re: Are the best athletes on the field?

Some excellent posts, Penrod.

Many fans do not understand one of the most important principles in sports: the most physically gifted player is often not the best player. Many physically gifted players are not great competitors (they never had to be to be successful prior to college), or they do not like contact, or they cannot learn the schemes- does not mean they are dumb, but means they do not have a good football IQ.

The best football players are those that have football instincts and understand the game. The truly great football players are those that are the most physically gifted and are also great competitors, and have great football IQ. There are very few of these.

Unfortunately, most fans do not understand this and are enamored with the most physically gifted players; these are typically the players that were most highly rated coming out of high school- their physical gifts allowed them to dominate even if they are not true competitors or have a low football IQ. If these guys are not producing on the field, it is the coaches fault, or if they are not getting to play the coach has no idea what he is doing.

Kelly is playing more freshman players than I can remember- starting two true freshman tackles last year was something I have never seen at a major program. That said volumes about OL-poor LSU was when he arrived.

All that being said, the defense we fielded against Ole Miss was disgraceful. Our total inability to control the edge, and failure to make adjustments to establish containment appeared to be a total coaching failure. We also allowed Dart to convert way too many 1st downs with his feet, and we never used a spy on long yardage 3rd down plays. The number of missed tackles was astounding and indicates that we are not teaching tackling fundamentals.

I do not believe our problems were caused by not playing the right players. I think the defensive coaching was likely the biggest issue.

Ideally you want the best athletes who are also able to understand and execute the scheme/gameplan. Unfortunately, that rarely is the case. And that's what separates average coaches from great coaches.

What good is a great athlete if he doesn't know how to play or what he's doing? On the flip-side, what good is a great scheme/approach if your players can't execute it.

Great coaches look at their personnel and design a plan/scheme that fits their strengths. It may not be the preferred scheme/approach of the coach. It may not even be the same approach he uses next year. But it is what gives his talent the best chance to execute well.

What I'm seeing is a coaching staff that has a plan/scheme they want to run and are only willing to play the guys who they feel can understand it...even if they aren't good enough to execute it. You're seeing the result.

A good coach would say "this is what I WANT to do, but I don't quite have the guys to do it. So for this season I'm going to do what best fits my guys. It may not be perfect. It may not be what I want to do next year. But for now that is what we are going to do."

I was talking to a friend I played high school ball with about that today, we had a coach that was gifted at getting the best players in the position they should be playing, we may need to look at some of the wide receivers and see if we have a cornerback or two.

Has anybody seen Speights make a play yet? But he starts in front of Weeks who makes plays every series he's in.

Have no clue why y’all continue to say he’s stubborn… the staff has literally changed around the OL, RB, WRs, and defensive unit. It’s just not working defensively especially when we continue to put new guys in and they blow their assignments or can’t tackle. It’s easy to blame coaching, at some point we have to start making plays on the field.

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just mentioned this, Saban put the best 22 players on the field regardless of their classification. Obviously CBK is not on board with this philosophy. The best 22 are not on the field at all times with limited breathers or goal line situations. Its nothing but "LOOK" and "COMPLETE PROCESS" from CBK. So I guess we have to be 3-5 or 4-4 till CBK changes his views and its now trying to save a sinking ship.

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My only issue with BK is his hangover from Notre Dame.

When he arrived at ND he was the red faced screaming maniac on the sideline that jumped his players (Saban / muschamp / smart style). He was reprimanded by ND, that’s not how they opporate…media poured on too. During his time there he incorporated the “he’s a program guy, he’s 4th year and earned it”. “Graduating Champions”. That’s a great feel good storyline, but at LSU, we play the DUDES. Put those guys out there.