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All,

I figured it would be appropriate to put the previous comments into 1 thread and keep the conversation going. Below are some of the comments from the South Alabama game thread....

It's early to totally pass judgement, but I think Coach Haynes may be in over his head. I am not a guy who believes you can pin this on Hazell and his lack of recruiting. We won 11 games and went to a bowl game and now we are basically one of the worst teams in the conference. Even with some glaring holes, we should be able to win some games. I think it's a forgone conclusion we will be 0-5 in a few weeks.

It's early to totally pass judgement, but I think Coach Haynes may be in over his head. I am not a guy who believes you can pin this on Hazell and his lack of recruiting. We won 11 games and went to a bowl game and now we are basically one of the worst teams in the conference. Even with some glaring holes, we should be able to win some games. I think it's a forgone conclusion we will be 0-5 in a few weeks.

dannyb73,

Only time will tell with Haynes and if he is in over his head. Hazell seem to be a little more ready to be a head coach, but he won with a lot of Martin's players and not his. If you look at this years depth chart, you don't see a lot of Hazell/staff's recruited players and these are the years that his classes would be juniors/seniors, which if those 2 classes are good than your team is good.

It is amazing how badly their staff missed on LBs & OL. Some of Hazell's staff is still here and some are gone, so who knows.

The following are not excuses, but can't be overlooked as to some of the reasons why this season isn't off to a better start.
*Durden & Clay would be the #1 & #2 RBs this season with Durham out and would be providing more production than they are getting currently, BUT Haynes dismissed them from the team for their bad decisions. Durden & Clay are more talented than the current stable of RBs without Durham.
*Durham should sit out this yr with a redshirt, fully heal and get into top shape for next yr and his chance @ playing FB in NFL. That will allow a few younger RBs to get experience this yr.
*The death of Jason Bitsko from a he was the starting center on the offensive line standpoint, as well as emotional ups/downs for the entire team. Center is the most important position on the offensive line from a calls/audible perspective.
*Haynes seems to be a better recruiter based upon the # of guys he has on the 2 deep currently vs Hazell. Martin still has a few of his guys on the 2 deep (walkons and scholarship).
My friend, I am with you. Bitsko's death threw one helluva an obstacle into the season and is so very real. Not only from an on the field perspective, but an emotional roadblock as well. You essentially lose your top 3 RB's to injuries/dismissals, and it is going to be very hard to run the ball. Not just for KSU, but for any football team.

All that said, this is D1 and you have to win. Excuses are for the birds. Haynes didn't get the job done last year and this year looks pretty damn bleak as 0-5 is pretty much a certainty. How many years does a guy get who doesn't get the job done? If he has a bad campaign next year after starting his head coaching career with 2, does he get a 4th year? Following our MAC Championship appearance, being ranked, almost making the Orange Bowl type season was always going to be near impossible to follow.

That said, Hazell and Haynes seem to have different strengths. Hazell seemed so much more smooth in his approach to things. Seemed to be more refined and motivated guys to overachieve. Haynes probably recruits better but seems to have a more difficult time getting the best from his guys. I hope PH gets things turned around, but losing was in our DNA for so long it took the right combination of players and coaches to get things right and I don't think we can afford to flounder for too long before making a change. I am not calling for it, I just think we have to be very careful.

GFlash68 Wrote:
(09-10-2014 01:39 PM)Slinkin Street Flash Wrote: Losing Bitsko really affects play. If you think about it, he was probably the best lineman (he was the only one ranked in Phil Steele's All-MAC teams), so you need to replace our top lineman with the 6th-best.

Going back the the Hazell era - it was the line that made the difference. The wins started when the line was shuffled. When the 2 NFL-caliber linemen graduated, we went back to the level we used to be. When you have 2 guys that are headed to the NFL, and the rest of the league has defensive linemen who are only going to get into an NFL game if they buy a ticket, you're going to win a bunch of games.

And Hazell's results at Purdue show you that the 11-3 record wasn't the result of the coaching.

AGREEDI know it's en vogue and easier to just ***** and moan, but I'd have to say I AGREE as well. 03-wink