What do we know, what have we learned?

[LUHawkerParticipant]

After two games, we’re 0-2. Clearly a disappointment from expectations of at least 1-1, if not, 2-0.

I’ll be brief:

Offense:
Mayes is the real deal and can sling it as advertised; some missed open receivers, but all-in-all, he slid right into the role without a hiccup.
WRs are stellar. But of course, when you’re mostly playing from behind its easier to throw it around.
OC play-calling and down and time management has been up and down
Run-game – what run game? 59 rushes for 186 yards!! O-line not creating many holes.
Short-yardage plays – pretty poor not getting some of those 4 and inches

Defense:
Same old, same old. D stiffens for a few series, only to give up either a big play or massively big play

No pressure at all on the QB
No forced TOs
Where is this aggressive D we heard about in the spring and fall ball?
D is not physical and not “flying around”.
DC – who is really in charge?

Special teams – not so special. Giving up long run-backs, missed FGs, etc.

Overall, not a good assessment, but that isn’t the main problem that I saw in the first two games.

Biggest issue I see is that this team doesn’t seem to have “fire”. I don’t see anyone getting either worked-up, revved-up, or anything-up. The team appears to lack emotion. Even Coen looks drained.

Speaking of, at what point in the season am I allowed to start questioning the longevity of Andy Coen. Last year I got lambasted when raising the issue and then the team put together a real fine season, only to see that perhaps it was but a mirage when UNH steamrolled us. After seeing us against VU and MU, it looks ever more likely that we were just good against the weaker PL and Ivy competition. Our two stiffest OOC contests laid some thing bare.

[marcoParticipant]

With Andy chasing the all time win record, he is good for a couple more yes at least.

[LUPhillyPhanParticipant]

At what point do you think the players lose confidence in the coaches decisions? Of players, of positions and of play calling? Ya think the players don’t see a lot of the politics going on (particularly on defense)? Sad to say but whether we win or lose tomorrow– they won’t change up the defense. Lynn is starting because Johnson is out

[Guardian14Participant]

What we do know????….everyone on this blog is so amazingly negative. Even if we win tomorrow all of you so called supporters will say its because Yale sucked. No mater what our kids and coaches are screwed. can’t wait for all of you experts to have your say after the game. Maybe one of these days you will use your voice to build this team up and not tear them down. This is not censorship (lol) or fluff as Buck would say but its making a decision (as adults) to support your team and these kids an not rip into them. most of you have never coached or played the game….you should consider the impact you are having as a fan and a blogger when you offer you comments. Go lehigh!

[KramerParticipant]

1. It’s wonderful to be supportive and positive, but it’s totally reasonable to express our frustrations on this forum. That’s part of the purpose of it. To expect us, as fans, to not question why our defense has been awful year after year is unreasonable.

2. I can’t stand it when posters attack fans with opinions because “they haven’t played or coached the game”. I have not played, nor have I coached. Does this mean I cannot or should not, have an opinion? Am I not allowed to express it? Have you ever been President of the United States? If not, then should you not be allowed to express your opinion of how he is performing his job?

Overall, this forum is more positive than negative. I read this forum often, as it allows me to keep tabs on the teams, and gain insight from some very knowledgable posters. There are some who post outrageous, foolish or even stupid things. I don’t put any stock in their comments. But it is their right to post them.

Just please don’t ask others to “drink the kool aid” when our defense gets pummeled week after week. Winning against other PL teams, and beating Ivies, but getting smoked by teams from most other conferences, especially in the playoffs, might be perfectly acceptable for some fans, but I would really like for this program to aim higher.

[LUHawkerParticipant]

This isn’t pee wee football, mom or dad. It’s Division I and your kids are getting ~$200k of scholarship money to suit up.

As my 12 year old says, “the truth hurts”. I was quite balanced in my commentary and it was mostly devoid of “negativity”. If pointing out the obvious inadequacies, not to mention the zero wins and two losses, is your idea of negativity, then I guess we have different interpretations of that.

You seem to think support is “that a boys” and Go Lehigh chants. I think it’s showing multi-decade support for the program by going to games (home and away), talking Lehigh football up around the water cooler and yes, posting commentary on blog sites and elsewhere (AGS). Interest in and especially criticism of the program and team is support. If we alums and fans stop caring, support dwindles and you end up with a program spiraling in the wrong direction.

[sundayamqbParticipant]

Agree with LUHawker.

1) As I said on an earlier post: LU must be clear what it’s goals are for the program. Is it to develop character and compete for the PL championship every year? Is it to develop character and compete for a national title occasionally?

If it’s merely to compete for a PL title, that’s fine. Let’s be clear. And let’s consider the need (or lack thereof) to recruit with athletic scholarships.

2) If the goal is to compete at a national (or even PL) level, it’s very difficult to do so with a defense that yields 400 ypg.

The defense has done so for so long it’s clear this is not about the kids, who work their tails off day in and day out year-long. This is a coaching problem that has not been resolved yet.

3) There remains an attendance/engagement problem with Lehigh athletics. Lehigh has major social life issues right now, period, given the dozens of students arrested each week for underage drinking. The school must find a way to engage its students to attend more sports by ensuring the experience is worth the time commitment.

[Go Lehigh TU OwlParticipant]

Offense
Mayes has been excellent. No he hasn’t be perfect but no one is. I think his running ability is being underutilized some. Got to keep him healthy but 4-5 called run plays will keep the odds limited.

RBs – Bragalone has had some nice runs but the OL has not instilled their will enough at the LOS enough. They need some 100+ yard games.

Receivers – very good but the loss of Christiano will hurt. The slot position is a major part of this offense.

OL – good but not as good as I expected. I really thought it would be a dominating unit

OC – he’s doing just fine in his first year. I’m sure he’ll be coaching somewhere else within 3 years lol…

Defense –

DL – just a complete mess. They have no physical presence and can’t get off blocks. I hate to call out one player but Mitchell is not a D1 DT imo. Lynn and Cavenas seem to be the best of the lot

LB – Do they exist? The loss of Rippanti and Caslow has a lot more impactful than I would have guessed

Secondary – I actually think they’re doing a real good job. Montgomery is a playmaker. They’re forced to be the run stoppers. Nothing like trying to tackle RB’s with 10 yards of steam heading at you all game. They also have to cover way too long because the DL gets no pressure. They’ve made some nice plays overall and forced QB’s to make really good throws to beat them.

Andy Coen is the Mack Brown of the PL. Been saying that for years….

[LU808Participant]

1 min into the game swiss cheese D puts us behind 0-7 Yale

[LUPhillyPhanParticipant]

Any word on #7? Hope he’s ok. Can’t someone ask Coen, wth he’s doing about our “defense”? Those boys are doing their best but he’s got wrong kids playing, wrong kids playing wrong positions. I don’t know how any coach can see this issue and do nothing about it. It’s painful to watch this

[sundayamqbParticipant]

[quote quote=32044]

Andy Coen is the Mack Brown of the PL. Been saying that for years….

[/quote]

I had never thought it about that way, but it’s a good point.

[lfnadminKeymaster]

[quote quote=32032]What we do know????….everyone on this blog is so amazingly negative. Even if we win tomorrow all of you so called supporters will say its because Yale sucked. No mater what our kids and coaches are screwed. can’t wait for all of you experts to have your say after the game. Maybe one of these days you will use your voice to build this team up and not tear them down. This is not censorship (lol) or fluff as Buck would say but its making a decision (as adults) to support your team and these kids an not rip into them. most of you have never coached or played the game….you should consider the impact you are having as a fan and a blogger when you offer you comments. Go lehigh![/quote]

This is probably worth a reply.

I don’t think I need to be defensive about my support for this team. I’ve been here through 3-8 seasons and undefeated regular seasons, though the toughest losses to Lafayette to the biggest championship and playoff victories. I’ll be here, writing about Lehigh football and following this team whether Lehigh wins a game this season or not. In fact I’m writing a recap of the game right now.

I’ve set up this forum for Lehigh fans to express themselves about all Lehigh sports, including football. I am very light with the censorship. Do I allow “negative comments”? Yes, as long as they don’t cross the line. I understand there are passionate fans and ultimately they desire a winning team that represents Lehigh in a good manner. I don’t endorse every single comment, and if it crosses a line, I will delete it. If I think someone is getting unfairly criticised, I will speak up here.

In the end, Lehigh fans expect excellence, and I think Lehigh players realize that. If they wanted to go to a place with soft expectations where fans are sparse and most don’t care, they’d go somewhere else. Lehigh is a place where you are expected every season to at least compete for a Patriot League Championship and make it to the FCS playoffs. With that comes critical fans that expect excellence. The reward for coming to Lehigh is, you will be remembered for what you do. And I try to make people aware of the good things that they coaches do and the players do. With that comes acknowledgement when the team doesn’t achieve what fans want and expect, too. It’s not all touchdowns and no turnovers.

I think I give an honest assessment, and I think that my goal always is to “build the team up” in the sense that I want the team to be excellent and to work towards excellence. That isn’t always an 11-0 record, incidentally. Sometimes it’s starting 0-3 and battling back to have a successful season. I’ve written about 4-7 seasons that were sheer agony to watch but beat Lafayette and ended up heroes. In fact, that 4-7 season set up a string of championships. I went to a lot of those games and attended a bunch of unhappy press conferences. But in the end it was worth it for the players and fans. And their seasons were immortalized.

I ain’t going anywhere. I’ll be here. When the wins come, I’ll be here. The negativity will pass, it always does, but it’s not from from what I do, it’s from what they do. And when it does, I’ll tell people about it.

[ngineerParticipant]

Excellent post. If a student-athlete wants to be challenged and excel he/she goes to a school like Lehigh, where excellence is an expectation. The excellence is in the effort. Maybe some people are getting a wake up call for the rest of their life, that if don’t put forth the effort you will get called for it. “Man up” and face the challenge. People at and who have attended Lehigh have expectations and are passionate about their school. Just as my coach told me 50 years ago, “If I stop yelling at you, then you will know that I no longer care.” We want our teams to succeed. We know we will not always win, nor even win a lot of times in some sports, but we expect to see the effort to succeed. Not just every so many plays, but on each play. Too many people are taking ‘plays off’as shown by all the mistakes. So many due to lack of focus or lack of preparation to be in the correct position. Some of that may be the coaching. Right now, with this “product” laying on the table, the chief engineer has to figure out how to make it better, or people will stop buying it. Barely 5,000 in the stands today. People have so many choices today for a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon. I agree with what Doc said on a another post. When the problems are so plentiful, and there appears to be no fight, there may be a “problem in the clubhouse”. Coen and his captains need are real “heart to heart” and find out what the hell is going on because this can snowball. This is beyond ‘tweaking’.

[objective observerParticipant]

QB play C+ I watch the little things- QB walks off the field – no urgency
RB- play B
Special teams- D-
Linebackers- F- non existent- poor tackling
DL- C- need to play right players- no favorites-#50 NO TACKLES
Secondary- C-
Recievers- B+
Coaching- D+ barely- need to shake up coaching staff- defense needs fresh coat of paint-

Overall- the team at this time gets a C- long season- everyone in the Patriot League has a losing record except for Holy Cross- with a big win this weekend- team is playing with no emotion- that comes from leadership- there is also no accountability- QB play- not happy with at this time- has A LOT OF POTENTIAL TO BE VERY GOOD!!
Kicking game is HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!- understand injuries

[hawktalkerParticipant]

Injuries are part of the problem. Bragalone,
Christiano, and perhaps most especially Mish were sorely missed yesterday.
But had all three played we still would have lost.
The problem is the defense: no sacks, no turnovers and surrendering 46+ points per game.
The titles changed but the same people are coaching the defense and the replacements for Caslow, Ripanti, etc. are not up the task

[Author]

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