The Case Against Manolo As LB Coach...

[CaneTheGaytors]

...in another thread a couple of years ago, I mentioned how Shaq, Pinckney and McCloud looked like they had regressed badly during their sophomore season.

On that same thread, I mentioned recalling a Miami Herald article during their season as true Freshmen, where Manolo stated that he had barely given them any of the defense or reads, because he didn’t want to overwhelm them at such a young age. He wanted them to just play instinctively.

Fast forward to their Sophomore, Junior and Senior campaigns, and you have your answer for why they were never the same.

Manolo took away their instinctual natural ability to react in many instances, by making them think way too much.

Now granted, Jennings and McCloud do not have the sideline-to-sideline speed to be top tier LB’s, but they are also being handicapped by having to overthink ****.

When you see guys continuously struggling with defensive alignment before a play, or constant confusion, it reeks of overthinking and unpreparedness.

On the play where Brooks lit Etienne up, he was lined up correctly and reacted instinctively and crushed the RB, while Jennings was in no man’s land and was still waiting in the same spot as he was being approached by an OL.

Brooks saved us from getting hit by another huge run on that play because he used his instincts to diagnose the play, and wasted no time in getting to the hole and knocking the snot out of Etienne.

We need a real LB coach, and for Manolo to let our boys play instinctively. Study film, dissect and learn the opponent’s tendencies, tells and weaknesses, and unleash our savages.

It’s not rocket science, but Manny is trying real hard to make it so.

 

[Canestomp]

..Manolo took away their instinctual natural ability to react in many instances, by making them think way too much....

Can you expand on this further?

 

[Go Canes!!]

First-Team Defense

DE - Gregory Rousseau, Miami; 152

DE - Carlos Basham, Wake Forest; 142

DT - Jaylen Twyman, Pitt; 146

DT - Marvin Wilson, Florida State; 136

LB - Isaiah Simmons, Clemson; 157

LB - Chazz Surratt, North Carolina; 144

LB - Shaquille Quarterman, Miami; 129

CB - Caleb Farley, Virginia Tech; 136

CB - A.J. Terrell, Clemson; 100

S - Paris Ford, Pitt; 130

S - Tanner Muse, Clemson; 122 Second-Team Defense DE - Patrick Jones II, Pitt; 103 DE - Victor Dimukeje, Duke; 88 DT - Larrell Murchison, NC State; 89 DT - Tyler Davis, Clemson; 79 LB - Rayshard Ashby, Virginia Tech; 120 LB - Max Richardson, Boston College; 90 LB - Michael Pinckney, Miami (FL); 55 CB - Dane Jackson, Pitt; 87 CB - Derion Kendrick, Clemson; 77 S - Hamsah Nasirildeen, Florida State; 102 S - Andre Cisco, Syracuse; 99 Wouldn't having two of your LBs being 1st and 2nd team All ACC players refute your arguement?

 

[Ironmanfootball]

First-Team Defense

DE - Gregory Rousseau, Miami; 152

DE - Carlos Basham, Wake Forest; 142

DT - Jaylen Twyman, Pitt; 146

DT - Marvin Wilson, Florida State; 136

LB - Isaiah Simmons, Clemson; 157

LB - Chazz Surratt, North Carolina; 144

LB - Shaquille Quarterman, Miami; 129

CB - Caleb Farley, Virginia Tech; 136

CB - A.J. Terrell, Clemson; 100

S - Paris Ford, Pitt; 130

S - Tanner Muse, Clemson; 122 Second-Team Defense DE - Patrick Jones II, Pitt; 103 DE - Victor Dimukeje, Duke; 88 DT - Larrell Murchison, NC State; 89 DT - Tyler Davis, Clemson; 79 LB - Rayshard Ashby, Virginia Tech; 120 LB - Max Richardson, Boston College; 90 LB - Michael Pinckney, Miami (FL); 55 CB - Dane Jackson, Pitt; 87 CB - Derion Kendrick, Clemson; 77 S - Hamsah Nasirildeen, Florida State; 102 S - Andre Cisco, Syracuse; 99 Wouldn't having two of your LBs being 1st and 2nd team All ACC players refute your arguement?

Don't fans get mad at the All-ACC picks for picking the "wrong" people, when it goes against Miami, all the time? One piece of coaching advice I give to people is that the parents (of our players) can't be idiots when they hate us but geniuses when they like us. Those are the same idiots that like what you're doing so you should probably start to change something yesterday.

 

[DTP]

I don’t think it’s a case of linebackers not getting better. We were still used to seeing a D’Onofrio defense so the 2016 defense was so incredibly mind blowing it seemed way better than it was. Funny how having a few years of good defense really raised everyone’s standards. The linebackers here aren’t asked to do anything totally out of the ordinary. If anything they ask the safeties to do all the heavy lifting

 

[Billy D Williams]

Who knows more about Linebacking? Winston Moss a top college LB, a pro linebacker, a pro assistant LB coach, a pro DC. Plus he learned from some of he best in college and Pros. Miami's next step has to be a high caliber DC and assistants. Diaz and staff are in over their heads.

 

[Fawk_U Haters]

Who knows more about Linebacking? Winston Moss a top college LB, a pro linebacker, a pro assistant LB coach, a pro DC. Plus he learned from some of he best in college and Pros. Miami's next step has to be a high caliber DC and assistants. Diaz and staff are in over their heads.

I've seen you banging on this drum a lot lately.

What makes you think Winston, being all of the things you described, wants to come to The U? Is there anything you can point to besides he played here over 30 years ago would lead you to believe he would come here? Why would someone who has been associated with the PRO GAME his whole professional career suddenly want to come and coach college?

 

[Fawk_U Haters]

...in another thread a couple of years ago, I mentioned how Shaq, Pinckney and McCloud looked like they had regressed badly during their sophomore season.

On that same thread, I mentioned recalling a Miami Herald article during their season as true Freshmen, where Manolo stated that he had barely given them any of the defense or reads, because he didn’t want to overwhelm them at such a young age. He wanted them to just play instinctively.

Fast forward to their Sophomore, Junior and Senior campaigns, and you have your answer for why they were never the same.

Manolo took away their instinctual natural ability to react in many instances, by making them think way too much.

Now granted, Jennings and McCloud do not have the sideline-to-sideline speed to be top tier LB’s, but they are also being handicapped by having to overthink ****.

When you see guys continuously struggling with defensive alignment before a play, or constant confusion, it reeks of overthinking and unpreparedness.

On the play where Brooks lit Etienne up, he was lined up correctly and reacted instinctively and crushed the RB, while Jennings was in no man’s land and was still waiting in the same spot as he was being approached by an OL.

Brooks saved us from getting hit by another huge run on that play because he used his instincts to diagnose the play, and wasted no time in getting to the hole and knocking the snot out of Etienne.

We need a real LB coach, and for Manolo to let our boys play instinctively. Study film, dissect and learn the opponent’s tendencies, tells and weaknesses, and unleash our savages.

It’s not rocket science, but Manny is trying real hard to make it so.

So let me get this straight....because our LBs had a "sophomore slump," in your eyes, it was all because of coaching? Shaq had a great senior year outside of a couple of plays, but coaching gets no love there.

However a kid that played DE in HS makes the play at LB and coaching had nothing to do with it. It was all him right? Also i want SB6 to be the superbeast he was in the bowl game, but for some reason he hasn't been this year so lets pump our brakes. I get he made the 2 splashiest plays on D in a game of few splash plays, but he's been a non factor all year.

Seriously the statement of Manny and his LB coaching is absolutely a fair question at this time. But using the few plays SB6 made to prove your point is just dumb.

Honest questions are:
Why do we have such sub par LB play this year?
Could it be that we really miss Shaq and Pinck?
Is our coaching that bad?
Is it lack of experience and can the necessary skills be gained with experience (i think this is a huge question about who plays going forward)?

 

[AL CANE]

Manny hasn't even coached the LB's for 2 years now and therein could lie the problem. Baker+Patke = Cheeks

 

[skyman]

Go get Michael Barrow.. He can croot and coach.. Plus he was up there with Pete Carroll he can help tighten up the undisciplined defense..

 

[canes_aaron]

If the struggles continue, there will need to be some shakeup on the defensive staff no doubt. I have a feeling Manny won’t do anything though. The defensive side are “his guys.” It’s not the same as the offense.

 

[Fawk_U Haters]

Manny hasn't even coached the LB's for 2 years now and therein could lie the problem. Baker+Patke = Cheeks

You know i actually didn't even think about this, but you're right. I wonder if Baker does anything or if it's Patke? I know some interviews in the past said Patke was the most hands on with the LBs, and pretty much has been since he's gotten here. If that's the case then is Patke really a bad coach? recruiting aside, we've had good LB play here. Yes, we could use a whole bunch more from our LBs this year, no one can deny that, but we've had good LB play here.

 

[ADELPHI]

Manny takes the dawg out of these recruits and turns them into poodles. He has them over analyzing everything. He can take his analytics software along with his stats binder and stuff it up his ***.

 

[JackOAT]

We haven't had a blue chip recruit at the position since Shaq and he was borderline.
That means his limitations were well known coming in but he had the talent to be a solid backer, which he was.

All of our best backers the last 10+ years have contributed significantly or started as freshman. Who on the roster fits that description?
Not a single one pushed Shaq for his job in 4 years so why would we expect an improvement in backer play now?

We just don't have the horses here and that's a huge indictment on the coach cuz RARELY do you have the LUXURY of finding 2 backers in one class to sew up the starting spots for 4 ******' years. Manny had 4 years to recruit blue chip talent to the position and he hasn't.

Aside from Enos, probably his biggest failure to date.

 

[CaneTheGaytors]

Can you expand on this further?

Manolo bragged during spring and fall camps during Shaq, Pinckney, and McCloud’s sophomore year about how much better they looked now that they “knew” his defense and their assignments.

Only a mere moron would think that these 3 guys played better during their sophomore, junior, or senior seasons, than during their freshmen season, in which they played fast and with lots of violence.

The proof is in the pudding. Their regression was obvious. Everybody was hyped about all 3 of them during and right after their FR campaign.

In the years after that, opinions mostly ranged from many people saying they were just adequate or not athletic enough, to others saying they were slow and just jags. Many people even said that they couldn’t wait to see them go, so that the younger, more athletic guys could play.

How anyone can defend Jennings and McCloud starting over Brooks and one of Steed, TAC, Huff or Flagg at this point is just pure insanity.

 

[TemplarCane]

Manny is an analytics nerd who never strapped on a helmet.

 

[Swampcity]

...in another thread a couple of years ago, I mentioned how Shaq, Pinckney and McCloud looked like they had regressed badly during their sophomore season.

On that same thread, I mentioned recalling a Miami Herald article during their season as true Freshmen, where Manolo stated that he had barely given them any of the defense or reads, because he didn’t want to overwhelm them at such a young age. He wanted them to just play instinctively.

Fast forward to their Sophomore, Junior and Senior campaigns, and you have your answer for why they were never the same.

Manolo took away their instinctual natural ability to react in many instances, by making them think way too much.

Now granted, Jennings and McCloud do not have the sideline-to-sideline speed to be top tier LB’s, but they are also being handicapped by having to overthink ****.

When you see guys continuously struggling with defensive alignment before a play, or constant confusion, it reeks of overthinking and unpreparedness.

On the play where Brooks lit Etienne up, he was lined up correctly and reacted instinctively and crushed the RB, while Jennings was in no man’s land and was still waiting in the same spot as he was being approached by an OL.

Brooks saved us from getting hit by another huge run on that play because he used his instincts to diagnose the play, and wasted no time in getting to the hole and knocking the snot out of Etienne.

We need a real LB coach, and for Manolo to let our boys play instinctively. Study film, dissect and learn the opponent’s tendencies, tells and weaknesses, and unleash our savages.

It’s not rocket science, but Manny is trying real hard to make it so.

M. Diaz maybe the worst LB coach in the last 20 years at UM.

 

[mirasuegui]

Manny hasn't even coached the LB's for 2 years now and therein could lie the problem. Baker+Patke = Cheeks

Don't know seems Romeo was pretty good at Striker, and Frierson really balled at Clemson: Smith seems to be coming into his own. Now Jennings and Mccloud, I don't see it, they seemed to be always late and caught in traffic. Even last year it seemed every team beat us with running QB's, RB's in the flat, sweeps, TE running free, screens, draws, throw backs. Even the so called best quarterback Lawrence spent the evening throwing bubbles, slants and beating us to the edges. **** at halftime the sideline reporter mentioned that Blake told his backers that they had to account for Etiene, are you kidding me.

 

[JackOAT]

Don't know seems Romeo was pretty good at Striker, and Frierson really balled at Clemson: Smith seems to be coming into his own. Now Jennings and Mccloud, I don't see it, they seemed to be always late and caught in traffic. Even last year it seemed every team beat us with running QB's, RB's in the flat, sweeps, TE running free, screens, draws, throw backs. Even the so called best quarterback Lawrence spent the evening throwing bubbles, slants and beating us to the edges. **** at halftime the sideline reporter mentioned that Blake told his backers that they had to account for Etiene, are you kidding me.

I believe Finley, Frierson and Smith are all 4* players. They projected to be solid coming in and they have been.

McCloud and Jennings? Nah. They are exactly what their rankings said they were and for 4-5 years never once have they given an indication of playing above their ranking.

The travesty isn't that they aren't better than projected, it's that in 4 years of games & practices we didn't have the foresight to say "these guys are backups at best, we need better talent"

 

[mirasuegui]

I believe Finley, Frierson and Smith are all 4* players. They projected to be solid coming in and they have been.

McCloud and Jennings? Nah. They are exactly what their rankings said they were and for 4-5 years never once have they given an indication of playing above their ranking.

The travesty isn't that they aren't better than projected, it's that in 4 years of games & practices we didn't have the foresight to say "these guys are backups at best, we need better talent"

to your point when you have Shaq and Pink for 4 years, and Pink gets hurt and your first sub off the bench is a walk on, you just have to scratch your head and say WTF