Two things
- Are we not allowed to openly express our concerns? I mean Wesley said no one had concerns last year but if we voice them we get scolded. Damned if we do, damned if we don't
You know, it's kinda funny you mention that when quoting my post, especially when I explicitly said in my post
Here's the thing you're completely discounting, though - just how many of those recruits that CPR/Herman realistically have a chance at getting are truly going to be ready to play their first year in the system? Probably none of them, because the kind of recruit that CPR/Herman realistically is going to be able to land is going to need several years of development before they're ready to play at any capacity in the Big 12, whether it's on the OL, RB, WR, or on defense. CPR/Herman just isn't going to get many of those "readymade" BCS players you insist should be helping us win games after 1-2 years simply because CPR/Herman isn't going to be able to land those kinds of players until CPR proves he can win by developing LESSER players, which takes MUCH LONGER than 1-2 years to do. This isn't D-I basketball - you can't build a well-oiled, stable machine at a school like ISU in just 3 years (I think it's debatable in basketball as well, but at least I can see a case for the argument). Not when CPR first has to prove that he can develop lesser talent into winners - and the fruits of that kind of labor doesn't start showing up until 4-5 years into a tenure. You don't give CPR, Herman, and Burnham until 2014-15 to right this ship, or any other ISU football coach at least 4-5 years, you're never going allow a stable situation to be built that can prove that talent can be developed.
THAT'S why you don't seriously judge the job that CPR, Herman, or Burnham have done after 1.5 years. Obviously there is room for questioning, but saying that Herman sucks after 1.5 years is totally jumping the shark. The guy didn't forget how to coach - and he wouldn't have built the offense at Rice that he did if he didn't know how to coach. It's just going to take longer than 1.5 years to get the talent in here to be competitive.
And if you can't wait 3-4 more years for regular winning, then perhaps it's time to find a different bandwagon to jump on, because football is never going to be that easy at ISU.
I would honestly love to know why Herman doesn't "shake it up" a little bit. It's clear Arnaud is not comfortable with the offensive system, and defenses are starting to take away the zone read. However, there are people that take the opposite extreme as well. They think Herman's offense should have been working starting last year, and want to blame everything from the lack of players to lack of execution on him. I'll lay blame on Herman for not wanting to turn to the next chapter in the play book, but I'm not going to blame him for players not doing their job (making correct reads, throwing catchable balls, catching catchable balls, blocking, etc), nor am I going to blame him for not having the players for his system yet, considering he's only been here 1.5 years, and of his two recruiting classes, the first is a patchwork of retaining Chizik recruits and getting what all was left over, and hasn't had anywhere near enough time to develop the second recruiting class. Speaking of which,
- Herman had three special players at Rice. Two of which are on NFL rosters and one plays in the UFL. At Rice he had three proefessional caliber players playing against conference USA defenses. One could argue he had more talent in his offense at Rice than we do here. Now go see how well he did against the big boys at Rice. Scored 24 points against Texas in two years at Rice.
Witht hat said, I am more than happy to give him 4 years at ISU. Never said he should be let go or that we should even consider it. It is apparent withall the guys we are redshirting,that we are building for year 3-4.
What special players has Herman had to coach here?
ARob? Maybe. But he's certainly no Troy Davis, who was unstoppable in some of the worst teams ISU ever put on the field.
Arnaud? :biglaugh:
Any of ISU's WRs? :biglaugh: A lot of the time they're a major part of why we rip on Arnaud.
Look, I never said you personally were wanting to replace Herman immediately. But it certainly seems like that sentiment is present here. I think 4 years is a MINIMUM to which Herman should get, and the reason why I say 4 minimum is because year 1 has to be a toss-out. Herman needs time to prove he can develop his players to play his offense.
If in 2013-2014 we're still having this conversation with the offense, I'll agree Herman probably needs to be replaced. And I will totally agree that it's fair to question right now why Herman won't try something new when what he wants to do just won't work with the players that he currently has. However, as for calling it "open season" on judging Herman's ability to coach ISU's offense, it's far too early for that.
