Asack? Are you kidding?
Granted, he was instructed to run to the left and then to the right...and then to the right again. That series was a complete joke. I could buy into the first two plays if he would've run left or right and then dropped back for a pass.
We went from go for broke to the Mike McGee offense after the second offensive series. Steve Spurrier took a slow, mediocre running back and made him an All ACC tight end (Carl Franks). There needs to be some similar imagination to this edition. After the first series, there was very little misdirection and more of the same stretch plays that don't work at Duke because the O line weren't able to hold their blocks. Find a solid O line amidst what we have and a punter. That would've helped us immensely yesterday.
To be consistent, the Alleva naysayers(such as myself) will say "Danowski inherited a team put together by Mike Pressler. Give it a couple years."
Not sure if he was a committee hire, but Danowski definitely did a great job last year and with 5 seniors returning for their 5th year, our chances at competing again for a national title are very good.
Last edited by YmoBeThere; 09-02-2007 at 11:13 PM. Reason: Clarify my competing again comment
Didn't Alleva hire Coach P? Presumably she brought with her a winning record too. Rennie is a long-timer but I'm not so sure about the women's soccer coach. Golf and Tennis - I don't know, they seem to have done very well lately, and if they've really been around that long, Alleva probably extended them, so he should get a bit of credit for that too.
Not to minimize the baseball fiasco, and the long-term football struggles. Certainly you might get a different picture if you only look at the revenue sports, and if you only conisder the non-hoops side of revenue sports, well, it might look like a bleak record indeed. But I'm not sure you should really ignore big chunks of his job - it seems like you're drawing a predetermined conclusion.
Last edited by YmoBeThere; 09-03-2007 at 12:21 AM.
I love Spurrier, but he strongly recommended Carl Franks to Alleva.They should talk to Spurrier, too. Not so much to bring him back, but to get his advice. If Spurrier goes to the trouble to vote for Duke in the first coaches' poll, I would think he cares about the program and would like to see it do well (to justify his vote, even if it is more of a thank-you).
Cspan, I was about to post a similar response, but then I reread the original post. I think what dkbaseball was trying to say was that no coach that Alleva has hired has had a winning record after coming to Duke. For whatever reason, as indicated by Bluedawg's post, he forgot about Danowski. I suspect there are others, but I don't know that for sure...
JBDuke
Andre Dawkins: “People ask me if I can still shoot, and I ask them if they can still breathe. That’s kind of the same thing.”
Ben was just cut by the Cardinals
http://mvn.com/nfl-cardinals/2007/09...im-by-mistake/
But he had a great year at Delaware (the 06 season) - his receiving yards were about double what he had at Duke each of the prior 2 years.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player...layerId=135925
Ben had such a good final year at Delaware that he was thought to go higher in the draft - about the 3 round - so when he went later, this was a disappointment to him.
Watzone, Train, certainly Bill Brill would have better info. as to the disappointments, disenchantment shared by ball players when leaving early.
Ben probably wanted some assurances as to the type of offense Duke would run in 06. My guess also is that some of the coaching turnover initiated by Roof alienated him.
What if Ben had stayed and we threw to him more often? We might have won a game or two, Ben might have gone higher in the draft, and might have been slightly better prepared for the NFL. It is not just Duke who loses when a key or potentially key player transfers. For example, had Delle Donne stayed, he might have started in 06 - now he sits on the bench, at least for now.
Bill Brill commented about the attrition of players under Roof - as this was concerning.
Getting back to Ben, who was one of the, if not the highest rated recruit brought in by Franks, my sense is that he did not have confidence in the game day coaching, signal calling, and therefore did not have a strong sense that his talents would be used to full potential. He had one more year to perform. And the Delaware staff provided assurances regarding offensive style that Duke, Roof did not.
Players Ben Patrick, Tyler Krieg and others have provided valuable information about whatever disconnects with Roof and his staff. Alleva and others in the AD interviewed these guys before they left and have the info.
An anolgoy from the business world: fairly often an insecure manager will prefer younger, less experienced workers to more experienced workers who may possess greater knowledge and ability, but who also would be more likely to question or disagree with decisions. The company suffers - not utilizing the best talent available.
A head football coach is a manager of coaches and players. He should be able to deal with strong, opinionated players and staff. It should be all about putting the best team, best coached team on the field, of helping players reach their full potential on and off the field. It should be about allowing assistant coaches to work to their potential.
When leaving, a player may or may not give a full accounting of the issues they see with a program. What is the upside? None that I can think of...downside is that they will think you are mean-spirited, disgruntled, etc. Better just to say, "Well I liked this and this, but thought I would have a better opportunity at XXXX University" and be on your merry way. This happens often in exit interviews from first hand experience, why should I give you the whole story again when you wouldn't listen to me when I was your employee and was giving you the whole story?
Speaking of Duke NFL cuts, Drew Strojny was cut recently by the Saint Louis Rams.
Last edited by throatybeard; 09-03-2007 at 01:26 PM.
A movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about it.
---Roger Ebert
Some questions cannot be answered
Who’s gonna bury who
We need a love like Johnny, Johnny and June
---Over the Rhine
Thanks JBD; you were right, I read it differently.
A-HEM!
I mean not to dump on Roof, but perhpas Duke needs to really go out on a limb IF they want to go after a program changer. I mean heck, it can't get much worse.
To continue the theme, to be fair, "Spurrier inherited a team put together by Coach Sloan. Give it a couple of years." He stayed three, he left the cubbard bare. Barry Wilson suffered a couple of years with minimal talent, then just as the team matured, he was shown the door (or more accurately, went through it before it slammed behind him.) Goldsmith took the players Wilson recruited, had one good season with Wilson's players (with lucky scheduling) and then didn't get any players. Franks came in without much talent, finally recruited a few, but showed he couldn't coach. Roof inherited a team at the middle of a season with some talent, did some good things the rest of the season, then lost most of the talent. The jury is still out as to whether he can recruit AND coach. (I realize most here don't believe in the latter.)
What I think Duke needs is some Cowher Power (or Cahr Pahr, if you speak Pittsburghese).
I mean, just look at that jaw! Doesn't that just exude hard-nosed football?
Of course, this would be contingent on the Redskins and Panthers jobs not becoming open in the offseason.