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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: What can be done better?
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allen
11/8/2018 1:17 AM
We need to recruit better db’s, they are not able to match up with good MAC offenses. We need better preparation, we start off slow most of the time. We need to uncork Rourke, he is our best weapon, he needs to feel comfortable throwing the ball 30 times a game. We need to vary our routes, Papi runs the stem out route on almost every third down and the defense is able to game plan and sit on it. Finally, the tackling is atrocious, we need more tackling drills. There should not be any start forever prospects for next year.
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Mark Lembright '85
11/8/2018 8:53 AM
allen wrote:expand_more
We need to recruit better db’s, they are not able to match up with good MAC offenses. We need better preparation, we start off slow most of the time. We need to uncork Rourke, he is our best weapon, he needs to feel comfortable throwing the ball 30 times a game. We need to vary our routes, Papi runs the stem out route on almost every third down and the defense is able to game plan and sit on it. Finally, the tackling is atrocious, we need more tackling drills. There should not be any start forever prospects for next year.
All of that, especially better recruiting. We need players that can perform in the crunch, playmakers that perform when needed most.
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allen
11/8/2018 9:02 AM
Mark Lembright '85 wrote:expand_more
We need to recruit better db’s, they are not able to match up with good MAC offenses. We need better preparation, we start off slow most of the time. We need to uncork Rourke, he is our best weapon, he needs to feel comfortable throwing the ball 30 times a game. We need to vary our routes, Papi runs the stem out route on almost every third down and the defense is able to game plan and sit on it. Finally, the tackling is atrocious, we need more tackling drills. There should not be any start forever prospects for next year.
All of that, especially better recruiting. We need players that can perform in the crunch, playmakers that perform when needed most.
I agree
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rpbobcat
11/8/2018 10:09 AM
What I'd like to know is, how exactly do you recruit better players ?

A number of people have posted previously about how hard it is to convince some players to come to Athens.

O.U. also recruits true student-athletes.

I would think both factors limit your talent pool.
Last Edited: 11/8/2018 10:09:21 AM by rpbobcat
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allen
11/8/2018 10:12 AM
rpbobcat wrote:expand_more
What I'd like to know is, how exactly do you recruit better players ?

A number of people have posted previously about how hard it is to convince some players to come to Athens.

O.U. also recruits true student-athletes.

I would think both factors limit your talent pool.
Can we find TJ Wright and Dion Byrum again?
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Buckeye to Bobcat
11/8/2018 10:14 AM
rpbobcat wrote:expand_more
What I'd like to know is, how exactly do you recruit better players ?

A number of people have posted previously about how hard it is to convince some players to come to Athens.

O.U. also recruits true student-athletes.

I would think both factors limit your talent pool.
I get our academic standards are a little higher, but they aren't all that higher for athletes. You guys make it sound like we're recruiting rocket-scientists or Harvard educated lawyers here.....we're not.

The big thing I would say is getting HS coaches with heavy in-state ties on-staff and have a new one coming up your ranks every two years. Bring them in as a director of football ops or whatever and that allows you to begin building goodwill in the state. As long as you can recruit the 3 C's and Western PA, there's no reason why this program should be that bad.

As I have said before, our strength is in our walk-on program. But at some point, the scholarship players have to deliver because it has appeared historically we put walk-on's on scholarship far too often for a program like ours where we shouldn't be striking out on the recruiting trail. Just saying
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rpbobcat
11/8/2018 10:16 AM
allen wrote:expand_more
What I'd like to know is, how exactly do you recruit better players ?

A number of people have posted previously about how hard it is to convince some players to come to Athens.

O.U. also recruits true student-athletes.

I would think both factors limit your talent pool.
Can we find TJ Wright and Dion Byrum again?
They were both gems.

I don't know how highly recruited they were.

Thing is,its not getting occasional standouts,its a consistent talent pool.
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GoCats105
11/8/2018 10:21 AM
rpbobcat wrote:expand_more
What I'd like to know is, how exactly do you recruit better players ?

A number of people have posted previously about how hard it is to convince some players to come to Athens.

O.U. also recruits true student-athletes.

I would think both factors limit your talent pool.
Can we find TJ Wright and Dion Byrum again?
They were both gems.

I don't know how highly recruited they were.

Thing is,its not getting occasional standouts,its a consistent talent pool.
Dion wasn't a Solich recruit and I don't think TJ was either?
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Mark Lembright '85
11/8/2018 10:27 AM
rpbobcat wrote:expand_more
What I'd like to know is, how exactly do you recruit better players ?

A number of people have posted previously about how hard it is to convince some players to come to Athens.

O.U. also recruits true student-athletes.

I would think both factors limit your talent pool.
Somehow Leopold's doing it in Buffalo. Athens is much nicer than Buffalo (no offense to Buffalo) and not nearly as cold or snowy. If Leopold can get players to come to Buffalo, a coach who excels in recruiting can get players to Athens.

That being said, perhaps Buffalo's players aren't true students like Ohio's or maybe Ohio's academic standards are higher, I don't know. If that's the case, then yes that may explain the difference between the two programs and recruiting.
Last Edited: 11/8/2018 12:38:14 PM by Mark Lembright '85
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bobcat695
11/8/2018 10:47 AM
Buffalo has a very strong academic reputation. Ohio isn't exactly Harvard right now...except for the roster.
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Brian Smith (No, not that one)
11/8/2018 11:38 AM
Every program in the country is looking for DBs in this era of the hyper-efficient offense and the un-coverable RPO. I think Ohio's strategy to try to just create as many turnovers as possible is the best way to go for a mid-major program where every DB is going to be under six foot and a bit undersized. The tackling and coverage is bad at all the lower level of college football. It's bad in the power five programs. There's a handful of teams that have great secondaries and they're on a different recruting level than Ohio.

I think Ohio can develop one better than this secondary, but I don't see the Bobcats having lockdown corners anytime soon.
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OU_Country
11/8/2018 12:48 PM
Besides recruiting, the easiest things to do better in my eyes is:

Shake up the coaching staff - get fresh blood in and change up what they're doing. For God's sake, run some plays under center for a different look once in awhile. Demonstrate some imagination more frequently and quit relying on always executing perfectly in the base offense/defense.

Get the damn ball to Papi White 15+ times a game every single game instead of the 4.9 times a game he is averaging right now. Move him around. Get him in space. Besides Nathan Rourke, he's head and shoulders the most dynamic player wearing green & white on the field.

Quit feeding me the "We're going to be a physical football team, and we just have to execute better than the other guys" types of lines. That should be a given, and assumed.
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rpbobcat
11/8/2018 1:00 PM
Mark Lembright '85 wrote:expand_more
Athens is much nicer than Buffalo (no offense to Buffalo) and not nearly as cold or snowy.
But Buffalo has better wings :-)
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Maddog13
11/8/2018 4:49 PM
rpbobcat wrote:expand_more
Athens is much nicer than Buffalo (no offense to Buffalo) and not nearly as cold or snowy.
But Buffalo has better wings :-)
Good wings is, indeed, a plus.
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Donuts
11/8/2018 4:58 PM
Mark Lembright '85 wrote:expand_more
What I'd like to know is, how exactly do you recruit better players ?

A number of people have posted previously about how hard it is to convince some players to come to Athens.

O.U. also recruits true student-athletes.

I would think both factors limit your talent pool.
Somehow Leopold's doing it in Buffalo. Athens is much nicer than Buffalo (no offense to Buffalo) and not nearly as cold or snowy. If Leopold can get players to come to Buffalo, a coach who excels in recruiting can get players to Athens.

That being said, perhaps Buffalo's players aren't true students like Ohio's or maybe Ohio's academic standards are higher, I don't know. If that's the case, then yes that may explain the difference between the two programs and recruiting.
Buffalo is a better school, overall, than Ohio academically.

Buffalo is an actual city, regardless of temperature. Athens is a college town stuck in the middle of poor, predominantly white, hilly America. It's really not hard to see how Buffalo can out recruit Ohio.
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Buckeye to Bobcat
11/8/2018 5:32 PM
Brian Smith wrote:expand_more
Every program in the country is looking for DBs in this era of the hyper-efficient offense and the un-coverable RPO. I think Ohio's strategy to try to just create as many turnovers as possible is the best way to go for a mid-major program where every DB is going to be under six foot and a bit undersized. The tackling and coverage is bad at all the lower level of college football. It's bad in the power five programs. There's a handful of teams that have great secondaries and they're on a different recruting level than Ohio.

I think Ohio can develop one better than this secondary, but I don't see the Bobcats having lockdown corners anytime soon.
If anything needs to adjusted in this era from what I have gathered is linebackers. Linebackers are the driving force between a spread offense dying in its tracks and going for 700 yards. To me, this is the position where your best ATHLETES need to be playing. I am not talking about guys who can jump the highest, these guys need to have serious wheels but brains. I would be recruiting the heck out of guys who are quick but smart and carry a bit of physicality to them. Dunno how to find these off-hand, but to me that is how you kill the spread O in a hurry.
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Bcat2
11/9/2018 8:00 AM
Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:expand_more
Every program in the country is looking for DBs in this era of the hyper-efficient offense and the un-coverable RPO. I think Ohio's strategy to try to just create as many turnovers as possible is the best way to go for a mid-major program where every DB is going to be under six foot and a bit undersized. The tackling and coverage is bad at all the lower level of college football. It's bad in the power five programs. There's a handful of teams that have great secondaries and they're on a different recruting level than Ohio.

I think Ohio can develop one better than this secondary, but I don't see the Bobcats having lockdown corners anytime soon.
If anything needs to adjusted in this era from what I have gathered is linebackers. Linebackers are the driving force between a spread offense dying in its tracks and going for 700 yards. To me, this is the position where your best ATHLETES need to be playing. I am not talking about guys who can jump the highest, these guys need to have serious wheels but brains. I would be recruiting the heck out of guys who are quick but smart and carry a bit of physicality to them. Dunno how to find these off-hand, but to me that is how you kill the spread O in a hurry.
Agree about the LBs vs the spread. This, however, assumes the DL to their front is handling the line of scrimmage. Some examples of LBs you are describing might be; Kieth Moore, Jovon Johnson, Blair Brown, Chad Moore, Q. Poling, Evan Crouch and Ben Russell. Dunno how Ohio found these guys, but, it is not like Ohio has a recent history of poor LBs. What "era" of LB play are you referring to that needs better LB play?
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BillyTheCat
11/9/2018 10:06 AM
Linebackers are only as good as the guys in front of them.
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GoCats105
11/9/2018 11:14 AM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
Linebackers are only as good as the guys in front of them.
Some truth to this. When have Ohio's best years been? When they've had good DLs probably, right?
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SBH
11/9/2018 11:25 AM
Here's a question: Frank long complained that the lack of an IPF kept his team from recruiting top athletes.

We've had the IPF for 4 years now. Are we seeing a benefit?
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Bobcat1996
11/9/2018 3:50 PM
As for recruiting, maybe Ohio should focus more on JC players? The Bulls best WR and future NFL player Anthony Johnson is a JC guy who played in Iowa before going to Buffalo.
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Valley Cat
11/10/2018 8:06 AM
You could have one quality win when you are the favorite to win the conference. This team has me baffled they have totally underachieved. Coaching maybe, recruiting maybe, effort maybe. All I’m sure of is I was fooled to drive four plus to Oxford. Even I will have a hard time convincing myself to drive three hours Wednesday night.
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bshot44
11/10/2018 9:28 AM
Valley Cat wrote:expand_more
You could have one quality win when you are the favorite to win the conference. This team has me baffled they have totally underachieved. Coaching maybe, recruiting maybe, effort maybe. All I’m sure of is I was fooled to drive four plus to Oxford. Even I will have a hard time convincing myself to drive three hours Wednesday night.
Will be a template Ohio plug-n-play season

Wins over Howard, UMass, Kent, BG, Ball, WMU & Akron

Losers to UC, UVa, NIU, Miami & UB

7-5 (5-3) ... bowl eligible

Beat almost all teams with losing records ... except for WMU who will be at best 7-5

Lose to almost all teams with winning records ... except Miami, which checks the bad loss/per season box.

Wash, rinse and repeat.
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Mike Johnson
11/10/2018 11:49 AM
SBH wrote:expand_more
Here's a question: Frank long complained that the lack of an IPF kept his team from recruiting top athletes.

We've had the IPF for 4 years now. Are we seeing a benefit?
Although I contributed to the IPF, it was with misgivings about any positive influence on recruiting. Chief reason for misgivings was - is - Kent's having had an IPF for more than 20 years and having 1 winning season during that span.
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Buckeye to Bobcat
11/10/2018 8:48 PM
Bcat2 wrote:expand_more
Every program in the country is looking for DBs in this era of the hyper-efficient offense and the un-coverable RPO. I think Ohio's strategy to try to just create as many turnovers as possible is the best way to go for a mid-major program where every DB is going to be under six foot and a bit undersized. The tackling and coverage is bad at all the lower level of college football. It's bad in the power five programs. There's a handful of teams that have great secondaries and they're on a different recruting level than Ohio.

I think Ohio can develop one better than this secondary, but I don't see the Bobcats having lockdown corners anytime soon.
If anything needs to adjusted in this era from what I have gathered is linebackers. Linebackers are the driving force between a spread offense dying in its tracks and going for 700 yards. To me, this is the position where your best ATHLETES need to be playing. I am not talking about guys who can jump the highest, these guys need to have serious wheels but brains. I would be recruiting the heck out of guys who are quick but smart and carry a bit of physicality to them. Dunno how to find these off-hand, but to me that is how you kill the spread O in a hurry.
Agree about the LBs vs the spread. This, however, assumes the DL to their front is handling the line of scrimmage. Some examples of LBs you are describing might be; Kieth Moore, Jovon Johnson, Blair Brown, Chad Moore, Q. Poling, Evan Crouch and Ben Russell. Dunno how Ohio found these guys, but, it is not like Ohio has a recent history of poor LBs. What "era" of LB play are you referring to that needs better LB play?

Wasn't saying we were having problems. Just the drop off here from last year hurt, even though I thought our linebackers did well this year. As I have said on other posts, they have accounted for covering up flaws with our defense the last few years (cough, secondary)
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