Lol y'all love the quotes by the coach who hasn't done anything for the program yet. Program was far from soft. He will find out how hard it is to win in CAA. And did any of the defenses he coach have " tough" defensive stats.....

I figured it wouldn't take much bashing for him to come defend his precious puppies and provide such insight lol

Recently the O-line couldn't move a sled out of the way and don't spew some BS rushing stats. MM historically ran 65% rushing plays and had run first QBs. And when he didn't have run first QBs he got them off the field as with Drew.

However since half the team played on the defensive side of the field I won't call the team as a whole "soft". I will say it did seem like more than a handful of players were okay with putting in a little practice time to walk around with football gear on.

(03-20-2014 03:50 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  Lol y'all love the quotes by the coach who hasn't done anything for the program yet. Program was far from soft. He will find out how hard it is to win in CAA. And did any of the defenses he coach have " tough" defensive stats.....

Maybe you should talk to Mickey about winning in the CAA, because he most certainly didn't figure that out his last few years.
lol

The program may not be "soft", but it is absolutely softer than Withers wants it to be. And he'd know nothing about winning in a difficult conference like the CAA. In fact, Withers thinks the CAA is so easy, he's been making the players work HARDER.
lol

He also said there was complacency within the program. Withers spoke with others in the league and everyone said JMU had great facilities, a great campus, and great athletes. He agreed and wanted to find out why they have been overachieving. He concluded that they had become soft and complacent.

I don't know if he's right or not, but I think its silly to just dismiss his assessment.

(03-20-2014 04:08 PM)DoubleDogDare Wrote:  I figured it wouldn't take much bashing for him to come defend his precious puppies and provide such insight lol

Recently the O-line couldn't move a sled out of the way and don't spew some BS rushing stats. MM historically ran 65% rushing plays and had run first QBs. And when he didn't have run first QBs he got them off the field as with Drew.

However since half the team played on the defensive side of the field I won't call the team as a whole "soft". I will say it did seem like more than a handful of players were okay with putting in a little practice time to walk around with football gear on.

Can't call coaches soft so you can only talk about players being soft. I sit and watch theses players workout and practice. They are not soft. Y'all expect 9-2 seasons every year. That's unrealistic in my opinion. Yes our offenses having been lacking to using the word soft is an insult. So y'all can say what y'all want , I know this team was trying to win every game they played and to say otherwise is disrespectful.

(03-20-2014 04:12 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 03:50 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  Lol y'all love the quotes by the coach who hasn't done anything for the program yet. Program was far from soft. He will find out how hard it is to win in CAA. And did any of the defenses he coach have " tough" defensive stats.....

Maybe you should talk to Mickey about winning in the CAA, because he most certainly didn't figure that out his last few years.
lol

The program may not be "soft", but it is absolutely softer than Withers wants it to be. And he'd know nothing about winning in a difficult conference like the CAA. In fact, Withers thinks the CAA is so easy, he's been making the players work HARDER.
lol

Can you name another league where five different teams appeared in the championship game and three maybe four of those teams won the national title since 04.

When your young at Qb and DB you will have issues in FCS. And this is reality into fantasy I expect JMU to win every game.

(03-20-2014 04:31 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 04:08 PM)DoubleDogDare Wrote:  I figured it wouldn't take much bashing for him to come defend his precious puppies and provide such insight lol

Recently the O-line couldn't move a sled out of the way and don't spew some BS rushing stats. MM historically ran 65% rushing plays and had run first QBs. And when he didn't have run first QBs he got them off the field as with Drew.

However since half the team played on the defensive side of the field I won't call the team as a whole "soft". I will say it did seem like more than a handful of players were okay with putting in a little practice time to walk around with football gear on.

(1)Can't call coaches soft so you can only talk about players being soft. I sit and watch theses players workout and practice. They are not soft. (2)Y'all expect 9-2 seasons every year. That's unrealistic in my opinion. Yes our offenses having been lacking to using the word soft is an insult. So y'all can say what y'all want , (3)I know this team was trying to win every game they played and to say otherwise is disrespectful.

WOWWWWW. (1) Duh, thanks for letting us know we were talking about players. (2) Didn't see anyone say 9-2 was expected and I don't think complaining about 6-5, 6-5, 8-5, 7-4 and 6-6 is the same thing as expecting 9-2 season. (3) Nobody did.

Not to mention I specifically said I wouldn't call the team soft. Thanks, please try again.

I don't think they didn't want to win but there has definitely been something missing the last couple of years. People perk up when the word "soft" is used. I'll just say that there have been countless times over the last couple years where we've needed a yard to get a key first down and haven't been able to get it. In that sense, I've been uninspired by the line play. Also, there has been a decline in the tackling technique on defense, particularly in the secondary. Whatever you want to call that, it hasn't been good. Whether things will change with this coaching staff ... I agree that quotes made in March don't win football games. We'll just have to wait and see.

(03-20-2014 04:39 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  Can you name another league where five different teams appeared in the championship game and three maybe four of those teams won the national title since 04.

When your young at Qb and DB you will have issues in FCS. And this is reality into fantasy I expect JMU to win every game.

I can name a league where 6 different teams appeared in the championship game and 3 of those teams won since 2004.

(03-20-2014 05:02 PM)DoubleDogDare Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 04:39 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  Can you name another league where five different teams appeared in the championship game and three maybe four of those teams won the national title since 04.

When your young at Qb and DB you will have issues in FCS. And this is reality into fantasy I expect JMU to win every game.

I can name a league where 6 different teams appeared in the championship game and 3 of those teams won since 2004.

UMASS move on so I don't even think about them anymore. But that just proves my point on how tough our league is.

And I hear people say thing about the culture and program in terms of "soft", but to me it can only be referring to the players. And you still referred to some players as soft, which I still don't agree. And as for your #3 when you call a team soft and complacent to me it means that they don't play hard and don't care about the end results of games.

I say 9-2 because that leaves us losing to a BCS school and losing one conference game. Which is my expectation before every season.

Your theories about the play on the field I don't agree with. The line has been ok and the tackling has been ok. JMU has moved the chains fairly well, and 1,000 yards rushers means the line is doing something well. The issue is that MM playing was becoming predictable. Third and one 9 times out of ten Mickey is running the power in some sort of formation. So I wouldn't call an offensive line bad just because they couldn't get a couple of one yard first downs. Have to look at sacks , rushing yards , and QB time in the pocket. Which have all been to my standards average.

Also , this was the only year where I noticed glaring mistakes by the secondary. But then again they were young.

I like the attitude EW has he was to set the tone as a first time head coach. But be a forward thinker and make people forget about the last regime.

(03-20-2014 05:24 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  UMASS move on so I don't even think about them anymore. But that just proves my point on how tough our league is.

And I hear people say thing about the culture and program in terms of "soft", but to me it can only be referring to the players. And you still referred to some players as soft, which I still don't agree. And as for your #3 when you call a team soft and complacent to me it means that they don't play hard and don't care about the end results of games.

I say 9-2 because that leaves us losing to a BCS school and losing one conference game. Which is my expectation before every season.

Your theories about the play on the field I don't agree with. The line has been ok and the tackling has been ok. JMU has moved the chains fairly well, and 1,000 yards rushers means the line is doing something well. The issue is that MM playing was becoming predictable. Third and one 9 times out of ten Mickey is running the power in some sort of formation. So I wouldn't call an offensive line bad just because they couldn't get a couple of one yard first downs. Have to look at sacks , rushing yards , and QB time in the pocket. Which have all been to my standards average.

Also , this was the only year where I noticed glaring mistakes by the secondary. But then again they were young.

I like the attitude EW has he was to set the tone as a first time head coach. But be a forward thinker and make people forget about the last regime.

True, I specifically called out the O-line for being "soft". You say the line and tackling has been "ok" but "ok" is in the middle of soft and tough and "ok" is 6-5 seasons. No O-line was dominant and no defense was feared when they were "ok". I feel like you are arguing my point when you talk about predictability. If you know what I'm doing, and I know what I'm doing, it is purely a competition of who wants it more. Its not smoke and mirrors, its trench warfare. Our O-line was beat on the third and ones and as you said "ok". Again, I wont call them "soft" but I'm not calling them "tough" either.

Back to #3, Again, I never called the team soft or complacent so don't argue as if I did. I said "handful", 5, were willing to put in a little time (aka a little effort). I would argue that out of the 10 (or however many) guys that have quit you could find 5 that were complacent and when the regime changed, they realized it was better to walk away. I

Seriously though, I appreciate the thought out structured response without lols.

Based on the stories on Withers and his comments, I don't think he was talking about just what has been going on on the field. I think he was referring to the entire operation. It seems like in his opinion, there are a lot of people up and down the program that got a little too comfortable in their jobs. That happens in life when the same leadership is in place for a long time. It's human nature and a lot of times it happens subconsciously. I think we all need a kick in the ass sometimes.

(03-20-2014 06:58 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote:  Based on the stories on Withers and his comments, I don't think he was talking about just what has been going on on the field. I think he was referring to the entire operation. It seems like in his opinion, there are a lot of people up and down the program that got a little too comfortable in their jobs. That happens in life when the same leadership is in place for a long time. It's human nature and a lot of times it happens subconsciously. I think we all need a kick in the ass sometimes.

I agree

(03-20-2014 06:39 PM)DoubleDogDare Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 05:24 PM)Hotrod829 Wrote:  UMASS move on so I don't even think about them anymore. But that just proves my point on how tough our league is.

And I hear people say thing about the culture and program in terms of "soft", but to me it can only be referring to the players. And you still referred to some players as soft, which I still don't agree. And as for your #3 when you call a team soft and complacent to me it means that they don't play hard and don't care about the end results of games.

I say 9-2 because that leaves us losing to a BCS school and losing one conference game. Which is my expectation before every season.

Your theories about the play on the field I don't agree with. The line has been ok and the tackling has been ok. JMU has moved the chains fairly well, and 1,000 yards rushers means the line is doing something well. The issue is that MM playing was becoming predictable. Third and one 9 times out of ten Mickey is running the power in some sort of formation. So I wouldn't call an offensive line bad just because they couldn't get a couple of one yard first downs. Have to look at sacks , rushing yards , and QB time in the pocket. Which have all been to my standards average.

Also , this was the only year where I noticed glaring mistakes by the secondary. But then again they were young.

I like the attitude EW has he was to set the tone as a first time head coach. But be a forward thinker and make people forget about the last regime.

True, I specifically called out the O-line for being "soft". You say the line and tackling has been "ok" but "ok" is in the middle of soft and tough and "ok" is 6-5 seasons. No O-line was dominant and no defense was feared when they were "ok". I feel like you are arguing my point when you talk about predictability. If you know what I'm doing, and I know what I'm doing, it is purely a competition of who wants it more. Its not smoke and mirrors, its trench warfare. Our O-line was beat on the third and ones and as you said "ok". Again, I wont call them "soft" but I'm not calling them "tough" either.

Back to #3, Again, I never called the team soft or complacent so don't argue as if I did. I said "handful", 5, were willing to put in a little time (aka a little effort). I would argue that out of the 10 (or however many) guys that have quit you could find 5 that were complacent and when the regime changed, they realized it was better to walk away. I

Seriously though, I appreciate the thought out structured response without lols.

Lol your welcome. And when your predictable in the run game it's very easy to stop unless it's the triple option. And I understand whom you were referring to as soft but a couple plays doesn't dictate that for a whole group.

(03-20-2014 06:58 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote:  Based on the stories on Withers and his comments, I don't think he was talking about just what has been going on on the field. I think he was referring to the entire operation. It seems like in his opinion, there are a lot of people up and down the program that got a little too comfortable in their jobs. That happens in life when the same leadership is in place for a long time. It's human nature and a lot of times it happens subconsciously. I think we all need a kick in the ass sometimes.

I agree. In the same story in the DNR, Withers told everyone that they were being evaluated including the trainers and equipment managers. He seems to be trying to change the culture and force everyone to get better.

I agree with HotRod, I'm not sure the program/players had gone soft.
Last season the secondary caused JMU to lose at least 2 games. With MM's job (and all other coaches) on the line, I think the team did work very hard. We wouldn't be having this conversation if the secondary had been above average.

And I agree too, that EW may not realize how good some of the CAA teams are...Facilities don't make any difference to some.
Just hope EW will bring in some difference makers (players)...you have to have a few of them.

(03-11-2014 04:47 PM)PurpleStreamers Wrote:  Thought it was funny that the Duke Dog Weekly email event blast today specifically said "no tailgating due to other events on campus" for the Spring Game. Bravo to those that have tailgated in the past and forced this to be stated explicitly - made me laugh. Maybe/hopefully they're expecting a bit more interest this year with Coach Withers and the new regime!

So I don't know if this is the event they were referring to or not, but ISAT is hosting a 20th anniversary celebration that weekend. I feel like this could be good to get some people back on campus that haven't been around for awhile. The bad part is the schedule would likely keep anyone who did come for this away from the stadium...

http://alumni.jmu.edu/s/1591/gid3-Alumni...&post_id=0

We're taking about practice?

(03-20-2014 08:44 PM)jmusuperfan Wrote:  We're taking about practice?

Yes, but earlier in the thread there were multiple mentions of the Spring Game.