The 1980 team went toe to toe with Alabama and if not for a bad call on a turnover we would have won that game. It can be done, even without premium facilities.
Just think people
- Thread starter zappaa
- Start date
Mulcahy interviewed other candidates like Darnell, but I believe that Schiano was his top choice once he became available to RU. I don't believe that Darnell or Whipple ever got an offer from Mulcahy. Bob interviewed them and even courted them, but once Schiano threw his hat into the ring he was clearly Mulcahy's primary choice. Don't forget that Greg got involved interviewing with RU relatively late during the interview process.
If anyone has evidence that this is not the case then I'm interested in hearing about it.
It was a fumble (it happened right in front of me). The lack of instant replay/reviews back then cost us our Davey slays Goliath moment against Baba and Bear Bryant. Come to think of it, it was also a fumble in 2006 in the WVU game and that cost us a trip to the Orange Bowl. Two times I wish we had replay/review. Sigh, just our luck.
It's shocking how many people on this board are willing to let our $2 million coach learn on the job, or as said here, "grow into the role".
After Flood was fired, we were in no position to gamble on a coach, and Hobbs did exactly that. He gambled on a coach with zero head coaching experience. The current mess in football is on Hobbs.
Interesting. First time I'm reading criticism of Hobbs for hiring Ash. Not to say that you're wrong, but I need to give Ash and his staff more time before coming to that conclusion.
This offseason will be big for the coaching staff. My guess is they have never gone into an offseason coming off such dreadful results. Will they be reflective enough to say, OK we did a poor job in these areas, and will they be smart enough to figure out better alternatives?
Or will they continue pounding their heads against the wall waiting for the talent to fix the problem?
Or will they continue pounding their heads against the wall waiting for the talent to fix the problem?
But you have to be a realist. He's coming back next year. There is no way around that. I'm willing to be critical, but I'm also looking at the long term. He's recruiting fairly well, let's hope that sticks and those players help turn this thing around.
There are some things that are concerning so far, but I really don't think it is fair to start judging this staff until Year 2. There is simply too much Flood mess left behind right now to discern where the problems are. Next year is fair game to me.
The Bama game was one game. If we played bama again that yr we would have lost big. Those yrs RU played maybe 6 big games over 10 yrs. 0ther than tenn shocker we lost all. We tied fla aft fla had a 28-0 lead and took out starters in second half. Penn st beat us reg, we were div 1aa program trying to compete at high d1 level without any money or upgrades. Bob m and schiano did all the work yrs later to make us a true D1 program. Schiano did a ton more than just coach.
This is an honest post regardless of where one sits in the coaching issue. Now we could speculate as to why a State University in one of the richest states in the country is always crying poverty. I know why they're broke but I'll wait for the next Govenor to pontificate on the subject. Only then will we understand why we can't pay 3-4 million per year for a HC with real experience.
you have got to be kidding. Just on evolution of players since this team would crush those teams. Anderson's teams would get taken out behind the wood shed and even the Graber's teams, which had a fair degree of talent, would lose to this team.
our biggest problems this year was our seniors on offense didn't play up to the expected level and we didn't have a person on offense who needed to be game planned against. I then think the staff was adamant about teaching the system v gimmicking ways to move the ball. We all know going to the wild knight in Savages second year set this program back. Yes, we didnt have the OL to do anything else, but cost a lot in player development. We didnt make that mistake this year.
Frank Burns deserves great respect - but even what was arguably his best team would not have had the strength, speed, durability to go head-to-head with a schedule of B1G teams week after week after week after week - look at the 1976 undefeated season - not a single one of those opponents were, in 1976, "powerhouses".
If you had a timemachine & brought that gritty 1976 team to here & now & put on the field against Wisconsin, then the next week against Michigan , then the next week against Ohio State, then the next week against Nebraska, then the next week against Penn State (or in any order you want) - it would be a bloodbath - by week 4 they would be starting walk-ons. This is not a slight against the 1976 team -- it is just the reality that they were in an entirely different tier of the collegiate football world - they might have done an admirable job in the first game - but they were not of a caliber to sustain competitiveness against a series of B1G teams.... sadly the Rutgers Team of 2016 is not either!
Back in that era, on the occasion when Rutgers would play a "Powerhouse" it was the unique highlight of the season - the one moment to pull out all the stops.
The challenge for Rutgers now is mulit-fold - (1.) Play at a superior level (2.) depth - be able to do it week after week - - and (3.) for the extended period of time that Rutgers will be a middle of the pack team in the B1G, hoping for a decent bowl game - know how to absorb a thrashing or two without losing every resource & mindset - and then ending up getting blown out of an 'easy' game to be bowl eligible at the end of the season because they were limping home & there was nothing left of the team
The 1976 Perfect Season (11-0)
September 11 Rutgers 13, NAVY 3
September 18 Rutgers 19, BUCKNELL 7
September 25 Rutgers 17, PRINCETON 0
October 2 RUTGERS 21, Cornell 14
October 9 RUTGERS 38, Connecticut 0
October 16 Rutgers 28, LEHIGH 21
October 23 RUTGERS 47, Columbia 0 (Giants Stadium)
October 30 RUTGERS 24, Massachusetts 7
November 6 RUTGERS 34, Louisville 0
November 13 Rutgers 29, TULANE 20
November 25 RUTGERS 17, Colgate 9 (Giants Stadium)
If you had a timemachine & brought that gritty 1976 team to here & now & put on the field against Wisconsin, then the next week against Michigan , then the next week against Ohio State, then the next week against Nebraska, then the next week against Penn State (or in any order you want) - it would be a bloodbath - by week 4 they would be starting walk-ons. This is not a slight against the 1976 team -- it is just the reality that they were in an entirely different tier of the collegiate football world - they might have done an admirable job in the first game - but they were not of a caliber to sustain competitiveness against a series of B1G teams.... sadly the Rutgers Team of 2016 is not either!
Back in that era, on the occasion when Rutgers would play a "Powerhouse" it was the unique highlight of the season - the one moment to pull out all the stops.
The challenge for Rutgers now is mulit-fold - (1.) Play at a superior level (2.) depth - be able to do it week after week - - and (3.) for the extended period of time that Rutgers will be a middle of the pack team in the B1G, hoping for a decent bowl game - know how to absorb a thrashing or two without losing every resource & mindset - and then ending up getting blown out of an 'easy' game to be bowl eligible at the end of the season because they were limping home & there was nothing left of the team
The 1976 Perfect Season (11-0)
September 11 Rutgers 13, NAVY 3
September 18 Rutgers 19, BUCKNELL 7
September 25 Rutgers 17, PRINCETON 0
October 2 RUTGERS 21, Cornell 14
October 9 RUTGERS 38, Connecticut 0
October 16 Rutgers 28, LEHIGH 21
October 23 RUTGERS 47, Columbia 0 (Giants Stadium)
October 30 RUTGERS 24, Massachusetts 7
November 6 RUTGERS 34, Louisville 0
November 13 Rutgers 29, TULANE 20
November 25 RUTGERS 17, Colgate 9 (Giants Stadium)
I completely understand your comparison of athletes today verses yesteryear. However, with everything being equal the 1976 team would have soundly defeated this specific Rutgers team.
#2 we can only play who's on the schedule, but, so far, the team looks much better than last year
Why ? Because you say so? These type of comparisons are the most assinine in all of sports. Saying Babe Ruth would get killed today in the era of dominant closers, etc etc. No one can do anything but offer their opinion on these situations so we can all look back at 1976 and smile and think how wonderful it was but it has absolutely no relevance to what goes on today.
True…but if you look at the kicking game alone with Startzell, Falcinelli, Cherry and Andrews…it's not close.
David Dorn as specialist also.
I made the OP in my usual Saturday fog of offensive ineptness.
I could name Pickell and Stewart and Carino and Hughes and Smith and Cherry and McMichael and Blackwell and Kehler and Ray, Toran…
But I won't LOL
I could name Pickell and Stewart and Carino and Hughes and Smith and Cherry and McMichael and Blackwell and Kehler and Ray, Toran…
But I won't LOL
ZAP: The 1976 team had a solid offense because it was loaded with mature seasoned athletes that were developed. A team loaded with seniors on offense play with continuity and deadly precision. The defense on that was very fast. Sure the knock on the 1976 and 1978 team was the competition. All we have is film and statistics, from that we try to draw conclusions. But right now if either the '76 or '78 team play this team it will be a blowout.
The champions of yesteryear (one or two decades removed) will always beat todays bottom dwellers regardless the sport.
The champions of yesteryear (one or two decades removed) will always beat todays bottom dwellers regardless the sport.
My opinion:
You're right about picking a top assistant (OC/DC) without HC experience is a gamble.
But so is hiring an experienced mid major HC . Just check coaches being fired and you'll see hiring anyone for a HC position is a gamble and that shows every year when you see the list of HC's being let go .
The type that would lower the odds for being successful at RU are the ones out of Rutgers salary range.
I was a "Babers guy" in the last coaching search, because, like Pikiell, he had done it all as a head coach. But I was, and am, impressed with Ash's understanding of the totality of the role. However, like Schiano, especially in his early years, he doesn't seem to have the cleverness to outcoach his opponents on game day, or even come close really.
To me, if you are going to overcome being handed a bad situation, you have to either outcoach your opponents on game day (and the recruits will come to a successful program), or outrecruit them over the long haul (and let the wins come to you through better talent).
So with Pikiell, we have a guy who has done it all at a lower level, and is looking good out of the gates, but there is a long way to go. Ash has clearly stumbled out of the gate, but football is so much more complicated than basketball and relies on so many more good players.
And one other thing, and I think it's important. It seems to me that Pikiell got better support in hiring assistants than Ash. If you think back, it seems like we got every guy we wanted in basketball. We were all saying, "Boy, if we only got X, Y, or Z", and then it seems we got X, Y, and Z! I didn't see that same sense of we were getting the great assistants in football. I know guys are focused on Mehringer, but it seems to me we are weak in every phase of the game.
To me, if you are going to overcome being handed a bad situation, you have to either outcoach your opponents on game day (and the recruits will come to a successful program), or outrecruit them over the long haul (and let the wins come to you through better talent).
So with Pikiell, we have a guy who has done it all at a lower level, and is looking good out of the gates, but there is a long way to go. Ash has clearly stumbled out of the gate, but football is so much more complicated than basketball and relies on so many more good players.
And one other thing, and I think it's important. It seems to me that Pikiell got better support in hiring assistants than Ash. If you think back, it seems like we got every guy we wanted in basketball. We were all saying, "Boy, if we only got X, Y, or Z", and then it seems we got X, Y, and Z! I didn't see that same sense of we were getting the great assistants in football. I know guys are focused on Mehringer, but it seems to me we are weak in every phase of the game.
You realize the world is a different place now?
The disparity between facilities between the best and worst in Div 1 up to the 1980 wasn't that big. Every kid had the same dorm room, weight rooms all looked the same, and everyone had grass practice fields and a 7 man sled.
The only difference was the stadiums. Alright, some programs handed out envelopes.
If you don't have the BEST facilities and a BEUATIFUL campus, these kids are NOT coming today.
I disagree. Boise and more recently Houston have done pretty well without the best facilities and campuses. You need a coach who can recruit and / or coach up talent.
Also the disparity between the teams was greater than then it is now as coaches could stockpile talent without scholarship limitations.
Sigh, the more I watch Rutgers football... the more I like scotch. While thinking about Rutgers football a couple nights ago, I actually found an another brand that's only a quarter of the price of a Macallan 18. The Costco highland single malt 16 is really good! Thanks, Rutgers football!
