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Stitt-Choate Contrast

BornGrizz said:
This season was disappointing to me because the coaches themselves said how great everyone was going to be.

I didn't have high expectations until analysts were calling a 1st year D Coord. some type of genius.

The Stitt Program hasn't been able to find consistent improvement. There has been no indication of a team that gets better each week. I don't know why that is, but the results speak for themselves.

Does he stay if he posts this type of season next year? I say no even though there's a good argument for giving him at least 4.

I agree he doesn't stay if we have a season like this next year. I'm not sure if some of our position coaches are qualified to be coaching at this level. They're young, and not tons of experience. Many games this season I watched our Griz lose the line of scrimmage, less quarterback pressure, and less speed. We are giving up more points as a defense which is not Montana defense throughout the years.
 
Ursus1 said:
Choate follows recruits on twitter....Stitt follows lots of college girls, so which one is winning the social media scene in football program building.

Stitt follows every recruit they are interested in.
 
JDoub said:
I am thoroughly impressed with Coach Stitt -- his innovation, recruiting 80 new players in since he took over, the fact that he has created cold fusion on the gridiron, he had the management will to get rid of a DC who clearly let the game pass him by, and promoting another innovative coach as DC because, as he put it -- “He coaches outside the box a little bit,” Stitt said. “He’s going to do what works rather than, ‘Oh, this is the way you’re supposed to do it.’”

Support your coach, trust the system and the process. Stitt deserves a 3-year extension to carry out his plan. All he needs is for the young guys to stop making stupid mistakes that cost them games. And a QB that is good enough to both understand and generate cold fusion. Remember, you were a 9-2 or 8-3 team this year! In 3 years, or maybe 5 or 7, Stitt will restore Montana to the real Montana, and you'll be winning National Championships again, just like CSM did.

Stay the course, griz nation, this gamble is courageous but will pay off in the end, if you persevere with Stitt-Pesci.

griz fans just need to trust the process :thumb:
 
Another thing that stood out from the pressers, Choate knows the names of the players he plays against. He talked about Gus by name and others. Its been that way in all his pressers. Stitt refered to Murray as "the quarterback". Whether or not that actually means anything, it leads one to believe that one coach knows his opponent more in depth.
 
It cracks me up to hear the praise Choate is getting on this board. If he were coaching the Griz and had the season he had with the Cats the very same posters would be demanding he and his frontier conference coaching staff be fired immediately (probably demanding that an interim coach take over for the last game). He didn't have an awe-inspiring game plan, in fact, it was pretty vanilla, with the exception of their last real play. However, I will give him credit that his players played with a lot more intensity than did the Griz players.
 
I don't post here much anymore, but I hope that those who remember me regard me as a pretty level-headed poster. With that in mind here are my two cents:

It's easy to be envious of the Griz. The stadium, the fans, the reputation outside of MT (as much as an FCS program can get anyway), etc. But the thing that I wished the Cats had more than anything else was that aura, that mindset, that attitude of "we are going to win, we are going to beat you up, we are Montana". My creative writing juices are dried up right now but that in a nutshell is how I've always felt about the Griz, and it was always most apparent during Cat/Griz. We were getting some of that ourselves during the Kramer era, but then we'd turn around and lose to Chadron State. Ash made sure he won the games we should, but we never played above our abilities, we never got up for the big games.

Watching the game on Saturday was the first time in a long time I felt the Cats were more fired up, more physical, wanted it more. Even in 2012, arguably the biggest gap between the two teams in favor of the Cats in recent memory, we weren't able to dominate and only mustered a 16-7 win. It's been a long time, and I actually have personally never seen it, that I felt the Cats played to win and the Griz were flat.

I don't know if the Griz have lost "that", but Saturday I know they didn't have it, at least not for the whole game. Not sure if Stitt is the problem or what, but just my observations from Saturday.
 
ranco said:
It cracks me up to hear the praise Choate is getting on this board. If he were coaching the Griz and had the season he had with the Cats the very same posters would be demanding he and his frontier conference coaching staff be fired immediately (probably demanding that an interim coach take over for the last game). He didn't have an awe-inspiring game plan, in fact, it was pretty vanilla, with the exception of their last real play. However, I will give him credit that his players played with a lot more intensity than did the Griz players.

Two coaches from the Frontier on his coaching staff: OL Coach Brian Armstrong and TE Coach B.J. Robertson. Armstrong's line paved the way for 368 rushing yards against the Griz and over five yards a carry all year. Robertson is pivotal to our Montana recruiting efforts. Not too shabby for a couple of "low-level" coaches.
 
CatzWillRise said:
I don't post here much anymore, but I hope that those who remember me regard me as a pretty level-headed poster. With that in mind here are my two cents:

It's easy to be envious of the Griz. The stadium, the fans, the reputation outside of MT (as much as an FCS program can get anyway), etc. But the thing that I wished the Cats had more than anything else was that aura, that mindset, that attitude of "we are going to win, we are going to beat you up, we are Montana". My creative writing juices are dried up right now but that in a nutshell is how I've always felt about the Griz, and it was always most apparent during Cat/Griz. We were getting some of that ourselves during the Kramer era, but then we'd turn around and lose to Chadron State. Ash made sure he won the games we should, but we never played above our abilities, we never got up for the big games.

Watching the game on Saturday was the first time in a long time I felt the Cats were more fired up, more physical, wanted it more. Even in 2012, arguably the biggest gap between the two teams in favor of the Cats in recent memory, we weren't able to dominate and only mustered a 16-7 win. It's been a long time, and I actually have personally never seen it, that I felt the Cats played to win and the Griz were flat.

I don't know if the Griz have lost "that", but Saturday I know they didn't have it, at least not for the whole game. Not sure if Stitt is the problem or what, but just my observations from Saturday.

.......yes......to all of it...yes. I feel the same.
 
G-BEARS said:
Stole this from Bobcatnation, because I thought the poster made a good point about Stitt's, personality.

Many differences between Stitt and Choate. However, I think these quotes taken from a Great Falls Tribune article from both coaches really accentuate one important difference.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/ ... /94152022/

Stitt -- “We’re an 8-3, 9-2 football team,” UM coach Bob Stitt insisted. “But there were some young mistakes and some discipline mistakes that cost you.


Choate -- “We’re a 4-7 ballclub,” MSU head coach Jeff Choate said. “That’s who we are. We won a game today and it’s an important game that certainly means a lot to our alumni and the state of Montana. But I’m not naïve enough to think we’ve arrived. The work is starting now.”

One guy is honest and accountable, while the other is delusional and seems to want to avoid reality.

Sure thankful for our coach! He is building the right culture here.

The reality is both UM & MSU finished in the bottom tier of the Big Sky conference, and both teams failed to make playoffs, something that has not happened since the early 90s.

Stitt now has a chance to turn this program around from a mediocre, but dismal season for Griz football. If he thinks nothing is wrong with what they are doing they are in fantasy land. Fans watch all the snaps...control the line of scrimmage (especially that D line), build the run game more, and build speed and strength on defense. I observed a lot of plays that got us into the red zone, but saw us fail to score 6 once we were in the red zone. Red zone defense and offense needs an overhauling. The time is now make those changes.
 
Allezchat said:
CatzWillRise said:
I don't post here much anymore, but I hope that those who remember me regard me as a pretty level-headed poster. With that in mind here are my two cents:

It's easy to be envious of the Griz. The stadium, the fans, the reputation outside of MT (as much as an FCS program can get anyway), etc. But the thing that I wished the Cats had more than anything else was that aura, that mindset, that attitude of "we are going to win, we are going to beat you up, we are Montana". My creative writing juices are dried up right now but that in a nutshell is how I've always felt about the Griz, and it was always most apparent during Cat/Griz. We were getting some of that ourselves during the Kramer era, but then we'd turn around and lose to Chadron State. Ash made sure he won the games we should, but we never played above our abilities, we never got up for the big games.

Watching the game on Saturday was the first time in a long time I felt the Cats were more fired up, more physical, wanted it more. Even in 2012, arguably the biggest gap between the two teams in favor of the Cats in recent memory, we weren't able to dominate and only mustered a 16-7 win. It's been a long time, and I actually have personally never seen it, that I felt the Cats played to win and the Griz were flat.

I don't know if the Griz have lost "that", but Saturday I know they didn't have it, at least not for the whole game. Not sure if Stitt is the problem or what, but just my observations from Saturday.

.......yes......to all of it...yes. I feel the same.

I don't know how Stitt treats his players and staff. I've heard negative, but I don't know, I'm not in the locker room. I know Bobby Hauck and Robin Pflugrad were all about mental preparedness and getting their players ready. Mick Delaney was too - ''we don't lose to state", "There is 4 things we do here at Montana: get a degree, make the playoffs, compete for a conference title, and beat MSU."
I've felt that this season Montana has lost that energy....not in the fans, but in the players and coaches.
 
G-BEARS said:
Stole this from Bobcatnation, because I thought the poster made a good point about Stitt's, personality.

Many differences between Stitt and Choate. However, I think these quotes taken from a Great Falls Tribune article from both coaches really accentuate one important difference.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/ ... /94152022/

Stitt -- “We’re an 8-3, 9-2 football team,” UM coach Bob Stitt insisted. “But there were some young mistakes and some discipline mistakes that cost you.


Choate -- “We’re a 4-7 ballclub,” MSU head coach Jeff Choate said. “That’s who we are. We won a game today and it’s an important game that certainly means a lot to our alumni and the state of Montana. But I’m not naïve enough to think we’ve arrived. The work is starting now.”

One guy is honest and accountable, while the other is delusional and seems to want to avoid reality.

Sure thankful for our coach! He is building the right culture here.

I am the biggest Cat hater u'll find but I actually like that quote from Jeff Choate. He comes from the Chris Petersen branch of coaching and if you look at Washington it took Petersen a few years to get them to where they are now. I hate to say it but i think the Cats have more momentum going into next year than we do. I hope I am wrong and Stitt's recruits start coming through and making an impact. I could make a similar comparison with Bob Stitt and Mike Leach, it took Mike a few years to right the ship and get the right players for that offense. I won't go as far as to call for his head, BUT if this team puts a similar season together next year we need to make a change. You have one more year Bob lets see what you got.
 
Some of you are reading too much into this/making this too big of a deal. Should we have been an 8-3 team? Yes, as coach Stitt said, we were an 8-3 team. That doesn't make him delusional. We should have beat Northern Colorado, MSU, and probably even Cal Poly. But as Stitt said, we made too many mistakes that cost us those wins.

The result? We went from what we should have been (8-3) to a 6-5 football team. Most posters even predicted an 8-3 before the season. Now I'm disappointed in how this season turned out, but I really liked that Stitt is holding himself accountable for this season, which tells me that he is starting to understand and is willing to make the changes needed in him and his staff to make sure we win every game.
 
get'em_griz said:
Some of you are reading too much into this/making this too big of a deal. Should we have been an 8-3 team? Yes, as coach Stitt said, we were an 8-3 team. That doesn't make him delusional. We should have beat Northern Colorado, MSU, and probably even Cal Poly. But as Stitt said, we made too many mistakes that cost us those wins.

The result? We went from what we should have been (8-3) to a 6-5 football team. Most posters even predicted an 8-3 before the season. Now I'm disappointed in how this season turned out, but I really liked that Stitt is holding himself accountable for this season, which tells me that he is starting to understand and is willing to make the changes needed in him and his staff to make sure we win every game.

What if if? Reality is the Griz are a 6-5 football team. It's completely delusional to think otherwise. And if the Griz played North Dakota instead of Idaho State, they'd probably be 5-6. what if??

As for Stitt finally shouldering some of the blame, I assume someone close to him got in his ear and said "coach, you sound like whiny dumbass, man up, it's your team."
 
get'em_griz said:
Some of you are reading too much into this/making this too big of a deal. Should we have been an 8-3 team? Yes, as coach Stitt said, we were an 8-3 team. That doesn't make him delusional. We should have beat Northern Colorado, MSU, and probably even Cal Poly. But as Stitt said, we made too many mistakes that cost us those wins.

The result? We went from what we should have been (8-3) to a 6-5 football team. Most posters even predicted an 8-3 before the season. Now I'm disappointed in how this season turned out, but I really liked that Stitt is holding himself accountable for this season, which tells me that he is starting to understand and is willing to make the changes needed in him and his staff to make sure we win every game.

You are what your record is, we are a 6-5 football team PERIOD. I'm not on the fire Stitt immediately bandwagon but lets see if he can get everything cleaned up and see how next year goes.
 
get'em_griz said:
Some of you are reading too much into this/making this too big of a deal. Should we have been an 8-3 team? Yes, as coach Stitt said, we were an 8-3 team. That doesn't make him delusional. We should have beat Northern Colorado, MSU, and probably even Cal Poly. But as Stitt said, we made too many mistakes that cost us those wins.

The result? We went from what we should have been (8-3) to a 6-5 football team. Most posters even predicted an 8-3 before the season. Now I'm disappointed in how this season turned out, but I really liked that Stitt is holding himself accountable for this season, which tells me that he is starting to understand and is willing to make the changes needed in him and his staff to make sure we win every game.

The cats lost 4 games by less than a touchdown, they win those and they are an 8-3 football team. Can you imagine how idiotic it would sound if Choate said they were an 8-3 football team?
 
The_Real_Chief said:
get'em_griz said:
Some of you are reading too much into this/making this too big of a deal. Should we have been an 8-3 team? Yes, as coach Stitt said, we were an 8-3 team. That doesn't make him delusional. We should have beat Northern Colorado, MSU, and probably even Cal Poly. But as Stitt said, we made too many mistakes that cost us those wins.

The result? We went from what we should have been (8-3) to a 6-5 football team. Most posters even predicted an 8-3 before the season. Now I'm disappointed in how this season turned out, but I really liked that Stitt is holding himself accountable for this season, which tells me that he is starting to understand and is willing to make the changes needed in him and his staff to make sure we win every game.

You are what your record is, we are a 6-5 football team PERIOD. I'm not on the fire Stitt immediately bandwagon but lets see if he can get everything cleaned up and see how next year goes.

Agreed Chief. You could also say we were a 4-7 team. Could've easily lost to Northern Iowa, who we barely scratched out 200 yards against, and we had a very easy conference schedule. Replace ISU or SSU with Weber or UND and there you have it. Schedule was really kind to us. Wins over St. Francis, which isn't good despite winning their conference, Miss. Valley, So. Utah, ISU and SSU.

Last year we got a miracle win over ISU and surprised NDSU. So were we a 5-6 team last year? No, we were 7-4 last year. We were 6-5 this year. 13-9 over two seasons. I can't remember having two seasons back to back as bad as that.
 
G-BEARS said:
The cats lost 4 games by less than a touchdown, they win those and they are an 8-3 football team. Can you imagine how idiotic it would sound if Choate said they were an 8-3 football team?
For the season, Cats scored 282 points, opponents scored 276. UM 434 to 297.

First six games of the season:
MSU 166 to 122
UM 280 to 121

Last five games
MSU 116 to 154
UM 154 to 176
 
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