Hot Take on Accountability for Applewhite Group

Cougar Football
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I don’t agree with the focus of this article lambasting the defense only (although they deserve criticism) and saying nothing of the poor offensive production and turnover problem. However, I agree that Applewhite did not make good hires for either coordinator as was intensely discussed before the season. Both need to go, and the comparisons to Levine’s continual poor hires at OC are warranted. The only good one was Meachum, and he was one and done.

The end of this season will be telling. If Applewhite sticks to Johnson and D’Onofrio, he is gone after two. If he fires only one of them, I think it is the wrong decision still. These guys need to go. Major, do not make the same mistake that one of your predecessors made. Loyalty has no place when your employees are not getting the job done.

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Do the coordinators have a buyout or is it only the HC?

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The offense put the defense is many bad positions.

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The coordinators have 2-year deals, and typically a coordinator has a buyout, but it isn’t structured the same way as the HC. So, it just depends on what UH agreed to with Johnson and D’Onofrio.

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BTW, Fred Faour wrote that - he’s a pro-UH guy.

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I will be shocked if both coordinators are replaced in the same year.

First, D’Onofrio has a guaranteed 3 year deal.

Second, when Major was at Texas several years ago, he spoke to a booster group in Houston. He was asked about coordinator changes, and said the changing both in the same year is a “disaster to be avoided at all costs” if possible.

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Imagine if we did go over to UTSA and get crushed…

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Don’t know this guy, but he somewhat spot on…

I say somewhat because I think it is CMA that needs to go !!

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Correct… my bad. 3-yr $400k/yr. Johnson is 2-yr $440k/yr. All the other assistants were on 1-yr deals from what I could see.

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Defense gave up 36 points. Last year Orlando gave up 48 and lost in the last minute.

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Touche…

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Speaking of Meachum, he had some measure of a breakdown after his Kansas offense gained 21 yards total vs TCU.

He was literally unresponsive with head in hands outside the locker room. There was a photo on Twitter but it might have been removed.

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If we fire the coordinators are we going to magically get some players who can actually play too?

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Extremely sound reasoning, Cary…I couldnt agree more.

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So Herman playing footsie with ut had no affect on the players…just like Sumlin playing footsie had no affect on the CUSA championship game against S Miss.

Give me a break !!

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Can’t lay the Memphis lose solely on the defense. Even though the offense did have its best game of the season, they lost scoring opportunities or at least the chance to shorten the game by committing turnovers. The more opportunities you give to an offense like Memphis, the worse off you will be.

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38 points wins that game. This was primarily on defense and it was awful. Tulsa also ran ramshod on this defense last week. So why sign Dinofrio to a guaranteed three year deal. Didn’t he fail miserably at Miami, baffling
Time to clean house and get a new AD.

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I think this is the best and smartest decision. But can you do all of this in the same off-season?

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Applewhite made a bad hire with his defensive coordinator. Mark D’Onofrio was a terrible DC at Miami. Before that, he was awful at Temple. He had been out of work for a year when Applewhite called him. It was a baffling hire at the time and looks worse now.

That bolded statement is factually wrong. D’Onofrio was very good at Temple and was a big reason as to why Al Golden was hired at Miami and why Temple is currently in the AAC. He took over a defense rated last in the NCAA and pulled them up to the 17th ranked defense in all of FBS by the time he left.

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This is true.

His first year as a DC at Temple, 2006, his defense was #117 in overall defense and #118 in scoring defense.
Year 2 - #44/#53
Year 3 - #81/#48
Year 4 - #32/#39
Year 5 - #16/#16

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