Originally Posted by
Bigbuf
I am sure no team is perfect, in any game, in any possession, in any play.
I had an ex player tell me a couple of things before the season. Concerning the QB, I asked who would the team play for? He said Haack, said Nixon still had issues and Jordan Davis was the real deal. I inferred from that, Haack would be Captain and start. But after the Kentucky game I knew things were screwed up in that we didnt have the horses on the field with Haack in. But you are right it goes much deeper than that and it takes ex coaches/players and people that the coaches trust to really understand the multiple level failures it takes to have this crappy of a season. I am not one of those people, sure I know some ex players and have access to ex high school coaches but that just really give me a small snap shot of what is going on. I may be totally wrong on things.
Like another person posted I too have been in the safety field for many years and i can tell you with absolute certainty that the cause of every incident (4-? season) are problems that no-one saw coming and the real problem is something that surprises most people. But you really have to dig deep into it to get the answer. Short of talking to all the coaches, staff etc. you or anyone else will never know what really happened this year other than we had a crappy year, injuries, QB issues, O Line issues, D lines issues, Leadership issues, coaching issues, xyz issues, abc issues, new house issues etc. You have to take all of them into account even the one we don't know. In safety we term that as reactive. Something happens and you react to it to mitigate the hazard. Safety Professionals want to be proactive. We want to stop the incident from happening in the first place. I would equate that, in this instance, Defensive coaching changes, building the APC, setting up nutrition programs, pre-season camps, spring training and after season evaluations of the department top to bottom. In reality safety departments have to be poth because we cant for see every problem that will happen. The human factor is a funny thing in that its always there and there is no way to predict it. Recruiting is one of the best proactive tools they have but some kids change there mind, decide college is not for them, they don't like Lafayette or what ever. The point is even in recruiting the BEST P5 schools crap out at times.
I think UL in general has taken some very proactive steps since Dr. Savoie has been President. You and other may not like all or none of them, but its hard to argue that the stadium expansion, APC, 6+mil for the Tigue, and countless others has not been a huge step forward. Perfect? No but a far cry to what has happened in the past.