Post mortem from the Olympus Valley
Dec 31, 2023 13:43:51 GMT -6
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bb4au, auallin, and 3 more like this
Post by Jet on Dec 31, 2023 13:43:51 GMT -6
Forewarned is fair warned. It’s long. It gets its own thread as not to clutter up anyone else’s thread. Could’ve written a bunch more.
—-
So what to make of all this? It deserves a fair look in the macro and the micro.
In the micro, yesterday was a mess. In retrospect, we should have expected it.
Our two best defensive players (Harris and Simpson) were out and we were playing guys out of position. Offensively, our best wide receiver was out and the rest were like the unpopped kernels on the bag of microwave popcorn.
QB1 didn’t get help, and he went from not very good to bad in a hurry. Jarquez seemed uninspired but it was hard to tell because we hardly blocked a soul all day.
Oscar Chapman defended the honor of Arryn Siposs with his perfectly executed fake punt.
That and the Hank Brown performance were the only things I saw to give me any thing to grab onto.
So, what to make about all of this?
A year ago, we were a complete mess in every single phase of the program — recruiting, development, game-day coaching/game prep, and program alignment.
What’s different today?
Our power brokers and administration are aligned unlike any other time in the last 40 years. But Freeze isn’t a cause of that. He’s more symptomatic.
Recruiting? It’s incredible. It’s the one standard he’s met and exceeded.
Development? His staff got more out of maybe a handful of players than Harsin’s staff — Asante, for sure. But beyond that, it gets debatable.
Game-day coaching has been spotty at best. Four games — aTm, LSU, NMSU, and Maryland — we looked completely unprepared and/or uninspired.
A lot of the game looked like guys who have been told — or know — that they are leaving and they were just waiting out their notice or to be told to clean out their lockers. Auburn was not the only team this bowl season to have this occur.
I think Hugh, in some ways, has made his job more difficult for himself than it had to be.
I think it’s fair to say that the continual reminders from Hugh about the roster have created some issues. In the New Mexico State and Maryland games, I saw lack of hustle and commitment.
We can argue that it speaks to a lack of fortitude — or even character — but it can just as easily, and perhaps best, attributed to a lack of belief from their head coach.
In retrospect, we don’t want coach speak but maybe we could have used a little bit.
Recruiting is the coach’s most important job, and Hugh is reinforcing his rep as an elite recruiter. But it’s not his only job. His seeming detachment from game prep made amplifies the performance issues. The vast difference between how we played in the uat, uga, Arky and Vandy games vs. aTm, LSU and New Mexico State is head-scratching.
I’m not sure we wouldn’t have been better without Jarquez this season. He looked slower and less intuitive than he’s been in the past.
I agreed with the logic to stand pat with Thorne — the market is too expensive for a QB. We have other huge needs in the OL, DL, at LB and in the secondary. Today, I’m not so sure. I understand Hank Brown made hay against reserves. But I also noticed that receivers were running crisper routes when he was in. I think you have to take another look at the portal.
YellaFella needs to seek a $&@% load of 2x4s.
In the macro, it’s over. We lost a meaningless game. It was ugly and embarrassing. I don’t think for a second it will be a deciding factor in whether Ryan Williams comes to Auburn or uat.
I’m actually encouraged to hear some players say that the culture needs fixing. Hugh needs some fixing, too. Montgomery needs to go. Not because he’s a bad coach, but he’s been effectively neutered — fairly or not. Our offense lacked continuity all year. So it needs to get fixed.
I don’t blame Hugh for emphasizing recruiting. I fault him how he’s handled some of the transition. He over-managed the fans and under-managed the team.
Big-time college football has changed rapidly in the seven years since Hugh left Ole Miss. I don’t think you can get away with saying “I wasn’t too involved” in game prep. With the NIL and portal factors, I think you have to be involved with everything.
The rap on Hugh is that he’s a snake-oil salesman. There’s more than a few Auburn fans who believe he’s unfit for the job. He’s given those who want to say that some more ammunition. But it’s just as equally defensible to say he was left one of baldy’s flaming bags of poo in terms of talent. They would say he had to make a bold choice to recruit non-stop and let the football take care of itself.
Back to the beginning, I looked at the four areas of concern.
Freeze gets an A for recruiting. He gets a pass in the pass/fail grade on alignment. But he gets a D in game prep/game day and player development.
I think he knew that was entirely possible because he made the calculated decision to work for the long build. He was willing to risk it.
Unlike Bowden, Chizik, and Malzahn, the cupboard was bare upon arrival. They only needed a few pieces and mental adjustment to have early success.
The closest comparisons to this season are 1976, 1981 and 1999. Barfield, Dye and Tuberville inherited messes. Freeze did, too, but there’s no comparison to the landscape of college football today.
When going through the mental gymnastics of the worst case scenario of determining his course for 2023, I presume where we sit right now was pretty much it.
Shake the dust from your feet and move on. In the macro, yesterday only mattered in that it likely caused a course correction at QB.
Go recruit. There’s no doubt that it’s the most important thing he can do right now.
—-
So what to make of all this? It deserves a fair look in the macro and the micro.
In the micro, yesterday was a mess. In retrospect, we should have expected it.
Our two best defensive players (Harris and Simpson) were out and we were playing guys out of position. Offensively, our best wide receiver was out and the rest were like the unpopped kernels on the bag of microwave popcorn.
QB1 didn’t get help, and he went from not very good to bad in a hurry. Jarquez seemed uninspired but it was hard to tell because we hardly blocked a soul all day.
Oscar Chapman defended the honor of Arryn Siposs with his perfectly executed fake punt.
That and the Hank Brown performance were the only things I saw to give me any thing to grab onto.
So, what to make about all of this?
A year ago, we were a complete mess in every single phase of the program — recruiting, development, game-day coaching/game prep, and program alignment.
What’s different today?
Our power brokers and administration are aligned unlike any other time in the last 40 years. But Freeze isn’t a cause of that. He’s more symptomatic.
Recruiting? It’s incredible. It’s the one standard he’s met and exceeded.
Development? His staff got more out of maybe a handful of players than Harsin’s staff — Asante, for sure. But beyond that, it gets debatable.
Game-day coaching has been spotty at best. Four games — aTm, LSU, NMSU, and Maryland — we looked completely unprepared and/or uninspired.
A lot of the game looked like guys who have been told — or know — that they are leaving and they were just waiting out their notice or to be told to clean out their lockers. Auburn was not the only team this bowl season to have this occur.
I think Hugh, in some ways, has made his job more difficult for himself than it had to be.
I think it’s fair to say that the continual reminders from Hugh about the roster have created some issues. In the New Mexico State and Maryland games, I saw lack of hustle and commitment.
We can argue that it speaks to a lack of fortitude — or even character — but it can just as easily, and perhaps best, attributed to a lack of belief from their head coach.
In retrospect, we don’t want coach speak but maybe we could have used a little bit.
Recruiting is the coach’s most important job, and Hugh is reinforcing his rep as an elite recruiter. But it’s not his only job. His seeming detachment from game prep made amplifies the performance issues. The vast difference between how we played in the uat, uga, Arky and Vandy games vs. aTm, LSU and New Mexico State is head-scratching.
I’m not sure we wouldn’t have been better without Jarquez this season. He looked slower and less intuitive than he’s been in the past.
I agreed with the logic to stand pat with Thorne — the market is too expensive for a QB. We have other huge needs in the OL, DL, at LB and in the secondary. Today, I’m not so sure. I understand Hank Brown made hay against reserves. But I also noticed that receivers were running crisper routes when he was in. I think you have to take another look at the portal.
YellaFella needs to seek a $&@% load of 2x4s.
In the macro, it’s over. We lost a meaningless game. It was ugly and embarrassing. I don’t think for a second it will be a deciding factor in whether Ryan Williams comes to Auburn or uat.
I’m actually encouraged to hear some players say that the culture needs fixing. Hugh needs some fixing, too. Montgomery needs to go. Not because he’s a bad coach, but he’s been effectively neutered — fairly or not. Our offense lacked continuity all year. So it needs to get fixed.
I don’t blame Hugh for emphasizing recruiting. I fault him how he’s handled some of the transition. He over-managed the fans and under-managed the team.
Big-time college football has changed rapidly in the seven years since Hugh left Ole Miss. I don’t think you can get away with saying “I wasn’t too involved” in game prep. With the NIL and portal factors, I think you have to be involved with everything.
The rap on Hugh is that he’s a snake-oil salesman. There’s more than a few Auburn fans who believe he’s unfit for the job. He’s given those who want to say that some more ammunition. But it’s just as equally defensible to say he was left one of baldy’s flaming bags of poo in terms of talent. They would say he had to make a bold choice to recruit non-stop and let the football take care of itself.
Back to the beginning, I looked at the four areas of concern.
Freeze gets an A for recruiting. He gets a pass in the pass/fail grade on alignment. But he gets a D in game prep/game day and player development.
I think he knew that was entirely possible because he made the calculated decision to work for the long build. He was willing to risk it.
Unlike Bowden, Chizik, and Malzahn, the cupboard was bare upon arrival. They only needed a few pieces and mental adjustment to have early success.
The closest comparisons to this season are 1976, 1981 and 1999. Barfield, Dye and Tuberville inherited messes. Freeze did, too, but there’s no comparison to the landscape of college football today.
When going through the mental gymnastics of the worst case scenario of determining his course for 2023, I presume where we sit right now was pretty much it.
Shake the dust from your feet and move on. In the macro, yesterday only mattered in that it likely caused a course correction at QB.
Go recruit. There’s no doubt that it’s the most important thing he can do right now.
