Here is Vim’s comment “
Didn't work out here in the Nickel or Safety positions. Kade had some injuries his first few years but was ready to contribute this fall and, in my opinion, unfairly never got an opportunity. Ortt/Polidore were our two best safeties to start the year and Dowler/Price locked down the nickel spot. Unquestionably those two spots had the best players starting. However, the depth was shaky. At nickel, we lost both Dowler and Price during the year and instead of moving in another strong safety type like Kade or Aidan Parks (who shined in spring ball in my opinion), we moved Miles Jackson from corner into nickel with mixed results. At safety, Blake Stillwell was the clear #3 per the coaching staff with Bailey/Pottenger jockying for the 4th spot. Next two up were probably Brock Steel and Kade.
Vigen lets his staff decide who is above the line and below the line in terms of "kids who are ready to see the field" each year and that's how the depth gets established. For whatever reason on the defensive side of the ball, I saw the "above the line" players get smaller and smaller the past two years specifically in the secondary and at LB. I completely trust the coaches to play who they feel they can trust. That should be exactly what you want coaches to do as fans. However, I kept hearing more and more this year from spring ball forward that Garza has "his guys" and if you can't break through into that group, it will be hard to see the field. Aidan Parks is a perfect example in my book and a hard-nosed kid like Kade is another. You have to at least give those kids opportunities to prove themselves when they are 3rd or 4th year guys and injuries start to hit. When Miles Jackson was called up at nickel for Sac State instead of Parks, I said to myself (man Aidan is never going to see the field on defense is he).
On the field would it have changed things this year? No not really. I'm a big believer in the best players need to play and if you don't beat out the competition, you are just going to have to improve or see the game from the sideline. I just don't feel like guys like Kade Cutler or Aidan Parks were really given a fair shake to at least get ONE opportunity to play varsity minutes. You need to give kids opportunities to show they can be trusted in a game setting when they've put the time in to your program AND the on-field result is lacking with the players playing in front of them. Our secondary and LB depth took a hit this year because we had a lot of sophomores and juniors sitting on the roster with no game experience. In some cases, freshman played in front of them. Daly & Co. need to figure out how to get our quality depth rotation back in order or else we're going to struggle again in 2024 as injuries always happen each year. That's all.”
Seems fair but I strongly believe that thing would’ve been different if the main issue was Garza. Maybe it was other coaches too?
