http://coachingsearch.com/article?a=The-...es-in-2016

One of the many joys of last football season was watching Idaho's defense make the leap from atrocious to decent. It was nice to know we could occasionally punt or turn the ball over and still have a chance to win thanks to the D. And we should be better next year.

USA and Arkansas State also on that list, BTW.

(01-17-2017 01:58 PM)LatahCounty Wrote:  http://coachingsearch.com/article?a=The-...es-in-2016

One of the many joys of last football season was watching Idaho's defense make the leap from atrocious to decent. It was nice to know we could occasionally punt or turn the ball over and still have a chance to win thanks to the D. And we should be better next year.

USA and Arkansas State also on that list, BTW.

no doubt a great year for you guys, glad we caught you at the beginning of the yr, would not have wanted to play you at the end, two totally different teams from the one that played App and the one that won their bowl game

I remember thinking during the 2015 GS @ Idaho game that you guys had some good looking players on D, it appeared that quality depth was the issue as guys got worn down later in the game. Yall had one kid that was actually from Georgia IIRC, maybe a linebacker? Anyway he looked like a real good player at the time, not sure if he's still around or graduated or what at this point.

(01-17-2017 02:13 PM)boroeagle2 Wrote:  I remember thinking during the 2015 GS @ Idaho game that you guys had some good looking players on D, it appeared that quality depth was the issue as guys got worn down later in the game. Yall had one kid that was actually from Georgia IIRC, maybe a linebacker? Anyway he looked like a real good player at the time, not sure if he's still around or graduated or what at this point.

Defensive depth was our biggest problem through the first 3 years of Petrino. He inherited such a mess of a program that he was basically starting from scratch. 2013 & 2014 we just got killed from the first snap defensively. 2015 we got a new DC and guys started getting a clue and we were usually able to hang through the first half but just ran out of guys and wore out by the end of the game. We would have been bowling that year if we could have just held on to 20+ point 2nd half leads in two different games. 2016 we finally had enough depth to play complete games and it showed.

You probably have a better memory on Georgians than I do. I can't remember where all our 2015 linebackers came from -- one of them might have been from Georgia -- but most of our starting LBs graduated after that year and we reloaded with better ones for 2016. Callen Hightower, who'll likely be our best WR next year, is from Loganville, GA.

(01-17-2017 02:11 PM)moehler Wrote:  

(01-17-2017 01:58 PM)LatahCounty Wrote:  http://coachingsearch.com/article?a=The-...es-in-2016

One of the many joys of last football season was watching Idaho's defense make the leap from atrocious to decent. It was nice to know we could occasionally punt or turn the ball over and still have a chance to win thanks to the D. And we should be better next year.

USA and Arkansas State also on that list, BTW.

no doubt a great year for you guys, glad we caught you at the beginning of the yr, would not have wanted to play you at the end, two totally different teams from the one that played App and the one that won their bowl game

Definitely gained confidence as the year went on. We were actually better against you guys than we were against Troy 3 weeks earlier, then after we played you we won 5 straight.

Hopefully that confidence carries over into next year and our guys now believe we can hang with better teams. App St. in the Kibbie Dome is probably the game I'm most looking forward to next year.

USA definitely made a good hire with our young DC this year. Considering the injuries he had to overcome, being the 5th most improved defense is very impressive. Since we return a lot from this defense (including some starters that missed the season), we should be near (or at) the top of the conference defensively next year.

If our offense can improve just a little, we'll be a legitimate contender.

(01-17-2017 05:39 PM)USAJag2011 Wrote:  USA definitely made a good hire with our young DC this year. Considering the injuries he had to overcome, being the 5th most improved defense is very impressive. Since we return a lot from this defense (including some starters that missed the season), we should be near (or at) the top of the conference defensively next year.

If our offense can improve just a little, we'll be a legitimate contender.

From what I saw of USA last year I'd say you guys are going to be dangerous.

http://www.govandals.com/coaches.aspx?path=football

Take a look at this list. We are talking about very qualified "has beens" that were given another opportunity in coaching. The right people came together to recruit, coach and execute a plan. I believe their work will be apparent again this year.

Go Vandals!