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Coaching Staff Critique

boydbuff

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I know this is shocking coming from one of AB's largest Kool-Aid addicts, but here we go. Love HCMM. Love what Baer has done so far. In recruiting and coaching, Walters seems on fire. Jeffcoat is rocking the DL. On the fence about Bernardi's unit-shown some flashes of good stuff but plenty of problems run and pass blocking.

Biggest concerns are Adams and Neinas. It may be too early to judge but one would think being among the few (anyone have the numbers on that?) BCS teams with a full-time dedicated special teams guy, that punt and kick coverage would not be such a liability. With respect to Adams, he is not working with a full deck at TE and maybe not at RB either (although many of us thought that could be a position of strength), but not sure Adams is doing well enough. Our running game has regressed-which of course is partly due to scheme and also line play, but....

Many before the season started suggested we need to have a dedicated RB coach and not a 100% ST guy. I know the kickers have appreciated the dedicated time and they are playing pretty well so not sure the answer for certain but like all of us, I would like to see improvement out of our running game and not have ST be a liability.
 
RB Production thru 2 games in 2012: 53 car, 220 yards, 3 TDs
RB Production thru 2 games in 2013: 56 car, 163 yards, 0 TDs

TE Production thru 2 games in 2012: 4 rec, 76 yards, 0 TDs
TE Production thru 2 games in 2013: 4 rec, 23 yards, 0 TDs

If you break it down differently and just look like rushing attempts and yards, the two seasons look pretty much identical. Reason for that is that the DD carries get added in for 2013 and 2012 loses all those yards to sacks (5 sacks, -30 yards against CSU / 3 sacks, -27 yards against SacSt). But since this thread is specific to coaches, I thought it appropriate to look only at Coach Adams' guys.

I won't even get into special teams coverage and return yardage. It's been discussed enough and there's a long way to go before it's not a 2013 liability.

Got to get this ship righted.

Good thread topic, boyd.
 
RB production doesn't concern me. The holes they have to run thru is what concerns me. I'm not seeing any.

From a yardage standpoint, Powell had a 64 yard TD in game 2 last year. Pull that out, and they are similar. Also note that Powell scored 2 TD's from the 1 yard line. We have had no scoring opportunities from inside the 10 yard line in the two games this year.

2013 scoring:
Richardson 82 pass
Oliver 22 FG
Goodson 18 pass from Wood
Oliver 41 FG
Oliver 44 FG
Oliver 52 FG
Richardson 75 pass from Wood
Richardson 55 pass from Wood
Oliver 31 FG
Richardson 30 pass from Wood
Spruce 39 pass from Wood


TE production - we are dealing with much less this year without Kasa and even Thornton. Again, I'm not concerned about this being a coaching issue. Different scheme, different guys. (at least not yet, but it's something to watch)

Special teams is a different story. I got no excuses (or stat manipulation) for that one! Fire him now.
 
ST - not touching it.

Running backs - weird situation. On one hand, I feel like maybe teams (through the first two games) were basically challenging is to beat them with the pass - stacking the box. How could you blame them after last year? Ergo we took what we could get through the air. On the other, I feel like we planned our running attack around Powell who has kind of gimped up a little thus far. Honestly, if teams are going to keep giving us Air Supremacy, I'm cool with a satisficing run game (that's the Kool aide talking)
 
RB production doesn't concern me. The holes they have to run thru is what concerns me. I'm not seeing any.



TE production - we are dealing with much less this year without Kasa and even Thornton. Again, I'm not concerned about this being a coaching issue. Different scheme, different guys. (at least not yet, but it's something to watch)

Special teams is a different story. I got no excuses (or stat manipulation) for that one! Fire him now.

Didn't this board spend a good deal of the pre-camp time on whether MM's offense even utilized TEs? Also, criticism was rampant on OL/RB talent; they intermesh. While certain players are going through their third HC, seems like th OL is on its 8th coach. By the way, where did Steve Marshall end up this time?

STs? You gotta take the bad with the good: well-organized (no players rushing on the field when they suddenly realize they're supposed to be out there) good blocking, good snaps, no penalties taking away scores, no blocked kicks or punts, only one punt return (and that was covered to the point where one could say the return guy made a mistake in not calling for a fair catch, Hendo should have really blown him up, instead of counting coup. Its PAC 12 footbal! Touching the guy does not stop play!)......

Fire the guy responsible for those KO returns, but keep the guy who's responsible for all the good parts of STs.....Oh......wait........
 
The bad outweighs the good on STs. Sorry. All the "good" you talk about is mostly just competency. When the opponents are getting at least 2-3 possessions a game at or beyond their own 40, there are HUGE issues.

As far as Adams, he wasnt even coaching RBs in the open practices. Not sure why he even has the title.
 
I feel like a combination of teams stacking the box (after last year), Pow being nicked up, and taking the OL/backs time to gel are all playing a part. The run game is going to get going, matter of when. Once these defenses realize they have to defend the pass more, that is when it will open up. Now that teams see where are passing stats are and especially PRich they will start easing off the line and start blitzing some LB's taking chances. That is opening up the run and screen pass. I have a gut feeling this Saturday you will see some success in the run game, and at least one long run.

IMO
 
BTW, still confused why so many thought RB was a strength coming into the season.
 
Duff - My excuse - With all those backs (like 6 at start of season), at least 1 should really stand out. That has not happened. I think this scheme requires backs to be able to catch the ball, recognize a blitz (be able to pick it up), run tough and hit the hole or lane fast.

None can do all of that. TJones and POW can do at least a couple of those (not the same). One of these backs truly need to take the Buff by the horns and step up.
 
BTW, still confused why so many thought RB was a strength coming into the season.

Can't speak for others, but for me it was a relative thing as I felt like we knew what we were getting with the RBs. Pow showed he could be productive with solid line play, even though he's not the most explosive guy. Jones has the straight-line speed to get chunks of yards if he can find daylight, and Abron flashed athleticism to make guys miss and get up field. Relative to QB, WR and TE where there were a number of question marks, RB felt like more of a known commodity.
 
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Go back to when MM hired this staff,MM liked this staff as a group and most on this board did not. Lets let this play out for a few more games to see who was right.
 
Lawdogg has that one right. I'd like to see more explosiveness for sure out of the position, but most of this is on the offense, not the RBs. Daily Camera has a front page article today on this where Jones essentially states that the plays are not developing as they are designed.
 
I think the OL has done better than we feared in not letting Connor get sacked five times a game, but there are depth, talent and experience issues still. If the OL makes the holes I think we are ok at RB. I can't truly judge them until I see lanes though.
 
I think the OL has done better than we feared in not letting Connor get sacked five times a game, but there are depth, talent and experience issues still. If the OL makes the holes I think we are ok at RB. I can't truly judge them until I see lanes though.


Agreed.

Powell has been hurt. He says he is feeling better, hope so! There were signs of improvement late game against CAU. Suuuuure would be nice if that carries over!
 
The "Powell is hurt" argument does not hold up. 14 games into his career, he has been healthy for 9. That's a trend.
 
I think Powell is too slow for the pistol offense. None of our running backs look good, but he seems to be slow to get to the line of scrimmage. His better runs this year have come on the fullback dive, or when we are just lined up under center.

I know I am in the minority here, but I think Jones is the best option still. He looked lost in week one, dancing behind the line, but I thought he looked way more effective in week 2. Not great, but better then the others. I also think that Abron is capible, but he still tries to stretch everything outside.
 
I think Powell is too slow for the pistol offense. None of our running backs look good, but he seems to be slow to get to the line of scrimmage. His better runs this year have come on the fullback dive, or when we are just lined up under center.

I know I am in the minority here, but I think Jones is the best option still. He looked lost in week one, dancing behind the line, but I thought he looked way more effective in week 2. Not great, but better then the others. I also think that Abron is capible, but he still tries to stretch everything outside.

I have been concerned whether POW is the guy to catch the ball out of the backfield? Per bouncing to the outside with Abron, Jones reminds me of the same.... Which still makes me think our line has not gotten it done yet. I really do believe they can improve.... Late last game caught my eye. Damn this next game is going to be interesting if nothing else. We are at a fork in the road on a few fronts. Or just forked! :lol:
 
BTW, still confused why so many thought RB was a strength coming into the season.

I didn't see it as a strength, as I've been pretty clear on. But I did see Powell going for 1,000 yards this year and being a weapon in goal line / short yardage situations. Maybe he still will. We need that. If TJ could give us 50 AP yards a game (600 for the year), to go along with Pow's 1k rushing, that's about as high as our upside goes imo.
 
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