HarringtonFishSmeller

He took a program that was in its third year of FBS football, and only its sixth year of existence, and took them to two bowl games in six year. This is only FIU's 10th year as a full FBS football program and they've been to more bowl games than we have in the past 10 years...and Cristobal led them to both. That's not impressive? It's impressive to me because they were, essentially, in the same boat as us: the little fish in a big pond where bigger fish. And, the bigger fish were gobbling up the best recruits - FSU, Florida, Miami, and every SEC and ACC school you can name. Yet, he got them bowl eligible twice, with a from scratch program and whatever table scrap recruits he could muster. Miami could do much worse than hiring Cristobal. Far worse. Also, if he didn't have coaching talent, he would not be on Nick Saban's coaching staff. He's an excellent coach, well respected among his peer, and grad of The U. They'll do well to hire him - before UCF, Auburn, South Carolina, or someone else does.

No idea. But, in an interview with Vito, he said he was coming in as a QB...and, he's listed on our roster as a QB.

First, I want to thank you for throwing me the touchdown pass in the last GoMeanGreen.com bowl. At least, if I remember correctly, I was you. Second, Damarcus Smith seems like a nice kid. But, we've seen football before and can tell a good quarterback from a bad one. Damarcus is a bad one. Look, if he were a freshman - or, even a redshirt freshman - making the kind of mistakes and misreads he makes, that would be one thing. But, he's not developed at all throughout his career, okay? He was at a Western Kentucky program that obviously knows how to develop quarterbacks. It appears as though he learned nothing there. JUCO numbers looked good enough...but, we were his only offer coming out of JUCO. Which should tell you that enough coaches watched enough film to decide to pass on him. We now know that when he got here, he wasn't doing the things off the field that it takes to be successful. And, so I suspect the same was true at Western Kentucky - the "I'm not the starter, I'm not putting in the extra time"-attitude. And, so, you've got a fourth year junior who plays as bad as a freshman. The truth is, there just isn't as much upside to Damarcus Smith as everyone hoped, okay? Look, I'm taller than both Spud Webb and Muggsy Bogues, but what does that mean? It means nothing. Both, I'm sure would to this day skunk me in game of one-on-one. Talent and hard work go hand in hand to create success. Whatever talent Damarcus may or may not have had has gone nowhere because of piss poor work habits. I for one, would like to see whether any of the other QBs on the roster has a shred of a chance of being capable of even backups status to whomever the new coach brings in. All have more years to "develop" than Smith. At minimum, it might give the new coach at least some game film on the younger guys. I'd be particularly interested in seeing Chumley, to be honest. Chumley was at least as highly thought of as Smith coming out of high school (three-star Rivals prospect) with a host of offers from schools who have done well with QBs of late: Houston, La. Tech, Memphis, Missouri, and Oregon State. And, Chumley's got what three or four more years? Much more time than Smith has. And, at 6-5, 240...I'd at least like to see what he can do. The bar isn't very high as to passing/accuracy among the QBs on the roster anyway. So, see how he reacts to pressure against a game squad of Tennessee's twos once they are in and Smith is (should be) pulled.

We'll end up with a guy like Spavital when...

Exactly, And, I mean, word for word what most of us believe. Listen, Houston fan...just...be happy that although you went to a crappy, utterly ugly college, that at least the athletic department there figured something out after Phi Slamma Jamma was not able to sustain it. We were hoodwinked - and, still are to some degree - by the last head coach and his assistants. Okay, so let us suffer amongst ourselves, please.

What...some other school won't be able to figure out he was here for six years, then look at the offensive output during those years?

Thank you. Although....

(1) "Canales said that Antoinne Jimmerson elected to not travel with the team to LA Tech. A friend of his was shot during the week and Canales flat said the senior does not believe he is getting enough carries." (2) “We need to do a better job of recruiting and developing our players,” Canales said. “We have kids who haven’t gotten bigger since they were freshmen.” Canales said you could see the difference in what LA Tech had to work with by looking across the field and comparing the Bulldogs players to the guys standing on UNT’s sideline. UNT’s longtime offensive coordinator said he believes he knows what the program needs to do to close the gap." Okay, what planet is he living on? He's been here for six years! He helped recruit this roster. He's been coaching them. Again, like I said last week, I like Mike, but he's too soft. You have to push kids sometimes, okay? Anyone with kids understands this. And, college football players...you cannot let up on them anymore than you can your own kids. How, as an assistant coach, at the same school for six years, do you not notice that players are not developing? You are with them almost every day for four or five years! What the hell is going on? And, Jimmerson...look, the locker room is gone. Okay? Can we just all agree on that? We've got Smith yelling at Canales, but not working to prepare when he was a backup. We've got Jimmerson whining about his carries and refusing to go on the road. We've got Greer, somehow still on scholarship, yelling at assistants during the game. If a player doesn't want to participate or follow the rules, you have to pull that scholarship. You have to do it. We have to get some coaches in here with the stones to tell the inmates that they don't run the asylum. This team is an absolute mess. Has any team ever unraveled to this degree so soon after a bowl appearance. I mean, we are less than two seasons removed from a bowl appearances, and it seems that we are further off the ball than when Dickey left and Dodge ran the thing further down into the ditch in 2007. Crazy, man. Crazy.

Yeah, but...look...JUST DO IT. Ever wonder why they don't apply the percentage of population to the athletic scholarships? What you are saying is that the athletic scholarships are awarded on the basis of ability that has been proven in 40 times, vertical leaps, bench pressing, and statistics from competition. But... ...when it comes to admissions to the school or hiring professors, something other than academic standards must be used. Then, you've got to set up this percentage of the population thing. There are all of these reports saying that Missouri 79% white and 8% black, so that the undergrad and professorship should reflect that. Well, why not for the athletics? Well, because...it doesn't make the race card experts happy to do it that way, that's why. The race card experts don't care that there is no evidence that Missouri students yelled a profanity at a black students or painted swastikas with feces. In fact, to my knowledge, there is no picture of the feces. And, no video of the alleged homecoming confrontation. Strange in this day and age when the "oppressed" are so eager to show photos and videos of their "oppression" that none are to be seen here. We simply have four allegations with no clear evidence in at least three that they even occurred. But, why wait for evidence when there probably isn't any to begin with - or, such as in the parade case, could easily be contradicted by dozens of witnesses? It also goes all way to show how far journalism has dropped. Anyone know of any media outlet trying to determine the veracity of even the easiest claim, the homecoming confrontation? Police there. Surely dozens, possibly hundreds of alumni and students with phone cameras. Protesters, surely there with cameras. Yet, nothing. No police report or citation that the president's car bumped a protester. Do we even have the name of the allegedly bumped protester? Surely, an officer on the scene would be required to make a report to go along with such a citation. Nothing.

I'm going to make this prediction again, because it makes sense: we have good backs, we'll have 3/5ths of the line returning, we play in a glorified version of the Sun Belt. Therefore, if we hire a coach who can get one quarterback in here, we could easily be 6-6 next year and be back in a bowl game. Hear me now, believe me later: Mac and Chico royally screwed the pooch in quarterback recruiting. All it takes is one guy to get it going. My bet is an offensive guru-type hire can do it.

No. Not everyone was saying that. A select few were saying that. Most of us recognize that there are no FBS-level quarterbacks on this roster. We knew it before Smith hit the field because he couldn't make his grades in time to get here in spring, then couldn't beat out McNulty. Not beating out McNulty was a big enough sign that he wasn't cut out for this level of play. The McNulty Bar is set reaaaaaaaally low, and he couldn't get over it.

We could easily score 10+ because Tennessee will be down to scout teamers by the time the middle of the fourth quarter rolls around. Lots of kids getting "rewarded" for their hard work of being tackling dummies in practice for four years to the scholarship players. All I'm saying is let another quarterback play against Tennessee's backups. We already know Smith moves the ball real well when we're down by 30 or 40. Just for the sake of keeping things interesting, put some new blood in there. It'll be the only chance any of them will ever have to take a snap at the FBS level.

Listen, if Tennessee wants the score to be 88-0, it would be that no matter who plays quarterback for us. There will be backups in for the Vols before halftime.

Once Tennessee is up 21-0 or 28-0 in the first quarter, I want to see new quarterbacks. I don't really care who they are, as long as their names aren't McNulty, Greer, or Smith. Put in Chumley, Cousins, Means, and Shanbour. All of them. Put a new one in every series. I honestly don't see what difference it would make. I honestly believe that any of those four simply walking into the huddle and saying, "you give me a post, you give me a slant, you go out in the flat, and you go long" and the results would be about the same as they have been all season long. I mean, how could they be worse? And, please...please after these four starts, do not feed me this "developing Smith for next year" line, okay? He is not going to play quarterback for the new head coach if we are truly hiring in a guy with offensive spurs.

It's not a question of who could have "done better" because no one was going to do well with this roster. Canales is responsible, and has been for over half a decade, for the QB position and offense here. The QB position is devoid of talent, and the offense only moves against twos, threes, and scout teamers at the end of games. The point is that the people who think he should be evaluated as our head coach are sorely ignoring the fact that he is responsible for the QB mess that is clogging up the roster now. All we are saying is, we know what he can do and can't do. And, we wish him well at his next stop. And, look, it's probably better off for Mike to make a fresh start somewhere else as well. What in the hell good would it do to, by some minute chance, keep him, and then have another disastrous season in 2016. Everyone needs a clean start - the team, the school, and Mike. As stated before, I'd welcome stays from Coaches Patrick and Perry. Beyond that, everyone should go out and get a fresh start.

There's a reason we were D. Smith's only offer after JUCO. Still can't figure out what we saw in Greer either. This is Canales. You can't get me to believe he wasn't evaluating QBs during the recruiting process. It's his job, and we have a huge talent gap there.

So, this guy and Briles, Jr. both have NCAA recruiting marks against them. Fine. Give me Norvell or Riley.

Will likely take my son; he's still young enough to not care when we lose. Hopefully wife and daughter will want to tag along. It's really bad football, but played in a nice stadium.

Listen, Chico is the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. And, interim head coach. QB position is the worst, easily, in FBS. We have zero FBS-level QBs on the roster. He's been recruiting for and coaching that position for six years. He gambled big time on candy-assed head cases who wanted to live on their YouTube highlights and rivals rankings. On the other hand, he simply signed guys who were long shots out of high school. How do you not hold the QB coach responsible to the terrible play from that position? It's over. Next year: new coaches, new quarterbacks. Nowhere to go but up.

This.

UTEP now two games from bowl eligibility. Tellin' ya...our game against them may be the one that decides whether they go bowling.

Guys, again, these people sign non-disclosures during the interview process. Therefore, he is likely prohibited from saying he's a candidate until after some certain point. My guess is, that certain point in the non-disclosure is the end of Oklahoma's regular season. And, here, is why we need OU to lose a lot in November: If they are in the CFP or a major bowl game, Riley likely stays on through that...and, gets further behind recruiting here.

Another Gundy article, this one an interview about how things are done up in Norman as far as recruiting/coaching: http://newsok.com/article/4949512 "It’s a challenge to be a football player here because of how hard you’re coached, how hard you’re pushed, how hard our strength staff challenges you. Our policies when it comes to being late to class, missing a tutor, being late to a tutor, I mean everything around here. Then you add on that you’re at a place like Oklahoma where they think you should win a championship every single year. When I watch film and I find my running backs that I know have the talent to play here, that’s just half of it. Then you’ve gotta find the character. Then you’ve gotta find out if he’s the fit you want at Oklahoma. You can be a great football player, but don’t end up at Oklahoma because you don’t have the character or don’t have the want-to and the willingness to do certain things."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/ousportsextra/cale-gundy-talks-about-years-at-ou-his-desire-to/article_7a1179b6-4ca0-5247-a9bb-85068b445210.html He's this at OU: Assistant Head Coach, Director of Recruiting, Inside Receivers http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31000&ATCLID=208803405 You wonder. It says in the article written in August that he'd like to be a head coach someday. He's 43. Has done a heck of a job a Director of Recruiting for Stoops. Although...Gundy sounds too old school for maybe some of our softer players. Article about him and his recruiting of Adrian Peterson: http://newsok.com/article/4949367 “We’ll win with or without you,” Oklahoma running backs coach Cale Gundy told Peterson, the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect in the recruiting class of 2004. .... “Everybody went to Adrian Peterson and put their arm around him and told him, ‘You’re gonna come here. We’re gonna win championships. You’re gonna win Heismans. You’re gonna start,’” Gundy said. “That’s just not how we work at Oklahoma. Everybody is told the same thing: ‘The only thing you’re guaranteed at Oklahoma is an opportunity.’” According to an RB that signed at OU last year, he's a hard-nosed coach: Anderson said Gundy’s personality resonates with him. “I like the way he coaches, how technical he is and how he wants things done,” Anderson said. “I’m used to being coached real hard.” So, Gundy may be too old school for our players, anyway. He wants things done his way, and he coaches "real hard." Sounds like the OU players like being coached that way.

No idea. But, does Knight, who has been a starter in the biggest of big time-type games - Sugar Bowl against Alabama two seasons ago - you have to wonder whether he enjoys the prospect of riding the pine for another season as his eligibility expires. There is at least this...if Riley is hired, he is familiar with both him and the offense he runs. It's not like many of the QB fifth year transfers pan out well at their new locations. You are talking about having to learn a system in less than a year, get up to speed with the receivers, build trust with teammates and coaches. Exception has been Russell Wilson...although, he had been a three year starter at NC State before transferring to Wisconsin. Most of the other fifth year QB transfers have been guys who didn't start, or started very little. Knight would have a leg up already knowing the offense. And, for Riley...that position would be one less headache as a new coach. Knight is a known entity. At that point, we'd pretty much be down to finding receivers with a good stable of RBs and three of the five OLs returning. It's just a far off scenario right now. But, you never know...Knight isn't learning any other school's playbook as he sits on OU's bench. And, Baker Mayfield doesn't look to be giving up the driver's seat up there. Knight may never play another meaningful snap at OU for the rest of his career. He'd be the starter from the time he set foot on campus here.