I am with you Coach Clark

[AppSt94]

(Answering ‘94)

Their jump pass was easy. Both of Malik Williams TD passes in the 2019 New Orleans Bowl were easy, a naked bootleg when the defense bites on the rb sweep is easy.

It’s where you set up an easy score, by getting the defense to sell out on the initial fake.


Saturday our defense was pretty dialed in after the obligatory 1st drive score. The only time JMU inflicted major damage was with the jump pass, when we sold out to stop the short yardage play.

Back to the play calling. We are predictable wirh few wrinkles. And the wrinkles I mentioned above, we abandon. As far as predictability, if it is 3rd and 8 to 3rd and 12 and we are in 4 down territory, we almost always run the ball on 3rd down to set up 4th and manageable. As long as we pick up 4-5 yards, it works. But, it is predictable and defenses could

As far as scheme, in addition to jet sweeps and running misdirection, Satt used to attack one side of a zone defense by having receivers flood the zone ar different levels. The secondary had to pick who to cover and the QB found the open receiver.
And, the QB needs to run 5-10 times a game to make our running game more effective.

Just my armchair viewpoint.

The jump pass was a brilliant design and call. Safeties read run and he steps back. Sometimes you have to tip your cap and say “you got me.”.

Thanks for the clarification on what you view as easy scores. I’d put the TDs to Eli and Jackson in there from Saturday. That doesn’t mitigate the thought but we do have some calls that create those situations from time to time.

I do understand your point on running the ball on 3rd and long. If you aren’t an analytics fan, (and I’m not making assumptions on your position) then I understand why it’s frustrating but it’s the safest way to get yourself in fourth and manageable. Smart can take on the look of scared.

Agree with you on Satt versus Ponce in terms of designs. Not sure what has changed.

[AppSt94]

I don’t understand why many are giving the offense a free pass. We continue to be ineffective on our first two possessions, every game. (We now have 10 points on the combined first two possessions of the first half of our FBS games. We had 1 first down in three 1Q possessions, netting 16 yards)

To carry it further, our first two offensive possessions of the 2nd half:

Clemson: TD, Punt
ECU: Punt, Punt
USA: Turnover on Downs, Punt
Marshall: Punt, INT
Lou: Field Goal, Fumble
GaSt: Punt, TD
ODU: Int, TD
CCU: Punt, INT
JMU: Turnover on Downs, Punt

So, 18 possessions coming out of the locker room after HT—-3 TD’s, 1FG, 8 punts, 2 Turnover on Downs, 3 INT’s, 1 Fumble


That’s 34 points on 38 opening possessions.

Sloan’s Defense is improving. The secondary/coverage is much better and we only gave up two plays over 20
Yards yesterday (the jump pass and one deep pass). The offense Rarely comes out of the gate in either half and puts our defense in short field situations.

Glad for the win, but it’s time for a new offensive scheme.

I have been thinking about the offensive scheme question since yesterday. Is it the scheme, execution of said scheme or is it the playcaller of the scheme?

The scheme/play calling is often predictable.

At the same time, parts of the playbook disappear entirely. Against Coastal we didn’t target tight ends. Yesterday, no passes to backs and Joey didn’t keep the ball, when there were running opportunities.

Jackson had a big gain on a jet sweep earlier this year. But, we haven’t tried it since, to my knowledge. We ran a little two back in early games, then abandoned that. The intermediate passing game also seems to disappear for long stretches.

And then, you have plays of beauty like JMU’s jump pass for an easy TD. We don’t seem to be able to ever have an easy offensive score.

All fair points. So is Frank’s play calling the issue? I think some of the predictability piece could be due to the fact that we have grown accustomed to seeing it each and every week that it looks boring. It’s the same scheme that was used when we won so does it work with the right play caller or is it old? Keeping in mind that Ponce has only ever called plays here. He just may not be very good at it.

I am intrigued by your last comment. What would be considered an “easy offensive score?”

I recall similar inconsistencies his first stint here and a glad he got the opportunity at Miami.

From Saturday’s game, I think the series that tells the tale is when the D handed the offense the ball on the 30. We were up 11 at that time. The goal of that “drive” was play for a FG. 3 consecutive runs up the middle for maybe 2 yards, then FG. We freaking played for a FG. D hands us a golden opportunity and we settle. Go for the TD. At least 1 shot to the endzone… keep the foot on the gas.

I’ll also say, There is a reason Satt passed on him twice as OC.

I went back and looked at the drive chart and I will say that whole drive was a head scratcher as well but for a different reason all together. You are up two scores and it’s the fourth qtr so you know that their opportunities to score are limited. Running the ball three plays should have used up almost 2 minutes of clock, instead it only took :37 seconds off. I would be curious to know the thought process on that drive.

I went back and looked at the game clock. We snapped the 2nd down play at :10 and the 3rd down play at :08 seconds. So we only left :18 seconds on the clock that we could have used.

[bcoach]

If Shawn stays but we get a new DC things will be very different.

But but but we’ve gotta give the new DC time to get his guys. The excuses will never end.

A new DC and there will be no need for excuses. I maintain we don't have the horses but this guy just does not know what to do with what we have.

If we get a new DC and nothing changes there will be a new batch of excuses

I absolutly do not believe that. If there is no change I am confident the house will totaly be cleaned.

[appfanjj]

I double checked this and can't believe I am about to type this. IF we win next week, Clark will finish second in sunbelt east....arguably one of if not the best division in G5. It is hard to fire a coach who finished 2nd in the east.

PS we will have the tie breaker over GS and JMU to finish second.

It’s hard to justify firing any coach with a 10 win and two 9 win seasons in 5 years. That’s a tough thing to explain to any potential replacement that you are trying to hire.

Any potential replacement would 1oo% understand the current situation as well as the expectations.

[AppSt94]

I double checked this and can't believe I am about to type this. IF we win next week, Clark will finish second in sunbelt east....arguably one of if not the best division in G5. It is hard to fire a coach who finished 2nd in the east.

PS we will have the tie breaker over GS and JMU to finish second.

It’s hard to justify firing any coach with a 10 win and two 9 win seasons in 5 years. That’s a tough thing to explain to any potential replacement that you are trying to hire.

Any potential replacement would 1oo% understand the current situation as well as the expectations.

We’ve been turned down before. Hell, Drinkwitz was our third or fourth choice.

[BallantyneApp]

I double checked this and can't believe I am about to type this. IF we win next week, Clark will finish second in sunbelt east....arguably one of if not the best division in G5. It is hard to fire a coach who finished 2nd in the east.

PS we will have the tie breaker over GS and JMU to finish second.

It’s hard to justify firing any coach with a 10 win and two 9 win seasons in 5 years. That’s a tough thing to explain to any potential replacement that you are trying to hire.

Any potential replacement would 1oo% understand the current situation as well as the expectations.

We’ve been turned down before. Hell, Drinkwitz was our third or fourth choice.

I'm not terribly worried about chicken littles turning us down. They blew off making $25MM easy money with the 2019 team (imagine Ledford having to live with a paltry $1MM/yr as a OL coach while Drink makes $9MM/yr leveraging the job he turned down).

There will be tons of interest in our job. Its still the premier job in the SBC and one of the best in G5 where if you succeed lots of P4 interest will turn on.

[BallantyneApp]

If Shawn stays but we get a new DC things will be very different.

But but but we’ve gotta give the new DC time to get his guys. The excuses will never end.

A new DC and there will be no need for excuses. I maintain we don't have the horses but this guy just does not know what to do with what we have.

If we get a new DC and nothing changes there will be a new batch of excuses

I absolutly do not believe that. If there is no change I am confident the house will totaly be cleaned.

I doubt it. We went from 9-3 being not good enough in 2020 and conference championships were the standard to people justifying a losing season in 2024. Hell we had at least one person advocating for a contract extension at 3-5...

[AppSt94]

I double checked this and can't believe I am about to type this. IF we win next week, Clark will finish second in sunbelt east....arguably one of if not the best division in G5. It is hard to fire a coach who finished 2nd in the east.

PS we will have the tie breaker over GS and JMU to finish second.

It’s hard to justify firing any coach with a 10 win and two 9 win seasons in 5 years. That’s a tough thing to explain to any potential replacement that you are trying to hire.

Any potential replacement would 1oo% understand the current situation as well as the expectations.

We’ve been turned down before. Hell, Drinkwitz was our third or fourth choice.

I'm not terribly worried about chicken littles turning us down. They blew off making $25MM easy money with the 2019 team (imagine Ledford having to live with a paltry $1MM/yr as a OL coach while Drink makes $9MM/yr leveraging the job he turned down).

There will be tons of interest in our job. Its still the premier job in the SBC and one of the best in G5 where if you succeed lots of P4 interest will turn on.

I’m not saying that there wouldn’t be interest IF there were to be a vacancy, I’m saying the quality of the interest might surprise some. There are two peer schools within the state of NC with vacancies. Both can pay a lot more than we can.

[AppSt91]

If Shawn stays but we get a new DC things will be very different.

But but but we’ve gotta give the new DC time to get his guys. The excuses will never end.

A new DC and there will be no need for excuses. I maintain we don't have the horses but this guy just does not know what to do with what we have.

If we get a new DC and nothing changes there will be a new batch of excuses

I absolutly do not believe that. If there is no change I am confident the house will totaly be cleaned.

Maybe so but that would just be wasting another year.

[Saint3333]

There are 133 HC jobs in the FBS, 30 of which make less than Clark. Throw in another 100 coordinators that make more for conservatism. From a dollar perspective only this is the 200th best job in college football.

I'm not concerned one bit in the number of qualified applicants at one of the premier G5 programs with a proven track record of pay raises if you're able to succeed.

[appgrad95&97]

Say what you want about him and Georgia Southern, but it looks like Clay Helton, who had P4 head coaching experience and won 2/3 of his games at Southern Cal makes about $200,000 LESS than Clark.

[AppSt94]

Say what you want about him and Georgia Southern, but it looks like Clay Helton, who had P4 head coaching experience and won 2/3 of his games at Southern Cal makes about $200,000 LESS than Clark.

Some of that could have been due to his buyout at USC.

[appgrad95&97]

Say what you want about him and Georgia Southern, but it looks like Clay Helton, who had P4 head coaching experience and won 2/3 of his games at Southern Cal makes about $200,000 LESS than Clark.

Some of that could have been due to his buyout at USC.

Helton got 10 million from USC, Mullen got 12 from Florida. I'm just saying... I completely agree with you that finances hold us back (we probably disagree about why). But there are creative solutions to any problem, if one is willing to admit there is a problem.

[AppSt94]

Say what you want about him and Georgia Southern, but it looks like Clay Helton, who had P4 head coaching experience and won 2/3 of his games at Southern Cal makes about $200,000 LESS than Clark.

Some of that could have been due to his buyout at USC.

Helton got 10 million from USC, Mullen got 12 from Florida. I'm just saying... I completely agree with you that finances hold us back (we probably disagree about why). But there are creative solutions to any problem, if one is willing to admit there is a problem.

Creative solutions only stress out accountants.

I get what you’re saying and there are problems. We disagree on what the problems are and how to fix them. If I thought the head coach were the problem, I’d be all for it.

[BallantyneApp]

It’s hard to justify firing any coach with a 10 win and two 9 win seasons in 5 years. That’s a tough thing to explain to any potential replacement that you are trying to hire.

Any potential replacement would 1oo% understand the current situation as well as the expectations.

We’ve been turned down before. Hell, Drinkwitz was our third or fourth choice.

I'm not terribly worried about chicken littles turning us down. They blew off making $25MM easy money with the 2019 team (imagine Ledford having to live with a paltry $1MM/yr as a OL coach while Drink makes $9MM/yr leveraging the job he turned down).

There will be tons of interest in our job. Its still the premier job in the SBC and one of the best in G5 where if you succeed lots of P4 interest will turn on.

I’m not saying that there wouldn’t be interest IF there were to be a vacancy, I’m saying the quality of the interest might surprise some. There are two peer schools within the state of NC with vacancies. Both can pay a lot more than we can.

Ecu can.

Poggi made the same as Clark.

[AppSt94]

Any potential replacement would 1oo% understand the current situation as well as the expectations.

We’ve been turned down before. Hell, Drinkwitz was our third or fourth choice.

I'm not terribly worried about chicken littles turning us down. They blew off making $25MM easy money with the 2019 team (imagine Ledford having to live with a paltry $1MM/yr as a OL coach while Drink makes $9MM/yr leveraging the job he turned down).

There will be tons of interest in our job. Its still the premier job in the SBC and one of the best in G5 where if you succeed lots of P4 interest will turn on.

I’m not saying that there wouldn’t be interest IF there were to be a vacancy, I’m saying the quality of the interest might surprise some. There are two peer schools within the state of NC with vacancies. Both can pay a lot more than we can.

Ecu can.

Poggi made the same as Clark.

Interesting. I fugred that he made more since it was an AAC school. I still contend that it would look to be a more attractive job as they have more resources and lower expectations.

[hapapp]

But but but we’ve gotta give the new DC time to get his guys. The excuses will never end.

A new DC and there will be no need for excuses. I maintain we don't have the horses but this guy just does not know what to do with what we have.

If we get a new DC and nothing changes there will be a new batch of excuses

I absolutly do not believe that. If there is no change I am confident the house will totaly be cleaned.

I doubt it. We went from 9-3 being not good enough in 2020 and conference championships were the standard to people justifying a losing season in 2024. Hell we had at least one person advocating for a contract extension at 3-5...

My thinking is, if a change is made, it is made to save the HC's job next year. I could imagine that leadership would put it to SC that way. Make a change at season's end and the expectation of a turn around is on the table. I don't think bringing a new DC buys any more time than next season.

[AppSt94]

Based on the most recently released two deep roster, the defense returns 10 starters, and 8 of the 11 guys at #2. That’s 18 of 22 plus Clark at NT and Gooch and Farrar. That is hopeful. You can change the voice in charge but changing the scheme will be a taller task.

[t4pizza]

Based on the most recently released two deep roster, the defense returns 10 starters, and 8 of the 11 guys at #2. That’s 18 of 22 plus Clark at NT and Gooch and Farrar. That is hopeful. You can change the voice in charge but changing the scheme will be a taller task.

That is a ton of returning productivity and we should expect really big things from the defense next year. We have seen glimmers of hope on that side of the ball and one would think that with an extra year of training and preparation, next year should be very good on defense. Of course, I thought that about our offense this year (with the large caveat of the unknown OL which clearly hurt us).

[Saint3333]

Expectations are not allowed.

Talking about what any college team has coming back in November is pointless in the NIL and TP era.