I am extremely disappointed in the result of yesterday's game for the Gophers.. That said, the LOGICAL side of my brain says that this is going to be a process and with that, comes disappointment at times.. As I said in another thread, we have very talented players but need to improve at some KEY POSITIONS to keep moving forward. I dont think Connor Rhoda is at fault here to a point but any time you add the word "OPTION" to your offense, you have to have a QB that reacts to the defense in his decision making, based on his reads.. That does not eliminate the responsibility of the coaches in their preparation of the guys but some guys are better than others in executing their reads then reacting to it the best way which includes a willingness for the QB to run the ball on occasion.. That is intrinsic in any type of OPTION football, whether it is triple option, spread option, speed option, run-pass option, or read option. The staff has to either adapt their preparation to the current talent or stay with it and ride out the year with the goods and bads of a QB that may not fit that system. Connor is a more conventional style QB maybe more suited for a little bit different style of offense.and we have to live with that for this season.. Not a slam on Connor as I think he has thrown the ball better than what I have seen in a Gopher QB for awhile. Plus, our pass blocking has been very good this year, IMO.
The other thing is that it is a huge loss when McGhee and Winfield are not in the game.. They are good tacklers and we did not always tackle well yesterday. Got some developing of depth to do and recruit players with those strengths in the future. DEs are young and a bit undersized.. Maryland saw that at times, our DEs took bad angles and we were exposed without our excellent safeties on the field to cover those errors... Heck, we only lost the game by 7 so its not like we were out of this game. We did well in some things and need improvement in others.. Fleck would be the first to admit that is true for the coaching as well, I believe.. Its a learning experience for everyone as even experienced coaches have to learn the strengths and weaknesses of their personnel and how they coordinate with their teammates on both sides of the ball.
We are not in the same situation as a team like LSU, for instance. In my opinion, LSU WAYYYY OVERPAID to get Ed Orgeron as head coach... His buyout is ridiculously high for someone that they did not have to compete with any other program for his services. He is also not a coach that has proven that he can develop a team over time.. There are people in LSU that have set up a "GoFundMe" account to buyout Orgeron's contract after the embarrassing homecoming loss to Troy yesterday.... Don't be surprised if LSU takes it in the hind end and approaches the coaches from a few smaller schools for their next head coaching job.... A name many have not heard of, Frank Wilson at Texas San Antonio, will be towards the top of the list. In personality, he has some similarities to PJ Fleck... He was the ace recruiter for Les Miles at LSU so he knows the area and is from down there originally.. Orgeron is a Cajun so he relates to those down in the bayou but they want a winner in football, regardless where the coach is coming from originally.. If Nebraska doesn't act on Scott Frost, I would not be surprised if LSU would pull out the stops for him either.. I don't care if Frost was raised in Nebraska and is revered in the state as the "coach in waiting". That is a difficult situation that Orgeron has, early in his LSU Tiger career.
Guys, its one game but if we look around, hopefully we can just be pissed off about this game and realize we have a young energetic coach that has proven he can improve a team, over time.. Looking at some other programs, I would say we are fortunate to have Fleck regardless of the result of yesterday's games... We have great kids on the team, great coaches, and an even better future... GO GOPHERS!!
The other thing is that it is a huge loss when McGhee and Winfield are not in the game.. They are good tacklers and we did not always tackle well yesterday. Got some developing of depth to do and recruit players with those strengths in the future. DEs are young and a bit undersized.. Maryland saw that at times, our DEs took bad angles and we were exposed without our excellent safeties on the field to cover those errors... Heck, we only lost the game by 7 so its not like we were out of this game. We did well in some things and need improvement in others.. Fleck would be the first to admit that is true for the coaching as well, I believe.. Its a learning experience for everyone as even experienced coaches have to learn the strengths and weaknesses of their personnel and how they coordinate with their teammates on both sides of the ball.
We are not in the same situation as a team like LSU, for instance. In my opinion, LSU WAYYYY OVERPAID to get Ed Orgeron as head coach... His buyout is ridiculously high for someone that they did not have to compete with any other program for his services. He is also not a coach that has proven that he can develop a team over time.. There are people in LSU that have set up a "GoFundMe" account to buyout Orgeron's contract after the embarrassing homecoming loss to Troy yesterday.... Don't be surprised if LSU takes it in the hind end and approaches the coaches from a few smaller schools for their next head coaching job.... A name many have not heard of, Frank Wilson at Texas San Antonio, will be towards the top of the list. In personality, he has some similarities to PJ Fleck... He was the ace recruiter for Les Miles at LSU so he knows the area and is from down there originally.. Orgeron is a Cajun so he relates to those down in the bayou but they want a winner in football, regardless where the coach is coming from originally.. If Nebraska doesn't act on Scott Frost, I would not be surprised if LSU would pull out the stops for him either.. I don't care if Frost was raised in Nebraska and is revered in the state as the "coach in waiting". That is a difficult situation that Orgeron has, early in his LSU Tiger career.
Guys, its one game but if we look around, hopefully we can just be pissed off about this game and realize we have a young energetic coach that has proven he can improve a team, over time.. Looking at some other programs, I would say we are fortunate to have Fleck regardless of the result of yesterday's games... We have great kids on the team, great coaches, and an even better future... GO GOPHERS!!
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