Will Be Interesting to Watch How Kill Handles His Staff....

[MNVCGUY]

Let's put a few things to bed. Kill is going to get multiple years to try and turn things around as he should. The offensive struggles to this point shouldn't surprise anyone, we have two inexperienced QB's, and O-Line that can't block anyone, no elite talent at RB, and one proven receiver who lately has been having a tough time hanging onto the ball. On top of that the only other weapon we have at WR isn't playing the position. Marcus Jones may be crazy skilled as a return guy but he his hands leave a lot to be desired to this point.

The thing that concerns me going forward and something I have not really seen much mention of is Coach Claeys and his ability to design a Big Ten Caliber defense. In two conference games we have given up 103 points and had both Michigan and Purdue kept going that number could be significantly higher. Yes the offense and special teams play into some of those points but the bottom line is that opposing offenses are having no problem figuring out where the soft spots in the defense are and attacking them.

During the NMSU game they ran the same pass play over and over again and the defense couldn't/didn't adjust. In the Miami game that W could easily have been flipped to an L if their QB had been more accurate and managed to hit many of the open receivers he had all over the field.

Lack of depth and talent gets pointed to and I will go with it some on offense but on defense there are decent players that have logged quite a bit of time on the field. We were not going to beat Michigan but there is enough talent there that we should at least have been competitive with Purdue and there is certainly enough talent there to keep a team like NMSU in check.

Kill is extremely loyal to his staff and I don't know that he would ever consider getting rid of any of them, but I wonder if the blow-outs continue through this year and significant improvement is not shown on the defensive side of the ball next season if behind the scenes it will be recommended to Claeys that it might be time to try his hand as a head coach.

The athletic department botched the hiring process about as badly as they could have but in the end probably landed on the right coach. Now the question becomes are his long time assistants good enough to make it at this level or are they guys better suited for the dimmer spotlights of a place like Northern Illinois.

The mess that this season has become can't totally be blamed on the players...I see some coaching deficiencies there as well and it will be interesting to see how Kill addresses them in the years to come.

Go Gophers!

 

[Some Day...Is Coming!]

What do you expect from this defense? They were awful last year and this year the offense is way way way worse. This offense is much worse than this defense. I'll take this defense over this offense all day long. Not saying this defense is good, but it's not nearly as bad as this offense. Purdue's starting field positions: Minn 10, 36, and 39 yard lines and a pick 6 all in the first 16 minutes of the game. And how long did the offense possess the ball? Maybe a few minutes.

Points scored by the offense the last 10 quarters and 5 seconds = 20
Points given up by the offense the last 10 quarters and 5 seconds = 21

This is the worst Divsion 1 offense I can remember seeing in my lifetime.

 

[JPIIGopher]

I think Claeys defenses begin and end with a strong pass rush/lot's of blitzing, and since have no pass rush what so ever we look dreadful. I hope in the next year or two we can find guys that can rush the passer!

 

[Gophers09]

I'm not going to begin to say the defense has been good but they have also been put in terrible situations by the offense. Those point totals wouldn't be that bad if the offense played decent. Too early to start judging effectiveness of schemes.

 

[EG#9]

Staff continuity was one of the main selling points of Jerry Kill, so I don't think you will see any changes at the coordinator level. It is also important to note that Kill himself leans more to the defensive side of the ball (linebacker as a player, DC at Pittsburg State), and I believe he's stated he spends more time on that side of the ball.

 

[beavergopher]

Staff continuity was one of the main selling points of Jerry Kill, so I don't think you will see any changes at the coordinator level. It is also important to note that Kill himself leans more to the defensive side of the ball (linebacker as a player, DC at Pittsburg State), and I believe he's stated he spends more time on that side of the ball.

Will Be Interesting to Watch How Kill Handles His Staff....That's what she said.

 

[Gopher028]

Marcus Jones by trade is a DB.... it's his natural job to knock balls to the ground, rather than catch them. He was put into the WR mix because of our lack of depth there... yes, a DB out played most of our WRs at the pos. Geeeez............ that ain't good

 

[Bo Darville]

Claeys has had zero experience coaching in a BCS level conference. Limgrover spent two years as a grad assistant at Northwestern. They might have some adjusting to do.

 

[mplsbadger]

Claeys has had zero experience coaching in a BCS level conference. Limgrover spent two years as a grad assistant at Northwestern. They might have some adjusting to do.

I think someone said in another post that they were 2-3 against the big ten, all road games, with inferior MAC talent. That is good enough for me and I'd take it this year.

 

[91 CLA Grad]

With little pass rush and the DB's giving huge cushions regularly, it's not hard to see why our defensive numbers have been awful, and they will probably continue to be so as the younger players get more playing time. I don't think the point is to pay dividends this year.

 

[drinks at Northpoint]

We had a guy start at LB who was a running back 2 weeks ago. Until they have a chance to get some guys in the system for a few years, we can't over react to the product on the field.

 

[1983]

Claeys has had zero experience coaching in a BCS level conference. Limgrover spent two years as a grad assistant at Northwestern. They might have some adjusting to do.

Claeys has beaten several BCS level teams. The adjustments will be in getting players to play their way.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Staff continuity was a huge plus in my mind for Kill. Hopefully these guys can cut it at this level but I have seen some things in the first 6 games that make me a little nervous from the coaching side of things. I don't expect miracles as this whole process is going to take time but I would like to see the team at least look prepared and be somewhat competitive on the field. Michigan could have hung 100 on us if they had really wanted to. Purdue who looked very average against a subpar Rice team had no problem dominating us on both sides of the ball.

As we push into years 2-3 of the Kill regime the question will become are these top coaches that have just been really loyal to Kill over the years or are the average coaches that have thrived at the lower levels but aren't ready for prime time. The frustrating part is that we all have to wait multiple years to find out because the program can't afford any more knee jerk reactions.

 

[booger]

Coach Claeys is very good coordinator. Coach Miller has been a DC for many years at some High level DI schools. Let them get some players that fit what they need. Coach Kill/Claeys have always had defensive players that could run, even if they were undersized. It's been said many times before, but it is going to take time, maybe alot of time.

 

[highwayman]

How he will handle his staff will be that Kill will fire no one, and no one will be reassigned. The plan continues. The progress will continue. End this thread now. Dumb.

 

[goldengophers]

How he will handle his staff will be that Kill will fire no one, and no one will be reassigned. The plan continues. The progress will continue. End this thread now. Dumb.

The reassigning part is not true, Kill's staff below the coordinators switch coaching positions routinely. Also, everything with this program is open for discussion whether you, I or anyone else agrees with it. Continue this thread if you'd like.

 

[highwayman]

The reassigning part is not true, Kill's staff below the coordinators switch coaching positions routinely. Also, everything with this program is open for discussion whether you, I or anyone else agrees with it. Continue this thread if you'd like.

I guess I meant reassigned to a "not imopact" position, like putting a manager into a role with no one to supervise. "Open to discussion" has so many levels. I think it's stupid, yes stupid, to talk about coaching changes halfway through a football season. That's dumb, especially by someone with three posts total. Maybe they're new, maybe they are just troublemakers.