Opening line
- Thread starter Geoduck12
- Start date
The cougs will cover the line ,i believe. There is a good chance for an upset as long as the special teams do not screw things up.Mele needs to be let go after the year is over.
They seriously need to figure something out for this game. I can virtually promise you one ST mistake like that will cost us the game.
Yup. The offense by Leach is now officially up and running on all cylinders. The defense by Grinch is steadily improving and the ST's by Mele are still a disaster. They should be going in another direction for ST's.
Place kicking and punting are far better. Still haven't gotten a sniff of a return for six. Coverage units? Oh, dear. Mele has, however, been doing a good job on the recruiting aspect of his job. He still has almost half a season to get the deficiencies cleaned up and I am rooting for him. If they are not rectified by the end of the season then, yes, I can see Leach replacing him. Mele's seat is hot and getting hotter.
Honestly, I doubt Mele's seat is getting hot. People think on emotion more than anything. ST are a lot better this year than last. WSU still has a young team and the talent level still needs to improve.
Don't forget that for many of these players, the position they are being asked to play is the first time they have ever played that on ST. Most were the ball carriers in HS, not the gunner on punt coverage. Just like it took years for the Leach offense to get where it is now, it is going to take time for ST as well.
ST are also generally young players with starters mixed in and there is not the depth to have good enough players at each position.
When you think about this, one play changed everyone's perception of the ST in the Arizona game. One play and everything else got minimized. On that play, one player missed the tackle as the Arizona player caught the ball. If he made that tackle, everyone is saying how good the ST was.
ST is still a work in progress, but it is not that far off.
Well not sure the seat is even room temp. While I was sweating bullets when the ref shorted the spot I had a flashback of us needing to punt and envisioned what for a game winning TD as time expired.
The only way the seat gets hot if for example we play Stanford in a tight ball game and have a chance to win but our special teams give up two run backs to McCaffrey and we lose on a last second miss of a chip shot. But I do fear going down the stretch our special teams will costs us a win.
I hope that you are right. But when we have given up four returns for TDs, worst in FBS, Leach can't be happy. Remember that he fired Russell, an old friend, mid-game last year. If coverage is not improved by the season's end then I would not be surprised to see him pull the trigger on Mele too.
I think you have a point but I will lean towards 1990 perspective.
The kicker is what is happening internally, which we'll never be privy to. If the points CML has put forth for Mele to achieve are being met, I think he'll be safe.
But man, those returns suck.
I was mentioning though, that in years past, when I bad play would happen, we'd start to sulk and pout and the game would be lost. And the pivot point was a bad play. That isn't happening with this team. We have a bad play, be it on ST, O or D and we just plug away. Especially on O. A bad play, like a sack, and we're hitting a 29 yard throw and putting the D on notice the very next play. That's huge. Otherwise these ST plays would suck the wind out of our sails in soooo many games. We certainly wouldn't have the record we have, with the old attitude. We are fighting until the end… give or take…
You, I and the others who have commented on this issue are not that far apart. After last year's ST debacle the punting and place kicking are refreshing. Coverage- not so much. Some aspects of ST performance we are comfortable with and others are still white knuckle time. The reason I suggested that Mele's tenure may be tenuous regards something you mentioned. "If the points CML has put forth for Mele to achieve are being met, I think he will be safe." I certainly agree with that. But remember that the primary reason that Russell was canned was the failure of the coverage units. Two returns by Cal and he was out. Surely, improving the coverages would be one of the primary goals CML has set for Mele. I am no film study guy but is that goal being achieved? Not obvious to me at this stage of the schedule. Still a work in progress as 1990 mentioned and I hope Mele gets it done.I think you have a point but I will lean towards 1990 perspective.
The kicker is what is happening internally, which we'll never be privy to. If the points CML has put forth for Mele to achieve are being met, I think he'll be safe.
But man, those returns suck.
I was mentioning though, that in years past, when I bad play would happen, we'd start to sulk and pout and the game would be lost. And the pivot point was a bad play. That isn't happening with this team. We have a bad play, be it on ST, O or D and we just plug away. Especially on O. A bad play, like a sack, and we're hitting a 29 yard throw and putting the D on notice the very next play. That's huge. Otherwise these ST plays would suck the wind out of our sails in soooo many games. We certainly wouldn't have the record we have, with the old attitude. We are fighting until the end… give or take…
Maybe we old Cougs are spoiled by the Joe Danelos and Jason Hansons of the past. I have been following the Cougs for near half a century now and cannot remember a time when Special Team performance was such an issue, if an issue at all. The only previous time that I recall this concern was in the late 90's when Price had such a weak legged place kicker that the other guys started each possession on about the 40 yard line. Even that paled in comparison to last year.
Agree with your last paragraph. We see some confidence, fight and backbone on this team that has been lacking in the past. Lets just get to the stage where we don't have to dig our way out of a hole but can use that energy to put points on the board and open some daylight between us and the opponent rather than fight our way back to evening the score.
Leach also fired his longtime defensive coordinator, Lyle Setencich, during the middle of the season when he was at TT. What he is not going to do is fire the position coach every single year. Leach knew he needed time to dig out of the mess that he inherited when he took the job and Moos gave him time. What happens if Leach fires Mele after the season and the ST is still having problems in 2016? Does he fire that coach too?
This team is not as far off of turning the corner with special teams. It may not be to your liking this year, but it is close and will continue to improve as the season goes along.
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