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September 7, 2016

Great Message Board Post...

...from an anonymous poster with the handle "HooDat06."

I understand everyone's frustration, and losing like that to Richmond is inexcusable. But man it's tough to see so many turn on Bronco so quickly. Bronco has never guided these specific guys into battle, never seen live fire with them. He developed a perception based on spring and fall camps, but until the lights went on, there was no telling how each individual or the team as a whole would react to adversity. And unfortunately, bad habits and body language instilled over YEARS kicked in when things went south on Saturday. 
Sure, he was caught off guard, but I'm not sure how he was supposed to predict the team would go into their shells. From what has been reported, he's done everything he could in the offseason to instill toughness and confidence. Now he has a game and the associated game film to judge and react to. 
To me, the next few weeks are where the rubber meets the road. This staff is filled with proven winners with multiple years of proven performance - they didn't forget how to coach because they're in Charlottesville now. I feel good because Bronco took ownership of what happened and has identified areas to make improvements. If you don't think that you can give a defense too much to chew on to their detriment, talk to me or any other Saints fan. Rob Ryan tried to install so much crap, that on game day, guys had no idea where to line up and assignments were blown left and right. I think we'll see fewer packages on Saturday but much better assignment football and (hopefully) run fits. 
Based on his history, I expect better play in Eugene. Not likely to result in a victory, but hopefully it'll be the first tangible building block. If we can snag that UConn game, the season will be back on track for me. Just need to be 2-2 with some momentum heading into Durham. I also think that bye week will be huge. We'll have five games under our belt and can make adjustments heading into the meat of the conference season, with three home games on deck. 
I know we all wanted Bronco to wash away the frustration of a decade-plus in one game, but unfortunately, we didn't get our wish and were smacked in the face with some harsh realities about where our program is. IMHO, he, the staff and team deserve a lot more time to try to turn things around. He's recovered from slow starts before, and to me, the most important thing is that we're playing our best football at the end of the year as a launching pad into the coming years.

4 comments:

  1. Amen. A football program is a big-ass ship with a lot of momentum (going in the wrong direction), and it takes more than just a single offseason to turn it around.

    To continue the metaphor, it's especially tough when the previous captain hired competent sailors from smaller boats, but then didn't give them the additional training they needed. Also he hired about 10 coal shovelers when we need closer to 20 (OL players in my convoluted metaphor).

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  2. 100% agree. Thanks for the much-needed dose of perspective.

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  3. Great post. Love it. Needed the mental reset because I will happily confess I sat in the stands with my heart sinking on that first fumble and the rest of the game let a lot of air out of my hope balloon. I'm still 100% bullish on Bronco but have to confess I was hoping for a miracle ship turn!

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