https://espn1530.iheart.com/featured/lan...kell-pass/


UC football: Pass, patience and the R word.

posted by Lance McAlister - 2 hours ago

UC football: The Fickell Pass

The last three weeks of UC football have been difficult to watch: A 42-32 loss to Navy that included allowing 569 yards rushing, a 38-21 home loss to Marshall and Saturday's weather shortened 51-23 home loss to Central Florida have offered a sobering reality of the situation.

The Bearcats are 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the American. It's UC's first 2-4 start since 2004. UC is a Chuck Martin/Miami meltdown away from being 1-5. The Bearcats have led just 53:57 minutes this season, while trailing or being tied for 344:57. The 51 points allowed to UCF are the most allowed in a loss at Nippert since 1998, in 52-34 loss to Tulane. UCF's 51 points came in just three quarters, before weather forced the cancellation of the game.

UC opened as a 24.5 point underdog at South Florida this Saturday.

Last month, OSU coach Urban Meyer told CBS Sports it drives him "insane" when coaches blame players they inherited from a previous staff for struggles of the program.

"Players read that," Meyer added. "Those are your players. I hear TV guys [say], 'Wait until they get their own players in there.' They're our players. What do you mean 'their players?' The minute you sign a contract, they're your players."

I'm not here to blame the players. Fickell certainly hasn't blamed his players. But let's deal with reality.The blame for this situation begins at the feet of Tommy Tuberville, right next to his golf bag. He left behind a roster lacking speed and playmaking ability and in need of an overall upgrade in talent.

Tuberville was fired because he was a poor/disinterested/disengaged recruiter. His last two recruiting classes were ranked No. 65 nationally in 2015 and No. 79 in 2016 by 24/7 Sports.

Compounding this issue is that Fickell inherits a young team. Coaches inheriting losing situations want older teams. Why? Because that means the players they did not recruit and/or that don't fit their system, will soon be moving out of the program and creating available scholarships.

According to UC game notes, 77 of the 112 players (69.0 percent) on the UC roster this season are true freshman, redshirt freshman and sophomores. So, 48 of those players (42.8) are Tuberville recruits and will be around 2-3 more seasons. 35 of his recruits are junior and seniors. I count 29 true freshman (25.8 percent) that make up Fickell's first recruiting class.

Fickell's first class was rated No. 1 in the American Athletic Conference. According to Bearcat Journal, UC's 2018 class is currently ranked No. 1 class in the American and No. 43 overall. Just last week, Fickell added UC's top RB target, Ryan Montgomery of Franklin High School.

It will be at least more two recruiting classes and two more seasons before we start to see Fickell's vision of UC football. That's not an excuse. It is reality.

That doesn't absolve Fickell of all blame and responsibility. The Bearcats have looked undisciplined and unprepared at times this season. They have been outscored 62-14 in the first quarter of games. The personal fouls and repeated breakdowns in the secondary have been alarming. Saturday night UC committed nine penalties, including eight in the first half: three false starts, an illegal snap, an ineligible receiver downfield and three personal fouls.

For now, fans are left to deal with a situation left behind by Tuberville. Fickell is left to try and hold what's left of this season together, while getting his freshman more and more snaps.

The bottom line: This city has rebuild fatigue. I've heard boos early and often the last two games at Nippert. Just over 27,000 were on hand Saturday night. Six games remain in the season, including three home games. Going 4-2 to be bowl eligible seems like a pipe dream.

Are UC fans patient enough to deal with this? Are fans willing to grant Fickell a pass?

We are about to find out.

(10-10-2017 10:21 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  https://espn1530.iheart.com/featured/lan...kell-pass/


UC football: Pass, patience and the R word.

posted by Lance McAlister - 2 hours ago

UC football: The Fickell Pass

The last three weeks of UC football have been difficult to watch: A 42-32 loss to Navy that included allowing 569 yards rushing, a 38-21 home loss to Marshall and Saturday's weather shortened 51-23 home loss to Central Florida have offered a sobering reality of the situation.

The Bearcats are 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the American. It's UC's first 2-4 start since 2004. UC is a Chuck Martin/Miami meltdown away from being 1-5. The Bearcats have led just 53:57 minutes this season, while trailing or being tied for 344:57. The 51 points allowed to UCF are the most allowed in a loss at Nippert since 1998, in 52-34 loss to Tulane. UCF's 51 points came in just three quarters, before weather forced the cancellation of the game.

UC opened as a 24.5 point underdog at South Florida this Saturday.

Last month, OSU coach Urban Meyer told CBS Sports it drives him "insane" when coaches blame players they inherited from a previous staff for struggles of the program.

"Players read that," Meyer added. "Those are your players. I hear TV guys [say], 'Wait until they get their own players in there.' They're our players. What do you mean 'their players?' The minute you sign a contract, they're your players."

I'm not here to blame the players. Fickell certainly hasn't blamed his players. But let's deal with reality.The blame for this situation begins at the feet of Tommy Tuberville, right next to his golf bag. He left behind a roster lacking speed and playmaking ability and in need of an overall upgrade in talent.

Tuberville was fired because he was a poor/disinterested/disengaged recruiter. His last two recruiting classes were ranked No. 65 nationally in 2015 and No. 79 in 2016 by 24/7 Sports.

Compounding this issue is that Fickell inherits a young team. Coaches inheriting losing situations want older teams. Why? Because that means the players they did not recruit and/or that don't fit their system, will soon be moving out of the program and creating available scholarships.

According to UC game notes, 77 of the 112 players (69.0 percent) on the UC roster this season are true freshman, redshirt freshman and sophomores. So, 48 of those players (42.8) are Tuberville recruits and will be around 2-3 more seasons. 35 of his recruits are junior and seniors. I count 29 true freshman (25.8 percent) that make up Fickell's first recruiting class.

Fickell's first class was rated No. 1 in the American Athletic Conference. According to Bearcat Journal, UC's 2018 class is currently ranked No. 1 class in the American and No. 43 overall. Just last week, Fickell added UC's top RB target, Ryan Montgomery of Franklin High School.

It will be at least more two recruiting classes and two more seasons before we start to see Fickell's vision of UC football. That's not an excuse. It is reality.

That doesn't absolve Fickell of all blame and responsibility. The Bearcats have looked undisciplined and unprepared at times this season. They have been outscored 62-14 in the first quarter of games. The personal fouls and repeated breakdowns in the secondary have been alarming. Saturday night UC committed nine penalties, including eight in the first half: three false starts, an illegal snap, an ineligible receiver downfield and three personal fouls.

For now, fans are left to deal with a situation left behind by Tuberville. Fickell is left to try and hold what's left of this season together, while getting his freshman more and more snaps.

The bottom line: This city has rebuild fatigue. I've heard boos early and often the last two games at Nippert. Just over 27,000 were on hand Saturday night. Six games remain in the season, including three home games. Going 4-2 to be bowl eligible seems like a pipe dream.

Are UC fans patient enough to deal with this? Are fans willing to grant Fickell a pass?

We are about to find out.

Coach International Man Of Leisure.

I actually hate Lance McAllister more than almost any other sports writer in the world, but this is fairly well written and provides a take that I think most people need to understand.

This is going to take time. You can't reverse 4 years of bad decisions in one season.

I think the team takes a big turn after their bye week.

Lance is very often awful, but as Billy likes to tell me, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Good job Lance.

I totally agree with Lance's article. This will take time. For now, if there are fewer wide open USF WRs and TEs in the middle of the field this week, I will consider that progress. You can't coach speed but you can coach better positioning.

Can't disagree with anything Lance said here. We have talent issues but the coaching hasn't exactly been stellar either. We'll just have to be patient which is a tough thing to do. It's been so long since we've sniffed the top 25 and to think it's not in reach any time soon it's going to be hard to keep this fanbase energized.

That's the same alert some have been sounding since March. Too many didn't want to (or couldn't) see the teees for the forest.

The roster is a friggin' mess. Holes in multiple position groups you can drive a damned truck through. Freshman all over the two deep because there is often nobody else up the line. Team speed is terrible.

IMO, the staff only has a handful of jobs this year. Continue to change the loser mindset acquired the last 4 years. Instill the right way of doing things to overcome non existent player development since 2013. Keep the team fighting and into it - they quit and the fans will too. And recruit their asses off to upgrade every position.

That's the list.

Someone must have informed Lance that UC football exists.

This is a great article though, I can't disagree with anything he said.

But, if we were 5-1 right now, I'm sure Lance would still have no trouble finding negatives to write about.

First off, what does "The R Word" mean? What is he referring to here?

Secondly, I get it that Fickell has taken over a young and less talented team, but so far I'm not at all impressed with his ability to even get them to do the small things well. UC looks undisciplined is almost every area and the amount of bad/dumb/unforced penalties and mistakes is atrocious. Fickell has a long way to go to prove he can head coach at this level.

(10-10-2017 02:37 PM)nachoman91 Wrote:  First off, what does "The R Word" mean? What is he referring to here?

I don't know but we're, apparently, not allowed to say it.

I thought it meant "recruiting"....as in we half-assed it since the end of Obama's first term...

R might be for Rebuild. Since that is all that Reds and Bengals teams know how to do.

Rebuild ?

(10-10-2017 03:01 PM)gerhard911 Wrote:  Rebuild ?

LOL beat you buy a Second.

(10-10-2017 02:37 PM)nachoman91 Wrote:  First off, what does "The R Word" mean? What is he referring to here?

Secondly, I get it that Fickell has taken over a young and less talented team, but so far I'm not at all impressed with his ability to even get them to do the small things well. UC looks undisciplined is almost every area and the amount of bad/dumb/unforced penalties and mistakes is atrocious. Fickell has a long way to go to prove he can head coach at this level.

I don't mean to completely excuse this, but to put things in perspective, just ask yourself how often does a team that is getting its butt kicked by one that is bigger, stronger, faster ever really look good? A lot of times, when players are physically overmatched, the mental game goes out the window, too.

There may be some coaching errors in terms of going for it on 4th and 1 from their own 30 against Miami, or not calling time-out here or there, but I think a lot of the mistakes we are seeing on the field are on the players not the coaches. These players are making the same mistakes they made under the last regime. The coaches are not out there on the field, but I trust that this staff is doing everything they can to teach them otherwise going back to when they first got here, through spring and fall and during the week. Unfortunately, some guys aren't coachable.

(10-10-2017 03:10 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(10-10-2017 02:37 PM)nachoman91 Wrote:  First off, what does "The R Word" mean? What is he referring to here?

Secondly, I get it that Fickell has taken over a young and less talented team, but so far I'm not at all impressed with his ability to even get them to do the small things well. UC looks undisciplined is almost every area and the amount of bad/dumb/unforced penalties and mistakes is atrocious. Fickell has a long way to go to prove he can head coach at this level.

I don't mean to completely excuse this, but to put things in perspective, just ask yourself how often does a team that is getting its butt kicked by one that is bigger, stronger, faster ever really look good? A lot of times, when players are physically overmatched, the mental game goes out the window, too.

Well said. I think we all were hoping the UC performance against Austin Peay was an aberration. How could an FCS team from the lowly OVC come into Nippert and flash such speed and offensive capability? Now we know.

I remain convinced Fickell was the best coach available to UC. That's not to say I'm enjoying what may be a two to four win season. But right now, two more wins would provide a measure of hope for 2018 and beyond.

(10-10-2017 03:10 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(10-10-2017 02:37 PM)nachoman91 Wrote:  First off, what does "The R Word" mean? What is he referring to here?

Secondly, I get it that Fickell has taken over a young and less talented team, but so far I'm not at all impressed with his ability to even get them to do the small things well. UC looks undisciplined is almost every area and the amount of bad/dumb/unforced penalties and mistakes is atrocious. Fickell has a long way to go to prove he can head coach at this level.

I don't mean to completely excuse this, but to put things in perspective, just ask yourself how often does a team that is getting its butt kicked by one that is bigger, stronger, faster ever really look good? A lot of times, when players are physically overmatched, the mental game goes out the window, too.

eh, there are plenty of teams that punch above their weight because they are well coached but not very talented. We're in the bottom third in penalties and turnover margin. Lot's of boneheaded plays. But more than that we look simply unprepared on defense at times. Like we don't know what play is coming and aren't close to the ball wherever it goes (as opposed to just being outmatched by bigger, faster, stronger players). Has the feel of the 2015 season in that regard. But I'll agree we were outmatched by Michigan, UCF and possibly Navy. But I didn't see a physical mismatch against Austin Peay, Miami or Marshall (who was 3-9 last year and squeaked by Miami and then Charlotte this past weekend).

(10-10-2017 03:43 PM)Racinejake Wrote:  

(10-10-2017 03:10 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(10-10-2017 02:37 PM)nachoman91 Wrote:  First off, what does "The R Word" mean? What is he referring to here?

Secondly, I get it that Fickell has taken over a young and less talented team, but so far I'm not at all impressed with his ability to even get them to do the small things well. UC looks undisciplined is almost every area and the amount of bad/dumb/unforced penalties and mistakes is atrocious. Fickell has a long way to go to prove he can head coach at this level.

I don't mean to completely excuse this, but to put things in perspective, just ask yourself how often does a team that is getting its butt kicked by one that is bigger, stronger, faster ever really look good? A lot of times, when players are physically overmatched, the mental game goes out the window, too.

eh, there are plenty of teams that punch above their weight because they are well coached but not very talented. We're in the bottom third in penalties and turnover margin. Lot's of boneheaded plays. But more than that we look simply unprepared on defense at times. Like we don't know what play is coming and aren't close to the ball wherever it goes (as opposed to just being outmatched by bigger, faster, stronger players). Has the feel of the 2015 season in that regard. But I'll agree we were outmatched by Michigan, UCF and possibly Navy. But I didn't see a physical mismatch against Austin Peay, Miami or Marshall (who was 3-9 last year and squeaked by Miami and then Charlotte this past weekend).

Try punching above your weight when you have a lot of guys who are not that good at punching.

Edit: wait I missed this. Possibly Navy? And you didn't see any physical mismatches against Marshal? I saw a maddening amount of physical mismatches in both games. That should never happen. But it has.

We are now on our third placekicker. Gantz, whether hurt or not, couldn't retake the job. Paisley is unreliable and kicks it too low. I don't know where this third kicker comes from, but should Fickell get a JUCO or transfer to take on kicking duties next year? Fickell has praised our punter, but nothing I've seen suggests that he is that terrific, either. Perhaps it's his hang time on 35-yard punts? And then our running back situation, supposedly a strength? After all the early season hype over Doaks and Warren, those two combined for 8 carries against UCF, while our QB, Hayden Moore, ran it 13 times. Perhaps the coaching staff thinks Moore is disposable, because why else would you run your QB 13 times when he is neither fast nor particularly mobile, while your Mr. Ohio Football (Warren) and Doaks, your primary RB in-waiting, run it a combined 8 times. When is the last time you saw UC use play-action? These are the kinds of puzzling coaching decisions we are seeing every week. And incidentally, the UCF and Memphis and Navy and Marshall freshman and sophomore RB's all seem faster than either Doaks or Warren. Don't get me started on our speed, or lack of it, in the defensive secondary. Our overall team speed is the poorest of any major college team I've seen this year.