Cajuns' QB question still lacks the answer

[ManAboutTown]

I agree. It's mostly about the talent you have on the field. Nick Saban lost to ULM before building his dynasty. Was it bc he was a poor coach that year?

Saban has been caught with his pants down many times during his career, not taking lesser teams seriously because he's prepping for a conference opponent weeks in advance.

[CrazyCajun]

J1M can speak for himself, but I'm going to chime in. Isn't it plausible that Jamal's "rustiness" was a consequence of lack of reps with a QB in the summer? I can account for at least one of the game ending picks, and that was 100% on a usually reliable receiver quitting on a route. Route running is a prime duty of the position coach. There has been ZERO consistency with route running since 2011. That's a fact.

And since we're too stupid to understand a systemic failure, let me take some obviously wrong takes. The injuries that crippled this team didn't start piling up until midseason. So can't blame that. The lynch pin of this entire situation began in the summer with the QB situation. There is no question about that. The trickle down affect permiated the locker room there after, injuries started, coaches got stubborn, players got selfish (then some got lazy) and losing broke the spirit.

But me too duM to No diffrrense.. Derrr

HUD even admitted in an interview that it was unfair to Jamal to not allow any contact until Kentucky, they wanted him to get to week 1 healthy but looking back on it, it may have hurt him. So...I'd say jamal being rusty was directly the coaches fault, they even admitted it.

[zephyr]

J1M can speak for himself, but I'm going to chime in. Isn't it plausible that Jamal's "rustiness" was a consequence of lack of reps with a QB in the summer? I can account for at least one of the game ending picks, and that was 100% on a usually reliable receiver quitting on a route. Route running is a prime duty of the position coach. There has been ZERO consistency with route running since 2011. That's a fact.

And since we're too stupid to understand a systemic failure, let me take some obviously wrong takes. The injuries that crippled this team didn't start piling up until midseason. So can't blame that. The lynch pin of this entire situation began in the summer with the QB situation. There is no question about that. The trickle down affect permiated the locker room there after, injuries started, coaches got stubborn, players got selfish (then some got lazy) and losing broke the spirit.

But me too duM to No diffrrense.. Derrr

Jamal had reps. He didn't have contact.

The route running is one of my prime points. The difference between us is that I tend to hold the player more accountable for that action than the coach. The coach can only do so much as to teach the proper techniques but the player has to develop the timing with the QB and execute. These same offensive coaches have been here since Lawson, Surgent, Pee Wee and Peoples. I would give a good chunk of their success to them rather than the coaches just as I'm willing to give the chunk of criticism to the players rather than the coaches in this situation. I have never stated that the coaches struggled just like their players this year, because they did. I'm just not going to short side this situation by blaming them and them alone.

[ManAboutTown]

Jamal had reps. He didn't have contact.

The route running is one of my prime points. The difference between us is that I tend to hold the player more accountable for that action than the coach. The coach can only do so much as to teach the proper techniques but the player has to develop the timing with the QB and execute. These same offensive coaches have been here since Lawson, Surgent, Pee Wee and Peoples. I would give a good chunk of their success to them rather than the coaches just as I'm willing to give the chunk of criticism to the players rather than the coaches in this situation. I have never stated that the coaches struggled just like their players this year, because they did. I'm just not going to short side this situation by blaming them and them alone.

But no one is blaming them alone..

And the players that you just named were coaches by a different guy for 2-3 years. So that can't apply here.

[Just1More]

LOL, did he really? Your problem is that you and many on here are not willing to understand that this offensive limpness we had all season really was a universal problem. It wasn't just on the coaches, Haack, Nixon or the line. One variable is out of place, we can hopefully still overcome. But many of these variables are not firing at the same time and it creates a systemic failure. So now, you are blaming all of the 3rd and longs on the coaches? Really? It had nothing to do with Haack holding the ball too long or the line opening like a sieve? From what it seems like in your post, you are a fantastic Monday morning QB.

BTW, how was Jamal's rustiness to start the year the coach's fault? How were the poor routes run by the receivers necessarily the coaches fault? Do you assign blame to anybody but the coaches? What about the interceptions that Haack threw? I assume those were the coaches fault right?

Here's the point. Haack had a good completion percentage despite massive dropped passes, horrible routes, poor line protection, having Eli run up the middle to waste downs for no yardage, having coaches question him versus Nixon, having Nixon come in and waste downs and drives, and more. Again, his passing attack was sound. My point wasn't that OUR passing attack was sound. It was never even allowed to succeed with Haack. You dismissed it as being possible. We never went into a full passing to open up the run offense. Everything shifts in your direction when you start succeeding. It's easy to say that nothing worked. Our passing game had massive possiblities. And yes... it was on the coaches that it didn't succeed... with Haack.

It's like saying our run game didn't work... so Eli isn't a good RB. He was misused. Haack was misused. Nixon was misued. That's a lot of misuse. And it was on the coaches.

As far as Jamal goes... it was widely known... and stated by him... that he didn't take contact in fall practices. He knew it made him rusty. Him being sharp to start the season... his last season... and NFL in the making season... didn't help Haack one bit either.

My point is that it was not Haack's passing that doomed Haack. It was the preparation for this season all the way around. You can't just look at Haack's performance on paper (or even these claims that he hung onto the ball too long... or checked down in long yardage situations) and not study what happened in details during the games. I went back and looked at one of the series where Haack threw a 5 yard pass on a 3rd and 12. Of the 4 receivers, 3 never got past 10 yards. The long receiver had 3 covering him. Is that Haack's fault? Our coaches weren't even talking to the WRs after that 3 and out. Does that mean the WRs messed up their routes and no one even talked to them? Our coaches choked this season. Plain and simple. And that screwed Haack and the whole team.

[Just1More]

I agree. It's mostly about the talent you have on the field. Nick Saban lost to ULM before building his dynasty. Was it bc he was a poor coach that year?

How is Saban's situation in year one at Alabama analogous to Hud's situation in year 5 at UL? Hud recruited every single player on this team. And we are on the greatest football run in our school's history. You can write off this year that our athletes were slugs. I know who the slugs were this year.

I don't dismiss the value of talent. I have an issue saying that we started this year "talentless"... following 4 straight 9-4 seasons, 4 bowl victories, and the best build up for athletics in our school's history. I know from sizing up the athletic talent that was available this year... that much more intelligent coaching than I saw would have made this year a decent year. No doubt in my mind. And I wasn't saying it AFTER the failures... as a "Monday morning QB". I saw the failures delivered down by down.

I sure hope since you and others blame this on the athletes... that we miraculously have a better athlete crop next year. A "crop" that, of course, has nothing to do with our coaches.

[Just1More]

Jamal had reps. He didn't have contact.

The route running is one of my prime points. The difference between us is that I tend to hold the player more accountable for that action than the coach. The coach can only do so much as to teach the proper techniques but the player has to develop the timing with the QB and execute. These same offensive coaches have been here since Lawson, Surgent, Pee Wee and Peoples. I would give a good chunk of their success to them rather than the coaches just as I'm willing to give the chunk of criticism to the players rather than the coaches in this situation. I have never stated that the coaches struggled just like their players this year, because they did. I'm just not going to short side this situation by blaming them and them alone.

How does Hud not have WRs in year 5 just as good as in years prior? Jamal shouldn't even have been here this year. And neither I nor MAT failed to see the weaker areas of player personnel on both sides of the ball. It is precisely the fact that we couldn't serve our Hud vanilla offense up this year, due to a difference in talent at a variety of positions, that I disliked the coaching so much.

I can call you out just as you have me and others... making it completely about the slugs we have as football players this year as being the reason for a 4-8 season. "Coaches are fine. We just have slugs for football players." I think I've made it pretty clear what I specifically think went wrong with coaching and use of talent. And talent, for whatever it held or didn't, was misused this year.

[Redgineer]

Hud used to say, when we had Eli and Alonzo, that if Alonzo ran for 100 yards a game, Eli would have a breakout game and we would win.

We had an Alonzo, but he was trying to play qb.

[alum81]

Robinson dropped balls and ran poor routes for 5 years. Seems like coaches tried everything but he just never reached his potential.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Jamal had reps. He didn't have contact.

The route running is one of my prime points. The difference between us is that I tend to hold the player more accountable for that action than the coach. The coach can only do so much as to teach the proper techniques but the player has to develop the timing with the QB and execute. These same offensive coaches have been here since Lawson, Surgent, Pee Wee and Peoples. I would give a good chunk of their success to them rather than the coaches just as I'm willing to give the chunk of criticism to the players rather than the coaches in this situation. I have never stated that the coaches struggled just like their players this year, because they did. I'm just not going to short side this situation by blaming them and them alone.

Why do you blame the players? Not good enough, not smart enough, not dedicated enough, bad citizens? All that rests at the feet of the coache's who chose to ask them to come. If we're missing that often shame on the coaches.

[Just1More]

Why do you blame the players? Not good enough, not smart enough, not dedicated enough, bad citizens? All that rests at the feet of the coache's who chose to ask them to come. If we're missing that often shame on the coaches.

Following 4 9-4 seasons including bowl victories and a Cajun football program massively on the rise... and we have less talent than we did in year one? I'd blame The Fossil or Farmer... but it just doesn't seem right this time.

Every single excuse is on the head coach. I could buy injuries... but I'm afraid once we get healthy I might see some of the same dumbass coaching again... with similar results. Hud needs to reinstate the only thing he does well... high octane energy and strength and conditioning... and maybe we'll get back to 8 wins. If he wants to compete with good teams and dominate every mediocre team... he has some serious things to reevaluate in his coaching philosophies (on offense).

I may be wrong... but I'm buying allowing year two of Smith's defense to take shape. Smith deserves a year where Hud Please about "creating turnovers"... and we actually teach and play fundamentally sound defense. Melvin needs to visit Hud with a crowbar and tell him he'll crack it over his head every time he suggests to a player or the players to "create turnovers". Let Smith decide if while he teaches perfect read and react tackling... if he wants one or two players on defense to add punching, rip stripping or ball jumping added to their tackling skills.

[Ragin' Caleb]

Following 4 9-4 seasons including bowl victories and a Cajun football program massively on the rise... and we have less talent than we did in year one? I'd blame The Fossil or Farmer... but it just doesn't seem right this time.

Every single excuse is on the head coach. I could buy injuries... but I'm afraid once we get healthy I might see some of the same dumbass coaching again... with similar results. Hud needs to reinstate the only thing he does well... high octane energy and strength and conditioning... and maybe we'll get back to 8 wins. If he wants to compete with good teams and dominate every mediocre team... he has some serious things to reevaluate in his coaching philosophies (on offense).

I may be wrong... but I'm buying allowing year two of Smith's defense to take shape. Smith deserves a year where Hud Please about "creating turnovers"... and we actually teach and play fundamentally sound defense. Melvin needs to visit Hud with a crowbar and tell him he'll crack it over his head every time he suggests to a player or the players to "create turnovers". Let Smith decide if while he teaches perfect read and react tackling... if he wants one or two players on defense to add punching, rip stripping or ball jumping added to their tackling skills.

+1 didn't believe it until now but hearing from various people now that players in the locker room aren't buying into HUD anymore. Players think he's full of s***. Wow