Ok, here we go................First of all I already knew what TP was going to say before I clicked on the thread, so I automatically omitted every post I saw with his name on it. Anyway, back to the thread. I think as alot of you on here know that I am really not one of Totten's biggest fans, so this is how I see it.
Totten simply put is just not a head coach. I will give him credit before I go in on him, he has brought some good talent to Valley, and most of the time he motivates the team to play. With that being said, I question his coaching skills because of the talent that he's brought in, if you look at them, the players always seem to stagnate or not reach their potential. (This post may get a bit long, but bear with me) The perfect person to illustrate this point for me is Aries Nelson. Coming out of high school (Totten was his head coach), Nelson was a Dandy Dozen player. Nelson went up to State and got in the doghouse and ended up transferring to Valley. He comes in and is the starter maybe a week and a half before the first game. He has a decent year. The next year he comes out with the help of Tyrone Timmons, Shang Moore, and Clarence Cotton he leads Valley to their first winning season in years. Going into his senior year he is named SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Keep in mind, he still has his whole receiving corps intact, including his favorite target Tyrone Timmons. Nelson proceeds to go out and have the worst season of his career at Valley. The point i'm making is from the time Nelson stepped on the field as a sophomore until he finished as a senior, there was no NOTICEABLE progression in his play. At some point with YOU being a star quarterback yourself, doesn't it seem logical that you could coach your quarterbacks up?
I further contend that Totten is not a HEAD COACH, because he is a HORRIBLE tactician(X's and O's). 3 games really point this theory out.
1. 2008 MVSU vs. JSU This game summarizes Totten's whole career in one game. Instead of him making the sound football decision and running the ball to get it into the center of the field to setup for a game-winning field goal, he decides to take a risk and throw the ball yet again, and we know what happened next.
2. 2008 MVSU vs. Bama St This game had to be one of the most embarrassing displays I have ever seen. Keep in mind this is your only time appearing on tv that year (ESPNU), and you decide to start a true freshman quarterback that looks like he has no concept of the offense. If that doesn't make it bad enough, you continue to run him out there when you have more experienced quarterbacks just sitting on the sidelines. It got so bad to where the announcers asked if Valley was a high school team!
3. 2005 MVSU vs. Alcorn (Charlie Spiller Show) This game opens up with you kicking the opening kickoff to him and he proceeds to run it all the way back for a touchdown. Some may look at the defensive coordinator, but the head coach overrides everyone, and we CONTINUALLY decide to single-cover Charlie Spiller all game, and he goes on to single-handedly beat us by himself, racking up over 200+ all-purpose yards on us. Keep in mind this was the year that Nate Hughes got hurt, and Arceneaux wasn't a big threat then, so you already know who Alcorn's go-to-guy is.
*getting off my soapbox*
Well VStater, they say a pic is worth a 1000 words. This is what we have done lately.
