August 2, 2018
JACKETS ON THE AIR
Catch DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL in 2018 on FAMILY RADIO 91.9 FM AND ON THE NET AT JON FINE PRODUCTIONS. COM. This is our 23rd year announcing Denham Springs Football. Josh Ward will call play-by-play with Jon Fine on color commentary for Coach Bill Conides’ team.
PANTHERS ON THE AIR
We will be producing Brusly HS Football radio broadcasts in 2018 on KBRS, 106.9 FM
Lionel Franklin will be calling play-by-play, with Jason Manola on color commentary for Coach Hoff Schooler’s team.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
Why is it so inconceivable to some people that LSU could have quality quarterback play this year? Is there merit in those opinions? Let’s investigate.
One argument is that LSU won’t have good quarterback play this year because a couple of them are only in their second year of college. Jalen Hurts won many games starting as a true freshman. Johnny Manziel had a great career starting in his redshirt freshman season. Florida was very successful under Urban Meyer playing two quarterbacks and one of them was true freshman Tim Tebow. This year, Ohio State will start a second year quarterback that played sparingly last year behind JT Barrett and everyone expects the Buckeyes in the playoff. So, inexperience at quarterback does not prevent someone from playing well at quarterback.
There are many disregarding Joe Burrow because he has been a career backup at Ohio State, so he can’t be that good. Of course, Cardale Jones was a third string quarterback at Ohio State until both quarterbacks ahead of him were hurt. For those that forgot, Jones led Ohio State to a National Championship in his first 3 starts.
Many of us short memories as this type of thing used to happen at LSU all the time. Rohan Davey sat on the bench until he finally got his shot and was great. Matt Mauck came off the bench to replace Rohan Davey and was pretty good. Then there is Matt Flynn who waited his turn behind Jamarcus Russell. This is the argument that really falls flat to me as I haven’t heard the argument that a backup can’t be any good since Wally Pipp was “Wally Pipped” by Lou Gehrig.
The truth is that every argument against LSU having quality play at quarterback comes down to one fact. We all have to see it to believe it because we all have watched LSU’s passing offense be incredibly inept for a decade except for one year when LSU had two of the greatest receivers in LSU history (Beckham and Landry).
In fact, there should be more hope this year that LSU will be better at quarterback than last year. At this time last year, we all knew exactly what we had in Danny Etling. To Etling’s credit, he went out and performed to the best of his limited ability, which is my point. Etling was a 5th year quarterback who had maxed out his ability. The hope was that Canada’s system would create a system where the offense under Etling produce beyond his ability. Of course, that wasn’t the case.
Narcisse, Burrow, and Brennan have more ability than Etling to make plays outside of the offense. Naturally, the question as with any quarterback is whether they can process what is happening fast enough to allow their ability to show within the offense. If they can’t, then LSU fans will suffer watching another average offense. But if any one of them individually or a combination can do it, LSU’s offense will have a higher ceiling than any in recent years.
There is one more truth being overlooked. There is no law of nature that says LSU’s offense can’t turn around in a flash. I grew up watching the Saints with Richard Todd, Wade Wilson, Bobby Joe Tolliver, Mike Buck, Heath Shuler, Bobby Hebert, and others at quarterback. Hebert was held back by the offensive philosophy, others were held back by their ability or age. None of it mattered though. When Brees joined Payton, Saints fans were led out of the offensive darkness we had existed under for years and it happened immediately. We often hear about the process.
When the right coordinator meets the right quarterback, the offense process is very fast. The best coordinators make it easier for the quarterbacks with their system and play calling. That’s why it always seems like Jimbo Fisher, Urban Meyer, and others always have the right quarterback. But even for them, that isn’t always the case.
Last year, Jimbo couldn’t make it work after Francois was hurt. It was painful to watch Florida State on offense. So much so, it reminded me of watching LSU in recent years. Urban Meyer has had brilliant success from Alex Smith to Tim Tebow to JT Barrett and many in between. But, before he left Florida John Brantley was his quarterback and the Gators were brutal on offense.
So it shouldn’t be a big shock to us that even the best offensive coordinators have years when it just doesn’t work. In addition, some quarterbacks need experience while other jump in from day one and make the plays. Nobody knows if Ensminger and any of the quarterbacks he has to choose from will make offensive magic this year. Nobody.
So let’s look for hints as to how things will work. Hints that cite recent history with the actual people involved.
There is a saying that some coaches are so good they can beat you even if you switched players (I believe it started with Bear Bryant). I hope everyone knows that is false. Nick Saban has won 5 out of 7 championships with the best players he can find, not Vanderbilt’s players. Saban naturally gets credit for the entire program at Alabama including recruiting great players.
While the sentiment is bogus, Steve Ensminger came pretty close two years ago when he took an inept offense and got it to perform well even when it wasn’t his system. To be clear, Fournette, Guice, and others on offense were very talented. Yet, they didn’t look good in the first four games under Cameron and Miles.
Back to Ensminger, I still don’t understand why people have not looked at his history of calling plays when he was the offensive coordinator and head coach at Central. Amazingly, this was the only time in his career where he called his own plays in his own system. The offense was as wide open as you can get and productive without a single player going to college and having an impactful career. There was good talent on offense, but not great. The play calling and the system was excellent.
I can hear the arguments now. I know that was high school. Just one problem with that argument. Gus Malzahan started in high school and Arkansas was amazing on offense when he got there. Ensminger has more experience calling plays in the college game then Malzahan did when he started at Arkansas. Mike Gundy has been praised for finding his offensive coordinator on the internet from a DII school. Just like predicting a backup won’t be good because he was a backup is faulty logic, so is the belief that a coach won’t do well because he hasn’t been in that position before.
I hear the other argument too. LSU’s offense only scored 10 points against Florida and Alabama two years ago. LSU had 23 first downs and over 400 yards against Florida who had one of the best defenses in the country. As for Alabama, if you are using that as your proof, then there is no point discussing any further. You win. Good thing the Tide are only on the schedule once. If Ensminger and whoever plays at quarterback get shutout by Bama this year, but put up the numbers they did against everyone else when Ensminger called plays two years ago, then LSU is going to go 10-2 or 11-1 and I am not going to complain.
In conclusion and repeating, nobody knows how good LSU will be on offense or throwing the ball this year. All I know is that there is no excuse regarding talent at the quarterback position or at offensive coordinator.
HEY REF
“Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water”! Once again it appears that the college football world will be rocked by yet another NCAA investigation into charges that Ohio State assistant coach Zach Smith was arrested for felonious assault and domestic violence of his former wife in 2015.
Ohio State University has placed its head football coach, Urban Meyer, on administrative (PAID) leave while the Buckeyes conduct their own internal investigation. While the university looks into charges that Meyer knew about the arrest and did nothing Ryan Day will be the “acting” head football coach.
Meyer released a statement that he agrees with Ohio State placing him on leave while the investigation moves forward and said “this will facilitate its (inquiry) completion. This allows the team to conduct training camp with minimal distraction. I eagerly look forward to the resolution of this matter”.
Not so fast Urban! On July 24th, just a week ago, during Big Ten Media Days he answered a reporter’s question concerning the 2015 incident this way “I got a text late last night” (regarding the arrest and charges against his wide receivers coach) “something happened in 2015 and there was nothing. Once again, there’s nothing, once again, I don’t know who creates a story like that”.
The source of the reported incidents, Brett McMurphy, also suggests that Meyer wasn’t the only coach on his staff who knew of Smith’s behavior. Smith’s wife at the time, Courtney told McMurphy “All the (coaches) wives knew. They all did. Every single one”! This isn’t the only time that Smith has run afoul of the law while being on one of Meyer’s staffs.
After McMurphy’s report went public Ohio State fired Smith on July 23rd which also contained another instance in 2009. In that case Smith was investigated for hitting his wife who happened to be pregnant at the time. To make matters even worse Cleveland.com reported on Wednesday that there were nine separate incidents involving Zach and Courtney Smith between Jan. I, 2012 and July 26, 2018.
Another incident in December 2017 neighbors reported Smith peering in the windows of his ex-wife’s home and car at 1:30am and his banging on the front door of her home.
My thoughts and questions on these investigations and reports is simply how can these types of things stay hidden for so long? One report of nine separate times this coach went off abusing his wife but no action is taken. How can that be? How can a wife, mother, partner allow themselves to be abused? And how can society turn a blind eye to this type of behavior?
One of the biggest problems facing today’s society is the constant elevation of those involved in the sport’s world to almost a god-like reverence. There is nothing special about someone having the ability to run fast while carrying a football or someone that can throw a baseball 100mph or someone that can jump higher than ten feet and slam a basketball through an iron ring.
We have to teach our kids there’s a right way and a wrong way to live. That there is a right way and a wrong way you treat people. We’ve got to be sure as a society that we don’t and won’t condone this type of behavior from anyone. Athletes have always been role models to our children. Today’s athletes are put on a pedestal and are expected to live a mistake free life away from the playing field.
Meyer, if guilty of knowing that a member of his staff had physically attacked their wife/husband should be banned for life from the NCAA. You might think that’s too tough of a sentence but when the subject is doing the right thing there can be no leniency. The first rule of life in our society has to be HONESTY. Without it there is no place for him… …
Till next week…
DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9 FM, BATON ROUGE and JonFineProductions.com.
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