Dillon Graff is far and away the most inciteful person out there commenting on Badger football. Anyway, since last year, I've become convinced that Fickell simply cannot successfully coach Big Ten football. He had a losing record at Ohio State for heaven's sake. Place him in a conference with a lot of easy marks and he's fine. Of immediate concern, however, if they don't handily beat Maryland at home next week while showing tremendous improvement on both sides of the ball (particularly in that horrible offensive line), we're staring at a not too pleasant remainder of the season.
You all are enamored of Grimes and his system but you don’t hold him responsible at all the way you do with Fickell and the absolute hatred targeted at Longo. Yet this OL coach with the “everything starts with running the football” is literally the major failure through three games. You think Amari Lattimer wants to get chewed up and spit out in this system? I’m still all in on Grimes (and Fickell) but it’s going to take a year. Let these young OL get pounded and they’re going to come back better, stronger and meaner next year. Then we will run downhill. But for now we have to watch Fickell’s first recruiting class get schooled.
With Jeff Grimes, I’m willing to give him a pass right now, and that has everything to do with the fact that he’s working with a backup quarterback and a patchwork o-line. With this young and constantly shuffled group up front, I don’t think we’re seeing the full scope of what his offense is capable of. That said, I’ve been impressed with his ability to scheme up yardage in certain spots, and at least I feel like I can see the vision. I never really felt that way with Phil Longo, and that’s why I’m more inclined to give Grimes some grace.
Obviously, nobody’s pretending he’s got it all figured out. I gave this unit a D- in my report card, and that’s the group he’s directly responsible for, so the criticism is on record. But I agree with you, the offensive line is the glaring issue right now. If these guys get battle-tested this season against a brutal schedule, the hope is they come back next year better, stronger, and more experienced.
Dillon Graff is far and away the most inciteful person out there commenting on Badger football. Anyway, since last year, I've become convinced that Fickell simply cannot successfully coach Big Ten football. He had a losing record at Ohio State for heaven's sake. Place him in a conference with a lot of easy marks and he's fine. Of immediate concern, however, if they don't handily beat Maryland at home next week while showing tremendous improvement on both sides of the ball (particularly in that horrible offensive line), we're staring at a not too pleasant remainder of the season.
You all are enamored of Grimes and his system but you don’t hold him responsible at all the way you do with Fickell and the absolute hatred targeted at Longo. Yet this OL coach with the “everything starts with running the football” is literally the major failure through three games. You think Amari Lattimer wants to get chewed up and spit out in this system? I’m still all in on Grimes (and Fickell) but it’s going to take a year. Let these young OL get pounded and they’re going to come back better, stronger and meaner next year. Then we will run downhill. But for now we have to watch Fickell’s first recruiting class get schooled.
With Jeff Grimes, I’m willing to give him a pass right now, and that has everything to do with the fact that he’s working with a backup quarterback and a patchwork o-line. With this young and constantly shuffled group up front, I don’t think we’re seeing the full scope of what his offense is capable of. That said, I’ve been impressed with his ability to scheme up yardage in certain spots, and at least I feel like I can see the vision. I never really felt that way with Phil Longo, and that’s why I’m more inclined to give Grimes some grace.
Obviously, nobody’s pretending he’s got it all figured out. I gave this unit a D- in my report card, and that’s the group he’s directly responsible for, so the criticism is on record. But I agree with you, the offensive line is the glaring issue right now. If these guys get battle-tested this season against a brutal schedule, the hope is they come back next year better, stronger, and more experienced.
That’s where growth has to show up.