Weekly Answers, Pt. 3
Here are the latest batch of weekly answers...
1) Now that Lexus has stopped sponsoring, does the "Gauntlet" still exist in trophy or spirit, matter and (or) been won for the year? - Fred Rogaine
It still at least in spirit, and USC is winning by a huge margin. As it stands, according to this Web site, USC needs only about 15 more points: http://www.usctrojans.com/blog/2010/02/laying-down-the-gauntlet.html
2) Jon, How much are the coaches concerned about depth at QB? Between C Tunney, N Crissman and T Landers - what do the coaches feel about their potential to contribute? - BruinfromBellevue
They are concerned for sure, but there is much optimism for Crissman and Brehaut. But the Bruins need to add two QBs next year, and they should redshirt one of them to create some spacing.
3) Jon, Can you explain WHY CBH thinks the Bruins have a better chance of winning w/ Drago in the starting lineup? Assuming Nelson is back next week, why wouldn't they be better off playing a Lane/Moser combo? Between these two, wouldn't they be able to do ONE of the following: defend, rebound, score or pass? I am totally mystified here...I know he's a senior but jeeeez.... - BruinfromBellevue
First off, Lane/Moser are not better than Dragovic right now. It's as simple as that. Now, a tired, limping Dragovic playing the tail end of a seven-minute stretch? Yeah, give me Lane. I've said all along that the drop off wasn't SO far that Lane didn't deserve any time. Howland is admitting now that he should've played more - from Tuesday: "Brendan Lane in retrospect I should've played him more minutes." But that doesn't mean Lane is ready. Lane talks constantly about how he needs to be more physical, and how the adjustment from high school to college is just about learning how to move in the post, and how he thinks he's finally starting to get it. I have an interview for the podcast tomorrow with him in which he basically touches on all of that. But to just issue such a blanket statement is either A) not having all the facts or B) rushing to judgment.
4) With us being in such dire need of defensive tackles, I thought the idea of moving Darius Savage from OL to DT would be an intriguing move. I noticed on his bio that he played on the defensive line in high school. Has there been any discussion of this and/or what do think about the potential move? - Anonymous
Savage already was a DT at UCLA and moved to OG. I don't think he'll go back. He's also out for spring ball after having back surgery in late January.
5) Mr. Gold, a few weeks ago someone posted a question that was not answered. The question involved Coach Carroll's perception of Coach Neuheisel as a great recruiter but a very weak head coach. The same question was forwarded to Scott Wolf and he replied that Coach Carroll did not respect Neuheisel's coaching abilities but on the other hand he did not like Coach Harbaugh and Coach Weiss but he respected their coaching abilities. Do you know why Coach Carroll did not like Neusheisel? I don't recall reading or hearing any type of tension between both of them until Neuheisel was named head coach. Do you know what Neuheisel said or did for Carroll to show almost no respect to Neuheisel? Thank you in advance. - Gilligan
I don't know much about the history between the two, but in all my contact with Neuheisel regarding Carroll, I never picked up on any true animosity. Maybe Neuheisel masked it well, but even after the USC incident this year, he kept his composure. I remember him repeatedly describing the long bomb as, "We should've defended it better." Now, about Carroll's feelings for Neuheisel, I don't know what Neuheisel could've done to elicit those comments.
Carroll was pissed the 1st year he lost to CRN when CRN was at Washington. He didn't respect Belotti and kept mouthing FU, FU FU when Belotti kicked the crap out of his team a couple of years ago. CKD beat him and he refused to shake his hand and Harbaugh well everyone knows the story. SO, Carroll hates everyone that beats him and has no respect for those people.
I'll tell you why I'm peeved at Surfer Boy Rick...while Slick had quality hangs in the early 80s around Westwood and went to three bowl games, including two Rose Bowls the last of which he was the MVP, I was stuck with Monte Kiffin at NC state limping through a 14-17 tenure and having my quaity hang with the coach's pimply faced son.
Why wouldn't I be taking shots at a guy who has a law degree, and could have attended Princeton if he couldn't cut it UCLA. I got my degree from U. of Pacific!!!
Sure he was dealt a bad hand by Karl Dullard, but that was changing so it was time to go north and leave the team to that little rug rat I used to baby sit as an assistant at Arkansas.
I'm jacked and pumped that they still hate Slick in Seattle, so I can talk trash all I want about him up there.
In response to Question 5, petey is a raging douche. Little else needs to be said.
Where cares about the Gauntlet Jon? Especially the site is run by some trojans.
They drop the Gauntlet long before the SC-UCLA one because Cal kept losing.
Wolf said it wasn't just Pete who didn't respect Rick's coaching abilities, it was other coaches as well. Really, what has he done to prove he is a good coach? At both Colorado and UW, his teams regressed after he took over. At UCLA, he has a record of 11-14. Not sure why anyone WOULD respect his coaching abilities.
Jon, I understand your defense of Howland's coaching overall but to continue to defend his choice of going with Drago makes increasingly less sense. I don't think it's a coincidence that Lane and Morgan are playing better while getting more minutes. Nothing Drago is doing is redeeming in any sense. He's no longer rebounding well. Meanwhile, Howland continues to apologize about not playing developing players enough (Reeves, Honeycutt, and now Lane). Howland's recent interview indicated to me that he wasn't completely aware of how poorly we shot against Arizona and Drago went 0 for 5 from the 3-pt line. I really think you and Howland are convincing yourselves that there are no other options.
The Rick Neuheisel/Pete Carroll respect issue is an interesting one as there doesn't seem to be an obvious reason.
Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh did not like each other.
One of the probable reasons from Carroll's side is that Harbaugh is considered the best coach in the Pac-10 by much of the media when it comes to "X's and O's'" and there was some jealousy of that public perception involved. No one will deny that Pete loves being the media darling.
One of the probable reasons from Harbaugh's side is that Carroll got all the attention from the media and there was some jealousy involved on that side as well.
Regardless, Carroll respected Harbaugh's coaching ability.
Carroll and Charle Weis did not like each other.
Probably because of the history behind the Notre Dame-USC rivalry and the pressure it carries dictates that it's basically impossible for anyone in one program to not hate anyone in the other. If Jesus H. Christ was on one sideline and God himself was on the other, they would hate each other.
Yet despite Weis representing the golden domers, Pete respected his coaching ability.
Now with Rick Neuheisel there are the obvious theories as well. There's the obvious local rivalry on the field and in the recruiting world. I'm sure there's no need to spell that out for everyone. But as with the previously mentioned coaches, that's all personal.
It's the lack of respect for Neuheisel's coaching ability for which there doesn't seem to be a strong theory. Not that it could get much worse but the Bruin program has gotten better since his arrival so why is he considered a "fraud of a coach?"
Anon 10:27 - LOL at the revisionist history of Neu's coaching career. So at CU he went 10-2, 10-2, 5-6, 8-4 (3-0 in his bowl games). So three solid years w/one bad one in the middle is regression?
And a closer look at UW shows Neuheisel took over a team that the previous year was 6-6 overall / 4-4 Pac 10 (5th place). So let's review the regression that took place there:
His first year at UW the team improved to 7-5 overall / 6-2 Pac 10 (2nd place) and lost 20-24 to #7 ranked KSU in the Holiday Bowl.
His second year at UW the team improved to 11-1 overall / 7-1 Pac 10 (1st place) and won the Rose Bowl. Finished the season ranked #3 in both polls (AP/Coaches).
His third year at UW the team finished 8-4 overall / 6-2 Pac 10 (2nd place) and lost 43-47 to #9 Texas in the Holiday Bowl. Finished season ranked #19 in both polls.
The team did "regress" the following year I suppose with their 7-6 record and loss in the Sun Bowl, but you clearly don't know what you're talking about. The dude was winning big time bowls (Rose, Cotton, Holiday) as a player and a coach well before Carroll's first "fight on" salute - perhaps that's a reason to respect him.
Oh, and as for UCLA, do you really think Carroll or ANY other DI coach would have had a better record those first two years with the players he had to choose from?? 11 wins was an achievement if you know anything about the depth chart he inherited...
Coach Rick is doing the best he can with what he was given. He is pulling in top talent and will mold them into a competitive team. UCLA and Stanford will always have to do it hard because of our inflexible admissions standards, but we both will win more games than we lose if our coaching staffs stick around. I hope Coach Norm lives up to his rep and really knocks us out this year with a blockbuster offensive scheme and clever game day adjustments.
So in my opinion, this is the telling year for Neuheisel.
He's got "his" players in the program.
USC's reign has ended
Oregon's trying to keep their main guys out of jail
Oregon State lost their QB
Cal and Stanford lost their top RB's.
The Washington and Arizona schools are the Washington and Arizona schools.
Anything outside of finishing top two in the Pac-10 and nine wins and I say Pete Carroll was right in saying Neu's a "fraud of a coach."
Perhaps it was the nice full-page ad taken by UCLA after they hired CRN. "The Football Monopoly In Los Angeles Is Officially OVER" ...
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2008/0827/pg2_ucla.jpg