12-29-2019, 01:47 PM
Let me preface this by saying first that my thoughts are worth exactly what you're paying for them (maybe less). And second, I fully support Bill Clark. Clark is the best thing ever to happen for UAB Football and it is no stretch to say that football at UAB wouldn't exist without him.
1. Probably more than most fans, I appreciate good defense. Football scores should not look like basketball scores. When I coached I was a defensive minded coach. I like defense. I believe in the adage "defense wins championships". In C-USA the gap between the number one team and the number seven or eight team is often not that big. There is a good deal of talent parity. I've felt for years that a team that prioritized defense would have an advantage in the conference. In the early 2000s under Watson Brown, UAB had some very good defenses. UAB was winning 6-7 games a year (in an 11 game season), becoming bowl eligible, but not getting bowl invitations (fewer bowls then). Brown made a decision to begin prioritizing offense in an effort to become more attractive to bowls. The key choice was where to put the best athletes; at that time UAB did not have enough athletes to excel at both offense and defense. He chose offense. The result was that UAB got its first bowl invite and had a first round draft pick at wide receiver. But the defense suffered. The wins eventually declined and Brown went elsewhere. Then came Neil Callaway and Garrick McGee. Neither prioritized defense and neither was very successful.
Having firmly stated my case for defense, it is my belief that for UAB Football to take the next step, to become the Boise of the South as some have said, that step must be on offense. I'll save my analysis of what I see as the problems of the offense and simply say that the offense isn't very good. Most fans will probably agree. If we know the offense isn't good, Bill Clark knows the offense isn't good. The questions are then: How big of a problem does he see it being? What is his analysis of the problem? What is his sense of urgency about fixing it? What is he willing to do about it? Is he willing to make a philosophical change? Is he willing to make staff changes? Does he see it as necessary to make any changes?
2. In order to take that next big step, the other area where UAB must improve is in recruiting. Success or failure on the field ultimately comes down to players. I've heard coaches say for years, "It's about the Jimmys and Joes not the Xs and Os." There is no doubt that recruiting is much better than it used to be, but it is not good enough to be at that aspirational Boise level or to finish in the top four or five in that aspirational (for some) conference the AAC. In this year's small recruiting class, so far, UAB has signed one player rated in the top 50 in Alabama per 247sports and no players rated in the top 50 by Rivals. Last year UAB signed two players in the top 50 per both 247 and Rivals. Kids are leaving the state to play a thousand miles or even two thousand miles away. Kids are leaving the state to play at lower tier SEC schools where they will never win a championship and may never even go to a bowl game. We aren't going to get all of these kids, but we've got to find a way to get more of them. This year, we finished in the top 3, 4, or 5 for some highly rated players, but in recruiting "if you ain't first you're last". Some how, some way, we must find a way to sign these kids. Some how, some way, we must find a way to improve recruiting. Some will no doubt respond with comments about the new stadium. That is an overly simplistic answer. The stadium may be a variable but it is only one variable among many.
1. Probably more than most fans, I appreciate good defense. Football scores should not look like basketball scores. When I coached I was a defensive minded coach. I like defense. I believe in the adage "defense wins championships". In C-USA the gap between the number one team and the number seven or eight team is often not that big. There is a good deal of talent parity. I've felt for years that a team that prioritized defense would have an advantage in the conference. In the early 2000s under Watson Brown, UAB had some very good defenses. UAB was winning 6-7 games a year (in an 11 game season), becoming bowl eligible, but not getting bowl invitations (fewer bowls then). Brown made a decision to begin prioritizing offense in an effort to become more attractive to bowls. The key choice was where to put the best athletes; at that time UAB did not have enough athletes to excel at both offense and defense. He chose offense. The result was that UAB got its first bowl invite and had a first round draft pick at wide receiver. But the defense suffered. The wins eventually declined and Brown went elsewhere. Then came Neil Callaway and Garrick McGee. Neither prioritized defense and neither was very successful.
Having firmly stated my case for defense, it is my belief that for UAB Football to take the next step, to become the Boise of the South as some have said, that step must be on offense. I'll save my analysis of what I see as the problems of the offense and simply say that the offense isn't very good. Most fans will probably agree. If we know the offense isn't good, Bill Clark knows the offense isn't good. The questions are then: How big of a problem does he see it being? What is his analysis of the problem? What is his sense of urgency about fixing it? What is he willing to do about it? Is he willing to make a philosophical change? Is he willing to make staff changes? Does he see it as necessary to make any changes?
2. In order to take that next big step, the other area where UAB must improve is in recruiting. Success or failure on the field ultimately comes down to players. I've heard coaches say for years, "It's about the Jimmys and Joes not the Xs and Os." There is no doubt that recruiting is much better than it used to be, but it is not good enough to be at that aspirational Boise level or to finish in the top four or five in that aspirational (for some) conference the AAC. In this year's small recruiting class, so far, UAB has signed one player rated in the top 50 in Alabama per 247sports and no players rated in the top 50 by Rivals. Last year UAB signed two players in the top 50 per both 247 and Rivals. Kids are leaving the state to play a thousand miles or even two thousand miles away. Kids are leaving the state to play at lower tier SEC schools where they will never win a championship and may never even go to a bowl game. We aren't going to get all of these kids, but we've got to find a way to get more of them. This year, we finished in the top 3, 4, or 5 for some highly rated players, but in recruiting "if you ain't first you're last". Some how, some way, we must find a way to sign these kids. Some how, some way, we must find a way to improve recruiting. Some will no doubt respond with comments about the new stadium. That is an overly simplistic answer. The stadium may be a variable but it is only one variable among many.
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