Sunday, October 2, 2016

Blame the loss on coaching? No freakin' way

Read some ridiculous comments about how Rico McGraw running out on the field without his helmet, leading to a crucial 15 yd penalty, should be blamed on coaches. Likewise, Georgia's inability to knock down a hail Mary pass was due to poor coaching.

Wrong.

When you have one guy (I guess a second in street clothes made his way out there) out of nearly a hundred doing something like that, it's the fault of an individual player. Perhaps next time the coaches should put shock collars on everyone if it's their fault.

As for misplaying the Hail Mary, I can say with a high degree of certainty that that scenario is practiced (properly) many times before and during the season. The only potential change I could see would be having a few taller folks out there. Maybe put Javon Wims, the 6'4-6'5 WR planted on the goal line, but that's splitting hairs. The bottom line is that UT's WR got in just the right spot, and our players did not.

Hell, I can look at Georgia's touchdown prior to the heartbreaking Hail Mary and tell you that UT's DB was probably given explicit instructions: "Do NOT let them get behind you, whatever you do." But, their DB got lulled to sleep by Ridley, who then turned on a burst to catch a long TD.

All this is not to say that the coaches don't have their share of responsibility in these cases. It is, of course, up to them to make sure they're not only teaching their players what to do and what not to do, but that they get players to respond and execute.

Kirby cites a lack of discipline. It is ultimately up to the coaches to make sure the players are exhibiting said discipline, but no matter who you are as a coach, in the moment, sometimes players just don't do what they're supposed to or need to do.

This loss, while devastating to me as a fan, will be a better teacher than any coach or drill can be going forward.

16 comments:

  1. Very well said!! Goooo dawgs! proud of how they fought.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very well said!! Goooo dawgs! proud of how they fought.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You people are excuse makers
    How about the extra def players on the field {yet again each game this year has seen this penalty as coaches are slow getting the plays in for the lame def} at the end of the first half. sigh just one example there were many ..... Much blame to go around but all of you think Kirby can do no wrong is just fools

    ReplyDelete
  4. "all of you think Kirby can do no wrong is just fools"... You have no idea what my stance is on Kirby. Jury is still out on how good or bad he will be.

    I am embarrassed for people who know so little about football, so all they know how to do is blame the coaching.

    Dropped passes? Coaching. Missed field goal? Coaching. Caught smoking weed? Coaching.

    I agree that substitution issues on defense is typically on the coaching staff. No argument there. However, this post was about not blaming the coaching for the final couple of screw-ups that ended up costing us the game in the end.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since you apparently know so much about football.....Wasn't the call by Chaney to throw the ball from the end zone with a TF QB just a spectacular stroke of coaching genius.

      Delete
    2. It was definitely risky, no doubt. Of course, if we ran it three times and had to punt out of our own end zone, how many people would be complaining if UT started a drive at our 40 and scored 3 plays later.

      But, sure, I can put some blame on him there. Of course, the rest of his play-calling got us to a place where we were winning w/ 10 seconds left.

      Being able to play Sunday Morning QB is a hell of a thing.

      Delete
    3. Certainly is. I just want Coach "ihazafatpencil" to be able to play "Saturday QB"

      Delete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Not kicking field goal; coaching. Pooch kick; coaching. Clock management at the end, although they survived it; coaching. Having your freshman QB drop back into the end zone at that point in the game; coaching. There were lots of misfires by the coaching staff and players but ultimately the coach should take the blame. Throwing your guys under the bus after each game will cause you to lose the team eventually.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not kicking the field goal was the right call. Pooch kick was the right call. Dropping freshman QB into the end zone was risky, and ultimately proved to be a mistake, but hindsight is 20/20. The thinking was that we didn't want to just run it 3 times and have to punt it out of our own endzone and put our D in a bad spot. But, yes, that could be on coaching.

      I don't know how our society is getting to this point, especially in football. Heaven forbid you tell it like it is at the risk of hurting a player's feelings. But, it is the world we live in, so I think you're right insofar as he at least needs to be mindful of how the team is responding to everything he does and says.

      After seeing what was apparently Reggie Wilkerson's tweet or whatever, my hope is that the only guys not taking the criticism well are the ones who got used to the previous regime's way of going about things and will be gone after this year or will never contribute anyway.

      Delete
  7. Rushing 3 giving Dobbs 2 years to throw the ball, that could be coaching?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When something doesn't work out, I suppose it's always technically the wrong call. But, again, hindsight is always 20/20.

      We could have rushed 4, but we haven't gotten much pressure rushing 4 all year, and that leaves 1 less man deep, and against a very mobile QB who could easily evade the rush anyway.

      What Georgia did at the end is what at least 1/2 of all college and NFL teams do in that situation, and it works out the vast majority of the time.

      Delete
    2. Yes it works most of the time but, the pass gets thrown 100% of the time. What about rushing 5 or 6? That ball if thrown probably is a bad hurried pass. We had 7 people around 3 receivers and how'd that work out?

      Delete
  8. squib kick would been better the ball aint round we lost to tech with a pooch kick

    ReplyDelete
  9. What about the call to pass from the endzone with a TF QB? or the stupid sky kick. Or neglecting to call a timeout for a review of the incompletion when your DB's are signaling incomplete. Good to see Kirbyphiles are alive and well. Maybe he should reconsider throwing players under the bus after the games. He hasn't earned that right. He's no Saban. Hell, he's not even Richt.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You are hilarious. No coaches in the vicinity of a player running onto the field with his helmet off: coaching. On 3rd down, backed up to the 1 yard line, and less than 4 minutes left with a slim 3 point lead and TFQB; the decision to drop back and throw with a TE playing LT: coaching. Taking 25 seconds off the clock and not calling TO when trying to get the ball back: coaching. Once again another 12 men on the field penalty: coaching.

    Face it Kirbyphiles, your savior is not the coach you think he is. He is making coaching decisions just like the guy he really learned from back in the day and that was Ray Goff. 5 games in and he still doesn't have a clue. The 12 men penalty, the pooch kick, the decision not to kick a FG on 4th and 1 at the 25....all on his inability to adjust and learn. Kirby has one more shot to get a signature win his first year: Florida. Otherwise he'll be like one of his other influences, Jim Donnan, and have the stink of losing to Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Florida in his first year.

    ReplyDelete