After the process that resulted in Archie getting hired pissed off all of the basketball alums, Dolson had to do some work just to get all of those guys (including Woody) back in the fold. The Fife / Matta safety net had MW’s support.
Rod Carey and other ramblings
- Thread starter td75
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You know as well as anybody that a head coach is only as good as his assistants. If your assistants have deficiencies you can only coach them up so much. Then you spend more time coaching them than actually coaching the kids. Hiring quality assistants is not an exact science as there are a lot of things in play. You have guys who know a lot about the game but are terrible teachers. You have guys who know technique and not scheme. You have guys that know scheme and don't know technique. You have guys that just don't mesh with others. Tom Allen has not had the luxury of having a lot of stability and it has caused a lot of inconsistency in the program. He has had 4 offensive coordinators in 7 years. Contrary to popular belief I think starting off with Mike Deboard was smart. You have a guy that has called plays and won national championship and had success with record setting offenses at Tennessee. He started his first year with 2 freshman quarterbacks and a freshman running back and they had mild success but struggled in the redzone. His second he has 2 sophomore quarterbacks and another freshman running back. They lose their leading receiver early in the first game which seems to be a recurring theme at IU. It almost an annual event. They still have mild success but still struggle in the red zone. By the way Darren Hiller is the o line coach and yet does not seem to have the oline struggles perhaps because of Deboard's background. He leaves whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Next comes Kalen Deboer. They have success even after losing Penix and playing with a back up quarterback who many constantly criticized until he was gone and then people realized he was not bad for a weak armed qb that held onto the ball and stared down his receivers and could not complete the long ball. I believe were some of the criticisms if I remember correctly. He receives a head coaching position and bolts back to Fresno State. He recommends Sheridan for the job. Sheridan offenses struggle but they do capitalize on sudden change opportunities and they go on to a 6-1 record a New Years Day bowl game. They go into the game again with a backup qb who now gets injured and they lose to a pretty good Ole Miss team that was sub .500 team. The second year oline issues really come to the forefront. A change is made and play improves but still finish 2-10. Sheridan then out too at the end of the year. He was handcuffed with Hiller so who knows how good he may be some day but hey something had to change. In comes Bell and Bostad offensive line play is better but offense still out goes Bell and in comes Carey and the offfense has improved under an inexperienced qb with multiple injuries to multiple key receivers.
Next on defense we have Kane Wommack and his first year is mixed and many criticize him and say he is in over his head. The next year he makes some changes and thge defense improves so much that he is offered a head job at South Alabama. Allen takes over for a year and also has head coaching duties. Next he brings in Warren from Georgia. He spends one year in the position and leaves for North Carolina again who knows how a second year or beyond how much things might have been different. Allen returns as Defensive caller and still too much with head coaching responsibities and hires Guinnieri, they have had some good games but have had major assignment issues at times and also many key injuries in the secondary. But again people are not willing to give him another year to see if things may get better.
Any way back to my original point it is not an exact science, Clemson has struggled on offense, Alabama has struggled on offense with a new coordinator and a new qb they seemed to have turned it around as of late. USC on defense, Washington"s defense is terrible. Colorado replaced their play caller and then their defense is still bad. I am still on the fence about Allen only because of his coordinator instability. There has been improvement this year in a short amount of time. You fire Allen and now you are going to end up with another year of new concepts and new coordinators and new everything. IU is not going to bring in Nick Saban or a miracle worker is going to turn us into the next Michigan or Ohio State no matter how much we hope and pray for it to happen.
A good summary of what has happened. The Sheridan hire is understandable. Allen's undoing really comes down to three things: keeping Hillier for a year too long, hiring Wal Bell and keeping his son in law as special teams coach. The other mistakes were survivable, but those three mistakes were a bit idiotic. It was just blatant in every case that these coaches needed to go for sheer incompetence and it took him too long to make moves. In Bell's case the hiring was the mistake. The firing was well timed. I actually belive if they win out Allen is still recoverable because he made a great hire in in Carey. If Carey is a 30 point a game coordinator and I think he is, Allen can focus on defense and he might get this program to six or seven wins a year. He'd still need to can his son in law, and I don't think he'll do that. That would be a very un Tom Allen thing to do.
JFC what’s your source on this son in law bullshit bc it’s not true?
It is interesting that people continue to say that. However there is absolutely nothing tht says that is remotely true.
1 We practically start over on offense every year with new coaches and a revolving door roster anyway.
2 How do I contact you in case I need a good excuse to explain to my wife why I stayed out so late with the guys.
People have seen this lie enough that some believe it to be true. Teegardin does need replaced but he is not TA's son in law.
And “tough“ is what this team needs in every crook and crevice. “Gnaw yer arm off to win” ornery.
No matter whether Allen stays or goes, Sorsby and McCulley are going to have options after this season and NIL money talks.
It is not necessarily new coaches it is a new coordinator. And perhaps that was the reason for keeping Hiller to provide some continuity. The turnover at the coordinator might have been what saved Hiller for so long. As far as player turnover it does seem that we have been able to bring in upgrades at running back and receivers and now hopefully with Bostad we can bring in upgrades at the oline spot.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Yes, looks like both of these guys have high ceilings, but no one other than our fan base and our opponents know who they are. They've emerged only in the last few weeks. Sorsby is still raw and McCulley, by his own admission, is still very much in learning mode.
Sure, they could leave. Anyone can. But then it's back to square one with the risk (if it's a P5 program) of getting buried on the depth chart and riding the bench.
The rapid growth in their development coincides with Carey taking over as OC. If Carey's back next year, they will be too with what appears to be a rapidly improving offense.
I am not sure we actually have seen the best quarterback yet. I would love to see Lowery who was Mr. Ohio.
Figured. Just making sure. I did a semi deep dive and there is no sort of family relationship that I can see at all. It's not like IUFB needs people throwing dirt at it. It has enough real issues. No need to make up stuff.
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