Good B1G Blog re: Kyle Flood

[ag67]

Absolutely. But what is he doing exactly? I just don't get it. You have one of the best states in the country for CFB talent and another decent one right across the bridge and your coach can't recruit anyone. Seven games over .500 is great and all but the first two seasons weren't in a legit conference. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see him stay but he is a complete dud.

I admit it. I was wrong when I predicted this thread would die quickly. :confused:

I am encouraged that a PSU fan feels the need to join the conversation and end each post with an exclamation that our coach is a dud. Methinks he would be loving our coach if he didn't feel any need to be concerned. I now predict he will come back and emphatically deny that - followed with the customary " Coach Flood is a dud" finish.[pfftt]


It is comforting to see there are quite a few fans that feel the same way I do:

1. Coach Flood has a chance to be an excellent coach, but it is too early to tell.
2. It is unrealistic to expect us to jump to the top of the heap right away , given our history.

I appreciated the article because it showed there are people outside our fanbase who see reason for us to be optimistic about the future.[cheers]

 

[mikemarc1]

Absolutely. But what is he doing exactly? I just don't get it. You have one of the best states in the country for CFB talent and another decent one right across the bridge and your coach can't recruit anyone. Seven games over .500 is great and all but the first two seasons weren't in a legit conference. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see him stay but he is a complete dud.

OK.

 

[yesrutgers01]

Bo- and dud dude...
None if us are happy with those 4 games but...Who else ran that gauntlet of 4? If our cross over games were Illinois and NWU, would we have had 4 blowouts?
We are playing them again this year. We may lose all 4 again but I doubt all 4 blow us out again.
Dud dude- 2012 had a lot of good players-All on the same side of the ball. And it was Floods first year. I don't think Schiano wins more then 9 either. 2013 was bad but he still had the horrible offense and now a bad defense.
But let's just ignore these "facts".
2014 was better then anyone predicted or expected.
Has he lit the world on fire, no but a dud? Not sure what world you live in.

 

[ruthetiger]

Absolutely. But what is he doing exactly? I just don't get it. You have one of the best states in the country for CFB talent and another decent one right across the bridge and your coach can't recruit anyone. Seven games over .500 is great and all but the first two seasons weren't in a legit conference. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see him stay but he is a complete dud.

I think you're taking this the wrong way. The success you guys have had os not the same success Rutgers can have in this day and age. Those are 2 different times. Recruiting has become a business, as well as college football. It is easy for you to have this view, well, because you're Penn state, and you're program is viewed as on of the larger and most established programs throughout the entire country.

As far as Flood as a coach and a manager, he has improved each year he has been here, save for one year. He along with his staff, can really recognize talent, from a distance. There are not many coaches that can see what he sees. Sometimes it's not what you do that makes peers take notice, but it's how you do things. And even that, many don't recognize. He doesn't need publicity, and he does what he does without anyone taking notice. And he isn't a prima Donna. Can he repeat the same success that he had last year? Who knows. But he is willing to take his beating and learn from it, and improve as time goes along. He has shown that he has fight, and he is recruiting quite well, despite what some may say. I believe that as time keeps moving, he will show how good of a coach he actually is. Give it time.

 

[B0ski]

Bo- and dud dude...
None if us are happy with those 4 games but...Who else ran that gauntlet of 4? If our cross over games were Illinois and NWU, would we have had 4 blowouts?
We are playing them again this year. We may lose all 4 again but I doubt all 4 blow us out again.
Dud dude- 2012 had a lot of good players-All on the same side of the ball. And it was Floods first year. I don't think Schiano wins more then 9 either. 2013 was bad but he still had the horrible offense and now a bad defense.
But let's just ignore these "facts".
2014 was better then anyone predicted or expected.
Has he lit the world on fire, no but a dud? Not sure what world you live in.

The season as a whole was a success last year, I get that. But to read some of these posts about top coach and great coach is a joke. Does Flood have a chance to continue to improve - he absolutely does. He may here for 20 years or he may be gone in 2- nobody knows. But if he wants to close the gap, he needs to be at least competitive against the top in conference teams. If you are competitive, then you have a chance to win against those teams. I did not expect a win out of those 4 but (other than Nebraska being kind of competitive) it was embarrassing. How about an occasional 10-2 or 9-3? 8-4 on average is not too much to ask. I don't want Rutgers to be a 6-6 or 7-5 team. And that is what they will always be UNLESS they become competitive against the better teams.

 

[mikemarc1]

The season as a whole was a success last year, I get that. But to read some of these posts about top coach and great coach is a joke. Does Flood have a chance to continue to improve - he absolutely does. He may here for 20 years or he may be gone in 2- nobody knows. But if he wants to close the gap, he needs to be at least competitive against the top in conference teams. If you are competitive, then you have a chance to win against those teams. I did not expect a win out of those 4 but (other than Nebraska being kind of competitive) it was embarrassing. How about an occasional 10-2 or 9-3? 8-4 on average is not too much to ask. I don't want Rutgers to be a 6-6 or 7-5 team. And that is what they will always be UNLESS they become competitive against the better teams.

You ask for an occasional 9-3, and an average of 8-4, which is reasonable. You do know his first year as head coach, he finished 9-3. (9-4 after bowl game). And his average record in his 3 seasons is 8-5.

Seems very much in line with what you're asking for, so not sure why you're criticizing him. He's a very good coach, who's just 3 seasons into his head coaching career. He will only get better.

 

[beaced]

As usual what it actually is is that fans of other Big Ten schools consider 3 Big Ten wins to be overacheiving for RU. There is a long thread of RU fans should be happy with middling seasons becuase thats the best they can realistically expect in the national and out of region media.

Started to read the post before I checked who the poster was. Said to myself "one of Der's posts" Bingo!

 

[Rokodesh]

every thread about flood turns out the same way, whats the point?

 

[RU#1fan]

Honestly based on what?

Based on beating only two teams with winning records since October of 2012 ( both wins this past season against Navy and Maryland ...both marginal Win record teams) and blowing 2 consecutive games at the end of the 2012 eason to make a BCS game. With an RU team that had 7 players that were NFL Draft picks on the field that season .

 

[RUMBA-JK]

Exactly MATHAT1 said it best above. Flood has shown he can win football games. In 2014 he also showed he can recruit a top recruiting class, but sadly he made a tragic mistake as a young coach by not letting kids who verbally committed take their visits to other schools and everything fell apart.

But Flood has shown that he can be a top coach. And with a elite QB, 300+lb OL, and a crowd that gets absolutely BONKERS... I think we will see some top notch recruiting classes and some top notch wins over the next 3-4 years hence changing peoples opinions on Flood.

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- have a bit of a a different point of view on that whole 'visits' episode - yes, he made it clear that he was not liking it & would prefer that they not happen BUT - Flood never issued an absolute 'NO VISITS' edict - never "forbid" them - the supposed 'rigid stance' issue really seemed to have revolved around one recruit in particular - Adonis Jennings - and as it seemed to play out at the time - the ultimate tipping point was not exactly 'the visits' it was more a matter of "principle" and "honesty". The general story line that can be pieced together from the various reports was :

a. Flood expressed displeasure with a visit or visits (and the publicity) that Jennings took
- then it was reported that
b. on a Thursday a meeting occurred between Flood (& coaches) - and Jennings & Jennings's Dad
.... and Flood was given a pledge & handshake by Jennings & his Dad 'OK... ', & there would be no more visits ....
- then in less than 24 hours
c. reports & photos bouncing all around the wire-services & the internet showing Jennings on a recruiting visit at Pitt
- then it fell apart & Flood was reported to have pulled the offer (but Flood never really discussed any of the details)
- - - so if this scenario is at all accurate (it does follow the published reporting ) - then the issue was really more about trust and integrity - and based on everything that has been said about Flood, it would seem that he is one of those guys who would walk a mile on hot coals for a kid - a kid could make dozens of simple honest mistakes & Flood would spend hours helping him correct them - but if a kid looks him in the eye and brazenly & deliberately lies to him - Flood will drop him in a heartbeat- it is a matter of character & integrity and a strong desire to maintain and defend the true substance of the F.A.M.I.L.Y. atmosphere & attitude that surrounds the team.

At the time, it seemed to be a tough decision - but based on how I read the reports, it seemed like one of those very difficult - but correct actions. Have no desire to make any disparaging remarks about Jennings - but as time has passed and events have played out, it only seems that Flood's move was entirely reasonable and wise.

 

[RUMBA-JK]

Bo- and dud dude...
None if us are happy with those 4 games but...Who else ran that gauntlet of 4? If our cross over games were Illinois and NWU, would we have had 4 blowouts?
We are playing them again this year. We may lose all 4 again but I doubt all 4 blow us out again.
Dud dude- 2012 had a lot of good players-All on the same side of the ball. And it was Floods first year. I don't think Schiano wins more then 9 either. 2013 was bad but he still had the horrible offense and now a bad defense.
But let's just ignore these "facts".
2014 was better then anyone predicted or expected.
Has he lit the world on fire, no but a dud? Not sure what world you live in.

Agreed - in reality a successful season is far & away the number one priority - and when it came to these games - survival was essential - survival such that the team would remain highly competitive for the remainder of the schedule - which they did - what would have been far worse would have been to have gone in to these hugely challenging games and gotten physically beaten down, broken and turned into a non-functional team - that did not happen - the team was strong enough to survive a beating - yes , an ugly, one-sided beating - but sufficient strength, conditioning and toughness enabled Rutgers to take the field again and again and again - Yes I hated the lop-sided losses ... but a lesser team would have been devastated - and then lost to Indiana and Maryland.