special Teams.
1) Our offense could be significantly improved next year as it will feature a more mature Jarren, Lingard (who will be awesome for us), Brevin, Mallory (who has now shown his tremendous potential), Wiggins, Pope, Payton, Harley & others. The real keys to the offense being explosive next year will be:
(a) making a change at OC (not convinced Enos has it as a playcaller -- the redzone & 3rd down stats are not good & those are key);
(b) making a change at OL coach;
(c) significant offseason development of the players on OL (needs to be a major priority for Feeley) -- if we still can't routinely make 1-2 yards on 3rd down by running the ball then everything needs to change; and
(d) OL recruiting (via the Portal & HS).
There are many coaches around the country who would love to have a two-headed monster like Brevin & Mallory at TE, a 5-star RB with elite speed and a highly accurate QB. This offense (under the right leadership & in the right schemes) should be destroying opponents next year (but the OL play must be at least average -- it cannot continue to be very poor).
2) Manny can make changes. Rarely does a HC make every initial hire correctly. The key to succeeding as a HC is to make adjustments where they are necessary. I think:
a) the OC and DC should both be replaced. Until Manny had greater input, the Defense didn't look anything like his prior defenses (which were great & gave us plenty of reason for optimism). There's no question the Defense regressed significantly prior to Manny re-inserting himself. The OL was a mess and former players weren't particularly impressed by the coaching or the attitude of the players.
b) Enos & Barry should be replaced.
c) Special teams were a disaster that cost us 3-4 games (which contributed to the season tanking which will have a huge impact on the Manny Diaz era). Not having another K ready to go was a disaster of epic proportions. Fake FGs being converted on us, muffed punts at around the 10 yd line, missed FG & PATs. Disaster.
Manny will need to make some tough decisions in order to survive. I think hiring a creative OC (who can mask deficient OL play) is key. Hiring a strong OL coach is also a top priority. If Manny remains highly involved in the D, replacing Baker is somewhat less important. Special teams need to be fixed badly.
If this team sticks together & grows together, it could actually be quite good next year. They also play a relatively weak schedule. However, coaching changes should be made & the product on the field needs to be much crisper than the sloppy play we saw in many phases this year. Manny has it as a Defensive coach. His 2018 Defense was a top-ranked unit. We need to see greater production from Offense and Special Teams.
