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westexSMU wrote:Applewhite looked good last year working as OC for Coach Todd Graham at Rice (Graham is now at Tulsa). In 2005, Applewhite was at Syracuse where they went 1-11. This year he is OC at Alabama where they hired high priced Nick Saban and are having an off year 6-5 with a game left at tough rival Auburn.... Applewhite's Alabama offense has had 8 or 9 turnovers in the last two back to back embarassing loses to Miss. State and 5-6 Sun Belt Conference's Lousiana MONROE 21-14 at Alabama..... Thats right, I said Monroe beat Alabama last week end...as in the team that also lost to 1-10 North Texas earlier this year...It is waaaay to early for any team in their right mind to consider Major Applewhite as their head coach. He might even get fired at Alabama after their poor offensive performance this year.

He will not be fired after one year of putting in a whole new system. I've seen every Alabama game this year, and the turnovers are due to a quarterback that makes very poor decisions sometimes - they are not in any way attributable to the offense.

SMUMan02 wrote:

westexSMU wrote:Applewhite looked good last year working as OC for Coach Todd Graham at Rice (Graham is now at Tulsa). In 2005, Applewhite was at Syracuse where they went 1-11. This year he is OC at Alabama where they hired high priced Nick Saban and are having an off year 6-5 with a game left at tough rival Auburn.... Applewhite's Alabama offense has had 8 or 9 turnovers in the last two back to back embarassing loses to Miss. State and 5-6 Sun Belt Conference's Lousiana MONROE 21-14 at Alabama..... Thats right, I said Monroe beat Alabama last week end...as in the team that also lost to 1-10 North Texas earlier this year...It is waaaay to early for any team in their right mind to consider Major Applewhite as their head coach. He might even get fired at Alabama after their poor offensive performance this year.

He will not be fired after one year of putting in a whole new system. I've seen every Alabama game this year, and the turnovers are due to a quarterback that makes very poor decisions sometimes - they are not in any way attributable to the offense.

Good lord, we can certainly relate to that.

[quote="Ponyx2"][quote="SMUMan02"] Major Applewhite[/quote]
He will not be fired after one year of putting in a whole new system. I've seen every Alabama game this year, and [b]the turnovers are due to a quarterback that makes very poor decisions sometimes [/b]- they are not in any way attributable to the offense.[/quote]

Good lord, we can certainly relate to that.[/quote]........WOW..... Bennett/Burns certainly have taken heat here for some of Willis's mistakes by not correcting them, but Applewhite is beyond questioning here for having any responsibility for Alabama's poor offensive performance this year............It is amazing the unbelievable loyalty for Applewhite. I like the guy too but without Todd Graham's leadership, what has he done in Coaching ? 1-11 at Syracuse ? 6-6 at Alabama ? ....Any other coach is required to take some responsibility for the play of their team. I know he can recruit, but if he can't beat Louisiana Monroe with Alabama's players don't you think that is a concern ? Louisiana Monroe probably does not have one player on their team who Applewhite and Saban would have even thought of recruiting.

westexSMU wrote:

Ponyx2 wrote:

SMUMan02 wrote: Major Applewhite

He will not be fired after one year of putting in a whole new system. I've seen every Alabama game this year, and the turnovers are due to a quarterback that makes very poor decisions sometimes - they are not in any way attributable to the offense.

Good lord, we can certainly relate to that.

........WOW..... Bennett/Burns certainly have taken heat here for some of Willis's mistakes by not correcting them, but Applewhite is beyond questioning here for having any responsibility for Alabama's poor offensive performance this year............It is amazing the unbelievable loyalty for Applewhite. I like the guy too but without Todd Graham's leadership, what has he done in Coaching ? 1-11 at Syracuse ? 6-6 at Alabama ? ....Any other coach is required to take some responsibility for the play of their team. I know he can recruit, but if he can't beat Louisiana Monroe with Alabama's players don't you think that is a concern ? Louisiana Monroe probably does not have one player on their team who Applewhite and Saban would have even thought of recruiting.[/quote]

Saban is in his first year. He doesn't have many players on his team he would have even thought of recruiting.

SMUMan02 wrote:I've seen every Alabama game this year, and the turnovers are due to a quarterback that makes very poor decisions sometimes - they are not in any way attributable to the offense.

Just for the record with no dog in the hunt, isn't the QB making poor decisions and causing turnovers not only attributable to the offensive but also the responsibility of the Offensive Coordinator?

[quote="SMUMan02"]

Saban is in his first year. He doesn't have many players on his team he would have even thought of recruiting.[/quote].............Well, if you go back and check Mike Shula's last recruiting class at Alabama on Rivals in 2006, you will find 10 Rivals 4 Stars and 2 Rivals 5 Stars. All the rest were Rivals 3 stars. That should have put Bama in or close to the top 10 in recruiting that year. In fact, if you go back and check, you will see alot of 5,4,and all the rest 3 Star guys through out the team. No 2's like 85 % of what SMU has been recruiting. So your statement is flat wrong.

I wonder if Vegas makes the odds on the games by simply adding up the stars on each team...because the one with the most will obviously win

westexSMU wrote:

SMUMan02 wrote:
Saban is in his first year. He doesn't have many players on his team he would have even thought of recruiting.

.............Well, if you go back and check Mike Shula's last recruiting class at Alabama on Rivals in 2006, you will find 10 Rivals 4 Stars and 2 Rivals 5 Stars. All the rest were Rivals 3 stars. That should have put Bama in or close to the top 10 in recruiting that year. In fact, if you go back and check, you will see alot of 5,4,and all the rest 3 Star guys through out the team. No 2's like 85 % of what SMU has been recruiting. So your statement is flat wrong.

WestTex,

The point that I'm making is not to compare Alabama and SMU - that would not be fair. I was simply making the point that a good number of the players on Alabama's team would not be on the team if Saban had been there when they were recruited. In fact, there are some starters from last year that are on the bench at this point. Your point was about accountability. It makes sense to hold PB and his staff completely accountable for Willis' development - they recruited him and are the only college coaches he's ever had. You also conveniently left out the tremendous success he had at Rice. I guess that didn't fit with the point you were trying to make.
I was not talking about recruit quality.

mrydel wrote:

SMUMan02 wrote:I've seen every Alabama game this year, and the turnovers are due to a quarterback that makes very poor decisions sometimes - they are not in any way attributable to the offense.

Just for the record with no dog in the hunt, isn't the QB making poor decisions and causing turnovers not only attributable to the offensive but also the responsibility of the Offensive Coordinator?

It certainly is partially major's responsibility. The only point I was making was in response to some saying that Major might be fired for what has gone on this season. That is ridiculous. Anyone who saw any Shula games should know that the offense, no matter how bad it was this year, is superior to any product Mike Shula ever put on the field. And in terms of accountability, it makes more sense to hold a coach responsible like PB who is coaching players that he recruited - and is not in his first season. Read the entire chain of posts. It wasn't only about turnovers.

SMUMan02 wrote:

mrydel wrote:

SMUMan02 wrote:I've seen every Alabama game this year, and the turnovers are due to a quarterback that makes very poor decisions sometimes - they are not in any way attributable to the offense.

Just for the record with no dog in the hunt, isn't the QB making poor decisions and causing turnovers not only attributable to the offensive but also the responsibility of the Offensive Coordinator?

It certainly is partially major's responsibility. The only point I was making was in response to some saying that Major might be fired for what has gone on this season. That is ridiculous. Anyone who saw any Shula games should know that the offense, no matter how bad it was this year, is superior to any product Mike Shula ever put on the field. And in terms of accountability, it makes more sense to hold a coach responsible like PB who is coaching players that he recruited - and is not in his first season. Read the entire chain of posts. It wasn't only about turnovers.

I read the entire post, but thanks for the condesending remark. You specifically said that turnovers and poor decisions by the QB was not the responsibility of the offense. I say that it is. I certainly have trouble blaming them on the defense or the special teams.

mrydel wrote:

SMUMan02 wrote:

mrydel wrote:

SMUMan02 wrote:I've seen every Alabama game this year, and the turnovers are due to a quarterback that makes very poor decisions sometimes - they are not in any way attributable to the offense.

Just for the record with no dog in the hunt, isn't the QB making poor decisions and causing turnovers not only attributable to the offensive but also the responsibility of the Offensive Coordinator?

It certainly is partially major's responsibility. The only point I was making was in response to some saying that Major might be fired for what has gone on this season. That is ridiculous. Anyone who saw any Shula games should know that the offense, no matter how bad it was this year, is superior to any product Mike Shula ever put on the field. And in terms of accountability, it makes more sense to hold a coach responsible like PB who is coaching players that he recruited - and is not in his first season. Read the entire chain of posts. It wasn't only about turnovers.

I read the entire post, but thanks for the condesending remark. You specifically said that turnovers and poor decisions by the QB was not the responsibility of the offense. I say that it is. I certainly have trouble blaming them on the defense or the special teams.

I repeat again: THE THRUST OF MY POST IS THAT HE WILL NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE FIRED. The poster before me was comparing the situation at Alabama to the one here. I am simply (I thought) saying, they aren't comparable. This staff has been here for a long time so getting fired for making no progress makes sense - but firing an OC after 1 year makes no sense.

I totally agree. Major should not be fired and he also should not be hired as a head coach....yet on either.

mrydel wrote:I totally agree. Major should not be fired and he also should not be hired as a head coach....yet on either.

I agree with that. In the interest of full disclosure, which doesn't really appear to be too important around here, I'm and Pony ('02) but I have a J.D. from Bama ('06). I love the Hilltop and I love Tuscaloosa. You are spot on that Major is not ready to be a head coach. He will be a great coordinator at a big time school soon, but he is years away from being a great HC.

SMUMan02 wrote:

mrydel wrote:I totally agree. Major should not be fired and he also should not be hired as a head coach....yet on either.

I agree with that. In the interest of full disclosure, which doesn't really appear to be too important around here, I'm and Pony ('02) but I have a J.D. from Bama ('06). I love the Hilltop and I love Tuscaloosa. You are spot on that Major is not ready to be a head coach. He will be a great coordinator at a big time school soon, but he is years away from being a great HC.

Well in full disclosure, I have been in and around SMU football for the past 35 years and try to not get too serious about anything on this board, so please do not get upset with my remarks. I just enjoy good college football and hope we decide to field a team at SMU in the future. The only thing that ever riles me is when people threaten to quit supporting the players. Then I go a little beserk. Lets play 2.