Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="kingtidge, post: 424429, member: 994"] I am actually amazed by what Nassib & the O have done this year. Even more amazing is the balls on Marrone to re-do the O-binder 2 weeks before the season and the fact that it worked, by and large, tremendously well! Big props for Marrone on the gamble... and just as big props to Hackett, Nassib and the O for buying all in quickly. Here's my shortlist of concerns or constructive criticism for next year: [B]1. Special Teams:[/B] This was a fail again this year. Marrone needs to step away from this and delegate to someone with better tailored skills for coaching ST. By late mid-season, Marrone was able to stabilize the unit to NOT be a massive glaring, game-losing facet of our game, but it's never been adequate or close to a strength - particularly in kick returns... And we shouldn't be losing games because of special teams - period. We have speed returners but blocking schemes that continue to be ineffective and are almost guaranteed to not break away any kick return. My Hope: With more ACC money and HCDM's extension, my hope is we get an assistant coach with a proven track record in ST's coaching. We need it. [B]2. Defensive Consistency:[/B] Schafer gets his guys playing consistently for portions of games and does make better in-game adjustments than in the past. That said, the adjustments sometimes take too long and wind up putting the team well behind the 8-ball and digging out of a hole. I also question the D's readiness to play in some games. They have often come out flat / looking unready to play. The Mizzou game was a perfect example of this. The first half (1st qtr. in particular). I am confident in Schafer's coaching skills and my hope is that much of our issues (especially in the secondary) can be solved with more experience (tho I also have concerns about adequate size/speed). That said, we will struggle with 6-6 big, athletic receivers - as most teams do. I do think 75% of our secondary woes are more on poor execution / bad coverage than on matchup issues, however. So definitely fixable room for improvement. Extra bowl month is a BIG plus for secondary development IMO. [B]3. No More Nassib/Lemon Bailing Us Out:[/B] We have been blessed by the development of both these players this year. We haven't seen a QB/WR tandem this good in a long time (maybe since the one year of McNabb/Harrison.) Kudos to both these guys and the truly balanced run and pass game and adequate O-Line blocking that made all this possible. That said, it's likely (90%+) that we will not have the offensive QB effectiveness we've seen this year next year. Loeb, Broyld, Kinder, Allen?? Whoever it is, the odds are they won't be nearly as good as Nassib with Lemon & Sales lining up... which makes fixing points 1 & 2 above that more important. We can't and should not dig ourselves into holes and expect to win next year. That said, I hope the QB play will be stronger than I expect, but I fear it will be a major drop off/transition year in that regard. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?