continuity within the program

[slystone]

while info has been limited, it is encouraging to hear of some of the progress being made during spring ball. Nembot, Callahan, Rip, etc. From 2008 until last year, the program has shown the scars created by overall neglect along with bad coaching and recruiting. We can argue all day about Hawk's tenure..but in my eyes, he brought in the players...a few defections by coaches such as grimes, bedell and helfrich hurt the overall staff and retarded progress within their respective position groups. Hawk's myopic viewpoint of the QB position hurt in many ways, tangible and intangible. Injuries to MTM and departures by Bryce and Asiata stymied progress on the OL...Losing Grimes hurt, he was a very effective teacher, coached the guys hard and the kids respected him...replace him with the holy roller Johnson, then lose Bedell..no continuity, no cohesiveness...

Then CU experienced a drought at the QB position...Webb and Wood certainly were not the solution--the team members knew it. Up until this past year, CU hasn't had a strong RB since Speedy departed after the 2011 season..a true RB who could set up blocks and patiently hit the holes..CU hasn't utilized the TE position since the 2011 season...Look at the studs who have populated the Pac 12 rosters at Stanford, UWash, UCLA, etc...CU has totally neglected that position...the linebacker corps has been scary thin...CU paid for that in the 2012-2014 seasons...in an ideal world, CU would have a 225-240 thumper in the middle and let Addy run sideline to sideline..seems like the squad is still a year a way from recruiting and developing a Pac 12 squad of LBers...besides Addy, I don't see many other CU linebackers who would start on other teams in the Pac12.

I applaud MM's recent hires..and most importantly, the squad has seen the huge uptick in coaching. During the Embo tenure, verbal spats between Embo-Bienemy-Marshall were weekly affairs...hardly an ideal situation. It is very encouraging to see Nembot develop..hopefully the light goes on with Callahan...the OL and DL have depth that hasn't been seen in 6-8 years...great stuff...so, if MM can keep his staff together and the coaches continue to teach as they have...good times could be right around the corner for CU...unfortunately, the Pac 12 keeps getting better at a lightening pace--but finally, with some continuity with the staff and a huge uptick in facilities....the Buffs could be turning the corner !

 

[skibum]

I'm starting to get spring ball optimism.

One thing I was thinking about this morning was back in the final hawk years and then with embree there were several conversations on here with (hopefully I'm remembering participants correctly, apologies if I'm not) mtn, nik, myself and a couple others harping on Bill Snyder's formula.

Essentially that if you play 60 minutes of fundamentally sound football, you can win a lot games with less than elite talent. I think our offense, and actually our special teams as well, showed this last year, they generally played basic fundamentally sound ball (although not mistake free), and were good enough that if the defense had matched their play the team would have won a few more games.

The defense was the liability last year. And now we have a DC straight out of Snyder's coaching tree. If the defense plays the same fundamentally sound game as the O and ST, the win total will go up.

Couple a sound defense with eliminating some of the mistakes on O & ST, and a bowl game no longer seams so far fetched.

 

[J.R. Ewing]

Perhaps a bit too generous with the fundamentally sound football. We were 114th in the nation in penalty yards per game. Some of those were 'good' penalties, but the majority seemed to be the head slapping variety.

 

[Uncle Ken]

Perhaps a bit too generous with the fundamentally sound football. We were 114th in the nation in penalty yards per game. Some of those were 'good' penalties, but the majority seemed to be the head slapping variety.

If I remember correctly every single one of them was a bull**** PI call.

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

If I remember correctly every single one of them was a bull**** PI call.

fact.

 

[Buffnik]

Perhaps a bit too generous with the fundamentally sound football. We were 114th in the nation in penalty yards per game. Some of those were 'good' penalties, but the majority seemed to be the head slapping variety.

I don't care about penalties. It's not correlated to winning.

Similarly, I don't care about time of possession.

Turnovers have to change. Offense has to commit a lot fewer and the defense has to cause a lot more.

Beyond that, Buffs have to get the number of explosive plays and rushing attempts up on offense.

Buffs have to do better getting off the field on 3rd down on defense, limit explosive plays and be much better in the red zone.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

As mentioned in the Spring thread, I was able to sit in on a QB development seminar that Lindgren put on at a coaching clinic I attended over the weekend. He mentioned that 2013 was the fewest fumbles in CU history (not sure if that's specifically fumbles lost or just general fumbles) and that they broke that record in 2014. Lindgren did throw in the caveat that they threw way too many INTs last year, and that is their focus now, but taking care of the ball is obviously an emphasis of the offense and they seem to be doing a much better job of that than previous staffs.

 

[DiggerBuffs]

I don't care about penalties. It's not correlated to winning.

Similarly, I don't care about time of possession.

Turnovers have to change. Offense has to commit a lot fewer and the defense has to cause a lot more.

Beyond that, Buffs have to get the number of explosive plays and rushing attempts up on offense.

Buffs have to do better getting off the field on 3rd down on defense, limit explosive plays and be much better in the red zone.

Exactly what you are saying about penalties:
Baylor and Oregon were 1-2 in penalties. They were amongst the Top 10 teams in the nation. Oh, they also were Top 10 in turnover margin, which is the key to winning/losing.
Seattle won the Super Bowl and was runner up as the most penalized team each time.

 

[FlatironsBuff]

As mentioned in the Spring thread, I was able to sit in on a QB development seminar that Lindgren put on at a coaching clinic I attended over the weekend. He mentioned that 2013 was the fewest fumbles in CU history (not sure if that's specifically fumbles lost or just general fumbles) and that they broke that record in 2014. Lindgren did throw in the caveat that they threw way too many INTs last year, and that is their focus now, but taking care of the ball is obviously an emphasis of the offense and they seem to be doing a much better job of that than previous staffs.

Hard to have the RBs fumble when they didn't get to touch the ball (blatant hyperbole)

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

Hard to have the RBs fumble when they didn't get to touch the ball (blatant hyperbole)

Ha, well there is actually something to say to that, with their lack of run/pass balance under Lindgren, so far. Obviously, CU has historically been a running program, so there have been more opportunities to fumble in the past, compared to today, but it's encouraging that they improved upon it from MM's first year to his second year.

 

[J.R. Ewing]

I don't care about penalties. It's not correlated to winning.

Similarly, I don't care about time of possession.

Turnovers have to change. Offense has to commit a lot fewer and the defense has to cause a lot more.

Beyond that, Buffs have to get the number of explosive plays and rushing attempts up on offense.

Buffs have to do better getting off the field on 3rd down on defense, limit explosive plays and be much better in the red zone.

I agree on the turnovers. Some quick stats here:

We were 115th in the nation in turnover margin at -10. That's bad.

We were 125th in the nation in takeaways with 11. That's atrocious.

In terms of Def Fumbles Recovered / Rushing Att, we were 62th in the nation. Pretty average

In terms of Def INTs / Passing Att, we were 126th in the nation. Ouch.

In terms of Off Fumbles Lost / Rushing Att, we were 30th in the nation. Nice

In terms of Off INTs / Passing Att, we were once again 62nd in the nation. Pretty Average


Our turnover margin problem was on defense, and it was lack of pressure on the quarterback and lack of catching the ball.

 

[skibum]

Our turnover margin problem was on defense, and it was lack of pressure on the quarterback, lack of catching the ball and bull**** pass interference calls.

FIFY

 

[DiggerBuffs]

Our turnover margin problem was on defense, and it was lack of pressure on the quarterback and lack of catching the ball.

The corners must be taught to turn and face the ball when it is up in the air. Crawley, Henderson and Awuzie missed multiple attempts by not turning. I will say they had good pass deflection numbers. It also hurt having Thompson and less than average help besides him in Smith and Co. When Thompson was out, we may as well just gave them PIs of 15 yards if they threw deep. We didn't have the speed or talent to compete. If Bell and Thompson are both healthy 90% of the snaps this year, we are a very good secondary.

 

[Colobuffs21]

I don't care about penalties. It's not correlated to winning.

Similarly, I don't care about time of possession.

Turnovers have to change. Offense has to commit a lot fewer and the defense has to cause a lot more.

Beyond that, Buffs have to get the number of explosive plays and rushing attempts up on offense.

Buffs have to do better getting off the field on 3rd down on defense, limit explosive plays and be much better in the red zone.

I would agree with you about the penalties when you are the seahawks or baylor or oregon, but don't you think when you are a team that is already outmatched, the penalties are far more important?

 

[Buffnik]

I would agree with you about the penalties when you are the seahawks or baylor or oregon, but don't you think when you are a team that is already outmatched, the penalties are far more important?

Not really.

Aggressive penalties are always fine. The only ones that are a real problem are the dead ball fouls like jumping offsides or delay of game. Especially when the team has a very narrow path to victory, those screw up down & distance for no good reason.

Things like PI and holding (or defensive holding or chop blocks or pick plays or illegal downfield or whatever), though... those are things you do 10 times and get called on once or twice. It's worth it to absorb the penalties and have the guys playing it that way. Last thing we want is to try too hard to avoid those penalties.

 

[buffaholic]

Worth noting how quickly spearing and leading with the helmet have been taken out of the game. It was a big concern a few years ago when Orms got hit with it I know, but it's much less called now and I think it's because it's been coached out of the game to some extent.

 

[Duff Man]

I agree with a lot in thread, only thing that really stuck out is [MENTION=2797]skibum[/MENTION] saying the special teams were fundamentally sound. Not sure I agree with that statement because there were some back-breaking mistakes made by those units.

 

[skibum]

I agree with a lot in thread, only thing that really stuck out is [MENTION=2797]skibum[/MENTION] saying the special teams were fundamentally sound. Not sure I agree with that statement because there were some back-breaking mistakes made by those units.

As opposed to all those non back breaking mistakes made by the offense?

Snarky response aside, special teams is hard to gauge a breakdown in fundamentals team wide and a bone headed mistake on the part of one or two players. It's usually easier to make that sort of distinction on offenses or defenses. I saw progression on special teams, but I really did debate excluding them from my initial post.

 

[J.R. Ewing]

As opposed to all those non back breaking mistakes made by the offense?

Snarky response aside, special teams is hard to gauge a breakdown in fundamentals team wide and a bone headed mistake on the part of one or two players. It's usually easier to make that sort of distinction on offenses or defenses. I saw progression on special teams, but I really did debate excluding them from my initial post.

ST's coverage units progressed as the season went on, but early on they were positively brutal. That UMASS game in particular was nauseating.

 

[sackman]

It could be argued that we lost the UU game because we couldn't stop a fake punt from picking up 15 yards.

Of course, you could also argue that we lost that game due to a Pick 6 thrown from our own 5 yard line.

Take your pick, I suppose.

 

[patebuff]

ST's coverage units progressed as the season went on, but early on they were positively brutal. That UMASS game in particular was nauseating.

This happened in 2013 as well. If we start off again in 2015 the same way...........

 

[WizzersGhost]

This happened in 2013 as well. If we start off again in 2015 the same way...........

STs are the units you really can't practice much at full game speed because you don't wany guys killed out there.

Except for the kickers themselves, it takes awhile for them to hone in on their missions, especially if you're playing a lot of younger guys.

 

[Buffnik]

STs are the units you really can't practice much at full game speed because you don't wany guys killed out there.

Except for the kickers themselves, it takes awhile for them to hone in on their missions, especially if you're playing a lot of younger guys.

True for both teams. May as well complain about the weather.

Only time I might buy that excuse is if CU's opener is against a team that got to play a game the week before.

 

[buffaholic]

True for both teams. May as well complain about the weather.

Only time I might buy that excuse is if CU's opener is against a team that got to play a game the week before.

It is another area where having depth and 5 full classes on campus can really help out. You can practice ST's a bit if you aren't rolling starters out there.

It's a great place for RS-Frosh and Sophs to be that are talented and capable, but maybe not even in the 2-deep at this time. We haven't had that luxury. Our #3 position guy has generally been handicapped in some way. Hard to tackle guys if you are legally blind.

 

[Duff Man]

Toby just needs five more years to turn it all around. Fantastic coach.

 

[DrunkPanda]

It is another area where having depth and 5 full classes on campus can really help out. You can practice ST's a bit if you aren't rolling starters out there.

It's a great place for RS-Frosh and Sophs to be that are talented and capable, but maybe not even in the 2-deep at this time. We haven't had that luxury. Our #3 position guy has generally been handicapped in some way. Hard to tackle guys if you are legally blind.

Yup, if we had 5 full classes of scholarship athletes on our football team, like UMASS did, our special teams would have dominated theirs last year

 

[onealcd]

Toby just needs five more years to turn it all around. Fantastic coach.

If Mac gets an NFL gig, Toby would be the ideal candidate to promote from within. I would love to see it just to hear Slider's reaction.

 

[Duff Man]

If Mac gets an NFL gig, Toby would be the ideal candidate to promote from within. I would love to see it just to hear Slider's reaction.

To be fair, I would probably melt down as much as anyone. Still have never understood the hire and never will.

 

[FlatironsBuff]

To be fair, I would probably melt down as much as anyone. Still have never understood the hire and never will.

All I can figure is that Chuck had a picture of Bohn ****ing a goat. Or more likely, the goat ****ing him.

 

[buffaholic]

To be fair, I would probably melt down as much as anyone. Still have never understood the hire and never will.

And to be clear, I wasn't defending Toby. Would like to see us get to the point where we aren't playing our starters on STs.