1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Thursday “Aztecs Football-Coach Stands Up-Says A lot”

Posted by on February 7th, 2019  •  0 Comments  • 

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“Aztecs Football-How You Fix It?”

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We saw things we had never seen before at San Diego State, in the football program Rocky Long raised from the ashes.

The one that has now gone to 9-bowl games in a row. Won big road games at Boise, Laramie, Fresno.

Beat Pac 12-teams the last couple of years against Stanford and Arizona State, teams that usually kicked them.

That’s why the destructive end to the Aztecs 2018 season was so stunning.

Five losses in the last 6-games. A beatdown by Ohio in a bowl game in Texas.

Assistant coaches leaving in season. Players getting suspended in season, and filing for the NFL draft.

Rocky Long spent Wednesday talking to the media after a month of evaluating his program, losing key players to injuries, and then seeing his team fall apart.

Brady Hoke is coming back to be the fire and ice to coach the defensive front, after his coaching career took detours from the head job at Michigan, to getting ousted at Oregon-Tennessee and a 1-year stint in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. He will be a difference maker.

Ron Caragher is elevated from football ops to become passing game coordinator, in what Long portrays as a new ‘spread formation package’.

The Aztecs signed 22-players in the just finished recruiting drive, including bringing in 3-JUCO transfers, and 2-starting graduate student starting offensive lineman from Oregon and BYU.

2019 features a really good home schedule that includes home games with BYU-Nevada-Fresno and Utah State.

Rocky Long had lots to say: his comments

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Things different in recruiting with two signing dates. We signed 22-and that includes the graduate transfers for next years team.

There’s a free agent market out there with the NCAA website and we are monitoring that. After spring football, it might go crazy. We might add a player or two.

Got help with 5-older players transferring in.

Early signing period helped us retain players who might have been signed late by Power 5-schools in the past.

We will have large sophomore and freshman class on the roster.

Going to spread formation, is not shown in our recruiting class. We are running the ball first and throw second. Makes blocking assignments easier…

We will line up tight ends in fullback spots..he will be a fullback at times…..they will show up as can I-formation.

We have lost offensive lineman. and have 4-seniors in defensive lineman-so we needed help there.

We needed experience in our coaching staff, and we hired Brady Hoke and Ron Caragher. They both know what they are doing. Ron brings great experience in formations. Our defensive front is so young, Brady is one of best defensive line coaches ever around.

End of season problems-we have team rules-abide by them-discipline is handed out. Young men make mistakes, 18-to-22 years. We have a standard to live with, if they can’t, then move on.

Hiring former head coaches helps a lot. Former head coaches know what current head coach goes thru. Younger coaches second guess….most time they don’t know what they’re talking about.

Hoke has great experience…how to handle things…think outside the box…when you get the chance to be a position coach again, it’s a lot of fun.

Hoke-Best defensive line coach ever been around…I was with him at Oregon State…and then worked under him at SDSU. He will embrace those kids and have impact on their lives as player and people.

Transfers….if JUCOs have played 2-years they are more mature and more physically developed ready to play than younger players.

We are moving offensive lineman to defensive line, just to build depth there…we lost four defensive lineman., .

QB….Ryan Agnew is our staring QB in spring ball, but there will be open competition when when Jordan Brookshire comes in for spring. We want competition at every position on this team….we might still add another transfer QB who might be a grad student…currently have 5-QBs on roster going into spring.

We will be the most competitive team on the field this year…toughest. too..don’t know how many games

We will have 6-players graduate early and not play this year. We could sign as many as 27 by time this is done.

The Oregon lineman Jacob Capra will be here for spring ball, is on campus. The BYU-tackle, Jacob Jimenez, will be here in summer school.. Capra has 2-years left……Jiminez will have 1-year left.

Hoke-Offered him the job a couple of times in the past, now is the right time…talked to him right before he went to Oregon…..right at end of Tennessee position…and just before he decided to sample the NFL..

Our offseason will be different. How we handled our coaches. How we handle offseason workouts, part of my off season critique..

You’ve seen the commercial….”OK is not OK” it is not, the way we have been. If you don’t want to work the way we do, you can be OK somewhere else. We will challenge them.

There are over 123-things that went wrong last year. You should see my list. . No lockeroom last spring…, no spring game, …injuries to QB-RB-FB-OL-NT……I allowed team to get away from the standards we had set for this program…It was on me.

Fun offseason, Rashad Penny been here. Players on San Diego Fleet have stopped by too. Great to have these guys. DJ Pumphrey and Calvin Munson got Super Bowl rings the last two years, and they are here working out and hanging with our guys.

We had lack of learning experience with spread passing games, and that’s why Ron Caragher hiring is important. His expertise with Jeff Horton history, make us better.

We have no egos on this coaching staff starting this year. They don’t compete to pound the chest the hardest. Our staff is not like that.

I will control the defense and continue to call all defensive plays.

OT-Zach Thomas won’t practice this spring-everyone else should practice.

We have 6-players leaving early who are graduating-won’t play next season-moving on with life after college…..Gerhardt….Chaney….Jeff Clay….Binkley….Moore…Ron Smith….each finished academic work early-good for them.

I am invigorated now, and believe having Brady Hoke and Ron Caragher on board makes a big difference.

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