I think the sad reality is that it takes a lot to rebuild a roster into a top tier G5 level. Lambert set us back and it’s going to take years for us to climb out of that hole.
Against other CUSA teams, we can compete, but where still not at that level where we can keep up with the best our conference has to offer + P5 schools.
You are right about next year for Healy. He is making a good living off 2017. Was it a flash in the pan or can he coach/assemble a coaching staff?
When I was in high school I lived a couple of miles from the Elon campus, and sometimes my friends and I would go over and play tackle football on one of the fields against Elon students. Just a pickup game, but the difference between a bunch of 17 year olds and the 20 year olds often led to our getting pounded, so we tried trick plays to get around them. It probably didn’t work then either, but at least we had an excuse, we weren’t paying millions of dollars for a coaching staff to come up with a better plan.
Taking AP to that level after being basically the worst program in the nation was huge no doubt. Then he took us to our first overall winning record and first winning conference record and our first bowl game - all off of absolutely terrible recruiting. I think he has something going as a coach, the question to me is can he get over the hump? Be consistent and build upon the success he has our is it always up and down? How we finish this season is big and if it doesnt break our way does he consider changes to staff And if he does will he look outside his circle?
I think passing to the OL at the 1 or in the endzone is great creative play calling. Basically just asking him to fake a block and catch the ball. The Bucs ran that with Sapp in on the Oline if I recall correctly. What we asked the kid to do was just too much.
No doubt that he can come into a program and inject some energy and enthusiasm. A team can feed off of that and temporarily have success. It’s new and exciting and they buy in. But once that becomes the norm what is left to motivate? I get culture but culture alone cant stop the run or deliver a passing game. At some point you have to coach and, as you say, get over the hump and maintain.
It seems he has a tight circle. This is the path he has chosen. If he has to make changes 3 years in then I would have concern.
I think it’s important to note that we had 2 players drafted in the first 4 rounds of the NFL draft. Recruiting was bad but the talent was there last year.
Well Carney may have just been the wrong move after he got it right with Atkins. Everyone who has hired people know sometimes you just miss on talent. If he has to tweak the staff some then that is fine, it actually speaks higher of him if he does it than if he doesn’t.
Building a program takes two things - talent and coaching. Lambert couldnt get anywhere close to decent talent. That wasn’t winning many games. Culture can get you talent, but it doesn’t make the play calls. Talent can keep you in games and cover some coaching mistakes. Look at Roy Williams - he wins just based on sheer talent. At the end of the day to get over the hump we need both, better players and coaches that make the right calls. It is why coaches like Dabo and Saban are so valuable - they can coach AND build culture. Healy is at the start of his coaching journey, he is going to learn and change as he grows. Thats the price we pay with a young coach - we get a ton of energy and changing a culture, but we are going to have a bumpy road as he continues to refine his coaching style. I am still 100% on board with Healy - what he has done in a short time frame is amazing. Just need to see where things go this season and next before I start getting worried. We can still win our division this year.
If football was basketball 2 draft picks would be huge. Unless one of those picks is a QB having 2 players drafted in football just means our program is growing the way it should and isn’t something that should be used as a indicator we should be good. The talent level across the board needs to be improved for more wins, even if we have had a few standouts. I love Alex but he was a walkon before he was a star, when walkons are playing and being relied on to play meaningful minutes thats a bad sign. You aren’t going to find many Alex’s and Larry’s - really we just got lucky we had some high character guys with insane drive to get better. We can’t keep relying on walkons and low ranked guys to carry this program. It specifically shows up on special teams - which have probably cost us 5-6 wins over the last 3 years. So yes we had some talented individuals on last years team, but it was still talent deficient and huge challenge that we overcame last year as an under talented team
Now if we manage to put 5 or more kids into a draft off a single team - that’s when I am going to start expecting draft picks to equal more wins.
2 studs can’t carry a team with 50 duds. Regardless of how each coach operates…Lambert’s recruiting sucked ass. Last year, our starting QB that runs the Offense and our best defensive player, Chris Reynolds and Alex Highsmith…literally 2 of the best players on that team…were walk ons…seriously.
When walk ons are the stars of your team…the recruiting sucks.
Healy needs 3-5 years of HIS recruits coming in to really see what he and HIS players are capable of.
The last 4 years Coastal Carolina’s recruiting classes have averaged a national rank of 115 by 24/7. During that same time period Charlotte has averaged a national rank of 107. CC is currently ranked 15th in the nation. We are not.
Good coaches can recover quicker than 3-5 years IMO.
Coastal is absolutely playing above their talent. That program is rolling. I haven’t followed them to know if they have brought in a bunch of transfers or if they have just really managed to play above their head.
I don’t think Healy needs 5 but to get a true read I always go 3 and with pandemic craziness give him 4.
This…and he (Emmanuel) wasn’t even at the 4 or 5 yard line as several have posted. He was standing around the 9 yard line when the pass came to him. That play had about a 1% chance of working.
1% is being very kind
He definitely deserves 3 to 4 years to see what he can do. I defended Carney after the first couple of games but have recently been really disappointed in the lack of improvement with some of his play calling. I really haven’t been impressed with the defense since this staff took over. I guess what I’m trying to say is you have to give a coach 3 or 4 years unless there is a behavior issue or some other scandal. I’m just a little disappointed with the level of progress made by the staff to this point & what seems like a lack of ability to learn from mistakes. Recruiting progress is amazing & I couldn’t be happier with that. I’m just not seeing a lot of adjustments in coaching style to adapt to our talent & what we are & aren’t good at. I don’t necessarily think coordinators need to be replaced at this point but if there isn’t improvement on both sides of the ball by the end of the season some changes may be necessary. Healy needs good X’s & O’s coordinators to make things work with him being more of the CEO & cheerleader for the team. I’m just not sure he has great X’s & O’s guys in place. Would be more than happy for both of them to prove me wrong as long as it starts happening before the end of the season.
Agree totally/ I do think Chris is hurt and that is impacting the game Carney is calling. No other explanation for the 180 on how they are using Reynolds. That doesnt explain all of the calls though.
Whether he’s injured or they fear an injury or a worsening of an injury…I think they are being cautious with Reynolds and changing how they use him…which takes away one of the main things that makes him a serviceable D1 QB.
Reynolds is an accurate passer but he has real arm limitations which are magnified when we play more athletic defenses. He just doesn’t have the arm strength. Not only for the deep ball…but more importantly for tighter windows which is what comes when playing against more athletic defenses. The only way he has been able to be successful is with his read-option abilities and being a REAL running threat. If you take that away…then he is a short pocket passer with no vision over the line and weak arm. It takes a serviceable D1 QB down to a well below average D1 QB.
Not sure about Dom’s read-option abilities (to make the correct read), his accuracy or his leadership abilities…but he’s got a much stronger arm and is a couple inches taller and 10-15lbs bigger…and he’s obviously a running threat.
If he can make good reads at all and has above average accuracy…we need to be going with him if we are too afraid to let Reynolds to be Reynolds.
If Reynolds isn’t allowed to be Reynolds…he ain’t Reynolds…which doesn’t help us.
If that’s the case…Dom has some size, an arm and the legs…let’s see him have a chance (unless they can tell from practice that he can’t make the reads or struggles with accuracy).
clt says we have the best logo on that poll