Posted by B L Z Bubba on November 21, 21 at 10:30:54:
In Reply to: Territorial Cup….. posted by Bayou Devil on October 30, 21 at 13:42:14:
The team's performance this year reflects an offense that is obviously way out of sync. It's clear that Daniels is struggling. His signature smile is gone and he's frustrated. His body language last night says it all.
Still, we've all seen what Daniels is capable of in prior years. He is talented. It's clear that he's lost his confidence and that he is frustrated. Though I can't imagine him getting drafted by the NFL next year, I know that he's much more capable than his performance this year would indicate.
Our OL is better at run blocking than pass protection and this pass-pro deficiency shows up whenever we play decent teams. With all the miscues, we seem to find ourselves in 2nd and long and 3rd and long situations far too frequently. There's rarely a drive that isn't hindered by self-induced mistakes. The offense has just not been coordinated.
This is unfortunate because Daniels has been better in his first couple of seasons. I'm guessing that the off field issues mentioned in news reports this summer are the real issue behind this year's regression. There was the suggestion in news reports over the summer that some of the staff felt uncomfortable with what was happening with respect to recruiting irregularities. It's tough being pressured to cheat if that is indeed what was happening.
This year is completely different than all the earlier years of HE's tenure. What has changed? I think there might be some internal discord within the organization. We have three assistant coaches on probation and much uncertainty resulting from the recruiting investigation. At minimum, whoever made the decision to flout the rules should be dismissed at the end of the season in my opinion. I can't imagine that all three of the assistants in question violated the rules on their own accord. This decision and the turmoil that has ensued set us back substantially and this is unforgivable. It's also unethical.
I don't know all the details behind these apparent recruiting violations but, as they say, a fish rots from the head down. AP is the recruiting coordinator and had to know what was going on. He was directing that aspect of the program. It's also hard to imagine that HE didn't know what was happening but I'll wait to see what the investigation yields before I judge him because it does seem out of character for him to condone such a thing. Either way, he is accountable as CEO of the program.
I know others on this board suggest that everybody violates the rules but that is really no defense. They say it's no big deal but look how this has impacted our efforts in what could have been a very big year for us given the weak schedule and lack of prowess in the conference. How much has this cost the university financially? The team is clearly not performing to its capabilities and they've had to boogie with green replacement coaches at the very least due to this issue.
I don't have a lot of inside information into what actually happened but something definitely did and I just can't see how we can possibly retain AP beyond this season.
Incidentally, I don't think Ray Anderson is deserving of any kind of pay raise.