A Quarter Century of Coyote Football

[dklemme]

CF, hypothetical situation. If you were the AD, how would you do things different? If you were looking for a header what type are you looking for? What offense, defenses do you think would benefit the school? Is there certain types of things you are looking for? What decisions would you make to better the USD Football Program? I am not fishing here or setting you up for anything. I'm just courious.

[#1CoyoteFan (Admin)]

Coyote Fan,

For 28 years of my life, Iowa State was the bottom feeder to Iowa. I longed for the day that Iowa State would be better than Iowa, but I knew that would take time.

That is what Jamie Pollard would say he would do when he came in as the AD at Iowa State, and for a while, it did not seem possible, but he showed you just have to be patient because this dramatic of change does not just happen overnight.

The 7th year of Iowa State athletics and Iowa State athletically is better than Iowa right now without a doubt. It took 7 years, but Iowa State was far behind the 8-ball.

How does this compare to USD and SDSU and it's peer schools? One, NDSU has a ton of money coming it so it is going to take a while to catch up with them, but it can be done. SDSU made the jump first and was the better school when they went up because of the blundering of some former ADs and because of the the Austin-era in football. UND, well that is just unacceptable and USD should be above them but it took a good amount of choking during the Ed-era, honestly. Women's basketball, USD passed UND, though.

David Sayler is a pretty smart guy and I think he has a good sports sense and he is getting some pretty good facilities in place. I think that will go a LONGGGGGGGGG ways in the university improving. The DakotaDome is a subpar facility, honestly, not just for basketball and volleyball, but for football. Indoor track and field it is a great facility, but subpar for a everything else.

Once USD can get on-par with the facilities, that will help USD become the best school in the state I feel and put them above UND for sure. It will still take a bit to become better than NDSU, but the better facilities will bring in better recruits.

Also Coyote Fan, you say you are picked on for this board because you tell the truth. Well, so do anarchists at times, but usually most of the time anarchists like to hear themselves speak and to rile everyone up to think they have a purpose in life. The way you go about bullying your point around and writing your "manifesto" posts is part of the reason you get "picked on."

You say you are a huge fan of the team and then you say the school is like a Country Club. I am surprised you didn't throw the Howling Pack under the bus....but it's like you don't get the fact that EVERY SCHOOL IN THE NATION in Division I has that program and those people get priority seats. Welcome to NCAA Division I athletics. Most of it is country club stuff.

I believe under Sayler things will get better and they already have. Sometimes you have to look outside the W-Ls to see it and I think that is something you fail to do. People are not happy with a 1-10 record, they just know what to expect with rebuilding programs, that's for sure.

I get it, you have been a fan for 25 years of USD athletics. I have been a fan of Iowa State, and more specifically, the Twins and Vikings. The Vikings have never won a Super Bowl and fall flat on their face most of the times, but I stay loyal. The Twins had most of the 90s to get better, and they slowly did with good drafting, which overcame horrible ownership.

Sayler's process of getting USD athletics is a process that takes more than two years, no doubt. Gotta give him time. He knows more about it than you do, that's for sure.

[Coyote Fan]

Nov 22, 2012 21:32:38 GMT -6 dklemme said:

CF, hypothetical situation. If you were the AD, how would you do things different? If you were looking for a header what type are you looking for? What offense, defenses do you think would benefit the school? Is there certain types of things you are looking for? What decisions would you make to better the USD Football Program? I am not fishing here or setting you up for anything. I'm just courious.

Here is what I would do. Joe Glenn would get one more season to see what he can do. The OC and Special Teams coach would need to go and that would be a requirement for Glenn to stay. I do a national search for the OC. I get the best that is affordable and if I need to I find more money if that is what it takes. I go after guys like Caruso if he would want to come back as OC. His offenses were dominant. Otherwise I do a national search for OC make some calls and if I am Sayler go back to past connections to find possibilities. Basically what happens is that it is a national search with a thorough search process. The candidates need to be worthy of their positive. They don't come to USD to learn on the job, they come in already seasoned at their craft. That is important. The first thing I am going to look for is coaches that have proven success on the field. If someone dominates at his level I would not necessarily have a problem with a lower Division coach. If it's a lower division the success would have to be substancial. Eventhough DeBoer might have struggled this year I would still consider having him come in as OC depending on how his interview and past successes were as an OC and Head Coach. Obviously with his struggles this year that would be a factor. The key to me isn't necessarily who it is but the process that is used to make that determination. I would go through the full process with all the hires I would make and make those decisions with high regard to on field success as long as the candidate isn't a mess off the field.

Honestly I have no idea how Special Teams coaches come to be so I ask others that have knowledge of the situation for advise on how to go looking for one. I know we can't continue to go the route of where we are going. How many blocked punts and fields goals did we have. I imagine it's on a smaller scale but the same process that it takes to hire an OC.

If Glenn refuses than he is shown the door. If Glenn is not truly the long term option than why not let Wes take over now to see what he can do. That is not what I would do by any means but for those that are certain that he is the man, than give him the keys now, not 2 or 3 years from now.

As far as what kind of offense I am looking for, it all starts with flexibility. I have all options on the table when it comes to what kind of plays are run. The quarterback must be a good decision making and throwing quarterback and can get through his reads while making the right decision as to where to thrown the ball. I would need someone with good intelligence that can make occassional changes to plays at the line. Mobility is a plus but isn't as important as the above mentioned qualities. I look for a leader that everyone on the team is going to respect and trust. Having a leader and trustworthy signal caller is vital. I have an offense that is unpredictable and runs out of formations that are hard to plan against. I run alot of timing paterns and take what the defense gives. I always want to show that I can beat a defense in various ways. I go deep at least twice a game to keep defenses from stacking the line.

One of my favorite things to do is to spread the field and run out of it. I would like to have a Jeremy Blount type player to bring in on occassion to line up in various positions like slot, wing and even occassionally lining up at tailback like what Percy Harvin does. I like to run screens as they are safe and often times come up big. My line is big but also flexible and mobile. Maybe have a couple of big 320 plus pound guys and maybe a couple other that are closer to 280-290 that can run pretty good. I guess I would kind of model my offenses like NFL offenses so having a good quarterback is going to be vital.

I like to pass and run when and where defense don't expect it or where they are allowing open space on the field. If I had one philosophy it would be to attack when unsure and even in conservative mode I would still keep an attacking mentality. This would be true of any defenses that I would like to see run as well.

I am ok with Petrino for now because I think if we improve on O and ST's than I believe our defense can get it done with a slight upgrade in talent, but not necessarily a huge upgrade although obviously that would be nice.

[Cousin Eddie]

News flash, cf, tickets sales don't fund athletic departments. You sound like a guy on welfare complaining that an employed person needs to pay more taxes.

Your "fan hood" being being comprised of message board comments is pathetic. You want the program to get better? Do something about it. Any shlub off the street can buy a ticket. Any jackass with an Internet connection can go online an write pages of garbage like yours. Those posts you are making aren't worth the energy you put into them.

You talk about posting facts. You posted historical winning percentages. What was the value from those? Beyond a few numbers, EVERYTHING else you posted is OPINION.

Quit trolling on this board. You are making this place look pathetic.

Di I ever cross you mind that anybody can sign on here and read these comments? Did it ever occur to you hat recruits could read your garbage posts calling for coaches to be fired? Do you really think that will inspire a kid to accept a scholarship to USD when he could go someplace where the fans and alumni aren't trying to run their first year coaching staff out the door?

You are a disgrace to USD. You "fanhood" is not helpful, it is harmful. You are actually hurting the university you claim to love.

Get a clue.

[Coyote Fan]

As far as the defense is concerned I prefer a high pressure swarm to the ball defense. One that blitzes from unexpected areas and one that plays bump and run coverage but if not than not allowing more than about a 3 yard cushion. I want a D that does not play the bend but not break approach. I want a D that's goal is to get off the field and cause alot of turnovers. Of course this all depends on what kind of offense is being run against it. Speed is more important than size but both are nice to have.

[Cousin Eddie]

Nov 22, 2012 22:57:58 GMT -6 Coyote Fan said:

Nov 22, 2012 21:32:38 GMT -6 dklemme said:

CF, hypothetical situation. If you were the AD, how would you do things different? If you were looking for a header what type are you looking for? What offense, defenses do you think would benefit the school? Is there certain types of things you are looking for? What decisions would you make to better the USD Football Program? I am not fishing here or setting you up for anything. I'm just courious.

Here is what I would do. Joe Glenn would get one more season to see what he can do. The OC and Special Teams coach would need to go and that would be a requirement for Glenn to stay. I do a national search for the OC. I get the best that is affordable and if I need to I find more money if that is what it takes. I go after guys like Caruso if he would want to come back as OC. His offenses were dominant. Otherwise I do a national search for OC make some calls and if I am Sayler go back to past connections to find possibilities. Basically what happens is that it is a national search with a thorough search process. The candidates need to be worthy of their positive. They don't come to USD to learn on the job, they come in already seasoned at their craft. That is important. The first thing I am going to look for is coaches that have proven success on the field. If someone dominates at his level I would not necessarily have a problem with a lower Division coach. If it's a lower division the success would have to be substancial. Eventhough DeBoer might have struggled this year I would still consider having him come in as OC depending on how his interview and past successes were as an OC and Head Coach. Obviously with his struggles this year that would be a factor. The key to me isn't necessarily who it is but the process that is used to make that determination. I would go through the full process with all the hires I would make and make those decisions with high regard to on field success as long as the candidate isn't a mess off the field.

Honestly I have no idea how Special Teams coaches come to be so I ask others that have knowledge of the situation for advise on how to go looking for one. I know we can't continue to go the route of where we are going. How many blocked punts and fields goals did we have. I imagine it's on a smaller scale but the same process that it takes to hire an OC.

If Glenn refuses than he is shown the door. If Glenn is not truly the long term option than why not let Wes take over now to see what he can do. That is not what I would do by any means but for those that are certain that he is the man, than give him the keys now, not 2 or 3 years from now.

As far as what kind of offense I am looking for, it all starts with flexibility. I have all options on the table when it comes to what kind of plays are run. The quarterback must be a good decision making and throwing quarterback and can get through his reads while making the right decision as to where to thrown the ball. I would need someone with good intelligence that can make occassional changes to plays at the line. Mobility is a plus but isn't as important as the above mentioned qualities. I look for a leader that everyone on the team is going to respect and trust. Having a leader and trustworthy signal caller is vital. I have an offense that is unpredictable and runs out of formations that are hard to plan against. I run alot of timing paterns and take what the defense gives. I always want to show that I can beat a defense in various ways. I go deep at least twice a game to keep defenses from stacking the line.

One of my favorite things to do is to spread the field and run out of it. I would like to have a Jeremy Blount type player to bring in on occassion to line up in various positions like slot, wing and even occassionally lining up at tailback like what Percy Harvin does. I like to run screens as they are safe and often times come up big. My line is big but also flexible and mobile. Maybe have a couple of big 320 plus pound guys and maybe a couple other that are closer to 280-290 that can run pretty good. I guess I would kind of model my offenses like NFL offenses so having a good quarterback is going to be vital.

I like to pass and run when and where defense don't expect it or where they are allowing open space on the field. If I had one philosophy it would be to attack when unsure and even in conservative mode I would still keep an attacking mentality. This would be true of any defenses that I would like to see run as well.

I am ok with Petrino for now because I think if we improve on O and ST's than I believe our defense can get it done with a slight upgrade in talent, but not necessarily a huge upgrade although obviously that would be nice.

You honestly have no idea what you are talking about. Did you forget that when you bring in a new system or gameplan that you need time to recruit the players that fit it? You do realize there are limits on the number of scholarships and...oh yeah the guys you want also need to be convinced to come here and accept said scholarship?

[Coyote Fan]

Nov 22, 2012 23:05:56 GMT -6 Cousin Eddie said:

News flash, cf, tickets sales don't fund athletic departments. You sound like a guy on welfare complaining that an employed person needs to pay more taxes.

Your "fan hood" being being comprised of message board comments is pathetic. You want the program to get better? Do something about it. Any shlub off the street can buy a ticket. Any jackass with an Internet connection can go online an write pages of garbage like yours. Those posts you are making aren't worth the energy you put into them.

You talk about posting facts. You posted historical winning percentages. What was the value from those? Beyond a few numbers, EVERYTHING else you posted is OPINION.

Quit trolling on this board. You are making this place look pathetic.

Di I ever cross you mind that anybody can sign on here and read these comments? Did it ever occur to you hat recruits could read your garbage posts calling for coaches to be fired? Do you really think that will inspire a kid to accept a scholarship to USD when he could go someplace where the fans and alumni aren't trying to run their first year coaching staff out the door?

You are a disgrace to USD. You "fanhood" is not helpful, it is harmful. You are actually hurting the university you claim to love.

Get a clue.

I realize full well that anyone can read the comments and I certainly hope they do.

So Cousin Eddie what things do you think should be done to this program to make it better next year and years to come. I think we would all welcome your opinion.

The actions that the administration take are going to be far more important than what is said on a fan board. Even if I can get one person to think in a different direction than they have though before or typically think than the comments can be helpfull.

When it comes to the last 25 years how can what I say have any more negative effect than what has been the recent historic pattern of this program. USD doesn't need more back scratchers but more fans that expect a football program that will make them proud. That certainly isn't happening now so maybe another method should be tried instead. Of course as I write this another commercial hits the airwaves for SDSU's playoff game against Eastern Illinois. They continue to outperform USD in just about everything but Volleyball right now.

[Cousin Eddie]

I think Glenn and Co. need to recruit their balls off and bring in some talent to upgrade positions like DL, LB, RB, and OL. I think another QB I necessary to increase competition. I think we need to get another TE and a fast WR. That I how games are won. Players. Recruiting. Jimmies and Joes.

I am not convinced Wes is the answer at OC, but I don't want my AD trying to micro manage the staff. There is a reason he is in admin and not the HC. I think special teams also needs to be closely analyzed.

[Coyote Fan]

Nov 22, 2012 23:32:25 GMT -6 Cousin Eddie said:

I think Glenn and Co. need to recruit their balls off and bring in some talent to upgrade positions like DL, LB, RB, and OL. I think another QB I necessary to increase competition. I think we need to get another TE and a fast WR. That I how games are won. Players. Recruiting. Jimmies and Joes.

I am not convinced Wes is the answer at OC, but I don't want my AD trying to micro manage the staff. There is a reason he is in admin and not the HC. I think special teams also needs to be closely analyzed.

So by what you are saying we actually agree on what should be done. I don't take unfair shots at you so I expect the same treatmet in return.

[Cousin Eddie]

There is no doubt everything should be looked at, but I am not calling for heads. Big difference.

[Coyote Fan]

If fans think coaches should be fired they should put it on record.

[#1CoyoteFan (Admin)]

Nov 22, 2012 22:57:58 GMT -6 Coyote Fan said:

Nov 22, 2012 21:32:38 GMT -6 dklemme said:

CF, hypothetical situation. If you were the AD, how would you do things different? If you were looking for a header what type are you looking for? What offense, defenses do you think would benefit the school? Is there certain types of things you are looking for? What decisions would you make to better the USD Football Program? I am not fishing here or setting you up for anything. I'm just courious.

Here is what I would do. Joe Glenn would get one more season to see what he can do. The OC and Special Teams coach would need to go and that would be a requirement for Glenn to stay. I do a national search for the OC. I get the best that is affordable and if I need to I find more money if that is what it takes. I go after guys like Caruso if he would want to come back as OC. His offenses were dominant. Otherwise I do a national search for OC make some calls and if I am Sayler go back to past connections to find possibilities. Basically what happens is that it is a national search with a thorough search process. The candidates need to be worthy of their positive. They don't come to USD to learn on the job, they come in already seasoned at their craft. That is important. The first thing I am going to look for is coaches that have proven success on the field. If someone dominates at his level I would not necessarily have a problem with a lower Division coach. If it's a lower division the success would have to be substancial. Eventhough DeBoer might have struggled this year I would still consider having him come in as OC depending on how his interview and past successes were as an OC and Head Coach. Obviously with his struggles this year that would be a factor. The key to me isn't necessarily who it is but the process that is used to make that determination. I would go through the full process with all the hires I would make and make those decisions with high regard to on field success as long as the candidate isn't a mess off the field.

Honestly I have no idea how Special Teams coaches come to be so I ask others that have knowledge of the situation for advise on how to go looking for one. I know we can't continue to go the route of where we are going. How many blocked punts and fields goals did we have. I imagine it's on a smaller scale but the same process that it takes to hire an OC.

If Glenn refuses than he is shown the door. If Glenn is not truly the long term option than why not let Wes take over now to see what he can do. That is not what I would do by any means but for those that are certain that he is the man, than give him the keys now, not 2 or 3 years from now.

As far as what kind of offense I am looking for, it all starts with flexibility. I have all options on the table when it comes to what kind of plays are run. The quarterback must be a good decision making and throwing quarterback and can get through his reads while making the right decision as to where to thrown the ball. I would need someone with good intelligence that can make occassional changes to plays at the line. Mobility is a plus but isn't as important as the above mentioned qualities. I look for a leader that everyone on the team is going to respect and trust. Having a leader and trustworthy signal caller is vital. I have an offense that is unpredictable and runs out of formations that are hard to plan against. I run alot of timing paterns and take what the defense gives. I always want to show that I can beat a defense in various ways. I go deep at least twice a game to keep defenses from stacking the line.

One of my favorite things to do is to spread the field and run out of it. I would like to have a Jeremy Blount type player to bring in on occassion to line up in various positions like slot, wing and even occassionally lining up at tailback like what Percy Harvin does. I like to run screens as they are safe and often times come up big. My line is big but also flexible and mobile. Maybe have a couple of big 320 plus pound guys and maybe a couple other that are closer to 280-290 that can run pretty good. I guess I would kind of model my offenses like NFL offenses so having a good quarterback is going to be vital.

I like to pass and run when and where defense don't expect it or where they are allowing open space on the field. If I had one philosophy it would be to attack when unsure and even in conservative mode I would still keep an attacking mentality. This would be true of any defenses that I would like to see run as well.

I am ok with Petrino for now because I think if we improve on O and ST's than I believe our defense can get it done with a slight upgrade in talent, but not necessarily a huge upgrade although obviously that would be nice.

Two years is all Glenn gets? That is barely enough time to get his recruits wet behind the years. I think if the season is worse than this one, than yeah, but with how this season went, that should be highly unlikely.

A coach needs the chance to bring in his recruits and coach his recruits. With Glenn's background, I totally give him that opportunity because he was left with next to nothing.

In terms of Caruso, he was a good D-II coordinator, but he is a D-III head coach at St. Thomas, so I would be very skeptical of him at the D-I level, no doubt.

After DeBour's tenure at SUI, I would say go for him to the special teams but I would not trust him running a potent offense at the D-I level especially when he wouldn't have the players to run it at USD right now. That seems like a bust right there.

Why not look at Mankato's coach right now to be the offensive coordinator. Not Hofner but the person that took over for him and he could be a potential head coach in the future.

Ron Whitcomb at Old Dominion could be a pretty good name for a potential offensive coordinator as well.

There are several other names I could bring up, but instead of rehashing people that struggled at D-I (DeBour) and a person that has been in D-III for over half a decade, why not some real off. coordinator candidates?

[Coyote Fan]

I think enough has been said for awhile from my end. Unless we hear something I will TRY to let it go for awhile. I have said my piece and then some.

[coyote70]

Coyotefan - like your post about what kind of coach/players you would have in your footabll program as an AD. Three words come to mind: ain't gonna happen. Sorry, I wish USD could recruit that level of player but the great majority of time - not every time - that type of player is going to go to ... (very long list of let's say about 100 FBS or FCS schools). In any event it is wise to assume that most top level high school players don't exactly have Vermillion on their radar.

I'm a bit of a realist and have stated over and over that USD has to adapt to its situation and develop a style that can compete with teams in the MVFC, especially when playing games in the friendly confines of the Dome. You want a good offense? Run the ball. Ball control. That's what USD won with in the seventies and eighties. I wish we could but we just can't recruit that big, smart, strong-armed QB year in and year out. However, I believe we can recruit running backs and we have had some good ones in past years. O-line? Again, quickness wins. If you study how the line in action, words like leverage, balance, footwork, technique come to mind before things like height and weight (read fat). We might have one or two big, strong, quick linemen on the team at any given time. That's not enough since o-linemen must constantly work together on blocking schemes, etc. One breakdown blows the play. I think every year the team could have maybe 7-8 smaller, quicker, fully capable linemean though. I'd like to have that mythical 310 lb guy who can actually block on the perimeter and pancake D-linemen; just don't think many of them will show up on our team.

Defense? Offensive ball control. Maybe we can get that 6' 3" four-star recruit all-state DT but I doubt it. In fact, recruiting a good defense may be even more difficult than an offense. A grind-it-out triple option running game may not be flashy but it gives defenses a fit and can wear them down so we have a chance to hold onto leads and maybe win a few games in the 4th quarter.

Coaches? Not much of an opinion here other than simply recruiting good players and calling plays oversimplifies things. In USD's case 3 or probably 4 years seems about right for the current crew. One thing. If I were head coach I would not want to inherit anyone in a coordinator position. Just like in the business world, you want to hire people (coaches) you can not only relate to but learn from. Hiring and firing are difficult tasks. Ironically, such tasks can get YOU fired.

Does anyone out there think we can actually recruit the kind of players Coyotefan wants? Maybe posters could vote on this. In any event, I suggest we get back together on this topic after we learn what recuits are coming USD's way this spring.

[obc]

Coyote70 - I agree with you that if USD is going to compete in the MVFC they will need to approach things a little differently.

I am biased because I am a fan and former coach of option football. Have a signed copy of Lou Holtz Arkansas Offensive playbook from his time there running the split back veer. what a thing of beauty. USD could build a successful program around that style and recruit HS talent in the middle part of the country that runs that type of offense. Spread offenses have come in in the last 15 years heavily but there are a lot of schools that are option based with JVM type kids (Run first athlete QBs). JVM would be ideal in a Cal Poly/Navy/Air Force type attack. The Cal Poly QB that we faced last year was recruited heavily by PAC 10 schools to play DB - he was an option QB in High School in Portland OR. Cal Poly signed him because they recruited him at QB. We could do the same.

It does take an entire staff that has experience coaching that style of FB and Joe Glenn has not to my knowledge run that offense in the last 25 years as a core philosophy. Like every offense there are some drawbacks to that style as well.

Interesting to think about but we will only see that style offense if the next regime is hired specifically to run that style.