ttgwm02
Special Teams
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RE: Week 2 CAA games
CAA is a tough place to be. The league is extremely competitive and i've learned watching over a few years that the biggest key is staying healthy. If you are in the FCS and in a tough conference like the CAA, even recruiting tons of quality transfers doesnt guarantee success as much as staying healthy, developing your kids and frankly, favorable scheduling. Matthews always fielded competitive teams and in recent years he had difficulty at the QB position and with injuries. Also some behavioral things. I frankly thought he got a raw deal from a school that had invested a fortune in new facilities and expected results that very few FCS coaches could consistently produce.
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09-08-2014 11:43 AM |
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Sitting bull
All American
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RE: Week 2 CAA games
(09-07-2014 09:39 PM)Tribe Fan Wrote: (09-07-2014 10:14 AM)Sitting bull Wrote: (09-06-2014 08:21 PM)JMU2004 Wrote: JMU blocked the LU FG. Nonetheless, our D is resembles a wet noodle.
New era without Mickey. That guy was a good coach in my book, always competitive and always an aggressive defense. He seemed to keep every game in reach if not winning big.
This change reminds me of Tech in the late 60s when they fired a superb defensive coach in Jerry Claiborne. He was consistently a 7 or 8 game winner every season but the fan base got bored and restless. They replaced him with a high octane offensive coach, Charlie Coffey, who scored points but won 3 to 4 games each year in a string of losing seasons. I guess time will tell with Withers.
Fan base got restless with a boring Jim Root at W&M and hired JL. Hopefully JMU will not have the same success The Tribe has had.
Root did have his run but the move to 1AA (FCS) effectively changed the scenery at W&M and help set the stage for the program and JL's success. Root was stuck in a D1 world that was changing quickly with very little financial support to work with.
He did produce one of the most memorable years in 1976 with wins at UVA, Tech, Ohio U. and Navy. Had we not lost to Richmond in the last game, W&M was among the teams being considered for the Peach Bowl.
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09-08-2014 11:56 AM |
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JMU2004
Heisman
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RE: Week 2 CAA games
(09-08-2014 11:43 AM)ttgwm02 Wrote: CAA is a tough place to be. The league is extremely competitive and i've learned watching over a few years that the biggest key is staying healthy. If you are in the FCS and in a tough conference like the CAA, even recruiting tons of quality transfers doesnt guarantee success as much as staying healthy, developing your kids and frankly, favorable scheduling. Matthews always fielded competitive teams and in recent years he had difficulty at the QB position and with injuries. Also some behavioral things. I frankly thought he got a raw deal from a school that had invested a fortune in new facilities and expected results that very few FCS coaches could consistently produce.
He didn't get a raw deal. He produced one playoff team from 2009-2013. In 2011, we got into the playoffs on the last week of the season thanks to losses by 3 other bubble teams. He was very close to being let go in 2012, and was given the extra year due to his earlier success.
Injuries are a red herring. Every single college program has injuries. MM loved to harp that he had the worst luck and, if it weren't for injuries, we would be in the NC every year.
MM had a great run and did a lot for JMU, but he didn't get a rotten deal. He was shown patience in 2003 and 2012. It worked in 2004, and failed miserably in 2013. We regressed big time in 2013, and the final 5 games (1-4 with 3 beat downs, including a bad SBU team) sealed his fate.
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09-08-2014 12:45 PM |
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nj alum
Petulant
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RE: Week 2 CAA games
Fan base got restless with a boring Jim Root at W&M and hired JL. Hopefully JMU will not have the same success The Tribe has had.
[/quote]
I strongly disagree with your statement "with a boring Jim Root". Those Tribe... oops ... Indian ... football teams in 1976, 1977, and 1978 were not boring. Cary Field ... aka The Reservation ... had great attendance. There was a marching band. The baseball field behind the west stands was a tremendous tailgate lot. The team had uniforms like the Green Bay Packers. Excruciating home losses to ECU, Delaware, and Rutgers stand out ... the loss at VPI in 1978 was a robbery ... the road wins in 1976 were memorable.
Root was a casualty of the stadium expansion controversy, as well as a poor 1979 season.
Ironically, what is about to go up on the west side would have made expansion proponents proud. I find it amusing that no one can figure out how the change will affect capacity; as a result, this is a renovation and not an expansion. Love the choice of words!
(This post was last modified: 09-08-2014 03:51 PM by nj alum.)
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09-08-2014 03:50 PM |
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BigTribe
2nd String
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RE: Week 2 CAA games
My favorite Mickey story came after a defeat at William & Mary a few years ago---it may have been after the new turf was installed at Zable.
After the game Mickey attributed the loss in part to the new crown of the field...said his players
had trouble adjusting to it.
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09-08-2014 04:03 PM |
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HyperDuke
Hall of Famer
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Week 2 CAA games
(09-08-2014 04:03 PM)BigTribe Wrote: My favorite Mickey story came after a defeat at William & Mary a few years ago---it may have been after the new turf was installed at Zable.
After the game Mickey attributed the loss in part to the new crown of the field...said his players
had trouble adjusting to it.
There are so many better stories than that! He offered to play Richmond in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Dude was hilarious. Did not enjoy the team's play the last few years. Anyways, Mickey Mouth (as Tribal likes to refer) seems to be doing fine working with ESPN as a color guy aka his perfect job.
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09-10-2014 04:54 AM |
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