I can't be all doom & gloom about our program because I do think we have a few silver linings to take from another disappointing campaign. Still, that dud last night was pretty much reflective of our season as a whole. While I agree with Coach Elko that he has fixed a lot of the knot head cultural issues he inherited, I also agree he needs to teach our kids to play much, much better fundamentally sound football. Is some that going to come from an infusion of talent? I sure hope so. But as last night demonstrated, we probably need more help than we thought, along with vast improvement from our holdovers if we expect any kind of progress next year. Let's consider a few areas...
- Coaching - While I wasn't all that thrilled with Coach Klein this year, I'm giving him and the offense a bit of a pass based on the cards they were dealt. Made mistakes to be sure. 2nd down runs and stuff like that. Better running game overall and passes that were open. To be perfectly blunt, I believe everyone on the defensive staff should feel his seat is a little warm right now. Coach Bateman I would let go right now. I know it's tough time to do it, but bad is bad. Frankly, the early season was a bit of a mirage. The defense needs a serious reset of back to basics under new leadership. Learning how to tackle and play zone some would be a start....
- Talent Acquisition - Truthfully, I kind of deluded myself into thinking we were better off in some position groups than we actually are. O Line, for example, has regressed in the last few games. I can see why we targeting help there. We definitely need more on D Line. We just won't survive next season if we don't. I thought we needed a playmaking TE. I still do. We have to have better cover corners. Hopefully, Humphrey will assist with that. If not, fish will have to play.
- Better Play from Returnees/Additions - Specifically, there are going to be players we just have to have better individual play like QB, WR or RB. Others, it will be units, like the O Line. Reed, I just don't know. He has his wow moments, but other times, he just appears to lock in on one guy and not see the field. Can that be corrected?! Not a coach, so not a clue. The accuracy? Kinda doubt it. I think he's the streaky type so I would settle for him making the proper progressions and missing a few. But inconsistent position group play bothers me more. At times this year, the lines, WRs, TEs, and secondary have all been subpar to downright awful in games. Can't happen. That's why we went downhill. Everyone has to improve!
