Just Some Thoughts and a Question on the Football Season.

[drednot57]

First, the one big question on my mind: Why are the O-linemen suffering so many knee injuries? Are the opposing D-linemen rolling our players into each other to cause them, or are our opponents diving for the knees and not being called for that?

Some thoughts on rumors I've been reading about:

• I believe a number of staff changes will occur at the season's end. My guess is the current DT coach will be moved to another position, or be fired. Maybe the same with the DE coach. The D-line has been relatively healthy, but rather unproductive. I don't believe anything will happen to coach Klenakis -- making the best of a patchwork group all year. I think the RB coach maybe let go.
• If there isn't significant improvement in the W-L record next year, then maybe we need to find another HC to carry this program forward.
• How does the Ath. Dept. administration at KU expect their football program to improve if they're going change the head coach every two years? It's definitely a good formula to continue to be a perennial doormat; for continued improvement? No, I don't think so.
• I believe Art Briles will end up as UT's new head coach after they hire their new AD (Oliver Luck?).

Fairly random, I know, but somethings I wanted to "get off my chest."

 

[WhatchaGonnaDo]

Shane Burnham will not be fired.

 

[CyFan61]

Oliver Luck's first hire at UT will be Nick Saban for over $8 mil/year.

 

[00clone]

First, the one big question on my mind: Why are the O-linemen suffering so many knee injuries? Are the opposing D-linemen rolling our players into each other to cause them, or are our opponents diving for the knees and not being called for that?

Some thoughts on rumors I've been reading about:

• I believe a number of staff changes will occur at the season's end. My guess is the current DT coach will be moved to another position, or be fired. Maybe the same with the DE coach. The D-line has been relatively healthy, but rather unproductive. I don't believe anything will happen to coach Klenakis -- making the best of a patchwork group all year. I think the RB coach maybe let go.
• If there isn't significant improvement in the W-L record next year, then maybe we need to find another HC to carry this program forward.
• How does the Ath. Dept. administration at KU expect their football program to improve if they're going change the head coach every two years? It's definitely a good formula to continue to be a perennial doormat; for continued improvement? No, I don't think so.
• I believe Art Briles will end up as UT's new head coach after they hire their new AD (Oliver Luck?).

Fairly random, I know, but somethings I wanted to "get off my chest."

Point #2, see point #3, please.

 

[drednot57]

Point #2, please see point #3, please.

We would have given CPR six years by then. All I want is significant improvement in the W-L record, not a Big12 title. Getting back to five to six wins would be a significant improvement as things stand right now.

 

[drednot57]

Oliver Luck's first hire at UT will be Nick Saban for over $8 mil/year.

Could there be a bidding war with 'Bama? 'Bama won't have to match UT dollar for dollar to be competitive, just close with some perks included. I'm thinking Saban's price is around $10M-$12M after all is said and done which may cause UT to balk, or maybe not.

 

[Tre4ISU]

RB coaches are usually recruiters. Basing their employmeny on performance doesn't happen an awful lot. I doubt Pope goes anywhere. I would say he's the safest of everyone outside of Klenakis. Shane won't go anywhere unless Wally leaves. Brey could move but I doubt it. I haven't thought the DEs were all that bad.

 

[khardbored]

RB coaches are usually recruiters. Basing their employmeny on performance doesn't happen an awful lot. I doubt Pope goes anywhere. I would say he's the safest of everyone outside of Klenakis. Shane won't go anywhere unless Wally leaves. Brey could move but I doubt it. I haven't thought the DEs were all that bad.

In another thread, someone said Pope was a crappy recruiter ... anybody know if that's accurate or not?

 

[Luth4Cy]

I always wonder if those who say the defensive tackles coach are the same ones talking about Shane as our next DC. It just seems like some people don't make that connection at all.

 

[Frak]

In another thread, someone said Pope was a crappy recruiter ... anybody know if that's accurate or not?

I don't know about crappy. But he's pretty old. He was coaching Barry Sanders back at OSU and before that Eric Dickerson at SMU. He does have TX ties (one of the few on the staff with Wells gone). That said, recruiting is kind of a young man's game. He's sitting at a position (RB coach) that is supposed to be for prime recruiters. Yet you hardly ever hear about him in recruit interviews.

My opinion is that you keep the Burnhams (elevate Shane to Co-DC with Wally), Douglas and Klenakis. CPR can keep Mess if he agrees to move back to WR coach. I would probably fire Bray, Bleil, Sturdy, Pope. Unfortunately, someone needs to take the blame for 1-11. Get some new coaches in with a little fire for the recruiting road. I'd also look VERY closely at what McKnight is doing.

 

[DuckDynastyCy]

Why would you want to fire a RB coach when the OL cannot run block and have been hurt much of the year? On top of that, the playcalling has been atrocious. I don't see any need to fire Pope, unless his recruiting is subpar, which I cannot comment on.

IMO, we obviously need a new OC who can not just call plays, but can orchestrate the offense, see trends in a game, adjust on the fly, and recruit. Someone that is a "system OC" and has an identity. An OC kids want to play for, has a reputation as an "up and comer" and has Texas or Florida ties. Critically important.

IMO, the coaches on the hot seat should be 1. Mess 2. possibly Bray based on recruiting and play of the DE position over the years (or lack thereof). 3. I'm not overly impressed with our DB coach, Douglas either. Just my opinion.

I think everyone else stays for sure. Time will tell.

 

[isutrevman]

I don't think anyone outside the program knows anything about who is, and who isn't a good recruiter. Just because a coach has his name attached to recruits doesn't mean he's the best recruiter. You have no idea how recruiting tasks are divided up among coaches. Some coaches are surely asked to do more recruiting than others, for various reasons. Pope isn't a good recruiter because his name isn't brought up in recruiting articles? He might not be a good recruiter, but that's a terrible reason to make that assumption.

 

[mt85]

My thoughts...

We need to cleanse the fanbase.

-We need to clear out all the whiners that panic in the face of adversity.

-We need to clear out all the light thinkers that believe a couple of morons selling recruiting rankings can accurately grade hundreds of thousands of football players relative to each other.

- We need to free ourselves of the "enlightened" ones that believe watching a two minute highlight tapes is all that is necessary to evaluate a recruit.

Then, we need should recruit fans that will acknowledge they've never been a BCS head football coach, and that they should leave the management of the program up to the one that is being paid to do that job.

 

[ChE2010]

Yes players have a "primary recruiter" but there was an article a while back stating that all of the coaches sit down and have some input on every recruit.

 

[Frak]

My thoughts...

We need to cleanse the fanbase.

-We need to clear out all the whiners that panic in the face of adversity.

-We need to clear out all the light thinkers that believe a couple of morons selling recruiting rankings can accurately grade hundreds of thousands of football players relative to each other.

- We need to free ourselves of the "enlightened" ones that believe watching a two minute highlight tapes is all that is necessary to evaluate a recruit.

Then, we need should recruit fans that will acknowledge they've never been a BCS head football coach, and that they should leave the management of the program up to the one that is being paid to do that job.

I don't know that I can "evaluate" a recruit off of a 2 minute highlight film, but I can weigh in. There are a lot of things that the video doesn't show...grades, attitude, leadership...you know, how he does in the classroom, locker room, weightroom, and society in general. I'm sure that the staff is screening those types of attributes. But as far as ability on the field, I DO think that people who have been paying attention to this stuff for years can get a pretty good read from the videos. Level of competition is always the thing that makes it difficult, but you can usually guage quickness, speed, aggressiveness, armstrength for a QB, hips for a DB, adjustment to the ball for a WR. You can kind of tell if an OL has a mean streak or if a DL gets off the ball quickly. I see no problem with weighing in on who the staff should offer or which commits are the best based off of videos.

 

[kberyldial]

Here would be some of your recruiting techniques - offer all the 4 and 5 star kids - get none. Wonder what happened. Amazing the lack of perspective on what Rhoads and company is trying to pull us out of. DECADES of average to below average football. It is a MASSIVE work in progress.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I don't know about crappy. But he's pretty old. He was coaching Barry Sanders back at OSU and before that Eric Dickerson at SMU. He does have TX ties (one of the few on the staff with Wells gone). That said, recruiting is kind of a young man's game. He's sitting at a position (RB coach) that is supposed to be for prime recruiters. Yet you hardly ever hear about him in recruit interviews.

My opinion is that you keep the Burnhams (elevate Shane to Co-DC with Wally), Douglas and Klenakis. CPR can keep Mess if he agrees to move back to WR coach. I would probably fire Bray, Bleil, Sturdy, Pope. Unfortunately, someone needs to take the blame for 1-11. Get some new coaches in with a little fire for the recruiting road. I'd also look VERY closely at what McKnight is doing.

I'm not sure I could imagine a better recruiting pitch than that (and our stable of running backs seems to prove this).

 

[Cyclonestate78]

My thoughts...

We need to cleanse the fanbase.

-We need to clear out all the whiners that panic in the face of adversity.

-We need to clear out all the light thinkers that believe a couple of morons selling recruiting rankings can accurately grade hundreds of thousands of football players relative to each other.

- We need to free ourselves of the "enlightened" ones that believe watching a two minute highlight tapes is all that is necessary to evaluate a recruit.

Then, we need should recruit fans that will acknowledge they've never been a BCS head football coach, and that they should leave the management of the program up to the one that is being paid to do that job.

This again? I get it... you want a bunch of sunshine pumpers who don't mind watching the Clones get rolled on the field every Saturday, who take it all in with a smile and a "Next year is our year" attitude, who blindly follows the staff who tells them that this is the most speed and talent that ISU has ever put on the field but on Saturdays they get run out of the stadium, etc... We don't want or need fans who are passionate about Cyclone Football. Who needs fans that are so devoted to the Clones they take the time to seek out information on ISU recruits, watch their videos, check the recruiting services, etc... ? We don't want them and we don't need them. Right? Who needs fans that are so devoted to the Clones that each time they lose a game it rips their heart out and pisses them off? We don't want them and we don't need them. Right? We need more fans that don't understand the game or really have that much passion for the game. We need more fans that lack the passion to stick around when times are tough... because we don't have room in the fanbase for the diehard fans that have stuck with the program through thick and thin. We need more "Hawk" style fans... the ones that show up when things are good but disappear when things are bad. I agree this fanbase needs to be cleansed but not of the diehard fans, not of the passionate fans, and not of the interested fans. It needs to be cleansed of the enablers. The folks who think that what we are seeing on the field this year is acceptable because... "ISU is making progress" or "Next year will be better".

Is it acceptable that guys like Jacques Washington, Shontrelle Johnson, Deon Broomfield, Jeff Woody, and the rest of the seniors on this team get to spend their final season at ISU getting embarrassed because "Next year the Clones will be better"? Not to me it isn't and not to a lot of the "whiners who panic in the face of adversity" it isn't. I am ****** about this season! I am disappointed for those kids because they have worked their ***** off in their time at ISU and their senior year which should be the greatest season of their college careers is going down in flames. They deserved better then this. This isn't just some throw away season that doesn't matter! Every season matters... Well at least it matters to a lot of the fans you want "cleansed" out of the fanbase.

 

[Wesley]

I don't know about crappy. But he's pretty old. He was coaching Barry Sanders back at OSU and before that Eric Dickerson at SMU. He does have TX ties (one of the few on the staff with Wells gone). That said, recruiting is kind of a young man's game. He's sitting at a position (RB coach) that is supposed to be for prime recruiters. Yet you hardly ever hear about him in recruit interviews.

My opinion is that you keep the Burnhams (elevate Shane to Co-DC with Wally), Douglas and Klenakis. CPR can keep Mess if he agrees to move back to WR coach. I would probably fire Bray, Bleil, Sturdy, Pope. Unfortunately, someone needs to take the blame for 1-11. Get some new coaches in with a little fire for the recruiting road. I'd also look VERY closely at what McKnight is doing.

My guess is Wally and Shane are our best assistant recruiters. Lose them and the Florida guys will not come as often our way.

 

[Wesley]

My thoughts...

We need to cleanse the fanbase.

-We need to clear out all the whiners that panic in the face of adversity.

-We need to clear out all the light thinkers that believe a couple of morons selling recruiting rankings can accurately grade hundreds of thousands of football players relative to each other.

- We need to free ourselves of the "enlightened" ones that believe watching a two minute highlight tapes is all that is necessary to evaluate a recruit.

Then, we need should recruit fans that will acknowledge they've never been a BCS head football coach, and that they should leave the management of the program up to the one that is being paid to do that job.

That is so nineties....