Knowledge takes two. It takes a coach who is teaching and a player who is learning. Half of this "mistake" problem is on coaches who are not getting it across and half is on the players who are just not getting it. If a coach teaches a player to be in a certain position on a play and that player keeps failing to be in the right position, it's not all on the coach.
But...for years, the minions have been saying that the talented players have coached themselves to the 10+ wins a year. There is a lot of talking out of both sides of mouths with regard to this. Absolutely, there seems to be an extreme lack of attention to detail with our coaches--and it's always been a weak spot.
But are the coaches not the ones recruiting these kids? All the time we hear about these kids having trouble getting through the clearinghouse...kids whose grades aren't good enough. Kids who are dumber than a bag of hammers, but by God they sure can run fast.
So, you addressed the offensive side of the ball--and it is definitely frustrating, though if our offensive line actually blocked better, our run game shouldn't be struggling so much. In years when we've have good play from our line, we could be predictable and still run effectively, for instance. You didn't, however, address our defensive side of the ball, which is at least as big of a problem as our offense.
We average about one kid a year who is having trouble getting through the clearinghouse. I don't think brains are the problem. And one of the players in the past with a problem was Patrick Peterson, and he was a star with an amazing football IQ.
Yes, but all the other schools recruited the same kids. Most of them are sharp enough, but some take a long time to develop for whatever reason. Wisconsin showed us that a smaller, less athletic offensive line can outperform a bigger, stronger one by understanding blocking angles and stunting, shifting defenders better. We must recruit size, speed, and athleticism with some mental agility whenever we can.
Well I guess there are exceptions. How many of these kids though, the staff damn near has to sell a testicle to get them eligible. How much of it is smarts/laziness and how much of it is effort/laziness....
That's what I'm saying. When players are constantly out of position, when they don't understand the scheme, that's a lack of focus, a lack of self-discipline, perhaps even a lack of maturity. When they don't wrap up, when their fundamentals are not sound...that's on the coaches.
And lack of effort , there is no fire burning with this team. Knowledge discipline and execution are coachable
