FanPost

I have confidence in our coaches (Revised)

(Sorry about the lack of paragraphs. Here's my revision which should be easier to read.)

I feel uncomfortable reading these posts saying that if we don't win so many games within such and such a period of time we're going to increase the pressure and at some point start talking about getting a new coaching staff. Something doesn't add up here. Do you think we need a better offensive coordinator than Norm Chow? But wait isn't he considered the best offensive coordinator in the history of college football? But what about a new quarterbacks coach? Oh yeah that's Norm Chow too the most successful quarterbacks coach in the history of college football with, what is it, three or four Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks to his credit. Are his methods obsolete or has he lost his touch? I don't think so. Has the game changed so much in the few years since he was at USC? And CRN also has a proven record of success. In addition they're both highly proven offensive coaches, and that's where the main problem lies.

I think the problem is twofold. First there is a lack of experience and maybe talent on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive line was a huge problem last year and still has a long way to go. Is there such a thing as a good consistent rushing offense with a weak offensive line playing against tough opposition? Is it possible to have a highly productive passing offense when the quarterback is constantly feeling pressured and rushed to throw (and also has no division I experience)?

The other problem is our schedule given the current strength of our conference. That's what I think a lot of people are missing. We are playing top 25 calibre teams with high powered offenses every week in our conference. Just look at what happened to Cal ranked #6 in the country who got annihilated two straight weeks in our conference. Why has Kansas St. apparently improved while we haven't? Because they are playing Colorado and Iowa St. while we are playing Oregon and Arizona.

The same can be said for Tennessee a good defensive team playing in a conference with lackluster offenses. Frankly I'd rather be playing Alabama next week than Oregon St. They couldn't even score a touchdown against Tennessee playing at home. Even we scored a touchdown on Tennessee. Our defense could really limit Alabama's weak offense just like they did with Tennessee and with some good field position through turnovers and our excellent punter we'd have a chance to win it on Kai Forbath's leg. Instead we have to play a team that just scored 36 points on USC's defense which means that we are going to have to have a greatly improved offensive production to have a chance to win which is difficult for us with our current team.

I can't remember ever seeing the Pac 10 this strong from top to bottom. Even Washington St. isn't that bad. They were respectable against USC and gained over 400 yards yesterday against Cal. And Washington who is in the bottom tier of the conference was good enough to beat USC and almost beat LSU. Next year's schedule will be one of the most difficult in the country given our out of conference schedule. And also the other programs in our conference are on the upswing particularly Washington, Arizona, and Stanford.

We have to have realistic expectations which takes this into account. And I think a lot of people on this website are not taking it into account. If we would have entered conference play this year against the teams from last year we would have had two sure wins against the Washington schools with a very good chance to win against weaker than this year Arizona St. and Stanford teams. We would have likely wound up with 6-8 wins. Comparing our record to last year and demanding it be improved by so many wins fails to take into account the marked improvement in our conference. We need to be patient. This is a long term process. Again I feel confident that we have the right coaching staff. They have a record of being proven winners. I still think that Rick Neuheisel is just the right coach for UCLA. He'll ultimately be successful, and he'll stay at UCLA for as long as we want him to.


This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

In This FanPost

Teams

Trending Discussions