What are the minimum expectations for 2015

[nzm136]

i want shafer to succeed.

i really wished that he would look at mcdonald's offense and say "my god that guy had no idea what he was doing, all he did was buy the n zone, he could barely get plays in, and the offense still had 464,589, and 429 against 3 bowl teams in september. imagine what we could do with a coach who knows what he's doing running that scheme"

instead we're throwing the, uh, bathwater out with the baby so he can feel comfy with his friends

stick with the original offense, get a new OC and punt a little less when you're losing, and i'd be satisfied

This is what drives me nuts. I honestly think that we have good talent on offense. No, we are not elite and there needs to be some polishing, but the raw talent is there. We're top 50 in my opinion in offensive talent (obviously not results). And, I think that we legitimately have a good defense. If we got a good OC, we could be a good team. With the right OC, we could have a top 40 offense (maybe higher) to complement a top 25 defense, which I think that we already have. That gets us about 9 wins most years (including the bowl game), and that isn't factoring in the improvements in recruiting that we would get from A) being a steady 9 win team and B) having coaching stability.

I honestly think that we are very close. I just don't think that it will materialize because HCSS went with Lester instead of a high quality OC. Like most people, I think that our O will sputter next year, HCSS will get canned, and we will have yet another coaching change (and lost recruiting class), adding to the turmoil that is our program.

I could forgive HCSS for hiring the band when he came in. Who else could he have hired on short notice, given how HCDM left? I can forgive HCSS for keeping the band after year 1. There was a lot of momentum, and who could he have fired after winning a bowl? I, however, cannot forgive HCSS for keeping the band after last year. We were 3-9! Clearly there was a lot of failure, and anyone who failed as spectacularly as almost all of our assistant coaches did cannot complain about losing their jobs. There are no more excuses. Win or get out.

 

[SoBristol]

This is what drives me nuts. I honestly think that we have good talent on offense. No, we are not elite and there needs to be some polishing, but the raw talent is there. We're top 50 in my opinion in offensive talent (obviously not results). And, I think that we legitimately have a good defense. If we got a good OC, we could be a good team. With the right OC, we could have a top 40 offense (maybe higher) to complement a top 25 defense, which I think that we already have. ...

...

OK, optimism is good.
We had a good defense in 2014; and now we lose 7 or 8 starters on that side, many of them multi-year starters. So, this is a rebuild. Difficult to expect a very young, almost entirely rebuilt secondary and young (but potentially talented) set of LBs to stay at a top 25 level. Only fair to say there are a lot of questions entering the Spring. We could see a lot of points put up in the Dome this season.

Do we have good talent on offense? If you compare our OL's performance (getting a push, opening lanes) to what we saw in many bowl games, it might make you wonder. Same for WRs except for Ishmael; none of the TEs put up any numbers to rave about. The best returning RB (McFarlane) had a little more than 200 yards for the season.
Not to go all negative here (surprises can happen), but for this team to be a bowl candidate in 2015, we need several positive developments in the Spring.

 

[Bambrewer]

Man you people are brutal.

I expect Strickland to run for 1100 yards behind the new 2 tight ends.
I expect Franklin to kill it this year with 70 tackles.
I expect shy to have 12 sacks.
I expect Ishmael to have 1400 yards.
I expect Phillips to have 1000
I expect the defense to give up less than 22 points per game
I expect the red zone offense to improve to 70 percent.
I expect special teams to be excellent this year.
I expect the team to spend more off season working out to prevent injuries.
I expect the coaches to prepare the offense to run plays every 17 seconds.
I expect the offense to stay on the field for 33 min per game.
I expect the defense to score 35 points this season.
I expect the team to win 7 plus a bowl.
I expect coach Bullough to be back coaching in the NFL at the end of the year.
I expect daust to take over for him.
I expect to come on here and see you guys be happy at least 70 percent of the time.

 

[Kelly029x]

Yessss!! And I expect Trey to have a few touchdowns. But I am very optimistic. These kids, new and old, are hungry! C'mon coaches!!! The players have what it takes!

 

[baggerbob]

Brisly, Ashton, Jamal, Adly , Trey, Steve will be a better, bigger group of receivers, along with Phillips, and Strickland, better options on offense. The Seniors on offense played poorly the 2nd half against Duke, and didn't play well against Pitt or BC, their leaving won't hurt.

 

[MikeSU02]

I expect a bowl game.

However, if Gross is out the door, I want the new AD to be selecting the new HC if we don't get to a bowl game.

If we hire someone new, I want someone with previous HC experience.

 

[Alsacs]

Just bumping this due to a conservation in another thread.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

This made for interesting reading.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

This made for interesting reading.

Seems that positions have been softened a bit. I still think if he only gets 4 wins that Coyle could go either way...

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Seems that positions have been softened a bit. I still think if he only gets 4 wins that Coyle could go either way...

Call it the Dungey effect. People see Shafer got them a much better QB than they expected so they want to see it play out.

Which is interesting, because upgrading at QB seems to have actually lowered expectations from what they were.

 

[Whitey23]

Looks like everyone just moved their low bar expectation back a year.

 

[RF2044]

Seems that positions have been softened a bit. I still think if he only gets 4 wins that Coyle could go either way...

Agreed. But the Dungey factor could buy him some time, IMO.

 

[Whitey23]

Agreed. But the Dungey factor could buy him some time, IMO.

Dungey us better than Hunt though.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Dungey us better than Hunt though.

That's why I'm saying it's weird.

 

[RF2044]

Dungey us better than Hunt though.

Agreed. He's also a true frosh.

Let's keep that in perspective.

 

[Whitey23]

Agreed. He's also a true frosh.

Let's keep that in perspective.

I can't get on board with the "give Shafer more time because Dungey is good" argument. The program is bigger then 1 player. He might get injured in the first series next season like Hunt. Need to think big picture.

 

[TheCusian]

I can't get on board with the "give Shafer more time because Dungey is good" argument. The program is bigger then 1 player. He might get injured in the first series next season like Hunt. Need to think big picture.

Not if he's the best QB since McNabb. QB is the position that can change a whole program.

Plus we were okay with Mahoney. I'm a believer in Lester as QB Finder

 

[qdawgg]

I'm going to stick with my prediction from almost a year ago. I think I pretty much nailed it.

 

[Alsacs]

Re-reading this thread is very interesting with all new comments on keeping SS.

 

[TheCusian]

Re-reading this thread is very interesting with all new comments on keeping SS.

I tried to go back and find all the comments from 2012, mid season, after the Rutgers loss.

Would have been gold.

 

[CuseLegacy]

I tried to go back and find all the comments from 2012, mid season, after the Rutgers loss.

Would have been gold.

Just type in Rutgers loss in the search box...there are of course multiple threads bemoaning what a terrible, badly coached team SU was.

 

[Millhouse]

That's why I'm saying it's weird.

all comes down to whether you feel like you owe them for recruiting dungey. for the second year in a row, wins and losses don't matter.

if your minimum expectations are 5-7 with a way worse QB, how can you be satisfied with 3-9 or 4-8?

we finally have a passer in 2016 and we're still talking about short side option pitches and trying to convince ourselves that they're going to scrap the hybrid when ben lewis was hurt

the defense gets a pass because everyone has crappy defenses here and there. but no one stops to wonder why in the hell we have a defensive head coach. we accept that it's going to be bad from time to time and the one year it was very good statistically (last year), it didn't matter.

shafer is a good defensive coach but we don't want a defensive head coach. it sucks for him. spending the money on a proven offensive head coach has a much higher probability of improving the offense more than it hurts the defense.

 

[orangeinjersey]

if your minimum expectations are 5-7 with a way worse QB, how can you be satisfied with 3-9 or 4-8?

This X1000000

 

[PhatOrange]

Bowl game. That's always my expectation. It doesnt' matter to me which one or what the record is. I just want bowl games, I like having a game to look forward to after the season.

I'm surprised that your minimum expectation was so low.

there's some good reading in here.

 

[TheCusian]

all comes down to whether you feel like you owe them for recruiting dungey. for the second year in a row, wins and losses don't matter. if your minimum expectations are 5-7 with a way worse QB, how can you be satisfied with 3-9 or 4-8? we finally have a passer in 2016 and we're still talking about short side option pitches and trying to convince ourselves that they're going to scrap the hybrid when ben lewis was hurt the defense gets a pass because everyone has crappy defenses here and there. but no one stops to wonder why in the hell we have a defensive head coach. we accept that it's going to be bad from time to time and the one year it was very good statistically (last year), it didn't matter. shafer is a good defensive coach but we don't want a defensive head coach. it sucks for him. spending the money on a proven offensive head coach has a much higher probability of improving the offense more than it hurts the defense.

Re: short side option pitches and Ben Lewis.

He played backup Y receiver before he got hurt.
And we've cut back on the amount of option in favor of passing.

I honestly think you watch only offense. Nearly every coach in the Mumme tree has defensive issues. Like a history of crappy defenses.