Make USU football great again- changes

Madmartigan · Post by **Madmartigan** » November 29th, 2016, 8:44 pm

We can't afford to get rid of Wells. We get him for at least another year. I have little faith he will make these changes, but here are a few things I'd like to see Wells (and the program) change for a greater chance at success:

-Hire ONE dedicated OC that's actually allowed to call the plays and has autonomy in the game plan
-In line with the above, only one DC as well
-Try someone new at QB. We don't know if Hobbs is any better, but we know exactly what Myers isn't- A QB who will win us many games
-Recruit the state of Utah: the number of Utah kids on the roster has dropped. More Utah players build enthusiasm locally and this was a central tenant of the preachings from Saint Andersen before he departed.
-Micromanage less: OK I don't have first-hand knowledge of this, but I've heard Wells is a micro manager. Let your coaches do their thing and own their successes and failures.

What others would you add?

sambonethegreat · Post by **sambonethegreat** » November 29th, 2016, 9:06 pm

Use the damn tight ends consistently. And throw the ball beyond the sticks.

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dyedblue · Post by **dyedblue** » November 29th, 2016, 9:15 pm

Find a running back and commit to running the freaking football.

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hipsterdoofus21 · Post by **hipsterdoofus21** » November 29th, 2016, 9:51 pm

Put some other coach in charge of calling timeouts. Protect Wells from himself.

AGGZILLA · Post by **AGGZILLA** » November 29th, 2016, 10:37 pm

Agree with all of the above, especially Dyed's. The loss of Mays was more than we could bear and it would've been nice to see how productive our rushing attack would've been with a half-decent RB. Recruitment of a reliable running back is critical to our success next season.

I would add a 'Come to Jesus' meeting between Hartwell and Wells, if it hasn't happened already, and discuss changes that need to occur and expectations for next season.

NVAggie · Post by **NVAggie** » November 30th, 2016, 5:01 am

Get some nasty big boys up front on both sides of the ball. Bring back the disruptive defense. JFW

Maverik_Aggie · Post by **Maverik_Aggie** » November 30th, 2016, 7:18 am

Bring the players who have the competitive fire. The intangibles. Not a bunch of wussy attitudes and frankly apathetic attitudes towards losing. Find the leaders and build around them! I only know of 1 leader on this team. Dallin Leavitt. If your QB isn't one of the leaders on the team, that is a problem IMO. It's time to completely open up the competition at QB. Hobbs, Love, Smith, (I think he will transfer soon IMO) and even Colombi!

AggieBlues · Post by **AggieBlues** » November 30th, 2016, 9:09 am

Find a new attitude other than *medium*. I see the wisdom in medium, but NOT in football. When you're blowing up the other team, ride that momentum and emotion to victory. When you're getting pushed around or throw an interception or pooch a punt, get pissed and focused and make a gol darned play next time out!

Medium promises .500 ball at best (and about our average under Wells). Medium minimizes the euphoria of the winner's high and discounts the Grrrrrr motivation to get it right the next time out. Enough with medium. Put it on High (but not BYU levels of stupid high intensity), focus on every play and work hard to keep it there.

QuackAttackAggie · Post by **QuackAttackAggie** » November 30th, 2016, 9:12 am

this headline makes me think our next head coach should be somebody who never played football or coached football, but has paid college football players under the table before. Bonus points if he doesn't believe that pass interference actually exists and wants to ban any fans from attendance who disapprove of how the program is run.

Roy McAvoy · Post by **Roy McAvoy** » November 30th, 2016, 9:18 am

I think one thing that has to be done is for Wells to have a big heart to heart team meeting. Let players express what they're frustrated with and upset about without consequences. It needs to be one big 'Kumbaya'. He needs to express to them where he's messed up, accept responsibility and promise them that he is going to improve and that he needs them to as well. I think this could go a long ways.

AndroidAggie · Post by **AndroidAggie** » November 30th, 2016, 9:56 am

all wells needs to do is own it.

if he sincerely said something along the lines of "this is on me. i need to prepare, plan, inspire, and teach you guys better. losses start with me." then i think that would heal tons of heartache.

you give credit to the players when they do well. publicly and privately. you take blame publicly when they fail. privately, you teach and expect improvement. wells' failure to own the, well, failure of the past 2 seasons is 90% of our problems. we have a team mental problem and not a scheming, recruiting, injury, ref, scheduling, etc... problem.

CanuckAggie · Post by **CanuckAggie** » November 30th, 2016, 10:13 am

QuackAttackAggie wrote:this headline makes me think our next head coach should be somebody who never played football or coached football, but has paid college football players under the table before. Bonus points if he doesn't believe that pass interference actually exists and wants to ban any fans from attendance who disapprove of how the program is run.

+10 points to Gryffindor

Bigdog · Post by **Bigdog** » November 30th, 2016, 11:06 am

I listened to an interesting interview with PAC 12 Commissioner Larry Scott this morning. Here are his three keys from the interview:

1. TV Revenue vs. Butts in the Seats TV wins: The example he used was the Conference Championship game on this Friday had no competition compared to if the game was on Saturday. Smaller Crowd but more TV revenue. The KNBR host hit him up about late start time and his answer was similar. His claimed attendance was related to record and opponent more than start time.

2. More money = better facilities= better players. He equated better facilities to better recruits.

3. More money means better HC's. He rattled off the quality of PAC 12 HC's. His next goal is to make sure PAC 12 schools can pay their assistants as this is now the key piece to to competing in Football

If this is what the PAC 12 is doing what must the Mountain West do?

hickaggie · Post by **hickaggie** » November 30th, 2016, 11:28 am

Bigdog wrote:I listened to an interesting interview with PAC 12 Commissioner Larry Scott this morning. Here are his three keys from the interview:

1. TV Revenue vs. Butts in the Seats TV wins: The example he used was the Conference Championship game on this Friday had no competition compared to if the game was on Saturday. Smaller Crowd but more TV revenue. The KNBR host hit him up about late start time and his answer was similar. His claimed attendance was related to record and opponent more than start time.

2. More money = better facilities= better players. He equated better facilities to better recruits.

3. More money means better HC's. He rattled off the quality of PAC 12 HC's. His next goal is to make sure PAC 12 schools can pay their assistants as this is now the key piece to to competing in Football

If this is what the PAC 12 is doing what must the Mountain West do?

Its all irrelevant in my mind. There are multiple issues bigger than Myers, but the guy who stupidly trotted him out there game after game is not going to make those changes. The O-line needs a complete attitude and coaching reset first and foremost. The Aggies need a dedicated offensive coordinator who can go in without interference from Wells and make personnel decisions starting with the QB (Matt can have no say in the type of offense or the QB for it to have a chance including decisions of whether to go for it exc.) The special teams needs a new coach and focus and a new punter. The D and team as a whole needs to focus on getting a really good Poly recruiting class.

Like I said to me Myers is just the canary in the coal mine. Anyone stupid enough to keep playing him is not going to recognize or be able to make the other changes or be humble enough to do so. Hope somehow I'm wrong.

Bigdog · Post by **Bigdog** » November 30th, 2016, 11:43 am

Hickaggie,

I should have started a different thread. I agree with you on certain things and disagree others. I had just found it interesting how Scott addressed some issues with the current state of college football. I have my opinion of what the Aggies need to do to improve. My intention was to give perspective of the Bigger Picture of College Athletics.

Madmartigan · Post by **Madmartigan** » November 30th, 2016, 12:32 pm

hickaggie wrote:
Bigdog wrote:I listened to an interesting interview with PAC 12 Commissioner Larry Scott this morning. Here are his three keys from the interview:

1. TV Revenue vs. Butts in the Seats TV wins: The example he used was the Conference Championship game on this Friday had no competition compared to if the game was on Saturday. Smaller Crowd but more TV revenue. The KNBR host hit him up about late start time and his answer was similar. His claimed attendance was related to record and opponent more than start time.

2. More money = better facilities= better players. He equated better facilities to better recruits.

3. More money means better HC's. He rattled off the quality of PAC 12 HC's. His next goal is to make sure PAC 12 schools can pay their assistants as this is now the key piece to to competing in Football

If this is what the PAC 12 is doing what must the Mountain West do?
Its all irrelevant in my mind. There are multiple issues bigger than Myers, but the guy who stupidly trotted him out there game after game is not going to make those changes. The O-line needs a complete attitude and coaching reset first and foremost. The Aggies need a dedicated offensive coordinator who can go in without interference from Wells and make personnel decisions starting with the QB (Matt can have no say in the type of offense or the QB for it to have a chance including decisions of whether to go for it exc.) The special teams needs a new coach and focus and a new punter. The D and team as a whole needs to focus on getting a really good Poly recruiting class.

Like I said to me Myers is just the canary in the coal mine. Anyone stupid enough to keep playing him is not going to recognize or be able to make the other changes or be humble enough to do so. Hope somehow I'm wrong.

The alarming thing about Myers is how much he has regressed. He fails in both the stats and the eye test. The more he plays, the worse he gets.

Post by **ProvoAggie** » November 30th, 2016, 1:07 pm

Madmartigan wrote:The alarming thing about Myers is how much he has regressed. He fails in both the stats and the eye test. The more he plays, the worse he gets.

A lot of that could be due to the players around him. A good O-line and receivers will make an average QB appear better than he actually is. A poor O-line and receivers will make a good QB appear worse than he really is. I think that Myers is a slightly below average QB that had the benefit of a good line and good receivers earlier in his career but as those positions have regressed, so has he. He doesn't make good reads but he also doesn't have time. His passes are a bit off but a great receiver will find a way to catch the ball anyway.

MaverickAggie · Post by **MaverickAggie** » November 30th, 2016, 1:08 pm

AggieBlues wrote:Find a new attitude other than *medium*. I see the wisdom in medium, but NOT in football. When you're blowing up the other team, ride that momentum and emotion to victory. When you're getting pushed around or throw an interception or pooch a punt, get pissed and focused and make a gol darned play next time out!

Medium promises .500 ball at best (and about our average under Wells). Medium minimizes the euphoria of the winner's high and discounts the Grrrrrr motivation to get it right the next time out. Enough with medium. Put it on High (but not BYU levels of stupid high intensity), focus on every play and work hard to keep it there.

I agree 100%. The keep it "medium" attitude has got to go. Football needs to be played with emotion and this attitude kills it.

ViAggie · Post by **ViAggie** » November 30th, 2016, 1:18 pm

a lot of good suggestions here, perhaps a stubborn head coach should take notice if he wishes to stay past 2017... or land a better job, which ever comes first.

BigBlueDart · Post by **BigBlueDart** » November 30th, 2016, 1:22 pm

AndroidAggie wrote:all wells needs to do is own it.

if he sincerely said something along the lines of "this is on me. i need to prepare, plan, inspire, and teach you guys better. losses start with me." then i think that would heal tons of heartache.

you give credit to the players when they do well. publicly and privately. you take blame publicly when they fail. privately, you teach and expect improvement. wells' failure to own the, well, failure of the past 2 seasons is 90% of our problems. we have a team mental problem and not a scheming, recruiting, injury, ref, scheduling, etc... problem.

This right here would vastly make my attitude towards Wells more favorable and forgiving.

Ahbye · Post by **Ahbye** » December 1st, 2016, 1:07 am

ProvoAggie wrote:
Madmartigan wrote:The alarming thing about Myers is how much he has regressed. He fails in both the stats and the eye test. The more he plays, the worse he gets.
A lot of that could be due to the players around him. A good O-line and receivers will make an average QB appear better than he actually is. A poor O-line and receivers will make a good QB appear worse than he really is. I think that Myers is a slightly below average QB that had the benefit of a good line and good receivers earlier in his career but as those positions have regressed, so has he. He doesn't make good reads but he also doesn't have time. His passes are a bit off but a great receiver will find a way to catch the ball anyway.

We've got good receivers who look more average because Myers is very inaccurate. The reason the bubble screen always lost yards with him is because he can't put it on the money. It was either to far forward and our guy would have no room for that first step, or it was backwards so the receiver had to face away from the defense to go get it. I saw Bright, Tarver, and Lewis make spectacular catches this year. Usually those spectacular catches were made because of an accuracy error on Myers' part...

As for the rest of your theory about the O-line. It's as correct as can be. You've been PM'd with why.

hickaggie · Post by **hickaggie** » December 1st, 2016, 9:08 am

Ahbye wrote:
ProvoAggie wrote:
Madmartigan wrote:The alarming thing about Myers is how much he has regressed. He fails in both the stats and the eye test. The more he plays, the worse he gets.
A lot of that could be due to the players around him. A good O-line and receivers will make an average QB appear better than he actually is. A poor O-line and receivers will make a good QB appear worse than he really is. I think that Myers is a slightly below average QB that had the benefit of a good line and good receivers earlier in his career but as those positions have regressed, so has he. He doesn't make good reads but he also doesn't have time. His passes are a bit off but a great receiver will find a way to catch the ball anyway.
We've got good receivers who look more average because Myers is very inaccurate. The reason the bubble screen always lost yards with him is because he can't put it on the money. It was either to far forward and our guy would have no room for that first step, or it was backwards so the receiver had to face away from the defense to go get it. I saw Bright, Tarver, and Lewis make spectacular catches this year. Usually those spectacular catches were made because of an accuracy error on Myers' part...

As for the rest of your theory about the O-line. It's as correct as can be. You've been PM'd with why.

I agree 100% that the Aggies have a very good receiving corp which was wasted this year. Yes the O-line is atrocious but that is another reason Myers should not be out there. In a quarter of work Hobbs showed the night and day difference between Myers who can't feel the rush and a QB who not only avoided rushers but kept his eyes down the field going through progressions.

Ultimately though you are correct. This team has a 6-7 win ceiling with even a good QB and this O-line. Its a 3 win ceiling with Myers and Wells calling the O. Neither is acceptable.

ShowMeAggie · Post by **ShowMeAggie** » December 1st, 2016, 9:14 am

Ahbye wrote:
ProvoAggie wrote:
Madmartigan wrote:The alarming thing about Myers is how much he has regressed. He fails in both the stats and the eye test. The more he plays, the worse he gets.
A lot of that could be due to the players around him. A good O-line and receivers will make an average QB appear better than he actually is. A poor O-line and receivers will make a good QB appear worse than he really is. I think that Myers is a slightly below average QB that had the benefit of a good line and good receivers earlier in his career but as those positions have regressed, so has he. He doesn't make good reads but he also doesn't have time. His passes are a bit off but a great receiver will find a way to catch the ball anyway.
We've got good receivers who look more average because Myers is very inaccurate. The reason the bubble screen always lost yards with him is because he can't put it on the money. It was either to far forward and our guy would have no room for that first step, or it was backwards so the receiver had to face away from the defense to go get it. I saw Bright, Tarver, and Lewis make spectacular catches this year. Usually those spectacular catches were made because of an accuracy error on Myers' part...

As for the rest of your theory about the O-line. It's as correct as can be. You've been PM'd with why.

Aww, c'mon, Ahbye...share with the rest of us. Pretty please?

NVAggie · Post by **NVAggie** » December 1st, 2016, 11:03 am

At least PM me the details as well.

Floppy Hat · Post by **Floppy Hat** » December 1st, 2016, 11:09 am

NVAggie wrote:At least PM me the details as well.

Put me on that list too.

BigBlueDart · Post by **BigBlueDart** » December 1st, 2016, 12:57 pm

I don't need details. Just PM me an amusing limerick.

UtahStizzle · Post by **UtahStizzle** » December 1st, 2016, 7:03 pm

You know lots of schools do the co-coordinator thing right? Ohio State for one. It's probably about pay scale. I can understand not wanting Matt to call plays (though our offense has been great for 5 straight years till now since he's been in the system), but I think blaming everything on the co-coordinator thing is probably grasping at straws.

The recruit more Utah kids thing is also interesting. I mean Weber recruits lots of Utah kids. Doesn't mean you all of a sudden win. Utah grabs the biggest recruits. Then BYU grabs nearly everyone else because they can't recruit any other states. Can we win with third-tier Utah kids who only have FCS-ish offers?

Sent from an original NES.

brian5562 · Post by **brian5562** » December 2nd, 2016, 1:23 pm

Madmartigan wrote:
hickaggie wrote:
Bigdog wrote:I listened to an interesting interview with PAC 12 Commissioner Larry Scott this morning. Here are his three keys from the interview:

1. TV Revenue vs. Butts in the Seats TV wins: The example he used was the Conference Championship game on this Friday had no competition compared to if the game was on Saturday. Smaller Crowd but more TV revenue. The KNBR host hit him up about late start time and his answer was similar. His claimed attendance was related to record and opponent more than start time.

2. More money = better facilities= better players. He equated better facilities to better recruits.

3. More money means better HC's. He rattled off the quality of PAC 12 HC's. His next goal is to make sure PAC 12 schools can pay their assistants as this is now the key piece to to competing in Football

If this is what the PAC 12 is doing what must the Mountain West do?
Its all irrelevant in my mind. There are multiple issues bigger than Myers, but the guy who stupidly trotted him out there game after game is not going to make those changes. The O-line needs a complete attitude and coaching reset first and foremost. The Aggies need a dedicated offensive coordinator who can go in without interference from Wells and make personnel decisions starting with the QB (Matt can have no say in the type of offense or the QB for it to have a chance including decisions of whether to go for it exc.) The special teams needs a new coach and focus and a new punter. The D and team as a whole needs to focus on getting a really good Poly recruiting class.

Like I said to me Myers is just the canary in the coal mine. Anyone stupid enough to keep playing him is not going to recognize or be able to make the other changes or be humble enough to do so. Hope somehow I'm wrong.
The alarming thing about Myers is how much he has regressed. He fails in both the stats and the eye test. The more he plays, the worse he gets.

He didn't regress, he was never that good.

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