Bernie - assuming you have some insight on this - what we have from a demonstrated standpoint is a guy who won some games with Al Golden's players and then fell apart in the first year in the Big East, whose offenses have been outright offensive. I get the enthusiasm and even that we'll bring in some talent, but where is the evidence this guy can coach enough offensive talent to win football games? Outside of OC with Tim Tebow one of the best college football players of all time, he's never been responsible for a good offense (if you believe Fla fans who think year 2 in Florida with Brantley at QB was a disaster).
I get the rah rah stuff. But at some point college football teams need to score 30 points a game, or rely on a defense like the 2008 Eagles had. This is the concern.
OK...is there some rah rah in my comments....you bet there is. However, Not all is peaches and cream in South Central. On paper they should kick BC's ass. I will give you that but that team has no heart, their defense is very suspect and can be run on. Also, the bloom is off the rose with Lane Kiffin. He is losing the recruiting battle in So Cal to Jim Mora, Jr, Chip Kelly and Dave Shaw at Stanford. Kiffin is not that good of a coach. His game plans are pretty pedestrian and aggressive, attacking defenses give USC problems.
BC will have a 60-40 split on offense (run/pass). The best running back on the team was benched for most of the season and Rettig showed flashes of brilliance last year. The problem was that there was no consistency and the defense could not get off the field. If you look at those 3rd down conversion stats last year they were eye popping. When you are allowing the other team to be on the field for 37-39 minutes a game, you are not going to score many points. On offense, BC has weapons and if they can stay on the field, they can compete with SC. The key is going to be to toughen up that defense. A scheme change is probably necessary to fit the talent (whatever is there) and essentially tell everyone, on all sides of the ball that they are playing for jobs.
BC was out of shape last year and by the time they got into shape, half the team was out with injuries (lack of conditoning usually leads to mass injuries). You had a coach who was playing in pads in practice way too much because he blamed his kids for his inability to be a head coach. So, you lose kids physically and eventually you lose kids emotionally. All of that is now gone. Addazio will have them in the weight room and they will physically be in the best shape since they came to Chestnut Hill.
Right now, USC opens on the road on 8/29/13 at Hawaii and then plays BC on 9/14/13. They will in all likelihod play a game on 9/7/13 as they don't want to be off for 17 days in between games that early in the year. Currently BC has no games scheduled before USC. I would suspect they will probably schedule Stony Brook before USC and maybe get another game in there. Personally, I would schedule Stony Brook for 8/31/13 at home, and then not schedule a game in between that and USC. I would be on the phone with the ACC and talk with them about making the schedule user friendly so that all of their teams have the best chance to win OOC games, especially against high profile teams like the Trojans. This conference desperately needs to do that. That way you start summer camp on August 10th, get your three weeks in and play Stony Brook. You then have 2 weeks to get ready for USC. In fact, if possible under NCAA rules, I fly the team out to CA a week ahead and practice in San Clemente at Rettig's old high school. Get them used to the weather and the time change. And continue to build character. All in all you will be preparing for them for 5 weeks while USC is just looking at BC as another game.
On the O, you will run smash mouth football in an effort to set up the pass to Amidon. We don't have speed burners so we are not going to be able to lenghten the field but we can slug it out with them and when they start to cheat up, play- action to the wideouts.
On D, you put 8 in the box and make them rely on the arm of the QB. They have a good one and he is a Connecticut native. If you play straight up you give them too many options. You shut down the run and force the QB out of the pocket. Hit him on every play. You attack the QB and the feature back on every play, no matter what. Will it work all the time?,No but you don;t give them a multi threat attack. If you do, you lose.
If you play with the right attitude, scheme to contain them and go right after them on both sides of the ball....guess what, good things happen. Its a new era and this team will be good. Not great, but good. And they will beat USC.
