I wanted to get in a final post before I'll be away for a long time. I'm going to be MIA while my mother comes to visit and am on a business trip to Sweden. It will be after the Purdue game before I can write anything again. In light of this I'd like to give a little "state of the union" discussion as well as talk about some key points to beating Michigan State.
Beating Michigan State will have very little to do with scheme and strategy and much more to do with who wants it and plays more physical at the point of attack. Essentially, the team that controls the line of scrimmage on offense and defense will win. Michigan state is a powerful running team and they will try to control the game and impose their will. We must find a way to consistently stop them and force them into obvious passing situations where we can pressure the quarterback. Then, we must actually succeed in getting pressure on the quarterback. I feel like it's been half a decade since a Notre Dame defense has actually been able to consistently pressure an opposing quarterback.
On the offensive side of the ball we must establish our running game. I know this essentially goes without saying but here it is even more true. Michigan State is tied for the most sacks in the country with 17 while we are dead last in the country giving up 23. Our chances of protecting the quarterback are poor but if we can't run the ball effectively to get them thinking about it and open up the play action passing game they will certainly be able to tee off on us and get to the quarterback.
I also think it is extremely important for at least one leader to emerge on our team. And it can't be just a leader by example. I'll talk more about this below but we need someone, anyone, to be vocal, to keep the team playing hard, and to not let anyone quit both during games and practice. Coaches can hold players accountable using methods of "punishment" such as diminished playing time. But teammates can be much more effective with this by simply encouraging each other. This allows players to hold each other accountable while improving their morale. Additionally, it doesn't seem like punishment because it comes from players that "walk the walk" rather than a coach in a superior, parent-like position.
Finally, I think it is imperative for the crowd to be in this game from beginning to end. I implore anyone going to support the team as much as possible. Be as loud as you can and, rather obviously, refrain from boo's. Try and spread this type of support and attitude to those around you as well. Hopefully the team will give you something to cheer about. The team is getting broken down this week during practice, the crowd needs to help build them back up. Of course, the easiest way to do this is a big play on special teams, something Golden Tate looks primed to do.
That about sums up my thoughts on Michigan State. I'd like to talk about a few other things, namely Weis and Demetrius. First things first, Demetrius Jones is in no way innocent in how he handled the situation surrounding his transfer. The facts are as follows. He had every opportunity to be the starting quarterback. By all accounts none of the other quarterbacks were treated with any preference. He played poorly in his one opportunity. He enrolled at another institution the day Weis announced Clausen would be the starter for Penn State, presumably because Weis indicated Clausen was the best all along but couldn't play due to injury. And, finally, he practiced for two weeks with the team, taking quarterback repetitions away from the other members of the team, after he had enrolled at another school, only to not show up when the bus was leaving to make the trip to Michigan without telling anyone. There was even a package of plays in the Michigan gameplan (if you can call it that) designed specifically for him. He says he felt mislead by Weis but he did his fair share of the same to his coach and teammates.
Those are the facts, but I've been thinking about this quite a bit and there are some conjectures I'd like to make regarding the situation. At the onset of this discussion I'd like to say that I am not trying to deflect attention away from the poor play of the team to complain about Jones. I do not blame him solely for any of our problems nor do I think he is a scapegoat. Nearly everything I have seen, heard, and read about Jones is admirable and I appreciate his comments admitting he handled the situation immaturely. The reason I am upset about this is because he knew what he said would get a lot of press and it makes Weis and our football program look bad to all who simply read and know things on the surface, i.e. most of the fickle college football fans out there.
You cannot convince me he made the decision to transfer after hearing what Weis said about the quarterback competition and Clausen. He enrolled the day Weis issued the statement which came fairly late in the day. They had practice and he also had class so it wasn't like he could spend his whole day searching for and learning the few colleges where he could loophole the NCAA rules and not lose eligibility for the 2008 season. I believe he had it planned for a while and this was just the straw that broke the camel's back, forcing him (in his mind) to make transferring his final decision. He had to see the writing on the wall. No player in a competition like this cannot look at his play vs. that of his competitors and not know where he stands. I guess the bottom line is that I just don't believe most of the things he said.
My next item of business involves Weis and all of the discussion surrounding him adapting and changing his personality/leadership and coaching philosophy. While I agree with some of the things that are being said out there (here, here, and here), I disagree with others. It has been said, somewhat repeatedly, that Weis needs to change his leadership and coaching personality to adapt better to the young team. I disagree. I think a coach is defined by his leadership and personality, combined with his philosophy on football and offensive/defensive schemes. Weis is brash, confident, very black and white, matter-of-fact, and intolerant of mediocrity from himself, his assistant coaches, and his players. That does not need to change, regardless of who is on the team. Rather, the players he recruits need to complement that, they need to understand and thrive under that type of coaching personality and who will follow his style of leadership. And it is his job to successfully find and recruit those types of players into his system. He talks about getting "his guys" all the time, he understands this.
A coach's wavering leadership sends mixed messages. A team needs a unified front, a single leader, and a consistent voice. That may be even more true now with a young team then over the past two years. When he first got to Notre Dame the team also needed it, but for different reasons. They needed it because they had no discipline and no direction due to a lack of decisive leadership before Weis. They need it now because they are lost, distraught, and severely unmotivated. His confidence and attitude are necessary to give the young players direction and let them know he will right the ship and get things going back in the right direction. That doesn't mean he can't tweak the way he leads and interacts with the players. The best example I can provide is knowing when to be overtly critical vs. when to bite his tongue and not publicly lash out at the young players. That type of difference needs to be accounted for in his attitude, but I believe he does that.
Now, on the other side I do believe he has to adapt his coaching philosophy. There are definitive differences between coaching in the NFL and college. Recruiting aside, the largest difference is preparation time. I believe Weis primarily attacks this difference by doing a lot of the outside of practice work on his own. He reduces the load on the players by thoroughly preparing himself and his staff. The other way he needs to adapt is to reduce the offense into a manageable piece at the college level. That doesn't mean dumb it down. It means that he needs to simplify it by removing the parts of it his team doesn't do well. This is even more true now, with such a young team, than it was when he first arrived. But this year he has done the opposite. He has been far too cute, broad, and gimmicky in what he has tried to do offensively.
Great coaches aren't great because they adopt other coaching philosophies. Philosophies and schemes come and go in football. The West Coast offense, 5-2 defense, triple option, etc. are all examples. The spread and other current en vogue things will do the same. The lasting things are much more fundamental, much more basic. And the great coaches are great because they excel at getting their team to perform at a high level when doing these fundamental things. Things like firing off when the ball is snapped, blocking, tackling, good special teams, and elimination of mental mistakes and turnovers. Weis doesn't need to grab from other coaching repertoires. He comes from a background of proven coaching scheme and philosophy. He needs to instill and teach, that philosophy in his own players. Part of that is making it manageable for the experience level of the players he coaches.
Another item of his coaching he must adapt is the psyche, the mentality of his team. In the NFL players play well to receive monetary incentives, because they thrive in competition, and because they are older and more mature. In college it is different. I hate to say it but it is rare that you find college football players who attend a school due to loyalty. That day and age seems to have passed. So the "playing for the pride and tradition of your school" card can't really be played. In most cases recruits play college football to get to the NFL, plain and simple. But college coaches can't just expect them to play at a high level, with motivation and determination, and in a physical manner. They have to get their players in the right state of mind, they have to make sure they are prepared to play, they and have to make sure they are motivated. And I think the way that transpires within the team stems primarily from the type of team the coach builds. His coaching personality and attitude directly extend into the psyche of the team. It's how they react to it that determines whether or not they respond to the challenge. Weis has yet to prove to me, on any level, that he has mastered this skill. Perhaps this is what people refer to when they say he has to adapt his leadership. I would contend that he merely needs to change the way he imparts the message.
Weis also needs to learn how to build leaders. On the football field, leaders can be made. Captains are elected by their peers, but leaders can be made by their coaches. Weis needs to go in search of them now. He needs to find the guys that always leave it on the field, that always work hard, and he needs to coerce them into being vocal. This team needs leaders who will hold them accountable and drive them to be more physical, aggressive, and motivated. He said in his opening press conference that his intelligence and nasty attitude would permeate down to the players. It isn't (and hasn't) because for all of the players it can't come directly from him. He has to work it into a few players that buy into it, then let their peers get it from them.
What we are seeing right now is Weis' lack of head coaching experience, especially at the college level. His future success will be determined by how fast and how much he learns. He says the right things, he holds himself accountable, and he realizes what is wrong, he understands the problems. Now he needs to develop a plan and execute it. What may be a greater concern is that he either doesn't seem to recognize these problems before they very obviously manifest themselves, i.e. before it's too late, or he does recognize them but doesn't know how to fix them (link here). I've said it several times, we are young, inexperienced, facing a tough schedule, and have little talent in our upper classes. That doesn't add up to 38-0 against Michigan and complete ineptitude on offense. That isn't an excuse. Florida has 72 freshmen and sophomores (not all on scholarship) and their team is performing at a very high level. Our coaching hasn't maximized our potential nor effectively motivated our players. The ultimate question is how fast will Weis learn, how quickly will our team improve?
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