DC: Melvin Smith Fired

[zephyr]

While I agree our defense needed some shaking up weather it was to fire Smith or change the scheme it doesn't change how god awful our offense was. I thought our play calling was horrible. O Line looked like deer in head lights. No imagination on play calling and we could not move the ball....We looked very un prepared and often times confused. Who do we fire for that?

Lets see. We go bubble screen on first down but there is a holding penalty. So, we then decide to go with a QB draw on 2nd and 20+ but that is sniffed out so we then go with a RB screen pass on 3rd and 25+ when we are roughly on our 35-40 yard line. That was the type of play calling we looked at all game long, no matter the game situation and no matter the field position.

Then we supposedly have some great talent at the DE position and we are constantly lining up against a solid OL with 3 linemen and they are Taboris Lee, Dunbar etc... You start 6 defensive backs and not one of them is blitzing and when we do blitz, it takes so long for the blitz to develop that the QB has long gotten rid of the ball before he even feels any type of pressure. What a joke.

[KajunKrazy]

He is right. Bicky was the first one to declare the greatness of the new offense, by claiming to be "friends" with Jay Johnson.

You dumb @$$ Bicky never talked new offense with Jay. He did have a convo with a current grad assist that said entire O would be changed. Only quote from Jay was JD has more raw talent than any QB since he has been here. By the way talked to him yesterday he his wife and son are all doing well.

[zephyr]

So, a few of us argued how much this offense would truly change during the offseason but did anybody really see any difference. The pace was supposed to be increased and yes, I get it, its hard to increase the pace when there is no rhythm being developed because we can't move the ball but did anybody see anything different with the playcalling? Its the same bull____ I've seen over the last year or so.

[Oiler]

Truthfully Oiler, I don't know and neither does anyone else posting on this board. I'm not in the Coaching staff meetings and I don't get to watch practice. I have my suspicions based on what I'm seeing on the game field. I want this Staff to have success simply because this program has seen enough misery over the decades. Our fans deserve it.

I'm not a coach, so I always like to think that the coaches that are at practice every day know more than anybody else about what should be done to correct problem areas. Some of the games we've suffered through the past two seasons, and now the fiasco we were just treated to against Boise, has me wondering if that is the case. Saturday it didn't look like anything has been changed as far as game planning and game day execution.

Our program is in a bad way right now. Maybe Smith was the problem. I suppose we'll know soon enough.

[scotto_25]

I'm late to hop in and I'm generally regarded as a pariah on this site but I still regard myself as a comic genius only mildly tempered by acknowledging I possess above average self-esteem. It would be nothing short of bizarre to not anticipate a shortcoming with your DC prior to the first game of the season, even with the shortcomings against a better team in Boise State and the expectations of an improved secondary as evidenced by my own braggadocio following the white out vindication/fiasco. None of us saw this coming and even those most bloodthirsty did not call for this head. All of this leads me to revisit Scotto's post, now the hour is late and I don't recall the specifics but I only recently saw him posting and while neither here nor there I don't much care for him. If necessary I could look back and substantiate my disdain but I suspect there or others who shared in it. Now I say all this in fully acknowledging Scotto may be both a scholar and a gentleman, saintly in his manner and mechanism and just happened to rub me wrong in his sports talk on Ragin Pagin. But none the less, the coincidence would be uncanny that when my son reported this headline and I replied to My Mrs. ( not the polka-dotted vision of legend ) that "He didn't "F" up that bad, even if they hung 70 on us that was what they were supposed to do,they were classy and let up, there's something more to this, maybe he showed up F'ed up." Now this is a most delicate subject and I only broach it because while it has been walked back that our DC did not seem drunk but was dazed, confused,"out of it" and I have seen another poster avow that our former DC was an abstainer, the witnessed behavior as described does sound like someone impaired. Now I haven't followed him closely enough to know but I guess he was available because he was let go, i.e. fired as is the nature of the sport and no small part of the inflated wage, from Auburn etc. but he didn't wander around dazed or lost then, he's a grown man for Christ's sake in a business where true talent is expendable on little more than a whim. I have personally seen people let go due to impairment that no one would expect. This issue affects peers in my profession who beyond being competent were excellent. People I cared about and respected and still do but their secreted addictions got the better of them. It was an early game, out of the ordinary, what does Hud do if he shows up F'd up, even the first time, maybe it wasn't the first time. We're all men here. Most of us drink too much, none of us too naive to have not seen great people consumed by it. I've covered for people, I've had people cover for me, I've seen that be o.k., we're human, and I've seen when it had to end. I do not know this to be the case, or claim it to be the case, but it would make a certain sense and if Heaven forbid it is the case may God facilitate recovery and if it is not I request forgiveness in addressing it as aspersions had already been cast and none of us, not I or my purported nemesis, CajunHawk, are immune to this. God bless us all, God save us all, God forgive us all. What ever the reason, a fellow man lost a good job, hope somehow we're (including him) all the better for it. Geaux UL! We're going to beat McNeese. Maybe our best season ever. Jennings looked very good on very short notice. I needed to get over my grudge. He made some some sharp throws. I'm fired up, Geaux Ul!
On a different note, my opposition here will delight in knowing I was served a Ragin Pagin Ale even though I requested a lager and after that I resorted back to Budlight in disgust. I like the notion of these high falutin' beers on paper but in reality I think Budweiser got the bugs out and I avow anyone drinking the colonial swill of days gone by would avow the same.

,

Penrod....

Not even sure who you are or if you even post on RP much. Whatever that story was that you wrote made no sense whatsoever. Thanks for referencing me in your blabbering. Now, never did I throw Smith under the bus and call him an alcoholic or even disgrace his name. I stated facts that I saw him in a weird, confused looking state where he was walking alone in street clothes on the Cajun Walk Route an hour after the team passed. It didn't look right but nothing more was even said about this. Then he gets fired on Sunday morning so the prior days event is more prevalent.

Not sure wtf you brought me into your stuttering session that makes about as much sense as a soup sandwich?

Anyway, if you could retype your ramblings above in cliff note version we'd appreciate it

[ManAboutTown]

Penrod....

Not even sure who you are or if you even post on RP much. Whatever that story was that you wrote made no sense whatsoever. Thanks for referencing me in your blabbering. Now, never did I throw Smith under the bus and call him an alcoholic or even disgrace his name. I stated facts that I saw him in a weird, confused looking state where he was walking alone in street clothes on the Cajun Walk Route an hour after the team passed. It didn't look right but nothing more was even said about this. Then he gets fired on Sunday morning so the prior days event is more prevalent.

Not sure wtf you brought me into your stuttering session that makes about as much sense as a soup sandwich?

Anyway, if you could retype your ramblings above in cliff note version we'd appreciate it

In Melvin's defense, he kind of always looks like a wandering lost goose. I'm not being funny, the guy is aloof.

[Ragin4U]

---AD Hominem----Why never substance??? YOU DAMN RIGHT I AM A CHEERLEADER---Now go have another negative week---maybe we can start designating a minus(-) or a plus (+) sing and just see which way you tilt!!!

If Boomer is a cheerleader, I say keep on keeping on. We have PLENTY of repeated negativity here. Plenty. If its not a name thing its "comfortable" or whatever. The optimism is refreshing. Thx

[Turbine]

I have never been a fan of hiring a coach from a failed P5 season to somehow come in and coach up lesser talent.

So I was not a fan of the Melvin Smith hiring, especially after he openly lamented the talent level his first preseason here. It spoke volumes about what HE thought he could accomplish.

Still the only 2 ways I would expect to see immediate results in 5 days of transition is if the motivation was lacking and/or if the wrong defensive plays were being called.

[scotto_25]

In Melvin's defense, he kind of always looks like a wandering lost goose. I'm not being funny, the guy is aloof.

like I said something will come out. We'll get the truth sooner or later

[Rougarou]

I'm late to hop in and I'm generally regarded as a pariah on this site but I still regard myself as a comic genius only mildly tempered by acknowledging I possess above average self-esteem. It would be nothing short of bizarre to not anticipate a shortcoming with your DC prior to the first game of the season, even with the shortcomings against a better team in Boise State and the expectations of an improved secondary as evidenced by my own braggadocio following the white out vindication/fiasco. None of us saw this coming and even those most bloodthirsty did not call for this head. All of this leads me to revisit Scotto's post, now the hour is late and I don't recall the specifics but I only recently saw him posting and while neither here nor there I don't much care for him. If necessary I could look back and substantiate my disdain but I suspect there or others who shared in it. Now I say all this in fully acknowledging Scotto may be both a scholar and a gentleman, saintly in his manner and mechanism and just happened to rub me wrong in his sports talk on Ragin Pagin. But none the less, the coincidence would be uncanny that when my son reported this headline and I replied to My Mrs. ( not the polka-dotted vision of legend ) that "He didn't "F" up that bad, even if they hung 70 on us that was what they were supposed to do,they were classy and let up, there's something more to this, maybe he showed up F'ed up." Now this is a most delicate subject and I only broach it because while it has been walked back that our DC did not seem drunk but was dazed, confused,"out of it" and I have seen another poster avow that our former DC was an abstainer, the witnessed behavior as described does sound like someone impaired. Now I haven't followed him closely enough to know but I guess he was available because he was let go, i.e. fired as is the nature of the sport and no small part of the inflated wage, from Auburn etc. but he didn't wander around dazed or lost then, he's a grown man for Christ's sake in a business where true talent is expendable on little more than a whim. I have personally seen people let go due to impairment that no one would expect. This issue affects peers in my profession who beyond being competent were excellent. People I cared about and respected and still do but their secreted addictions got the better of them. It was an early game, out of the ordinary, what does Hud do if he shows up F'd up, even the first time, maybe it wasn't the first time. We're all men here. Most of us drink too much, none of us too naive to have not seen great people consumed by it. I've covered for people, I've had people cover for me, I've seen that be o.k., we're human, and I've seen when it had to end. I do not know this to be the case, or claim it to be the case, but it would make a certain sense and if Heaven forbid it is the case may God facilitate recovery and if it is not I request forgiveness in addressing it as aspersions had already been cast and none of us, not I or my purported nemesis, CajunHawk, are immune to this. God bless us all, God save us all, God forgive us all. What ever the reason, a fellow man lost a good job, hope somehow we're (including him) all the better for it. Geaux UL! We're going to beat McNeese. Maybe our best season ever. Jennings looked very good on very short notice. I needed to get over my grudge. He made some some sharp throws. I'm fired up, Geaux Ul!
On a different note, my opposition here will delight in knowing I was served a Ragin Pagin Ale even though I requested a lager and after that I resorted back to Budlight in disgust. I like the notion of these high falutin' beers on paper but in reality I think Budweiser got the bugs out and I avow anyone drinking the colonial swill of days gone by would avow the same.

,

Paragraphs are your friend.

[HoustonCajun]

All he does is hate on Hud. He's had one bad season, and it's like "Oh my God, everyone off the bandwagon". I mean, come on, it was Boise for cryin out loud. It's not like it was Southwestern Oklahoma Panhandle or something.

I would imagine the USC fans feel about like we do right now.

[scotto_25]

I would imagine the USC fans feel about like we do right now.

You would think that loss hurts more? The ulmighty USC shouldn't get drummed like that by anyone.

[Louisiana84]

Ragin' Pagin' posters are at their best when our teams are at their worst.

[CajunEXPRESS]

If Boomer is a cheerleader, I say keep on keeping on. We have PLENTY of repeated negativity here. Plenty. If its not a name thing its "comfortable" or whatever. The optimism is refreshing. Thx

Yea, the Boomer attitude is the perfect cure for cancer. Oh, everything is great you did not upchuck your food after today's chemo, you're doing just great. Naw, you don't need that new treatment, besides it costs lots of money.

[cajun4life]

You would think that loss hurts more? The ulmighty USC shouldn't get drummed like that by anyone.

USC needed to score early and often. They looked like the better team through 1.5 quarters. But they couldn't score. The Bama rolled them.