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Dinardo....how did he pull off those first 2.5 good seasons?
Posted on 1/12/09 at 12:58 am
Posted on 1/12/09 at 12:58 am
How did former coach Gerry Dinardo pull off those first 2.5 good seasons? Up until the say Florida 97 win (rapid dropoff thereafter).
Was he able to pull this off solely from riding some decent recruits in Hallman and having some decent coordinators in Watts and Reese?
I have spoken with roughly 6-7 players who played for him and they all had basically the same things to say about him. Every player basically said his technical understanding of the game was not good, he was soft on discipline, and did not have the respect of the players.
Returning to the college game 3 seasons after departing LSU, he put jack squat together in 3 disastrous years at Indiana.
I always thought He would have been a good recruiting coordinator/position coach but never belonged at the executive level.
Was he able to pull this off solely from riding some decent recruits in Hallman and having some decent coordinators in Watts and Reese?
I have spoken with roughly 6-7 players who played for him and they all had basically the same things to say about him. Every player basically said his technical understanding of the game was not good, he was soft on discipline, and did not have the respect of the players.
Returning to the college game 3 seasons after departing LSU, he put jack squat together in 3 disastrous years at Indiana.
I always thought He would have been a good recruiting coordinator/position coach but never belonged at the executive level.
9
Posted on 1/12/09 at 1:03 am to ChuckDockery
quote:
Was he able to pull this off solely from riding some decent recruits in Hallman and having some decent coordinators in Watts and Reese?
Pretty sure most of the great players on those teams(Faneca, Faulk, Mealey) were Dinardo recruits. He was left the talent on defense.
quote:
Returning to the college game 3 seasons after departing LSU, he put jack squat together in 3 disastrous years at Indiana.
Nobody wins at Indiana.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 1:09 am to saintsfan22
I'm pretty sure Faneca was a part of Hallman's last recruiting class.
I think he had some intelligence, had some solid coordinators, and just had the right idea for a while. And he just went crazy after the '98 season and all of the criticism he received for how bad it went.
I think he had some intelligence, had some solid coordinators, and just had the right idea for a while. And he just went crazy after the '98 season and all of the criticism he received for how bad it went.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 1:16 am to Rocket
Perhaps Faneca was a Hallman guy I'm entirely not sure. Basically it just boils down to Lou Tepper, even with all the disciplinary problems in '98 and '99 people would have been a lot less concerned if those were 9-10 win seasons.
This post was edited on 1/12/09 at 1:18 am
Posted on 1/12/09 at 1:31 am to saintsfan22
quote:
Perhaps Faneca was a Hallman
Faneca was recruited by Hallman. There were a few decent players inherited by Dinardo, Kendall Cleveland, Rogers and Stansberry, Eric Smith, Denardo Walker, Troy Twillie, Chuck Wiley and a few other linemen (ETA: Gabe Northern, thanks Joey). Nothing like the guy after Dinardo, who inherited, practically, an ALL-SEC roster.
Dinardo recruited very, very well. LSU has now had three outstanding recruiters in a row as head coach, and the number of NFL players, 10 win seasons and championships attest to that.
This post was edited on 1/12/09 at 2:45 am
Posted on 1/12/09 at 2:10 am to ChuckDockery
quote:Your premise is flawed. The dropoff did not occur until after the '97 season ended (with a blowout win over Notre Dame, avenging our regular season loss to them). Obviously, we lost games, but our 4-2 mark after the Florida game with a blowout win over Kentucky and a dominating 27-0 shutout of Bama was a strong finish consistent with the significantly above average (perhaps very good) level of performance he had built his first 3 years.
How did former coach Gerry Dinardo pull off those first 2.5 good seasons? Up until the say Florida 97 win (rapid dropoff thereafter).
quote:No. The talent difference was created by him, right off the bat. Kevin Faulk, Herb Tyler and Anthony MacFarland -- all true freshmen in DiNardo's first class, and all big-time starters and stars -- were more than enough to account for the difference between 4-7 and 7-4-1. And his coordinators were (imo) very good, but that's a non-factor to me because a head coach gets just as much credit for the good coaching of his assistants as he gets blame for their bad coaching.
Was he able to pull this off solely from riding some decent recruits in Hallman and having some decent coordinators in Watts and Reese?
He had success in a league where that simply does not happen by accident. There really is no denying that DiNardo was in almost every respect a very good coach, who almost had the ability to be great. But such are the pitfalls of SEC Football that the margin between bordering on great and fired in disgrace can be one single mistake, one tragic flaw, one stubborn refusal to change something that wasn't working.
But I digress.
The answer is quite simply that he pulled off 3 good seasons because he was a good coach . . . until he refused to fire Lou Tepper.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 2:24 am to Rocket
quote:He was. So was Kendall Cleveland. Hallman also left him Gabe Northern, Denard Walker, Allen Stansbury and others on defense. But DiNardo was the one who brought in guys like MacFarland, Joe Wesley, Mark Roman, Cedric Donaldson, Fred Booker, Jarvis Green, Ryan Clark, and more. He did inherit some defensive talent, but he recruited better. He also did a good job recruiting good OL, with guys like Dwayne Pierce, Brandon Winey, Todd McCLure, Al Jackson and Louis Williams; but he didn't sign much quality depth which hurt when his recruiting fell of the last two years.
I'm pretty sure Faneca was a part of Hallman's last recruiting class
quote:Excellent description, imo. He was very nearly exactly what LSU needed at that exact moment.
I think he had some intelligence, had some solid coordinators, and just had the right idea for a while.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 2:49 am to King Joey
quote:
No. The talent difference was created by him, right off the bat. Kevin Faulk
Joey - you could have stopped right there. Kevin Faulk was clearly headed out of state. Dinardo literally went from the press conference (to which I listened live on Sherwood Forest Blvd, and Jefferson Highway - damned BR traffic) where he was announced to Kevin Faulk's house. He left with a commitment. Dinardo had the vision to rebuild the program from loser to winner. He may not have had all of the tools to get us to the next level, but he did more of the heavy lifting than the guy who followed him, who unfairly gets all of the credit. Dinardo's biggest flaw was loyalty to his coordinators (Tepper particularly) when his loyalty should have been to the program.
There are worse flaws. We did have a head coach who's only loyalty was to himself.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 3:13 am to ChuckDockery
Good recruiting, good coordinators in Morris Watts and Carl Reese, and a healthy dose of enthusiasm. The recruiting stayed strong but then Watts and Reese left and were replaced by someone I can't remember and Tepper 
Attrition became a killer with players transferring, flunking out, or getting arrested. DiNardo had no discipline. He was a people person, which was both good and bad. I remember people would talk about how he was out every night in the city, whether it was at his restaurant or somewhere else. I remember being relieved at how Saban was never seen anywhere.
Attrition became a killer with players transferring, flunking out, or getting arrested. DiNardo had no discipline. He was a people person, which was both good and bad. I remember people would talk about how he was out every night in the city, whether it was at his restaurant or somewhere else. I remember being relieved at how Saban was never seen anywhere.Posted on 1/12/09 at 7:14 am to King Joey
quote:
The answer is quite simply that he pulled off 3 good seasons because he was a good coach . . . until he refused to fire Lou Tepper.
You hit the nail on the head my friend!!!!!
Posted on 1/12/09 at 7:28 am to King Joey
quote:
he was a good coach . . . until he refused to FIRE Lou Tepper.
I believe HIRE is a more appropriate word. JMHO
Posted on 1/12/09 at 7:36 am to GABlueDog
quote:
good coordinators in Morris Watts
This guy is a JOKE. 3rd and 3 against Auburn when Cecil had 257 yds rushing, this guy throws a pass to a WR who was filling in at a position for another suspended WR. Route was run wrong and LSU loses. NICE CALL. Any success this guy had came from Faulk, Faneca, Mclure, Kennison, Lefleur. Easy to be successful with a group of players who went on to play 10+ yrs in the NFL. People call Jimbo vanilla, this guy was nutless.Posted on 1/12/09 at 7:43 am to tigerfootball10
I remember when dinardo was on campus at christian life recruiting michael clayton...
oh, did yall think he was a saban recruit?
oh, did yall think he was a saban recruit?
Posted on 1/12/09 at 7:45 am to ChuckDockery
quote:
how did he pull off those first 2.5 good seasons
Saban's players.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 8:19 am to Tiger Ryno
i've heard from people that were around the situation at the time that dinardo was sort of paranoid about his assistants colluding behind his back. this had a lot to do with quality assistants leaving and those positions being filled by lesser coaches (tepper, OC from UMass, etc).
i remember meeting him as a senior in high school when he was there on a recruiting visit. he definitely had a magnet personality and i can see how he was able to parlay that into being a good recruiter.
and let's not forget, he brought back the white jerseys at home.
i remember meeting him as a senior in high school when he was there on a recruiting visit. he definitely had a magnet personality and i can see how he was able to parlay that into being a good recruiter.
and let's not forget, he brought back the white jerseys at home.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 8:57 am to oilfieldtiger
Dinardos problem was not hiring good asst coaches. Everyone at LSU learned from this and the problem is fixed now. We have some of the best asst coaches in the nation ever since. Also the whole booty sitiuation didnt help.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 9:03 am to ChuckDockery
Dinardo did a lot of good things for LSU and had solid recruiting classes himself. His downfall was Tepper and people lost faith in him once he refused to get rid of him. He did give the program a solid foundation though.
Also, Nobody wins at Indiana.... Unless it's basketball.
Also, Nobody wins at Indiana.... Unless it's basketball.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 9:20 am to ChuckDockery
Two things:
1. Dinardo was afraid to hire any assistants who he thought knew more than him. He was afraid they would take his job.
2. He did recruit well in theory only. His last 2 seasons only half ever actually made it to BR. You have 2 recruiting classes with 25 each and only 13 actually make it to BR from each and that will kill you. That's when he started blaming the La. school system for his failures.
1. Dinardo was afraid to hire any assistants who he thought knew more than him. He was afraid they would take his job.
2. He did recruit well in theory only. His last 2 seasons only half ever actually made it to BR. You have 2 recruiting classes with 25 each and only 13 actually make it to BR from each and that will kill you. That's when he started blaming the La. school system for his failures.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 9:24 am to King Joey
Look at that '95 defense. It was pretty damn sharp. Hallman definitely helped DiNiardo, who in turn, helped himself...and killed his career later.
Posted on 1/12/09 at 9:28 am to simmons2112
quote:
1. Dinardo was afraid to hire any assistants who he thought knew more than him. He was afraid they would take his job
Its hard to fine guys that knew less than him.
His best staff was his first years. Then he got into too much of the coaching and that hurt.
Remember his last year, the last game he didn't coach, Hal Hunter did. We played the #11 ranked team in the nation. They were heading to play in the SECCG. We took and beat them by 25 pts. The game wasn't even close. We had some talent, just wasn't used right.
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