At the beginning of the year, we were told that the team was full of seniors. That having an older team was a distinct advantage. Our record now speaks for itself. We have had some highs and of late some lows . We have seen two senior quarterback's compete with each other and serve the team as best they could. No one should doubt the commitment of all of these young men. Nonetheless we will not be going to the playoffs once again this year when our favorable schedule had us hosting Villanova, New Hampshire, and JMU . Next year will have us visiting most if not all of these teams . If the measure of success is making the playoffs and competing for the national title ,then we should all be disappointed. If the measure of success is a winning record or something else , then we should feel fine. Should we wonder where our program is going ? After all, they only give trophies to champions . What say you ??
How do rate our year , our team and our program ?
- Thread starter Juris Spider
- Start date
Up. Down. Down. Up. Left. Right. Up. Down. Barf.
Feels like a great ride at 6 Flags.
Must be Up next, right?
Feels like a great ride at 6 Flags.
Must be Up next, right?
As far as I'm concerned, this long downward spiral started when Mike London decided to walk out in the middle of a playoff game 2009. We haven't been the same since and haven't been to the playoffs since.
Just my 2 cents - but our real momentum shifted when Strauss went down a month ago. He was dominating teams with his arm & great receivers. We were playing really good football back then. After that, the wins over bottom feeders (Elon & RI) were expected & really won on defense and fair offense. The Vill. game was truly won on defense. Maine was a disaster - offense, defense, special teams. Today was a cluster-f. The momentum we had mid season is long gone.
With our skills & lots of seniors, I really expected a playoff bid this year. Not sure what else to say, but next year is rebuilding year & with a new QB.
With our skills & lots of seniors, I really expected a playoff bid this year. Not sure what else to say, but next year is rebuilding year & with a new QB.
Spider Rick, You are exactly right! Our downfall started when turn coat London started salivating over his millions $$$ and quit coaching the Spiders in the second half of that play off game in 2009!
I hope he gets the axe at UVA. I wish there was some way he could be stripped of his UR degree. In my book, he's no Spider!
I hope he gets the axe at UVA. I wish there was some way he could be stripped of his UR degree. In my book, he's no Spider!
have to say it was not just london leaving, his predecessor, DC, leaving hurt a lot, london's successor was a disaster. we had to recover from that and it seems we are on the right track with numbers, etc., just have to do it on the field.
Let's face it: Dave Clawson was the kind of coach we might get once every 50 years or so if we're lucky. He's the guy who took our program to the level where we could win a national title. No one before or since has been able to do that. (We saw what London's recruits did.) Rocco seems like a nice guy and a football guy, but something is missing here and I question whether he will be able to take us where we want to go.
Mediocrity is a disappointing feeling . Despite all of the individual challenges , I agree that this team has been an underachieving team . Given all of the preseason hype, I feel like our collective expectations have not been met . The JMU game was an absolute disaster just like the Maine game before it . It could be a real slaughter in Williamsburg next week. Sloppy offense and and anemic defense could make next Saturday night awfully long . And to think next year will be a rebuilding year ..... Bummer.
Agree with those who mentioned Dave Clawson. A class guy, innovative, wonderful offensive mindset, and a WINNER. Proof is in the pudding - we just haven't had the success since he left, and I discount the following year when London won with Dave's recruits. On top of that, for those who got to know Dave, he is a great family man and a friend off the field.
This post was edited on 11/15 6:38 PM by SpiderGuy
This post was edited on 11/15 6:38 PM by SpiderGuy
i would describe our current program with 1 word - Mediocre
Past 2 weeks have been a joke and we have no reason to believe next week will be any different. These players and coaches don't know what it means to be playoff or champion caliber. Until we recruit better players and have a coaching staff that knows how to win there will be no change. if this is what the administration wants so be it. if we are only going to field a mediocre team that goes 5 years without a playoff appearance I question why we stay in the CAA and don't move to the Patriot.
Past 2 weeks have been a joke and we have no reason to believe next week will be any different. These players and coaches don't know what it means to be playoff or champion caliber. Until we recruit better players and have a coaching staff that knows how to win there will be no change. if this is what the administration wants so be it. if we are only going to field a mediocre team that goes 5 years without a playoff appearance I question why we stay in the CAA and don't move to the Patriot.
Read all post, but the true question is; do we not have the athletes to compete at this level or we do we not have the coaching staff or both? Old guys want to know, losing sucks!
in my opinion, we have not recruited anywhere to the level DC was able to do. ML had two super seasons, don't forget we were 11-1 or 10-1 the season following our national championship. it will be interesting to see if DC can work that magic at wake, know it will take a few years and sure hope he can. he was a perfect fit for us and a class guy as well.
DT, you're not in the minority, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just a "watcher" but always been told by people who have coached and played that it all starts "up front". Lack of execution by our O and D lines is very concerning. Feel it's had a huge impact on our team's play throughout the season. Hate to say it but sometimes you have to do some house cleaning in the staff ranks to bring in a new perspective and new ideas. Guess we'll find out soon . . .
big believer in building your lines, upfront first, that is the foundation for success. also have to admit that yesterday, umwcah could just tee off on our line because we had a qb who could not move. on the other side, we could not just tee off on their qb because he could kill you with his running if you did not remain in your lanes, a catch 22 type deal.
really feel that having a qb who can move, run, is the way to go if we are not going to have really good O-line play. remember the success we had with John Laub running out of the qb position. if your D has to account for that extra person, really makes it tough.
really not sure if we have the talent that some think on here. not that i think we don't, just not sure. we have shown that we can beat up on less than stellar teams but have shown no consistency in competing against the teams we have to beat to get where we are going. yes, it probably is a combination of talent and coaching. have to remember, there is a reason why coaches are at our level.
really feel that having a qb who can move, run, is the way to go if we are not going to have really good O-line play. remember the success we had with John Laub running out of the qb position. if your D has to account for that extra person, really makes it tough.
really not sure if we have the talent that some think on here. not that i think we don't, just not sure. we have shown that we can beat up on less than stellar teams but have shown no consistency in competing against the teams we have to beat to get where we are going. yes, it probably is a combination of talent and coaching. have to remember, there is a reason why coaches are at our level.
understand that, you are right but also means that, just like with recruits, you miss sometimes. the real prob is that coaches are close, tight and it is very difficult for a head guy to let staff go which exacerbates the deal. if you have great assistants, they are not going to be around very long at our level.
I get the feeling that there will be natural attrition in our coaching ranks this season including some of the folks that Danny brought over from Jerry U.Think young coaches want to move to either more winning programs,maybe even better paying jobs at different level.That's what you gotta do as a college coach.
The young and upwardly mobile coaches are not the problem.
Fisher, Streeter, Rojas, McCorkle, Mines are guys i'd like to see stick around, if possible.
Fisher, Streeter, Rojas, McCorkle, Mines are guys i'd like to see stick around, if possible.
IMUR, you are correct but never saw a boss or me as a boss have the same relationship that coaches have. these guys spend more time with themselves than they do their family, they are like brothers, family. saw nothing like that in business, even close. still is in the head man's hands, you are right, he is paid for it, would assume very difficult, as any firing is.
+1 Mo. We have to shake something up even if we backdoor our way into the playoffs. There is no excuse for our years of horrific special teams and our D has seemed incapable of making adjustments (see yesterday). Very disappointed, but I would love to win next week and be a playoff team.
Fisher may but has the resume to go a lot of other places. Streeter probably won't leave Rocco, neither will McCorkle. Was disappointed in that the Oline has not played great the past 2 years. We still don't run the ball that well, although without the fumbles we would have yesterday, but still a lot of pressure. Mines and Rojas are good coaches to have
Fellas, we should not even be in the position of Having to back door our way into the playoffs . We should be better than that. Our attitude and expectation should be better than that. Champions should never want to back into anything. Unfortunately this type of mindset is contagious .
So Webspinner, what do we do continue as is? We can't fire the team. We had 20 some players who'd started the previous year, we have 22 seniors, 13+ started. We had a schedule that included 4 cupcakes (Moorehead, Hampton, RI and Elon) and we're not going to make the playoffs. Something has to change.
I don't have any specific answers but it would seem like the status quo isn't working ! Any real suggestions ?
There are an awful lot of creative of fences and defenses out there these days, both in college and the NFL. Maybe our coaches should do some research and stop with the "it's always worked in the past" attitude. We have just been so predictable on both sides of the ball this year the good coaches in the conference have no trouble preparing for us.
A team and program is built on leadership, desire to improve daily, sacrifice of self for good of the whole and competitiveness that does not allow for losing.I think at this point the last two weeks point to a leadership issue and that means it falls first with the head coach as he is the final decision maker. That being said with 22 seniors, I also wonder about the player leadership as this is just as important as the coaching staff. I have been a Rocco proponent and continue to be because he is a man of character, demands ultimate effort from his players and has brought some continuity to a program that was in need of stability. At this point, I still think he is a good leader but the players will have execute and compete if they want to keep playing and the assistant coaches need to have a gameplan to utilize our strengths and hide our weaknesses if we are to win Saturday. If this does not happen then some more new blood like Coach Fisher need to be brought in to shake things up on this staff.
One issue I do like about this staff is most of our recruits are coming from high schools with a winning tradition as many played for state championship teams. You have to expect to win, train to win and have a distinct hatred for losing that motivates you to dominate your competition. Quite possibly this group does not have that, Saturday will tell the story as we compete with WM for recruits constantly and this game will have an immediate and long-term impact. I will continue to think we will get it done and hope I do not wake up with the same feeling next Sunday being embarrassed by a state rival like yesterday.
One issue I do like about this staff is most of our recruits are coming from high schools with a winning tradition as many played for state championship teams. You have to expect to win, train to win and have a distinct hatred for losing that motivates you to dominate your competition. Quite possibly this group does not have that, Saturday will tell the story as we compete with WM for recruits constantly and this game will have an immediate and long-term impact. I will continue to think we will get it done and hope I do not wake up with the same feeling next Sunday being embarrassed by a state rival like yesterday.
Personally, I have lost confidence in Rocco. The Gartner Webb and URI games last year should have given us all some concern. We killed ourselves against UNH this year with awful play calling in a game we should have won comfortably. We battled back to put ourselves in control of our own destiny and have responded with our 2 worst outings of the year. He completely botched the QB situation by even letting his nephew transfer here. I have heard that has caused some tension among the team that didn't need to exist. He is a solid guy who helped settle the program but he seems incapable of taking us to the next level. Something needs to change on that staff and if it starts at the top that is fine with me.
Great post, Pike.
I think there needs to be change. It probably won't happen at the top because our situations seems to be that head coaches leave for upward mobility as opposed to being asked to resign. There are exceptions, but look at the circumstances. I do think we need to look at changes in the defense and in special teams...my 2 cents.
One thing that's getting old is the idea from both football & basketball perspective is the "next year we're going to be really good". That's a tired and old statement that's overused & yaddy yadda yada. The time is now. We want playoffs in football now and NCAA tournament in basketball now. Next year just doesn't cut it. If you want winning seasons, then our programs should make you happy. If you want more...well then there needs to be changes.
I think there needs to be change. It probably won't happen at the top because our situations seems to be that head coaches leave for upward mobility as opposed to being asked to resign. There are exceptions, but look at the circumstances. I do think we need to look at changes in the defense and in special teams...my 2 cents.
One thing that's getting old is the idea from both football & basketball perspective is the "next year we're going to be really good". That's a tired and old statement that's overused & yaddy yadda yada. The time is now. We want playoffs in football now and NCAA tournament in basketball now. Next year just doesn't cut it. If you want winning seasons, then our programs should make you happy. If you want more...well then there needs to be changes.
We should be thankful that we have Danny Rocco as our coach. Our program is stronger now than it has been in many years. He has the qualities that any parent would love to have their son with for years at college. If our players reflected Coach Roccos faith, leadership, and team concept this thread would never have been started. Talent is on this team, it just never reached a level that it could have.
