Key to understanding this season

[clemmonsapp]

Drink did a phenomenal job of getting bye-in from a new team and coaching them up to execute nearly flawlessly over and over again. He called the plays and did it well. Satterfield also had the ability to adjust his game plan and though we talked "we run the ball", when he needed to (often in big conference games) he passed first and we blew up teams with diversity. Even under Moore (when Satt. was here) we had a relatively competitive passing game (though less advanced). This year with the bunched sets, lack of advanced passing sets, and change in play calling our offense is abysmal. The "we do what we do" mantra shows a lack of understanding of how flexible we have been in our history. I characterize it as immature - which is in respect to coaching not a personal attack.

The above message about the terrible issues the OC has had to face is interesting. I will remind folks that we were one of the only teams in the country to have a portion of our spring practice (a plus for us). Every other team has had the same issues and many have responded better. Yes - I may feel like I didn't get a fair shake if I were relieved after all the issues this year has wrought. As the decision maker in my office I am responsible for outcomes. Someone feeling bad is secondary if I expect to be successful.

I have expected my staff to perform throughout the pandemic - through changed work conditions, remote work, new programming and funding, etc. They know my expectations and have always exceeded them. There are no excuses. This situation has offered opportunities to innovate and perform. As other entities have struggled, our success has further separated us from our peers. A veteran team with built in advantages of leadership could have had an advantage if handled properly.

[WVAPPeer]

"I have expected my staff to perform throughout the pandemic - through changed work conditions, remote work, new programming and funding, etc. They know my expectations and have always exceeded them. There are no excuses. This situation has offered opportunities to innovate and perform. As other entities have struggled, our success has further separated us from our peers. A veteran team with built in advantages of leadership could have had an advantage if handled properly."

I say in all sincerity I am glad you are a good manager, lord knows we need more in the workplace, but I see little to no correlation comparing a staff of professional adults with 18-22 college students -

[AppStateNews]

"I have expected my staff to perform throughout the pandemic - through changed work conditions, remote work, new programming and funding, etc. They know my expectations and have always exceeded them. There are no excuses. This situation has offered opportunities to innovate and perform. As other entities have struggled, our success has further separated us from our peers. A veteran team with built in advantages of leadership could have had an advantage if handled properly."

I say in all sincerity I am glad you are a good manager, lord knows we need more in the workplace, but I see little to no correlation comparing a staff of professional adults with 18-22 college students -

I think he was referring to Clark's staff, mainly the OC -- not the players

[clemmonsapp]

"I have expected my staff to perform throughout the pandemic - through changed work conditions, remote work, new programming and funding, etc. They know my expectations and have always exceeded them. There are no excuses. This situation has offered opportunities to innovate and perform. As other entities have struggled, our success has further separated us from our peers. A veteran team with built in advantages of leadership could have had an advantage if handled properly."

I say in all sincerity I am glad you are a good manager, lord knows we need more in the workplace, but I see little to no correlation comparing a staff of professional adults with 18-22 college students -

I think he was referring to Clark's staff, mainly the OC -- not the players

Thank you for clarifying my point. I think the commitment of App Football players is extraordinary both on the field and off! Beat Southern.

[MrCraig]

Drink did a phenomenal job of getting bye-in from a new team and coaching them up to execute nearly flawlessly over and over again. He called the plays and did it well. Satterfield also had the ability to adjust his game plan and though we talked "we run the ball", when he needed to (often in big conference games) he passed first and we blew up teams with diversity. Even under Moore (when Satt. was here) we had a relatively competitive passing game (though less advanced). This year with the bunched sets, lack of advanced passing sets, and change in play calling our offense is abysmal. The "we do what we do" mantra shows a lack of understanding of how flexible we have been in our history. I characterize it as immature - which is in respect to coaching not a personal attack.

The above message about the terrible issues the OC has had to face is interesting. I will remind folks that we were one of the only teams in the country to have a portion of our spring practice (a plus for us). Every other team has had the same issues and many have responded better. Yes - I may feel like I didn't get a fair shake if I were relieved after all the issues this year has wrought. As the decision maker in my office I am responsible for outcomes. Someone feeling bad is secondary if I expect to be successful.

I have expected my staff to perform throughout the pandemic - through changed work conditions, remote work, new programming and funding, etc. They know my expectations and have always exceeded them. There are no excuses. This situation has offered opportunities to innovate and perform. As other entities have struggled, our success has further separated us from our peers. A veteran team with built in advantages of leadership could have had an advantage if handled properly.

I've been vocal about how bad our offense has looked this year, but I am willing to give this staff, specifically the OC, a little more time. Everyone needs a chance to correct mistakes, learn, and grow. However, if things still look stagnant and predictable next year? Time to go.

[App91]

Drink did a phenomenal job of getting bye-in from a new team and coaching them up to execute nearly flawlessly over and over again. He called the plays and did it well. Satterfield also had the ability to adjust his game plan and though we talked "we run the ball", when he needed to (often in big conference games) he passed first and we blew up teams with diversity. Even under Moore (when Satt. was here) we had a relatively competitive passing game (though less advanced). This year with the bunched sets, lack of advanced passing sets, and change in play calling our offense is abysmal. The "we do what we do" mantra shows a lack of understanding of how flexible we have been in our history. I characterize it as immature - which is in respect to coaching not a personal attack.

The above message about the terrible issues the OC has had to face is interesting. I will remind folks that we were one of the only teams in the country to have a portion of our spring practice (a plus for us). Every other team has had the same issues and many have responded better. Yes - I may feel like I didn't get a fair shake if I were relieved after all the issues this year has wrought. As the decision maker in my office I am responsible for outcomes. Someone feeling bad is secondary if I expect to be successful.

I have expected my staff to perform throughout the pandemic - through changed work conditions, remote work, new programming and funding, etc. They know my expectations and have always exceeded them. There are no excuses. This situation has offered opportunities to innovate and perform. As other entities have struggled, our success has further separated us from our peers. A veteran team with built in advantages of leadership could have had an advantage if handled properly.

I've been vocal about how bad our offense has looked this year, but I am willing to give this staff, specifically the OC, a little more time. Everyone needs a chance to correct mistakes, learn, and grow. However, if things still look stagnant and predictable next year? Time to go.

I understand your point and i am not advocating anyone losing their job. We don't have another year to give and the larger issue is I have seen nothing that leads me to believe they will correct mistakes, learn and grow. We are still seeing the same issues from game 1, with the same gameplan and plays that are not working. There are no adjustments or changes made, there does not appear to be any recognition of issues. The definition of insanity...

[AppState89]

The biggest question I have is the why has Zac regressed so much from the first three years?

Three coaches in three years?

Fatigue?

Coaching QB/OC?

The true answer to that question will be the key for this off-season.

Broke my heart to watch him miss throws last night. Not how I want one of the best QBs we’ve had go out.

Good luck to him next week we’re going to need him to win against what we all know Sloans gameplan will be.

It really is odd to see a player regress as much as Zac has this year. I am sure having 3 coaches and 3 OCs in 3 years is a very tough issue to deal with as a qb, but it doesn't explain his poor decision making in games. I think an additional factor that you did not mention but might be critical is how much time is Zac spending in the film room and preparing for games week to week. To me the bad decisions in game are usually reflective of poor preparation. This is just my thoughts, I don't have any first hand knowledge at all. Every player I have ever heard speak on the matter always talks about how the game slows down as you gain experience. This is usually because of all the time spent preparing for different scenarios that will come up, as the years go on you have prepared so well that you are not surprised by things that happen in the games. I just don't see that in the way Zac has played this year. During the Troy game, a game that Zac played well in, it was mentioned that after the Coastal loss Zac 'spent more time in the film room and after practice with his receivers'. This really struck me as odd because it is my opinion that he should have been spending that 'extra time' doing those things all season.
Whatever the factors are that have led to his poor play, one thing is clear. The current offensive staff have done nothing to fix the issues or to game plan in a manner that focuses on what Zac can do well and minimizes what he can't. If he is injured, as some have speculated, then the staff should sit him because he is not benefitting the team. If he isn't preparing properly (and the staff should know this) then they should have sat him if for no other reason than to let him know it is unacceptable. If he is just struggling with our OC's game plan, play calls, verbiage, etc then the OC should change it or put in someone who doesn't struggle with it. At the end of the day, it falls on our OC to fix whatever it is that is ailing our QB. I have posted on numerous other threads about this fact, and I won't go on much further but we need an OC that can recognize a struggling player (especially one with the history that Zac has enjoyed) and find a way to fix it. In short, we need a new OC.

You and others are correct. We need a new OC. Look how bad ECU was. Horrible. I will just say I know suggestions are made by players and they go unheard. Some of the weekly game play goes away at game time only to show up on the last drive against ULL. Someone earlier posted how much better Zac looks when we run a more "hurry up" offense. Why not play what how you practice? I'm hoping we beat the doors off of GS this weekend.

[App91]

Concerns-the items that were glaring issues in the first game, penalties, fumbles, playcalling etc, are the same issues that we saw the last game, and every game in between expect really for 1. Expect some of those at the beginning, but good coaches correct those mistakes over a season. For some reason, we have not. I am sure there is plenty of blame to go around. Really, the reasons do not matter, this is results based.

The reasons do matter. As it is the reasons that dictate the results.

No reasons dictate LACK of results. Otherwise results speak for themselves

[AtlAppMan]

One big concern for me (as stated by several above) is that IMO we have not shown any improvement between game 1 and game 10. The same "poor execution stuff" is still going on. Isn't this on coaches? Notable points below:

1. COVID has impacted all teams so don't use it as an excuse
2. We started the season with a decent cupboard of talent and fairly experienced team and should have been able to adapt to challenges better than most teams. We did almost full spring practice
3. Injuries - we have had injuries to deal with in many past years and have had players step up and play, why is this year different? Sutton out in Spring so it should not have changed our prep.
4. Rookie head coach - valid point and we knew that when Clark hired and accepted risk
5. We do have 3rd coaching staff in 3 yrs - that takes a toll and valid but Clark and several assistants, i.e. DC have long history with App so it should have been less impact than last year.

[AppSt94]

Concerns-the items that were glaring issues in the first game, penalties, fumbles, playcalling etc, are the same issues that we saw the last game, and every game in between expect really for 1. Expect some of those at the beginning, but good coaches correct those mistakes over a season. For some reason, we have not. I am sure there is plenty of blame to go around. Really, the reasons do not matter, this is results based.

The reasons do matter. As it is the reasons that dictate the results.

No reasons dictate LACK of results. Otherwise results speak for themselves

Agree to disagree. There are reasons for the results. Your opinion on the root cause of the results belong to you and others are those of picking out the low hanging fruit. It isn’t a one change fix. Changing play callers won’t change the personal executing the plays. Unless you are at practice daily, you have no idea what our young guys strengths and weaknesses are and how that affects the playcalling.

[AppStateNews]

Concerns-the items that were glaring issues in the first game, penalties, fumbles, playcalling etc, are the same issues that we saw the last game, and every game in between expect really for 1. Expect some of those at the beginning, but good coaches correct those mistakes over a season. For some reason, we have not. I am sure there is plenty of blame to go around. Really, the reasons do not matter, this is results based.

The reasons do matter. As it is the reasons that dictate the results.

No reasons dictate LACK of results. Otherwise results speak for themselves

Agree to disagree. There are reasons for the results. Your opinion on the root cause of the results belong to you and others are those of picking out the low hanging fruit. It isn’t a one change fix. Changing play callers won’t change the personal executing the plays. Unless you are at practice daily, you have no idea what our young guys strengths and weaknesses are and how that affects the playcalling.

You're correct in changing play callers won't change the personnel executing the plays. But, changing play callers will take advantage of the strengths of the personnel at hand.

[AppSt94]

Concerns-the items that were glaring issues in the first game, penalties, fumbles, playcalling etc, are the same issues that we saw the last game, and every game in between expect really for 1. Expect some of those at the beginning, but good coaches correct those mistakes over a season. For some reason, we have not. I am sure there is plenty of blame to go around. Really, the reasons do not matter, this is results based.

The reasons do matter. As it is the reasons that dictate the results.

No reasons dictate LACK of results. Otherwise results speak for themselves

Agree to disagree. There are reasons for the results. Your opinion on the root cause of the results belong to you and others are those of picking out the low hanging fruit. It isn’t a one change fix. Changing play callers won’t change the personal executing the plays. Unless you are at practice daily, you have no idea what our young guys strengths and weaknesses are and how that affects the playcalling.

You're correct in changing play callers won't change the personnel executing the plays. But, changing play callers will take advantage of the strengths of the personnel at hand.

You assume that he isn’t.

[AppStateNews]

The reasons do matter. As it is the reasons that dictate the results.

No reasons dictate LACK of results. Otherwise results speak for themselves

Agree to disagree. There are reasons for the results. Your opinion on the root cause of the results belong to you and others are those of picking out the low hanging fruit. It isn’t a one change fix. Changing play callers won’t change the personal executing the plays. Unless you are at practice daily, you have no idea what our young guys strengths and weaknesses are and how that affects the playcalling.

You're correct in changing play callers won't change the personnel executing the plays. But, changing play callers will take advantage of the strengths of the personnel at hand.

You assume that he isn’t.

There's no assumption. It's a fact. He will tell you the same thing. It's not a slight at him. It is what it is.

[Appstate88]

I say the HBC calls the plays and goes and hires a damn good ST coach in the off season.

[hapapp]

We have an experienced ST coach who had a good track record at other places prior to coming to Boone.

[JMappfan5]

Minus one or two early games, our kick coverage has been really good. Punting coverage and punting avg is good. The only negative is short FG%.

[Rick83]

There have been some untimely errors on special teams though, like the missed field goals against Marshall and UL, and those two out of bounds kickoffs against Coastal hurt. Not that it was those things in isolation that caused the losses...but definitely a piece of the puzzle.

[bigdaddyg]

Help me understand the importance of a dedicated special team coach as it relates to making or missing short field goals. For what it’s worth our kicker is the all time points leader in the Belt. Obviously if the offense scores lots of TD’s there are lots of extra points. If the kicker misses some short FG’s how exactly would that have changed with a genius ST coach? I would think that if the kicker has the leg to put the ball in the endzone you do it. If he can consistently hit high kicks to the 3 yard line and coverage stops the return guy inside the 25 even better. I think those decisions can be made by the head coach. I’m not minimizing any coaching position but I believe that whining about the lack of a dedicated ST coach when we miss a 35 yarder is weak.

[AppSt94]

Coaches always reference winning in all three phases of the game. Offense, Defense, and Special Teams. Seems to me that you have to have someone to be the voice of ST.

[hapapp]

If you compare stats from 2019 to 2020, they are virtually the same in terms of conference rankings. Granted stats don't always tell the whole story but they provide a means of comparison.

Staton PAT 3rd (2019) 1st (2020)
FG 8th (2019) (11-16) 4th (2020) (11-17)
Scoring 3rd (2019) 2nd (2020)
Subotsch Punting 4th (2019) 42.7 4th (2020) 42.3

Kick Return Avg 1st (2019) 24.4 4th (2020) 19.5
Kickoff Return Coverage 3rd (2019) 40.3 3rd (2020) 41.1
Punt Return Avg 4th (2019) 9.6 3rd (2020) 10.1
Punt Return Coverage 4th (2019) .9 1 (2020) .7