After listening to several interviews with Al Golden, I can summarize in one word what he's feeling: FRUSTRATION. Frustrated that he's now into his 3rd recruiting class, and the threat of NCAA sanctions continue to loom. Frustrated that teams can continue to use the threat of NCAA sanctions to steer kids away from UM. Frustrated that UM self imposed recruiting restrictions that included scholarship and official visit limitations. Frustrated that he's had to opt out of two bowl and an ACC Championship game. Frustrated that he has to deal with egotistical high school coaches who feel that every kid they coach is worthy of a scholarship to UM, and have no problem publicly bad mouthing him, the coaching staff, and the UM program when they have differing opinions. Golden has done a good job considering the circumstances; however, until circumstances change we will continue to struggle filling recruiting classes, we will continue to lose important head to head battles with rival schools, and will continue to face an uphill battle in recruiting players from our own backyard, whose minds have been polluted by outside sources about the UM program. Just my opinion, but I believe based upon fact.
In Al Golden's own words, he said that we FAILED at the DT position. When asked what could be done to fill an obvious and huge need, he basically conceded that their was NOTHING that could be done. Sure, he cited a late qualifier was a possibility or a JUCO transfer; however, he expressed that because of the NCAA situation, JUCO players who often only have 2 years of eligiiblity left, don't want to risk playing for a school that is subject to possible NCAA sanctions. Basically, we are screwed at this postion until at least 2015. At at what is the most important position on the defensive side of the ball, we have NOTHING. This year will be a repeat of last year, and even scarier, situation the following year looks much worse. Let's take a look at some stats for last year, and the the personnel we have coming back:
Last year's defensive stats:
Total Defense-Ranked 117
Pass Defense-Ranked 101
Sacks-Ranked 112
Tackles for Loss-Ranked 102
Total Sacks-11 (some teams get this in 6 quarters of play)
Rush yards given up per game-Over 200
Keep in mind, this is against ACC competition that included Duke, BC, and a non-conference game against Bethune Cookman, and the best we could do was 11 sacks?
These stats are a direct reflection of a lack of playmakers along the defensive line, particularly at DT. Every one of these stats, including pass defense is directly correlated to the play of the DL. Last year, there was no pass rush generated, evidenced by the only 11 sacks for the entire season. Now, let's take a look at the peronnel we have:
Olsen Pierre-Our leading tackler at DT with 27 tackles; however, he ranked 16th on the team. Anytime your starting DT, who played in 11 games is 16th on the team in total tackles, it's a terrible sign.
Corey King-Played in 9 games and registered 13 tackles. Less than 1.5 a game. Ranked 24th on the team.
Luther Robinson-Played in 10 games, registered 13 tackled. Averaged 1.3 a game
Early Moore-6 tackled, played in 12 games. .5 tackes /game.
Curtis Porter-9 Tackles played in 4 games. Basically 2/game. Our most physical DT; however, has never played an entire season and durability continues to be an issue.
Dequan Ivery-9 Tackles
Jalen Grimble-8 Tackles
Out of nearly 1000 possible opportunities to make tackles, our DT's accounted for less 90, and a grand totoal of 2 sacks.
Ladies and gentleman, if you can give me a reason why I should be optimistic about our defense this year, please try to convince me. The way I see it, we'll be lining up the same mediocre (and I use that term generously) talen at DT that we did last year, that resultined in over 2,400 rush yards allowed to our opponents. The only difference I see, is that our mediocre talen will be a year older.
Now, why was I so pessimistic about our recruiting? The biggest and most important need on our team didn't get filled. This wasn't about next year, this was about the future. The DLine you saw last year, we are now stuck with for 2 more years. There is NO new infustion of talent to be otimistic about. Some will say.....you have to develop the talent you have.....Sure.....of course you do; however, how high is the ceiling on the players we do have. You can't develop talent beyond the ceiling of a player. You generally can't make a player much more explosive than they are. You can't make a player much faster than they are. You can't make a player have any more God given ability than they have. You can maximize what they have, sure......but my doubts lie with how much natural talent exists with these players. When watching them, I see no explosion, no punch, no drive.....just space eaters that lean on the OL, and consequently get pushed around.
Strikeout #2-RB. Yes, we arguably have the best RB in the ACC and one of the best in college football; however, he is not built like a Trent Richardson or Lacy from Alabama. I don't think it would be wise to utilize him as an every down back. Again, great starter, poor depth. As much as some like Edwards, no one really knows how talented he is. He played against competion in NY, which is notoriously terrible, and will be a freshman. Eduardo Clements and Maurice Hagans combined for 19 carries and 77 yards this year. Ladies and gentleman, these are your back-ups for the 2013 season. If the NCAA wasn't in play, we land Collins, no doubt about it.
QB-It's great we finally have depth. Don't settle, go out and recruit the best one available next year also!!
DB-Studs. The future of our backfield is in great shape; however, need a pass rush to help those guys out. Hope we don't see another year in which there are 5 DB's that have more tackles than our top DL.
Please stop with the argument that we didn't need Collins because of Sony Michel and Davon Cook. There is no gurantee that either of them will be Canes. If the NCAA investigation is not over, you think they would commit to UM over FSU, UF, Alabama, Clemson, etc? We can't keep justifying our misses by kicking the can down the road and saying, well....next year is loaded at DT or RB......I've been hearing the same thing about DT for 5 years now. In recruiting you try to load up EVERY YEAR, and then the following year try to land eveyr player AGAIN, and then AGAIN, and then AGAIN!!!!!
My biggest frustration the last 5 years in terms of recruiting is the contant inbalance in our classes. A typical recruiting class should generlaly include 4DL, 4DB, 4LB, 4OL, 1 QB, 2RB, 4 WR. Instead, there are years where we are taking 5 wr's and no DL. 5 LB's and no QB's etc......What you end up with is trememdous depth at one position and no depth at others. We need to somehow get back to balance in our recruiting.
One of the most interesting aspects of spring ball and this coming year will be the type of offense that Coley runs. I haven't done my research, and am not sure what he ran at FIU; however, it should be interesting to see how much it resembles the FSU offense that we've seen since Jimbo took over. Right now it's not conducive to our personnel, but I wish we would transition to more of an offense that is being run at Oregon. The no huddle fast paced offense would absolutely kill teams in the heat and humidity of South Florida. lI know that UM has always been known as a Pro-Style offensive team; however, if NFL teams can change, so can UM. In all seriousness, look at the success of Washington, San Francisco, and to a lesser extent Carolina has had with mobile dual threat QB's. Who would have ever thought that you would see the Pistol Offense being the primary offense for teams in the NFL? The talent available at the skill positions in South Florida would make the transition to that style of offense optimal. Again, live life looking through the windshield, and NOT the REAR VIEW MIRROR!!!
Lastly, I wish we would leave the ACC. I don't know if there are any options out there, but I think we should be exploring every opportunity to join the SEC. As much as I hate to admit it, right now, that's where its at in football. The SEC schools can promise kids that they'll be on national TV every week, that they are just about guaranteed to have at least one representative in the National Championship Game, and that they'll be playing in front of a pack crowed of 75,000 every week. Compare that to the ACC, where Clemson is the only school that can promise an atmosphere similar to that of the SEC. Otherwise, your looking at a conference full of teams that struggle to sell out, their teams rarely play in prime-time, and a conference in which half the teams have stadiums that hold less than 45,000 people. When the worst school in the SEC (exception Vanderbilt) can make promises that the best school in the ACC can't live up to, RECRUITING ADVANTAGE SEC.
In Al Golden's own words, he said that we FAILED at the DT position. When asked what could be done to fill an obvious and huge need, he basically conceded that their was NOTHING that could be done. Sure, he cited a late qualifier was a possibility or a JUCO transfer; however, he expressed that because of the NCAA situation, JUCO players who often only have 2 years of eligiiblity left, don't want to risk playing for a school that is subject to possible NCAA sanctions. Basically, we are screwed at this postion until at least 2015. At at what is the most important position on the defensive side of the ball, we have NOTHING. This year will be a repeat of last year, and even scarier, situation the following year looks much worse. Let's take a look at some stats for last year, and the the personnel we have coming back:
Last year's defensive stats:
Total Defense-Ranked 117
Pass Defense-Ranked 101
Sacks-Ranked 112
Tackles for Loss-Ranked 102
Total Sacks-11 (some teams get this in 6 quarters of play)
Rush yards given up per game-Over 200
Keep in mind, this is against ACC competition that included Duke, BC, and a non-conference game against Bethune Cookman, and the best we could do was 11 sacks?
These stats are a direct reflection of a lack of playmakers along the defensive line, particularly at DT. Every one of these stats, including pass defense is directly correlated to the play of the DL. Last year, there was no pass rush generated, evidenced by the only 11 sacks for the entire season. Now, let's take a look at the peronnel we have:
Olsen Pierre-Our leading tackler at DT with 27 tackles; however, he ranked 16th on the team. Anytime your starting DT, who played in 11 games is 16th on the team in total tackles, it's a terrible sign.
Corey King-Played in 9 games and registered 13 tackles. Less than 1.5 a game. Ranked 24th on the team.
Luther Robinson-Played in 10 games, registered 13 tackled. Averaged 1.3 a game
Early Moore-6 tackled, played in 12 games. .5 tackes /game.
Curtis Porter-9 Tackles played in 4 games. Basically 2/game. Our most physical DT; however, has never played an entire season and durability continues to be an issue.
Dequan Ivery-9 Tackles
Jalen Grimble-8 Tackles
Out of nearly 1000 possible opportunities to make tackles, our DT's accounted for less 90, and a grand totoal of 2 sacks.
Ladies and gentleman, if you can give me a reason why I should be optimistic about our defense this year, please try to convince me. The way I see it, we'll be lining up the same mediocre (and I use that term generously) talen at DT that we did last year, that resultined in over 2,400 rush yards allowed to our opponents. The only difference I see, is that our mediocre talen will be a year older.
Now, why was I so pessimistic about our recruiting? The biggest and most important need on our team didn't get filled. This wasn't about next year, this was about the future. The DLine you saw last year, we are now stuck with for 2 more years. There is NO new infustion of talent to be otimistic about. Some will say.....you have to develop the talent you have.....Sure.....of course you do; however, how high is the ceiling on the players we do have. You can't develop talent beyond the ceiling of a player. You generally can't make a player much more explosive than they are. You can't make a player much faster than they are. You can't make a player have any more God given ability than they have. You can maximize what they have, sure......but my doubts lie with how much natural talent exists with these players. When watching them, I see no explosion, no punch, no drive.....just space eaters that lean on the OL, and consequently get pushed around.
Strikeout #2-RB. Yes, we arguably have the best RB in the ACC and one of the best in college football; however, he is not built like a Trent Richardson or Lacy from Alabama. I don't think it would be wise to utilize him as an every down back. Again, great starter, poor depth. As much as some like Edwards, no one really knows how talented he is. He played against competion in NY, which is notoriously terrible, and will be a freshman. Eduardo Clements and Maurice Hagans combined for 19 carries and 77 yards this year. Ladies and gentleman, these are your back-ups for the 2013 season. If the NCAA wasn't in play, we land Collins, no doubt about it.
QB-It's great we finally have depth. Don't settle, go out and recruit the best one available next year also!!
DB-Studs. The future of our backfield is in great shape; however, need a pass rush to help those guys out. Hope we don't see another year in which there are 5 DB's that have more tackles than our top DL.
Please stop with the argument that we didn't need Collins because of Sony Michel and Davon Cook. There is no gurantee that either of them will be Canes. If the NCAA investigation is not over, you think they would commit to UM over FSU, UF, Alabama, Clemson, etc? We can't keep justifying our misses by kicking the can down the road and saying, well....next year is loaded at DT or RB......I've been hearing the same thing about DT for 5 years now. In recruiting you try to load up EVERY YEAR, and then the following year try to land eveyr player AGAIN, and then AGAIN, and then AGAIN!!!!!
My biggest frustration the last 5 years in terms of recruiting is the contant inbalance in our classes. A typical recruiting class should generlaly include 4DL, 4DB, 4LB, 4OL, 1 QB, 2RB, 4 WR. Instead, there are years where we are taking 5 wr's and no DL. 5 LB's and no QB's etc......What you end up with is trememdous depth at one position and no depth at others. We need to somehow get back to balance in our recruiting.
One of the most interesting aspects of spring ball and this coming year will be the type of offense that Coley runs. I haven't done my research, and am not sure what he ran at FIU; however, it should be interesting to see how much it resembles the FSU offense that we've seen since Jimbo took over. Right now it's not conducive to our personnel, but I wish we would transition to more of an offense that is being run at Oregon. The no huddle fast paced offense would absolutely kill teams in the heat and humidity of South Florida. lI know that UM has always been known as a Pro-Style offensive team; however, if NFL teams can change, so can UM. In all seriousness, look at the success of Washington, San Francisco, and to a lesser extent Carolina has had with mobile dual threat QB's. Who would have ever thought that you would see the Pistol Offense being the primary offense for teams in the NFL? The talent available at the skill positions in South Florida would make the transition to that style of offense optimal. Again, live life looking through the windshield, and NOT the REAR VIEW MIRROR!!!
Lastly, I wish we would leave the ACC. I don't know if there are any options out there, but I think we should be exploring every opportunity to join the SEC. As much as I hate to admit it, right now, that's where its at in football. The SEC schools can promise kids that they'll be on national TV every week, that they are just about guaranteed to have at least one representative in the National Championship Game, and that they'll be playing in front of a pack crowed of 75,000 every week. Compare that to the ACC, where Clemson is the only school that can promise an atmosphere similar to that of the SEC. Otherwise, your looking at a conference full of teams that struggle to sell out, their teams rarely play in prime-time, and a conference in which half the teams have stadiums that hold less than 45,000 people. When the worst school in the SEC (exception Vanderbilt) can make promises that the best school in the ACC can't live up to, RECRUITING ADVANTAGE SEC.
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