When is it the Assistant Coaches fault???

[Hookset]

This 3 year losing streak sucks. 
I get everything is the head coaches responsibility.

But is it really?

In my field, I have been apart of candidate’s interviews and several times we had to hire someone that we all knew wasn’t strong at their job because we didn’t have anyone better. We needed to fill the position but just didn’t have better candidates. Is this what has happened with the assistant coaches???

Injuries happen to all teams. Next player is supposed to step up. Depth used to be an issue for us. Are the assistant coaches not developing the next players? Or are the players overrated?

Our best receivers are two undersized walk-ons.

Both QB’s struggle with accuracy/mechanics and defensive reads. I also believe Martin has these issues in practice also or he would be playing.

Will we have the same issue with the next head coach keeping quality assistant coaches? The assistant coaches are the ones that develop the players. 

[DeepGreen]

28 minutes ago, Hookset said:

several times we had to hire someone that we all knew wasn’t strong at their job because we didn’t have anyone better

Offering more money, over the going rate for the position, might get more you stronger candidates?  Throwing money at a "hard to fill" position is always the answer but sometimes it's the only answer.  And money still doesn't guarantee you keep them.  See Graham H.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

No. Assistants are interviewed and hired. They do not appoint themselves. 

[SilverEagle]

Of course it's the job of the coordinator to do most of the coaching/development of players. I say "most" because a lot of development falls to GA's these days.

BUT this question brings up something that I've noticed for years. And that is that even talented coordinators don't make talented head coaches.  As any of you who have owned your own business or held positions of "manager" in companies know, it's your "assistant managers" that do the development and day-to-day "managing", but it's the owners/managers job to pull it all together after looking at the big picture. 

Ultimately it's the Head Coach who is responsible for the ups and downs of a program. But it's the assistants who do the development, and just as importantly, the assessments/evaluations of players. All of them look at film of the players, but it's the assistants to look the players in the eye, listen to their responses to active "coaching" and therefore give context to the film that the Head coach is looking at.  Ultimately, the head coach has to be able to trust the guy he hired who tells him that that player is a game day player with a great upside, or someone that will never be more than a back-up. 

To me, the best coaches are the ones with great assessment skills. And in developing players they know the difference between motivating and humiliating any given player. 

One example of this was (go ahead and roll your eyes) a story that I read in Texas Football about Corkey Nelson. He was the Head Coach (after leaving North Texas as the DL coach) at Tyler John Tyler HS. After assessing the talent on the team that he inherited, he decided to make a major move. He drove over to Earl Campbell's home and told him that he had decided to move him from linebacker to RB. Earl agreed to do this for the "team" but he was certain that the move would ruin his chances of ever playing college football.  As the old saying goes.....the rest is history. To me, this was one of the most famous examples of "assessing your resources and putting everyone in the ideal position". 

 

[Got5onIt]

It’s like killing the queen ant, you get the main one and you get them all. 

[rws69]

When your recruiting classes are rated strong (or even best) for several years and you still lose games, you have to point to coaching - head coach and/or coordinators.

[Wag Tag]

Fire the special teams coach! Oh wait never mind!

[Travis]

7 hours ago, Hookset said:

This 3 year losing streak sucks. 
I get everything is the head coaches responsibility.

But is it really?

In my field, I have been apart of candidate’s interviews and several times we had to hire someone that we all knew wasn’t strong at their job because we didn’t have anyone better. We needed to fill the position but just didn’t have better candidates. Is this what has happened with the assistant coaches???

Injuries happen to all teams. Next player is supposed to step up. Depth used to be an issue for us. Are the assistant coaches not developing the next players? Or are the players overrated?

Our best receivers are two undersized walk-ons.

Both QB’s struggle with accuracy/mechanics and defensive reads. I also believe Martin has these issues in practice also or he would be playing.

Will we have the same issue with the next head coach keeping quality assistant coaches? The assistant coaches are the ones that develop the players. 

SL has already went through three rounds of blaming it on assistant coaches. It now stops with him. 

[wardly]

In any management structure I have been associated the manger is responsible for the performance of his reports, whether he initially hired them or not. In this case Seth hired them and is responsible for the outcome. The buck stops with Seth, and regarding the evaluation of his performance, the buck stops with Wren. Looking at our remaining schedule we probably will be 1&6 when we play Rice,So. Miss, UTEP, and FIU on successive weekends. If we can't beat these 4 pitiful programs then we are really in the toilet. We finish at home November 27th against UTSA as a tuneup for the Roadrunners as they anticipate which bowl  game they will be invited too. It seems like yesterday when we kicked Arkansas's ass in their home stadium, and look at were we both are today.

[MeanGreenTexan]

I think this is a good topic to take a look at.
I really feel like Littrell put together an amazing staff in 2016.  Those hires were a huge reason for the turnaround from 1 win to 5 wins!

Littrell's Asst coach replacement hires:
2017:
Lots of turnover after a very surprising first season!
DC/LBs - Mike Ekeler leaves for UNC & is replaced by existing "Co-DC" Troy Reffett taking over entirely, and Jeff Koonz at LBs
         -  This one, in my opinion, was an upgrade all the way around.
OL/Run Coordinator - Brad Davis takes the Florida job & is replaced by Chuck Langston
         -  This hire set us backwards on the OL to an almost irreparable state.   HORRIBLE hire.
DL  -  Derrick LeBlanc takes the Kentucky job & is replaced by Mark Yellock
         -  Downgraded here slightly.  Yellock wasn't too bad.
STs Coordinator - Tommy Perry fired & replaced by Marty Biagi
         -  This was an upgrade overall, although our East Texas recruiting took a hit.

2018:
Overall, the on-field coaching staff remained mostly the same.  NCAA allowed for 1 more position coach to be on the sidelines starting this year.
RBs  -  Tashard Choice called up from GA to RBs coach to fill the extra coach. 
          -  Coach Choice was a player favorite and a great locker room presence.  Solid addition for sure.
Recruiting Director  -  David Stenklyft replaced by Luke Walerius
          -  One of the best things that has happened to our Football Program during Littrell's tenure.

2019:
After a FANTASTIC SEASON that almost saw Littrell get hired away by KSSt., there was a ton of turnover... and virtually every hire was a disaster... except for 1, which I would call a push.
OC  -  Graham Harrell takes the OC job at USC & is replaced by Bodie Reeder
          -  The whole offense nose-dived.  Even Mason Fine regressed during his Senior year under Reeder.
WRs  -  Outside WRs coach Joel Filani goes to his Alma Mater, TXTech, & replaced by TE's coach Adrian Mayes
            -  I honestly don't know what Mayes does.  Despite a ton of TE talent, our TE play is pretty pedestrian... but our outside receiver play has plummeted.
RBs  -  Tashard Choice leaves to his Alma Mater, GATech, and Patrick Cobbs comes on.
            -  Coach Cobbs is obviously a fan favorite around here, but I think his laid-back demeanor didn't quite replace coach Choice, who was very vocal.   IMO, a pretty even tradeoff for the most part.
CBs  -  Noah Brown fired for Clay Jennings.
            -  This was supposed to be a coup and very obvious upgrade from the extremely reserved Brown to a guy with a TON of skins on the wall in Jennings.   It definitely did not work out that way.   Poor hire.
LBs  -  Jeff Koonz leaves for Ole Miss and is replaced by Galen Scott
            -  Losing Koonz hurt, bad.  But again, another coach with great experience replacing him.  Was supposed to be a possible upgrade.   It definitely wasn't.

2020:
Lots of changes were needed after a horrendous year.   These replacements... not very good with the exception of 1 (however, I'm starting to look at him more critically as well)
OL  -  Hallelujah!  Langston is finally let go, and Bloesch is brought on.
          -  Even though his unit is absolutely struggling right now, Bloesch is still lightyears better than Langston.
DC  -  Troy Reffett is fired and replaced by Clint Bowen.
           - Facepalm.  The defense regressed the previous year under Reff, but was completely wrecked by Bowen who couldn't even teach his guys to be in the right places pre-snap.  Right up there with Reeder & Langston as far as piss poor hires.
STs  -  Marty Biagi takes the Purdue job, and our vagabond friend, Mike Eleler, returns.
          - Regression.
DL  -  Mark Yellock let go for Eric Mathies who was supposed to be a recruiting guru.
           - More regression, but this may have been because of horrible scheme.  I'll give Mathies the benefit of the doubt.

2021:
Obviously, the previous year sucked even worse than 2019.   More changes necessary.
DC  -  Clint Bowen fired & replaced by Phil Bennett.  
            -  I think we can all understand the upgrade so far, but Bennett has a long way to go to get his guys playing at the level we need them to play at.
LBs  -  Jim Gush replaces the fired Galen Scott.
           - I feel like LB play has improved, but again, that's likely due to last year's scheme VS Bennett's.
CBs  -  Jennings is fired for Jarred Holley.
           - It seems the defensive secondary, which was absolutely atrocious last year, is still struggling in coverage.  Not sure we've seen enough to judge Holley though.
QBs  -  With a botched hire last year of Wallis, Littrell taps Blake Joseph to tutor our QBs.
           - Anyone seen anything out of our QBs that says Joseph is any good?   I haven't.
DL  -  Mathies is let go so that Bennett can hire his Son-in-law, Matt Passwaters.
           -  Stupid hire that's also not going well.    Poor Novil.  I really hope the NFL scouts see his potential because his coaching has really done very little for him & his development as a player.
STs  -  Ekeler bails again, this time to TN, and Littrell calls up Chris Petrilli (whom the players love), but doesn't fully trust him to run STs altogether, so he breaks it down between 3 different coaches.
            - Regression.  IMO, a poor decision to split 3 coaches' time here.

 

Granted, these are all just my opinions, but there's a lot of green early on.  Then just a ton of red outside of Bloesch (who is struggling right now), and Bennett & Gush.

[Hookset]

15 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I think this is a good topic to take a look at.
I really feel like Littrell put together an amazing staff in 2016.  Those hires were a huge reason for the turnaround from 1 win to 5 wins!

Littrell's Asst coach replacement hires:
2017:
Lots of turnover after a very surprising first season!
DC/LBs - Mike Ekeler leaves for UNC & is replaced by existing "Co-DC" Troy Reffett taking over entirely, and Jeff Koonz at LBs
         -  This one, in my opinion, was an upgrade all the way around.
OL/Run Coordinator - Brad Davis takes the Florida job & is replaced by Chuck Langston
         -  This hire set us backwards on the OL to an almost irreparable state.   HORRIBLE hire.
DL  -  Derrick LeBlanc takes the Kentucky job & is replaced by Mark Yellock
         -  Downgraded here slightly.  Yellock wasn't too bad.
STs Coordinator - Tommy Perry fired & replaced by Marty Biagi
         -  This was an upgrade overall, although our East Texas recruiting took a hit.

2018:
Overall, the on-field coaching staff remained mostly the same.  NCAA allowed for 1 more position coach to be on the sidelines starting this year.
RBs  -  Tashard Choice called up from GA to RBs coach to fill the extra coach. 
          -  Coach Choice was a player favorite and a great locker room presence.  Solid addition for sure.
Recruiting Director  -  David Stenklyft replaced by Luke Walerius
          -  One of the best things that has happened to our Football Program during Littrell's tenure.

2019:
After a FANTASTIC SEASON that almost saw Littrell get hired away by KSSt., there was a ton of turnover... and virtually every hire was a disaster... except for 1, which I would call a push.
OC  -  Graham Harrell takes the OC job at USC & is replaced by Bodie Reeder
          -  The whole offense nose-dived.  Even Mason Fine regressed during his Senior year under Reeder.
WRs  -  Outside WRs coach Joel Filani goes to his Alma Mater, TXTech, & replaced by TE's coach Adrian Mayes
            -  I honestly don't know what Mayes does.  Despite a ton of TE talent, our TE play is pretty pedestrian... but our outside receiver play has plummeted.
RBs  -  Tashard Choice leaves to his Alma Mater, GATech, and Patrick Cobbs comes on.
            -  Coach Cobbs is obviously a fan favorite around here, but I think his laid-back demeanor didn't quite replace coach Choice, who was very vocal.   IMO, a pretty even tradeoff for the most part.
CBs  -  Noah Brown fired for Clay Jennings.
            -  This was supposed to be a coup and very obvious upgrade from the extremely reserved Brown to a guy with a TON of skins on the wall in Jennings.   It definitely did not work out that way.   Poor hire.
LBs  -  Jeff Koonz leaves for Ole Miss and is replaced by Galen Scott
            -  Losing Koonz hurt, bad.  But again, another coach with great experience replacing him.  Was supposed to be a possible upgrade.   It definitely wasn't.

2020:
Lots of changes were needed after a horrendous year.   These replacements... not very good with the exception of 1 (however, I'm starting to look at him more critically as well)
OL  -  Hallelujah!  Langston is finally let go, and Bloesch is brought on.
          -  Even though his unit is absolutely struggling right now, Bloesch is still lightyears better than Langston.
DC  -  Troy Reffett is fired and replaced by Clint Bowen.
           - Facepalm.  The defense regressed the previous year under Reff, but was completely wrecked by Bowen who couldn't even teach his guys to be in the right places pre-snap.  Right up there with Reeder & Langston as far as piss poor hires.
STs  -  Marty Biagi takes the Purdue job, and our vagabond friend, Mike Eleler, returns.
          - Regression.
DL  -  Mark Yellock let go for Eric Mathies who was supposed to be a recruiting guru.
           - More regression, but this may have been because of horrible scheme.  I'll give Mathies the benefit of the doubt.

2021:
Obviously, the previous year sucked even worse than 2019.   More changes necessary.
DC  -  Clint Bowen fired & replaced by Phil Bennett.  
            -  I think we can all understand the upgrade so far, but Bennett has a long way to go to get his guys playing at the level we need them to play at.
LBs  -  Jim Gush replaces the fired Galen Scott.
           - I feel like LB play has improved, but again, that's likely due to last year's scheme VS Bennett's.
CBs  -  Jennings is fired for Jarred Holley.
           - It seems the defensive secondary, which was absolutely atrocious last year, is still struggling in coverage.  Not sure we've seen enough to judge Holley though.
QBs  -  With a botched hire last year of Wallis, Littrell taps Blake Joseph to tutor our QBs.
           - Anyone seen anything out of our QBs that says Joseph is any good?   I haven't.
DL  -  Mathies is let go so that Bennett can hire his Son-in-law, Matt Passwaters.
           -  Stupid hire that's also not going well.    Poor Novil.  I really hope the NFL scouts see his potential because his coaching has really done very little for him & his development as a player.
STs  -  Ekeler bails again, this time to TN, and Littrell calls up Chris Petrilli (whom the players love), but doesn't fully trust him to run STs altogether, so he breaks it down between 3 different coaches.
            - Regression.  IMO, a poor decision to split 3 coaches' time here.

 

Granted, these are all just my opinions, but there's a lot of green early on.  Then just a ton of red outside of Bloesch (who is struggling right now), and Bennett & Gush.

Very good response. I agree losing Davis hurt our offensive line. I have always believed the year of the KST interview destroyed our trajectory as a team. So many coaches left to get their better jobs rather than stay and build something lasting here. That started the rebuild, not with players necessarily but with staff.

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

1 hour ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I think this is a good topic to take a look at.
I really feel like Littrell put together an amazing staff in 2016.  Those hires were a huge reason for the turnaround from 1 win to 5 wins!

Littrell's Asst coach replacement hires:
2017:
Lots of turnover after a very surprising first season!
DC/LBs - Mike Ekeler leaves for UNC & is replaced by existing "Co-DC" Troy Reffett taking over entirely, and Jeff Koonz at LBs
         -  This one, in my opinion, was an upgrade all the way around.
OL/Run Coordinator - Brad Davis takes the Florida job & is replaced by Chuck Langston
         -  This hire set us backwards on the OL to an almost irreparable state.   HORRIBLE hire.
DL  -  Derrick LeBlanc takes the Kentucky job & is replaced by Mark Yellock
         -  Downgraded here slightly.  Yellock wasn't too bad.
STs Coordinator - Tommy Perry fired & replaced by Marty Biagi
         -  This was an upgrade overall, although our East Texas recruiting took a hit.

2018:
Overall, the on-field coaching staff remained mostly the same.  NCAA allowed for 1 more position coach to be on the sidelines starting this year.
RBs  -  Tashard Choice called up from GA to RBs coach to fill the extra coach. 
          -  Coach Choice was a player favorite and a great locker room presence.  Solid addition for sure.
Recruiting Director  -  David Stenklyft replaced by Luke Walerius
          -  One of the best things that has happened to our Football Program during Littrell's tenure.

2019:
After a FANTASTIC SEASON that almost saw Littrell get hired away by KSSt., there was a ton of turnover... and virtually every hire was a disaster... except for 1, which I would call a push.
OC  -  Graham Harrell takes the OC job at USC & is replaced by Bodie Reeder
          -  The whole offense nose-dived.  Even Mason Fine regressed during his Senior year under Reeder.
WRs  -  Outside WRs coach Joel Filani goes to his Alma Mater, TXTech, & replaced by TE's coach Adrian Mayes
            -  I honestly don't know what Mayes does.  Despite a ton of TE talent, our TE play is pretty pedestrian... but our outside receiver play has plummeted.
RBs  -  Tashard Choice leaves to his Alma Mater, GATech, and Patrick Cobbs comes on.
            -  Coach Cobbs is obviously a fan favorite around here, but I think his laid-back demeanor didn't quite replace coach Choice, who was very vocal.   IMO, a pretty even tradeoff for the most part.
CBs  -  Noah Brown fired for Clay Jennings.
            -  This was supposed to be a coup and very obvious upgrade from the extremely reserved Brown to a guy with a TON of skins on the wall in Jennings.   It definitely did not work out that way.   Poor hire.
LBs  -  Jeff Koonz leaves for Ole Miss and is replaced by Galen Scott
            -  Losing Koonz hurt, bad.  But again, another coach with great experience replacing him.  Was supposed to be a possible upgrade.   It definitely wasn't.

2020:
Lots of changes were needed after a horrendous year.   These replacements... not very good with the exception of 1 (however, I'm starting to look at him more critically as well)
OL  -  Hallelujah!  Langston is finally let go, and Bloesch is brought on.
          -  Even though his unit is absolutely struggling right now, Bloesch is still lightyears better than Langston.
DC  -  Troy Reffett is fired and replaced by Clint Bowen.
           - Facepalm.  The defense regressed the previous year under Reff, but was completely wrecked by Bowen who couldn't even teach his guys to be in the right places pre-snap.  Right up there with Reeder & Langston as far as piss poor hires.
STs  -  Marty Biagi takes the Purdue job, and our vagabond friend, Mike Eleler, returns.
          - Regression.
DL  -  Mark Yellock let go for Eric Mathies who was supposed to be a recruiting guru.
           - More regression, but this may have been because of horrible scheme.  I'll give Mathies the benefit of the doubt.

2021:
Obviously, the previous year sucked even worse than 2019.   More changes necessary.
DC  -  Clint Bowen fired & replaced by Phil Bennett.  
            -  I think we can all understand the upgrade so far, but Bennett has a long way to go to get his guys playing at the level we need them to play at.
LBs  -  Jim Gush replaces the fired Galen Scott.
           - I feel like LB play has improved, but again, that's likely due to last year's scheme VS Bennett's.
CBs  -  Jennings is fired for Jarred Holley.
           - It seems the defensive secondary, which was absolutely atrocious last year, is still struggling in coverage.  Not sure we've seen enough to judge Holley though.
QBs  -  With a botched hire last year of Wallis, Littrell taps Blake Joseph to tutor our QBs.
           - Anyone seen anything out of our QBs that says Joseph is any good?   I haven't.
DL  -  Mathies is let go so that Bennett can hire his Son-in-law, Matt Passwaters.
           -  Stupid hire that's also not going well.    Poor Novil.  I really hope the NFL scouts see his potential because his coaching has really done very little for him & his development as a player.
STs  -  Ekeler bails again, this time to TN, and Littrell calls up Chris Petrilli (whom the players love), but doesn't fully trust him to run STs altogether, so he breaks it down between 3 different coaches.
            - Regression.  IMO, a poor decision to split 3 coaches' time here.

 

Granted, these are all just my opinions, but there's a lot of green early on.  Then just a ton of red outside of Bloesch (who is struggling right now), and Bennett & Gush.

Love this. Thanks for setting it up, and I agree on most of it. Special teams has been better than last year by a lot

[MeanGreenTexan]

17 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Love this. Thanks for setting it up, and I agree on most of it. Special teams has been better than last year by a lot

The numbers disagree:

2020
Kick return yds:   19.6yds/return  0 TDs
Punt return yds:   3.8yds/return  0 TDs
Kick coverage:    63kicks / 14Touchbacks / 19.3yds/return
Punt coverage:    37punts / 43.4yds/kick / 11returns / 5yds/return

2021 (so far)
Kick return yds:   20.6yds/return  0 TDs
Punt return yds:   5yds/return  0 TDs
Kick coverage:    19kicks / 8Touchbacks / 23yds/return
Punt coverage:    20punts / 41.8yds/kick / 8 returns / 14.9yds/return

[GreenGang45]

2 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I think this is a good topic to take a look at.
I really feel like Littrell put together an amazing staff in 2016.  Those hires were a huge reason for the turnaround from 1 win to 5 wins!

Littrell's Asst coach replacement hires:
2017:
Lots of turnover after a very surprising first season!
DC/LBs - Mike Ekeler leaves for UNC & is replaced by existing "Co-DC" Troy Reffett taking over entirely, and Jeff Koonz at LBs
         -  This one, in my opinion, was an upgrade all the way around.
OL/Run Coordinator - Brad Davis takes the Florida job & is replaced by Chuck Langston
         -  This hire set us backwards on the OL to an almost irreparable state.   HORRIBLE hire.
DL  -  Derrick LeBlanc takes the Kentucky job & is replaced by Mark Yellock
         -  Downgraded here slightly.  Yellock wasn't too bad.
STs Coordinator - Tommy Perry fired & replaced by Marty Biagi
         -  This was an upgrade overall, although our East Texas recruiting took a hit.

2018:
Overall, the on-field coaching staff remained mostly the same.  NCAA allowed for 1 more position coach to be on the sidelines starting this year.
RBs  -  Tashard Choice called up from GA to RBs coach to fill the extra coach. 
          -  Coach Choice was a player favorite and a great locker room presence.  Solid addition for sure.
Recruiting Director  -  David Stenklyft replaced by Luke Walerius
          -  One of the best things that has happened to our Football Program during Littrell's tenure.

2019:
After a FANTASTIC SEASON that almost saw Littrell get hired away by KSSt., there was a ton of turnover... and virtually every hire was a disaster... except for 1, which I would call a push.
OC  -  Graham Harrell takes the OC job at USC & is replaced by Bodie Reeder
          -  The whole offense nose-dived.  Even Mason Fine regressed during his Senior year under Reeder.
WRs  -  Outside WRs coach Joel Filani goes to his Alma Mater, TXTech, & replaced by TE's coach Adrian Mayes
            -  I honestly don't know what Mayes does.  Despite a ton of TE talent, our TE play is pretty pedestrian... but our outside receiver play has plummeted.
RBs  -  Tashard Choice leaves to his Alma Mater, GATech, and Patrick Cobbs comes on.
            -  Coach Cobbs is obviously a fan favorite around here, but I think his laid-back demeanor didn't quite replace coach Choice, who was very vocal.   IMO, a pretty even tradeoff for the most part.
CBs  -  Noah Brown fired for Clay Jennings.
            -  This was supposed to be a coup and very obvious upgrade from the extremely reserved Brown to a guy with a TON of skins on the wall in Jennings.   It definitely did not work out that way.   Poor hire.
LBs  -  Jeff Koonz leaves for Ole Miss and is replaced by Galen Scott
            -  Losing Koonz hurt, bad.  But again, another coach with great experience replacing him.  Was supposed to be a possible upgrade.   It definitely wasn't.

2020:
Lots of changes were needed after a horrendous year.   These replacements... not very good with the exception of 1 (however, I'm starting to look at him more critically as well)
OL  -  Hallelujah!  Langston is finally let go, and Bloesch is brought on.
          -  Even though his unit is absolutely struggling right now, Bloesch is still lightyears better than Langston.
DC  -  Troy Reffett is fired and replaced by Clint Bowen.
           - Facepalm.  The defense regressed the previous year under Reff, but was completely wrecked by Bowen who couldn't even teach his guys to be in the right places pre-snap.  Right up there with Reeder & Langston as far as piss poor hires.
STs  -  Marty Biagi takes the Purdue job, and our vagabond friend, Mike Eleler, returns.
          - Regression.
DL  -  Mark Yellock let go for Eric Mathies who was supposed to be a recruiting guru.
           - More regression, but this may have been because of horrible scheme.  I'll give Mathies the benefit of the doubt.

2021:
Obviously, the previous year sucked even worse than 2019.   More changes necessary.
DC  -  Clint Bowen fired & replaced by Phil Bennett.  
            -  I think we can all understand the upgrade so far, but Bennett has a long way to go to get his guys playing at the level we need them to play at.
LBs  -  Jim Gush replaces the fired Galen Scott.
           - I feel like LB play has improved, but again, that's likely due to last year's scheme VS Bennett's.
CBs  -  Jennings is fired for Jarred Holley.
           - It seems the defensive secondary, which was absolutely atrocious last year, is still struggling in coverage.  Not sure we've seen enough to judge Holley though.
QBs  -  With a botched hire last year of Wallis, Littrell taps Blake Joseph to tutor our QBs.
           - Anyone seen anything out of our QBs that says Joseph is any good?   I haven't.
DL  -  Mathies is let go so that Bennett can hire his Son-in-law, Matt Passwaters.
           -  Stupid hire that's also not going well.    Poor Novil.  I really hope the NFL scouts see his potential because his coaching has really done very little for him & his development as a player.
STs  -  Ekeler bails again, this time to TN, and Littrell calls up Chris Petrilli (whom the players love), but doesn't fully trust him to run STs altogether, so he breaks it down between 3 different coaches.
            - Regression.  IMO, a poor decision to split 3 coaches' time here.

 

Granted, these are all just my opinions, but there's a lot of green early on.  Then just a ton of red outside of Bloesch (who is struggling right now), and Bennett & Gush.

Legit assessment . However I don’t get why Langston get so much hate. I just did some research and In 2016 we were 122 in the country in sacks given up with 43, in 2017 we were 122 with 39, and in 2018 we were 68 with 28.