byutx wrote:
Not necessarily every year and certainly not this year, but we should be competing with these 3 nearly every year.
We have as much or more talent than those teams (esp. more than BSU), we have better facilities, a larger fan base, more money and other resources and a better program history. We should be better than these teams, or at least on par with them. It comes down to coaching. We should be a dynamo on offense almost every year with few slip-ups. Yes, we would have taken a step back this season, but we should still be at least getting votes, if not ranked. If BSU could do extremely well with a RS freshman, we should have been able to win at least 8 games this year.
BSU, Utah or TCU type programs wouldn't have lost @ AZ and @ BC they way we did in '06. They wouldn't have lost @ UCLA and @ Tulsa as we did in '07. They would have destroyed UW in '08. They would have been competitive in the '08 Utah and TCU games and would not have lost to AZ in the LV Bowl. They wouldn't have been murdered at home by FSU and TCU in'09. They likely woulnd't have lost to AFA or Nevada, and they most guaranteedly wouldn't have lost @ USU and struggled against UW this year.
Our coaching ability has been long surpassed by our players' ability. Time to bring in an offensive staff and philosophy that can make us better, as opposed to making us stagnant or even making us worse.
This is a good post. Thanks for bringing this up BYUtx. There are several things that I have thought of and observed over the last couple of years regarding this exact topic. I live in Boise, and while I am definitely not a BSU fan, I think their coach runs a great program, and they do a lot of things that I think BYU should be doing. (I dont follow Utah or TCU as much due to location, but I think a lot of these same things occur at TCU and Utah, that maybe don't at BYU).
1) BSU coaches adjust their schemes (both defensive and offensive) to their personnel. In 2006 they had a monster o-line, and had a power running game, and used play action to pass. they did this because they had a large o-line, and a serviceable QB. Their game plans were tailored to the strengths of their players, and didnt try to mold their players into something they could not accomplish. Another example is the TCU vs BSU fiesta bowl. BSU's coaches saw they had to do something totally different to put their players (who were probably not as talented as TCU's) in a position to succeed, so they created a new defense specifically for TCU, that empowered their players rather than limited them........My point is, we seem to be doing the opposite. We dont tailor our game plans or our offensive or defensive philosophy to our players strengths. The biggest indicator of this is the play calling. We have a massive O-line, and seem to do well with a power running game. Why is this not our main offensive philosophy? Why try to be something we are not, and put our players in positions and scenarios that put them at a disadvantage? (i.e., trying to run to the outside countless times on TCU, knowing full well they are much faster than us...)
2) As much as I hate to say it, missions kill us. Our team chemistry and continuity certainly lacks compared to BSU/TCU/Utah. I know for a fact that BSU players are entrenched in the program from the time they enroll. Their is a senior leadership council of players that run summer practices, conditioning, winter conditioning, etc. They have had 100% participation for like 9 years running. The players basically take spring break and Christmas break off, but are on campus training, etc., the remainder of the year........A couple years ago Max stated that BYU had about 75% attendance at some summer workouts. I think he was bragging, but I was shocked that the number was so low. There may be other factors involved at BYU (family lifestyle, etc.), but missionaries returning/leaving certainly has an effect. We see a definite lack of leadership on our team this year, and I would surmise that it has something to do with lack of players being involved in summer programs, etc. The coaches need to be involved in training the leaders on the team, rather than just allowing the leadership to take its course (which it seems hasnt worked).
3) Mendenhall doesnt take control. Patterson, Petersen, and Wittingham seem to be very much in control of their teams. As much as I like Bronco, I think he has made the mistake of being too passive with assigning responsibilities to coaches, and not properly overseeing them. Not being intimately involved on a day to day basis, its hard for me to make such claims, but there seems to be lots of evidence and complaining (at least here on CC) about this.
4) The beginning of the Bronco era was a good change from the Crowton years. Bronco is a much better coach than Crowton, but Bronco had the luxury of having some extremely talented teams that did better than Crowton coached teams, but still underachieved. Poor motivation and execution (Arizona game), and our other blowout losses. Now that we don't have the talent, the coaching and passive philosophy is being exposed.
5) Strength and Conditioning and player development - there are numerous threads about this, but I really think we need a fresh start. Our recruits are good, probably not USC type recruiting, but easily on par with BSU, Utah, and TCU. We somehow make fast guys become slow, and rely on size rather than "football" mindsets to judge our players abilities as they come into the program and as they gain playing time. Additionally, I really dont think the best players play. I think the mindset around the team and coaching staff is that you have to "earn" your time. We need to let the best players play, regardless of year, experience, etc. Not doing that will send the wrong message and eliminate the competitive nature of practices and conditioning that is required to produce championship type teams...
I guess my whole point in all this is that there are real, underlying reasons that BYU cant make it to the next level, when we are specifically comparing ourselves to BSU/Utah/TCU. We need to have some philosophy change and possibly some minor coaching changes and I think we are the best positioned of any of those schools.
BYU overwhelmingly has the best resources and potential, right now we just don't have the right philosophy and mindset (amongst both players and coaches) to put in the time and work to take ourselves to that elite level. Once we do, watch out. My two cents. and I don't want anyone accusing me of being a BSU fan. That is an insult.
