Bear Down Wildcats

azgreg wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:33 pm

EastCoastCat wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:35 pm I had to turn off THAT game, but did ASU leave in their starters for most of the game? If they did it wouldn't surprise me.

azcat49 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:32 pm Arizona

"This is going to be a long-term project after an objectively bad hire. It’s not that Kevin [Sumlin] couldn’t coach, it’s that what he brings wasn’t ever going to fit at that place. Too much Texas focus with their recruiting, for one."

"It’s hard to say what happens now. The biggest move for them was Jedd [Fisch] bringing in Don Brown. He’s been very good throughout his career and I think he’s the kind of coordinator who you can recruit to, which is rare."

"Offensively they’re hitting the transfer market somewhat, the Northwestern (Drake Anderson) running back is a solid pick-up, but this is gonna be the tear-down. This is a Year Zero qualifier for sure."

"Recruiting has been bad for this program and Arizona State is so far ahead of them. They have to turn over the roster on both sides, which is a two-year project at least before you can really see results in this conference. The thing to watch is going to be branding and recruiting. How can they catch up with ASU? How are they different? They are the weak link in a really good division, so what are they selling that’s different?"

"Jedd is taking a lot of heat as a bad hire, but I don’t think a lot of guys were circling this job. There are budget issues and no talent. Just settle in on this one, it’s gonna be a while.”

Excerpt from the Anthlon anonymous coaches comments. Mixed emotions between they are probably right to F them. Hope Fisch posts this on the bulletin board

TheCat wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 4:02 pm I hope all this effort by the coaching staff is rewarded. I know it will be awhile but trying hard and using all your resources to reach a team is appreciated. Coach has done more than I expected or even hoped for. Now just win some games,

AV8RCAT wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 2:27 am

TheCat wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 4:02 pm I hope all this effort by the coaching staff is rewarded. I know it will be awhile but trying hard and using all your resources to reach a team is appreciated. Coach has done more than I expected or even hoped for. Now just win some games,

He's done more than I could envision. I'm not excited for this year because I expect a lot of wins. I fully expect a noticeable improvement, and I don't think that's a tall order.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 9:39 am The bar for improvements vs Sumlin is super low.

Merkin wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 10:48 am

Spaceman Spiff wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 9:39 am The bar for improvements vs Sumlin is super low.

70-7 low. Even Mackovic's teams never quit on him like that team did on Sumlin. Although Mackovic actually wanted to win.

Chicat wrote: Sun Sep 12, 2021 8:14 am It’s maybe a little different when the lights come on and you’re The Guy.

Merkin wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 10:48 am

Spaceman Spiff wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 9:39 am The bar for improvements vs Sumlin is super low.

70-7 low. Even Mackovic's teams never quit on him like that team did on Sumlin. Although Mackovic actually wanted to win.

AzCatFan2 wrote: Mon Sep 13, 2021 9:35 am RR had one losing season in Tucson. It looked as if we were heading for another one, but Khalil Tate saved RR's job, only to see RR lose it because RR thought he was Don Draper, and the year was 1966, and the Arizona Football office was like the TV show Mad Men. Too bad, because with Sumlin and Tate, we went 5-7. With RR, we likely do no worse than 7-5, and RR is likely still the coach in Tucson.

As for Fisch, it's only been two games, but I see plenty of shades of Mike Stoops. The players are playing harder, but they aren't playing smarter. Stupid penalties, not being in the right spot like setting the edge on D, missed blocks, etc. I'm happy the kids are playing harder, but unless you have Alabama or Oklahoma talent, you need to play smarter too.

It took Mike Stoops 5 years to build a winning team, and that team only went 8-5. And 8 wins turned out to be Stoops' ceiling. Stoops made many rookie mistakes early on, and by the time he built a winning team, top assistants started to leave, and opposing coaches had figured Stoops out. I get the same vibes so far from Fisch. We'll see if Fisch can have a winning season quicker than Stoops, and if Fisch can actually break the 8-win barrier in Tucson, like Smith, Tomey, and RR all did.

cordera89 wrote: Mon Sep 13, 2021 12:23 pm So were still using that excuse?

AV8RCAT wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:22 am

Basketcats wrote: Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:17 am It isn't pessimism. It is realism. There has been so many times over the past 40 years I have bought into the hype surrounding the football team and the majority of those times have ended with disappointing results. I am one of those "wait and see'ers". I acknowledged the good steps Fisch has taken. That doesn't not justify jumping into the deep end of the support pool though. As with everything surrounding my life, I need proof before I believe. He is unproven and until he (and the team) takes the field and proves they can produce a W or at least seriously compete against someone other than a D2 school, I will remain a skeptic.

Chicat wrote: Thu Jul 29, 2021 3:05 pm Stepping stone after leading us barely above .500 in four years? Blech…

Stepping stone after changing around the entire culture and making us a surprise power on the west coast? Go forth and conquer my man…

This is another reason why I will not show support or hold out hope. It is time that the UofA finds a committed football coach and goes to great lengths to retain them. I don't want to see another Larry Smith thing happen. That situation was so gut-wrenching and painful from a fan perspective. That heartbreak and those dashed hopes still sting to this day. I fear that Fisch and his well worn shoes, will be on the first G6 to a "bigger and better" school is he even gets a whiff success at UofA.

LOL, I get it. I've been doing this since I returned to AZ and watched the 85 Sun Bowl with some friends who were well connected to the local sports scene.
I was such an obsessed asshole, I used to vocally hope that Ronald Veal would get injured, so freshman Maalaulu would be the starter.
One time during the Stoops era, we had a 2 score lead on Oregon and they made a quick score after we got penalized for Foles re-passing a ball that bounced off someone straight back into his hands or something weird like that. I was listening while hurrying home to catch the last of the game on TV. I turned the radio off and when I got home...mind you, we were still ahead.... I didn't even turn the game on and went to bed not knowing what happened, but actually, I went to bed sure of exactly what happened, we blew it and I couldn't stand to watch it. I was right that time, but I later missed two amazing comebacks against Cal for leaving games early.

Still, I always bought into the hype, and got disappointed, but now, very little of my well being hinges on the fortunes of a sports team. I just deal with it and still try to enjoy the start of the season.

The difference this time, is that I have never seen anyone do so many things that in my opinion, position the program for success.
Someone here said something to the effect that it almost felt like Fisch was personally recruiting him as a fan.
I feel that way, so I bought some S. corner end zone seats, mostly for the evening shade. That's less than 20 bucks a person per game.
I think Fisch has earned that much from me and I just have a feeling that I don't want miss a thing.

Our head coach is an offense guy, but I predict one of the best one year defensive turnarounds you have ever seen.

I'm not quite as hard on Larry Smith. He didn't leave a smoking crater behind. I remember him being pissed about the crowd booing the team, and suggested people who do that to college kids should stay home and they did in droves. I remember him being booed at a charity run.
I also remember Dick Tomey saying that his family couldn't even come to games because of fan hostility. I was almost that shitty in my stupid years. We sure don't need fans like the younger me.

AzCatFan2 wrote: Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:26 pm What excuse is a good question. We didn't let RR go because of football reasons. It's because of off-field issues that in today's world, we just couldn't turn the other way because RR had a good record at Arizona. Sumlin's first year, we lost to BYU early as the offense struggled. And of course, collapsed against ASu. I contend, that had RR been coach, we likely win both games and finish no worse than 7-5 and go bowling. And going 7-5 with a bowl appearance keeps your job at Arizona.

Sumlin was a huge mistake. Nobody did less with more talent than Sumlin at TAMU. So given less talent at Arizona, Sumlin bombed. Not a shock. Sumlin might have been somewhat positive had he improved our recruiting, but by the time he got to Tucson, the book was out. Sumlin can't coach up anyone, so top talent stayed away.

Fisch? Time will tell. But agreed, the two most successful coaches at Arizona came to us as a head coach from Tulane and a head coach from Hawaii. The two worst were fired coaches from the state of Texas. Stoops wasn't awful, but he wasn't good either. And RR? Incomplete, because unfortunately, he was fired for non-football reasons.

Postmaster wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:14 pm Step one: remove the “wide receiver screen for negative yards” from playbook.

azcat49 wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 11:42 am The OLine was much better last game than I thought. Pro football had SDST for like 8 pressures after having another worldly 30+ against NMST.

Cruz was terrible. I watched the game over abd at key times his hesitation absolutely killed drives and momentum. Hard to think he went from pretty good in game one to terrible in game two

PieceOfMeat wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 2:01 am fisch has made really smart PR moves so far as our coach...
i hope he's as good at coaching and recruiting as he is at making PR moves.