I was hopeful early on we would get to 6-7 wins and bowl eligibility this, year, but upon further review I think 5 is the more likely target with 4 not being a disappointment. Why my downward revision after an opening win?
Not because of coaching. I am very pleased by what I saw on both sides of the ball. We are a fundamentally sound football team with explosive potential on offense. For the first time since I have sat in the seats of JTS, win or lose, watching the game I really felt like our guys were well coached. Even in the peak of DMac's years which I greatly enjoyed, I didn't often feel we were as well coached as we could be, but lets not make this about the past shall we.
What concerns me now is that I don't believe we have the horses in the two deeps in the front seven on defense to be effective regardless of how well coached we are. Players can be the best tacklers, and know where to be on every play against every formation, but if you don't have the physical skills necessary to execute it isn't going to be pretty and that is what I am seeing. I don't think I can say with confidence that any of our front seven would definitely be a starter for any other team in the Big 12. We just don't have the guys up front defensively that we need right now.
Unfortunately this is likely a minimum 3 year problem. If you do a great job recruiting those positions this year and next year you, throw in a redshirt year and a year of learning to play in Big 12, you are looking at 3 years before we have the guys we need on the field, (assuming no recruiting misses). Juco's can speed that up, but I am not seeing any guys that we are in on yet that are sure fire impact guys in the front seven, and even then it has taken a year for most to be productive.
So I am going to try to learn patience and enjoy the offense, appreciate the effort from the players and coaches on defense and enjoy the games regardless.
Do you think we have the guys in the front seven that are what we need to compete? Who do you think we have in the front seven who would start on any or all teams in the B12?
Not because of coaching. I am very pleased by what I saw on both sides of the ball. We are a fundamentally sound football team with explosive potential on offense. For the first time since I have sat in the seats of JTS, win or lose, watching the game I really felt like our guys were well coached. Even in the peak of DMac's years which I greatly enjoyed, I didn't often feel we were as well coached as we could be, but lets not make this about the past shall we.
What concerns me now is that I don't believe we have the horses in the two deeps in the front seven on defense to be effective regardless of how well coached we are. Players can be the best tacklers, and know where to be on every play against every formation, but if you don't have the physical skills necessary to execute it isn't going to be pretty and that is what I am seeing. I don't think I can say with confidence that any of our front seven would definitely be a starter for any other team in the Big 12. We just don't have the guys up front defensively that we need right now.
Unfortunately this is likely a minimum 3 year problem. If you do a great job recruiting those positions this year and next year you, throw in a redshirt year and a year of learning to play in Big 12, you are looking at 3 years before we have the guys we need on the field, (assuming no recruiting misses). Juco's can speed that up, but I am not seeing any guys that we are in on yet that are sure fire impact guys in the front seven, and even then it has taken a year for most to be productive.
So I am going to try to learn patience and enjoy the offense, appreciate the effort from the players and coaches on defense and enjoy the games regardless.
Do you think we have the guys in the front seven that are what we need to compete? Who do you think we have in the front seven who would start on any or all teams in the B12?