by: papreps
Boston College AD tries to sell Daz to school president.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think Daz would concoct a harebrained, one-dimensional, offensive scheme that would lead to so many three-and-outs and put Temple's defense in an impossible position. The question then becomes, "Do you see him as a reasonable person open to change or a stubborn former offensive lineman who wants to run the ball all the time?"
EDITOR'S NOTE: I wrote this story on Sunday, not believing any university was stupid enough to hire a 4-7 coach. I will leave it here as a testament to the stupidity of some college administrators. Hopefully, Bill Bradshaw is on the phone with San Jose State's Mike MacIntyre right now. More on that to come. MacIntrye is available, loves Temple, a former Temple assistant, and probably did the best job of any head coach in FBS football last year. Good riddance, Daz. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.
On the way up the steps, maybe for the final time ever, from season seats that I have held for nearly 10 years at Lincoln Financial Field, someone said:
"Don't look so down, Mike. Look at the bright side."
He didn't tell me what the bright side of a 4-7 season was, so I had to figure that out for myself.
I walked 22 rows up, made the left into the men's room, washed my hands before leaving, made a left, walked down 34 steps and across Lot K to my car, all the while thinking what could possibly be the bright side to a season I thought would be no worse than 6-5.
Then it hit me just as I was about to stick the key in the door of my car (the remote doesn't work).
This will be the first year as a Temple fan in the last five we won't have to hear the endless speculation about an Owl coach leaving for a possible higher-paying job.
"That has to be the bright side he was talking about," I thought.
Since that kind of off-season speculation has bugged me to no end, I guess not having to worry about that is a bright side.
I'm not so sure it's bright at all. Let's face it. Al Golden recruited five straight No. 1 MAC classes, as ranked by both Scout.com and Rivals.com YET, with the same inherited talent, Daz under-performed half the current MAC coaches. That leads to only two possible conclusions: Daz's 1901 offense doesn't fly in 2012 or both Scout.com and Rivals.com talent analysis was way off.
My eyeball and smell test leads me to think the former, not the latter.
Yes, Addazio's name will come up in some stories by writers who like to throw names against the wall and hope it sticks. Let's face it, though. Coach is going nowhere. Nor should he.
The latest "rumor" has him going to Boston College. I've addressed that in a feature film short at the top of this post. I'm not sure if I should submit the script to Hollywood as Science Fiction, Comedy or Tragic Comedy.
Steve Addazio was a good coach in 2011. I don't think he was a good coach in 2012, largely because my projections for 2012 were 6-6 (8-3 if everything broke right). Never in my wildest dreams did I think Daz would concoct a harebrained, one-dimensional, offensive scheme that would lead to so many three-and-outs and put Temple's defense in an impossible position. The question then becomes, "Do you see him as a reasonable person open to change or a stubborn former offensive lineman who wants to run the ball all the time?"
Then I got something in the email box this morning that brightened my day from loyal TFF reader Steve Sipe (due to a coding problem, you can't read that he has the Owls beating Fordham 54-0 and Idaho 45-0 and losing to ND, 34-21). It follows:
Mike, I always love reading your blog. I tried to set up my own dedicated to the Big East and expansion. I did not realize how tough it is to develop a web site. Compliments to you on TFF. One of your articles focused those areas the Owls need to improve to be successful in 2013. I have been trained to use analysis to compare and evaluate data points to estimate future results.
If your suggestions are followed, I believe the following results will be achieved:
10/19 Army
IN CONFERENCE, IN DIVISION (KNOWN)
Boise State L
Houston W 34 - 17
Memphis
San Diego State W 21 - 17
SMU
IN CONFERENCE (ESTIMATE)
Connecticut
Rutgers L 17 -16
USF
I would count a 9 - 3 season and a bowl bid Phenomenal! Most of the western schools do not emphasize defense in the MWC. With varied play calling, the Owls could exploit this weakness.
On the other side, our defense needed 2 fixes: a better pass rush, and mature secondaries knowing which man to cover. Since a lot of this work was finished by the end of the 2012 season, defense looks strong.
Quarterback is an issue. I will try to reach out to PJ Walker and welcome him to Temple. I do not believe PJ should be out of the picture. Let Juice Grainger lead our team with PJ as his backup. Convert Neiss into a reverse back that can pass if he can not make to corner to drive downtown. With mature wide receivers, Chris could have been a success. However, losing both wide receivers and tight ends last year made Chris look weak when the Owls went from MAC to Big East. Nevertheless Chris is our 2nd best rusher. Why not give the Owls a Penn State type Zwinack running back. Chris can blow holes and hide fakes as a running back. When you are 3RD and 4, do you want Juice running a draw or handing off to Chris to trample a linebacker. The thought of Chris lowering his 240, 6'3" body into our opponents smells like a 1ST down every time.
Steve Sipe
