I've gone back and forth as to what to write concerning the game on Saturday against Oregon and I have especially went back and forth as to what to say regarding those calling for coaches heads. I too, was furious watching the game this Saturday.(although watching it on my ipad in a cabana on a beach in Cancun made it a little easier) For those of you that were furious that we came out flat and after a quick score we decided that we could just chalk this game up as a win, I understand your anger. For those of you that were furious with our choice of play calling and lack of imagination at times, I understand your anger. For those of you that were furious that some players had horrible performances and some even having possibly the worst of their career, I understand your anger.
But before we all decide to call of "wholesale coaching changes" as Coach Whit put it in his presser Monday. Before we decide in our own minds that this is the highest peak that Coach Whit can ever reach and if we accept him as our coach we must accept this new found ceiling that many fans created Saturday evening for this program. Let us take a step back at this mountain that this program has been scaling these last couple years and take a quick look at where we are at and what the future of this program might hold.
1. This team is beat up. Bad. If you think that group that you saw on the field Saturday afternoon was "healthy" you have another thing coming. This team is battered, our defense is no where near 100% and guys on that side of the ball are doing double some triple the amount of reps they were looking to get at the start of the year. We also have our fair share of injuries on the offensive side, some apparent but many of the guys are playing through nagging injuries that beat you up this time of year. Does that make it an excuse for the lack of effort that was portrayed at times on Saturday, no, but I can tell you it weighs on a team. Especially when you couple hurt bodies with a mindset that you are heavily favored, and then you waltz down the field on your first possession with a score by CBB.
2. If you haven't figured it out by now, Coach Whit's style of play is to play defense to win the game. Many ask, why doesn't Utah stomp on an opponent like Oregon right from the beginning? Well that's simple, the players were not executing the called plays. If players can't execute the initial plays called in by the coaches to build other plays on top of those, how can they ever get to the more creative ones? You have to poor a strong foundation in order build any million dollar home and it's the same way with play calling. Do I think our play calling was a little predictable at times and does Coach Whit's game plan of protect the lead with conservative offense and hard defense get a little annoying, yes! But that does not take away from the fact that Coach Whit knows what kind of game plan he likes to play and he sticks to it. Nobody should ever fault him for knowing what gives him the best results and sticking to that. That is just Coach's mantra flat out.
The reason why I don't think Coach Whit will make any major changes in the OC position is because believe it or not, our offense has improved. Believe it or not, every position has steadily improved this year including the RB position if all were healthy. The depth and development of the WR position is something Utah fans should be excited about over these next few years. The QB position with TWilliams, THuntley and JShelley is something to be very excited about. Our Oline coach has done a great job finding solid talent at the Oline position and that will only continue to improve. If you switch now, I'm sorry but in my opinion and my experience you will have to start everyone from square one, you might lose key coaches that we have gathered and to me that is not worth it.
3. This upcoming recruiting class and for recruiting classes to come will be special. Prospects like Jaylon Johnson and Jay Tufele (I think he is close to committing) who are All-Americans. Gavin Holmes, Eno Benjamin are other All-Americans that are very much considering Utah. As Mikey said in another thread, "The Utes are reaching the point where they aren't just replenishing their depth, they are upgrading their entire roster". And I very much so agree with this.
In summary, I hope this will help put into "big picture view" what I am seeing and why we all should keep our faith in Coach Whit and his process. As a wise man once told me, "Everybody wants to be the champ, they want to get to the top as fast as they can.....but when they stumble, how many start looking at everyone around them to blame."
(I don't mean that as an attack on anyone, I hope you will see the meaning in that is why I posted that saying)
-Derek Tuimauga
But before we all decide to call of "wholesale coaching changes" as Coach Whit put it in his presser Monday. Before we decide in our own minds that this is the highest peak that Coach Whit can ever reach and if we accept him as our coach we must accept this new found ceiling that many fans created Saturday evening for this program. Let us take a step back at this mountain that this program has been scaling these last couple years and take a quick look at where we are at and what the future of this program might hold.
1. This team is beat up. Bad. If you think that group that you saw on the field Saturday afternoon was "healthy" you have another thing coming. This team is battered, our defense is no where near 100% and guys on that side of the ball are doing double some triple the amount of reps they were looking to get at the start of the year. We also have our fair share of injuries on the offensive side, some apparent but many of the guys are playing through nagging injuries that beat you up this time of year. Does that make it an excuse for the lack of effort that was portrayed at times on Saturday, no, but I can tell you it weighs on a team. Especially when you couple hurt bodies with a mindset that you are heavily favored, and then you waltz down the field on your first possession with a score by CBB.
2. If you haven't figured it out by now, Coach Whit's style of play is to play defense to win the game. Many ask, why doesn't Utah stomp on an opponent like Oregon right from the beginning? Well that's simple, the players were not executing the called plays. If players can't execute the initial plays called in by the coaches to build other plays on top of those, how can they ever get to the more creative ones? You have to poor a strong foundation in order build any million dollar home and it's the same way with play calling. Do I think our play calling was a little predictable at times and does Coach Whit's game plan of protect the lead with conservative offense and hard defense get a little annoying, yes! But that does not take away from the fact that Coach Whit knows what kind of game plan he likes to play and he sticks to it. Nobody should ever fault him for knowing what gives him the best results and sticking to that. That is just Coach's mantra flat out.
The reason why I don't think Coach Whit will make any major changes in the OC position is because believe it or not, our offense has improved. Believe it or not, every position has steadily improved this year including the RB position if all were healthy. The depth and development of the WR position is something Utah fans should be excited about over these next few years. The QB position with TWilliams, THuntley and JShelley is something to be very excited about. Our Oline coach has done a great job finding solid talent at the Oline position and that will only continue to improve. If you switch now, I'm sorry but in my opinion and my experience you will have to start everyone from square one, you might lose key coaches that we have gathered and to me that is not worth it.
3. This upcoming recruiting class and for recruiting classes to come will be special. Prospects like Jaylon Johnson and Jay Tufele (I think he is close to committing) who are All-Americans. Gavin Holmes, Eno Benjamin are other All-Americans that are very much considering Utah. As Mikey said in another thread, "The Utes are reaching the point where they aren't just replenishing their depth, they are upgrading their entire roster". And I very much so agree with this.
In summary, I hope this will help put into "big picture view" what I am seeing and why we all should keep our faith in Coach Whit and his process. As a wise man once told me, "Everybody wants to be the champ, they want to get to the top as fast as they can.....but when they stumble, how many start looking at everyone around them to blame."
(I don't mean that as an attack on anyone, I hope you will see the meaning in that is why I posted that saying)
-Derek Tuimauga
