What are/were your impressions of Bill Clark? How do you think he will do as JSU's head coach?

(02-22-2013 12:02 AM)Brothers Wrote:  What are/were your impressions of Bill Clark? How do you think he will do as JSU's head coach?

I think he made the transition from high school to college well. I was impressed with Clark's defenses at USA. While we didn't have depth he found ways to keep USA in the games. It was our sputtering offense that killed us. Teams that did have offensive success on USA in the first half were often shut down in the second half, so he can make adjustments. If he can make the adjustments sooner than halftime he could turn out to be a good coach for you guys.

I agree with Skully. CBC was always able to do more with less. His defenses were usually pretty stout and able to adjust in the second half. I'm not involved enough to comment on his recruiting at South, but he seems to have good class this year at JSU. Bottom line is your defense will probably be fine. No idea about his offensive philosophy.

My only complaint is that we always seemed to have trouble with the option. Not sure if it was a philosophy or personnel problem, though.

(02-22-2013 11:45 AM)Tiguar Wrote:  My only complaint is that we always seemed to have trouble with the option. Not sure if it was a philosophy or personnel problem, though.

It always seemed like our defense lacked discipline most of the time. We made a lot of mental and judgement errors against similar talent. It cost us the UTSA game and a few others.

My thought is meh. Hard to say, so few years into a new program, having only faced one year of all FBS/FCS programs. I'd lean more positive than negative, but minor rumblings have come out now that he's gone (no doubt, pretty uncommon in general). It'll be interesting to watch and see how y'all do with him.

(02-22-2013 12:02 AM)Brothers Wrote:  What are/were your impressions of Bill Clark? How do you think he will do as JSU's head coach?

He's a good coach with a great feel for calling defenses. Too emotional on the sidelines and will need to keep his cool better. He got a few penalties for being on the field during play.
Recruiting wasn't his strong suit but that first class at JSU is promising. He had a tendency to not look beyond the next season's needs while recruiting and he'll need to take a longer view to be successful.
Good luck to you guys and the CBC. He certainly helped USA get off to a great start.

Thanks for the replies. We are optimistic that he will do well. He is a grad and this is home for him. We hope that translates into him putting down roots and being here long term. (Of course, only if he wins).
I know he has a reputation for good defense and we need that. We're all very curious to see what kind of offense he will put on the field. Recruiting was very good this year, but many of those recruits were first brought in by the old staff. I was very impressed with how USA played for a start up. It appears that USA has all the resources needed for success. I hope you guys get that on campus stadium soon.

I haven't seen a word I disagree with to your response so far. I also question his personal discipline on the sidelines and how it might have been a major contributor to our problems on the defensive side of the ball with unneccesary, costly 15 yard penalties. In addition, I'm not sure if it was more a lack of talent or a lack of fundamentals on the defensive side causing so many huge BURNS (aka, big plays) to happen at unopportune times last year (?).

Despite all this, for the FCS level especially, I have trouble picturing CBC failing as your new head coach.

All of this talk about discipline and not one specific word? Come on, say it with me...shirttails!

Bill Clark did what he was hired to do, IMO. He built this defense from scratch and kept the Jags in just about every game we played with the exception of a couple. I think he will be a good coach at the FCS level.