IthacaMatt
Old Timer / Unofficial Contributor for 25+ years
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Under Pasqualoni & Deleone, we all know what happened, but a generalized observation to set the context for what I'm about to say about Marrone & where we are at as a program:
Under P&D, one of our core capabilities was offensive line coaching for the run game. Every year, we had a 1,000 yard rusher, no matter who they put out there. Every single year.
I think they both were very good teachers of skills and technique, one-on-one in practice, which was why we so consistently had guys drafted who were not 5 star recruits coming out of HS (and not even 4 stars, much of the time).
I think that when times were good, they managed the program well, but as talent slipped, they got more conservative in their play calling and game planning - they were too influenced by Bill Parcells and NFL coaches in their later years who they often consulted with, when the college game was becoming a different game from the NFL power game played by players with elite skills.
Moving on to Greg Robinson, he had the charisma to manage talented players, and the personality to be the face of the program to the community. I thought he could have turned into an outstanding recruiter, if he had had some success - any success at all - instead of being a total disaster.
Robinson's teams broke down in all 3 areas of the game. None of it worked. Under P&D, first our offense stagnated as the skills players began to decline in quality. But we still had a decent, bend-but-don't break defense.
Eventually, though, when the offense doesn't score, a defense whose strategy is to make other teams go on long drives to score, eventually gives up enough points from long drives that they find themselves behind, without an offense who gives them a chance to make a come back. That is what breaks the will of a defense, and then leads to blow out losses.
That's what happened under P&D at the end - they had a defensive philosophy that kept the defense on the field, and if our conservative offense couldn't get a lead and keep the other team off the field, then our defense would eventually wear down. There was no dynamic player or players on offense who we could look to for a comeback once we got behind by 2 or 3 scores.
We find ourselves under Marrone as we approach the end of year three with a physical defense and a ticky-tacky offense. The defense dictates play under Schaffer. He is an outstanding coach and has been the key to our return to respectability, because we HIT people again, but without the passive defensive philosophy of P&D, who taught good fundamentals, but were always trying to win a game 17-14, in an era when teams routinely scored 20 points a game more than that. In that way, they failed to evolve with the sport, and it explains why Pasqualoni was initially successful as an NFL coach, because it's a lower scoring game where QBs don't run. It's much different than most of college football.
So under Marrone so far, we have seen turnover from an experienced defense to a young one with injuries, and we've kept it together for the most part this year, because the kids like to attack on defense. It's a natural way for players to play - more instinctively - and it is in keeping with the times. We now have a defensive philosophy like Miami and Va Tech had, back in the 90s and 00s when they were in the Big East. So that is a huge step forward we've taken under Marrone.
But in Marrone, under different offensive co-ordinators, we have shown ourselves to be the rinky-dink dump off pass type of offense. First, under Paulus, the throws all went to the edges, and we threw too many slip screens inside. We didn't go vertical enough with our passing game.
Now, after getting rid of the first guy, we are less predictable with all those bubble screens, but we have a new kind of predictability. I think playing bully-ball up front against lesser teams is important to try to develop toughness in your linemen, but you saw against Louisville - not a great team, but a team with players who matched our athleticism, size and strength - we couldn't bully them like we did the week before against a finesse team like West Virginia, and then the guys didn't have the technique to still make plays work.
So they resort to holding and calls for hitting after the whistle, unsportsmanlike conduct, and the like, that you typically see when one team is frustrated in what it set out to do, and can't execute a Plan B.
Mix in the dynamic that Marrone is a no-nonsense guy, at least by reputation (and by the number of players who have been run off in the first two years, leaving us with less depth than we really could have used. Why is it a given that Marrone couldn't have kept those kids around just to practice against, for depth?
Remember all the injuries we've had these past few years? In part, they've almost been a good thing, and an expected thing, because practices had to be more physical after the "thump" practices of Mr. Softee - these guys had to learn how to hit and tackle again against live competition. But those injuries, coupled with lack of depth and experience from the loss of 20-30 players in those first 2 years, really set us back.
Now, this year was one to be concerned about. We have to be in a bowl again this year to maintain what Doug has built up so far. But we let a couple winnable games slip away, and now we are on a real losing streak. And again, it is a fast start to a season and a team that is beginning to fade as the year goes on. We can't take a step backward and miss a bowl. It's absolutely crucial. They have to find one more win, but these players do look like they are not a real team right now.
Maybe Marrone's tough guy stance has softened somewhat behind the scenes, because we haven't seen any key players kicked off the team in mid-season this year. These are college kids and they do want to party from time to time. That's what college is for. So maybe this talk of dissention between the hard ass, Marine Corps part of the squad versus the "hey, we can party, it's college" crowd is growing. Maybe Marrone won't turn out to be a 20 year coach for us, because he's too much of a hard guy.
But he also might not to last 20 years because he needs to open up the offense. He needs to do a better job with the line, which was supposed to be a strength this year, and just hasn't been. We weren't even functional - with FOUR returning starters - until midseason.
So far, Marrone's biggest shortcoming seems to be in the things that he was supposed to be good at - offensive line play and being an offensive co-ordinator for a high scoring exciting NFL offense. Next year is the key year. If we don't win 8 or 9 games next year, with all the players we will have returning on both sides of the ball, and another year of his own recruits maturing into juniors and seniors in the system, then he may not be the long term answer for the program.
Under P&D, one of our core capabilities was offensive line coaching for the run game. Every year, we had a 1,000 yard rusher, no matter who they put out there. Every single year.
I think they both were very good teachers of skills and technique, one-on-one in practice, which was why we so consistently had guys drafted who were not 5 star recruits coming out of HS (and not even 4 stars, much of the time).
I think that when times were good, they managed the program well, but as talent slipped, they got more conservative in their play calling and game planning - they were too influenced by Bill Parcells and NFL coaches in their later years who they often consulted with, when the college game was becoming a different game from the NFL power game played by players with elite skills.
Moving on to Greg Robinson, he had the charisma to manage talented players, and the personality to be the face of the program to the community. I thought he could have turned into an outstanding recruiter, if he had had some success - any success at all - instead of being a total disaster.
Robinson's teams broke down in all 3 areas of the game. None of it worked. Under P&D, first our offense stagnated as the skills players began to decline in quality. But we still had a decent, bend-but-don't break defense.
Eventually, though, when the offense doesn't score, a defense whose strategy is to make other teams go on long drives to score, eventually gives up enough points from long drives that they find themselves behind, without an offense who gives them a chance to make a come back. That is what breaks the will of a defense, and then leads to blow out losses.
That's what happened under P&D at the end - they had a defensive philosophy that kept the defense on the field, and if our conservative offense couldn't get a lead and keep the other team off the field, then our defense would eventually wear down. There was no dynamic player or players on offense who we could look to for a comeback once we got behind by 2 or 3 scores.
We find ourselves under Marrone as we approach the end of year three with a physical defense and a ticky-tacky offense. The defense dictates play under Schaffer. He is an outstanding coach and has been the key to our return to respectability, because we HIT people again, but without the passive defensive philosophy of P&D, who taught good fundamentals, but were always trying to win a game 17-14, in an era when teams routinely scored 20 points a game more than that. In that way, they failed to evolve with the sport, and it explains why Pasqualoni was initially successful as an NFL coach, because it's a lower scoring game where QBs don't run. It's much different than most of college football.
So under Marrone so far, we have seen turnover from an experienced defense to a young one with injuries, and we've kept it together for the most part this year, because the kids like to attack on defense. It's a natural way for players to play - more instinctively - and it is in keeping with the times. We now have a defensive philosophy like Miami and Va Tech had, back in the 90s and 00s when they were in the Big East. So that is a huge step forward we've taken under Marrone.
But in Marrone, under different offensive co-ordinators, we have shown ourselves to be the rinky-dink dump off pass type of offense. First, under Paulus, the throws all went to the edges, and we threw too many slip screens inside. We didn't go vertical enough with our passing game.
Now, after getting rid of the first guy, we are less predictable with all those bubble screens, but we have a new kind of predictability. I think playing bully-ball up front against lesser teams is important to try to develop toughness in your linemen, but you saw against Louisville - not a great team, but a team with players who matched our athleticism, size and strength - we couldn't bully them like we did the week before against a finesse team like West Virginia, and then the guys didn't have the technique to still make plays work.
So they resort to holding and calls for hitting after the whistle, unsportsmanlike conduct, and the like, that you typically see when one team is frustrated in what it set out to do, and can't execute a Plan B.
Mix in the dynamic that Marrone is a no-nonsense guy, at least by reputation (and by the number of players who have been run off in the first two years, leaving us with less depth than we really could have used. Why is it a given that Marrone couldn't have kept those kids around just to practice against, for depth?
Remember all the injuries we've had these past few years? In part, they've almost been a good thing, and an expected thing, because practices had to be more physical after the "thump" practices of Mr. Softee - these guys had to learn how to hit and tackle again against live competition. But those injuries, coupled with lack of depth and experience from the loss of 20-30 players in those first 2 years, really set us back.
Now, this year was one to be concerned about. We have to be in a bowl again this year to maintain what Doug has built up so far. But we let a couple winnable games slip away, and now we are on a real losing streak. And again, it is a fast start to a season and a team that is beginning to fade as the year goes on. We can't take a step backward and miss a bowl. It's absolutely crucial. They have to find one more win, but these players do look like they are not a real team right now.
Maybe Marrone's tough guy stance has softened somewhat behind the scenes, because we haven't seen any key players kicked off the team in mid-season this year. These are college kids and they do want to party from time to time. That's what college is for. So maybe this talk of dissention between the hard ass, Marine Corps part of the squad versus the "hey, we can party, it's college" crowd is growing. Maybe Marrone won't turn out to be a 20 year coach for us, because he's too much of a hard guy.
But he also might not to last 20 years because he needs to open up the offense. He needs to do a better job with the line, which was supposed to be a strength this year, and just hasn't been. We weren't even functional - with FOUR returning starters - until midseason.
So far, Marrone's biggest shortcoming seems to be in the things that he was supposed to be good at - offensive line play and being an offensive co-ordinator for a high scoring exciting NFL offense. Next year is the key year. If we don't win 8 or 9 games next year, with all the players we will have returning on both sides of the ball, and another year of his own recruits maturing into juniors and seniors in the system, then he may not be the long term answer for the program.
