A Serious Thread About JSU Football


Originally posted by crazylegs
I could swallow that if thes same kids weren't pass-blocking there collective arses off in the previous 3 seasons under Hughes... :smh:

Ole' boy completely scrapped the number one scoring offense in 1-AA in favor of a "running" attack when he knew he didn't have the line, nor the backs, to support that offensive philosophy...I'm sorry, but Hughes isn't responsible for that...How is it that JSU fans can have that much insight into the strengths of their players and the coach brought in to maximize that talent cant see what he has in the cupbord himself??? :smh:


if you have kids on the line that are used to pass-blocking, you structure the offensive schemes around that fact. If you know you have untested backs, you use the passing game you have to set up the running game...It doesn't take an entire off-season to do that. He could've been working on fundementals and special teams the entire off-season. From what I've seen this season, it looked like the didn't work on those things at all
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I guess you didn't see Kent running for his life the past 2 years against against ASU, Grambling, or A&M. And I guess you didn't see how we finshed 108th in turnover margin, a much better indicator of success than yardage. This team needed a lot of work. Bell switching offense isn't the sole reason for our start. As far as special teams and fundamentals, the team worked on that more than anything this offseason. And I expected more improvement there. So Bell has some responsibility there. But Rome wasn't built in a day, improvement doesn't happen overnight.
 
I guess you didn't see Kent running for his life the past 2 years against against ASU, Grambling, or A&M. And I guess you didn't see how we finshed 108th in turnover margin, a much better indicator of success than yardage. This team needed a lot of work. Bell switching offense isn't the sole reason for our start. As far as special teams and fundamentals, the team worked on that more than anything this offseason. And I expected more improvement there. So Bell has some responsibility there. But Rome wasn't built in a day, improvement doesn't happen overnight.
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As bad as those three games were for JSU offensively, you guys still had the threat of a wide open attack...That's been the x-factor for your squad the past couple of seasons. From what I can see, you guys are still turning the ball over a lot against opponents you should be muscling around...What stopped Bell from easing that transition a little bit for the players??? That would've at least given you a fighting chance on the offensive side of the ball...

The Defense could develop faster than anyone expects if the can get the oppurtunity to rest from time to time...Bell has effectively taken that away with his inflexibility in game situations...That isn't going to change anytime soon if his mentality stays the same...
 



JSU problems are they are lacking fundamentals. TSU experienced the same problems under Bill Davis. I believe they have some good players, but their coaching staff sucks.
The JSU folks know that the ?prior years? under Bill Davis, TSU had the player, but we did not have a HC. Last season TSU, we had the players, but the coaching staff sucked.

If Bell were coaching the NE Patriots, at this point they would be 0-3. Bell may make a good O or D Coordinator, but he is definitely not a HC.

Who is responsible?

Head Coach
Coordinators
Assistant Coaches
Players

Each one has to share the responsibility of being 0-3

Hughes is LHBO at JSU.
 
When will you Jacksonians realize that you don't have the talent you think you have. I know it's hard to let go of that reputation of reloading and not rebuilding, but you need to face the fact that some of us have caught and passed you as far as talent is concerned. I haven't seen any of the other teams in the SWAC yet, but after looking at you guys last week I do think there is hope. I for one think you had the better team. You guys just ran up against Murphy's Law in the first half and could never recover. Bell seemed to open the offense up but the rain killed that. Rain can make a good team bad and a bad team respectable. Let's face it you aren't as good as you use to be and the rest of us are a lot better than we use to be.
 
JSU is as good and can be as good as they used to be if we had a coach that knew how to coach. You don't send players to the NFL if they don't have talent. JSU has consistently done this over the past few years. The offensive line has never been that great at JSU but we have always had dominance with our receivers and quarterbacks. Back in the day we had a good running game with Walter Payton being in the back-field, but we also had good receivers and a good quarterback. We had a fairly decent running game with Wright, and last year with Counselor and Nolen. If Bell would have used the talent that he already had in place when he came on board and added his game plan as the game progressed I guarantee you that we would at least be 2 and 1, or maybe 3 and 0, instead of 0 and 3. Now, this is just my own personal opinion.
 
Originally posted by enswaclopedia
When will you Jacksonians realize that you don't have the talent you think you have. I know it's hard to let go of that reputation of reloading and not rebuilding, but you need to face the fact that some of us have caught and passed you as far as talent is concerned. I haven't seen any of the other teams in the SWAC yet, but after looking at you guys last week I do think there is hope. I for one think you had the better team. You guys just ran up against Murphy's Law in the first half and could never recover. Bell seemed to open the offense up but the rain killed that. Rain can make a good team bad and a bad team respectable. Let's face it you aren't as good as you use to be and the rest of us are a lot better than we use to be.
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That pretty sums it up. Bell is still making rookie coaching mistakes with a team that really can't afford to cover them. This isn't like 1999, when the team could win despite the coach. If there's a strike against Bell, its that he isn't experienced enough yet. But thta doesn't mean he can't be a great coach someday. Just not yet.
 
Originally posted by H
If Bell were coaching the NE Patriots, at this point they would be 0-3. Bell may make a good O or D Coordinator, but he is definitely not a HC.
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This is exactly what I was talking about. Just because he was a coordinator and around HCs does not mean that he's a HC. Take a look at Hughes, how long was he washing Big Daddy's jocks? Did he learn anything from Big Daddy?
 
If the cupboard was bare, then I could see placing the blame on Coach Hughes, but that's not the case here. I've seen too many times where a team had talent, and the coaching left a lot to be desired, and when a coaching change was made, so was the performance on the field. I don't have to look no further than SU for that, because Pete was 11-1 in his first season at SU, after a bunch of disappointing seasons before his arrival.

Bell is soley responsible for this, because Hughes left him a bevy of talent, with arguably the best QB in 1-AA, arguably the best recieving corsp in 1-AA, and a good number of returning players on defense, along with the coordinator.

Someone posted scenarios involving Jim Tressel, and Tyrone Willingham, but in those cases, the coach made the team better, and not worse. Nick Saban did the same thing at LSU, as well as Anthony Jones at AAMU, and LC Coles at ASU. Those coaches all used what was inherited from the previous coaching staffs, and made the teams better.

I've posted before that Bell didn't come from winning, and schools where mediocrity was accepted instead of winning, and using these first 3 games as a barometer, he's destined to turn JSU into a mediocre team at best.

I'm of the belief that winning breeds winning, and if you have somebody that's not used to winning, how can he teach it, because he doesn't know how himself?

I'm not one of these people that's happy to see JSU as a loser, because JSU is one of the few HBCU's in the nation that can aggressively recruit against the premier schools in their state, and win their fair share of battles, but I'm afraid with Bell at the helm, a lot of those battles they won against Ole Miss, Miss State, and USM, will soon be lost.

NICE
 
I, for one agree with everything you have said thus far "tiger 99." But it seems as it most people on this thread are too close-minded to acutally understand the transition period that J-state is going through. It's as if most of you all have that "think-in-a-box syndrome" rather than thinking outside the box! I wish you all would just listen for a minute and actually analyze everything that you have seen thus far before going over the edge with some of these ridiculous comments.

As I said earlier in one of my posts regarding swac competition and football, "this is not fooball we play in the swac." I mean, c'mon, any one of you please tell what other conference do you know of that has every team in each division to play a spread offense at least 60% of the entire game. :rolleyes: In this conference, we have average players with a few bright ones here and there! We have HC's who think they have to go to 4 wide sets in order to win football games! Fundamentals suck :( Facilities suck :( Coaching sucks :( But more importantly, most of the players suck!! :(

Why is it that you most of you have a hard time dealing with the idea that Bell wants to change the overall philosophy of what goes on in the swac, but he doesn't exaclty know how to implement it yet? Yeah, that's due mainly to this being his 1st HC position, but also because of a society like ours! We as a people fear change, and fear what we don't understand. We all think that just becomes something looks good now and has no problems, that we should leave it alone. I'm sorry to say this, but times are changing! Yes, our offense is or was a powerful as it gets in the swac. But what about outside the swac? Why is at that when we face competition outside our own conference (not including the MEAC, b/c yall are basically in the same conference as us), we get the fudge beat outta us?

For once, think about it hard and long! The swac has to upgrade if it is to regain its swagger that it had in the 70's and 80's. We don't have the quality players anymore nor the coaching! We don't have the passion that we used to have. We are at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to NCAA football. And as said as it sounds, it's the truth, and all of you know it!! WE SUCK!! I'm tired of being at the bottom. I'm tired of commentators on ESPN talking bout "lower division 1-AA programs." I'm tired of video games like NCAA football rating us as all D's, and only 1 C if that! I'm tired of fans being complacent where we are right now.

I will say this and be through. J-state has lacked an average coach for 4 years! Yes, 4 years. :bawling: Hughes got away with winning games by the hair on his arse, but when he faced a team that exploited his inability to coach, we lost. (Hence, A State, Grambling, etc...) Our team under Bell is trying to adjust to an outsider that they don't understand, which is due to them being tarnished under the Hughes era. We have had the talent the last 4 years to beat any team in division 1-AA and yes, that includes McNesse State!! However, when you lack fundamentals, and proper coaching, talent means nothing!!! In order for J-state to regain its dominance over the swac, it means that we must accept change! simple as that!! :D
 
Dude, Pete was an outsider at SU, Jones was an outsider at AAMU, Wyatt was a outsider at BCC, Saban an outsider to the SEC not just LSU, and Hal Mumme is 2-1 with a start up program at SLU with a bunch of transfers. So what does being an outsider have to do with teaching, and properly preparing kids to play each week have to do with anything? If you can coach, you can coach bottom line.

I understand change takes time, but y'all don't look good, close minded, open minded, hell, you could be blind and see that. Forget about schemes for a second, how long does it take to teach fundamentals? At what point does Bell stop putting lack of execution on the players, and take a look at himself, and his staff to see why his players are not grasping what's being taught, and what are they doing wrong?

As far as wide open offense's go, you must be sleep on Saturday night's when the WAC, and Big West games come on.

NICE
 
no i'm not sleep, but guess what d-nice.... we still can't beat a team in the wac! can we!!!! btw, i'm not sure if you notice, but even their conference doesn't have all teams in each division spreading the field 60% of the time in 4 wide sets. we still suck, don't we!!!!!, we still have average players, don't we!!!!!! coaching still sucks, doesn't it!!!!!! and please tell me why we can't beat them d-nice! is it that their talent is better than ours? it is because their conference plays in an area of that nation above sea level where the air is thinner so they have the advantage over their opponets from different conferences. or is it that their coaching, fundamentals and proper game planning is better? :idea: d-nice you have to admit that although we look in dissarray right now, there is always hope! j-state will win the swac.. mark my words!!
 
by the way d-nice, i said the players have been "tarnished under the Hughes ers." this is the reason why they haven't adjusted. this team is not a team of one simply b/c the players and HC are not on the same level. we you have a situation of this caliber, there is always going to be problems. we have a team of indivuduals right now blaming each other and a HC for problems that they had for 4 years but never realized it! now that the problems has been resurfaced, they can't accept it. they are in denial!!! they weren't at first b/c they were winning last year but just by pure talent!!! most of that talent is gone, so now we are left with just a handfull of above average players! go figure.....
 
The adjustment is even harder in our situation because of the circumstances. Our players liked Hughes. They liked him because he was a players coach who didn't ride their arses like a real coach should. On top of that, Hughes gave them the mindset that a 7-4 season was acceptable, and the only reason they lost those 4 was because they beat themselves. So the players(and some alumni) had this attitude that things were just fine, and Bell was just trying to mess up what was already working. Add in the fact that Bell is a totally different coach, both personality and strategy wise, and you have a very tension-filled situation.

Like it or not, Bell is the headcoach. Its his butt on the line, which mean its his responsibility to implement a successful plan for the team. Sure Bell hasn't helped matters with his "my way or highway" attitude. But he has loosened up somewhat. As long as he continues to work his butt off for this program, he's gonna get some lee-way from me.
 
JSU/99

?Bell is still making rookie coaching mistakes with a team that really can't afford to cover them.?
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I could almost agree with you, but Bell is not a rookie coach. The mistakes he is making are mistakes I would make as a ?rookie coach?. He has been in the coaching business for a number of years.

Bell began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Central Arkansas, his alma mater. His resume includes stints as defensive coordinator at Northwest Missouri State, Indiana University and Wake Forest. He has also been a position coach at Lamar and Louisville. He most recently was head coach at Cesar Chavez High in Houston, which was 1-9 this season.

I am still confused on why JSU did not hire JUS Alum, Alcorn's former defensive coordinator and former NFL receiver Harold Jackson. JSU had an opportunity to hire former Fort Valley State coach Kent Schoolfield, John Hendrick, a former assistant from Mississippi State, he now at Benedict.

The hiring of Bell, reminds me of the time TSU had an opportunity to hire TSU Alum and former Dallas Cowboys Receiver Coach Hubbard Alexander. He spent 9 years with Dallas, before Dallas, 10 seasons at the University of Miami, five seasons as an assistant at Vanderbilt, nine seasons as a highly successful high school coach in Memphis, Tenn. He started his coaching career at Tennessee State from 1962-63. Instead of hiring Alexander, we end up with Bill Thomas, Davis, Cole and Reese.

If JSU do not send Bell packing after this season, their program will take the same path as ours and we still have not recovered from the days of Thomas and Davis.
 
Originally posted by H
JSU/99



I could almost agree with you, but Bell is not a rookie coach. The mistakes he is making are mistakes I would make as a ?rookie coach?. He has been in the coaching business for a number of years.

Bell began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Central Arkansas, his alma mater. His resume includes stints as defensive coordinator at Northwest Missouri State, Indiana University and Wake Forest. He has also been a position coach at Lamar and Louisville. He most recently was head coach at Cesar Chavez High in Houston, which was 1-9 this season.

I am still confused on why JSU did not hire JUS Alum, Alcorn's former defensive coordinator and former NFL receiver Harold Jackson. JSU had an opportunity to hire former Fort Valley State coach Kent Schoolfield, John Hendrick, a former assistant from Mississippi State, he now at Benedict.

The hiring of Bell, reminds me of the time TSU had an opportunity to hire TSU Alum and former Dallas Cowboys Receiver Coach Hubbard Alexander. He spent 9 years with Dallas, before Dallas, 10 seasons at the University of Miami, five seasons as an assistant at Vanderbilt, nine seasons as a highly successful high school coach in Memphis, Tenn. He started his coaching career at Tennessee State from 1962-63. Instead of hiring Alexander, we end up with Bill Thomas, Davis, Cole and Reese.

If JSU do not send Bell packing after this season, their program will take the same path as ours and we still have not recovered from the days of Thomas and Davis.
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I couldn't have said it better!!!
 



There're valid points made by both sides in this debate, and plenty of blame on both sides.
First, a lot of the blame does go to Hughes and his coaching staff because although they bought in talent, it was undeveloped and undisciplined due to poor coaching. If any of you are in management in your careers you know darn well that if you inherit undisciplined employees that haven't been held accountable that there's no way in 'LL that you're gonna turn that attitude around in a few months. These kids were led to believe that 7-4 was OK and the only reason they were 7-4 was because they beat themselves (the beginning of becoming a loser is accepting and rationalizing the losses).

Secondly, Bell does have responsibility in JSU's start because of his pigheadedness. I personally don't have a problem with Bell's philosophy of running the ball and using a balanced offense. If any of you remember the W. C. Gordon days when JSU had the dominant team in the SWAC, we won based on running the ball and a solid defense. The problem I have is that he should have realized that JSU does'nt have a run blocking O-Line or the backs to pound the ball. He should have adjusted the offense to utilize the talent that we currently have on hand. Then recruited athletes taylored toward what he envisions the offense to be. But, at least if he wasn't smart enough to do that he never should have taken on the fans. Forget about the underhanded way he was brought in, the JSU faithful was going to fall in behind him. Even if he had every intention of making the immediate changes that he did, he should have asked for the fans patience and to give him a chance instead of " They better get used to it because I'm not changing, I don't care what they say or do". DUMB MOVE!

It'll be interesting to see Bell's game plan for this week against Texas Southern. If he run's a similar game plan that he did against TNSt and has worked on that in practice then I feel ok about this team even with the rocky start. If he reverts back to his previous position and game plan then it's going to be a long season for both JSU fans and James Bell.
 
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