Candle praised his coaches for the second half turnaround, completely ignoring the fact that if EMU's QB had not been hurt we would have lost by 30.

so?

Certain posters on this board think the buck stops at some assistant coaches and the waterboy. I guess he's just telling them they're wrong. Did he take personal responsibility for not having his team prepared for things like, knowing the rules of the game or the hostile atmosphere at Eastern Michigan University?

I've nothing against the guy. Seems like a high morals guy. But he's the one making the million. He's the one that would go on to a higher pay-check if the team succeeds. So it's his responsibility to accept.

When you go back to Matt Cambell leaving, a lot of folks wanted Jason to be the head coach. He has a great future as many have said. The down side is that he is [b][I]learning to be a head coach on our time. This game was a good example of poor preparation and execution certainly in the first half. Lets hope we can regroup for UB.

Wasn't Jason the one that UT fans wanted him to go when he was the Offensive coordinator?

(10-14-2018 08:54 AM)Springboromark Wrote:  Wasn't Jason the one that UT fans wanted him to go when he was the Offensive coordinator?

Early on, yes, there was criticism of the play calling. His main "thing" was recruiting, though. He could close the deal with talented players. I had reservations about him as a head coach. I wasn't sure he had the personality for the job. I think he was the guy the players wanted, though.

As far as the 2nd half "turnaround," EMU lost their QB and had two DB's ejected. I don't get the 2 point conversion attempt. Take the 1 at that point. With 1's we at least could have taken it into overtime. Or, go for 2 at the end if you really think the OL has it in 'em. I give Guadagni a lot of credit for his determination to try to win. We have to be able to throw the ball better, though. Maybe go to a 2 QB system. Peters can throw a good ball once in a while.

Perfect example of you get what you pay for. If we don't pay for the best Assistant Coaches (And we don't) then we will not get veteran coaches out of The BIG 10, etc. When you have assistant coaches that don't come from winning programs or from FCS schools, then what can we expect? Blame the loss on Candle, the refs, assistant coaches or whoever, but, our team mailed it in after the first five penalties or so. No discipline. How does a team get twelve penalties in one half?

(10-14-2018 09:46 AM)Michigan Rocket Wrote:  Perfect example of you get what you pay for.

???

Buck stops --> HEAD Coach. $,$$$,$$$

Rockets have given up 122 points to 5 FBS teams in the first half of games this season. Way too much! 28 to EMU is ridiculous. To me seems to be a lack of focus.
Players are not prepared going into the games. if this continues, 3 or 4 assistants need to be gone at the end of the season.

(10-14-2018 10:03 AM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  Rockets have given up 122 points to 5 FBS teams in the first half of games this season. Way too much! 28 to EMU is ridiculous. To me seems to be a lack of focus.
Players are not prepared going into the games. if this continues, 3 or 4 assistants need to be gone at the end of the season.

We gave up the most FBS points on the schedules of
Miami
Fresno
Nevada
BG
and tied Buffalo giving up 28 to EMU.

We gave up the least points on VMI's schedule, so there is that.


Buck stops --> HEAD Coach. $,$$$,$$$

(10-14-2018 08:54 AM)Springboromark Wrote:  Wasn't Jason the one that UT fans wanted him to go when he was the Offensive coordinator?

That is correct. Then we found out that Campbell had over-ridden some of his calls and the attitude changed a bit. Whether that was true or Campbell providing cover for Candle - we may never know. But as far as him being a head coach and taking responsibility, we can't expect him to craft the defensive packages and assignments. That is why he hires coaches to fill those positions and take on the responsibility and accountability for how they perform. It then becomes his responsibility to assess their performance and the direction of the units and make the appropriate decisions. He doesn't have the luxury of time to see if they will get the defense (as a prime example) right in 4-5 years. You want guys that will get the job done despite obstacles that have to be overcome. You don't want guys that find reasons/excuses for why they are not having success. His job performance is based on success and along with that goes his hiring decisions. If he doesn't fix it, they will all be gone at some point. The head coach gets to throw some sacrificial lambs out there, but if the DC does not improve performance - he needs to go.

If everyone recalls, Amstutz went out and hired an offensive mind that he remembered crafting an offense he tried to stop as the DC. He made other good hiring decisions. In the end, when guys left and he made bad hiring decisions - he ended up being the one with the poor performance and getting let go. He also wanted the players to have fun and relaxed the rules that Pinkel had instilled. Once all those guys were gone from the program, the seeming relaxed rules for discipline kept getting worse and worse. Pinkel never got the offense that Amstutz developed. And Amstutz never found a DC that was half as good as he was as the DC - and under the discipline of the entire team inspired by Pinkel. It's tough to do all those things and it is usually bad hiring decisions that you do not correct quickly that will sink your ship. As for me, the DC would be gone now. I think there is plenty of talent on the defensive side of the ball - except at LB. Yet I see no underclassmen getting substantial playing time to improve the position.

If he is praising the coaches - I pay no attention to that. It is PR and he doesn't want to be seen as throwing them under the bus. If he is not now looking for replacements and plans to stick with the guys he has in place, then he is not facing the reality of a poor performing unit. He will get fired from Toledo before he gets another opportunity to leave for a bigger and better opportunity. But that also assumes O'Brien makes a decisive decision more quickly if a down-slide occurs. The program is not there by any means, but if there is not an honest assessment of the direction of the defense that is out on the field - and the expectations for improvement being communicated - then he is not worthy of being a head coach. Perhaps there is more to it than we know, but any casual fan can watch a game and conclude we are not very good at defending against what can truthfully be deemed "below average" teams.

Wasn’t all that long ago we were greedily happy about all the offensive weapons we had. Now we see the importance of an O line with a pulse to make those weapons useful. Perhaps we have focused recruiting too much on offensive skill players at the expense of good options on D? I’m sure it’s hard to find kids who WANT to play D in college; most of the next athletes play both sides of the line of scrimmage and want the glitz of offense in college...and yet, other MAC programs find guys who are more productive on D.

Candle signed a contract extension through 2023 before the Appalachian State bowl game.

Ok. Time for the whining to stop! Yes that was a bad loss, but it is time to put it behind and get ready for next week. We have a culture of winning so the loses really hurt that is true, but we still have a season to go and the opportunity to win the west division. Time to refocus and prepare for the next opponent.

(10-14-2018 09:46 AM)Michigan Rocket Wrote:  Perfect example of you get what you pay for. If we don't pay for the best Assistant Coaches (And we don't) then we will not get veteran coaches out of The BIG 10, etc. When you have assistant coaches that don't come from winning programs or from FCS schools, then what can we expect? Blame the loss on Candle, the refs, assistant coaches or whoever, but, our team mailed it in after the first five penalties or so. No discipline. How does a team get twelve penalties in one half?

This is what I was thinking, too. With huge running lanes open and the LB's nowhere to be found, all the penalties on the OL, the penalties on returns for TDs. You don't have to have the greatest athletes in the conference if the ones you have just play with discipline and do things right.

(10-14-2018 12:21 PM)retrktfan Wrote:  Ok. Time for the whining to stop! Yes that was a bad loss, but it is time to put it behind and get ready for next week.

We got people whining about games from decades ago. I don't think we actually have a role in the game planning so, we got at least a whole week to whine.

(10-14-2018 12:19 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  Candle signed a contract extension through 2023 before the Appalachian State bowl game.

Because he was given a contract extension before the App St bowl game. I recall being the loneyly voice, that was too long. But the rebuttal was, you needed a five year contract to retain a quality coach. I said but we don't know he's a quality head coach.

Someone going to start the hashtag fire o'brian thread?

(10-14-2018 09:46 AM)Michigan Rocket Wrote:  Perfect example of you get what you pay for. If we don't pay for the best Assistant Coaches (And we don't) then we will not get veteran coaches out of The BIG 10, etc. When you have assistant coaches that don't come from winning programs or from FCS schools, then what can we expect? Blame the loss on Candle, the refs, assistant coaches or whoever, but, our team mailed it in after the first five penalties or so. No discipline. How does a team get twelve penalties in one half?

If you watch the sidelines during the games, you don’t see coaches getting in players faces, coaches or players trying to fire up each other up or really anyone yelling. You just see the Off or Def unit run to the bench and take a seat. I rarely see emotion except when we score. I get the sense that Candle or his assistants don’t really yell much at the players so the fact that the team doesn’t play with much discipline or emotion isn’t really that big of a shock...

(10-14-2018 12:48 PM)eastisbest Wrote:  

(10-14-2018 12:19 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  Candle signed a contract extension through 2023 before the Appalachian State bowl game.

Because he was given a contract extension before the App St bowl game. I recall being the loneyly voice, that was too long. But the rebuttal was, you needed a five year contract to retain a quality coach. I said but we don't know he's a quality head coach.

Someone going to start the hashtag fire o'brian thread?

Don't waste your time with that, O'Brian is not going to be fired anytime soon and certainly not because of the Candle contract extension. O'Brian's achievements as AD at UT are pretty impressive and he is well liked and respected by the President and Board. Like any other AD he has had is good and bad hires and decisions, but if you look at overfull accomplishments under his tenure it is pretty deep and certainly at top of the MAC and given his budget, and he is well respected in the MAC and NCAA. Not saying he is perfect but there is little to point to today to fire him. Even Candle is likely to survive a few down seasons especially if he makes moves to replace staff this off season or next.

(10-14-2018 12:59 PM)PaulJ Wrote:  

(10-14-2018 12:48 PM)eastisbest Wrote:  

(10-14-2018 12:19 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  Candle signed a contract extension through 2023 before the Appalachian State bowl game.

Because he was given a contract extension before the App St bowl game. I recall being the loneyly voice, that was too long. But the rebuttal was, you needed a five year contract to retain a quality coach. I said but we don't know he's a quality head coach.

Someone going to start the hashtag fire o'brian thread?

Don't waste your time with that, O'Brian is not going to be fired anytime soon and certainly not because of the Candle contract extension. O'Brian's achievements as AD at UT are pretty impressive and he is well liked and respected by the President and Board. Like any other AD he has had is good and bad hires and decisions, but if you look at overfull accomplishments under his tenure it is pretty deep and certainly at top of the MAC and given his budget, and he is well respected in the MAC and NCAA. Not saying he is perfect but there is little to point to today to fire him. Even Candle is likely to survive a few down seasons especially if he makes moves to replace staff this off season or next.

More than a few seasons unless we come up with millions of dollars.

start coughing up more money for assistants then!!!! Where does that money come from?????