In relation to Cam Coffman...and some other stuff

[Yabadabadoo]

As the season winds down with tomorrow's finale, I thought it might be a good time to talk about some individual performances this year, and I want to start with Cam Coffman.

Prior to the season beginning, I was excited about Coffman's potential to take the quarterback position up a few levels past where it was the year previous with CK. While I think its clear Coffman did upgrade the position from a year ago, I actually come away with the feeling that Kirkegaard got more out of his limited talent last season than Coffman did this season with his.

Aside from a few throws this year that I'll sort of remember (the strike to Gentry in the opening game that went for a long TD) I'll remember Coffman as a guy who was just kind of here, made his way through his lone season, and did nothing to truly distinguish himself with the job.

I was disappointed he wasn't better. In my mind he exhibited little to no leadership intangibles that were visible to anyone's eyes, threw too many untimely picks, and accumulated some high yardage and completion stats based on always playing from behind for the most pasrt.

I'm sure he's a nice guy and a gentleman off the field -- but on the field this season I'd give Coffman a solid C- for his body of work this season.

Thoughts?

[laxwyo]

I tend to agree with your assessment. His numbers aren't bad but did little to nothing when it was needed.

[Wicks]

You make some good points but I think Coffman was an incredible upgrade and if it wasn't for injury we would see this more clearly. Remember when Coffman was initially injured he was the leading passer in the MW. Plus Coffman only has two legitimate WRs to work with and Kirkegaard had four that is something that can't be overlooked.

Here are some stats:

In 217 passing attempts Coffman has 15 TDs while Kirkegaard had 12 in 359.

Pass %: Coffman 63.6 Kirkegaard 57.4

Yards per pass: Coffman 7.8 Kirkegaard 7.4

Your point on leadership is very valid though. Kirkegaard was a very visible rah rah guy while Coffman isn't. I think he is respected by his teammates but it is very hard for a 5th year senior transfer to come in and instantly be the leader of a football team.

[phxpoke]

CK is one of the most blah quarterbacks in Wyoming history. He would have never even sniffed the field if it wasn't for transfers and Smith leaving. Comparing the worth of any qb to Colby, tells us how far we have sunk. We are 1-10. Cam was a bust.

[ragtimejoe1]

We are so bad at nearly every position that I hesitate to put much stock in evaluating individual positions, especially QB.

[CowboyNV]

Perhaps instead of grading individual players, we should start at the top and give the coaches grades. In the end, they are the ones who bear complete responsibility for the product on the field. I've heard all of the excuses about youth and inexperience, but they are the ones who call the defensive sets and the offensive plays. They are the ones who teach technique. They are the ones who have Olive squatting a zillion pounds, yet he doesn't have enough leverage to push an elevator button. They are the ones who put together the nutrition program that produced one of the weakest, slowest teams I've seen. So, I would be interested in a breakdown and grading of the coaches. When that's done maybe we can start slinging kids under the bus.

Bohl is lucky. If this were corporate America, he would be sent packing, along with his assistants. Since he's a coach, he gets 5 free years to basically do whatever he wants. One thing is for sure, he set the bar about as low as it gets this year. One would think he HAS to improve next year. Compared to this year, if he wins 3 games next year it will be deemed a huge success and his master plan will be moving forward just like he predicted. I can hardly wait.

[Wicks]

Oh don't worry CowboyNV, for next week Brad and I are already working on evaluating the offensive and defensive coaching staff for the blog.

[LanderPoke]

It wasn't Cam's fault he wasn't better. He's a good QB and when receivers were open he hit them. If blocking, play calling and his receivers were better he would have had better numbers. clearly talented, but on a crappy team.

[CowboyNV]

Oh don't worry CowboyNV, for next week Brad and I are already working on evaluating the offensive and defensive coaching staff for the blog.

Wicks, I am stoked to see what you guys come up with. It's about time somebody broke this down into reality.

[JimmyDimes]

Cam is okay, but hasn't proven himself to be a leader. He has made some poor passes (the pick today for example) and doesn't seem to care that he did. If only Allen didn't get hurt. I say put Smith in for the remainder of the game....Cam isn't getting it done.

Go Pokes!!

[cowboyz]

This season's lack of good results had little to do with Cam's quarterback or leadership abilities. We basically knew what we were getting based on his one starting year at Indiana. His stats this year were very similar to that year, in fact better. And coming into today's game his first half stats were better than his second half stats, so he didn't pad anything in garbage time. Being in Wyoming a short time and so little on the field (9 games) it would be hard to distinguish himself. But his QB play was solid, especially with what he had to work with, coaching on down. If everyone had a similar season to Cam's at their respective positions, I feel we'd be a .500 team or better.

[LanderPoke]

Cam played really well today. We gave him time and he played great. Good for him on finishing out the season and his career well.

[Wyovanian]

Perhaps instead of grading individual players, we should start at the top and give the coaches grades. In the end, they are the ones who bear complete responsibility for the product on the field. I've heard all of the excuses about youth and inexperience, but they are the ones who call the defensive sets and the offensive plays. They are the ones who teach technique. They are the ones who have Olive squatting a zillion pounds, yet he doesn't have enough leverage to push an elevator button. They are the ones who put together the nutrition program that produced one of the weakest, slowest teams I've seen. So, I would be interested in a breakdown and grading of the coaches. When that's done maybe we can start slinging kids under the bus.

Bohl is lucky. If this were corporate America, he would be sent packing, along with his assistants. Since he's a coach, he gets 5 free years to basically do whatever he wants. One thing is for sure, he set the bar about as low as it gets this year. One would think he HAS to improve next year. Compared to this year, if he wins 3 games next year it will be deemed a huge success and his master plan will be moving forward just like he predicted. I can hardly wait.

Bohl isn't "lucky"- he coaches FBS College Football, and in the world of FBS College Football, virtually no one gets fired after two seasons. Comparing "corporate America" to College Football is an apples to lawn chairs comparison at best. Even within "corporate America" there is a wide variance in enterprise that either compresses or stretches the tenure of an executive, based on results.

I'm sure I'm going to draw fire from the Dave "Dickface" Christensen supporters, but the reality is, the guy, although promising at first, probably set the program back to the VK days. He managed to alienate fans, donors, players, and UW staff, embarrass the University, and basically phoned in his last two years as coach. He had character flaws fatal to the role of Head Coach, and shirked a great deal of his responsibility to his staff, players, fans, and donors. Bohl inherited that mess, along with a messy QB situation, DC's utter void of defensive talent, and three classes of players who were basically demoralized by Dickface's shortcomings.

Bohl has already, in his first full recruiting class, shown more competence in recruiting talent across football disciplines, and has reversed the apathy that Dickface sowed into Wyoming Cowboys Football. He took over a program that was pinned at the one yard line and just drew a fifteen-yard penalty on second down.

Not to say he hasn't committed some missteps, chief among them abbreviating his first recruiting class by delaying his start at Wyoming. While his staff hires (especially Stanard) are a bit questionable, he's also up against a ridiculously low salary budget for his staff. One thing true in any enterprise- you get what you pay for. Same thing hamstrung Dickface- look at his hiring of Chris Tormey, possibly the most inept and incompetent collegiate football coach at any level. This is something Burman needs to address. That's a huge part of his job insofar as providing support and resources to Bohl.

In short, all of these people who think it's already time to give up on Bohl and cut him loose either don't know sh-t about FBS College Football, or are in overwrought, Chicken Little emotional denial about what they ought to recognize as the reality of FBS College Football.

Again, Bohl isn't "lucky", he's just not operating in "corporate America".

[MrTitleist]

Great post, homie.

[Yabadabadoo]

Perhaps instead of grading individual players, we should start at the top and give the coaches grades. In the end, they are the ones who bear complete responsibility for the product on the field. I've heard all of the excuses about youth and inexperience, but they are the ones who call the defensive sets and the offensive plays. They are the ones who teach technique. They are the ones who have Olive squatting a zillion pounds, yet he doesn't have enough leverage to push an elevator button. They are the ones who put together the nutrition program that produced one of the weakest, slowest teams I've seen. So, I would be interested in a breakdown and grading of the coaches. When that's done maybe we can start slinging kids under the bus.

Bohl is lucky. If this were corporate America, he would be sent packing, along with his assistants. Since he's a coach, he gets 5 free years to basically do whatever he wants. One thing is for sure, he set the bar about as low as it gets this year. One would think he HAS to improve next year. Compared to this year, if he wins 3 games next year it will be deemed a huge success and his master plan will be moving forward just like he predicted. I can hardly wait.

Bohl isn't "lucky"- he coaches FBS College Football, and in the world of FBS College Football, virtually no one gets fired after two seasons. Comparing "corporate America" to College Football is an apples to lawn chairs comparison at best. Even within "corporate America" there is a wide variance in enterprise that either compresses or stretches the tenure of an executive, based on results.

I'm sure I'm going to draw fire from the Dave "Dickface" Christensen supporters, but the reality is, the guy, although promising at first, probably set the program back to the VK days. He managed to alienate fans, donors, players, and UW staff, embarrass the University, and basically phoned in his last two years as coach. He had character flaws fatal to the role of Head Coach, and shirked a great deal of his responsibility to his staff, players, fans, and donors. Bohl inherited that mess, along with a messy QB situation, DC's utter void of defensive talent, and three classes of players who were basically demoralized by Dickface's shortcomings.

Bohl has already, in his first full recruiting class, shown more competence in recruiting talent across football disciplines, and has reversed the apathy that Dickface sowed into Wyoming Cowboys Football. He took over a program that was pinned at the one yard line and just drew a fifteen-yard penalty on second down.

Not to say he hasn't committed some missteps, chief among them abbreviating his first recruiting class by delaying his start at Wyoming. While his staff hires (especially Stanard) are a bit questionable, he's also up against a ridiculously low salary budget for his staff. One thing true in any enterprise- you get what you pay for. Same thing hamstrung Dickface- look at his hiring of Chris Tormey, possibly the most inept and incompetent collegiate football coach at any level. This is something Burman needs to address. That's a huge part of his job insofar as providing support and resources to Bohl.

In short, all of these people who think it's already time to give up on Bohl and cut him loose either don't know sh-t about FBS College Football, or are in overwrought, Chicken Little emotional denial about what they ought to recognize as the reality of FBS College Football.

Again, Bohl isn't "lucky", he's just not operating in "corporate America".

Spot on.

I thought the comparison of coaching CFB and 'Corporate America' to be a less than good analogies. You've consistently made great points all season in regard to Bohl and the situation overall. I applaud these most recent ones a lot.

[ELKMT]

I don't know how bare the cupboard was. Bohl will have inherited two nfl draftees on defense from dickface ( Nzeocha & likely Yarbrough). Roullier is another DC recruit that Bohl inherited that is getting NFL looks. Bohl chose to ignore the need for linebackers due to a senior heavy class. That's on him. I am curios how next year will work out with the DE situation. Can prosser and Grandersons play every down at their weight? Even if they gained 25 pounds they would be light for linebackers let alone dlineman. That is going to be on Bohl too.

It is up to Burman to get some additional money for a DC. Stanard isn't much better than Tormey. Where is mike breske these days?

[fromolwyoming]

I don't know how bare the cupboard was. Bohl will have inherited two nfl draftees on defense from dickface ( Nzeocha & likely Yarbrough). Roullier is another DC recruit that Bohl inherited that is getting NFL looks. Bohl chose to ignore the need for linebackers due to a senior heavy class. That's on him. I am curios how next year will work out with the DE situation. Can prosser and Grandersons play every down at their weight? Even if they gained 25 pounds they would be light for linebackers let alone dlineman. That is going to be on Bohl too.

It is up to Burman to get some additional money for a DC. Stanard isn't much better than Tormey. Where is mike breske these days?

Well, last year was loaded with JUCO seniors, all brought in by DC, and if anyone was watching the depth chart, knew that this year we would be sorely lacking in senior leadership.

Yes, staff that was with DC brought in Yarbrough and Nzeocha, but those guys succeeded in spite of DC, as DC treated the defense as merely spots to fill once the offense was filled up (but his lack of adjusting his play calling what not screwed the offense anyway) and pretty well ignored the defense from there. The lack of depth on defense that DC had 5 years to fix? He put band aids on when stitches were needed. Bohl has admitted that he and his staff made some mistakes, which is already more responsibility than DC ever took, and has said they will be working on it.

[ELKMT]

Well Bohl might want to add a few band-aids or we are sitting at no better than 3 wins next year.

[wyokoke]

Well maybe he did leave band-aids, and the cupboards "bare" with only 2 NFL players, but Dickface did win more games in 4 months than Craig has in 2 years

[WYCowboy]

I don't know how bare the cupboard was. Bohl will have inherited two nfl draftees on defense from dickface ( Nzeocha & likely Yarbrough). Roullier is another DC recruit that Bohl inherited that is getting NFL looks. Bohl chose to ignore the need for linebackers due to a senior heavy class. That's on him. I am curios how next year will work out with the DE situation. Can prosser and Grandersons play every down at their weight? Even if they gained 25 pounds they would be light for linebackers let alone dlineman. That is going to be on Bohl too.

It is up to Burman to get some additional money for a DC. Stanard isn't much better than Tormey. Where is mike breske these days?

I thought he did recruit a couple of linebackers - but they decided to take off for other places in the middle of last summer.