Which coach do you think is doing the best job this season?

[Buffnik]

When you consider the play of his position group and his recruiting, which coach do you think is doing the best?

For me, it's a close call between Scherer and Kennedy.

Scherer got Connor Wood to transfer in and also secured Shane Dillon for the 2012 class. I wasn't crazy about 2011, but it's damn hard to find quarterbacks when you start in December.

He also has Hansen with 13 TD passes against 3 INTs. For his career, Tyler's ratio was 15/17 and last year it was 6/6. In limited action, Hirschman is 5/9 completions without an INT (or TD). He's taken a couple sacks, but has done reasonably well with his first exposure to game speed.

But I'll go with Kennedy.

On the recruiting front, he's been an absolute beast for us in Texas. Not just for the 2012 class, but he was able to identify some late finds for the 2011 class who look like they'll be able to help us win.

On the field, Richardson is probably a guy that anyone could coach up. But as we've had injuries to experienced guys like P-Rich and Cefalo, we have seen other guys step up and make plays. Canty's been a very welcome surprise. McCullough has been contributing from the start. And when given the opportunity the past few weeks, Gray has really come on.

Obviously, no coach gets an "A" grade when the team is 1-6. But I do look at these two guys and feel pretty good about things as we rebuild. It's been a long, long time since I have felt that we were getting top-flight coaching at the QB and WR positions.

 

[GoonieBuff]

I gotta go with BK. For many of the reasons you mentioned. The WR group is one of those I'm least disappointed by (not saying they're perfect), and I think he's helped a lot in recruiting.

 

[Duff Man]

I would agree with Scherer and Kennedy. The work they have done on the recruiting trail is going to make a world of difference come next Fall. I feel good about both QB and WR going forward.

 

[Darth Snow]

Kennedy, easily. Scherer next. Marshall after that. He got good snaps out of Tau, and had his senior center quit football along with all the other injuries.

 

[Buffnik]

Kennedy, easily. Scherer next. Marshall after that. He got good snaps out of Tau, and had his senior center quit football along with all the other injuries.

Yeah. Coming into this year, we were expected to have one of the most experienced OLs in the nation. Iltis quit. Then Daniels went down, so we had to go to freshmen at Center. Givens went mental and Harris got hurt, so we had to go with 3rd stringers at RT. Actually, Bakhtiari missed time, so we were on our 4th and 5th OTs for a while as starters. Also, not really counted on but hoped for, Max didn't make it back at Guard. We've been decent in pass protection and really good blocking on screen passes. I saw a little life out of the run game against Washington. If we can see that improve between now and the end of the year, we have reason to feel good about how the OL will develop in 2012 and 2013. It's too early for me to grade Marshall one way or the other, though.

With recruiting, I do like the 2011 class of Asiata, Cotner, Kelley (grayshirt who counts to 2012) and Mustoe a lot. With Nembot moving over to join them, I think we've got a really good group to develop there (plus Lewis as a grayshirt who counted to 2011). I think Irwin was a solid get for 2012 and I'm hopeful that Kough is a guy who can develop (got the frame).

 

[Darth Snow]

Yeah. Coming into this year, we were expected to have one of the most experienced OLs in the nation. Iltis quit. Then Daniels went down, so we had to go to freshmen at Center. Givens went mental and Harris got hurt, so we had to go with 3rd stringers at RT. Actually, Bakhtiari missed time, so we were on our 4th and 5th OTs for a while as starters. Also, not really counted on but hoped for, Max didn't make it back at Guard. We've been decent in pass protection and really good blocking on screen passes. I saw a little life out of the run game against Washington. If we can see that improve between now and the end of the year, we have reason to feel good about how the OL will develop in 2012 and 2013. It's too early for me to grade Marshall one way or the other, though.

With recruiting, I do like the 2011 class of Asiata, Cotner, Kelley (grayshirt who counts to 2012) and Mustoe a lot. With Nembot moving over to join them, I think we've got a really good group to develop there (plus Lewis as a grayshirt who counted to 2011). I think Irwin was a solid get for 2012 and I'm hopeful that Kough is a guy who can develop (got the frame).

That said, it would be REALLY sweet if we got a top level OL recruit in this class.

 

[OUBuff]

Obviously, no coach gets an "A" grade when the team is 1-6. But I do look at these two guys and feel pretty good about things as we rebuild. It's been a long, long time since I have felt that we were getting top-flight coaching at the QB and WR positions.

Can we grade on a curve? :smile2:

 

[Buffnik]

That said, it would be REALLY sweet if we got a top level OL recruit in this class.

Completely agree. Hopefully we flip Thurston and/or Hemmila and/or are able to use Scherer's connection to pull Davidson out of Minnesota. I'll be pretty happy, though, if we can just pull in a few guys of they Cyburt-Siragusa-Williams caliber. You can win with athletic 6'5" 3* guys.

 

[Duff Man]

Yeah. Coming into this year, we were expected to have one of the most experienced OLs in the nation. Iltis quit. Then Daniels went down, so we had to go to freshmen at Center. Givens went mental and Harris got hurt, so we had to go with 3rd stringers at RT. Actually, Bakhtiari missed time, so we were on our 4th and 5th OTs for a while as starters. Also, not really counted on but hoped for, Max didn't make it back at Guard. We've been decent in pass protection and really good blocking on screen passes. I saw a little life out of the run game against Washington. If we can see that improve between now and the end of the year, we have reason to feel good about how the OL will develop in 2012 and 2013. It's too early for me to grade Marshall one way or the other, though.

With recruiting, I do like the 2011 class of Asiata, Cotner, Kelley (grayshirt who counts to 2012) and Mustoe a lot. With Nembot moving over to join them, I think we've got a really good group to develop there (plus Lewis as a grayshirt who counted to 2011). I think Irwin was a solid get for 2012 and I'm hopeful that Kough is a guy who can develop (got the frame).

Next year will tell a lot IMO. There will be a good mix of experience and some talented youngsters. We lose both guards, but I am not sure we are losing a whole lot, especially in the case of Adkins. If we can Harris healthy at RT, that would go a long way. Dannewitz looks overmatched on the outside. All comes down to whether we can find three guys to play consistently on the inside.

As far as recruiting this season, would really like to land Jordan Williams and Garrett Weinreich. Anything beyond them would be gravy.

 

[Deleted member 807]

Scherer gets my nod.

The transformation of Hansen is more impressive than any growth seen by Clemmons or McCullough or Gray.
Even P-Rich hasn't been Mr. Consistency after the Cal game.

Tyler is throwing more TD's than picks. He is managing the offense, hanging in the pocket, and basically playing within his abilities. I credit Sherer with overhauling TH's mechanics and improving his decission making.

I'm looking forward to the QB competition between Wood, Dillion, Dorman and Hirschman next season and am expecting that QB will be an upgrade.

 

[BuffNut99]

Riddler

addition by subtraction

 

[96 Buff]

I've been pleased with Bienemy's progression as OC, and with Tony Jones you can definitely see EB's preferred running style.

 

[Gramburglar]

I'm looking forward to the QB competition between Wood, Dillion, Dorman and Hirschman next season and am expecting that QB will be an upgrade.

Wait you like quarterback competition? The Cody vs Tyler competitions must have been like crack for you then.

I would substitute Schrock in for Dorman on your list. He looked better over fall camp in my opinion.

 

[skibum]

Scherer has done a great job with Hansen - the recruiting is a bonus. This last week, for the first time I can remember, we had a quarterback actually look the coverage off of his intended receiver. It wasn't a progression, Tyler knew where he was going, but he focused on the other side of the field before turning and firing to his #1 target for the play. Something he should have been doing a long time ago - and would have been had he gotten a red-shirt and received proper coaching. It was both great to see him doing it, and frustrating to see, because he should have been doing it a long time ago.

Ditto everyone above on Marshal.

O-line, I've been terribly disappointed. It's hard to say right now if it's lack of talent, injuries or poor coaching (or some combination thereof). By the middle of next season, we'll be able to tell what's going on there.

I've liked Bieniemy's progression - he's getting better at play calling each week. Especially given the limited playbook (wasn't it like two weeks ago that he said something about only having about 40% of the playbook implemented?), and of course the playbook has probably shrunk again since then due to injuries. It will be interesting to see what the Buffs do when they start approaching having 80-90% of the playbook available. And his rb's have been pretty good. He gets an A for RB's and a B so far for OC (with a note on OC that's he's improving each week - do we grade the whole season, or do we grade where he gets to by the end?).

The secondary is a MASH unit plain and simple. Could they be better? Maybe, but probably not. Henderson was what #3 or #4 on the depth chart coming into fall practice? He's been good - I imagine that guys 1-3 would have been better. I think Brown gets an "incomplete" for the secondary on his report card for this year.

The d-line is obviously in transition. I think the coaches are sticking with the 3-4, even though it doesn't suit the current players, primarily to aid in recruiting: it's damn hard to recruit players to a system that you're "going to play." Imagine trying to recruit a spread quarterback when you're currently playing a triple-option - it doesn't work, which is why teams first implement the spread, and then go get a quarterback to play it. A true nose-tackle is just as unique a talent as an option or spread quarterback - you have to put a "place holder" interior d-lineman at nose while you recruit the right players. So again, an incomplete for McGhee & Tui.

Linebackers: Cabral is a great coach. He's not, and never has been, an all-star recruiter. He needs back-up on the recruiting trail to "close the deal." DII didn't have anyone to give Cabral a hand when he needed it - Embree seems like he can do this: remember the players we got to "switch" their commitments last spring. Cabral has also been asked to do something he's never had to do before: coach his players to "cover for" both a ****tastic secondary and a d-line that's transitioning systems. I think he's done a pretty good job.

For Brown as DC: I think he gets an "incomplete" here as well. Between the injuries in the secondary, and the shift to the 3-4 (which really is as different from the 4-3 in terms of philosophy and types of players needed as the spread is from the option), he get's a "we'll see." The mid-point of next year will be when we can start making real judgments here too.

Embree: He is very obviously learning on the job. We knew that when he was hired: we should not be surprised by this. EB has made more strides in his progression as OC than Embree has in his progression to HC - that should be expected, it's not as great a leap to coordinator as it is to HC. Random example: I think he over-corrected in his post-game comments. But, he at least corrected. I think he's doing fine, but there's a lot of stuff we don't see: he may be doing amazing in that, but, by definition, we don't see it. Those things will show up 1-3 years from now. So, while for a lot of these guys I'm giving them to the middle of next season before making a judgment, Embree gets to the end of next-season, and then we'll see.

 

[Darth Snow]

Mtn, you have been challenged. Do you have a response?

 

[Deleted member 807]

Wait you like quarterback competition? The Cody vs Tyler competitions must have been like crack for you then.

I would substitute Schrock in for Dorman on your list. He looked better over fall camp in my opinion.

The Cody -v- Tyler saga was more of a nepotistic coronation. The "competition" was more of an poorly executed marketing ploy to justify an ill advised father-son / BCS HC-QB relationship.

Thanks for allowing me to clear that up.