Let's get off the bashing of coordinators/Golden for a moment and look at a systemic issue that started with Coker and permeated into Shannon's tenure. College Football today is much more complex than it was 20 or even 10 years ago and it takes the right combination of talent and football IQ to be successful. Nevermind the Alabama's of the world (you have to be a rare breed to play for Saban), but I look at a program like Stanford and see that as a program I'd like to emulate. Smaller, private, education-centered, that recruit players who "get" it. They don't bring in nearly the level of talent that we do either.
A weekly press conference hasn't gone by for eight years without a coach or player citing "mental breakdowns/errors" as a major reason why x or y unit wasn't successful. Kyle Wright, Jacory Harris or Steven Morris couldn't/can't read defenses. Romeo Davis, Colin McCarthy and Denzel Perryman are in the wrong spots on the field. Offensive lineman false start on critical drives. When was the last time we've had a "smart" football team? The think is, we have/have had smart football players. Glenn Cook, Jimmy Gaines and AJ Highsmith come to mind. The problem is, they aren't good football players.
The point I am trying to make is, talent is important, but the right mix of uber-talented players mixed with smart but football functional guys is really all you need. Do we need to change what we do philosophically, absolutely, but players make coordinators look really good or conversely, really awful. I trust that Golden, given his psych background, knows what that player looks like, because the program we've watched for the past decade is one that can't get up for big games and has shown a propensity for having guys who just don't have it between the eyes.
A weekly press conference hasn't gone by for eight years without a coach or player citing "mental breakdowns/errors" as a major reason why x or y unit wasn't successful. Kyle Wright, Jacory Harris or Steven Morris couldn't/can't read defenses. Romeo Davis, Colin McCarthy and Denzel Perryman are in the wrong spots on the field. Offensive lineman false start on critical drives. When was the last time we've had a "smart" football team? The think is, we have/have had smart football players. Glenn Cook, Jimmy Gaines and AJ Highsmith come to mind. The problem is, they aren't good football players.
The point I am trying to make is, talent is important, but the right mix of uber-talented players mixed with smart but football functional guys is really all you need. Do we need to change what we do philosophically, absolutely, but players make coordinators look really good or conversely, really awful. I trust that Golden, given his psych background, knows what that player looks like, because the program we've watched for the past decade is one that can't get up for big games and has shown a propensity for having guys who just don't have it between the eyes.
