C
Cougarfan87Couldn't agree more with the article on the other thread by Deep Shades of Blue, and I am typically a big Bronco supporter. But the ceiling is the elephant in the room. Fans have to decide what they want to support. Bronco fields a team with class, and is molding great young men. He is keeping the program out of controversy --in fact he has created a program that I think many fathers would like their sons to play for LDS and non-LDS alike because it stresses that football is not the most important thing. I know I would. But Bronco is not perfect. There are five things he could change to make the program more competitive, without losing the great things about the program.
One, the O-Line has compeletely underperformed for several years in a row. How is a QB getting sacked with three man rushes against Utah? Alright, at least once Riley failed to step up in the pocket, but the others there was no excuse.
Two, the hiring of unproven assistant coaches. We love BD, but what made him qualified to be the OC. He kept a sprint out QB in the pocket and ran an option play over and over again that just didn't work. The option to the short side of the field was reminiscent of the Crowton days--only Alisa is no Luke Staley. When you watch the Big Boy programs hire assistant coaches, they hire coaches who have proven themselves elsewhere. BYU should be telling these coaches go prove yourself somehwere else and then we would love to bring you on staff--not just hire previous player legends when we have no idea whether or not they actually have any Xs and Ox sense in a live game.
Third, why is it that BYU falls apart when playing the U? I don't see these same utterly stupid mistakes when playing other teams. But for some reason the U is in our guys' heads. Like it or not, the team is mentally weak and Utah is mentally strong. Our guys don't think they can win, which is why we barely win even when we have NFL talent on board. The Head Coach is responsible for preparing the players and improving their mental toughness so they can play in a hostile environment like the U. Like it or not, the MUSS absolutely affected the game both in positive and negative ways for their team. They should not have affected the game though, with proper preparation (such as running a silent count and using hand and arm signals for audibles).
Fourth, the Head Coach does not hold players accountable during the game. When the Utah RB fumbled the ball in the air and caught it again, Whittingham immediately pulled him from the game and you could see him having words with him. When one of our Olineman false starts at least three times, he gets to keep playing. Zero accountability. There is never an excuse to fumble or false start (even with the noise, they should have gone to a silent count and used hand and arm signals for audibles). Some immediate accountability would be nice. Do you think Nick Saban waits until half time or until the series is over to address boneheaded mistakes? I'm not saying I want Bronco screaming in their face. But pulling them immediately and having a frank discussion about how they are messing it up for their teammates would be nice.
Fifth, someone else mentioned it, but BYU needs to come up with a new, innovative offense. The old offense will not work against great defenses. BYU's current offense only works against inferior teams. Urban Meyer's spread took people by suprise. LaVell's offense worked because no one prepared to play 25-30 passing plays a game. BYU needs to come up with something that schematic-wise is difficult to defend since we know we will not always get top-flite offensive talent. When you have a bunch of five star and four star players, it doesn't matter so much what you run as how well you execute. When you don't, it absolutely matters what you are running because you need to give those players a competitive advantage. On a neutral or worse field, their toast. I like the idea of running the Nitro offense the whole time like Oregon. That would give BYU a competitive advantage--if we were physically fit enough to do so.
Until these five things change, you can expect 10 win seasons against inferior opponents, but there will never be another undefeated season, let alone a future run in the playoffs leading to national championships. And maybe that is OK as long as the program stays clean and puts up enough wins against paper tigers. I guess each fan has to decide for themselves whether that is enough for them, because I don't see it changing in the next few years.
I will still be a huge fan, and watch the games, but my expectations for BYU have been lowered quite a bit. I'll have to root for Florida to rise from the ashes of Urban Meyer's burning it to the ground in order to root for a team that I have a connection with that realistically has a chance at a national championship in the next five years. But they will still be a distant second to how much I care about BYU football.
One, the O-Line has compeletely underperformed for several years in a row. How is a QB getting sacked with three man rushes against Utah? Alright, at least once Riley failed to step up in the pocket, but the others there was no excuse.
Two, the hiring of unproven assistant coaches. We love BD, but what made him qualified to be the OC. He kept a sprint out QB in the pocket and ran an option play over and over again that just didn't work. The option to the short side of the field was reminiscent of the Crowton days--only Alisa is no Luke Staley. When you watch the Big Boy programs hire assistant coaches, they hire coaches who have proven themselves elsewhere. BYU should be telling these coaches go prove yourself somehwere else and then we would love to bring you on staff--not just hire previous player legends when we have no idea whether or not they actually have any Xs and Ox sense in a live game.
Third, why is it that BYU falls apart when playing the U? I don't see these same utterly stupid mistakes when playing other teams. But for some reason the U is in our guys' heads. Like it or not, the team is mentally weak and Utah is mentally strong. Our guys don't think they can win, which is why we barely win even when we have NFL talent on board. The Head Coach is responsible for preparing the players and improving their mental toughness so they can play in a hostile environment like the U. Like it or not, the MUSS absolutely affected the game both in positive and negative ways for their team. They should not have affected the game though, with proper preparation (such as running a silent count and using hand and arm signals for audibles).
Fourth, the Head Coach does not hold players accountable during the game. When the Utah RB fumbled the ball in the air and caught it again, Whittingham immediately pulled him from the game and you could see him having words with him. When one of our Olineman false starts at least three times, he gets to keep playing. Zero accountability. There is never an excuse to fumble or false start (even with the noise, they should have gone to a silent count and used hand and arm signals for audibles). Some immediate accountability would be nice. Do you think Nick Saban waits until half time or until the series is over to address boneheaded mistakes? I'm not saying I want Bronco screaming in their face. But pulling them immediately and having a frank discussion about how they are messing it up for their teammates would be nice.
Fifth, someone else mentioned it, but BYU needs to come up with a new, innovative offense. The old offense will not work against great defenses. BYU's current offense only works against inferior teams. Urban Meyer's spread took people by suprise. LaVell's offense worked because no one prepared to play 25-30 passing plays a game. BYU needs to come up with something that schematic-wise is difficult to defend since we know we will not always get top-flite offensive talent. When you have a bunch of five star and four star players, it doesn't matter so much what you run as how well you execute. When you don't, it absolutely matters what you are running because you need to give those players a competitive advantage. On a neutral or worse field, their toast. I like the idea of running the Nitro offense the whole time like Oregon. That would give BYU a competitive advantage--if we were physically fit enough to do so.
Until these five things change, you can expect 10 win seasons against inferior opponents, but there will never be another undefeated season, let alone a future run in the playoffs leading to national championships. And maybe that is OK as long as the program stays clean and puts up enough wins against paper tigers. I guess each fan has to decide for themselves whether that is enough for them, because I don't see it changing in the next few years.
I will still be a huge fan, and watch the games, but my expectations for BYU have been lowered quite a bit. I'll have to root for Florida to rise from the ashes of Urban Meyer's burning it to the ground in order to root for a team that I have a connection with that realistically has a chance at a national championship in the next five years. But they will still be a distant second to how much I care about BYU football.