10-12-2011, 08:15 AM
Have noted and wondered on Alex Smith's striking improvement this year. IIRC, he had a similar jump in performance early in his career the one year that he had Norv Turner as his OC, regressing badly the next year.
Seems hard to tease out the major influence on Smith, be it Harbaugh or Roman or some elusive combination of the two. It would be interesting to get some insider's take on that. I'd guess that would happen this year if 49ers continue their improved performance.
I'd be a whole lot more trusting of Roman than Manny Diaz for a HC, but if I'm AZ I don't go with either. I'm in agreement with Farm93 that AZ should be able to get someone pretty good with HC experience but maybe not at an AQ school. AZ has a nice recruiting class of verbals right now, one good, experienced QB redshirting (Scott) and decent talent returning. If done right, they're a consistent bowl team over the next several years.
WIM - ESPN has repopulated and relaunched their NCAA "The Experts" program and I caught their first airing yesterday. Gone is such deadwood as Matt Millen and ex UCLA hack David Norrie, replaced by Mike Bellotti and Ivan Maisel; a significant upgrade in my opinion. The Stoops replacement issue was covered and both Belllotti and Maisel floated out RichRod and Leach as "good" candidates. Ex Buckeye Joey Galloway asked the direct question I would want: since both guys bombed out at their last jobs, why would you want to look at them?
The general response was an underwhelming "bad fit" for RR @ UM, saying he did fine with offense, but defense was the problem. Rich Rod went through 3 DCs without much luck; seems the head coach needs to take some responsibility for that. Specifics on Leach's quirky/arrogant personality were not followed up on. So, overall no ringing endorsements offered.
AZ AD Byrne seems to appreciate that his job/reputation may well be on the line with this hire. No rambling, discordant stakeholders committee to vet candidates for him. Old School, inner circle, we'll let you know when we've decided process. This should prove interesting.
Seems hard to tease out the major influence on Smith, be it Harbaugh or Roman or some elusive combination of the two. It would be interesting to get some insider's take on that. I'd guess that would happen this year if 49ers continue their improved performance.
I'd be a whole lot more trusting of Roman than Manny Diaz for a HC, but if I'm AZ I don't go with either. I'm in agreement with Farm93 that AZ should be able to get someone pretty good with HC experience but maybe not at an AQ school. AZ has a nice recruiting class of verbals right now, one good, experienced QB redshirting (Scott) and decent talent returning. If done right, they're a consistent bowl team over the next several years.
WIM - ESPN has repopulated and relaunched their NCAA "The Experts" program and I caught their first airing yesterday. Gone is such deadwood as Matt Millen and ex UCLA hack David Norrie, replaced by Mike Bellotti and Ivan Maisel; a significant upgrade in my opinion. The Stoops replacement issue was covered and both Belllotti and Maisel floated out RichRod and Leach as "good" candidates. Ex Buckeye Joey Galloway asked the direct question I would want: since both guys bombed out at their last jobs, why would you want to look at them?
The general response was an underwhelming "bad fit" for RR @ UM, saying he did fine with offense, but defense was the problem. Rich Rod went through 3 DCs without much luck; seems the head coach needs to take some responsibility for that. Specifics on Leach's quirky/arrogant personality were not followed up on. So, overall no ringing endorsements offered.
AZ AD Byrne seems to appreciate that his job/reputation may well be on the line with this hire. No rambling, discordant stakeholders committee to vet candidates for him. Old School, inner circle, we'll let you know when we've decided process. This should prove interesting.