Coordinators & Position Coaches

[bincitysioux]

We are in Year 4 of "Bubba Ball".  The first three years were all improvements upon Bubba's predecessor and I think the consensus is the program is on the right track from where it was at circa 2009-13.  Obviously, this season seems to have been a "perfect storm" of injuries and off-field issues that has unfortunately yielded a lost season.  !@#$ happens. 

While watching one of the national post-game college football shows today, specifically regarding Notre Dame, the commentators noted the quality season that the Irish are having.  One of them said that Brian Kelley is coming off a bad year in 2016, but they seem to have rebounded.  He said that good coaches, good teams, and good programs bounce back from a bad season.  This just struck me that UND is in the midst of one of these years, but I am confident that the ship can be put back on course in 2018.  I firmly believe that UND is good program, and that Schweigert is a good coach and we will be back next year.

Having said all that, I'm to the point where I now feel Bubba needs to make some staff changes. 

My first issue is with Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach.  I know I am in the minority on this board in the fact that overall I've liked Paul Rudoph as OC.  Up until this season................  It is so obvious now that Rudolph's shortcomings as both a play caller and an evaluator of talent have been bailed out by an overachieving defense from 2014-16.  I freely admit that I enjoy the "3 yards & cloud of dust" mentality that this program has put forth since Bubba was hired.  It was ugly at times in 2014, but I understood given where the program was at.  It mostly worked in 2015 with Santiago's break out year.  It was a thing of beauty in 2016 I felt as we rolled through the Big Sky.  But here we are in 2017, with a hobbled QB, a young/makeshift O-Line that isn't getting it done, and there are no adjustments.  For me, what broke the camel's back was seeing Brad Heidlelbaugh start against Montana, and then seeing what Andrew Zimmerman did in relief.  If Rudolph is the OC and QB coach and has the final say on the QB depth chart, there is no excuse for starting Heidelbaugh ahead of Zimmerman.  We've all seen what both can do, and there is no comparison.  And actually, we all saw Heidelbaugh a season before and I'm sure we all thought, "this is the best we can do for a backup QB?".  

I fully advocate for Rudolph to be removed as OC and for Danny Freund to be given a shot.  He's young, energetic, and can connect with his players.  He was one of the best QB's ever to play here.  He played and was recruited under Lennon and Mussman.  Say what you want about Mussman, but he was excellent OC.  Freund would know how to call a balanced game and know how to mix up the run and pass game IMO.  Also, although he's orighinally from Wisconsin, he's committed to the program and has put roots down here in GF.  Rudolph apparently commutes from Minot and spends as little time here as possible.  

Regarding other position coaches.......................

The O-Line is horrible.  They are young this year and I doubt Knauf forgot how to coach from last year, but this position group has to get better.

And I am still waiting for someone to tell me why the D has gotten so conservative this year.  When Bubba/Schmidt took over in 2014 it was night and day difference as far as stopping the run and getting after the opposing QB.  It seems like Schmidt has gone ultra conservative this year, probably due to all of the injuries.  I say you live by the sword, you die by the sword.  Send as many people after the QB as often as you can.  Opposing QB's have been torching us deep for years.  Lets at least throw him on his ass when he does........................

[Sioux95]

I don't think we rolled thru the big sky last year.  We were a couple plays away from being 7-4, and that doesn't count barely beating Idaho State.  Our offense wasn't anything special last year.   In 2015 the offense was helped by 3 all conference line men in the middle, a healthy Stockwell, and Grady.  Not sure that there is any body of work from Rudy that shows Rudy to be a top notch o coordinater.  Bubba liked Rudy because he felt he did a great job at St cloud state... At that time they had a great RB, and I think Randy hedberg was the head coach.  Rudy's success at St cloud might have more to do with that.

[shep]

I still feel the Heidelbaugh decision is more on Bubba than Rudy. The HC may delegate positional depth charts, but he has veto power especially at QB. I don't think any HC is giving someone else the power to choose the starting QB and I don't think Bubba can avoid the blame on this one.

I won't mind seeing Rudy go, but yesterday near the goal line, he made two calls for runs. On the one JJ got the ball, but the NG beat his man and nailed him. Literally, the rest of the blocks were made and if that one is too, JJ is in. On the other, Geaux pointed it out, that if Santiago shifts to his right, he has a TD. So we settle for 3 but could have had 6 if there was better execution. I didn't hear anyone complain about the call on Studs' INT in the end zone. It was a good call; he mixed up the plays and I think Studs,  as he did all game, was behind the WR.

That said, the bigger issue for me is, if the QB sees 9-10 in the box, let the QB audible out of it. Shift players around so the D has to spread. That's on Rudy.

[gundy1124]

Was it amusing or was it disheartening listening to the home commentators, the one that played RB at Notre Dame wondering about 2 things?  1) where is the screen for UND 2) should find away to have Santiago and Brady on the field at the same time.  

[shep]

6 minutes ago, gundy1124 said:

Was it amusing or was it disheartening listening to the home commentators, the one that played RB at Notre Dame wondering about 2 things?  1) where is the screen for UND 2) should find away to have Santiago and Brady on the field at the same time.  

He also said UND should have all 3 of its RB's on the field at the same time. Get your best players on the field!

[Longtime fan]

10 hours ago, bincitysioux said:

We are in Year 4 of "Bubba Ball".  The first three years were all improvements upon Bubba's predecessor and I think the consensus is the program is on the right track from where it was at circa 2009-13.  Obviously, this season seems to have been a "perfect storm" of injuries and off-field issues that has unfortunately yielded a lost season.  !@#$ happens. 

While watching one of the national post-game college football shows today, specifically regarding Notre Dame, the commentators noted the quality season that the Irish are having.  One of them said that Brian Kelley is coming off a bad year in 2016, but they seem to have rebounded.  He said that good coaches, good teams, and good programs bounce back from a bad season.  This just struck me that UND is in the midst of one of these years, but I am confident that the ship can be put back on course in 2018.  I firmly believe that UND is good program, and that Schweigert is a good coach and we will be back next year.

Having said all that, I'm to the point where I now feel Bubba needs to make some staff changes. 

My first issue is with Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach.  I know I am in the minority on this board in the fact that overall I've liked Paul Rudoph as OC.  Up until this season................  It is so obvious now that Rudolph's shortcomings as both a play caller and an evaluator of talent have been bailed out by an overachieving defense from 2014-16.  I freely admit that I enjoy the "3 yards & cloud of dust" mentality that this program has put forth since Bubba was hired.  It was ugly at times in 2014, but I understood given where the program was at.  It mostly worked in 2015 with Santiago's break out year.  It was a thing of beauty in 2016 I felt as we rolled through the Big Sky.  But here we are in 2017, with a hobbled QB, a young/makeshift O-Line that isn't getting it done, and there are no adjustments.  For me, what broke the camel's back was seeing Brad Heidlelbaugh start against Montana, and then seeing what Andrew Zimmerman did in relief.  If Rudolph is the OC and QB coach and has the final say on the QB depth chart, there is no excuse for starting Heidelbaugh ahead of Zimmerman.  We've all seen what both can do, and there is no comparison.  And actually, we all saw Heidelbaugh a season before and I'm sure we all thought, "this is the best we can do for a backup QB?".  

I fully advocate for Rudolph to be removed as OC and for Danny Freund to be given a shot.  He's young, energetic, and can connect with his players.  He was one of the best QB's ever to play here.  He played and was recruited under Lennon and Mussman.  Say what you want about Mussman, but he was excellent OC.  Freund would know how to call a balanced game and know how to mix up the run and pass game IMO.  Also, although he's orighinally from Wisconsin, he's committed to the program and has put roots down here in GF.  Rudolph apparently commutes from Minot and spends as little time here as possible.  

Regarding other position coaches.......................

The O-Line is horrible.  They are young this year and I doubt Knauf forgot how to coach from last year, but this position group has to get better.

And I am still waiting for someone to tell me why the D has gotten so conservative this year.  When Bubba/Schmidt took over in 2014 it was night and day difference as far as stopping the run and getting after the opposing QB.  It seems like Schmidt has gone ultra conservative this year, probably due to all of the injuries.  I say you live by the sword, you die by the sword.  Send as many people after the QB as often as you can.  Opposing QB's have been torching us deep for years.  Lets at least throw him on his ass when he does........................

Football is without a doubt the ultimate team sport.... if a few cogs are out of place it can throw off the entire balance.  They began the year aggressive.  UND is still the only team to shutout misery  st.  In regards to UNDs D, the 3-4 base, the playmakers are their backers and safeties.   As everyone knows by now the ILBs / safeties are decimated and because of that I would assume Schmitty is not comfortable with heavy blitz packages but more of a containment/conservative style.  He's trying to keep it as simple as he can for the young inexperienced backers in the play calling aspect as well.   The ILB setting up the D is an undersized walk on fresh.   If Donnell was not injured I would think the d would be playing the same as the last couple years.....aggressive! *IMO Donnell was the biggest loss this year*     Schmitty just isn't comfortable with the ILB crew ...his bread and butter....

[Nodak78]

19 minutes ago, gundy1124 said:

Was it amusing or was it disheartening listening to the home commentators, the one that played RB at Notre Dame wondering about 2 things?  1) where is the screen for UND 2) should find away to have Santiago and Brady on the field at the same time.  

Maybe a candidate for a new OC job.

[bincitysioux]

16 minutes ago, Longtime fan said:

Football is without a doubt the ultimate team sport.... if a few cogs are out of place it can throw off the entire balance.  They began the year aggressive.  UND is still the only team to shutout misery  st.  In regards to UNDs D, the 3-4 base, the playmakers are their backers and safeties.   As everyone knows by now the ILBs / safeties are decimated and because of that I would assume Schmitty is not comfortable with heavy blitz packages but more of a containment/conservative style.  He's trying to keep it as simple as he can for the young inexperienced backers in the play calling aspect as well.   The ILB setting up the D is an undersized walk on fresh.   If Donnell was not injured I would think the d would be playing the same as the last couple years.....aggressive! *IMO Donnell was the biggest loss this year*     Schmitty just isn't comfortable with the ILB crew ...his bread and butter....

I agree on Donnell Rogers, he's been a huge a loss.  It will be nice when he and Cam Hunt are in the middle together.

[Longtime fan]

1 hour ago, bincitysioux said:

I agree on Donnell Rogers, he's been a huge a loss.  It will be nice when he and Cam Hunt are in the middle together.

Yeah next year barring massive injuries....Donnell, cam, Noah and Rastas will be a great crew. 

[UNDColorado]

52 minutes ago, Longtime fan said:

Yeah next year barring massive injuries....Donnell, cam, Noah and Rastas will be a great crew. 

Absolutely. If Rastas can put on at least 10 lbs he will be much improved.

[bang]

Most of us agree Rudy needs to go. Who replaces him? Is there any other coaches you guys think are on the hot seat? 

[geaux_sioux]

6 minutes ago, bang said:

Most of us agree Rudy needs to go. Who replaces him? Is there any other coaches you guys think are on the hot seat? 

Knauf

[Class_of_98]

Kostich

[Sioux95]

5 hours ago, gundy1124 said:

Was it amusing or was it disheartening listening to the home commentators, the one that played RB at Notre Dame wondering about 2 things?  1) where is the screen for UND 2) should find away to have Santiago and Brady on the field at the same time.  

I'm going to have to say disheartening.

[SiouxBoys]

8 hours ago, gundy1124 said:

Was it amusing or was it disheartening listening to the home commentators, the one that played RB at Notre Dame wondering about 2 things?  1) where is the screen for UND 2) should find away to have Santiago and Brady on the field at the same time.  

I'm going to say it was amusingly disheartening.

[Oxbow6]

26 minutes ago, SiouxBoys said:

I'm going to say it was amusingly disheartening.

........I see what you did there.

[gundy1124]

54 minutes ago, SiouxBoys said:

I'm going to say it was amusingly disheartening.

Nailed it-

[GoHawks]

22 hours ago, UNDColorado said:

Absolutely. If Rastas can put on at least 10 lbs he will be much improved.

On the tailgate show they interviewed Rastas. Said when he got to UND he was at 177lbs and now he's around 200-205lbs. Says he wants to get to 230lbs next year and no less then 220lbs. 

[SiouxTupa]

If Rudy is out, I don't think you replace his youth/inexperience with more youth/inexperience in Freund.

[UNDBIZ]

13 minutes ago, GoHawks said:

On the tailgate show they interviewed Rastas. Said when he got to UND he was at 177lbs and now he's around 200-205lbs. Says he wants to get to 230lbs next year and no less then 220lbs. 

Good for him.  Putting in the work!

[Sioux94]

5 minutes ago, SiouxTupa said:

If Rudy is out, I don't think you replace his youth/inexperience with more youth/inexperience in Freund.

You are probably right, I like Freund but having never been an offensive coordinator before.....it could be good, or it may not.  Not sure if I would want him "learning" on the job next year.  I believe it was Mussman's last year and both of our offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator were new, both internal guys that got appointed to that position probably because we were cheap and didn't go out and look for somebody who had the qualifications.  I remembered thinking, man both our O & D coordinators have never had this position at any level before, this doesn't seem good.  Well we saw the results of that season. 

[UNDColorado]

17 minutes ago, SiouxTupa said:

If Rudy is out, I don't think you replace his youth/inexperience with more youth/inexperience in Freund.

Agreed, but I would like to give him a shot at the QB coach. 

[fightingsioux4life]

On 10/29/2017 at 8:11 AM, shep said:

He also said UND should have all 3 of its RB's on the field at the same time. Get your best players on the field!

I want to see that as well. Put all three of those guys on the field at the same time. One carries the ball, the other two throw blocks. On occasion, throw a quick pass to one of them out of the backfield to keep defenses honest. If you are going to run the ball 75% of the time, you might as well go all out doing it.

[homer]

We will get what we are willing to pay for.  

[fightingsioux4life]

1 minute ago, homer said:

We will get what we are willing to pay for.  

Wasn't that the purpose of the downsizing of the athletic department the past couple of years?