There are major problems with this team and coach.
#1. This is the worst coached team I have seen since 2005, hands down. Not even close. Shafer had a dud or two, but there was at least a sense that the coaches were trying everything. This year... we just throw QB#5 into the game and keep running the same basic offense. The defense "flashed" bit against Pitt, but then went back into hiding.
#2. I personally find it weird that Angeli is not working with the current QBs during games. I am surprised he does not have the headset on and/or give advice, etc. A couple of true freshman QBs and he cannot lend some advice? Is there some sort of disconnect here? This is all the more true against ND. Shouldn't he have known something about Notre Dame's defensive tendencies? Shouldn't he have been able to help the defense with their offensive scheme? This is a kid that maybe we sniff an NFL training camp... but is more likely to be a coach someday.
#3. I have talked enough about the use of Carney. Mind-boggling stupidity. Carney has a decent arm... we saw it on the relative deep incompletion on the sideline. That is not a pass that Filardi even attempted. Instead, Filardi passed across the middle... three Pick-6's, one of which was called back. I don't care if Carney gets 3 and out every series... how is that NOT better than the interception/Pick-6 machine that Collins/Filardi are???
#4. As bad as Collins was/is... he is WAY better than Filardi. With Collins, a team has to at least respect the long pass potential. Once that goes away... the team can stack the box, take away the run, and just feast on the intermediate passes. It is coaching malpractice to play a QB with no deep ball threat. The goal was to see Carney as the future QB... not to take Collins out to lose games on purpose. And that is exactly what playing/starting Filardi is. Losing games on purpose. And this game was over after the punt return TD. It was essentially over at the first pick six--less than 1 minute into the game. But it was actually over with the punt return TD because there was zero chance we were scoring 15+ points against a first-team defense with Collins. Certainly not without.
#5. No trick plays. Villari under center is not all that tricky. Miami's true freshmen WR is 2 for 3. We don't have a single WR that can throw a pass? Belin cannot line up at WR and try a pass? Why is he on the roster as a QB then? The season is lost. The games are lost. Down 35-0... is that not a good time to try to get some life into the team/game? What is the worst that can happen?
#6. The ND play is historically bad. I think it takes a lot for one game to put a coach on the hot seat... but there it is. Navy, an American team, played without its star QB and was tied 7-7 in the 2nd quarter, before losing 49-10. I think we were all braced for that type of outcome. Instead, it was as bad a game as any of us Archbold going fans can remember... and substantially embarrassing for all involved. Can you imagine being a defensive player on our team and entering the game down 21-0??? You just saw your offense and special teams give up 3 TDs... and you KNOW that your head coach and offensive coaches are not even going to try to win. When Filardi came out, Collins should have gone in. Try 2 or 3 deep passes to loosen up the defense. Instead, we put in Carney to hand the ball off a few times and punt again... because--although the coaches hate him--he does not turn the ball over. I have never seen a game that was so bad that the refs were not going to call anything against us out of pity. That is embarrassing.
#7. Everyone says fire the coordinators. But do they choose the players or does Fran? Why does ERob get 2 years to learn his job, but Fran gets 3 years? If we were spending more on feeding the offense in the portal... OL/Angeli/Cook... is it any surprise that the offense was a stronger unit? So we just have to fire people to keep the fans happy... but not the guy who is orchestrating the whole mess? Seems inconsistent to me.
