Thursday, August 25, 2016

It is all about Addazio

As I read more and more previews, the same issues are mentioned. Can BC's Defense sustain its dominance without Don Brown? Who will step up at QB? Can the Offensive Line come together?  Most of these previews also mention how many close games BC lost last year. (I assume someone from BC is providing that stat.) To me all these issues are interchangable. Every team heads into the season with one or two glaring concerns or an assistant to replace. To me the biggest question is: what has Addazio learned?

Last year was a disaster. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. While the team was young and hit with injuries, there were still huge, painful, shameful coaching mistakes that cost BC games. As a reminder:

  • the cluster at the end of the Wake Forest game.
  • the questionable clock management against Syracuse. 
  • Sticking with Fadule too long against Notre Dame. 
  • Sticking with Flutie too long against Duke. 
  • But to me, the biggest failure was the inability to cobble together some sort of offense with one of the QBs. 

Addazio changed both coordinators, brought in trusted friend and mentor Paul Pasqualoni and revamped his recruiting. The schedule is manageable. There are no real excuses. If BC doesn't bounce back in a major way then Addazio's story is over. He won't get fired, but we will know what his true potential is. I am still hoping for him to be a passionate TOB. Let's hope he's not just a harder working Spaz.

39 comments:

EagleOutDere said...

A sobering assessment. We can only hope for the best. We don't need another coaching transition with all the dislocation that causes. But if he can't put it together, it's time to cut our losses. Will be so disappointed if it gets to that.

EL MIZ said...

fair and balanced critique. also missing from it were his numerous emotional meltdowns, including one which actually resulted in a penalty against the team. i think it'll take 8 wins for me to have optimism about this team and coach moving into next season.

Unknown said...

If 8 wins is what you need to be optimistic, you definitely aren't going to be.

NEDofSavinHill said...

Atl. Did you watch the Duke game? Flutie threw 8 times. He completed 5. for one touchdown and 120 yards. 16 yards per attempt. Your preference for QB Smith threw 13 times for ten yards. Less than one yard per attempt. Tell the truth. Stop re writing history. Don't traffick in the nonsense BCI did in claiming both QBs struggled in the Duke. A complete canard. The only quality QB performance of the year was Flutie at Duke. What did it get him? A seat on the bench. The mistreatment of Flutie was a huge injustice by the BC coach. MIZ is right about his sideline conduct.Boorish.

Knucklehead said...

Ahhhh good old Jeremy Brooks. HAHAH.

Fucking 8 wins is a pipe dream.

4-6 wins this year. Adazzio keeps his job forever if he continues to get 6 wins. That means bowl game. That is the line of demarcation for the football program.

If only gets 3-4 wins it will be interesting to see what happens. There is a 35% chance of it looking at the schedule.

Knucklehead said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
SaturdaysOnShea said...

@NED - Flutie was not the answer at quarterback.

Knucklehead said...

ATL,
It is a load of bullshit to say the schedule is "manageable." What the fuck does that mean? You sound like Hillary Clinton. The team lost every game it played in the conference last year. The schedule looks tough.

Are you going to give predictions for each game before the season starts. I want to see "where your head is at."

mod34b said...

A major item ATL overlooks is the complete mismanagement of OL recruiting and OL coaching. Daz, who is paid nearly $3,000,000 per anum, knew he had a big OL pipeline problem in Deceember of 2012. He did nothing to solve the problem for 2 years. He tried though. He made offers to dozens and dozens of OL candidates and could not land enough. He just was not a very good recruiter. Why? I don't know. Just look at the results.

Also, as for "coaching them up," simply look at the new Daz-proclaimed star OL's (Lindstrom) block against FSU last year (I posted a video earlier). He actually completely missed the FSU player. That is really hard to do -- to miss a 300 pound lineman -- this isn't a golf ball. That FSU lineman then went in an mashed Wade and hurt him. Just a complete failure to teach basic blocking techniques. Then look a the rest of the season. The OL could not pass protect or run block. That is on DAz.

To me, the OL mismanagement and bad coaching is the biggest problem with Daz.

That is followed by Daz's lack of cool under pressure. He just can't think straight when the screws are tightened at the end of the game and decisions about clock, TO, player selection and play selection need to be made immediately. Some coaches, players and people have great clarity of thought under intense pressure (e.g., Tom Brady), and some just implode, explode and fall apart. Daz is the latter type. His inappropriate emotional outburst are part of this problem.

Still, winning 6 games should be very doable this year, and 8 is a 'somewhat possible' possibility too. I have high hopes despite the Bozo in the tent.

Hario said...

im with el Miz - 8 wins would make me feeling good. 6-7 meh and Daz will be canned soon enough though not next year -- >5 and he should be canned immediately.

Big Jack Krack said...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that BC will fly out to Dublin on Tuesday, one day earlier than GT. I think that in itself is a slight advantage for us.

I haven't seen anything in the Boston papers.

At this time of year I am always optimistic, and I wish our players the best - we have talent for sure, but depth is always an issue. I hope we can be injury-free, especially in Dublin.

Let's go, coaches - give these guys a plan to win!

Go BC - beat GT

Knucklehead said...

I need to interject. There is not a QB on earth who could have done better than Flutie did last year. That offensive line was deplorable, the receivers sucked, there was no TE with receiving or blocking ability. The running backs are overrated as shit . . . the guy from Rutgers makes Dwight Shirley look like Carl Lewis. The washout from harlem, feel sorry for him, couldn't catch a pass. The place kickers were fucking deplorable(we have the same guy Lichtenstein kicking this year. The coach was a raging out of control flaming turd.

Put Flutie behind an average o-line and give him one receiver who can catch and he would have been a solid QB for you over his 4 years(The fact I have to hope for these things is pathetic).

I still cannot believe that asshole Addazzio put him into the Wake game late after benching him for 2 hours and then asked him to run. He fumbles and his QB career is over. Addazzio screwed up BC football royalty royally. Then he has the audacity to act like a flaming asshole on the sideline throwing around university owned equipment like he bought it while ranting and raving. Screw him. Go over cook some meatball Steve.

I hope Buffalo beats his ass. He needs to be put in his place.

EL MIZ said...

Mod - BC's superior OL play in years 1 and 2 of the Addazio regime should be attributed to what/who? you have a very convenient tendency to "forget" the first 2 years and focus solely on last year's dumpster fire.

i agree with you about last year and the various inferences that can be drawn about Addazio (roster mismanagement, failure to develop guys, etc), but the fact remains we had a dominant OL in year 1 which led to a BC guy actually being at the Heisman ceremony, and we had quite a good OL in year 2.

EL MIZ said...

Knucklehead - are you drunk?

Ned - in the Duke game Smith had a TD pass which was overruled by refs. Flutie throws the ball about 15 mph. if he's the elite QB prospect you folks think he is, why isn't he transferring to play QB at another school? instead he's 4th string WR - why?

Knucklehead said...

Mod,
He thought the team was good last year. He didn't bring in a QB or Lineman like he did the year before. Then he brings in a QB and lineman this year. He though they were good going into last year and he was unequivocally wrong.

Like I said yesterday he talks a lot about the QB but never about the line. He still doesn't get what the problem is that needs to be fixed.

Every fan behind a computer knows football is about the o-line. It is all about the QB. The QB doesn't touch the ball without have a line. It is quinti-fucking-ssential to the game. He won't address it.

mod34b said...

good points Knuck

Knucklehead said...

No. I know college football and understand people. Flutie got jerked around by the self-important head-coach because he didn't want to play Flutie. He wanted to play Darius Wade and when he couldn't he decided to find someone other than Flutie(Jerrod Smith or whoever) to play QB because he was forced to give Flutie a scholarship. Either consciously or subconsciously he didn't want Flutie to succeed That is the only explanation for how he handled Troy. Why do you think he made the kid a special teams player this season(after he drove the kid to drink and ruined his college football career by putting him situations where he was obviously going to fail). I called the Flutie fumble against was loud and fucking clear at the game. Everyone in my section knows it. That was one of the worst calls coaching decisions in recent BC football history. Mike Cloud 4 times from the 1 yard line against ND was probably the worst.

The head coach sucks.

Brad Bates is trying to prop him up with Loeffler and Pasq.



Knucklehead said...

. . . to "The MIZ"

mod34b said...

Miz, I was responding to ATL's critique of 2015.

Daz fortified the OL in 2013 and 2014 with 5th year trasnfers. He also had decent Spaz era players. He knew as of 4-12-12 (hire date) that cliff was coming. He brought in zero in 2013 and 3 in 2014 - 1 of which was soft and quit. So in 2 years he got Baker and Schmal. meh.

But even so, the BC O was not very good in 2013 (12/14 in ACC (vs conference oppoenents); 88th nationally vs, FBS) or 2014 (12/14); 90th nationally vs, FBS). So I would not call BC 2013 and 2014 OLs dominant by any stretch of the imagination. Decent OL. That is it.

I think Knuck makes a great point. Daz misread his team for 2015 and did not bring in OL support and did not bring in QB support. Daz has talked about his failure to bring in QB support, but never OL. Interesting point raised by Knuckle (why call him drunk? bogus discourse)

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking about this a while and I've almost written a letter to Addazio, but I'm not sure if he'll take criticism from a stranger to heart.

But how many great football coaches have been animated/passionate/heart on the sleeve? I can't think of any. Most great coaches are calm, collected, cool-headed during the game. Sure they show some emotion, but for the most part their head is always in the game.

I remember when the Broncos won the Super Bowl and their was an uproar over Eli Manning not being happy for his brother when they scored a decisive touchdown. His response: "[I was] just focused on whether he was going for two, and the defense had to step up and make some stops.”

That is the game mentality that head coaches need. Always be thinking about each situation, calm, don't get caught up in what just happened, focus on the next part of the game. And I fear Addazio will never have that.

Hario said...

Is there still Flutie defense going on here?? --- he is clearly not a Division 1 QB. He was a 2* (or NR) prospect out of HS orginally planning to come in as WR - if his last name wasn't flutie he wouldn't have even had a shot at QB

and now im just re-reading Knucks post "(Jerrod Smith or whoever)" and realizing im getting trolled

Hoib said...

Miguelito

Vince Lombardi, the greatest coach of all time, and Woody Hayes

I'm surprised only Knuck mentioned PK. I think that's a glaring weakness going back to Nate, that still hasn't been properly dealt w/.

JBQ said...

@Ned and Knuckle: I happen to agree 100%. Throw in how Christian Suntrup was treated and you have a pattern. Suntrup graduated in May and I was hoping that he would play a fifth year somewhere. There is no doubt that the torches are sitting by the side of the road. All that is needed is a match. However, let's see what happens in Dublin before we call out Les Miserables.

Geezer eagle said...

JBQ,
Please explain the Christian Suntrup scenario. I'm lost.

EL MIZ said...

JBQ - Suntrup didn't play a 5th year somewhere because nobody wanted him.

Ned and Knuckle - i will wait with baited breath for the news that Flutie is transferring to a Power 5 school to play QB. if he is the legit NFL QB prospect you guys make him out to be, i'd expect that news would be coming soon since he's been relegated to a 4th string WR on a team going nowhere. if Michigan made Tom Brady a 4th string WR, i imagine he would've transferred.

JBQ said...

@Georgia Eagle: Christian Suntrup was a qb recruit for the last class of Spaziani. He was wooed away from Nebraska and was supposedly the jewel for Spaziani. He is from St. Louis (Mo not Hawaii) Chaminade. This is the same school for David Lee and Bradley Beal of NBA fame. They have good athletics. As a junior, Suntrup played in what is arguably the best Mo high school game ever played. He orchestrated two drives in the last two minutes against the eventual state champs Webster Groves to produce a touchdown and a 45 yard field goal to go up by one with six seconds left. The kickoff went into the end zone and then a miraculous pass went for 80 yards. He was a legitimate big time quarterback. Addazio then used him for a scapegoat and ran him out of the program. BJK stated that he was given a medical scholarship and he stayed around until he graduated this past May. @El Miz: Your math is suspect. Suntrup was redshirted and then was on campus three more years. That would be four total years with one year of eligibility left which he could use as a graduate student this current year. On a recent plane trip to New York (2015), I sat next to the grade school sister of his tight end who played in the Mac and she said that he was thinking about trying for it.

Geezer eagle said...

Fascinating. Thank you.

EL MIZ said...

@JBQ - literally laughing out loud. happy to finally have some more color with the several years long obsession with your boy SUNTRUP.

"Addazio then used him for a scapegoat and ran him out of the program." i cannot think of one time Addazio ever mentioned Suntrup - can you? can you send a link or site a press conference where Addazio (A) even mentioned the words "Christian Suntrup" and (B) that mention rose to the level of Suntrup being a "scapegoat."

it is great that Dave Lee and Brad Beal went there - congratulations to them. any high school which produces somewhat mediocre NBA players must have NFL caliber QBs too, right? is that the logic here? truly baffling.

again, i reiterate my ask - why oh why wouldn't Suntrup transfer if he was such a great QB? what NFL caliber QB sits on the bench (or has his eligibility deviously wasted by the corrupt HC) and throws his career down the toilet for love of university which he has really no connection to other than he committed to it as a 17 yr old?

i won't even address your 2015 New Years flight with the "grade school sister of his tight end" and your conversation, since that truly devolves into the theater of the bizarre.

LOL - thanks for the laugh!

Hario said...

hahah flutie and now Christian Suntrup --- Addazio used him as a scapegoat?? has addazio ever even mentioned his name? I cant think of anyone talking about suntrup let alone using him as a scapegoat for anything

Joe said...

Suntrup got hurt and couldn't play. He was never used as a scapegoat and I think his career was over by the time Addazio got here.

As for the OL, Addazio could not bring any players into the program due to the time of his hire (before NLI day) and the position of the class from a numbers perspective at the time. He brought in 3 in his first full class and 5 in the next class (to call Hendren "soft" for leaving the program, when the reality is he left due to concussions, is flat out wrong. Hendren also had multiple offers including Arkansas and Penn State, but I guess Addazio cant recruit).

Any coach has to space out the sizes of the classes when, essentially rebuilding the entire group, to avoid having a large class leave all at once 4-5 years down the road and be in a similar position later (i.e. Skinner/Donahue in their handling of mega classes). So Mod's plan to get 3-4 4* OL in 1 month right after his hiring is not only inconceivable, but the wrong way to build back the group. The fact is, very rarely is there a situation when a group is left in such shambles because of the incompetence of the previous staff. Addazio proved he could be moderately successful even with the marginal Spaz talent, and almost definitely would not have had the OL bottoming out last season if just the class numbers weren't screwed by Spaziani.

mod34b said...

poor analysis Joe. in fact, it is a load of bs.

as of Dec 4, 2012, Daz knew he was facing a deficit in OL in 3rd season. He had plenty of time to fix the looming problem, but he failed big time.

So from Dec 2012 to September 2013 no OL could be found, yet he found time to reel in Patchan? No Jucos with sufficient academics to get into BC could be located? there was no unsigned player in the USA that could play ACC ball? Daz did not appear to try in 2013 to get more OL when he knew they was a strong need for more OL.

For the 2014 class, Daz made dozens of offers to OL prospects (maybe as many as 50) with no success except for 2 middle-schmidldes and softy. 2 duds in 2 years did not solve the known looming problem. he needed more OL frosh in 2014, but could not get it done. who said anything about 4*s?

yet remarkably you say that Daz did not recruit extra OL because Daz had an overarching concern about class size and spacing. WTF.


Was Suntrup actually hurt and medically unable to play? I am not so sure i've seen that officially stated.

EL MIZ said...

"So from Dec 2012 to September 2013 no OL could be found, yet he found time to reel in Patchan? No Jucos with sufficient academics to get into BC could be located?" - he found no OL...except for Patchan. so he found one OL, right? you seem to love long research projects (see your countless posts citing various stats). why don't you do some digging and come up with a list of names Addazio missed out on from that period. also, why don't you come up with the long list of players BC has gotten from JUCO, ever, to support your claim that he should just dip into the JUCO ranks like BC has done...never.

the 14 class had Hendren (Penn State and Rutgers offers with interest from Stanford, Duke et al), current starter and starter last year Baker (Michigan St and Uconn offers with interest from Stanford and Vandy), and Schmal (penciled in as the starter this year), plus Silberman (starter).

if you are honestly calling a kid who "retired" from football due to concussions "soft" its official, you're a troll.

the fascination with Suntrup is amazing and hilarious. i hope it never ends. any word on what NFL team Suntrup signed with???

Geezer eagle said...

Mod,
I am truly stunned that there are still Daz apologists out there. Do these dudes have a grip on reality? Daz is clearly one of the worse HCs in BC history.

mod34b said...

el miz, your argument technique is lacking. you mainly rely on distortion, and outright falsity, combined with exaggeration. All done with this sneering gothca-don't-I tone. Denigration - so and so is a drunk, a troll, etc. - follows. You always ignore the main point.

Take your mention of Patchan as evidence that Daz "got one." Patchan was a 5th year senior. He was one-and-done and never could have been a solution to the looming OL cliff. Which was my point,: Daz failed to use his time, resources and abilities to address the 3rd year problem before it was too late. I think you understood that but simply had no non-snarky reply. Perhaps Kash will arrive soon with some Rickles-like abuse. (hysterical)

GeorgiaE. so true. I think as BC has grown in reputation, some student "stones" were left out. The modern BC grad is very much a sheep. Seeks to go along with the herd. Hence the desire to be seen as supportive of Daz no matter what the facts tell you.

and so it goes .....

mod34b said...

ps. as of today, BC is #15 out of 15 on Rivals for recruiting in the ACC. Lowest quality player in ACC based on rivals rankings too.

that is to say: Daz is once again LAST in recruiting in the ACC .

but nothing to see here... just move along.. it will all work out....

Guido said...

Mod34b is absolutely correct on one of the major faults of Addazio besides recruiting failures - that is , he freezes on the sidelines when quick decisions need to be made. Hopefully the new OC and staff will get him in line. Onto a positive , this year, 7 wins is within the realm of possibility . First , GT is very weak (win). Next, BC has Umass, Wagner , Buffalo, UConn, Syracuse, Wake Forest. Those games , if won gives you the 7 wins and the DECLINING FANBASE would believe that Addazio is the greatest coach to grace the "Heights" and "Voila" - another raise and extension.

Unknown said...

I'm with you. The line is not on Daz. The jump in the play of the o-line when he came in was amazing. A team needs 4-5 o line recruits a year. I forget the numbers, but we were WAY below that the last two Spaz years of recruiting. Pre Daz - I knew last year would be a disaster on o-line.

This does not absolve the Daz bad click Mgmt and play calling.

Geezer eagle said...

Guido,
Completely agree with your analysis.

Geezer eagle said...

Guido,
Completely agree with your analysis.