rumor has it

The team practiced hard on Tue and Wed of last week, but did only light walkthroughs on Thurs and Fri (and also had a signing appearance Friday afternoon/evening).

Supposedly this was a change from standard game week scheduling, giving more of a break leading into game.

Has anybody heard similar? Seems foolhardy given what we knew about NIU's shiftiness (and the fact we have so many young and new faces working together for the first time).

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These sorts of stories come out when there’s blood in the water. You don’t hear these sorts of leaks from well run programs, even after rough losses.

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Would love to hear about all these well-run programs who don't generate static of all sorts, legitimate and otherwise, after a random L.

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was reduce distractions and fight against institutional inertia that wasn't helping the team win.

Freeman has continued a lot of that - we're not back to the days of guys missing practice for class and then dinner for practice - but he is letting some of it creep back in. Pregame mass is one the biggest examples. It hasn't hurt us too badly, but it may be part of the reason for the ups and downs.

Sounds like maybe Friday's schedule prioritized fan engagement (and NIL?) over game prep.

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You can't preach consistency and "prepare for every game like it is the Super Bowl" and then take your foot off the gas or change things up for a supposedly weaker opponent.

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At night, the ice weasels come.

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decide to burn even one of them, if rumor true.

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unfolded:

1. We allowed a NIL opportunity to disrupt our gameweek preparation.

2. We adjusted our gameweek schedule to accommodate a NIL event that has to be part of the "new normal" of college football.

There is inevitably going to be some adjustment as things continue to evolve. But if you lose the game to a vastly lesser opponent the first time you do something like that, then it's obviously viewed as 1.

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I'm still convinced every egg went into the Beat A&M basket and then they'd figure out the rest.

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"F--- everyone who isn't us."
#Team128

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He doesn't have to be reminded of what happened against Marshall a week after the opening trip to Columbus two years ago. Freeman may have shortcomings that prevent him from realizing his potential as a HC, but I don't believe that lack of self-awareness and introspection are among them. Unfortunately, there's a big difference between acknowledging the traps and actually overcoming them.

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Should they have lost to NIU? No
But to me it speaks to mindset.

--
"F--- everyone who isn't us."
#Team128

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I think it was more along the lines of "I'm not even thinking about next week yet".

It more than strains credulity that the HC would not know what his next opponent is.

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I think I recall Freeman saying something like that during the week. Maybe the light end to the week was to compensate for that.

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I could be wrong as in all things, but as far as I know doing hard collision work 48 hours out from a game is not standard industry practice either.

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But Thursday should be a light contact full practice at game speed. Non contact isn't the issue, it's the extra walkthrough and the signing event on Friday night that give me pause.

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was that Thurs and Fri deviated (downwards) from the normal routine. I don't know how much hitting per se usually happens each day of the week. I'm sure you're right that it gets lighter the closer you get to game day.

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Like, you can really belabor gameplan/scouting stuff until you really feel like you have the opponent and their best concepts downloaded and you've repped it until you "can't get it wrong." Alternatively, you can work on it until you feel you've basically got it, then run some of your core stuff (or Purdue or Louisville stuff) and maybe get out of there 30 minutes early

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So self-sabotaging it's almost compelling

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So I'm not 100% sure of the validity, but it would seem to explain the lack of preparedness against a less talented, but veteran squad who was going to prepare like it was the super bowl.

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--
"F--- everyone who isn't us."
#Team128

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I think Riley Leonard sucked ass.

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I'm a bad take machine!

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Even without the long TD pass, we gave up 4.77 yards per play to a MAC team.

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the Polo Grounds

One thing I know for sure

In this day & age? Sure you do.

One thing Kelly did well

If true, it would nudge me into the "not-Freeman" camp

And you only get so-many practices on the year. Insane to

Assuming this is true, there are two ways that it could have

He didn't know who the next opponent was on Satuday at A&M

I don't think that's true.

I think that was just a throwaway comment

Maybe Probably but I'm sure it stuck in Dekalb.

well, it was immediately after the A&M win

But didn't they go harder than usual on Tu/Wed?

Why would you regularly practice hard on Thu or Fri?

Friday is typically a walkthrough.

the way it was put to me

it could be about something besides just tackling

Would be Don Draper level pathological

heard it from a friend, who...

heard it from another you been messin around?

I don't think the team was unprepared

defense wasn't ready either