Ok so now we’ve got a coach and a staff, what are you guys thinking for our record? I’ll say this if and I say If we beat OU week 1 I think we could have the potential to have a special season. If we beat OU that shows we can beat people on the road in a hostile environment. With that being said if we beat OU I say we run the table and go Undefeated but if we lose a close one to OU I say we finish the year with 1 loss and a conference championship and a NY6 bowl bid. If we win against OU and go Undefeated do you guys think we could sneak into the playoff with the schedule we have?
If we beat OU it will be a good season no doubt. However if we lose to OU I still think it could be a good season, it all just depends on how we lose to OU.
Similarly, it’s not that we lost to Army, but the way we lost to Army that cost Major his job.
If we lost 48-40, 45-35, 45-28 or something along those lines, we’d be wondering right now about Major’s new OC/DC hires. Probably not contemplating the possibility of beating OU.
I don’t foresee a dramatic turnaround from a team that endured a 70-14 shellacking from Army. We’ll be a better coached team, but we’re a couple of recruiting seasons away from becoming a team that will have a conference and national impact. The good news is that I’m no longer concerned about the capability of the coaching staff. We hired a P-5 staff and now they need some time to put all the pieces together.
My prediction: 8-5.
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Depends on the QB…ie If King returns to form 8-4. If not and/or the offense struggles 4-8 is possible. We have unknown talent coming back on D (saying it as nice as I can). Things could get ugly, ugly.
We’ll be lucky to get 7 or 8 wins. There are a lot of holes to fill.
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Love the enthusiasm but to think Coogs go from getting destroyed by Army to beating a team that was in the CFP is a long-shot at best. Replacing a crappy HC with a competent one is only reason I see 8 wins or more being possible. Give Dana and staff couple years to rebuild and watch out
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I agree with the comment that because it appears on paper that we have a much better coaching staff, I think 8 - 4 is possible. Before Applewhite’s departure I was putting next year at best 6 - 6 and probably worse.
We have a lot of holes to fill on the defensive side of the ball. We hope we have talent there that has not been developed, but we will not know until the season starts. Even then, I would not expect the defense to really start jelling until mid-season. A lot of teaching and breaking of bad habits has to be endured over the coming months.
9-3.
Context matters. We went 1-4 in our last set of games because of injuries, a terrible coaching staff, and a bowl game against a triple-option team(oh, how fun!).
-Hire a head coach that can motivate and is not the equivalent of Jason Garrett: check
-Upgrade at every coaching position: check
-Have the best coaching staff in the conference: check
-Have a ton of juniors and seniors on the roster: check
-Play 7 games in Texas and 1 game in the Walmart brand of Texas(Oklahoma): check
-Have the best QB in the conference: check
It’s like people were more optimistic about Briles coming than CDH and a P5 level staff…I don’t get the PTSD and over saturated modesty levels. lol It’s going to be ok!
Go Coogs!
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Only way for us to make the playoff or have a chance is if we go undefeated. OU has to win the big12, Wazzou has to win pac 12. thats the only way I see that happening. UCF has to be undefeated or 1 loss when we play them and will have to keep winning after if we beat them.
Keep in mind our guys have to learn Dana’s playbook, which takes time, and then get everyone in step on executing those plays. Expect growing pains in year one.
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Unlike most, I believe our defensive woes were scheme not talent. I will be happy with 8 wins and no embarrassing performances. However I think we will be 10 - 2 and making the AAC championship.
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Maybe the terminology but keep in mind that most of our players on offense have had 4 different offensive coordinators(or play-callers) since they’ve been on the team; there isn’t much that CDH can throw at them that they haven’t seen. Except for option-routes(something he borrowed from Leach). There will be an adjusting period, but we’re not going 4-8 and 6-6 with this staff like people are suggesting. lol
In the words of Hermosa, just go 1-0 each week, and I will be happy.
My expectations are not very high for next season. I’d be ok with just making a bowl game. Holes to fill on offense and defense, more so on defense. It won’t happen overnight.
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I tend to be overly optimistic about my team, but I’m going to say 10-3 with a conference championship. I think we’ll lose to OU and Wazzu and have one conference loss (@UCF). We’ll win the west, face UCF in the championship game and win that one. I, too, believe our defensive woes last year were 95% coaching/scheme and 5% lack of talent/injuries. We do have holes to fill, but I believe the new coaching staff is such an upgrade that I have hope again (and it’s been a while since I’ve felt hope about our team defense).
NY6, here we come!
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I will go with 7 wins is where i expect us but not shokced if we are at 500.
The talent we have is the same level of talent we have been getting for quite some time. People keep looking at the Oliver class and think that is the mean. It is not. Applewhite’s recruiting was on par with most of our previous coaches.
His over reliance on transfers last year was detrimental, but he was going all in on competing for the conference championship, which we were one injured QB away from playing for. The transfers really screwed this year’s class when it comes to total numbers.
The new coaching staff is more experienced, but I think saying we have the best coaching staff in the American is a stretch; we are definitely top 4… probably top 2. It is definitely the most expensive staff in the conference.
All that to say if you are expecting vastly different results in Jan ‘19 than you were in Dec ‘18, I believe you are deluding yourself. Applewhite lost one, maybe two games a season where a more experienced Head Coach may have pulled out a victory.
New coaches, some returning players, some new players… 2-2, maybe 1-3 to start the season, play Memphis for the division, hope for a shot in the championship game. I think Cincy wins the East. Rinse and repeat, every year.
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6-6, let’s just make a bowl and build for next year. Tough schedule and lack of defensive depth.
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I’m going to say 8-5 after the bowl game.
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