not that my opinion means anything....
1) the defense.. - it takes our DC almost the entire game at Wake to give safety help to our corners; was very obvious in the stands that needed to happen earlier and was inexcusable not to happen (and was also obvious the prior two weeks against Furman and La Tech that we either had issues at corner or extremely poor communication between safety and corner). As a result, that one game has been really hard for me to get on the Wes Goodwin bandwagon. However, thinking back to the great Venables' defenses... you had really good corner play and believe the worst of the corners that started consistently (probably Gary Peters) under BV once the BV bandwagon got rolling was probably better than either corner we had this year. Let's say you had Goodrich and Booth (Or Mullen and Terrell) - how much better would our defense had looked? Yes, it seemed like the DL was a disappointment, but how much was the overall by-product of a scheme that needed better corners (and yes, if so, you obviously need to adjust your scheme). I don't know but that is a legit question I think. And I do think Pride and Wiggins can be really good but Wiggins will never be as physical as many of his predecessors.
2) Coaching staff/OC/Transfer Portal - think nothing more needs to be said here other than we are paying a head coach $11MM/year and he is coaching with one hand tied behind his back. Clearly, there needs to be multiple changes made with staff and changes to correct past recruiting misevaluations with some use of the portal. Our WR coach/head coach don't think we need to use the portal but we end up with Swinney playing wideout on a critical third down with 10 minutes to go in the game last night. And, I may be the only one but I, for one would have rather had him out there than a checked out EJ Williams (like we did late) but that just screams why you need to use the portal
3) Last night.... it is extremely hard to run 57 plays on the opponent's side of the field and wind up with 14 points but somehow we managed to do it... I may be in the minority but I thought Cade played pretty well last night. He is no DW or TL but he is plenty good enough with the right people with him. Yes, some experience will probably help him outgrow a couple of things with pocket presence and you can't make the play he did right before halftime but you shouldn't have wasted a timeout to try a 55 yard field goal early in the game but we did. Yet, nobody bashes Dabo for it (I would have punted but can easily see why you kicked - just don't waste a TO) like they want to bash Cade.... the fake FG - maybe Swinney is left handed (I have no idea) but you run the fake to the left with a guy who has never been an option QB and a kicker who has never been a RB... yes it was open if you pitch it. And,, you may make it at times but what happened was a more probable result. Same thing with the Davis Allen throw.. yes, it was open but the more probable result happened (still can't believe Davis Allen attempted more passes inside the 35 yard line than rushes Ship and Mafah had in the first half)
4) Overall trend of the program - I think we all knew as soon as NIL was announced that we would have a hard time staying competitive. And, I still think that is likely the case to be where we were from 2015-2020; however, we can be MUCH better than we are now if the coach who makes $11MM does what needs to be done - get some better coaches and utilize the portal where it makes sense (like a handful a year). I think we have a very limited window to do this but think we can get back real quick to a Top 10 program (with a legit shot in the right year to win it) as I do see a lot of young talent coming into the program on the trenches... and see guys like a Cole Turner, Woodaz, Antonio Williams that can play. And, I think Cade can be plenty enough good. But we need to embrace change now and realize it is 2022 in college football and not 2018 anymore
1) the defense.. - it takes our DC almost the entire game at Wake to give safety help to our corners; was very obvious in the stands that needed to happen earlier and was inexcusable not to happen (and was also obvious the prior two weeks against Furman and La Tech that we either had issues at corner or extremely poor communication between safety and corner). As a result, that one game has been really hard for me to get on the Wes Goodwin bandwagon. However, thinking back to the great Venables' defenses... you had really good corner play and believe the worst of the corners that started consistently (probably Gary Peters) under BV once the BV bandwagon got rolling was probably better than either corner we had this year. Let's say you had Goodrich and Booth (Or Mullen and Terrell) - how much better would our defense had looked? Yes, it seemed like the DL was a disappointment, but how much was the overall by-product of a scheme that needed better corners (and yes, if so, you obviously need to adjust your scheme). I don't know but that is a legit question I think. And I do think Pride and Wiggins can be really good but Wiggins will never be as physical as many of his predecessors.
2) Coaching staff/OC/Transfer Portal - think nothing more needs to be said here other than we are paying a head coach $11MM/year and he is coaching with one hand tied behind his back. Clearly, there needs to be multiple changes made with staff and changes to correct past recruiting misevaluations with some use of the portal. Our WR coach/head coach don't think we need to use the portal but we end up with Swinney playing wideout on a critical third down with 10 minutes to go in the game last night. And, I may be the only one but I, for one would have rather had him out there than a checked out EJ Williams (like we did late) but that just screams why you need to use the portal
3) Last night.... it is extremely hard to run 57 plays on the opponent's side of the field and wind up with 14 points but somehow we managed to do it... I may be in the minority but I thought Cade played pretty well last night. He is no DW or TL but he is plenty good enough with the right people with him. Yes, some experience will probably help him outgrow a couple of things with pocket presence and you can't make the play he did right before halftime but you shouldn't have wasted a timeout to try a 55 yard field goal early in the game but we did. Yet, nobody bashes Dabo for it (I would have punted but can easily see why you kicked - just don't waste a TO) like they want to bash Cade.... the fake FG - maybe Swinney is left handed (I have no idea) but you run the fake to the left with a guy who has never been an option QB and a kicker who has never been a RB... yes it was open if you pitch it. And,, you may make it at times but what happened was a more probable result. Same thing with the Davis Allen throw.. yes, it was open but the more probable result happened (still can't believe Davis Allen attempted more passes inside the 35 yard line than rushes Ship and Mafah had in the first half)
4) Overall trend of the program - I think we all knew as soon as NIL was announced that we would have a hard time staying competitive. And, I still think that is likely the case to be where we were from 2015-2020; however, we can be MUCH better than we are now if the coach who makes $11MM does what needs to be done - get some better coaches and utilize the portal where it makes sense (like a handful a year). I think we have a very limited window to do this but think we can get back real quick to a Top 10 program (with a legit shot in the right year to win it) as I do see a lot of young talent coming into the program on the trenches... and see guys like a Cole Turner, Woodaz, Antonio Williams that can play. And, I think Cade can be plenty enough good. But we need to embrace change now and realize it is 2022 in college football and not 2018 anymore
