Can Morris adapt?

[SilverEagle]

Welp, to answer the question as posed by the title of this thread..........HE BETTER!

[TIgreen01]

He flat out said our roster was ready to compete and win in the AAC now.  Then in his post-game presser he said we aren't as far ahead as he thought.  Based on that, he doesn't think the personnel is a problem or the scheme is a bad fit.  Sounds like he's categorizing most of the problems as mental errors or coaching.  Those are the types of things you can correct in-season.

Could just be coach-speak to keep these guys playing hard.  Who knows?  Time will tell...

One thing is for sure, he hasn't yet learned to keep his cards closer to his vest when stating preseason expectations.  Given the circumstances around his hiring, he could not have come in and declared that we were a dumpster fire in need of a rebuild.  However, he could have tempered expectations going into the new conference.

[SilverEagle]

6 minutes ago, TIgreen01 said:

He flat out said our roster was ready to compete and win in the AAC now.  Then in his post-game presser he said we aren't as far ahead as he thought.  Based on that, he doesn't think the personnel is a problem or the scheme is a bad fit.  Sounds like he's categorizing most of the problems as mental errors or coaching.  Those are the types of things you can correct in-season.

Could just be coach-speak to keep these guys playing hard.  Who knows?  Time will tell...

One thing is for sure, he hasn't yet learned to keep his cards closer to his vest when stating preseason expectations.  Given the circumstances around his hiring, he could not have come in and declared that we were a dumpster fire in need of a rebuild.  However, he could have tempered expectations going into the new conference.

I'm not an expert, but I think that that would not have been very good for season ticket sales.

[meangreenbob]

46 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Shouldn't have had to wait until Spring. I'm sure the moment he was hired he was watching game film with a roster in hand. He knew the personnel before he even knew the personnel. 

That’s a great point. Makes it even more disheartening concerning his hiring. 

[DentonLurker]

23 minutes ago, TIgreen01 said:

One thing is for sure, he hasn't yet learned to keep his cards closer to his vest when stating preseason expectations.

Could you imagine a coach coming out and saying anything other than they expect to compete for a conference championship in the preseason?

[aztecskin]

19 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

Cal is not as bad as some of you give them credit for. I think we will be fine against FIU.

I don't think anyone expected a NT blowout, but something a little more competitive than 58 points 669 yards allowed, 300+ rushing. 

[TIgreen01]

24 minutes ago, DentonLurker said:

Could you imagine a coach coming out and saying anything other than they expect to compete for a conference championship in the preseason?

It's all in the delivery, I guess.  Watch Saban and Belichek.  Masters at managing the message.  They almost always talk up the competition.  They never give you much about their own team.  I think Seth was pretty good about this too.  Obviously, you have a bunch of people here who jumped all over him for being "Mr All Three Phases" and "Coach mumbles".  I couldn't care less how much detail our coach gives us in a press conference.  I want him to do whatever it takes to motivate and prepare our team to win games.

Look at what happened to Brian Kelly this past weekend.  Exhibit A.  Shut your mouth about what you're going to do.  Show us on the field.

[Got5onIt]

Maybe Morris had teh Buick's old gameplan when playing P5 schools - come out, half ass it, and come away with no injuries. Save yourself for conference play when it counted. You MFers.....

[NorthTexasWeLove]

1 minute ago, Got5onIt said:

Maybe Morris had teh Buick's old gameplan when playing P5 schools - come out, half ass it, and come away with no injuries. Save yourself for conference play when it counted. You MFers.....

Go undefeated in conference play for 3 or 4 years in a row and I'm not sure I would or could critique. Would September suck, oh yeah. Would the trophy case blind me from seeing September. Probably so. 

[Mike Jackson]

19 hours ago, meangreenbob said:

Furthermore, considering our lack of size and as the head coach he should have told his DC to ditch the 3 man front long before Spring practice. 

Is  empowered to do so?  Who makes the final call when it comes to hiring a DC around here?    Because if Morris had done his homework on the roster before reviewing the staff they proposed to big in with him, does he bring in a guy that wants to run a 3 man front?

[aztecskin]

2 hours ago, Mike Jackson said:

Is  empowered to do so?  Who makes the final call when it comes to hiring a DC around here?    Because if Morris had done his homework on the roster before reviewing the staff they proposed to big in with him, does he bring in a guy that wants to run a 3 man front?

this three man front is different than the 3-4 schemes that want space eaters. 

 

The three stack we have is built to take advantage of quick linebackers and fast safeties. Was any of that on display? Maybe the one time Logan Wilson flew in and stripped the back for a fumble. That was about it. 

Iowa State doesn’t have monsters up front and did well. It took time, and like any scheme that’s not in Georgia or Alabama, there will be weaknesses. 

[UNTBill]

5 hours ago, aztecskin said:

this three man front is different than the 3-4 schemes that want space eaters. 

 

The three stack we have is built to take advantage of quick linebackers and fast safeties. Was any of that on display? Maybe the one time Logan Wilson flew in and stripped the back for a fumble. That was about it. 

Iowa State doesn’t have monsters up front and did well. It took time, and like any scheme that’s not in Georgia or Alabama, there will be weaknesses. 

I may be mistaken but I think Iowa St. had a 260 lb linebacker. 

[97and03]

On 9/6/2023 at 3:31 PM, keith said:

Thanks for the response GrayEagle and I understand your point.  My issue was that we have had a tendency over the years of looking to our weaker opponents as a benchmark for ourselves.  We win the games we are supposed to win (most of the time anyway) and we get all giddy about how good we are.  It's a false sense of security.  Then when we play equal or "better" competition, we falter.  It's a decades-old pattern.  With the "easy" (relatively speaking) part of our schedule up next, we are likely to fall into that same trap.

We seemed to have plateaued with the previous staff, so we brought in a new staff to elevate us above and beyond where we were.  It was onward and upward.  Spirits were high.  What we observed last Saturday was not that.  For those of us that have been around a long time, it was the same old North Texas song and dance.  We regressed.  This was not presented to the fanbase as a teardown/rebuild scenario.  I don't think we are interested in taking two steps back in order to take three steps forward.  Hopefully, this staff and team can rally and utilize the soft part of our schedule to fix the mistakes, get some wins and prepare for the back half which will tell us where we really stand. 

[aztecskin]

On 9/7/2023 at 1:00 PM, UNTBill said:

I may be mistaken but I think Iowa St. had a 260 lb linebacker. 

yeah a 260 lb linebacker in the big 12. On average, that league was getting a little better calibre of athlete than in CUSA. Exceptions acknowledged, the challenge is the same: find guys that can compete in this league at this level, while being flexible and creative enough to turn the guys you can get into an effective unit.