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The straight scoop from
Colonel Mustard

Dec. 3, 2002

Grab something to drink -- we have a lot to discuss today: The coaching changes and the vermin game.

As I have said, I think these are changes that needed to be made. But each successive move is more important than the last. If we don't hire upgrades for these jobs, we will have wasted our time. So the most important decisions are yet to come.

Gillespie, Barnes, Bohl and Darlington were all due to be replaced. Don't be surprised if Milt retires after the bowl. I think Jamrog will give the defense continuity through the bowl and then leave. Frank obviously wants an O.C. from the outside, or at least see what is out there, because if his choice was Brown or Gill, he would have just named them and had the new guy in place for the bowl. I won't speculate on candidates for the D.C., but Hankwitz and Gibbs would be interesting choices.

This whole staff did a poor job this year, including Frank. But, as I said, he deserves a chance to fix his problems. There will be pressure on the new staff to produce next year or Frank won't survive.

As for the vermin game, same song new verse. We win the first half and get dominated in the second. Our former coaching staff just couldn't adjust and failed to stick to what was working. Our offensive line continues to be leaky. I can't remember ever having so many negative plays as we have had this year. Our control of both sides of the line is always shaky -- although on the whole I thought the defense didn't play a bad game.

Kelsay had a poor game. He was nowhere to be seen on the seemingly 300 boots that they ran to his side. We have to become better tacklers. On one play, Williams, Ruud and Bland all whiffed. We have to do better and the new staff will have to teach fundamentals. The strategic error I thought was not using the five down people to stop the run. It worked last year and the little they used it this year. We continue to make critical errors. A facemask kept a vermin drive alive, Incognito's penalty, Lord going the wrong way on an option that would have been a TD on third down in the first half. We were having success running inside with Diedrick and Davies, but we wouldn't stick with it.

Also, playing Horne to run outside and Diedrick when we wanted to go inside was embarrassing. We were constantly set back by negative play The line was inconsistent all day. Horne looked really small to me in this game. I think he has a great future, but he needs to get a little bigger.

As far as Lord goes, I hope the new guy recognizes that this kid just isn't a QB. He is a great athlete and could be an NFL wide receiver. But for his good and the good of the team, allow Lord to stop playing a position he is ill suited to play. He has to be unhappy. He said he lost the game Friday, which isn't true. His interception was a terrible play call. He threw across the field into the wind. He waited too long to throw it, but it was a lousy call. But these guys need to be in a position to succeed, and he isn't. We have been limited all year by our QB play and we need to recruit at least two more to compete with Dukes for the job. Also, a recruiting priority needs to be a big I-back.

The changes, which I believe are not finished, were necessary. But whether this situation is a positive hinges on the hiring decisions. Frank's future and the immediate future of the program are at stake. Make the right choices, Frank.

Keep the faith. GBR.
 
-- The Colonel

 

 
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