Disaster
- Thread starter NMBRCRNCHR
- Start date
I don’t think we’re there yet. Wulff’s first string defense couldn’t hold anyone below 40. Our 2nd teamers are outmatched, but they at least have a pulse and make an effort. The OL is nearly Wulffian…but they’re at that level with underclassmen as significant parts. PW’s were seniors, that was as good as they got.
This team still has a glimmer of hope. PW’s didn’t.
nah, 60/40.
CW is lacking between the ear holes. He loses track of where his receivers are on broken plays, doesn't have field awareness, general football acumen (like extending the ball with the correct hand), just to start. Could go on about his mechanics, but why? Fixing that won't move the needle if the other isn't fixed.
Agree. This is the problem with trying to put a scrambling athletic qb in a system where you have to make a lot of reads. Just make it RPO is you have an athlete who is a poor decision maker. Just not a good fit for this system.
Fair.
If Im honest…. between OL, QB, coaching… Im prob 33% for each.
I said McGuire sucked as soon as he was hired. He didnt let me down. WSU is right back to trash OL play just like his first stint here.
Cam needs to be benched. He sucks. Watch Fresno State qb play, then watch Cam. The OL doesnt help but even when he does have time he sucks.
Morris Coug Raid scheme has scored, if my stats are correct, 41 touchdowns in 13 games. That sucks, he swallows. Ive seen enough of the air raid. The coaches running it have no answer for running the ball. They have no damn clue how to handle a pass rush. The scheme is not innovating and adapting to what defenses are doing.
The OL cant block, Cam cant play, scheme sucks ass and coaches dont know what to do to help block.
Total shit show top to bottom on offense.
One of the worst CML teams still managed 400+ yards of offense per game, many times 500 yards. With a qb who didn't buy in and fought Leach the whole way.
By all metrics, this isn't the air raid but a shitty version thereof.
Need to retool the offense, new qb new oc , if you are going to run the air raid run it right. Need juco or portal,pass blocking o lineman
Maybe. But Connor Halliday had a shit offensive line and threw for 500 yards with a lacerated liver.
Sometimes when you are a QB you’ve got to Will your team down the field with everything against you. That’s clearly not CW.
Pro prospect? You’ve got to be kidding me I wouldn’t waste a 7th rounder on him at this point with what he’s shown.
True
but you had the best spread passing coach in history, a genius.
id go get Sonny cumbie and let him run the offense.
Especially worrying with an ascendant USC, Oregon, Utah, UW, OSU... hell even Colorado is trending opposite
Im not a fan of the false prophet at CU.
However, I recognize what he brought to CU. A brand recognition, celebrity, intensity, expectation, there isnt a recruit that wont take his call.
What did Dickert bring? Nothing. He is white rice. He is going to recruit maybe 1 notch better than a guy walking around in a WSU polo shirt.
WSU needs a coach that has a brand name. The WSU brand isn’t strong enough on its own.
WSU can’t afford brand names. We’re the toasty-o’s program in a Cheerios P5 world.
Cam is an average WSU. Qb at best. As a coach of this team, The qb position is up for grabs via Competition., even with the NIL deal for Cam.
We're not back in the Wulff days, but we're only a few notches above it with the potential to be close to that in two years.
I like Dickert as a DC, an organized coach, and a person. But he has no real network and no name recognition, and the reality is he still should be a DC. WSU has had three different head coaches, and three different offenses, in the last four seasons. The fourth offense now is coming, barring yet another Air Raid hire, and it will arrive with no time to do much this recruiting cycle. It's hard for any program to deal with that, let alone WSU in the current CFB landscape.
If WSU went out and hired another coach after the Rolo dismissal, Dickert almost certainly would not have stuck around as the DC, which would have been unfortunate, but that's how it goes. Depending on who that was, we'd likely be much better off right now. I think we're screwed regardless for the reasons I went into in the "Dickert should step back from the CEO" thread, and even when Rolo was hired, I wrote as much. WSU would be OK for a season or two until the talent left over from the Leach era, which wasn't amazing toward the end but was a lot better than it is now, bled off, and then it would have a really hard time fighting the dozens of headwinds. And that was even with a relatively stable situation with Rolo running a unique offense and a very good DC in Dickert. Instead, the stuff with Rolo accelerated things. People did not appreciate what Leach did enough and it's much harder now.
I like Dickert as a DC, an organized coach, and a person. But he has no real network and no name recognition, and the reality is he still should be a DC. WSU has had three different head coaches, and three different offenses, in the last four seasons. The fourth offense now is coming, barring yet another Air Raid hire, and it will arrive with no time to do much this recruiting cycle. It's hard for any program to deal with that, let alone WSU in the current CFB landscape.
If WSU went out and hired another coach after the Rolo dismissal, Dickert almost certainly would not have stuck around as the DC, which would have been unfortunate, but that's how it goes. Depending on who that was, we'd likely be much better off right now. I think we're screwed regardless for the reasons I went into in the "Dickert should step back from the CEO" thread, and even when Rolo was hired, I wrote as much. WSU would be OK for a season or two until the talent left over from the Leach era, which wasn't amazing toward the end but was a lot better than it is now, bled off, and then it would have a really hard time fighting the dozens of headwinds. And that was even with a relatively stable situation with Rolo running a unique offense and a very good DC in Dickert. Instead, the stuff with Rolo accelerated things. People did not appreciate what Leach did enough and it's much harder now.
Dickert may fail (and some feel he's failing already) but I can't help but think of OSU and its experience with Jonathan Smith. He was well known is OSU circles from his QB days but had never been a head coach or "brand name". He was a successful coordinator who got a chance in Corvallis. After three seasons, Smith went 9-24. There really wasn't any indication that things would turn around for the Beavers. Finally, in year 4, the Beavers have a winning record and go to a bowl game. This year they are 10 game winners. Could Dickert replicate that kind of success? I'm not sure....especially with the inherent challenges of the portal and NIL. But Dickert has taken WSU to bowl games in two years, so there is some history of success already.
There has long been many similarities between OSU and WSU. OSU chose to be patient with Smith and made some investment ($$$ for assistant coaches) and that stability in the staff has paid off. Smith is fortunate to be able to keep his assistants and that certainly is something Dickert needs to do– identify & hire good coaches who are willing to stick around. That also requires paying them well enough. I don't know if any of that is possible in Pullman, but that would be my recommendation at this point. Be patient with Dickert, give him support, but also demand that he puts together a strong and loyal staff, then see where we are in a couple of years.
Glad Cougar
Honestly I don’t think it’s the money. These guys are so overpaid it’s laughable. Add the contracts these schools produce and it’s criminal the payouts given.
There is no shortage of great coaches. None. Absolutely none. The shortage is in people able to identify them. Add to it an industry that is all about starting at the top and staying at the top and now you’ve created a lack of talent flow to the top.
Take the 65 or so Power 5 HC jobs, add the NFL HC jobs… maybe 100 big time HC jobs??? How is Jake Dickert one of those 100?
One day maybe administrators wake up and see they are being fleeced for millions. One day maybe we see successful coaches actually moving up the ladder rather than being denied entry. Or, expected to make coffees and copies while guys 25 years their senior but not a nickels worth or brains in their head get and keep higher positions.
Smith is successful at the business of Oregon State football. He had a resume of being around the block at other power 5 schools. He’d recruited the West Coast. He has an understanding of what Oregon State is and isn’t. He knows the talent OSU can attract. He is putting it all together.
Dickert is at ground zero right now. He has no qb talent. He has no receiver talent. His OL is in shambles. He has one RB that is too slow and another that is too small. He could literally bring in 11 transfers on offense and they all win starting jobs.
The defense is a mess. His DTs can’t play. His linebackers all left. His defensive backfield is a Chinese fire drill. Over 1200 yards given up in the last 2 games.
If he were smart he’d fire his entire staff top to bottom and start all over. Then he’d hire Urban Meyer as a consultant. Is Meyer a great guy? No. Does he know what successful college football programs look like? Yes. Does WSU? No.
One of the drawbacks of being a young head coach is that your coaching tree is also young. When you hire youthful coordinators, they're far more likely to bolt for greener pastures and promotional opportunities; particularly if their salaries aren't competitive.
I don't think what I'm about to suggest is the magic bullet for Dickert by any means, but I think he'd be well served to find (and pay) an older right hand man to help him manage the offensive staff. Someone who has been around the block, is likeable, and is naturally gifted at recruiting and people management.
As others have suggested, think outside the box with regard to how the money is being spent within the coaching tree. Have Dickert serve as defensive coordinator and shift more money to the offensive side of the ball. Bill Doba was an invaluable asset to Mike Price in this regard. He was an older, soft spoken coach who valued rural living and simply loved coaching defensive football out of the limelight. Dickert would be well served to push a nice chuck of cash at an offensive coordinator who would enjoy the same perks as Doba. There have to be a lot of 50+ year old coaches who could be sold on this concept.
I don't think what I'm about to suggest is the magic bullet for Dickert by any means, but I think he'd be well served to find (and pay) an older right hand man to help him manage the offensive staff. Someone who has been around the block, is likeable, and is naturally gifted at recruiting and people management.
As others have suggested, think outside the box with regard to how the money is being spent within the coaching tree. Have Dickert serve as defensive coordinator and shift more money to the offensive side of the ball. Bill Doba was an invaluable asset to Mike Price in this regard. He was an older, soft spoken coach who valued rural living and simply loved coaching defensive football out of the limelight. Dickert would be well served to push a nice chuck of cash at an offensive coordinator who would enjoy the same perks as Doba. There have to be a lot of 50+ year old coaches who could be sold on this concept.
You get the 5 Star Award!: Quote of the Week:
"The shortage is in people able to identify them."
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We agree.
The market forces of supply/demand are way out of whack. There are hundreds (thousands?) of coaches who are capable of coaching at the D1 level.
The ADs have created false inflation to justify their existence as well. And then they turn around and hire a search firm....
WSU is hiring for 2 of the top 100 OC and DC jobs in the country, in ALL of football.
It is supply and demand. There are zillions of coaches but somehow the thinking is only a small few can do it…. while denying others entry into business…. why does Dickert get to hire terrible coaches and get his doors blown off while people yell “he is learning!” …. and others don’t?
Wake up. It is a myth that you have to pay zillions of dollars for a coach because there arent enough qualified. Sounds like something an agent would say…
One aspect of this game that really got to me was the in game decision making process of the coaching staff. We had a couple of fourth downs deep in our territory that the Cougs decided to go for when our offense was not functioning against a tough and tested defense and did not make. That handed FSU a couple of easy touchdowns. I am not saying we would have won because FSU was the better and more hungry team, but punting and not giving them such easy touchdowns may have kept the game tighter and a better chance of pulling it out. There are other aspects I didn’t like such as very little half time adjustments nor did I see the team was in anyway prepared for the game.
I'll also use this as a reminder that I was saying we didn't need to overpay Dickert for no reason when he was hired. He would have taken the job for half of his current comp, not that I was advocating for that as an actual number. I just thought we should do something like Oregon State did with Smith, where they started him at the bottom of the Pac-12, below $2m a year, reflecting his experience and the lack of any need to pay him more. Then they allowed him to earn extensions, there was money to pay the staff and give them raises, and there was room upward with a better downside if he failed.
You think that maybe Smith has held on to his assistants because no one wanted coaches from a 9-24 team?
I suspect we'll see some movement in the OSU coaches room after this season.
I honestly couldn't believe how much Ward looked like someone who wanted to be anywhere other than on the field in that game. Sure he was under a lot of pressure but he made more shitty throws in that bowl game than I think he did all season. It's as if he likes being QB more that he likes playing QB.
I personally think Off coordinators make better head coaches than def coordinators, but if you have a defensive guy become head coach, his main priority is getting a good OC in there, someone who can design and run an offense, also a qb coach.
One would hope however the problem starts with elite programs, who have limitless resources, competing with each other for staff and astronomically raising the salary bar.
Who says you have to compete with them for coaches? There is an unlimited supply. What is limited is the vertical movement of the best high school coaches and small college coaches. The talent in coaching is not matriculating up the same way the most talented players are.
100 Power 5 and NFL OC, DC and HC jobs in America. And WSU can’t find anyone?
Teams seem to be figuring out more than they used to that hiring a guy who has always succeeded at lower levels, showing that he can succeed at all key aspects of running a program and winning, can be a better bet than a retread or a Grinch-style coordinator head coaching hire. I hate lauding UW, but De Boer is a pretty good illustration of this, although his head coaching success was a while ago and way down in NAIA. There have been others, too, like Klieman at Kansas State and, although the team fell apart a bit, Leipold at Kansas. Leipold had a more challenging task and I think he's going to do well. Those guys know how to coach and I guarantee some kind of bullshit hire like Charlie Weis or Grinch wouldn't be having those results at any of those places.
I generally agree with this...however the more important characteristic is if they can recruit AND recruit the RIGHT athlete to their particular coaching skill-set.
I think of Kevin Eastman...that dude could coach X's and O's with anybody. But not a good recruiter was he. That's all I have to say about that.
Relationships matter. What good are they if the kid shows up and is poorly coached?
Wanna make recruiting easier? Put out a consistently well coached product that doesn’t get its doors blown off. Build that well coached program into winning tight games.
Ultimately the biggest problem WSU has is branding. You can’t lose the Apple Cup this many times and have a good brand. You can’t have your doors blown off and have a good brand. You can’t lose, in the most fan****ingtastic ways possible, and have a good brand. End those things, recruiting gets better and easier. Or…. well…
The biggest thing Leach did for WSU recruiting wasn’t signing 4 star kids. It was ending 2 star kids. He brought up the level of talent on the back end of the roster.
Dickert is filling that 2 star end of the roster back up. He is recruiting kids that will take WSU right back to 2-4 wins.
I remember going to Cougar Cage Camp in the early 90s, as I'm sure many here did. Normally, the meeting where the head coach gives a speech has you a little starstruck as a kid (I was 12 or something) and you come out of it feeling impressed and inspired. I remember him telling us that he wasn't going to recruit anyone to WSU who wasn't going to the NBA and otherwise just being a total douche. I remember, clear as day, thinking "man, this guy is just a prick."
