Sunday, October 5, 2008
Have we become a laughing stock?
Sometimes people around West Virginia have a way of making you feel like that when you criticize the coach, you are not supporting your team. I think these are the same people that worshipped Don Nehlen during his 15+ year streak of losing bowl games. Kind of like when they say that when you criticize our governments foreign policy, you aren't supporting the troops. I suspect that these West Virginians that tell people not to boo at the games or that we shouldn't be overly critical of these new coaches also voted for Bush so I don't pay them any mind. But WVU fans have developed a reputation of being a little over emotional shall we say about the decisions regarding the direction of the football team. (I blame Ken Kendrick) So it was affirming to see an article from New Jersey regarding their opinion of how things went down on Saturday. NJ.com
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3 comments:
...voted for Bush because of their feelings about the coaches... Now that's a bit of a stretch! How about letting the coaching staff develop a little. How many coaches have been fired before they got it all together? Look at all the Raiders previous coaches. No need to jump the gun. They continue to look better to me. The defense has clearly made improvements. Yes, this year has already been a disappointment considereing the returning personel, but not unexpected...no matter who was selected coach. I'm not sold on Stew one way or another, but I like the staff he put together. The time to judge will be at year end, not in the middle of the year. And frankly, I agree with the fans who think booing is productive. The players need to know the fans haven't lost faith in them. Thinking otherwise is counter-productive.
The decision to go on fourth down at that time and position on the field was an error. It didn't but could have been a game changer. The team we expected at the beginig of the year has not played yet. When it does we should all be happy and proud. There is hope, but if we play and coach as we have been I believe we are in trouble. We will see how we handle Aubrun, that will be the game to come alive and play the best ball we can. We can do it but will we???
I can concede that it's too early to give up on the new coaching staff. But it was supposed to be about this year and the disappointment we are experiencing IS unexpected. We all expected that it would be the defensive side of the ball that might cause us to be struggling at this point of the year and it happens to be our defense that is carrying us right now. That part of it is unexpected.
And I could forgive some of Coach Stewart's shortcomings so far if he weren't defending them after the games. The 4th down call was ridiculous no matter how you slice it. Offensive line play or not, quarterback hesitation or not, EVERYBODY knew what we were going to run. If I tell you who is getting the ball and that they are going to take it from 5-7 yards deep, I guarantee you will stop me for a loss on the play. That was a stupid play call and if he's not going to admit it, that's one thing. But defending that call and other mistakes after games is troubling.
And I think the unexpected results we have gotten with our offense could have been avoided with another coach. Had we gone out and found a head coach or OC with some experience calling plays(especially in the spread) , we would likely be averaging 30+ points again this year. That's not to say that Mullen doesn't understand the spread or won't improve over time. But right now, up to this point of the season, Pat White's season has been a disappointment in large part to poor play calling and poor game management. That is a valid judgement. For fans cheering for WVU, it may still be a process that Stewart and Co. can work out. For fans cheering for WVU and hoping Pat White leaves us with a special year, it's not too early to consider this campaign a failure.
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