Brian Ward Fired

[atom58]

I wonder if you could have an outside, non staff, consultant . There is a certain coach that knows the Offense very well that is coaching HS football in Texas right now.

I understand that Taggart wanted to hire Kendall Briles the first year but FSU at that time did not agree - KB was brought in after the 1st year disaster. At some point his father may come in somewhere like Leavitt is at FSU now - I heard that he is not paid as he is still getting $$ from Oregon.

 

[TheCusian]

New QB at the starting spot?

Can’t stop the pass rush too.

 

[Ozone!]

Something had to change and dropping Coach Ward was the first domino to fall and IMO the easiest for HCDB. Setting records for ineptitude, with a bi-week upcoming, was timely. It gives Stanard time to make some changes; which will be necessary.
I like Coach Stanard's experience as D-coordinator, at various schools and the success he had at Wyoming; this is an opportunity for him and I hope he is able to make a positive impact on our D for this season.
Brian Ward deserves thanks for all his work at S.U, as well.
Ultimately, what we need is not change; but, transformation and that will come with recruiting, coaching and leadership by our players.

 

[PhatOrange]

"seven of the top eight offensive performances by an opponent allowed by the Orange defense in its history have come in the Ward era."

Ouch. And the offense really isn't even playing fast anymore.

yeah that's just bad. real bad.

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[RoofBeam]

It matters because it speaks to the ability of the head coach to construct a competent, unified staff and to address problems in the staff when they become, or should become, apparent, not waiting until you have almost completely exhausted the program momentum and good will of the fans and become a national embarrassment.

What does it matter, he's gone

 

[Millhouse]

Syracuse's defense faced opponents running 75 plays per game on average. That would be the 27th fastest pace of any offensive in college football. Add in the fact most games have been blowouts and its not hard to figure that it would be closer to facing 80 plays per game (which would be 6th fastest offense).

With Dino's offensive style (tempo, score quick), it also has a tendency to tire out our own defense as well, especially when 3 and outs occur at a strong clip, which they did this year.

Ward's defense was a defense built to protect a lead. Make the opposing offense throw the ball and let the length in the secondary and the pass rushing defensive ends go to work.

That defense got the chance to protect one lead against a power 5 opponent this year. And it laid an egg Saturday with that lead.

I am firmly in the camp that Babers is never going to have a team where the defense can carry it.

agree, just wanted to say that part of the appeal of it might have been ease of installation - practice time is such an enormous constraint on coaches

 

[Millhouse]

I think we could benefit from offensive and defensive consultants. I hope it's in the budget. It's something a lot of coaches are doing. It's a staple of Saban, and he strikes the world as someone who doesn't need anyone's help.

i also think acc refs hate it and drag their fat sausage gravy soaked webbed feet all the time

 

[IthacaMatt]

He may be but he's helping run the offense for the 8-0 Baylor Bears

Really? I had no idea. Does Baylor still run the Broyles system?

 

[djorange1989]

geez, 6 ACC teams on that list. pretty good illustration as to why this conference (and SU in particular) is such a dumpster fire

 

[OttoinGrotto]

geez, 6 ACC teams on that list. pretty good illustration as to why this conference (and SU in particular) is such a dumpster fire

I think that's part of why this season is so frustrating.

It's not like we're playing great teams. Everybody's flawed. We're just fatally flawed because we can't move the ball.

 

[Chip]

Interesting to note for the Briles/Clements to SU crowd.

Not saying it’s a bad idea but might be more marathon than sprint. People should prepare for that. Their brief time at FSU shows that they’re not miracle workers.

 

[Trueblue25]

I wonder why that is so - why is the offense not playing fast?

Our OL can’t keep pace and our wide receivers noticeably don’t hustle to the line of scrimmage.

 

[samspann1]

We were nice enough to sack Hornibrook only twice.

 

[UD1954]

How many think Ward knew before the Boston College that Babers was going to replace him at seasons end...seasons end came early after the BC game.

 

[Cuse#1]

Cannot believe it was Ward and not lynch

Oh I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we continue to look this inept on both sides Of the ball that lynch will be getting fired soon.
The coach ward being fired thing had to be done. I never liked the Tampa 2 defense here. Theres a reason it’s not really played in the college game. I think this will be a good move in the future for us. Actually allow a lot of his talent to thrive that we still have a defense

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Oh I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we continue to look this inept on both sides Of the ball that lynch will be getting fired soon.

Fix the OL, and most of our offensive problems go away.

That's a Cavanaugh issue, not a Lynch one.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Defense is more reliant on talent than offense is too. Offense can be schemed above its talent more consistently than defense can. Given our given our recruiting disadvantages - it makes sense to lean into offense

I have to disagree a bit. The purpose of blitzing and zone coverages is to mask bad one-on-one matchups and talent disparities. Scott Shafer created a pretty good defense out of that, with only a modest amount of talent on the field.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Fix the OL, and most of our offensive problems go away.

That's a Cavanaugh issue, not a Lynch one.

The play calling has been awful, especially given the lack of competence from the offensive line. Last game was the first time the offense seemed like it made serious adjustments to me, and that was game 9. What took so damn long?

 

[TheCusian]

I have to disagree a bit. The purpose of blitzing and zone coverages is to mask bad one-on-one matchups and talent disparities. Scott Shafer created a pretty good defense out of that, with only a modest amount of talent on the field.

I’m with you. It’s just easier to do that on offense.

I saw a study where the recruiting numbers are more closely predictive of defensive success.

 

[phil77]

Interesting to note for the Briles/Clements to SU crowd.

Not saying it’s a bad idea but might be more marathon than sprint. People should prepare for that. Their brief time at FSU shows that they’re not miracle workers.

I don't know enough about Clements to comment saw he had a history with Dino. The problem with picking a new OC is they will have to know the Baylor system as that is what Dino is going to run. So the pool that we can pick from if we have to replace the OC is very limited.

 

[qdawgg]

Offensive playcalling hasn't been good. Maybe we'll practice a hurry up offense in the spring for the end of halves when points matter. Maybe we can call plays that don't take seconds to develop that the QB doesn't have, unless were trying to impress Mike Martz for some reason. Maybe we can stop calling plays that required the QB to throw a laser to the sideline that he's missed the previous 5 times.

 

[Trueblue25]

The new DC will inherit some good pieces.

Promising: Safety, Corner, LB and the edge.
Yikes: DT

 

[CuseLegacy]

The new DC will inherit some good pieces.

Promising: Safety, Corner, LB and the edge.
Yikes: DT

Giving it to Stanard wouldn't be a bad thing. He has a lot of experience as a DC. You don't always have to bring in outside talent to fill a spot.

 

[orlandoorange]

deal.

Lol you should both be banished