• Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!

WWYD??

GGNez

Well-known member
DONOR
Obviously most people on here love to play Sunday morning Quarterback. Let's play Monday morning Head Coach. You're in charge. What do you do during the bye and beyond? Some players/teams have historically been motivated by a bad play or bad game. It's apparent that our young fellas are a little psyched out by it and one TO or bad play leads to more errors.

The team is yours. You have your work cut out for you over the next couple of weeks. You also personally want to avoid "For Sale" signs showing up in your yard. What's your plan?

Go.
 
First thing I would do is bench Sneed and start Humphrey against UC-Davis. And here's why: Sneed's primary advantage over Humphrey is his running ability (it's certainly not his ability to spin it). He's rumored to be nursing a quad injury, which limits his running ability. Defenses also know he can't throw the mid-long ball with any degree of accuracy, so they're loading up and stopping his running and the shorter passes anyways, which severely limits his options. And when every pass is thrown 100 miles an hour, it makes even the short passes difficult to catch. And finally, he has taken to locking in on and staring down a receiver even before the ball is snapped, hence the new moniker "One Read Sneed"...now this may be panic for fear the O-line isn't going to protect him, it may be a byproduct of them loading the box and sending pressure because of his other tendencies, who knows...but it's become incredibly counter productive in the past 8 quarters...and incredibly predictable. And finally, the bye gives Humphrey two full weeks to get on the same page as the rest of the starters, instead of coming in mid-game or mop-up. Plus, it lets Sneed heal up whatever is ailing him because he obviously isn't 100%.

Go back to tackling basics. I couldn't believe the # of tackles that were missed last weekend. What looked so good (attacking/swarming the ball carrier) through the first 4 games has really gone down hill. Not sure if it's out of desperation and trying to make something "big" happen, but man there' a ton of yards being gained after initial contact by the opposition.

Reemphasize ball security. Make them sleep with it. Eat with it. Take it to class. Run the "M" with it. NEVER put it down. We're beginning to develop a reputation...and it's one that can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If teams think we're lazy on ball control, they attack the ball and cause turnovers. I've been watching Griz football for 40 years and have never seen anything like what we witnessed the past two weeks...even in the darkest days of Larry Donovan football.
 
You have to shake things up a bit. Making changes, changes the perspective and attitudes of the players. New hope, start playing to win again.

1. New QB.
2. Play smart not cute.
3. Boost the motivation factor. Come on team leaders. Coaches need to have a set down with them and tell them it us on their shoulders to boost the moral.
4. Next game, don't fumble or throw an int on the first series.
5. Maybe learn from your mistakes, maybe.
 
This may seem stupid and counter-intuitive, but tell your WRs to maybe go down or out of bounds when they're about to get swarmed. We've had 3 or 4 fumbles this year where guys have been stood up and had the ball taken away from them or knocked out.

Not sure what's causing it. I don't remember any of these guys having fumble problems before the PSU game.
 
uofmman1122 said:
This may seem stupid and counter-intuitive, but tell your WRs to maybe go down or out of bounds when they're about to get swarmed. We've had 3 or 4 fumbles this year where guys have been stood up and had the ball taken away from them or knocked out.

Not sure what's causing it. I don't remember any of these guys having fumble problems before the PSU game.

JLM giving the game away with a late fumble against Western Illinois would disagree with you.
 
Completely reshuffle the entire two deep and pencil out a good schedule in these next four games to get your younger guys that you know are going to be good down the road a bunch or playing time. With the new red shirt rule you can get a lot of Freshman some good audition time. You are officially in the "Plan for the future" mode. Plan for making a run at the Big Sky title in 2020.
 
poorgriz said:
Completely reshuffle the entire two deep and pencil out a good schedule in these next four games to get your younger guys that you know are going to be good down the road a bunch or playing time. With the new red shirt rule you can get a lot of Freshman some good audition time. You are officially in the "Plan for the future" mode. Plan for making a run at the Big Sky title in 2020.
Not the worst post ever by this guy....
 
I start by having a meeting with my team captains and other on-the-field leaders. I remind them that when the team is facing adversity, the rest of the team will take their cues from them. I challenge them to raise the bar of expectations for themselves and their teammates. I remind them that putting on the Grizzlies uniform is a privilege, not a right, and that they chose to play at U of M because of, not in spite of, the high standards and expectations.

During practice I strategically introduce adversity into players' lives. I intentionally put them at disadvantages and make them work hard to come up with solutions to overcome those challenges. I make them take responsibility for problems so they also learn to take responsibility for solving them. I see how my on-field leaders respond, and look for other players who step up into a leadership role.

I then meet with my offensive coordinator and insist that we develop a week-by-week game plan that maximizes our on-field talent and minimizes our on-field weaknesses. We stop trying to make Dalton Sneed complete long passes down the field and start finding ways to get the ball out of his hand quickly. We call more designed QB runs. We add a few option plays to the playbook. We use Eastwood more as a pass catcher. We utilize the remarkable athleticism of our wide receivers and call on them to make big plays after the catch. We find ways to get JLM at least 8 offensive touches per game. We utilize TEs in the backfield as both run and pass blockers.

Then I meet with coach Chad Germer and tell him that unless the offensive line shows significant improvement over the next 4 weeks, he will be replaced after the season. He may have had a consistent presence on this staff for several years, but we've also had a below-average offensive for the last several years. We can't keep blaming it on youth. Our lineman need to develop at a faster pace.

I then meet with Gabe Sulser, thank him for his contributions to the team thus far, and then inform him he'll be redshirting the rest of the year because we need him to be the cornerstone and face of the program over the next four years.

Finally, I find ways to get more of the two- and three-deep players and even some true freshmen into the games over the next four weeks. I need to take advantage of the new redshirt rules to see what sort of talent I've got waiting in the wings. I want to see what players like Milton Mamula, Michael McGinnis, Nick Fouch, Drew Turner, and Lorenzo Brown can do.

In short, I concede that we are not good this season, and I begin positioning our team to compete in the immediate future.
 
It is really hard to evaluate the players based on the last two games. When you turn it over like that noone will look good. Too much is forced when you have to make up for that kind of deficit. Everyone is out of sorts. The O -line has been a weakness the entire year, though at times, they have looked pretty good. Bobby knew this and told everyone this. Get the boys up front where they need to be and then we can evaluate the others. When you get beat on the line, the other position groups cant do their job at the level of their ability. Maybe we can get some blocking for UCD and see what Sneed (if there isnt a change in QB) and company can do against the top team in the conference. D-line will need to win a fair amount as well. Hopefully they wont spend so much time on the field and in bad field position.
 
I would tell the team to do all the good stuff and to not do all the bad stuff. It's football, not rocket science. In two years we will have a perfect season and a national championship. Bank on it. Just give the man two more years after this one. But next season, invite Robin Pflugrad in for an interview, just in case.
 
First, I'd look inward and admit I've been getting my ass kicked by the opposing coach in the first half in every game but the first one, and that's likely because of the huge advantage I had with them having no film. I would then work my kicked ass off to ensure that doesn't happen again against Davis.
 
Bobby is probably looking for variance between pre-season expectations and reality.

The coaches probably have a pretty good handle on what they expected this season. It was no secret the O-line was going to be a challenge, and there were depth issues in other spots.

I'm not sure they will conclude there is a substantial variance between expectations and reality. The team might be close to what they believed they would be...

My guess is Bobby focuses on the basics with minor adjustments. I doubt we'll see major changes...trust the process will be the theme.

Fans, on the other hand, will continue to be up-in-arms about the whole thing, trying to figure out who to fire first.

College football...gotta love it.
 
uofmman1122 said:
This may seem stupid and counter-intuitive, but tell your WRs to maybe go down or out of bounds when they're about to get swarmed. We've had 3 or 4 fumbles this year where guys have been stood up and had the ball taken away from them or knocked out.

Not sure what's causing it. I don't remember any of these guys having fumble problems before the PSU game.

This is spot on. I would add that when catching a 3rd down pass short of the sticks they turn up field and go get what they can rather than trying to find running room going sideways or even backward.
 
...the way gg presented this thread...
...assume she will summarize it thoroughly...
...prepare and present to hauck for his personal...

... :D ...
 
Back
Top