Monday, August 11, 2014

2014 Preview Questions: Will this be like Addazio's second year at Temple?


Last season was great. Even after losing much of last year's team there is plenty of optimism about Year 2 of Addazio. Temple fans know that optimism. They shared it when Addazio led them back to the Big East in his second year. Yet things did not go well. Temple slid back to their all too familiar losing ways and the coach bailed when BC came calling. I don't expect this season to be easy but I also don't expect a repeat of Addazio's second year in Philly. Fortunately there are enough differences between the two situations for BC fans to feel hope.

The conference transition. Switching conferences can be tough. It is even tougher when there is a big jump in talent. As strong as the program was, Temple still probably wasn't ready to move from the MAC. Addazio recruited well, but much of that talent was young in 2012.

New Offensive Coordinator. Want to add a degree of difficulty to a conference move? How about changing OCs! I like Ryan Day and Addazio is a former OC, so all his Coordinators are influenced by him, but things were bumpy in Year 2. Some of it was due to injuries and depth. Eventually they started clicking once they started using creative run schemes (sound familiar?) but it was too late to save the season record.

Frontloaded schedule. After taking on Villanova, Addazio took on Maryland and Penn State out of conference. BC's out of conference schedule is not as challenging and we get to start our season at home or in Gillette.

The other change is that Addazio is two year wiser. He's now been through a Year 2. Ideally he's learned and can avoid the same mistakes that hurt Temple in 2012.

6 comments:

Erik said...

They should have run Montel in the wildcat.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

Good article - I have a better feeling though about this coach over the long haul. If its a disappointing season - so be it - let this coach know we support him. Every fiber in this guy is dedicated to hard work and a drive to succeed. Rome wasn't built in a day - and neither will our football program.

NEDofSavinHill said...

This will be a good year. 2015 will be more challenging with a young QB and an inexperienced o-line. 2. Atl what is your take on the ACC=Maryland settlement? Interesting to note in the Terps counter suit they claim ESPN was influencing Wake and Pitt to recruit two Big 10 schools to the ACC. Do we see a pattern here by the network? GDF and BLAUDS lost their jobs because they revealed a trade secret when admitting that Pitt and Syr. got into the ACC because "ESPN told us what to do". Will the Big 10 hold that interference in their conference against ESPN when their contact comes up for renewal in 2016-17? Will ESPN be shut out of the Midwest?

Thomas said...

Ned you really don't think GDF lost his job due to complete, utter ineptitude?

mod34b said...

Dazz was OC for Florida in 2009, 2010. His offense was worse in year #2. He was run out of town.

Dazz was HC of Temple in 2011, 2102. His offense was worse in year #2. He ran away from the program.

Dazz was/is HC of BC in 2013, 2014. His offense in year #2 was ______ than year #1?

Over the last 3 years as HC, Dazz has run the ball 70% of the time. That will continue.

Will it work? I hope so, especially with a new look that should be very different thatn last year. Dazz surprised us last year with his use of AW.

But the bigger concern is the very, very bad defense. The defense actually may be worse this year than last year. Recall, BC was the worst defense in the ACC last year. But DC Don Brown is supposed to be better in year #2 than #1. Hope that is true.

I could see our offense putting up 28 ppg and still losing a few close games.

I have no clue how it will turn out, but i am confident that we will have a competitive fired up team.

Hoib said...

I'm w/ Nappy on this. Daz could be a victim of his own success this year. I think years 3 & 4 will be the real test once his recruits make up the majority of the team. W/ that in mind I hope Wade gets a good # of snaps this year, and that we see some improvement on D. Those 2 things will bode well for the long haul.