Good article on our situation

[freespirted305]

Good read...this guy should be Miami's beat reporter NOT Fat Manny, or Susan or any of the other idiots

 

[NoahZach]

Good read, but I don't think Coach Golden has exaggerated the state of the program he inherited, given the number of JUCO and transfer kids he has had to bring in to put a team together and the youth he has had to bring in and play early to address critical needs due to serious roster problems and decayed recruiting that preceded him.

That said, there's no excuse for that VT performance--none.

 

[capefearcane]

if anything that might have been the most unbiased thing ive read on any topic in a while

Vishnu does a good job as an analyst. If you look back in his blog a few weeks ago at his analysis of Morris' problems - you will immediately recognize his ability to isolate and analyze football situations. Note also something I forgot, how - even though they improved - Butch dropped his DC and brought in Schiano. The rest of course is not only history but - historic.

 

[John77]

Great article

 

[The Franchise]

That’s when the Miami fan base. . . which Al Golden is quickly discovering oscillates wildly between rabid anger and absurd bravado depending on how the team is playing.

Spot on.

Sounds like a majority of the members of this forum.

Sounds like the fans of every program that has been to the mountain top and then languished in the valleys.

 

[Consigliere]

What does SOS rank over 5 mean?

 

[The Franchise]

how is ti biased?

He actually said Golden exaggerated about the state of the program he inherited. Basically said the impact of the NCAA scandal was overblown (that's what i took him as inferring), talks about AG having all this talent (despite having signed only 2 full classes) but not overcoming the sanctions (on pace for a 10 win season isn't good enough apparently), says there has been no progress on the field (even if we've taken a step back, our strength at the point of attack is night and day different) & that we'd have a losing record if we played a tough schedule.. For a guy who doesn't like assuming, he did a lot of it. Quit reading there.

You say we're "on pace for a 10 win season". We've suffered 2 losses through 9 games, so that puts us on pace to lose 3 through 12. I have to also agree that I don't see the progress on the field either. I'm not sure what you mean when you say there's progress because we're stronger at the point of attack. That's not really translating on the field, as we just gave up over 500 yards and 40 points to a horrible offense that we pretty much stymied last year.

 

[RepTheGables]

What does SOS rank over 5 mean?

He's chosen to kind of normalize the SOS ranking. I guess dividing that string of numbers by five puts them in the same ballpark as the number of wins.

A second vertical axis on the right-hand side of the figure corresponding directly to SOS could have cleared that up. And Excel sucks. But Vish is the best Canes-centric writer out there, so he gets the freest of passes.

 

[Consigliere]

What does SOS rank over 5 mean?

He's chosen to kind of normalize the SOS ranking. I guess dividing that string of numbers by five puts them in the same ballpark as the number of wins.

A second vertical axis on the right-hand side of the figure corresponding directly to SOS could have cleared that up. And Excel sucks. But Vish is the best Canes-centric writer out there, so he gets the freest of passes.

So it is our SOS divided by 5?

Where does he get SOS, I always wanted to see some ranking of this like for college basketball but never found one.

USA Today has one but not sure how accurate it is...

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/

 

[The Franchise]

Good read, but I don't think Coach Golden has exaggerated the state of the program he inherited, given the number of JUCO and transfer kids he has had to bring in to put a team together and the youth he has had to bring in and play early to address critical needs due to serious roster problems and decayed recruiting that preceded him.

That said, there's no excuse for that VT performance--none.

The program was a toilet when Corch Al took over. There's no questioning that.

I think Corch Al's critics have a vaild concern with the lack of improvement on the field over 3 years though. The team has seemingly gotten worse and sloppier over the course of the season, and the corches are still blaming the players for not being able to execute the defense properly 3 years later. 3 years later, and we're still getting dragged all over the field and decimated by an offense whose even remotely decent opponents stifled.

There are some very valid concerns about the ability of this regime to get to the next level. They've taken us from a 3rd place Coastal team to a 2nd place Coastal team in 3 years. That's pretty weak overall.

 

[mapcane]

Golden and Doh! are using the same ******* excuses that every coach uses when their scheme and coaching is exploited and bent over the table like a two-bit hooker: namely, that it's the player's fault for not know their assignments. Dudes, most of our starters have been learning this scheme since at least August 2012. We don't start ANY freshmens. It's all sophomores and up. If you can't teach and properly implement a scheme over the span of almost two full ******* seasons, including two fall camps and two spring camps, then something is wrong with your scheme, your coaching, and you're only recruiting dudes who score a 4 on the Wonderlic.

This season we have been a ******* sham. I've felt it all along, and even expressed discomfort with the way we beat the Gaytors, but I've held out in overly criticizing anything unless we lost. But now that we have been humiliated twice in row, including once by a mediocre-at-best squad, it's time to be honest about what we're seeing on the field. We're seeing no facking progress. We got lucky that we played UF in a year where they are more than just "down," they're downright bad and just got lit up by Vandy. Otherwise, besides that win, what have we done? We beat USF and Savannah St, two teams that Central would woodshed, handily; looked like *** against FA-*******-U; and then we've struggled against all of the mediocre ACC teams we've played (Wake, UNC, GT). And since those bull**** 7 wins, we've looked like a team that hasn't practiced all year. It's a joke.

I like Golden. I think he's incredibly organized and motivated, which are really the keys to good recruiting. But there is no evidence that he can coach our guys up. None. This year we have not beaten one, not one, good team. We're going to fail to win the ******* Coastal Division of the ACC. These are his recruits; his kids. His last recruiting class was a ******* **** -- not one immediate starter or major, bigtime contributor from the class thus far. His evaluations in his earlier classes look pretty ****-poor. He's fortunate because he can hide behind the unknown -- meaning, he can argue that recruiting has suffered greatly because of sanctions, but we really don't know that. How many of the kids we lost have come out and said that?

Again, as always, the key question is this: is Golden taking our talent and maximizing it, or not? I say NO, he's not. With someone like Art Briles at the helm, this team would have bukkaked VT. That's what this program needs. Not a spokesperson who handles the media well and wears cute ties. We need someone who can take South Florida talent and speed, and use it to create a schematic advantage over other teams. We need someone innovative. Recruiting alone is not enough. With our ****** stadium situation, and our resources compared to other large schools, we're going to continue losing key local recruits to Bama, UGA, FSU, etc. That's not going to change. So, let's do the best we can to corral the local kids, and let's get someone who has shown the ability to implement schemes and football IQ in a manner that creates obvious results in excess of the actual talent on the field.

This is more of a directionless rant than anything else, but I'm just tired. I'm tired of getting my hopes up that this storied program can return to its previous heights, only to eventually be disappointed like the fat girl not being asked to prom.

 

[LA\^/]

I wanna neg the **** out of that guy.

 

[L A M P]

The team has seemingly gotten worse and sloppier over the course of the season

That is my biggest concern (outside of the defense). Last year we finished strong.. this year we seem to be regressing. Well coached teams usually finish well. (hopefully this is just an abberation) Touché on the "on pace" comment.. I just meant we would be favored in all 3 remaining games. Is there cause for concern? Sure. Has AG earned the right to address them after the season? I think so.. Enough with all the doom and gloom. IF we end up 10-2, this season was a step in the right direction.

 

[Consigliere]

A few things Map:

1. I agree with most of your post and I am losing a ton of confidence in the CEO. I hear what you are saying and you are right for the most part.

2. That UF team that Vandy played is not the UF team we played. I don't care what people say but we played a team that had the following:

Dominique Easley (Starting DT)
Tyler Moore (Starting OL)
D.J. Humphries (Starting OL)
Matt Jones (Starting RB)

So I don't think it is fair to say Vandy blew them out and simply discredit our win. It was a big game and UF has had bad luck this year with injuries, the team everyone played is not the same as the team we played.

3. As for Art Briles, I don't know what to say. The guy has made Baylor a good program, he took them from irrelevant to very relevant.

2008 (52): 4-8 (2-6)
2009 (53): 4-8 (1-7)
2010 (54): 7-6 (4-5)
2011 (55): 10-3 (6-3)
2012 (56): 8-5 (4-5)
2013 (57): 8-0 (5-0)

It took him some time but it is hard to question what he is doing. I expect him to move on after this season.

4. As for the recruiting, I think Golden is doing a great job and that is with the NCAA BS.

 

[The Franchise]

The team has seemingly gotten worse and sloppier over the course of the season

That is my biggest concern (outside of the defense). Last year we finished strong.. this year we seem to be regressing. Well coached teams usually finish well. (hopefully this is just an abberation) Touché on the "on pace" comment.. I just meant we would be favored in all 3 remaining games. Is there cause for concern? Sure. Has AG earned the right to address them after the season? I think so.. Enough with all the doom and gloom. IF we end up 10-2, this season was a step in the right direction.

We should be favored the final 3 games, but we were favored against Vag Tech too. Good, well-coached teams improve over the course of the season. Good coaches always say the best game should be the next game. We're going the opposite way.

Let's see what happens. I'm ready for the Duke game. If we go 10-2 it'll be nice, but losing the Coastal will make the season a failure. I'll take the record, but losing the Coastal is a big fail.

 

[Gatorhater]

He is wrong about one thing. I for one actually thought we had a shot at the NC this year--until Tally. But then again, it is a reach to call me rational. But it is nice to know that someone noticed we are really ticked off.

 

[capefearcane]

He is wrong about one thing. I for one actually thought we had a shot at the NC this year--until Tally. But then again, it is a reach to call me rational. But it is nice to know that someone noticed we are really ticked off.

Like that "a reach to call me rational" HA! Made me smile.

 

[L A M P]

I'll take the record, but losing the Coastal is a big fail.

I don't really mind not playing FSU again w/o Duke, Dorsett & a broke ankle Morris. If it works out right, we could end the season on a high note (11-2 record, 4 game winning streak) & have momentum going into signing day/spring ball.

 

[mapcane]

We had no shot of winning a title. While Bama and FSU were pasting teams, we were barely getting by mediocre ACC teams.

 

[The Franchise]

I'll take the record, but losing the Coastal is a big fail.

I don't really mind not playing FSU again w/o Duke, Dorsett & a broke ankle Morris. If it works out right, we could end the season on a high note (11-2 record, 4 game winning streak) & have momentum going into signing day/spring ball.

Dorsett's loss is being overhyped by people looking for reasons for our failures. Coley's a better overall WR and just as good at getting open deep. The loss of Duke sucks for sure. I'd still love another chance to spoil fsu's dreams.