I started this thread because I really wanted to know what others thought about this. Because I really have a mixed response to it. I dislike Sipple very much but the real asshole and/or idiot here is that clown Diaco. Sipple is being his usual self ... which is a hack ...and Banker is understandably bitter, but has kept his mouth shut until Diaco opened his. But there are other reporters who have run with Diaco's comments too, and not just Sipple, and the issue that Diaco raised about the rugby style tackling being mandated by administrators above Riley is a very serious claim that needed to be investigated. Diaco is the catalyst for this public pissing match and nobody else.
Riley should not let Diaco speak to the press. Lol. Of course he has to which only underscores the questionable nature of the Diaco hire. Didn't his weird and "captain moonbeam" manner of speaking come out in the interview? Did they not talk to people at UConn and ND about this?
But what is really bad about Diaco's comments, both yesterday and after the game on Saturday, isn't that he is just weird. What is bad is that, when the chips are down, he appears to like blaming others rather than manning up and taking responsibility for the product on the field. Blaming Banker for this year's defense is the obvious example. As if "poor tackling" is our biggest issue on defense. Hint: it isn't and Diaco knows it isn't.
But I also think there was a more subtle, and more troubling, deflection of blame after the game on Saturday. He told reporters, in so many words, "hey dudes, don't come down too hard on me or my players because we are starting a ton of young guys and it is a new system they have yet to grasp. You can't really expect us to be able to stop everything a good offense can do, therefore." Personally, I think that was a dig at Langs and the offense. I think Diaco is saying here "if you want to blame someone for our losses go blame that offense, with their hot shot QB, quality skill players, and an offensive line in year three of their formation."
Maybe I am just making shit up now and he meant no dig at the offense. But my gut says it was.
The wheels are coming off folks. December cannot get here fast enough.