Everyone has jumped back on the HCBO bandwagon after a couple of wins, which is entertaining to me. Personally, I am more in the boat with those that believe that we're not learning nearly as much about our team as opposed to how bad the other teams actually are. I was content with a coaching change 3 weeks ago and I still am.
BUT
HCBO started the year with a pretty good offense and a historically bad defense. This defense is what led our team to look as inept as it did during the first 6 games. Since that point we can pretty clearly see that the defense is better, though not championship worthy yet of course.
So what led to our early season struggles?
In my opinion, it was the Defensive Coordinator (Or lack thereof). HCBO had Demontie Cross still on staff with the title but none of the responsibilities. He did not have someone to focus on preparing our defense and HCBO was over tasked in his own role to adequately prepare the team in the limited amount of time they had prior to the season. His mistake in how he handled his staff, IMO, had far reaching affects on the quality of our defense.
This is the mistake of a green HC, which we can safely assume he has learned from immensely. Given the opportunity to find and hire a new DC who's approach aligns with his for the defense, Mizzou could witness a significant turnaround next year, continuing the progress from this year. We need the work horses from quality recruiting, which we are still struggling to accumulate, but Mizzou will infrequently be a top 25, let alone 35 recruiting mecca. So, while I think that Georgia will always live in another tier above Mizzou, we could and should be the #2 team in the east next year.
Anyway, that is why I don't think wins matter as much as fixing the issue that led to our terrible start to the season.
BUT
HCBO started the year with a pretty good offense and a historically bad defense. This defense is what led our team to look as inept as it did during the first 6 games. Since that point we can pretty clearly see that the defense is better, though not championship worthy yet of course.
So what led to our early season struggles?
In my opinion, it was the Defensive Coordinator (Or lack thereof). HCBO had Demontie Cross still on staff with the title but none of the responsibilities. He did not have someone to focus on preparing our defense and HCBO was over tasked in his own role to adequately prepare the team in the limited amount of time they had prior to the season. His mistake in how he handled his staff, IMO, had far reaching affects on the quality of our defense.
This is the mistake of a green HC, which we can safely assume he has learned from immensely. Given the opportunity to find and hire a new DC who's approach aligns with his for the defense, Mizzou could witness a significant turnaround next year, continuing the progress from this year. We need the work horses from quality recruiting, which we are still struggling to accumulate, but Mizzou will infrequently be a top 25, let alone 35 recruiting mecca. So, while I think that Georgia will always live in another tier above Mizzou, we could and should be the #2 team in the east next year.
Anyway, that is why I don't think wins matter as much as fixing the issue that led to our terrible start to the season.
