Why am I so annoyed we might lose Al Golden?
by Larz, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:14 (16 days ago)
Obviously, I hope we don’t lose him. And Al if you are reading this you have unfinished business. ND is where you should be.
I don’t have an issue with Pendleton, Thomas, Colzie leaving. But Golden potentially leaving is really annoying me. I know it’s for a good opportunity. But it’s just not sitting well with me. Not sure why
Here’s why I’m not mad at him
by JD in Portland , Portland OR, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 13:46 (16 days ago) @ Larz
This seems very relationship based with the Bengals, basically a one off. He wasn’t like BK shopping himself around everywhere. Nor was he Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson missing practices in the 2 wks before their employer’s biggest game of the season to prep for and take interviews with 5 and 3 teams, respectively.
Golden built on the strong foundation established by Lea and Freeman and took it to the next level. There will be a higher number of qualified people, both internally and externally, able to maintain and improve on that than there would be to come in and fix a broken system, which is the case in most DC openings.
Golden did right by ND and we never would’ve gotten to 3 playoff wins and 13 overall wins in a row without him.
He’s following his heart and loyalties, not looking for an easier path. And thank god it’s not PSU because then I’d have to hate him. lol
Right. We've been hoping he wouldn't leave to go back
by BillyGoat, At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 14:19 (16 days ago) @ JD in Portland
to the Bengals at least the last two, if not three, offseasons.
it would be nice to have a good DC stay longer than 3 years
by Kyle, Indianapolis, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:14 (16 days ago) @ Larz
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Does that happen any more? Venables was at Clemson
by BillyGoat, At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:28 (16 days ago) @ Kyle
forever. But who else is entrenched like that and doing it at a high level? There's steady turnover at both coordinator spots at Bama and Georgia, for sure. Ditto for OSU. Heck, at a lot of top programs, you are seeing HEAD coaches last barely three years.
true, I was hoping he could be Freeman's version of Venables
by Kyle, Indianapolis, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 13:19 (16 days ago) @ BillyGoat
as a player, not having to learn a new system every 2-3 years has to benefit performance (assuming the existing system is a good one, lol)
Me too. And I still think there's a chance. It seems like
by BillyGoat, At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 13:30 (16 days ago) @ Kyle
there are very narrow paths out of ND for both our coordinators, with Denbrock's being even narrower than Golden's.
LOL. This didn't age well. Or, at least, not for long.
by BillyGoat, At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 13:31 (16 days ago) @ BillyGoat
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Sounds like this might have been the only job
by Jeremy (WeIsND), Offices of Babip Pecota Vorp & Eckstein, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 13:39 (16 days ago) @ BillyGoat
That would have led him to leave. Which is weird given the Brown family's history for cheapening out on everything, and the giant axe hanging over Taylor's head.
I'm less annoyed with every passing day
by Jeremy (WeIsND), Offices of Babip Pecota Vorp & Eckstein, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:41 (16 days ago) @ Larz
3 years is about the typical shelf life for a good coordinator. I'm still not pleased with the fact that the news became very very public immediately after the game, in his unit's worst performance in some time. But I know he doesn't exactly have a whole lot of control over that.
I do have some mild concerns over Freeman being able to consistently identify and hire great talent as position coaches and coordinators. But the mark of a great head coach is having to regularly deal with your assistants getting promotions.
Golden was a home run hire, though
by Jay , San Diego, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:08 (16 days ago) @ Jeremy (WeIsND)
He may have been teed up by Swarbrick but Freeman gets a lot of credit for bringing in an elder statesman, handing him the reins and making it work. Despite my frustrations with the other night I don’t think we make this run without Golden.
The good news is that Freeman doesn't need him as much now
by Jeff (BGS) , A starter home in suburban Tempe, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 13:17 (16 days ago) @ Jay
Golden was a great DC, but I like to think he was also a bit of a head coaching mentor for Freeman as a first time head coach.
Freeman doesn't need that anymore. Sure, experience always helps, and I'm sure he still has much more to learn, but only because the sky is the limit with him. But, I have zero concerns about him needing support as a head coach.
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At night, the ice weasels come.
Definitely not. There's an art first and foremost to
by BillyGoat, At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:26 (16 days ago) @ Jay
creating any defense that is greater than the sum of its parts. He's done that over and over again despite some brutal injuries to some very key parts. I mean, as of early October, he was running a defense where one main principle was likely: "OK, Benjamin Morrison is defending this part of the field. So it's my job to take these other 10 guys and deal with the rest of it." He also had to find guys that matched his scheme and culture in the portal. "Nice to meet you, Thomas Harper. Go stand over there across from the slot receiver every snap for the entire season. Thank you for your service, Thomas. Nice to meet you, Jordan Clark ......"
To take all of that and find ways to weaponize it, without any on-paper blue-chippers? Wow.
Are your concerns about Freeman specifically? Or are they
by BillyGoat, At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:59 (16 days ago) @ Jeremy (WeIsND)
at least subconsciously residual of years of ND underpaying for assistants and not being able to attract talent.
The lever of the ND Football Machine is pushed as far to the "Win" setting as it can go. Come here, make a couple million bucks, be part of one of the biggest brands on the planet, and be part of a program that is willing to pay to attract and retain talent in the context of a strong team culture. What's not to like?
Freeman is still young, and he has seen only so much of the football world. But I think he's shown a strong early track record of identifying quality assistants. And if a guy isn't pulling his weight, he's gone. And ND has backed him up on both fronts.
what have his biggest whiffs been?
by Mike (bart), Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:58 (16 days ago) @ Jeremy (WeIsND)
Stuckey? Though rumors say that was a Rees hire
Parker was serviceable and kind of thrust into service in a pinch.
Hiestand was a Rees hire but seemed pretty good as a bridge
Rudolph, Washington, Bullough, Mickens, Biagi (Parker), Denbrock all seem like pretty big hits
TBD on Brown (though the Greathouse breakout looks promising) and Giudugli
I don't have concerns about hires he's made
by Jeremy (WeIsND), Offices of Babip Pecota Vorp & Eckstein, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:11 (16 days ago) @ Mike (bart)
I just wonder if he'll be able to continue to hit doubles and home runs going forward, as I expect we're going to start losing significant pieces off this staff in the coming seasons.
Why wouldn't he?
by Jack , Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 13:06 (16 days ago) @ Jeremy (WeIsND)
You yourself mentioned his track record of hires, and who wouldn't want to work with him after this year's success, and great publicity personally?
Saban 2.0
by JD in Portland , Portland OR, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 14:00 (16 days ago) @ Jack
But - Without the Fr Flanigan Home for Boys part
The program is also in a very different spot
by Mike (bart), Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:16 (16 days ago) @ Jeremy (WeIsND)
Like, Golden's past HC experience was utterly critical to get here but had almost certainly hit its last marginal return. What does it need now? Also kind of timely in that Golden's D got a bunch of film down the past two games of very smart coordinators getting over on him. Understandable given the context, btu it was going to get harder next year to stay ahead of things
I think we need to get a bit more Diaco-ish
by HumanRobot , Cybertron, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:18 (16 days ago) @ Mike (bart)
Mind you, never go full Diaco. But PSU got it over on us with the sugar huddle as we couldn't get the call in on time and guys didn't seem to have a strong enough base concept to win the play straight up. I think USC did a bit of that on us, too.
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I'm a bad take machine!
strong disagree
by Mike (bart), Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:27 (16 days ago) @ HumanRobot
we were too Diaco-ish on Monday. Freeman's whole cultural posture is being the aggressor team. You can't do that while sitting back in a shell. We also won't be able to sustain the breakthrough at CB without maintaining the aggressive schema. Not many great athletes want to come be bail corners
Also, I think that we have to assume we will continue to
by BillyGoat, At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:30 (16 days ago) @ Mike (bart)
be on the short end of the truly elite hellraisers. I think we will see the talent level increase and can hopefully grab a couple more of those guys here and there. But we aren't going to look like UGA personnel or anything like that ever. IMO, when that's the case, you have to make up for it by trying to seize the initiative and dictate to the offense.
Maybe more Diaco-ish in terms of having a ready-made
by bpeters07 , Sack Lake City, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:29 (16 days ago) @ Mike (bart)
baseline/default operation; less Diaco-ish in terms of bend-don't-break?
We had a ready made default. C-1 Robber
by Mike (bart), Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:33 (16 days ago) @ bpeters07
we got out of it on Monday. It worked fine as a scheme against PSU but for some bad calls and bad play holding the edges in the 1H. What we could have had Watts post-high over Smith to bracket with the robber over Egbuka but instead we went two high which is a big part of why our CBs were playing flat footed all night - they didn't have help horizontally to either side
thanks, that's what I was trying to say
by HumanRobot , Cybertron, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:32 (16 days ago) @ bpeters07
I'll cop to the fact that I have shit for brains when it comes to scheme, so maybe that's impractical.
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I'm a bad take machine!
Agreed.
by KGB, Belly o. the Beast, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:05 (16 days ago) @ Mike (bart)
I think he's been great on the backfills. And assuming that Golden was all Freeman, you have to say in hindsight that was a masterstroke given the situation. Freeman really needed a guy at the time who had been around the block once or twice and could assist with some stuff that "he didn't know he didn't know". Even setting aside his skills as a coordinator, which have since proven elite.
I think Golden was recommended to Freeman by Swarbrick
by HumanRobot , Cybertron, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:09 (16 days ago) @ KGB
Swarbrick interviewed Golden during the Kelly hiring cycle. I think he always kept up with the guy after that.
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I'm a bad take machine!
true
by Jay , San Diego, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:31 (16 days ago) @ HumanRobot
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Totally agree. The "misses" all deserve at least an asterisk
by BillyGoat, At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:02 (16 days ago) @ Mike (bart)
if not exoneration for Freeman.
Gino is an interesting debate. I'd probably go 60-40 to the good on him as of now. I thought Leonard progressed well throwing the ball over the course of the season. Angeli has been a strong backup. How he has developed Carr will be huge. And ditto for his evaluations on Hebert and Grubbs.
I really want to know what the hell he was thinking on D
by Jay , San Diego, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:27 (16 days ago) @ Larz
Obviously haven’t rewatched anything yet, but it felt like we were meeting OSU’s good talent on offense with half-baked schemes of our own, guys out of position all night, and a distinct lack of respect to Will Howard both in pass rushing and containing him on scrambles. Felt like a USC retread where we weren’t playing our game and we were letting Chip Kelly dictate everything. I’ll be curious to see any defensive breakdowns anybody has to offer, but my (still lingering) frustration is that the defensive coaches and especially Golden really let our guys down. We may not have won the game but we should have never dug such a massive hole for ourselves.
Coincidence?
by Domer99, John Wesley Powell's Expedition Island, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:58 (16 days ago) @ Jay
It was a little over 30 years ago when another ND coach was flirting with a Cincinatti Bearcat program the week after the FSU game. He ultimately left after one of the worse defensive performances of the season.
I dunno
by Jay , San Diego, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:03 (16 days ago) @ Domer99
If he had been mailing it in I think we would have just run our usual stuff, right? We obviously changed things to fit the game but just totally guessed wrong in prep and our guys were tentative and indecisive. It’s like we overthought everything instead of just dancing with what brung us (to mangle an idiom).
I don’t love this take but
by Dallasdomer, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:26 (16 days ago) @ Jay
it’s hard in the aftermath of a game like that to assess what happened exactly. OSU has had its way with some very good defenses in the playoffs and Tenn arguably had more front 4 or 7 talent than we do. Same with UT. Were all those teams unprepared, confused, disorganized, etc?
Here is maybe an unpopular take. I think Golden was a very good coordinator for 2 seasons. His first season was not outstanding, in my recollection. He gets tremendous credit, rightly, for shutting down Caleb in the SC game last year but of course that is one game. I think the preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that Lea was a better overall coordinator though I confess that I haven’t run the numbers to compare. We have loved Golden more as the team has gotten better and has Freeman has gotten more comfortable in the HC role. So, although I wish he would stay, I don’t have a lot of anxiety over promoting Mickens at this point, all things considered.
I completely disagree on Lea relative to Golden.
by KGB, Belly o. the Beast, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:41 (16 days ago) @ Dallasdomer
Although I think Golden has had a better draw on assistants, particularly inheriting Mickens running CB/S.
I just like Golden's aggressive nature more, and whereas Lea was famous for his halftime adjustments, Golden was largely shutting things down that worked on the first drive by the second or third.
I think both DCs are excellent. I love the way Golden
by BillyGoat, At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:55 (16 days ago) @ KGB
pairs pressure with coverage. When Lea would pressure, it seemed like we would usually be playing soft coverage behind it and concede the completion. Golden pressures, anticipates where the hot throw will go and blankets it. Both defenses get off the field. Golden seems to create more havoc.
But overall you might as well be asking me to choose between my two kids -- especially in the context of ND DCs during my 35-ish years as a ND fan. Some of my earliest ND memories involve complaining about Gary Darnell.
I mean, off the top of my head, since Alvarez, hasn't it been:
- Darnell - So bad that Lou ended up calling the D himself at times.
- Minter - OK at times, but too complex, such that DuBose was infamously looking at his wristband on a key play.
- Davie - Credit where credit is due. Honestly, the highlight at DC for probably a two-decade span between Alvarez and Diaco. There's probably a hot debate on sports talk radio in purgatory about whether Davie or Diaco was a better DC.
- Mattison?
- Baer
- Minter again. If he had been able to create even modest friction for our opponents, we would have destroyed teams in 05 and 06.
- Brown
- Brown and Tah Noo Tah (great for blogging, bad for football). Though I will never forget those nascent days of FIM with the quote: "Paskorsz, you couldn't break a f*cking egg."
- Diaco
- VanGorder
- Elko
- Lea
- Freeman
- Golden
We can certainly debate relative merits. But let's all remember that we are in a freeking golden age of ND defenses, including the "glory days" of Lou.
We will miss Golden if he leaves
by DenverIrish, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:33 (16 days ago) @ BillyGoat
I agree with you. We have the most points off takeaways in over 10 years by over 50 points, I think, is the stat they said during the NC. He got beat by Chip Kelly, plain and simple, and it wasn't close. But it's Chip Kelly, not some no-name OC. I think he's one of the best OC's out there, and he had the best offensive talent to work with. I absolutely expected better from Golden, but we're kidding ourselves to think that's an easy replacement. He diagnoses the offense quickly, and we had THE BEST defense after Q1 in the P4 all season, lowest points allowed after Q1. We get everyone's best shot week after week. We get their wrinkles. I think we saw from Parker how a decent coordinator can quickly be in over his head at a place like ND. I felt like he could run an offense fine, but he couldn't make the next-level in game adjustments necessary when each week a team is throwing their best at you from watching for every weakness they can study all year just for your game.
One of Al's tendencies that Chip Kelly knew and exploited was being overly aggressive, which works against slightly worse offenses but not against the best. He has to know when to cut back on that, and he doesn't always. OSU scored a touchdown against us two years ago from the 20 yard line on third down when we blitzed I think 7 and were in man with no help - we didn't quite get there and they made a perfect throw. You cannot take that risk with a really good QB and really, really good WR's. Day basically said after the game they knew we were likely to do that and they could just chuck it down the sideline (he was more political than that). There is plenty to diagnose with what went wrong Monday night. Several times we gave up the edge where it looked like the right defensive call, and we are out of position, not playing disciplined, don't make tackles. Several times we are not in the right coverage because they knew what to call against us. Several times we played timid instead of blowing up the play like we have done in previous games - one WR screen early on I remember in particular. It absolutely sucks for it to be the NC that it happens. It would not be better if we were having this discussion after the Georgia or Penn State game though.
Getting an Al Golden level DC is difficult. I hope he stays. It's not the end of our run automatically if he leaves, but I certainly don't want him to go. It's the inevitable turnover like this though that makes repeat NC appearances so damn hard.
Yes.
by PMan , The Banks of the Spokane River, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:34 (16 days ago) @ Jay
"Preparation" was said to be the Irish "superpower." Whatever Golden prepared was not it.
We just couldn't get home on Howard.
by KGB, Belly o. the Beast, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:31 (16 days ago) @ Jay
edited by KGB, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:44
(I'll preface by saying that my thoughts are based on watching live in the stadium and maybe not having the best view of certain plays. Doubt I'll rewatch the broadcast anytime soon.)
Not sure who is most at fault there, but I do have to begrudgingly tip my cap to OSU's OL and backs for managing to always pick up whoever Golden sent. Seemed like Henderson killed us in pass pro, which I wouldn't have anticipated.
As for the QB runs, I'm not sure how much could be done when you're so focused on their receivers as well as the backs gouging you. I always sort of expected that Kelly would utilize his legs more in this game, because a lot of those yards were basically free.
Howard's pocket presence was excellent too
by bpeters07 , Sack Lake City, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:45 (16 days ago) @ KGB
Never held onto the ball too long and seemed always aware of where pressure was coming from, all the while making crisp throws. He played a great game.
Oben's frustration there at getting close but a step too late is understandable (though the late push itself is inexcusable).
Especially because that pass was rushed and incomplete
by CK08, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:00 (16 days ago) @ bpeters07
Oben forced a third and long, even though he didn't get home. Then ruined it with a stupid penalty.
It felt like he was getting rid of the ball very quickly.
by Grantland, y'allywood, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:36 (16 days ago) @ KGB
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Which means receivers were open
by Jack , Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:48 (16 days ago) @ Grantland
It's arguably the best set of receivers in the country, if that's some consolation.
someone in Slack
by HumanRobot , Cybertron, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:31 (16 days ago) @ Jay
Said that Freeman was pretty heated with Golden throughout the game, if you were watching the coach cam or Skyview or whatever.
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I'm a bad take machine!
is the Coach Cam a different feed than Skycast?
by Jay , San Diego, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:48 (16 days ago) @ HumanRobot
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Yeah
by bpeters07 , Sack Lake City, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:09 (16 days ago) @ Jay
edited by bpeters07, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:19
The coach cam is just a small live feed tracking the head coach that ESPN has in the corner of their "hometown radio" version of the broadcast. (I watched that for most of the game because Ryan Harris is infinitely better to listen to than Fowler and Herbstreit.)
I was able to watch it live during the game through the ESPN app on my TV[s], but I haven't been able to find a replay version of it[/s].
Here's the link the full replay: https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/54f3a1f7-256f-4f4d-874e-c10d5de330f1
speaking of Ryan Harris
by Jay , San Diego, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:14 (16 days ago) @ bpeters07
Was ubering downtown early Monday and spotted Harris walking by himself, nattily dressed on his way somewhere. Rolled down the window and gave him a hearty, “FIRE UP RYAN HARRIS”. Instead of embarrassingly ignoring me, he looked right at me and gave me a “WOO” and a fist pump. Love that guy.
Awesome
by bpeters07 , Sack Lake City, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:25 (16 days ago) @ Jay
BTW, I found the link to that hometown radio stream with the coachcam and edited it into my posts above
Coach cam showed Freeman having an extended conversation
by bpeters07 , Sack Lake City, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:42 (16 days ago) @ HumanRobot
edited by bpeters07, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:26
together with Golden over an iPad after the TD following OSU's big run (the one wear Bowen seemed out of position and whiffed as Judkins blew by).
Looked like Free was asking some hard questions for a while, but eventually he left, made his way over to the LBs, and that's when the heat came out. Haven't really seen him go after players like that.
edit: Here's that episode: https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/54f3a1f7-256f-4f4d-874e-c10d5de330f1?t=7361
Interestingly, he had a milder disposition toward Bowen himself when he came off the field right before the convo with Golden: https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/54f3a1f7-256f-4f4d-874e-c10d5de330f1?t=7199
On the last 3rd down play where we blitzed 7
by Mike (bart), Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:30 (16 days ago) @ Jay
Our 3 best pass rushers Sneed, KVA and Bryce Young were all on the bench. Whole operation was so sloppy all night
how about the first TD
by Jay , San Diego, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:09 (16 days ago) @ Mike (bart)
Play happened right in front of us. Gray was gesticulating wildly at the presnap motion, but still nobody recognized Smith out of the backfield. So easy for them.
Smith faked a reverse/end around
by CK08, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:41 (16 days ago) @ Jay
So while Gray went and guarded someone else (presumably as some sort of disguised coverage?), whoever was supposed to pick up Smith was fooled by the reverse action.
Either that or Gray had the worst poker face ever upon seeing some sort of tell that the play would be a reverse, perfectly setting up the fake...
the timeout usage generally was BAD
by Mike (bart), Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:19 (16 days ago) @ Jay
that play, the out of sorts critical 3rd down when the snap hit Evans, the fake punt, the missed FG. We took TOs home at the end of both halves iirc. I suppose the second half ones are less of a big deal since we came close to needing them to tie the game
I hated the timeout on OSU's last drive of the half
by CK08, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:43 (16 days ago) @ Mike (bart)
That gave them an extra 20ish seconds, and they scored with 27 seconds left...
It was an aggressive call
by Jeremy (WeIsND), Offices of Babip Pecota Vorp & Eckstein, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 12:15 (16 days ago) @ CK08
Presumably made with the hope that we'd get the ball back with a chance to add some points.
Of course, we hadn't shown the ability to stop OSU to that point. So perhaps with that in mind it may have been stupidly reckless.
It was certainly consistent with the way he's coached EOH situations, so I'm fine with it.
Because it's the stupid, cheap-ass Bengals.
by KGB, Belly o. the Beast, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:26 (16 days ago) @ Larz
edited by KGB, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 11:43
Crap-ass, small-time outfit that operates like it's still 1968. I say these things as a Bengals fan. This DC post is a wildly overrated job. But if that's where Golden ultimately wants to be, so be it. And if it helps keep Mickens in place for another couple years, that's a solid consolation prize. Retaining them both any longer strikes me as unrealistic, given the remarkable (and widely acknowledged) success we've had.
Yes. Agreed.
by Greg, seemingly ranch, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:56 (16 days ago) @ KGB
If he were joining Mike Vrable to rebuild the Patriots, it would feel quite different - he'd be going to a place that appears to be recommitting to big-boy sports. Instead, he's going to the Bengals.
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The 2007 ND-UCLA game was a once in a lifetime experience, I hope
I've got a bunch of copes lined up
by HumanRobot , Cybertron, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10:21 (16 days ago) @ Larz
Stuff like
- Do we give him too much credit for gameplans against USC'23 and Clemson'22, when both those squads didn't turn out to be very good?
- All the scheme and playcalling didn't hold up against the best offenses and might have been used against us
- DL development hasn't felt great under his watch
- Maybe we'll be better served going to a more vanilla setup for the next year or two
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I'm a bad take machine!
Even if this isn’t exactly right
by Dallasdomer, Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 13:09 (16 days ago) @ HumanRobot
The point I tried to make above is that I think we may be giving Golden too much independent credit for his aggressiveness when really that is a Freeman thing too and will continue. And assuming Mickens is promoted, we may get another elite recruiter in the back end.