would SS have got that one more year

[upperdeck]

if the fans had showed up ? love the energy and the commitment to the program not happy with all the results. but it kinda feels like when your kid gives it his best shot and it doesnt quite work out.

gonna be a tough couple of years if the Dome thing happens as some think it might.. SS might have been the perfect guy to get through that.

as much as some say losing 45-50 is better than 14-20 i dont think the dome is going to be any more full if we are still a 3-4 win team scoring 45 a game.

 

[PAcuse]

Only way he would have gotten another is WINS WINS WINS

 

[Crusty]

Everyone loves coach Shafer, but most understand Coyle's decision.

 

[TexanMark]

USF/UVA/Pitt was his Waterloo...if he won 2 or those 3...he'd be here. It sucks that it essentially came down to two plays.

If he won one of of those...and we finished 5-7...he probably would still be the coach.

The AD is going to find out the only way to put fans in the Dome is to get 3-4 easy OOC wins, build some momentum and get to 8 wins in the regular season. Very fickle fan base that doesn't have 40 years of continuous excellence like BB. You can even see with the hoops team the attendance is down...is has been for awhile. Sure, it is better than 99% of all teams but it is down.

 

[orangenauburn]

I think UVa and Pitt were the deciding factors, followed by the slow meltdown as the season progressed with in game decisions and interaction with the team from .com

 

[CarolinaCuse]

USF/UVA/Pitt was his Waterloo...if he won 2 or those 3...he'd be here. It sucks that it essentially came down to two plays.

Agreed. Expectation was likely to go 3-1 ooc and beat UVA at minimum. If he had won USF and UVA, attendance would have followed (and he likely would still be here).

 

[Upstate]

Win vs. Pitt and @ Virginia and we're talking about how good we'll be next year under him and about how he's going to stay for 10+ years. It's crazy what two close games can do for you.

 

[Crusty]

With respect, it was more than just those two games. They may have been the proverbial straws that broke the camel's back, but that is all they were.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Sucks

 

[VirginiaOrange]

Win vs. Pitt and @ Virginia and we're talking about how good we'll be next year under him and about how he's going to stay for 10+ years. It's crazy what two close games can do for you.

Ridiculous.

Virginia was only close because SU blew a big lead by not making any adjustments at half time and then making other questionable decisions in the second half. Virginia was an example of why Shafer got fired - not a "oh if he had only won the close games." SU lost the Virginia game mostly because of lack of coaching, not talent.

And winning that game was not going to bring more fans out.

 

[upperdeck]

really it comes down to how many games did we lose on the field where we shouldnt have which is probably at least 5.

how many games did we win where we had no business winning, maybe 1?

how many of the 50/50 talent games did we win other than wake in the last 2 years. BC and??

 

[TheCusian]

McDonald was his downfall, plain and simple.

Had he started with Lester, we'd at least have enough momentum offensively to give Lester the same time Hackett got.

 

[VirginiaOrange]

USF/UVA/Pitt was his Waterloo...if he won 2 or those 3...he'd be here. It sucks that it essentially came down to two plays.

If he won one of of those...and we finished 5-7...he probably would still be the coach.

The AD is going to find out the only way to put fans in the Dome is to get 3-4 easy OOC wins, build some momentum and get to 8 wins in the regular season. Very fickle fan base that doesn't have 40 years of continuous excellence like BB. You can even see with the hoops team the attendance is down...is has been for awhile. Sure, it is better than 99% of all teams but it is down.

The AD knows this and was smart enough to see it right away. Thus Shafer is gone because he was never going to get the other 4 or 5 wins. Nice guy - not a good enough D1 coach to get SU there. It was never going to happen under Shafer and there is no time to waste in today's college football business as it is a business. I mean Les Miles was about to be fired for crying out loud.

 

[TexanMark]

With respect, it was more than just those two games. They may have been the proverbial straws that broke the camel's back, but that is all they were.

But it did break the camel's back...if he went 6-6...I think he would get extended by a year or two.

 

[Chip]

We were as close to 6 wins as we were to 2 wins.

Fix the offense with something modern that the new coach can recruit to. Come play in my high octane offense in a Dome, even though I haven't been buying your HS coach Olive Garden dinners for the past 10 years.

We'll win games that aren't in doubt because the other team won't be able to keep up. Even though that offensive coach will have a 9 year old child coordinating it, likely using children for linebackers as well.

 

[VirginiaOrange]

really it comes down to how many games did we lose on the field where we shouldnt have which is probably at least 5.

how many games did we win where we had no business winning, maybe 1?

how many of the 50/50 talent games did we win other than wake in the last 2 years. BC and??

Exactly. The last two years have been horrible with zero positive trending. None of us would keep our jobs with similar performance and I suspect none of us are getting paid over a million bucks to be less than average.

2015 - no "good" wins.
2014 - no "good" wins.

Thank god for Wake Forest

 

[Crusty]

McDonald was his downfall, plain and simple.

Had he started with Lester, we'd at least have enough momentum offensively to give Lester the same time Hackett got.

I can't see that. McDonald went 7-5 [EDIT 7-6] with a Texas Bowl win and Lester's offense was worse than McDonald's on the metrics.
Shafer's downfall was the way he hired his staff, including promoting Lester, without a search. Everyone's greatest strengths are only a few degrees away from their greatest weaknesses. So it is with Shafer. His loyalty was his undoing.

 

[TheCusian]

I can't see that. McDonald went 7-5 with a Texas Bowl win and Lester's offense was worse than McDonald's on the metrics. Shafer's downfall was the way he hired his staff, including promoting Lester, without a search. Everyone's greatest strengths are only a few degrees away from their greatest weaknesses. So it is with Shafer. His loyalty was his undoing.

That's fair. But I think Hunt/Smith running Lester's system + cleaned up penalties, less confusion, etc would have gotten us the same amount of wins in 2013. 2014 could have been the same system (no changes) with a better defense. Who knows? Hunt running the triple option?

Hackett got it his 3rd season after leaning on a defensive team until then. Continuity can lead to good things.

 

[Crusty]

That's fair. But I think Hunt/Smith running Lester's system + cleaned up penalties, less confusion, etc would have gotten us the same amount of wins in 2013. 2014 could have been the same system (no changes) with a better defense. Who knows? Hunt running the triple option?

Hackett got it his 3rd season after leaning on a defensive team until then. Continuity can lead to good things.

That is why sports is so fascinating - so many thinks that might have been or balls bouncing one way or another. Interesting to speculate on so many things.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

McDonald was his downfall, plain and simple.

Had he started with Lester, we'd at least have enough momentum offensively to give Lester the same time Hackett got.

I don't think the outcome is any different if Lester starts as OC.

McDonald on paper at least made sense and you could see the career progression. Lester as OC from the jump would have made everyone (rightfully I think) question Shafer's decision making.

 

[Scooch]

We were as close to 6 wins as we were to 2 wins. Fix the offense with something modern that the new coach can recruit to. Come play in my high octane offense in a Dome, even though I haven't been buying your HS coach Olive Garden dinners for the past 10 years. We'll win games that aren't in doubt because the other team won't be able to keep up. Even though that offensive coach will have a 9 year old child coordinating it, likely using children for linebackers as well.

It really is amazing how people only adjust close losses up, and never adjust close losses down.

We were OT against CMU and a last play FG against BC, both crappy teams, from being 2-10. Maybe in an alternate universe we lose those games, but beat UVA and Pitt, and are...4-8.

 

[Scooch]

That's fair. But I think Hunt/Smith running Lester's system + cleaned up penalties, less confusion, etc would have gotten us the same amount of wins in 2013. 2014 could have been the same system (no changes) with a better defense. Who knows? Hunt running the triple option? Hackett got it his 3rd season after leaning on a defensive team until then. Continuity can lead to good things.

Maybe, but that's on Shafer. He owns his staff decisions.

The O still stunk this year. Injuries were a part of that. Not all of it though.

 

[KaiserUEO]

That's fair. But I think Hunt/Smith running Lester's system + cleaned up penalties, less confusion, etc would have gotten us the same amount of wins in 2013. 2014 could have been the same system (no changes) with a better defense. Who knows? Hunt running the triple option?

Hackett got it his 3rd season after leaning on a defensive team until then. Continuity can lead to good things.

If your boy Lester is sooooo good...as an OC at a P5...he should get a HC job at no lower than a d1aa.

A the freaken SAP.

 

[VirginiaOrange]

That's fair. But I think Hunt/Smith running Lester's system + cleaned up penalties, less confusion, etc would have gotten us the same amount of wins in 2013. 2014 could have been the same system (no changes) with a better defense. Who knows? Hunt running the triple option?

Hackett got it his 3rd season after leaning on a defensive team until then. Continuity can lead to good things.

.....cleaned up penalties, less confusion. Isn't that on the staff??????

 

[TheCusian]

I don't think the outcome is any different if Lester starts as OC. McDonald on paper at least made sense and you could see the career progression. Lester as OC from the jump would have made everyone (rightfully I think) question Shafer's decision making.

Def some truth to that. But had we a similar or better 2013 season, we'd have had the same level of (relative and limited) hope we had in 2014.