(07-30-2018 08:33 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(07-30-2018 08:10 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  OO, Bailiff did not do those things, IMO, because he did not have an approach that could produce those results, particularly given Rice’s self-imposed limitations. The only philosophy that I could ever discern was simply to keep plugging square pegs into round holes until we could recruit well enough that they fit. I don’t think that can work given Rice’s inherent recruiting limitations.
Bailiff’s reputation at Texas State was that his teams played hard but sloppy. I don’t think that can work st Rice. I think the model for Rice has to be that you may have a slight edge in talent, but we are going to recruit to narrow that gap and then to out-scheme and out-work and out-execute you to overcome that gap.
I’m not sure whether Bloomgren’s approach can work at Rice, but at least I know what his approach is. And he has been a big part of making it work at Stanford, so maybe he knows how to make it work here.

I don't care WHY he didn't do those things. I just want somebody who WILL do those things. I will give credit AFTER they are done; Until then all we can do is hope that those things will get done.
I like what I hear about Bloomgren, and hope that he will be our Moses and lead us out of the wilderness. But until I see the promised land, it is just hope.
We are not so different, you and I. I just have a little more "show me" at this point. I know it won't happen all at once, but that doesn't mean I have to sit back and say that wins over PVAM and UTEP and nobody else bode well for the program because the line blocked well and had only two false starts.
Recruiting, X's and O's, attitude - all usually parts of a winning program. But the most distinctive feature of a winning program is WINS.

I think the difference between us is that I see more correlation between some process things and the results that follow than you seem to. Just win, baby, is fine, as long as you do it ethically and legally, but just winning flows from doing certain things well. I want to see a focused, disciplined, and solidly executing team. I don't put it in terms of wins, because I think wins will necessarily follow if we get that. And I think the Bailiff experience would go to show that Rice can't win consistently without that. Yes, we can catch the occasional lightning bolt in a jar, like 2008 and 2013. But once every five years won't get it done, particularly when the other years look like 2007, 2009-2011, and 2015-2017.

I know you like to point out false starts and the like from teams like Alabama and TCU and I guess I could summarize your position as you'd rather see wins like Alabama and TCU rather than eliminating false starts. So would I. But the difference is that I don't think Rice CAN win without eliminating silly mistakes. Alabama can and occasionally does. But Alabama has linebackers who are 6-5, 260, and run 4.5s. We don't, and we are not going to. It has to be a different approach. Whether Bloomgren has that approach or not, I don't know. Like you, I hope he does, and the early indicators are positive. But we won't really know until we see what happens on the field.