Was shocked at the way Western Michigan held up against Wisconsin, a team that slammed us the last two times we met. While they lost, I was impressed with their competitiveness. Their line play was especially competitive against a stellar Big Ten squad. Was even more surprised to see that their coordinators were Rutgers Coaching Castoffs - DC Ed Pinkham and OC Kirk Ciarocca. Their head coach, as everyone knows is PJ Fleck, the former Rutgers WR coach. They did a tremendous job this year. Its good to see former Rutgers coaches find success.
Western Michigan Well Coached and Impressively Talented
- Thread starter rutgersal
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It would be even better to see CURRENT Rutgers coaches find success on the field. Recruiting is the first positive step, which has me very optimistic about our future.
Would you still be as optimistic if we finish 6th out of 7th recruiting in the BIG Eastern division?
Sure. I think too many folks get caught up in microanalyzing "rankings" when there may be little separation between 3-4 spots or one team is higher (Maryland) because they have 29 recruits while other teams have 15 recruits. I like to look at average star rating (can't believe I just said that) or average composite rating from the other site as a good yardstick.
They would also recruit better if they were i a better conference. gotta give credit where its due. I think Fleck would be successful at a power 5 school.
Al - how come coaches have more success once they leave Rutgers even if they go to smaller schools. What is it about Rutgers that prevents success here.
Big East (old): Miami, V-Tech, BC all in peak years
Big East (new): WVU, Ville, and Pitt all in peak years
Big Ten: OSU, UM, MSU, & PSU all in peak years
In some bizzaro alternate universe, Schiano leads us into the Big Ten guns ablaze and beats up on a downtrodden UM and rebuilding PSU and is in the midst of 4 consecutive top-25ish classes allowing us to give OSU and MSU some exciting games.
its very rare that we hire a proven, successful, experienced coached. For the most part the hires we make are experiencing this level for the first time. Pinkham previously coached at Colgate, Ciarocca at Delaware. So, they learn on Rutgers dime and are better for all the mistakes they made at Rutgers. Watch Drew Mehringer become a success somewhere else.
I think that is one of the levels in Westworld....
They did what they needed to do to be playing on NYD. I thought they stood up well against Wisc considering their size and had a chance going into the final 5 minutes.
Just shows that with the right skill people, you probably don't get blown out. Granted they were extremely lucky to recover 4 of their own fumbles which might have made a difference. They never backed down. Nice showing and probably a one shot deal.
Based on all the P5 positions that have been filled, it appears P5 AD's aren't quite as sure.
You nuts? The job Fleck has done there has nothing but short of a miracle. We got blown out by Wisky with " better talent". Fleck is going to be a hell of a coach.
I was amazed how the WMU under-sized D-line held the Badgers running game in check for the most part. They made so many plays where they stuffed the huge Wisconsin O-line on running plays which resulted in tackled for a loss or little or no gain. And that last WMU TD pass to the back of the end zone was incredible. The receiver was smothered except for a split second when he was barely open and the ball fell right into his arms at that very moment. I thought the QB was just heaving the ball away on that play as he launched it high into the air.
You're leaving out the 6 or 7 20+ yard runs and the fact Wisky's only incomplete all game was a drop in the end zone.
He'll get his shot, probably by next year. The impressive job he has done warrants a chance somewhere.
If he doesn't get the Minn job, it may be tough. He has to replace a 4 year starter at QB, several WR's and others.
No reason NOT to be impressed with the job Fleck has done both recruiting and coaching-wise, however, a couple of things IMHO: Wiscy's playcalling went into a complete shell following the 2 easy TD's, OTHER THAN throwing to Fumagalli on 3rd and long every time, and WMU's last TD, let's be real, #84 (an absolute beast, headed to the pros for sure...) absolutely mauled the Wiscy DB to get to that ball.
It was heading that way before Schiano left. In the alternate universe none of those players ever decommit.
