Phantom Island just did an episode about this, but coming from the angle of asking if the days of the workaholic coach are falling into the past. With the context we have, it does seem relatively easier to find people who are good at eval, people who are good at gameplan/scheme, people who are good at talent acquisition, and people who are good at talent maximization versus finding 11-15 unicorns who are great at all areas.
I'd still pay good money to hear the unvarnished truth about what happend with Thad Turnipseed and the AD's office. It can't have been as simple as "he wanted to build a new basketball arena and they refocused fundraising on NIL."
— Nagy noted that Jaydn Ott is continuing to put on more and more weight, and currently weighs more than he ever has... but he's also faster than he's ever been as well, and the sports science department has helped Ott immensely in packing on that weight while maintaining the burst
"And, and he's four inches taller, and his uncle works for Nintendo and he can play the new Mario whenever he wants"
This is exactly the issue. OU's staff haven't shown much of an ability to attract top-flight talent at some key positions, and so they're constantly scrambling and overpaying for what they have. This means they're overleveraged on talent with no margin for error.
Oh I never said he was great, just that I don't think he quit on the team. I think once the other WRs started to leave/get more seriously injured, Burks became a higher retention priority than he would have been otherwise. In an ideal roster situation, you're exactly right that he's a depth piece with speed and above average hands that can be a change of pace. Given the reality of the room, he's been treated like a #1, for better or worse. No idea what he's going to look like this year.
This is the only piece I might take slight exception to. He fought to get back on the field after missing seven calendar weeks and got a really nasty concussion near the end of the game he returned. He may or may not be any good this year, but prior to the injuries, he was getting open in front of two QBs that were psychically incapable of staying in the pocket to find an option later in the play.
I used to travel to Miami often for work, staying right by the airport. You could do a lot worse there than the Latin Cafe 2000 right outside the airport Marriott compound.
I'd certainly feel a lot better about the situation if any of the TEs had either performed to expectations or improved in any marked way over the course of his time in Norman. But other than that, great dude, no notes.....
His performance and the fact that he got benched for a stretch last year tanked his value, no question. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think his preparation and coaching situation were so incredibly poor that it's hard to imagine him not having a better season in the next two years. He's not winning a Heisman or anything, but if he can regain some confidence and get into a system that allows him to see the field without running for his life after the first read, he's going to be fine.
It makes zero sense. He was always a plus recruiter and a reliable position coach at both RB and WR, but never called plays, never showed any propensity for design or theory, and couldn't keep himself from doing something dumb and getting fired. That's who you want back in the building? If he were a lights-out QB guru or a Leach-style innovator, maybe I could see talking yourself into it, but come on.
I was hoping to see a couple of pairs of those sunglasses shoved into someone's mouth. Shoulda left em in your Yukons, boys.
I guess they're more stable on those hats than I thought.
Miami is playing well, and I feel like Cristobal is a good recruiter, if an idiotic game manager. It's hard to fault anyone in a recruit's position for wanting to live down there AND have some spending money.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/266507/clank-legacy-acquisitions-incorporated
I've got a group I'm working through Clank Legacy with. We love it. Clank as a legacy game turns into a great combo of cooperative and competitive. The group has overall goals to achieve, but you still want to be the winner of each round.
We played the Pandemic Legacy games together, and can recommend those also. Season 1 > Season 0 > Season 2, but they've all got cool mechanics that work in interesting ways.
I'm thinking it's time to pull out the worst alternate uniform combo we can muster. It's better to disguise the team from what's about to happen. That's not going to be a nice memory when it's included in every highlight reel produced for the next twenty years.