My main/only issue with the coaching staff...

[GMU_Hokie]

As noted, if things haven't changed for decades, they aren't likely to change now. We just have to hope the Hokies can out-athlete the other guy on a consistent basis. And, by and large, they've been able to except when faced with a big time opponent.

However, the systemic philosophies of CFB have produced winning teams, obviously culminating with the MNC game berth in 1999. He had the talent on that team to overcome a predictable, conservative offense. My biggest gripe has been the in-game coaching decisions that invariably derail the Hokies in big games.

[hokieboozer]

It's not simply game management, it is our lack of identity on Offense as a whole. Never once in the past decade have our coaches really decided the scheme of the offense. Without understanding that, you cannot appropriately recruit the right players.

Just look at our Defense for an example of understanding a scheme and recruiting/teaching the right players. That's why we can continuously win with undersized and underrated players on D. Coach Foster is an amazing coach and a great guy to play for... wish I could say the same for Stiney (nice guy, just doesn't understand Xs and Os).

[gern]

insanity is repeating something and expecting different results. Frankly, I think Stiney is just in over his head. Newsome is likely in over his head too. When that many of you offensive staff have shown they struggle for an extended period of time (what is it, year 5 or so?) you have to try someone else.

[VT73]

Honest question, how do you expect that to happen given that it hasn't yet? The guy at the top has demonstrated time and again that he DOES NOT WANT to make those kinds of changes, despite overwhelming evidence that we are seriously underachieving on offense (see Techsupport's post)?

Our offesne is among the top 2 in the ACC for 2011 - we do under-achieve in certain situations, like red zone. That's where the focus needs to be., not on the offense in general.

[gern]

recruiting is over-rated imo - kids have to be smart enough to watch a game. You put a good product on the field and people will want to play for you.

[BeamerBallin]

...But looking back on this year and years past, my main issue with the coaching staff in our big losses comes down to game management.

It's almost like our coaches are so involved in the small details of each game that they're missing the bigger picture and can't get a sense for the overall momentum.

In the Michigan game, my issue isn't with "the call" (although I'm not sure it was necessary) but rather that the coaches seemed to miss the obvious fact that our passing game was working very well. Michigan wasn't able to contain our passing game, but we stopped it for them. We stopped ourselves.

In the Orange Bowl vs. Kansas, they could not stop our running game. But rather than a coach seeing this, going for the kill, and running it down their throat until they stopped it, we'd sprinkle in some ineffective, drive-killing passes.



So again, I'm not calling for anyone's head. I just wish our coaches would have a better sense of what is working and capitalize on it until the other team shows they can stop it.

That is how it works, force them to stop it. I remember Stinespring saying in the Kansas OB, "he saw a safety creeping into the box, that is why he call a pass play". That is not how it is done. Force the safety to commit and ACTUALLY STOP the run, then on the next play playaction not before.

You have to make the defense ACTUALLY stop the strategy first not before. You actually make them adjust and have the safety IN THE ACTUAL TACKLE BOX, before you play action pass, not creeping down.

[Hokieman1987]

Play gets called , ball is snapped, original play breaks down, QB extends play, someone gets open eventually or not, QB makes play. That's our scheme on offense.

[franck13]

Are the coaches too quick to abandon what was working once they see the other team make an adjustment? Are they making the assumption that the adjustment will work too quickly?

I guess I'm not one of the fans calling for any coach's head, and in fact I thought things were somewhat improved this season.

But looking back on this year and years past, my main issue with the coaching staff in our big losses comes down to game management.

It's almost like our coaches are so involved in the small details of each game that they're missing the bigger picture and can't get a sense for the overall momentum.

In the Michigan game, my issue isn't with "the call" (although I'm not sure it was necessary) but rather that the coaches seemed to miss the obvious fact that our passing game was working very well. Michigan wasn't able to contain our passing game, but we stopped it for them. We stopped ourselves.

In the Orange Bowl vs. Kansas, they could not stop our running game. But rather than a coach seeing this, going for the kill, and running it down their throat until they stopped it, we'd sprinkle in some ineffective, drive-killing passes.



So again, I'm not calling for anyone's head. I just wish our coaches would have a better sense of what is working and capitalize on it until the other team shows they can stop it.

[jaitken]

Our offesne is among the top 2 in the ACC for 2011 -

Okay, so we're the (second) tallest midget... in the Almost Competitive Conference... w00t!

we do under-achieve in certain situations, like red zone. That's where the focus needs to be., not on the offense in general.

I ask again: why would you expect the guy at the top to suddenly start demanding accountability -- regardless of the specifics, whether it's redzone offense, playcalling, OL development, etc -- when for 10+ years he's steadfastly (some would say stubbornly) refused to do that?

At least publicly, CFB has NEVER held any of his offensive coaches accountable. Hell, he put more on Danny Coale after the SB loss than I've ever heard him put on Stinespring, Newsome, or O'Cain. I've never heard him say "we simply weren't prepared", or "we need to re-evaluate our playcalling in the redzone", or "our offense is too predictable". It's always just one block away, one play away, etc. Sure, part of that is his personal management style, but at some point I want to see him acknowledge the shortcomings in a meaningful way (i.e., not "we got screwed by the refs", or "we were just one block away") and put forth a plan to fix them. I'm not asking him to throw his buddies/assistants under the bus, but he can't demand accountability if he won't acknowledge failure.

Note the difference with Bud. Remember two years ago when the defense wasn't getting it done, at least not to Bud's standards? He put notes in his players' lockers, reminding them of the tradition that was established by those who came before them, and how it was their responsibility to uphold that tradition. He didn't throw anyone under the bus, didn't call anyone out publicly, but he did let them know that their performance was not acceptable and that they needed to do better. In other words, he held them accountable. I've never seen that happen with CFB and the offensive coaches.

And suffice it to say that I disagree completely with your POV that we just need to focus on redzone offense and "not on the offense in general"; I think that there are systemic issues, starting with the fact that we still have no clear offensive identity. If I were in charge, that'd be the first thing I'd fix, and then I'd go from there.

We just have to hope the Hokies can out-athlete the other guy on a consistent basis. And, by and large, they've been able to except when faced with a big time opponent.

I agree with this assessment and think it's the source of much of the frustration on the part of some/many fans. We're not going to take the next step as a program if we rely on being able to out-athlete the other guy, because we're not Alabama or USC or Texas. If we're ever going to be able to compete with those guys then we're going to have to take the talent that we do have and couple it with a really good scheme and some great playcalling/game management. And that is squarely on the coaches, not the players.

[public knowledge]

sounds about right to me.