0505, this is where I do not agree. We have yet to be any better than any team that coach H had ...less the year we were loaded with injuries and only won 3-games (the year we converted to the spread). This team is not better than the year prior to Wolf's arrival. In fact, it is not any better than last year's team. My issues:
- Wolf recruits great "individual" players, but fails to recruit a great "team".
- Wolf's best players are not his recruits, yet he causes a mass-exodus that is much worse than one would expect with a new coach. So what if we still had those players? Logic tells me that we would have had a better team a couple of years ago.
- Wolf seems to not know the MVFC. We do not have a team playing the right "style" of ball (particularly defense) to complete in our conference. Now if our goal is to build a team for the MAC, as many have thought ...we 'might' be okay.
To compete in the MVFC, we need to :
1. become MUCH deeper up front. No less than 11-
starters up-front on BOTH sides of the ball. Use all of them every game.
2. Become much taller in the secondary.
3. Become much better in man-to-man coverage.
4. Become an explosive rushing offense once again. Speed AND size. This includes more 2-back sets.
You see, as fans, the people of Youngstown are used to seeing ball played a certain way. Now clearly every coach prior to Wolf knows this ...and Wolf probably does as well. I guess we are resistant to change. Now right or wrong, it is what it is. We do not mind that you change things ...if it is successful.
Examples:
Tressel came in and tried to play ball like EKU (the powerhouse at the time). It was not working, and I was calling for his head. {Honestly I was probably upset about what they did to Duzzer, so I could have been biased}. So about 1989, Tressel changed to an option-style of ball and kept the EKU-style defense ...they brought in Heacock as defensive assistant to help Dantonio, and our defense became one like Michigan's. Great combo ...the rest is history until OSU & the Gateway came calling. We move to the Gateway and compete very well ...including a national title with our option game. Only UNI seemed to be able to stop our spread/option O. Then Tressel decides to start playing Big-10 ball on offense ...2-years later he is in the Big-10 ...no coincidence. Along comes coach H.
Coach H kept playing that outdated style of offense; however, we were big and hit hard ...very entertaining. The team entered the field with 4- flags representing our accomplishments & expectations (not the American flag). Then again as our conference changed, we became less competitive. I was calling for his head about 3-4 years in. Then we had a very successful 2006 & I shut-up about letting him go. Then when he decides to move ahead of the game and (probably too quickly) switch us to more of a spread/option club ...the university decides to let him go.
Along comes Coach W. Again I fully admit that I was not happy at the timing of releasing coach H, so I am sure I have some bias. We are now in the 4-year mark of his tenure, and like his two most immediate predecessors ...I am calling for his head. Again I could be wrong & better things are to come under Wolf. I hope so.
However, if you are going to change things so drastically, you better have some success at it ...and be quick about it. Right now, Wolf has changed things (especially on defense) and is not successful.
Youngstown fans do not mind losing if you play the game well, but we have yet to see a well-payed game against a good team. (I am sorry, but Pitt and UNI were not good teams last year). We are a tough blue-collar town, and that is just how we like our football. We shove it down their throats on both sides of the ball, and if you happen to beat us ...you limp away knowing you played "Youngstown". Fans pack the stands to see a good game of ball & love to see hard hits, solids runs, crisp passes on offense. We love hard-hitting and penetrating defenses that force unadvised passes and QB-keepers, with a secondary & linebackers that takes advantage of it.
Coach Wolf, if you can understand the "book" that I just wrote here; you can spend the rest of your career in Youngstown, and you will have people at "will-call" booths every fall Saturday.
