Raiola OL Thoughts

[kenyanfeline]

Not much to pass along but I do want to play devils advocate here on the Raiola situation.

According to Waterboy, he says that Raiola appeared to be a much better coach than Greg Austin from his perspective of wat hung practice. How he spoke to players, how good of a “teacher” he was, how much players responded to and respected him, etc. we’re all night and say better than Austin. Of course Waterboy only has GA rn compare DR to, but he says there’s a clear difference.

So why did our offensive line look so bad this year? Many things. New system, which happened to do the offensive line no favors in terms of what it was asking them to do. S&C program that turned them into inflexible and immobile piles of shit. 4 years of bad habits from GA. The most poorly recruited position group on the field. No depth. Lost our center. This list goes on.

The offensive line is the most developmental position group on the field and I think we were all crazy to think there was going to be a huge jump in year one with a new position coach, while also working under a lane duck head coach and an offensive coordinator who changed the scheme dramatically. I wish we looked better than we did, however I don’t think most of our expectations were realistic.

Bottom line: the jury’s still out on Raiola. We don’t have enough objective information to draw any clear conclusions on his long-term potential as an offensive line coach. If you listen to Matt Rhule talk, he doesn’t sound like a guy who’s going to hire Raiola on a whim. He’s got a plan, and he understands the stakes. He must have gotten a good enough feel for him during the interview process that he feels good about leaving him on staff, and I’m going to defer to him in this situation.

Everyone needs to chill the fuck out.

 

[Juro]

I can only guarantee two things will happen between now and the start of 2023 season: so many hopes that Raiola can turn around the offensive line and Buck and Duck trolling threads here.

 

[dsbigred1]

I feel weird about this hire because of the different contexts of it last year vs this year..
Last year Frost needed a Hail Mary. Everybody knew it. That is why I didn’t like Raiola at that time. It didn’t mesh well with what I saw from Whipple at Pitt (IMO, and the experience was lacking given the desperation for Frost), and I think the OC and OL are insanely important to be closely aligned.
I am not thrilled with it for Rhule either, but it does make significantly more sense. His position coaches are absolutely green, no doubt. But this isn’t a situation where he is looking for instant results (so you’d benefit yourselves if you aren’t either). This is a multi-year build that he is looking to grow and develop with both the players and coaches. I’m not saying they can’t or won’t make a bowl, but I won’t be surprised or discouraged if they don’t in year 1.
Shit, there were people that have Frost 3 years of leeway with not making a bowl that are holding Rhules feet to the fire after 1.5 weeks. It’s just odd to me given the state of our roster that people are holding him to a standard that hasn’t been reached here in 7 years before he has even had the opportunity to actually COACH

 

[Alcaus]

Choosing an unknown at one of the most important staff positions will never not be weird to me.

 

[huskerj12]

I hope Waterboy is right, but if it was all Austin’s fault then why did the line get even worse?

 

[Irv]

I hope Waterboy is right, but if it was all Austin’s fault then why did the line get even worse?

Cam Jurgens? Nouili?

 

[DrinkItIn]

Cam Jurgens? Nouili?

Teddy P was brought back too early as well and look what happened.

 

[Milo-of-Croton]

At first I almost sprained my neck shaking my head no...but after thinking about it and reading between the lines of things Rhule has said and things I have read...I believe that Raiola is a hard working young coach who wants to be good. Rhule has coached the Oline, so has Foley and I really think Rhule believes they can coach Raiola - and believes he will do a good job. That may be way off, but that is most logical reason for keeping him that I can think of.

 

[2010sarenevercomingback]

Teddy P was brought back too early as well and look what happened.

Didn't Corcoran miss the entire spring too?

 

[HerbRedman]

I feel weird about this hire because of the different contexts of it last year vs this year..
Last year Frost needed a Hail Mary. Everybody knew it. That is why I didn’t like Raiola at that time.

There is no Hail Mary at the OL asst coach position in this situation, with the shitty 4 yrs that led up to 2022. Fans didn't understand this and still don't.

It's like not brushing your teeth for 4 years and then you have a dentist appointment in 3 days. There's no Hail Mary in that situation, you're just fucked and you go in and face the music. There was no "Hail Mary" at the OL coach spot, we were already fucked. There wasn't a hire out there that was somehow going to make everything work.

This is NOT to say that Donovan is a good coach. It's just to say that we don't know.

 

[Goskers07]

@DuckSker just DM'd me. Hes coming around and loves this hire.

 

[RedSeaRising]

I can only guarantee two things will happen between now and the start of 2023 season: so many hopes that Raiola can turn around the offensive line and Buck and Duck trolling threads here.

I can guarantee you one of those won't happen.

 

[dsbigred1]

There is no Hail Mary at the OL asst coach position in this situation, with the shitty 4 yrs that led up to 2022. Fans didn't understand this and still don't.

It's like not brushing your teeth for 4 years and then you have a dentist appointment in 3 days. There's no Hail Mary in that situation, you're just fucked and you go in and face the music. There was no "Hail Mary" at the OL coach spot, we were already fucked. There wasn't a hire out there that was somehow going to make everything work.

This is NOT to say that Donovan is a good coach. It's just to say that we don't know.

I was under no illusion of a Hail Mary being available or that one exists, only that it was what was needed to save Frost’s job. He needed a home run and threw down a bunt.
The best case for Frost was to find as perfect a fit as possible for the new OC he was bringing in, which did not seem to be what happened.

 

[Kaladin]

Alright, I’m back on the Donny R train

O-line will look 100% better this year, and pipeline will be back to 90s form in 2024

 

[RedSeaRising]

@DuckSker just DM'd me. Hes coming around and loves this hire.

Funnily enough @Huskerbuck85 just sent me a DM saying he thinks we win not less than 9 games next year. Gotta hand it to Rhule, he seems to have a way to win over even his strongest doubters

 

[cwessel76]

Funnily enough @Huskerbuck85 just sent me a DM saying he thinks we win not less than 9 games next year. Gotta hand it to Rhule, he seems to have a way to win over even his strongest doubters

They both just sent me dick pics wtf

 

[dsbigred1]

Funnily enough @Huskerbuck85 just sent me a DM saying he thinks we win not less than 9 games next year. Gotta hand it to Rhule, he seems to have a way to win over even his strongest doubters

They turned a corner after reading through @slattimer thread on Rhule’s offense. Both @DuckSker and @Huskerbuck85 admitted to masturbating while looking at that magnificent breakdown. I’d tease them about it, but I’ve jacked it twice to that thread already..

 

[dsbigred1]

They both just sent me dick pics wtf

Please zoom in enough to make them look adequately sized (if possible) and share.

 

[cwessel76]

Please zoom in enough to make them look adequately sized (if possible) and share.

 

[Jim14510]

Who were Rhules previous oline coaches and where did they end up?

You're not going to talk me into liking this decision unless the oline is light-years better next year.