So was Napier a bad coach a few years against App State or a lucky coach? He chose to not bring a second deep snapper and we almost paid for it, dearly.
Just some side thoughts.
Levi Lewis (who I think is neck-and-neck with Brian Mitchell the greatest quarterback ever to wear the Vermilion and White) was a Covid senior last year. His eligibility was up in 2020.
Would we (Napier) have won 13 games with any of the current quarterbacks at the helm?
Ken Marks, Tayland Humphrey, Ferrod Gardner, and Chauncey Manac (I think) were all Covid seniors. Four additional starters who played significant roles. If they weren't here, how much would it have hurt?
Much has been made of Des' small signing class; does this have anything to do with us getting back down to pre-Covid numbers? Definitely gonna hurt our depth (asking T for his input).
On a sidenote, I am a Chandler guy, but I think if we had played Ben the entire game, we would have won. I think we would have won with Chandler. So obviously not a two-QB fan.
Likewise, I think some players need to sit. And since we've called others out, I'll do the same.
Hudson needs to be buried on the chart. Not only is he high-school sized, I just don't think he gets it. I think Leblanc needs to sit.
I think Dre'lyn needs to play (which I might get with Smith's pulled muscle). I think Caleb needs to see the field more. I'd go all Taysom Hill'/Cordarelle Patterson with Legendre.
Not ready to set Mike adrift. If you think hiring him was "USLing" it, firing him is knee-jerk and would send a bad message across the profession.
I think most long term Cajun fans were suspicious of this hire. It just never seems to work hiring someone from within like this. I'll give CMD this year to rebuild and regroup but I fear we are right back to pre Hud days. This should have been a premium spot for an up and coming coach. Let's all hope that CMD is the man. He just needs some time.
Actually our 2nd stringer is better than our first stringer when healthy. He didn't come in until the 1st stringer went down. I am assuming it is still a health issue. Could be a making the right calls thing. Definitely not a blocking ability thing and physical ability thing.
That's another thing that tells me to give CMD a chance. He starts his first head coaching job just when the NCAA legalizes cheating. It has to be hard for even a seasoned head coach. We looked better against USA. Right now that's all I expect from this team. Improve with each game.
Many if not most around here thought we would get blown out for homecoming. Safe to say we are not as bad as we are being portrayed just as we were not as good as portrayed last year. We could have easily had a 9-10 win season vs 13-1 in 2021. We have to admit that we got all the breaks last year and won every close game.
Not to say we haven’t looked subpar so far this season (especially on offense) and have made way too many mistakes but the difference between winning and losing is not much. With all of our losses in the offseason this is not surprising at all.
Not defending the coaching especially offensively, I just think we sometimes fail to see the big picture and everything is not necessarily doom and gloom.
I remember very well how many didn’t think Napier was the answer back in 2018. I think losing to Rice and ULM was a tough pill to swallow as it should be and then the disappointment of not continuing our success really has been a let down after being sold a continuation of the “culture”. However is it really surprising after everything that went down after CMD was hired and our cupboards were essentially raided that we are struggling.
The reason we are seeing so many players getting subbed in is because we are still trying to figure out what we have and I would assume the coaches thought we could get away with certain things with our easy opening schedule and were preparing for the future. Unfortunately patience will be needed and trust that we are setting the foundation for success similar to what Napier did in his .500 initial season.
I don’t think most of us were ready for this type of rebuild and that is playing into everyone’s negativity.
We made improvements against South Alabama and we need to continue to see improvements every week.
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