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Grading the Coaching Staff - 2015 Edition


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Now that the regular season is over, I thought it would be good to give out grades for the entire coaching staff.

 

Mike Riley - Head Coach - F - As the head coach, he's ultimately graded on the win-loss record. A 5-7 record, no matter how many close losses, deserves an F. Adding to the poor grade is terrible turnover margin, penalties, game management, and just an overall terrible season.

He gets an F. He hired the staff, mismanaged the clock, did nothing to mitigate penalties, allowed team captains to go off script with no accountability.

 

Danny Langsdorf - Offensive Coordinator - C - I was actually surprised by the way the offense performed this year. It was much better than I expected. However, there were still some crazy play calls during games. Langsdorf could have been downgraded further with the Illinois and Purdue game plans alone. He drove me crazy with his lack of commitment to the run game. While Langsdorf said they would try to incorporate the QB run game this year, it wasn't a key part of the offense. Langsdorf also doesn't get a free pass on the high INT rate. After all, he is the QB coach, too.

D. Has moments when he calls decent plays, but yet to see complete game outside of possibly Minnesota. Refuses to acknowledge no team can win without a running game. Not giving Jano a touch in his last game at home is worthy of an F on that alone.

 

Mike Cavanaugh - O-line - D - Everyone thought the o-line issues of the past number of years was Barney Cotton's fault. But, this year's o-line wasn't any better. There was a complete lack of consistency in the run game. The pass pro wasn't much very good either, as Armstrong was forced to scramble numerous times each game. I also disagreed with his lack of rotation among the linemen, but that's just my personal opinion.

F. The inability to rotate even one guy. No depth development, no reason as a non-starter to bust your tail in practice, aren't dependable enough for the coaches to trust to get one friggin yard....

 

Reggie Davis - RB's - D - The rotation at RB was a complete mess. Nobody knew who was going to be the feature back from game to game. The only thing that appears to be a differentiating factor is the starting RB must be able to pass block. Other than that, I am not sure what is the criteria for getting snaps/carries. It was crazy to me to see a player get a few carries and do well in one game, and not sniff the ball for the next few games.

D. Only because I do not know if he does the rotation are not. On the backs performance, an F. Say what you want about Ron Brown, dude had backs ballin. No rhyme to the subbing. Cross on sweeps.... Come on man. Hire Ron Brown back.

 

Keith Williams - B+ - I thought the WR position has been NU's deepest position over the past few years. I thought they were well coached under the previous staff, and Williams has improved their play this year. Drops hurt in the Miami game, but I can't remember it being a huge problem throughout the season.

A. Dude has got some guys who can play. Imagine if they had a qb who could throw to them. They have played hurt and banged up all year.

 

Mark Banker - Defensive Coordinator - D - The only thing keeping this from an F is the performance of the last 2 games. Other than the games against Rutgers and Iowa, the defense was abysmal. The D was torched in a number of games, and couldn't come up with key stops when it needed to in the 4th quarter of numerous losses. I am not a fan of the scheme at all, and it appears that most teams realized they could just pass the ball all day on the Blackshirts, and for the most part, they did.

C-. Really want to downgrade, but they have showed improvement as the season has progressed. Stubborn as hell, but against Iowa appeared to have a safety over the top instead of true quarters coverage. Plus his pressers are awesome.

 

Hank Hughes - D-line - C - This was supposed to be the strength of the Blackshirts, but for much of the year, the d-line was disappointing. I understand injuries plagued the front 4, especially at d-end. But, there was a complete lack of pass rush, which is needed in Banker's scheme. The d-line would do well against the run at times, but then give up a big gainer (see Iowa). I think Hughes could be a good coach, if he has some good depth and talent, which was missing this year, especially at DE.

B-/C. They look great, but read some where they led the league in runs of over 20 yards..... Get a DE who can get pressure and Hughes could be a solid B.

 

Trent Bray - Linebackers - B - The one bright spot among the defensive coaches. Coach Bray had the toughest job this year with very little depth, multiple injuries, and a number of young guys playing. For the most part, I was impressed by the LB play, especially when the top guys were healthy. The one thing keeping it from being an A, is the poor angles that the LB's would sometimes take in run support.

B. Walk-ons, injuries, true fresh. He managed a mash unit and got the guys to play. Need better development on angles, how to blitz, how to not get sucked in, but solid for what he had to work with.

 

Brian Stewart - Secondary - D - This was nearly an F, but the secondary did show glimpses of improvement in the last few games. The secondary had no confidence in the scheme in the first half of the season, and teams passed all over the Blackshirts. The secondary still isn't very good at attacking balls in the air. I am not very confident in Stewart's ability going forward.

F. After the Alabama game and his comments about adjustments that never came and Davie being made the scapegoat..... Little INT's, better aggression, better tackling, but still dead last in pass D gets you an F. NU should NEVER be last in a statistical category. I would move Riley to B if he would hire Marvin Sanders in the off season. Imagine him having the DB's play in press coverage.

 

Bruce Read - Special Teams - Incomplete - I give Read an incomplete because I really don't even know what he has done this year. FG kicking was pretty good with Brown, after some early misses (probably cost NU the BYU game though). Foltz was also pretty good, but he was good before Read got here. The kickoff returns were non-existent, and it was so weird when Jordan Stevenson was installed at KR in the middle of the season. Read didn't even know who the kid was. The kickoff coverage was also very weird at times, when Brown was instructed to do odd squib kicks or other weird kicks instead of just trying to boot it through the end zone. Brown has a strong leg, so I put those odd kicks on Read. The loss of DPE also contributed to the Incomplete grade.

U- As in doesn't even rate a grade. Should be sued for obtaining property by false pretenses and forced to give his salary back.

What do you all think of coaching grades for the year?

 

I'll add Phillips in the S & C-

C. Really disappointed in the soft tissue injuries i.e. groin and hamstrings in spring. DL seemed much stronger, but OL still gets pushed like they are on skates. Didn't seem as gassed, but injuries has me wondering what could be changed. Would also like to see more physical DB's... They seemed lose 1-1 battles. "looked" leaner.

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