• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

2022 Football Deacs Season Thread (what a shitty end. fuck duke.)

IAppreciateIt said:
True. My optimism around Clawson comes from the ownership he takes (at least in his pressers) and willingness to look inward and make changes.

I was a bit annoyed with how much he seemed to blame injuries on defensive performance (esp last year) but his actions showed he didn’t really believe those excuses.

Another example: he liked to say we effectively had all offensive starters back (citing Nash and Greene returning from injury), despite losing Tom and Roberson (plus Chapmans and CBS) but I think statements like that are just him trying to build media hype, not ignoring facts.
Click to expand...
Injuries on defense have definitely been a major problem the last two years. We're a different team (and likely 1-2 wins better) last year with Greer healthy and this year with Malik and Bothroyd. I think the lack of depth is a symptom of the actual problem which is recruiting. He addressed that problem by replacing three defensive coaches last year. I think/hope that 'crootin will pick up on that side of the ball. Our success with defensive players in the portal gives me some hope. We beat out some bigger names for Kobie Turner and we absolutely nailed that one.
 
IAppreciateIt said:
True. My optimism around Clawson comes from the ownership he takes (at least in his pressers) and willingness to look inward and make changes.

I was a bit annoyed with how much he seemed to blame injuries on defensive performance (esp last year) but his actions showed he didn’t really believe those excuses.

Another example: he liked to say we effectively had all offensive starters back (citing Nash and Greene returning from injury), despite losing Tom and Roberson (plus Chapmans and CBS) but I think statements like that are just him trying to build media hype, not ignoring facts.
Click to expand...
Injuries are a tough thing. Yeah, every team has them and you don't want to use that as an excuse, but often it's not really an excuse but a fact. It's a fact that the if you get hit hard with injuries in a certain position group or level (line, lb, secondary on the defensive side) the defense is going to struggle. So, a coach is kind of between a rock and a hard place, do you tell the truth or do you coach speak it and say "doesn't matter, next man up." Not offering an opinion on how a coach should handle talking about it, but just the nature of the situation.
 
Still can't believe we finished 7-5 and one game out of last place in our division. Not even close, this is the most disappointing season in a long long time.

Now, that is a positive in itself that 7-5 is a disappointment this year, and is more of a compliment to Clawson than a slight. But I just really cannot believe this is what we got out of this season.
 
PhDeac said:
What a strange post. First, you're comparing Grobe's seasons after 2009 to seasons that haven't happened yet for Clawson.
Second, you're claiming there's some massive difference between Grobe's first season and Clawson's. Grobe was 59-51 his first nine seasons. Clawson is 58-53 in his nine seasons. That's not a huge difference. I don't know where you got 52-35 from.

I agree that Clawson is very different from Grobe for reasons we all know. But mack's defense and close games logic was very similar to what we saw after the 2009 season.
Click to expand...

Clawson's record sucked initially because he was playing with the players which Grobe left behind. Do you remember the UL-Monroe game when the OL almost ended John Wolford's career in game one?

Grobe had a much better start because Caldwell had recruited well before he left. Clawson is 52 -35 over the last 7 seasons, and has his best recruiting class coming in (if rankings are to be believed). Not sure how you can compare WF today to Grobe after the 2009 season when the program was in obvious decline.

Weird how quickly some have turned. When you play sports against similarly situated and talented opponents, there is a randomness to results, that people just refuse to accept. There is always a need to cast blame if the desired result isn't achieved. WF got some breaks last year, which it didn't get this year with essentially the same staff and the same players. That's just the nature of sports. Would be worried if WF was getting outclassed, but that is not the case.
 
Last edited:
Depth will always be an issue for us, but using injuries as an excuse seemingly every year (when every school has injuries) is not a solution.

Clawson knew that (he’s been far more candid in deacon club events than he does speaking to media) and made major changes to the staff, and probably other changes that we haven’t seen yet in action.
 
Pilchard said:
Clawson's record sucked initially because he was playing with the players which Grobe left behind. Do you remember the UL-Monroe game when the OL almost ended John Wolford's career in game one?

Grobe had a much better start because Caldwell had recruited well before he left. Clawson is 52 -35 over the last 7 seasons, and has his best recruiting class (if rankings are to be believed). Not sure how you can compare WF today to Grobe after the 2009 season when the program was in decline.
Click to expand...

I didn’t. I compared Mack’s post to posts from 2009.

You’re cherry-picking stats to avoid the obvious W-L comparison. It’s weirdly defensive. Much like posts back in 2009.
 
one thing about the season that was disappointing was that we did not seem to try many high-risk, high-reward propositions on defense

felt like we rarely blitzed and rarely sent much more than one extra guy when we did

seems like with a defense that couldn't slow anyone down or get turnovers in its traditional sets that trying some high variance aggressive action could have resulted in some positive actions (and some TDs against, but we were getting scored on at will anyways)
 
Last edited:
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
one thing about the season that was disappointing was that we didn't not seem to try many high-risk, high-reward propositions on defense

felt like we rarely blitzed and rarely sent much more than one extra guy when we did

seems like with a defense that couldn't slow anyone down or get turnovers in its traditional sets that trying some high variance aggressive action could have resulted in some positive actions (and some TDs against, but we were getting scored on at will anyways)
Click to expand...
wut
 
PhDeac said:
I didn’t. I compared Mack’s post to posts from 2009.

You’re cherry-picking stats to avoid the obvious W-L comparison. It’s weirdly defensive. Much like posts back in 2009.
Click to expand...
Cherry-picking?

Clawson's record over the past seven seasons is the best in school history since he's coached the players he recruited. Cherry-picking is putting the first two years on Clawson when he was coaching players that Grobe left behind.

Are you comparing late 2009, when WF football was in decline or not? WGAF if a dopey post from 2009 was similar or to post on a message board now? Let us know if you think the program is in decline.
 
Clawson is in year 9 at the end of an unexpectedly down year.
Grobe in 2009 was in year 9 at the end of an unexpectedly down year.

You knew Grobe's record after 9 years was actually better than Clawson's so you cherry-picked 7 seasons instead of 9 to make your comparison.

Now I don't know why I need to explain this, but I will. In late 2009, we did not know WF football was in decline. We did know that we had a down year with a lot of close losses with a senior QB. If you think Clawson's next 5 years will be better than Grobe's last 5 years, that's fine. I think we all agree. But that's not the basis for any reasonable comparison because we can't see into the future.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top