Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Football › Losing the close ones
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October 18, 2009 at 11:46 am #915
Andy Coen’s record in games decided by seven points or less is now 2-12. I think this indicates two things:
1) Lehigh’s talent level is not measurably below most of its opponents
2) Lehigh, as is now pretty obvious to everyone, is poorly coached.Lehigh has lost 11 of the last 12 games decided by seven or less and the sole win was the Harvard fumble game when Lehigh scored in the final seconds on a fumble return. That was the game that Lehigh had no third down conversions — sound familiar. Strangely, only two of the losses were to PL opponents. Eight have been to Ivy League schools.
To me the most perplexing thing is that the coach staff keeps do the same things with its offensive game plan. One definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different outcome.
The consequence of the last four years is the destruction of the brand for Lehigh Football. With such a substandard product, paid attendance is probably off by 50%. That has to have had an impact on the Athletic Department’s budget. And I suspect donations have also suffered.
It will take considerable time to rebuild the brand, although I think there is enough talent on the team to see a significant improvement in a short time with the right head coach. As for that, my two cents worth is that Jeff McInerney, the coach at Central Connecticut, get serious consideration. More than anything, Lehigh’s next head coach should have a proven record as a head coach.
October 18, 2009 at 12:25 pm #916To give the kids some credit, I don’t see any signs of them quitting. It appears to me they WANT to succeed, but just haven’t been given the tools to do so.
And to be fair, injuries are also taking a heavy toll. Does anyone know when Campbell will be back?
Do we have to convert Colgan into a running back (he’s halfway there anyway)? JJHOctober 18, 2009 at 12:46 pm #918The coaching staff is unable to adjust and think on its feet. They are not properly using the players they have.
The freshman, Barkett, is a very good scrambler and can cut upfield quickly. When Lehigh was on the 10 yard line in the fourth quarter, he should have been used for the end around play instead of Walker. He would have scored. Walker has lost his speed due to injuried, conditioning, or whatever. He can barely lumber up the middle let alone runa sweep. Yet he was used in that situation. There is another freshman running back – Yablan – who is supposed to be good but has seen no action.Lack of separation is mainly a result of poor play calling and not using sufficient variety. Yesterday, there should be been many shorter passes to the tight ends and backs along with hook patterns to the wide receivers. Instead, the ball was thrown far down field on a very cold and windy day.
I believe the issue is mental ineptitude with people having been miscast for their role.
The worse play call of the day was when Yale had a third and six inches on our 27 yard line and their coach called a down field pass into the wind which I believe Lehigh intercepted.
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