Coach Kaczenski

[Born N Bled Red]

I've seen an interesting development happen over the last couple weeks, most people clamor that our D-line is inept, can't handle the 2 gap scheme, can't stop a run or get off blocks. Yet, Coach K has seemed to escape all of the blame. I even saw a post today about Paps being demoted and Coach K being made coordinator. Why does Coach K get a free pass?

 

Living in Iowa, I got an interesting perspective on his hire. Many Hawkeye fans were excited to see him go. They were more that underwhelmed with the product on the field following Clayborn, and even thought Clayborn was one of those rare talents where it didn't matter who was the coach, he just had "it." (like Lavonte David)The prevailing thought was that he wanted the D-coordinator job and there was no way Ferentz was going to give it to him, so he bolted.

 

That being said, in his two years here, our D-line has gotten worse. Even established studs have seemed to decline in their abilities (think Steinkuhler). I remember a world herald article stating that Kaz coaches D-linemen to head butt the O-linemen to drive them back. Who head butts with their eyes open?

[Count 'Bility]

When I think of Steinkuhler, i dont think of "established stud" in regards to a defensive tackle. Sorry.

 

But you do bring up an interesting point about Kaz supposedly escaping a lot of the blame at the moment.

[ADS]

Steinkuhler would've made a much better LT, imo.

[zoogs]

Probably because RG and VV are two of the most exciting developments this year. Kaz also arrived with a fairly solid resume, which gives him some rope and some time as the defense is turned over to the younger guys after a period of admittedly lackluster recruiting prior to the '12 class.

[Landlord]

Steinkuhler would've made a much better LT, imo.

 

I bet every single coach would agree with you. But we needed him so much more at DT.

[AFhusker]

Probably because RG and VV are two of the most exciting developments this year. Kaz also arrived with a fairly solid resume, which gives him some rope and some time as the defense is turned over to the younger guys after a period of admittedly lackluster recruiting prior to the '12 class.

 

Yep he hasn't been here long enough to get the blame. The quality of DL play was subpar before he got here, so he deserves some time to try to fix the mess he inherited.

[kchusker_chris]

The DL was in pretty bad shape after the Crick injury when JP was running it. They were probably our worse unit. This decline has been ongoing pre-Kaz. I still think it's a scheme issue, which is why I'm giving Kaz a pass. It's not his fault that's how he's told to coach.

[TAKODA]

With all the grumbling going on about who's fault it is, remember that Bo points the thumb!

[gratefullred]

Kaz has a tough job. Getting the young guys up to speed. There is talent there, and Eric Martin was a break out at DE last year. I think the D-Line is coming along for how young they are. I am giving him some slack.

 

Iowa had more D-Lineman that were developed besides Clayborn who I haven't heard from since he got drafted.

[husker07]

Steinkuhler would've made a much better LT, imo.

 

I bet every single coach would agree with you. But we needed him so much more at DT.

It was his decision.

[NUinID]

When it comes right down to it, defensive line is probably one of the most difficult positions to play on the football team. D-linemen usually take a lot of time to mature and play well. Almost all of NU's great d-linemen didn't play a lot until they were Jrs. There are exceptions of coarse but even guys like Jason Peter were RS sophomores before they got any significant time. The light didn't click on in Suh's head until he was a Jr. Steve Warren was nothing special till he was a Sr.

 

These guys coming in are so used to just physically dominating who they are playing it is a big adjustment. Trust me they will slowly get better throughout this year.

 

Coach Kaz is a good coach and has a good track record. Unfortunately he gets compared to a guy like Charlie McBride who was probably one of the best d-line coaches around.

[tmfr15]

The only reservation that I had on Coach K was that he came from Iowa, which was, on the flip side, a selling point as well.

 

On the one hand, Iowa hadn't been lighting up the CFB world with the bright shine of their defense.

 

On the other hand, Coach K, being already a coach in the BIG, brought with him some conference knowledge in terms of team dynamic across the board and also insight into recruiting the BIG footprint.

[WAHusker]

A few corrections - Kaczenski recruited the Florida area for Iowa, not in the Midwest. Most of the teams in the BIG got new coaches/offenses over the last 3 years (PSU, OSU, Mich, Minn, Indy, Illinois, Wiscy, etc). Id rather see our DB coach as our D cord.