Mornin Mates...
Today's Topic = Misery Loves Company
So, are Todd Graham, Rich Rod and Jim Mora all lousy coaches who are vastly overpaid for what they do for their schools: ASU, AU and UCLA..??
Or, were they all just snake-bit this year given all the injuries they suffered, especially at the all important QB position..??
If you look at their respective records, I think it would be very hard to conclude and foolish to say that they are all crummy coaches...they've all won the South PAC title in their first five years on the job, using to a large extent, the players inherited from former coaches, supplemented with some of their players...
Both ASU and AU were not picked highly before the season began and basically ended up where predicted or near the bottom of the PAC totem pole, while UCLA vastly under-performed given their expectations for the season...
Would their respective seasons have ended differently if they had not had significant injuries to their starting QBs during the season..??
In the Sun Devils case, I would think that if Wilkins hadn't been injured that the Devils well may have won another couple of games, which would've changed our perception of the program at this point, to one degree or another...
Of course, this does not assuage the dreadful performance of our defense that was pathetic for the second straight season and that aspect of the program needs to be addressed immediately by Todd, as we all know...
As you know, I think the majority of the team's problems are associated with a lack of talent and/or quality depth at certain positions and, that if we get some better personnel in place at those positions, things will improve but there are also other elements at work here that we've been over numerous times already...
Aside from the talent and other associated issues (defensive philosophy and coaching) what the heck happened..??
I think that can be summarized in one word...demoralization...which happens when reality keeps smashing you over the head despite your efforts to do better...
Demoralization destroys the morale of players, bewilders coaches, fans and boosters and corrupts play on the field, which explains all the bad penalties that happened more and more as the season progressed...
And, you could easily point to the programs at ASU, AU and UCLA and make the case for what demoralization does when it kicks in and can't be shooed away...performance goes down and wins become a lot less likely...
On another related note, I don't know what changes, if any, Todd may make this off-season regarding his staff, defensive philosophy, recruiting strategy and vision for his football program, but I do know the importance of having continuity in the program and wonder how much losing all of those coaches and other football related personnel last year may have hindered everything this season, in addition to the injuries, etc...
Looking ahead, I know that on defense we need some bigger bodies along the DL, much better depth at LB and an almost complete rebuild of the secondary...
On offense, the only real question mark for me is at the all important QB position where Wilkins didn't do as well as I expected, keeping in mind that his OL didn't help him much and he was injured a lot that had to effect his performance significantly...
If Graham can correct those deficiencies in the off-season then I think we stand a pretty good chance of getting back on track and becoming a PAC contender rather than conference bottom feeder...
As always, I'll look forward to your feedback...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
Today's Topic = Misery Loves Company
So, are Todd Graham, Rich Rod and Jim Mora all lousy coaches who are vastly overpaid for what they do for their schools: ASU, AU and UCLA..??
Or, were they all just snake-bit this year given all the injuries they suffered, especially at the all important QB position..??
If you look at their respective records, I think it would be very hard to conclude and foolish to say that they are all crummy coaches...they've all won the South PAC title in their first five years on the job, using to a large extent, the players inherited from former coaches, supplemented with some of their players...
Both ASU and AU were not picked highly before the season began and basically ended up where predicted or near the bottom of the PAC totem pole, while UCLA vastly under-performed given their expectations for the season...
Would their respective seasons have ended differently if they had not had significant injuries to their starting QBs during the season..??
In the Sun Devils case, I would think that if Wilkins hadn't been injured that the Devils well may have won another couple of games, which would've changed our perception of the program at this point, to one degree or another...
Of course, this does not assuage the dreadful performance of our defense that was pathetic for the second straight season and that aspect of the program needs to be addressed immediately by Todd, as we all know...
As you know, I think the majority of the team's problems are associated with a lack of talent and/or quality depth at certain positions and, that if we get some better personnel in place at those positions, things will improve but there are also other elements at work here that we've been over numerous times already...
Aside from the talent and other associated issues (defensive philosophy and coaching) what the heck happened..??
I think that can be summarized in one word...demoralization...which happens when reality keeps smashing you over the head despite your efforts to do better...
Demoralization destroys the morale of players, bewilders coaches, fans and boosters and corrupts play on the field, which explains all the bad penalties that happened more and more as the season progressed...
And, you could easily point to the programs at ASU, AU and UCLA and make the case for what demoralization does when it kicks in and can't be shooed away...performance goes down and wins become a lot less likely...
On another related note, I don't know what changes, if any, Todd may make this off-season regarding his staff, defensive philosophy, recruiting strategy and vision for his football program, but I do know the importance of having continuity in the program and wonder how much losing all of those coaches and other football related personnel last year may have hindered everything this season, in addition to the injuries, etc...
Looking ahead, I know that on defense we need some bigger bodies along the DL, much better depth at LB and an almost complete rebuild of the secondary...
On offense, the only real question mark for me is at the all important QB position where Wilkins didn't do as well as I expected, keeping in mind that his OL didn't help him much and he was injured a lot that had to effect his performance significantly...
If Graham can correct those deficiencies in the off-season then I think we stand a pretty good chance of getting back on track and becoming a PAC contender rather than conference bottom feeder...
As always, I'll look forward to your feedback...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
