Note to self...never invite 151 and Sausage to a tailgate party... I just don't see the value in bitching incessantly :dis:
This program was looking realistically at 2-3 NC shots this decade. We'll never see another one with this clown Miles in there. Pellini will be sacrificed at year's end, a FATTED CALF OFFERED UP to the bloodthirsty mob. Next year won't be any better, unless we get a great defensive coordinator in here, and they start dumping about 50mg valium into Miles before kickoff to turn him into a cheerleader, just a fat, dumb and happy clown out of the way of any serious coaching decisions and game-time adjustments.
The poor decision making skills by this coaching staff in the 1st 2 games, I'm sure were fully affected by the tragedy. Please. The faults with this coaching staff has had more to do with their game time decision making. You can't blame the tragedy on that. Yes there were mistakes by the players with fumbles and blown coverages, etc, so I am willing to let the players slide on some of those things and understand that practices have been affected by all that has happened. But I will continue to fault the coaches for the pitiful game time decisions and their lack of adjustments during the games. The coaches have made some terrible mistakes and they deserve to be questioned and it warrants REASONABLE discussion. With that said, it appears that the noise the fans and the media have made after the ASU and UT games that some things were changed from a coaching stand point. That being, not sitting on a lead and going 3 and out on offense in the 2nd half, and not playing prevent or very soft zones in the 2nd half to "protect" a lead. Also, the same soft zone for every play as in the ASU game has only resurfaced consistently once, and that was the 2nd half of the UT game. Much more aggressive defense in the MSU game and I believe that is due from rumblings in the media and fans and that they learned a lesson on the field.
Of course the coaching staff is at fault for many things. But the players have made their fair share of mistakes as well. A lot of the simple mistakes made by the players indicate that the team has been out of sync. You can't pin 100% of the negative on the coaching staff, as many here are.
I do not see anyone making excuses. The only point being made here is that it's not all in the coaching (or lack thereof).
That is my point also....I think this Staff is learning what the big boys (SEC) are all about. No one just steps into a Top 5 program w/o a bit of a learning curve... Adjustments have hopefully been made and this Staff has learned their lesson. I think the Vandy dink and dunk passing game will be interesting to watch this weekend.
We could lose to Auburn 65-0 and it still wouldn't change the fact that the fake punt against ASU was a silent audible by Chris Jackson. You don't know anything about football.
To date, I have not been overly impressed with Les Miles' reign as head coach. Sitting on a lead is something that Saban did, so its nothing new, but we don't quite have the defense to back it up, at least not yet. We have all been through alot since the hurricanes blew through here and of course it has taken some toll on us. I'm not sure it caused our coaching staff to screw up kicking a field goal at the end of the first half against Tennessee, but the effect of mother nature's wrath can't be ignored. Our defense has become more aggressive, but handling Mississippi St tells us very little. We all know what happened against Arizona St, but even against Tennessee receivers were getting open regularly all game long. During the first half they (Ainge and receivers) did not perform, during the second half they (Clausen and receivers) got things together. As pissed as I was all game long that Tennessee was regularly getting open, I blame the second half come back on our offense. You may not have noticed, but our offense did very little all game long. Our scores could almost fully be attributed to taking advantage of Tennessee's mistakes. Our defense was on the field way too long in the second half. It was obvious that going into overtime favored UT, but our coaches played scared, like we were #10 and they were #4. It seems that Fisher is quick to pull the reins from the QBs, it has happened in years previous. Throwing quick passes is not the most effective attack if the defense isn't forced to cover the whole field. Quick passes work when you play defense like LSU did against Arizona St, not like Tennessee did against LSU. Also, by calling so many misdirection plays I don't think Fisher utilizes the talent that we have. I want to give the coaching staff time; even under Saban talent alone led to two relatively mediocre seasons. I want to believe that given time things will gel and Les will prove his worth. I am, however, afraid that if things stay along the path of mediocrity (between 3-5 losses) the administration will be slow to pull the trigger. How long can we let things go before a change should be made? What amount of success do we demand for the football program? Another thing: Its disheartening that when mistakes are made the coaches don't admit it, but Saban was the same way. And did anyone here Miles drop a bomb in his postgame interview with Jordy after the Mississippi St game. Im pretty sure I heard it, and I cringed when I did.
