I'm a big kool aide drinker and will be one of the last people wanting to fire any coach. With that being said I want to look at each position group and analyze how each coach has recruited and developed talent. Then decide if that coach merits being fired.
QB Mario has not developed one good starter in four years. They have the stars but never have depth. A-Mart has regressed. Mario gets a huge F. Should be fired.
RB. Held has recruited pretty well. Was snake bit by Washington leaving. Wash was the kind of dudes we need minus his stupidity. If you look at the four years he has been here you can't point to any one RB that he recruited out of high school and developed into a stud. I think this years freshman might be the guys but they certainly didn't show up Saturday. Ryan gets a C- but the Fresh better be good soon or he gone.
WR. Matt hasn't been here long enough so he will get a pass. I like the youngsters he has recruited but he better start developing quick. Having a bunch of walk ons and transfers sitting a the top of your depth chart isn't a good thing. I'm baffled by Brody belt getting reps over every single one of the guys HE recruited. Makes no sense. Matt gets an incomplete.
TE Beckton has a very talented group. He has depth. Take away the injuries and this is group is probably the most complete. Would love to see them get more looks. Good players but no elite guys. Sean B+
OLine. This one is tough. I feel like we have recruited well here and finally have some depth and then Saturday happens. I'll give him a passing grade because we have the guys in the room that can get it done but he better develop better and soon. Got to remember that 3 of the 5 starters are Fresh/Sophs. If they don't get better over the course of the season Austin is out the door. Greg gets a D-. Until they produce he is on the chopping block. I'll give him until the end of the year.
Dline. Tony should get a raise. His unit is about the only one that I enjoyed watching. He has recruited well and developed dudes. Daniels, Rogers, Robinson etc. Thank you Tony. You get an A-.
OLB- I think Dawson should get some credit for the D line as he had a hand in that earlier. His OLB's Played pretty well and it appears like he has pretty good depth. He has only been back a year so he also gets an incomplete. Since he is in charge of special teams they better progress or he gets put on the hot seat. I think he is a really good coach and deserves time. Mike = Incomplete.
MLB- This group is thin and there are no great players. Love me some Rudd but depth and production are bad. There is not on player he has recruited and developed into something good. Barret gets an F and shown the door. ouch.
Fisher- He has depth and talent. The starters and much of the depth are his guys. He recruited and developed HS kids and sprinkled some transfers as well. He is not the problem. Travis gets a B+
Gone right now. Mario, Barrett
On the chopping block. Ryan, Greg,
Incomplete. Dawson, Lubik
Good job. Tony, Travis, Sean
Frost- Scott inherited a mess. The mess remains. I think we can all admit we see the difference in player profiles and the physical development. The recruiting profile is better. We have guys that fit the profile of big ten players. We don't have 5'10 centers anymore. The profile is great but we have to have results, which aren't there yet. If this was his first year I would feel great going forward. I guess you have to decide if you want to give him the first 2-3 years free because of how bad the program was at the time or not.
Mike Riley did him no favors with the mess that was left behind but his teams lack of discipline over the years is fire worthy. Good coaches get that established early and rely on it through tough times. The fact that it's still not there is scary.
I also believe the way he has handled special teams is worth getting fired over. Terrible.
And to top it off, we still have no identity. And Illinois has one after one game.
His decision to handcuff himself to Adrian might be what gets actually gets him fired. Bad decision. He should have brought in other guys to compete. With that being said, If Amart would have progressed over the years I think we wouldn't be having this conversation. All the close games we have had over the years we would have won with a competent quarter back.
With all that being said, what do you do? I think every time we fired a coach we put our program back further. Mike shouldn't have been hired in the first place and that decision put us backwards double time. As AD i would have a list of dudes at the ready but they would have to be home runs and guys I had a good chance of getting. Success at the big boy level and top notch assistants are a must. As AD I hold onto these names if and when the wheels come off.
But for now, I let Scott ride this season out. If he can turn things around this year then he gets another year. If it implodes, he's gone. It's a long season and a lot can happen. Is anyone happy with Saturday? Of course not. Did Saturday give you any hope for this season? Hell no. But SF said this was his best team. He pretty much set himself up to be fired if things go south. Let it play out. As far as the other coaches are concerned. As described above, some need to go, some better improve quickly.
QB Mario has not developed one good starter in four years. They have the stars but never have depth. A-Mart has regressed. Mario gets a huge F. Should be fired.
RB. Held has recruited pretty well. Was snake bit by Washington leaving. Wash was the kind of dudes we need minus his stupidity. If you look at the four years he has been here you can't point to any one RB that he recruited out of high school and developed into a stud. I think this years freshman might be the guys but they certainly didn't show up Saturday. Ryan gets a C- but the Fresh better be good soon or he gone.
WR. Matt hasn't been here long enough so he will get a pass. I like the youngsters he has recruited but he better start developing quick. Having a bunch of walk ons and transfers sitting a the top of your depth chart isn't a good thing. I'm baffled by Brody belt getting reps over every single one of the guys HE recruited. Makes no sense. Matt gets an incomplete.
TE Beckton has a very talented group. He has depth. Take away the injuries and this is group is probably the most complete. Would love to see them get more looks. Good players but no elite guys. Sean B+
OLine. This one is tough. I feel like we have recruited well here and finally have some depth and then Saturday happens. I'll give him a passing grade because we have the guys in the room that can get it done but he better develop better and soon. Got to remember that 3 of the 5 starters are Fresh/Sophs. If they don't get better over the course of the season Austin is out the door. Greg gets a D-. Until they produce he is on the chopping block. I'll give him until the end of the year.
Dline. Tony should get a raise. His unit is about the only one that I enjoyed watching. He has recruited well and developed dudes. Daniels, Rogers, Robinson etc. Thank you Tony. You get an A-.
OLB- I think Dawson should get some credit for the D line as he had a hand in that earlier. His OLB's Played pretty well and it appears like he has pretty good depth. He has only been back a year so he also gets an incomplete. Since he is in charge of special teams they better progress or he gets put on the hot seat. I think he is a really good coach and deserves time. Mike = Incomplete.
MLB- This group is thin and there are no great players. Love me some Rudd but depth and production are bad. There is not on player he has recruited and developed into something good. Barret gets an F and shown the door. ouch.
Fisher- He has depth and talent. The starters and much of the depth are his guys. He recruited and developed HS kids and sprinkled some transfers as well. He is not the problem. Travis gets a B+
Gone right now. Mario, Barrett
On the chopping block. Ryan, Greg,
Incomplete. Dawson, Lubik
Good job. Tony, Travis, Sean
Frost- Scott inherited a mess. The mess remains. I think we can all admit we see the difference in player profiles and the physical development. The recruiting profile is better. We have guys that fit the profile of big ten players. We don't have 5'10 centers anymore. The profile is great but we have to have results, which aren't there yet. If this was his first year I would feel great going forward. I guess you have to decide if you want to give him the first 2-3 years free because of how bad the program was at the time or not.
Mike Riley did him no favors with the mess that was left behind but his teams lack of discipline over the years is fire worthy. Good coaches get that established early and rely on it through tough times. The fact that it's still not there is scary.
I also believe the way he has handled special teams is worth getting fired over. Terrible.
And to top it off, we still have no identity. And Illinois has one after one game.
His decision to handcuff himself to Adrian might be what gets actually gets him fired. Bad decision. He should have brought in other guys to compete. With that being said, If Amart would have progressed over the years I think we wouldn't be having this conversation. All the close games we have had over the years we would have won with a competent quarter back.
With all that being said, what do you do? I think every time we fired a coach we put our program back further. Mike shouldn't have been hired in the first place and that decision put us backwards double time. As AD i would have a list of dudes at the ready but they would have to be home runs and guys I had a good chance of getting. Success at the big boy level and top notch assistants are a must. As AD I hold onto these names if and when the wheels come off.
But for now, I let Scott ride this season out. If he can turn things around this year then he gets another year. If it implodes, he's gone. It's a long season and a lot can happen. Is anyone happy with Saturday? Of course not. Did Saturday give you any hope for this season? Hell no. But SF said this was his best team. He pretty much set himself up to be fired if things go south. Let it play out. As far as the other coaches are concerned. As described above, some need to go, some better improve quickly.
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