Lets talk about the teams performance

[michiganmike]

I have been reading these posts since I left SD. I am always surprised at how little discussion there is about the actual performance of our team. I went to the Montana game and the Northwestern game. Here's what I took away. First, we have spent in the millions to upgrade to Division 1. We didn't just upgrade we moved into the premier D1 conference. That gets us more national notoriety and hopefully adds to the student base. However, we still need to put a competitive product out there to take advantage of these investments. We are not doing that. We got rid of Miercourt and brought in Glenn, a coach who was retired for 7 years to help get us there. Frankly, during the games he doesn't look like he's very engaged. In an interview in the Missoula, MT paper he spoke about mentoring Wes, the offensive coordinator to become the head coach. Well that's become pretty apparent. There doesn't seem to be any difference in the offense from last year to this year except it has less talent. Here's the problem as I see it. In spite of Glenns protests after the NU game that the mistakes and miscues where all on the players - not the coaches, he's wrong. This was an incredibly poorly coached game. All the penalties and play calling fall on the coaches. Shouldn't they have had their team prepared for this. Heck, they had an extra week to get ready. The stadium was barely half full and the noise was far from intimidating. In Powell, we have an all-american receiver. I don't think he's had one accurate pass thrown to him all year. Vandermaten is not an accurate passer. His percentage is skewed because of all the 5 yard or less tosses he makes. Beyond 10 yards his accuracy goes way down. At NU he overthrew an open Powell 3 times. It wasn't the wind and you could see the frustration on Powell's body language. Vandermaten's best asset appears to be his running ability but what happens if he goes down. In a game clearly over before the 3rd Q, we never put in another QB to get him reps. On defense we run a 3-4 with an undersized nose tackle and no middle LB. Every team we play is finding it easy running up the middle. Probably 75% of NUs run went through the middle. In Starr, we have a potential pro LB but he's playing on the outside so every team we play runs away from him. He's so athletic he can chase a lot of plays down but he also has to spend a lot of time catching his breath on the sidelines during long drives against us. With his size and speed it seems like he'd be more like an urlacher playing in the middle shutting everything down. We have a high school all american QB playing defensive back who looks like he might be the fastest guy on the team. he's huge and he doesn't start but every game he seems to make one of the biggest plays. You'd think the coaches could find some way to get him on the field more. If he isn't going to play QB (who knows why) then use him as a receiver. Glenn was retired 7 years and it shows. He's a lame duck waiting for Wesley to mature into head coaching material which may never happen. Neither the OC or DC seem capable of making defensive adjustments in the course of the game. Now we step into the MVC, the most dominant division I conference. Glenn and his staff need to figure out how to compete in D1 or I'm afraid we will be lucky to win 2 games. If we win two games this year under this coaching regime, it will be a shock. lets pray for a miracle turn around. On a postive note it was very cool to see how many fans there were supporting the coyotes in yote gear!

[Yote 53]

Only two wins would not make me happy, however, the popular consensus around here is that we have a new coach, new conference, growing pains (and losses) are to be expected. I just have to trust our coaching staff will figure out the winning formula soon.

I don't agree that Wes is just going to be handed the job. I don't think our AD operates like that, or will put his job on the line when it comes time to hire a new coach. I would hope a national search would be done and the best candidate given the job. Our current AD is going to make a HUGE impact on the future of this athletic department. Not only facilities improvements but most likely hiring the next head coach in both football and MBB. I don't think he'll go through the motions in these responsibilities. That said, part of me does fear that USD is going to try to get by on the cheap when it comes to paying coaches and giving them the resources they need to compete when compared to the rest of the conference.

You are right in that this board never really does delve into the X's and O's of the game. Frankly, it's just not my nature to second guess what the coach is doing. I have to assume he knows the players better than I do. He's at practice everyday. He is the one that has a vision of what he wants his team to look like and how he wants them to play. Given enough time I may start to develop thoughts on trends and will offer up an opinion (ask me about Coach Ferentz and the Hawkeyes right now, I have an opinion) but for now I'm willing to give the coach some room to work.

[coyote70]

Congratulations mmike, for my part you have earned your "Bachelors Degree" in team evaluation/ criticism; something entirely appropriate for a fan board. Let's hope we get more of this as we progress through what appears to be a difficult season. Again, good post and keep sending them! I hope we can get enough fan insights to progress to at least a "Masters Degree" level by the end of the season.

My observation of the team has been muted by the fact I haven't seen them in person. I plan to change that this Saturday by coming to the game. I'm hoping to see a fired up, upset-minded team take the field.

[yanktonyote]

I have also wondered why Charlie Goro never got a shot at quarterback. He is legit. Go look at his film on Rivals. He was Illnois player of the year for a reason.

[squabby]

Where is all the talk that creeped in here last year, winning on the road etc! You had a guy Ed that could recruit, coach, but rubbed some people the wrong way - now where are you - struggling and probably won't win 3 games - shame on you all for getting rid of a guy that totally turned your program around dominated at D2 and took the bullet playing UCF, Air Force, UW allowing the athletic program as a whole to reap the dollars! Shame on your AD for tossing aside the best coach you have had in a number of years - This is the Nebraska situation when releasing Solich, Karma is a bitch!!!!! Outside of Triplett who won .608 70-45 ( Ed .606 54-35) you have to go back to 1942 to have anybody close to these winning percentages. I think Coach Glenn is a helluva guy, but he is grooming Wes for the position and he has been there all of 3 games! Sounds like he needed a few more dollars in the pension! I coached in the MVC (was the Gateway then) and there is nothing easy about that league, good luck you are going to need it. From an Ed fan

[Yote 53]

To be fair, Coach Glenn has had two road games this year, Montana and Northwestern. Those are hardly places we would expect USD to go into and walk out with a win, though there may have been a shot at Montana with a second half lead.

I think the jury is still out on this subject.

[yotefan]

Squabby,
I am an Ed fan too, but as a former coach you of all people know there is a lot of football left to play after going 1-2 to start the season. Coach Glenn has a far more impressive coaching resume than Ed and Triplett (read as 2 DII national championships and 1 FCS national championship) so you won't find anyone around here concerned about going back to 1942 to try and find those winning percentages when our current coach is 188-100-1 lifetime for a .652 winning percentage.

As for Ed "taking the bullet" by playing UCF, Air Force, and UW, that made me chuckle. As an Ed fan, you know he never shied away from those games and that will continue to be the case with Coach Glenn and his staff. Saying shame on all of us for allowing the athletic department to reap the financial benefits of these games is nonsensical. These pay-day games are the rule, not the exception in FCS football these days.

Yote 53 is right, no one expected USD to win against NU that's why it would have been all over ESPN and elsewhere if we had. We call those wins upsets for a reason. In my mind Montana was a 60-40 shot tipped toward the Grizzlies and that was probably generous. Wait for three or four MVC games to be played and then compare apples to apples, not apples to bowling balls.

[squabby]

I like you yotefan, yes Ed never did back away from those games.
Coach Glenn has a nice winning percentage just not at USD! You stay positive and we will see in the next couple of weeks how this all turns out!
Playing money games isn't anything new, been going on for a long time and the benefits (money) usually go someplace else other then the football program!

[yoteforever]

I also was a fan of Ed, and I felt he did do a lot of things for USD football. And as good a friend as he was, he had some chinks in the armor as well.

Our AD thought it was in the best interest of the program as a whole to make a change, so I will give him my unqualified support as this program moves on. Simply stated, we have no choice in doing so. Dave Sayler didn't fire Ed simply because he had a rub with him, there were other reasons. If you remember at the time, I was upset as well as others, but I also trust AD Sayler so I backed him.

And as much as I liked Ed, Coach Glenn is 20 times the Coyote Ed would ever be. This guy loves the Yotes, pure and simple. I don't think he forgot to coach, so therefore I am betting on the come. And grooming Wesley makes a shitload of sense, because he is a die hard Coyote. Nobody on earth can sell this program to athletes than former dyed in the wool Coyotes. He will get Wes ready.

Regarding 2012, anyone that had hopes of being .500 doesn't know football or the situation. I think they can get 4 wins tops. Colgate, Mo. state, Western Illinois, and SDSU. If we get more than 4, Glenn should be nominated as Coach of the Year.

Squabby, most of us liked Ed. But Ed's gone, so lets move on

God, I would love to get Illinois State Saturday. Go Coyotes

YFE

[coyote61]

Just for starters, Ed M. is no longer our coach, get over it, and support our current staff and players. If your a true football fan, you should realize that Ed was not going to take us to the next level that needs to be done with a team entering the MVC. And of course Ed would not back down from the likes of Air Force, Minny, Wisconsin, Central Florida, what head coach would, none that I know of. Those are the kind of games you needed to play, especially in recruiting. More than likely your not going to win many of these games, but it gets your name out there for when you do go D 1. If anyone thinks that Glen was going to perform miracles right away, pull your head out of the sand. But he knows what it takes and the kind of kid it takes to accomplish this task. I will tell you one thing, Ed would have lost to Colgate, we know this from all the second half meltdowns he was known for. That is one of the many reasons he is no longer our coach. I can't wait til Joe gets this thing headed in the right direction. But There is no way he is here for more than 3-4 years before he hands over the reigns to whoever. GO YOTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[redwhiteandyote]

Can we all just relax please? We're 3 games in. Montana and Northwestern on the road.....let's settle into to the Missouri Valley and see how we do.

ANd let's be clear, Ed isnt our coach for a number of reasons. We couldnt win on the road, yes that was part of it. But he was not a good leader. We needed leadership, someone to take control and have control.

[#1CoyoteFan (Admin)]

I went through the ways that Ed and his son kind of mirrored Bobby Petrino and it was shocking to be completely honest. The reason it wasn't as big is because it was in Vermillion...so let's put the "way isn't Ed our coach" talk to rest.

[#1CoyoteFan (Admin)]

In terms of Goro, being the Illinois player of the year means jack to me because that was high school. He came to USD as a safety from Vandy because he could not hack it there as a quarterback and they never really thought twice about moving to a defensive back.

He is a very good defensive back and he is athletic, but that does not mean he is a quarterback. I just watched one of the most athletic players in the state of Arkansas play quarterback last Friday. He had a pretty good arm and could run around...and no one is looking at him to play quarterback and he is being looked at by two of the top programs in the nation. One of them isn't even looking at him on the offensive side of the ball.

USD is lacking at the quarterback position and to be honest, that falls on the recruiting of the past staff for not having much stocked up after Dante Warren. Goro is a safety and there is probably a reason why. Vanderbilt has some VERY smart people there.

[canislatrans]

Let's have a little patience on the QB issue. I happen to think we may have 2 quality FCS QBs in JVM and Earl. However, as in all cases there is a learning curve. JVM has made 3 starts (I believe) with a very inexperienced O-line, one against a Big Ten team on the road with 25mph winds. I didn't see the Montana game, however, in each of the other two JVM, at times, was giving the defense fits. He makes good decisions, a good passer rating, only 2 INTs (and one, for sure was off the hands of our WR). Yes, he missed some open receivers, but mostly at NW in the wind. He's far from a sure thing at this time, but I think he's certainly shown enough promise, that with a hopefully improving young O-line he could develop into real good QB soon.

[yotemeal]

Our remaining schedule is brutal. But a little momentum and confidence can do wonders for a young team. Illinois State, no doubt, is a good team, but that DakotaDome makes all of our home games winnable. We have a shot against these guys, and the following two games are likely the most winnable ones remaining on our schedule. I certainly wouldn't bet my mortgage payment, but it's not entirely preposterous to suggest we can leave Springfield 4-2. From there, who knows? Youngstown and NDSU would be considerable upsets. But Indiana State has shown weaknesses, we get to play UNI at home, and you can throw the records out the window for the SDSU game. I think I'll remain optimistic for awhile longer; I mean, we're still undefeated in the conference

09/29/12 vs. Illinois State * Vermillion, S.D. 2:00 p.m. CT
10/06/12 vs. Western Illinois * Vermillion, S.D. 2:00 p.m. CT
10/13/12 at Missouri State * Springfield, Mo. 1:00 p.m. CT
10/20/12 vs. North Dakota State * Sioux Falls, S.D. 6:00 p.m. CT
10/27/12 at Indiana State * Terre Haute, Ind. 1:05 p.m. CT
11/03/12 at Youngstown State * Youngstown, Ohio 1:00 p.m. CT
11/10/12 vs. Northern Iowa * Vermillion, S.D. 12:00 p.m. CT
11/17/12 at South Dakota St. * Brookings, S.D. 2:00 p.m. CT