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Carriker interviews THE GOAT


Some highlights. (I'm paraphrasing, my own remarks in parenthesis):
  • Frost's biggest challenge was changing the NU culture. Previous years (Riley? Pelini? Callahan? Guessing he's not inferring anything about Solich here) lacked accountability; being on time; making players go to class.

  • Devaney turned it around by getting really talented players, and he worked them smarter, not harder. Previous coaches would scrimmage all the way up to Thursday or Friday. Devaney would ease up later in the week so players were fresh on game day.

  • The Big 8 had very liberal recruiting guidelines. Under Devaney, you could bring in 45 scholarship players per season. Once Osborne took over in 1973 it was nationally capped by the NCAA.

  • Future of NU looks bright. Frost's kids, specifically OL and DL, look athletic and rangy. Much better than previous years. WRs are getting bigger to run bubble screens and handle the DB blocking schemes.

  • Offense consistency is critical. Big Ten defenses make you earn every yard. Can't afford penalties and missed assignments. Need to rattle off 14, 15+ play drives to keep churning down the field.

  • Excited to see Bill Busch come back.

  • If Osborne were still coaching, his option attack would likely have evolved into a speed/spread offense similar to what Frost runs. Have to run something different than what opponents see week after week. Most of the tweaks will go unnoticed by fans in the stands. Lots of nuance on blocking, etc.

  • 4-3 versus 3-4? Modern teams have moved to the 3-4 mostly to stop zone reads.

  • TO still attends practice once per week. Visits with Frost about every 2 weeks. Tries not to offer too much advice or micromanage. Frost will occasionally approach him with struggles, but TO wants him to be his own man.

  • Big Ten has not been generous in terms of scheduling.

  • Real Men Go For Two. Important to remember there was no overtime in 1984. Osborne recalls a 10-10 tie between Michigan State and Notre Dame where one team just sat on the ball at the end of the game to keep a tie. He personally would not have voted for another team in a Coaches Poll if they went for a tie instead of a win. Figured Miami would be in man coverage on the goal line. Lined up in a brand new formation that they hadn't used all season. Gill was a great roll out passer but the defender on Fryar peeled off and ran for Jeff Smith, got a finger on the ball.
 
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Very encouraging interview. If Dr. Tom thinks the future is bright, that gives me some hope. On paper, it does look like we could have our most talented team in quite some time. However, I've predicted that we were on the verge of making it back to relevance many times before over the last couple of decades, and I'm tired of being wrong. At this point, I have to see it on the field before I make any optimistic predictions.

I also appreciated the in depth response as to why Osborne went for two in the 1984 Orange Bowl. I've heard him answer that question before but never heard the snippets about his reaction to the MSU/Notre Dame game or what he was thinking about in terms of taking advantage of man coverage.
 
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Flat Water said:
Very encouraging interview. If Dr. Tom thinks the future is bright, that gives me some hope. On paper, it does look like we could have our most talented team in quite some time. However, I've predicted that we were on the verge of making it back to relevance many times before over the last couple of decades, and I'm tired of being wrong. At this point, I have to see it on the field before I make any optimistic predictions.

I also appreciated the in depth response as to why Osborne went for two in the 1984 Orange Bowl. I've heard him answer that question before but never heard the snippets about his reaction to the MSU/Notre Dame game or what he was thinking about in terms of taking advantage of man coverage.
Click to expand...
On going for two, do you think it would have mattered if Rozier had been available?
 

Uncle Buck said:
On going for two, do you think it would have mattered if Rozier had been available?
Click to expand...
Jeff Smith was pretty darn good. I'm not sure if he was quicker, but I wouldn't think it would matter.. the stars were just not aligned.

Had fryar caught that bomb, tho. Grr.
 

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