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How Do You Feel About EW Coach Hires ?

BWahlberg said:
1. Experience and knowledge against teams in the conference

2. Sanders called plays at EWU, having a DC with experience running a defense has to help

3. Montana's talent on defense is better than anything these guys will have probably worked with

4. These guys aren't 1 foot into retirement or the nursing home

5. Real hard to get in talent when your HC is on a 1 year deal

6. They're going to adapt the defense to what they know and not force themselves into the 3-3-5

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All things considered, pretty great hires. I don't have high hopes for a lights out / stellar defense but my hope is that this staff with their experience can put the players in spots to succeed and can run a sound system. If the Griz offense does what we need/hope they can do - we don't need a world beater defense, we just need one that can take the ball away at the right times, make some stops, and set the offense up to do their thing.
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Ima withhold judgement for now. I sorta half-assed researched Sanders and EWU's Defense.

I am not overly impressed, but there are a lot of things that can contribute to a mediocre to poor defense.

The HC is obviously the biggest issue. Best wasn't good enough (my attempt at lame humor).

Sanders had a couple of great players, but nothing close to the number and quality of players at UM.

Also, last year, the offense wasn't stymied by EWU's defense, they just had a really bad game, and EWU had a good game. It happens.

I think the transition is going to be painful at first. People are going to complain because of the lack of flashy defensive plays, not as many sacks, not as many INT's but I'd rather have a solid, consistent defense than the occasional exciting play.

But honestly, after looking at his numbers... they are not reassuring. I REALLY hope I am as wrong as wrong can be. I am a firm believer in the 4-2-5/hybrid defense, and I do not want to see the Griz go back to a 3-3-5.
 
In my opinion, and it’s not worth a whole lot, the biggest thing to remember here is that we’re going to have some growing pains, and that’s just the reality of what the program’s dealing with right now. The Griz lost nine starters from last year’s 13–2 team, so he’s not stepping into an easy situation by any stretch.

And then on top of that, you’ve got a brand‑new defensive scheme and a staff that basically had to be rebuilt from the ground up after all the movement that happened when Hauck retired. Just like anything else, every coach sees things a little differently, and everyone learns and teaches the game in their own way. So there’s no world where all of that clicks overnight.

Sanders did make improvements at EWU — their defense climbed in scoring, total yards, and especially against the pass last season — so there’s reason to feel optimistic long‑term. But just like with anything done by people, there’s going to be some trial and error before it settles in.
 
406football said:
In my opinion, and it’s not worth a whole lot, the biggest thing to remember here is that we’re going to have some growing pains, and that’s just the reality of what the program’s dealing with right now. The Griz lost nine starters from last year’s 13–2 team, so he’s not stepping into an easy situation by any stretch.

And then on top of that, you’ve got a brand‑new defensive scheme and a staff that basically had to be rebuilt from the ground up after all the movement that happened when Hauck retired. Just like anything else, every coach sees things a little differently, and everyone learns and teaches the game in their own way. So there’s no world where all of that clicks overnight.

Sanders did make improvements at EWU — their defense climbed in scoring, total yards, and especially against the pass last season — so there’s reason to feel optimistic long‑term. But just like with anything done by people, there’s going to be some trial and error before it settles in.
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Griz gave up 25 ppg last year and ranked 50th nationally. We didnt have a very good defense. If sanders can get us down to 20 ppg I’ll consider that an awesome upgrade
 
HookedonGriz said:
Griz gave up 25 ppg last year and ranked 50th nationally. We didnt have a very good defense. If sanders can get us down to 20 ppg I’ll consider that an awesome upgrade
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We need to start getting consistent pressure again and start being able to dictate offensive tempo by keeping them behind schedule. Football is really simple when you keep it simple.
 
HookedonGriz said:
Griz gave up 25 ppg last year and ranked 50th nationally. We didnt have a very good defense. If sanders can get us down to 20 ppg I’ll consider that an awesome upgrade
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Again, the Griz had a pretty good defense. Many categories of D were very good, as I have said multiple times. 5 fewer points would have gotten the Grizzlies one more win, and I would say the pick 6 (7 points) is what lost the game, not the play of the D. The post I responded to, again, seemed like an old post, but it was at the bottom of the thread, so I responded.

"Not very good defenses" don't rank high in the nation in interceptions, don't rank 2d in conference in sacks, don't have good redzone D stats, don't give up a low percentage of pass completions, don't have pretty good pass D efficiency, don't have as many first/second team all-conference player, etc. In my opinion.

And, it wasn't just the O, which was sometimes inconsistent, and ST's, that got the team to 13-2 and no. 3 in the nation.

But I agree, it wasn't great and it needed to be a bit better.
 
mthoopsfan said:
Again, the Griz had a pretty good defense. Many categories of D were very good, as I have said multiple times. 5 fewer points would have gotten the Grizzlies one more win, and I would say the pick 6 (7 points) is what lost the game, not the play of the D. The post I responded to, again, seemed like an old post, but it was at the bottom of the thread, so I responded.

"Not very good defenses" don't rank high in the nation in interceptions, don't rank 2d in conference in sacks, don't have good redzone D stats, don't give up a low percentage of pass completions, don't have pretty good pass D efficiency, don't have as many first/second team all-conference player, etc. In my opinion.

And, it wasn't just the O, which was sometimes inconsistent, and ST's, that got the team to 13-2 and no. 3 in the nation.

But I agree, it wasn't great and it needed to be a bit better.
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That’s fair feedback and I like some of those other staff that you mention. But only one matters to me and that is points per game. The top dogs were at 13 to 15. We were at 25 and that is not good in my opinion.
 
If they can effectively coach, I don't care if they came from the scats(can't believe I said that), or the moon, whatever! Maybe Kennedy has a son, or grandson who would be a great coach, like Billy Heywood from the 1994 movie "Little Big League," a 12 year old. Prove it on the field.
 
The one thing that's gives me a bit of optimism is that there are alot of factors that could contribute as to why a DC fails to have success and performance isn't 100% transitive. The Cats literally brought back a DC that got his ass kicked while coaching at UTEP, but had good defenses while at MSU for example.

We stop giving up 3rd and Longs what felt like every other 3rd Down play and that alone will make me a fan.
 
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Ut-Grizfan said:
The one thing that's gives me a bit of optimism is that there are alot of factors that could contribute as to why a DC fails to have success and performance isn't 100% transitive. The Cats literally brought back a DC that got his ass kicked while coaching at UTEP, but had good defenses while at MSU for example.

We stop giving up 3rd and Longs what felt like every other 3rd Down play and that alone will make me a fan.
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What a coincidence, we got an OC that didn't do well at UTEP. Think hes done fairly well here.
 
mousegriz1 said:
Very informative? What was informative in the post? You must not know much about football.
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Everything in the post.

footballdood said:
Apparently Best is very controlling. His history is riddled with driving off good coaches. Prime example is how our OC abruptly left mid season who put together a great offense. I actually think EWU gets decent talent despite being in the dumps. We just don't know how to use said talent.

I don't know how great of a hire he is but probably not going to be a bad hire. EWUs defense was clearly playing better for whatever that's worth. Though you must remember EWU hasn't had a history of great defenses even during most of the Baldwin era. We won due to his ridiculously good offenses.
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Thx for your post. Very informative. I have seen your name, but never paid much attention to your posts. I will from now on.
 
alabamagrizzly said:
I mean seriously. He just traded in his '82 Datsun truck for a brand new F250. I think id be excited to drive that mother too😂😂.
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I owned a 1981 datsun pickup, Bought it new. The thing never did run right. The fuel filter kept clogging up. Rust from fuel tank.

The Griz will be very good this year, cats won't put 250 yards running on this offense.
 
I didn’t get to chat with them as much but a few guys I know talked to them at the QB Club social tonight - all three seem like good dudes. Some interesting comparisons between internal support here vs ewu, and campus / fam support.
 
BWahlberg said:
I didn’t get to chat with them as much but a few guys I know talked to them at the QB Club social tonight - all three seem like good dudes. Some interesting comparisons between internal support here vs ewu, and campus / fam support.
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I can sence a podcast in the making.
 
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