Talent will fix the close losses.

joking right? Our defense has a ton of them. It’s been a developmental problem

 

Obviously, there are players who are "rated" as high 4 or 5 stars in HS who never live up to the hype. Others were apparently recruited for positions for which they are clearly not well-suited. While still others were "class-fillers" who looked good on paper but were available primarily because they did not fit specific positional criteria or were viewed as deficient in one area or another by more astute evaluators. Others are who and what we expected them to be, but sometimes find themselves up against a bigger or faster player and are simply outmatched on a given play. To be clear, there have been several times this season when the scheming was suspect - and others when the personnel were clearly the problem.

BN and staff are just beginning to address the talent issues that they inherited from the previous staff, and that will not happen overnight. But if the better talent they seem to be attracting isn't fully/properly developed and utilized, then it will be up to BN to address that "issue" with the same alacrity he has brought to the roster/talent problems that were so clearly on display last night. I "expect", as does everyone that he will find appropriate solutions - one way or the other. But until he has had time to do the job he was brought in to do, I'll ride with Billy and let the naysayers and the knee-jerk reactors hoot and whine as they see fit. Not trying to be a dick about it, but anyone who wants to throw the baby out with the bath water at this point is beyond premature. Just MHO.

 

We smoked usf last year but suddenly have a talent issue compared to them?

 

It did pay this year. Them boys fought til the end every game. Couldn’t say the same thing last year.

 

We needed the SEC refs to bail us out this year. We did not show up there at all for whatever reason.

 

My point is the talent argument tilly claims was a weak argument against usf which he specifically cited as a reason that game was close this year.

 

So we are banking on the next crop of 4 or 5 star guys being better than the previous crop. Got it

It is absolutely clear we missed on many of our higher rated guys. Much more than the average team. That’s an indictment on the evaluation and development of the process staff, and to a much lesser extent.. this staff

 

It’s valid as talent hides a lot of flaws. Year 1 in a new system and the guys didn’t know what it takes to win a game…any game.

 

I would expect players to play till the end no matter the coach. Last year was an outlier imo. 6-6.

 

I think the wins are coming. We are right there with these one-possession losses. It’s progress under the hood, not in wins and losses unfortunately.

 

it’s all of the above:

evaluation
Player development
And just some misses

There is another thread on the recruiting misses at RB from a few classes back. That example is obviously the exception, but recruiting whiffs is part of the equation….

On the other end of the spectrum are the 2 UL transfers. Big O will be all American and MJ was awesome this season. Our 2 best offensive players were guys that the big conferences didn’t really go after. Again, exception not the norm.

Respectfully to these two, no one is confusing Dex and Wingo for legit 5 stars. The elite guys stand out right away and (some) can shine even with bad coaching.

Anyways, these points can be debated for days. IMHO - we’ve whiffed immensely lately and I’m looking forward to the roster turnover. Just one man’s opinion

 

Actually, no... there's a bit more to it than that. We are "banking" on BN being a much better and more scrupulous evaluator of talent, and a much, much harder worker on the recruiting trail. And FTR, any suggestion that the present staff is responsible for the dearth of talent they encountered when BN took over is ludicrous. But, as I have already alluded to, there have been apparent breakdowns in scheming on both sides of the ball which bear scrutiny. There have also been personnel assignments that have proved to be less than optimum. Again, BN will be "expected" to fix the talent issues and to ensure that the new roster is properly developed and utilized. If that requires replacing staff members who don't perform at a high level, then he'll be "expected" to do that as well. I still maintain though that the time for firing people has not arrived just yet. I hope this clarifies things a bit.

 

That interception was not a fluke. It was a straight up horrible pass.

I'm not sure what you were looking at.

 

Talent no, of course not. Was it more like a QB who was playing like a total headcase coming off of an equally awful performance against UK? Yes.

 

Agree but our defense was atrocious that game. One of the worst of the year

 

It was pretty disgusting when you look back on it. Thanks for reminding me.

 

Your assumption seems to be that a Mullen 50th ranked nationally player is less talented than a Napier 50th ranked nationally player.

I disagree. Over a large sample size the talent would be close. And a similar composite recruiting rank should be similar in talent

Development, scheme, and correct positions matters a ton.

So when you say we don’t have talent I think of it as poor development, poor player positioning, and bad scheme. CBN could fix *some* of that. For example scheme. Positions and personnel. Development is tricky. For example Trey Dean was a solid 4 star. If he got good coaching who knows what he would have been. But now his bad habits and lack of developments are years in the making. Compare to Marshall, a 5 star, who has a ton of talent no? He’s still young and clearly able to be developed. That’s BN responsibility

 

??? It was bobbled by the WR and then caught by the Vandie. You're kidding, right? Or ok, let's give you one bad int and take the 400yds & 3TDs.