Mental Mistakes and Coaching Ineptitude Doom Tigers
by DrB on Oct 2, 2010 5:33 PM EDT
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PrintWell that was a clusterfuck wasn't it? Thats the kind of game you get when the team gets patted on the back by fans all week for how they played against Auburn instead of focusing on their preparation, and they damn sure weren't prepared to play today.
The same problems that we mentioned last week are the ones that showed themselves again this week, and as we have maintained here at STS, mental mistakes go on the Head Coach. I shouldn't need to reiterate that, but since knuckledraggers love to bitch at us for telling it like it is, I pretty much have to. This game was a total mental meltdown from start to finish. This will be a fun film review to do tomorrow, and it'll be pretty damning all-around. For now though, just my general impressions:
- Kyle Parker's first half was one of the worst halves of football I have ever seen from a Clemson QB. He was in front, behind, low, and too high to his receivers. Total lack of execution. To his credit, the 2nd half was far better.
- The reason why falls on the entire offensive staff. 1.) Napier had a shit gameplan today, and actually I couldn't tell what the gameplan really was. I saw no coherent scheme or rhythm in the first half playcalls. There were no screens, no draws, or generally anything in the first half to negate the Miami pass rush, which came entirely from the down 4. 2.) Jeff Scott still plays the WRs who don't want to play football. Ashe can't catch a simple crosser, Dye can't catch again, Jones couldn't catch, and none of those guys can get open whatsoever. They don't have the moves or the technique to CREATE space. 4 years of shitbag WR coaching nets you that. 3.) Jamie "The Skirt" Harper still gets touches on inside runs instead of Ellington.
- I have not seen a Clemson defense make so many bad reads in quite some time. The Xavier Brewer/Coty Sensabaugh combo get picked on each week and they aren't getting it done at all. Rarely are the opponents beating Byron Maxwell. DeAndre McDaniel didn't show up ready to play today. The first TD was NOT on Maye for those wondering, that was DMac in the Banjo coverage that appeared to be on. The second mixup with the back was Maye's key but DMac was his help and wasn't there. Both were man/man schemes. What was a Top 10 secondary is wetting the bed so far this year. They know how to do the things they messed up on today so often, this was mental.
- Zero pass rush in the 1st half. DaQuan Bowers disappeared. Interior pressure disappeared. No blitzes. No pass rush + man coverage = bad, always.
- Poor protection from our OL, not pathetic, but still poor. They might've looked better had Parker had someone to throw to besides Allen.
- Jacory Harris is a pathetic QB. Mark Whipple is worse for letting him throw the ball when they have so much success running it. He cannot look off a safety, he doesnt even know how, so I don't know why anyone would show him anything other than Cover 2 from here on.
2nd Half adjustments that I wanted to see: screens, draws, Andre Ellington instead of Jamie, blitzes, and some damned intensity all around. I saw a fair bit of it.
- In the 2nd, DaQuan showed up. Interior rush wasn't great but the End rush was. The defense blitzed to get pressure and it worked. Until the last TD we basically shut em down.
- Secondary coverage was fine on everyone except Hankerson in the 2nd. We couldn't cover him that well last year, and didn't this year at all. Steele made his adjustments at halftime but the hole was too much, and with the offense giving them back the ball 6 times, I find it hard to put most of the loss on the defense.
- Clemson didn't run the ball enough, and Miami handled Ellington fairly in the 2nd. I could tell you that Jamie wouldn't do any better after his first 5 carries. Sometime someone should tell him that when you tiptoe and dance at 230, it doesnt work. Andre runs like a 230lb back, Jamie like a 180lb back. I didn't notice all the Power plays and Isolations, or much of any running right behind Diehl at all.
- In the 2nd, Napier did try adjusting. He did call the screens and passes to the backs and TE when we began moving the ball. He saw that Kyle needed some completions to get his confidence up, and he tried to get it with the right playcalls. However with Miami unwilling to take the game for themselves, he could not instruct his offense how to take it either.
So now what? Dabo Swinney wasted two weeks of preparation if that was the end product. Mental mistakes go on him and him alone when its the entire team that succumbs to them. When youre not focused, you turn the ball over, so while each individual play may have been the fault of a player, such as Landon Walker not getting that DE's hands down or cutting him, or guys not holding onto the ball after contact, the overall sum points to lack of concentration and intensity, and that goes on him. If he wants to challenge the fans to show up and be loud, he needs to have this team show up and play worth a damn.
There is no excuse for them not feeding the ball to Ellington (20 touches), yet I see Harper getting all these carries (22 touches) even after he clearly dances into each hole. There is no excuse for having 3 starting WRs who cannot get open. There is never an excuse for not catching balls that hit your hands. There is no excuse for letting a Safety with a broken wrist field punts. Harris tried to give us the game on a platter and again we don't have the killer instinct to take it.
Dabo Swinney is 15-10, keep that in mind when you continue to praise him. You are what your record says you are.
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Amen!
Have to agree with everything said. Jamie Harper is the softest “big” back I’ve ever seen. He wants to dance like CJ did. Run in there, hit somebody and take the 4-5 yd gains. If you do that enough you’ll wear them out an they’ll stop tackling you by the end of the game. He shouldnt get 5 carries a game right now, put him at slot WR since we have ZERO D1 caliber WR’s on the team. Its becoming blatantly obvious that Dabo should have stayed in Alabama selling insurance, he sure as hell isnt a football coach. All the chestbumping and cheerleading in the world wont overcome piss poor coaching and game management. I hope they lose every game here on out and then we can completely wipe out the entire staff and start fresh. We have more talent now than we have in the last 20 years and yet we dont play any better than the Tommy West coached Clemson teams. At least Tommy West got 100% from his players, we get shit from the guys we have now. And dont even get me started on Steele, the guy has no business being a D-coordinator. No wonder why Saban demoted him after 2007 (his first year every being a D-coord in his entire career) and no wonder why they didnt even put up a fight to keep him. Wish we’d have let him go to Tenn after last season, I hated his bullshit schemes last year.
Why?
I would like to hear an honest answer from Dabo and/or Napier about why in the world Harper constantly gets more plays and more touches than Ellington. Watching the game, I see it, you see it, even my 80 yr old BLIND grandma can see it…. Ellington is 10 times more effective than Harper. Does Harper have serious dirt on Dabo/Napier?? Is Dabo afraid that Harper will pout and transfer? Why is Dabo putting Harper’s confidence and feeling ahead of the team? When Ellington plays we score, when Harper plays we dont. And what I really dont understand is, Ellington runs for a 8-10 yard gain he comes out then Harper goes in for 2-3 plays. Is Ellington being punished for being productive?
I want someone in the media to really push Dabo on this issue, keep pushing until he gives an honest answer. We deserve an answer. As Iptay donors, as ticket buyers, as fans, its our dollars and support that keep the Athletic Dept operating.
I wonder if I can be the next head coach at Clemson? After completely leaving football Dabo was hired by an inept head coach to be a position coach. When said coach was fired for not getting the job done, the inept TDP promotes Dabo to head coach. Heck my credentials are about as good as Dabo’s, give me a job. At least I could succeed with game and clock management. I’d have enough common sense to never let Dye or Ashe see the field again. I’d play Ellington 3-4 times as much as Harper, and even let Rod McD get a shot to see what he’s got. I would immediately fire the defensive staff. I would not have run off Vic K. Under Vic K our defense was top 25 in every imaginable category and only getting better each year. Under Tommy our offense was inept, so what does dabo do? He keeps the offensive staff in tact and replaces the entire defensive staff with all his old drinking and fishing buddies from ‘bama. How’s that working out Dabo?? You suck, please retire and go back to ’bama and start selling insurance again. PLEASE!!! For the good of our program just go….
Spot On Assesment
Your 1st paragraph and 2nd to last paragraph says it all.
Where is the killer instinct?
Do we want to win games or play to the level of competition and hope the media pats us on the back?
I think the young WRs WILL come around at some point this year however, the time to make personnel changes is NOW. The veterans are a lost cause in my opinion. We clearly need a playmaker.
It’s now safe to say that the debate is over. We miss Ford more than Spiller.
Piss Poor!
Piss Poor coaching and piss poor execution. Why the fuck don’t they just make Harper a damn receiver? He cannot run the ball! We’ve got a stud in Ellington. With him on the field, our chances of a huge play go up exponentially. This is NOT a James Davis/ CJ Spiller situation….Ellington’s the man, let him BE the goddamn man, ok Dabo/Napier?? Line Harper’s fat ass out at receiver or make him a tight end….He CAN catch the ball. But I only recall 1 throw to him all day. A clusterfuck? You got that right! This team looked like a bunch of pampered primadonnas who feel as if the Atlantic Division is owed to them somehow. This team will be lucky to break even, and if that happens, Dabo should be looking for another real estate job. Thanks STS for being the ONLY Clemson site who tells it like fucking is.
I hate Dabo's line "Defending the Atlantic Division Title"
There is no championship belt in football.
You gotta go out and take the MFer. Wrong attitude. Wrong message.
One More Thing
And this is something that’s been bothering me for years. It’s getting tougher each year to even be a Clemson fan. Our fanbase seems to accept mediocrity, and as long as that continues, the powers that be, from the BOT to Barker to TDP, will be happy with 7 or 8 wins a year and a shitty bowl game which we’ll probably lose. This trend has been going on too damn long. I’m starting to wonder if Clemson has left me behind….still remembering the years when we were a stud in college football. Now we’re a joke. It would be no monumental task for a decent coach to come in and have this team winning right away, but with the present staff and the University and fanbase’s attitude of accepting and expecting mediocrity, I’m afraid that’s what we’re stuck with. I know this season’s not over, but I can see several teams up ahead that could beat us. Miami played a shit game and we should’ve been all over them, but obviously we didn’t want it. Maybe some high rollin’ boosters should be talkin’ sweet to Gary Patterson NOW! I’m gonna go get monumentally drunk now.
They asked Patterson about the job
a couple years ago during the search. TDP made him an offer of a couple million.
Patterson said “Try again MFers when youre ready to offer big boy money”.
Clemson goes the cheap route and wonders why they get shit results.
by DrB on Oct 2, 2010 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions
RE: Patterson
Yea, didn’t Patterson even refuse to be interviewed? I think he said he was happy where he was at. I guess he considered TCU better than Clemson as a job. I’m sure he’d bolt for one of the “big” programs like ’Bama, UF, Notre Dame, Michigan, etc. After Bowden I was pushing Patterson for the next guy hard.
I think in time Dabo could be a good head guy, as long as he had good experienced coords, but do we want to live through 5-10 years of him growing up and growing into the job? I think his first blunder was promoting Napier as OC, then hiring KS as DC, a guy who had basically 1 year of DC experience, 2007, and then Saban demotes him. So, that speaks well {sarcasm}. And whats with the lovefest for the Scott family by him? Another epic fail.
I didn’t know that Patterson had been contacted. I assumed TDP was conducting a search just for show while all the time intending on handing Dabo the reigns. As regards money, how much is IPTAY sitting on right now? I don’t buy the arguement that we can’t afford to pony up more dough until we’ve paid Bowden in full. I gotta believe we have the $$$ to bring in the kind of coach that will take us to the next level. I know the powers that be aren’t interested in that, but if this year is a monumental failure and the big donors get restless, surely we have the funds to bring in a Patterson or someone similar. Am I wrong?
by veryveryproud on Oct 3, 2010 4:36 AM EDT up reply actions
They have the money
Patterson was contacted about the job on the trip to Oklahoma by TDP, but no formal interview was done because of that one conversation.
Why IPTAY just sits on enough money to fund the indoor facility 3x over is beyond me.
Spot on job STS
this is the reason why i have you as my home page. I love my Tigers but after watching last nights game i was truly embarrassed to be a Clemson fan.If that was the result of a bye week against a above average Miami team I am not looking forward to going into UNC or NC ST. Worst of all we still have to play a USC team that will straight beat our ass is we continue to play like this.
Dabo needs to grow up really fast as a head coach and make some command decisions about his DC and OC. the Offensive play calling is horrible and our D is very suspect. its never good when the top tacklers are the safeties.
Napier = Spence
Was he on the phone with Billy? Parker was either hurt or his head was somewhere else. Should have been pulled. As bad as Parker was playing, Dabo should have played conservative a the end of first half, and been glad he was only down by 6, Instead, gift TD to Miami. Special teams personnel is example of coaching stupidity. look at front line on Kickoff return. You really expect them to block? How about playing Allen on punt team. Lets get him even more tired because with 115 players, we have to have him out there. This was bad for Dabo and Napier Players don’t deserve shch poor planning and game time coaching.
I was bitching about the same things
I would’ve pulled Parker for a series in the 3rd, but just about that time is when he started hitting passes.
I see no logic to putting Allen on special teams.
Well, when you have 13 walkon schollie players, that is what you get on special teams
Allen is our best receiver and should not be forced to carry our passing game and play on defense.
Clemson Sports Analysis and Insight
www.shakinthesouthland.com
Yea, all teams
play their best athlete as much as Allen. Seriously, Clemson has talent and depth. No need for Allen to be out there on punt team. it is like putting spiller on punt team?
Clemson got owned
that “death” valley thing scares nobody. If Japicky was bad, what is the two sport star? (should make that one actually. there’s a reason why he isn’t playing football anymore)
Dye at Corner?
I swear I saw Dye lined up at corner one play, he immediately tripped over his feet and his man got wide open. Luckily Jacory overthrew him
Perspective
Danny Ford was 14-9 after his first full two years. His predecessor was 18-4, so you can’t say he had bad players.
In no way am I trying to say that Dabo is Danny. I’m just trying to say quit flipping your shit four weeks into the season.
And all we're trying to say is that you shouldnt pump sunshine and
make comparisons that are unwarranted, then blindly say “we’re alright, we lost to a good team with 85 scholarships too” and pat your team on the back for losing.
Scarecrow
That’s a nice straw man you took down right there. Congratulations.
I don’t think that’s all you’re trying to say, anyway. I think you’re trying to say that we have serious coaching problems, and that the record is proof of that.
The record is proof of that.
15-10 and 1-8 vs ranked teams cannot be disputed. Folks have to take the orange glasses off and see things as they are. He has the rest of the season to fix it, which cannot be disputed either. If he does then we praise them, if he doesnt then we dont.
There are problems at Clemson at all levels, which we’ve stated here numerous times, not just the weak links on the staff.
But I’m not calling for heads, other than the heads I’ve called for each time. If you read more than a few articles, you’d see that. I’m very consistent in my opinions.
by DrB on Oct 4, 2010 9:38 AM EDT up reply actions
Never shoulda been Dabo
Dabo should have never gotten the job. No protoge of Tommy B should have been hired. Terry Dumb Phillips had a soft spot for Dabo and he was just looking for a reason to hire him. And the “big” win vs USuC was all the ammo he needed. The entire staff should have been wiped out and start over fresh.
I possibly could have gotten behind Vic K for head coach. His defense was the only good thing about the team those last 3 yrs. They were top 25 in every category and got better every year while he was here.
This is how I felt at the time of the hire
I didn’t want anybody from the old staff. I wanted a clean slate with a new mentality.
Can somebody explain why Miami didn't lose the down on their holding penalty just before their 1st TD?
I don’t understand something. On Miami’s first TD drive they had the ball on the Clemson 8 yard line, 2nd-and-1. They ran around the left side for a TD but it was called back because Hankerson held Gilchrist at the 5 yard line. That’s a 10-yard penalty, so they move the ball back to the Clemson 15 yard line, for a 2nd-and-7. I get the 10 yard penalty from the spot of the foul, but I don’t understand why that’s not a loss of down since the holding occurred downfield. (For example, if Miami had 2nd and 20 and they ran a play for 20 yards but there was holding 15 yards past the line of scrimmage, Miami wouldn’t be penalized 10 yards from the spot of the foul (i.e. resulting in a net 5 yard gain) and still get to replay the down, right? It would be a loss of down wouldn’t it?)
On the replay of 2nd down Clemson got a sack, so Miami had a 3rd-and-14, from the 22 yard line. And then Miami passed for a TD. But if the penalty had been a loss of down, then Miami would have kicked a field goal on 4th-and-14 from the 22.
Shouldn’t that holding penalty have been a loss of down since it happened past the line of scrimmage?
No!
Absolutely not. It’s 10 yards from spot of foul and replay the down.
Stupid coaching
Can some one please explain to me why we run empty sets on offense? We don’t have a single receiver that can get open and we decide to remove all doubt by going empty. The only thing we do worth a crap is run the ball with AE. Even better, lets start with the empty set and then bring a back in orbit motion. Yeah, that’s really fooling a lot of people. Morons!
Also, not running the clock out at the end of the first half has got to be one of the dumbest decisions I’ve seen these dumb asses make. It would be understandable if you had completed a pass for more than 10 yards all game. So instead of being down 6 and getting the ball back to start the second half we are then down 13 which is a ton when you can’t complete a freaking pass down the field.
Ashe sucks… they should take away his scholarship. Dye… you suck too. Play the freaking freshmen. At least they catch one every now and then.
Also, our kicker on kick-offs sucks too. Can he even kick one in the end zone? It would be different if he had other duties (besides missing Extra points) but all he does is kick-off. He is pathetic. Even when the wind was behind him he couldn’t get it to the end zone.
Couple of things
A lot has already been touched on in this thread, our problems at WR will not be solved anytime this year, expect the same thing for every other game this year. It’s just going to happen, they didn’t get better last year, they’re not going to progress any better over this year. To me, this signals an obvious coaching problem.
Also, surely it was Dabo again who called that garbage play on 4th and 1 in the fourth quarter. That was a crap play, Miami was obviously ready for it and all over it. Another example of trying to get too cute down the stretch and it costing us.
Why aren’t we blitzing more? It seems like we rush with the 4 down guys a lot, and we definitely look better when we send at least one extra guy. On Harris’ big plays he had a lot of time to drop back and look over the field, and since we obviously can’t cover for more than 2 seconds with 7 in coverage, why not just send the extra guys? We did get good pressure on Harris at times and did sack him as well.
Finally, the other thing I noticed very clearly, how slow is Spencer Shuey? Harris just blew right by him on a couple of scrambles and he never looked like making the tackle. He may be big but he definitely doesn’t have the speed to play regularly in the ACC.
From this point onwards, anyone that doesn’t put 8 men in the box against us on defense and blitz to put Parker under pressure doesn’t really understand/believe how poor we are on offense.
Not running offense
I watched every scrimmage and the Spring game. Clemson has the chance to be really good on O. They just need to have the confidence to run the offense and let the players block and make plays. Reverses for not apparent reason; run in a vacuum? The terrible 4th down play for a loss. Why play into Miami’s strength; speed? Don’t go wide against speed. What happened to the short yardage plays they ran agaainst against AU? They worked. Of course; with Parker playing as bad as he did, the O coach may have panicked. Woulda coulda, shoulda.
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