Maybe Ash has learned a hard lesson

[RUich]

I'm assuming he is here to stay. That said, maybe what happened yesterday made him rethink how he is going to manage this program next season.
Gio played damn well for a guy who was virtually dismissed by him all season. Sitkowski was clearly not ready to lead this team and showed it week in and week out. Yet, he just kept on sending him out and ignored any other options. Ash was the human equivalent of the definition for insanity.
To think that this did not effect the team in a negative fashion is absurd. How many times did we see our D hold the line only to see the offense give it right back to the other team"s offense?
I am very concerned that we are looking at a QB situation that is worse than we had at the start of this one. We have only one experienced QB on the roster and he is the worst one in Div.1!
How the hell can we win without an offence and losing some major defensive players to boot?
Hopefully, Ash now knows what a terrible mistake he made and doesn't repeat it.

 

[RUforlife]

Ash is a very stubborn man, if anything the last few games have reaffirmed to him that he doesn't need to change his approach and that success is just a few plays away.

 

[Plum Street]

I'm assuming he is here to stay. That said, maybe what happened yesterday made him rethink how he is going to manage this program next season.
Gio played damn well for a guy who was virtually dismissed by him all season. Sitkowski was clearly not ready to lead this team and showed it week in and week out. Yet, he just kept on sending him out and ignored any other options. Ash was the human equivalent of the definition for insanity.
To think that this did not effect the team in a negative fashion is absurd. How many times did we see our D hold the line only to see the offense give it right back to the other team"s offense?
I am very concerned that we are looking at a QB situation that is worse than we had at the start of this one. We have only one experienced QB on the roster and he is the worst one in Div.1!
How the hell can we win without an offence and losing some major defensive players to boot?
Hopefully, Ash now knows what a terrible mistake he made and doesn't repeat it.

I don’t really feel warm and fuzzy knowing we are paying a guy millions to learn lessons.
He should have learned that lesson two years ago. He didn’t . He should have learned it last year. He didn’t . Now we are hoping he may have learned it by now? Great.

 

[Caliknight]

Ash managed the season like a guy who knew he was coming back. It’s why he played a true freshman who proved not to be ready. Unfortunately for him he can’t coach and the guy who should have a breakout season next year regressed to the point he finally had to pull him. In the last game of his miserable season.

Worst case scenario.

 

[BlockR]

ash will learn how to call timeouts better!
#FireAsh
#FireHobbs

 

[BlockR]

Ash managed the season like a guy who knew he was coming back. It’s why he played a true freshman who proved not to be ready. Unfortunately for him he can’t coach and the guy who should have a breakout season next year regressed to the point he finally had to pull him. In the last game of his miserable season.

Worst case scenario.

you also forgot how he let Tom Flacco walk out the door.
#AshError.

 

[JoeRU0304]

I don’t really feel warm and fuzzy knowing we are paying a guy millions to learn lessons.
He should have learned that lesson two years ago. He didn’t . He should have learned it last year. He didn’t . Now we are hoping he may have learned it by now? Great.

Actual lol (and spot-on).


Joe P.

 

[Plum Street]

ash will learn how to call timeouts better!
#FireAsh
#FireHobbs

He used a timeout yesterday and then Michigan state ran for a touchdown on next play . That happened a lot this season .

 

[Knight Ed_rivals]

The talent level has dropped through the floor under Ash due to poor recruiting. Even improved coaching would need a few years of better recruiting classes to put a decent team on the field.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Why did it take Ash 2 and half years to take over the defense? D looks good since he took over. Maybe he should take over the offense too.

Speaking of coaches.. Fleck got Minnesota to beat Wisconsin for Paul Bunyons Axe for.. I think it was the first time in 14 years. They are going bowling.. and mid-season, he fired his DC.. former Rutgers coach Rob Smith... who looked like a great special teams coach (taking over special teams that GS had set up).. but failed at DC.

While making a bowl doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment for a team that had gone 9-4 before Fleck was hired, that team had a big sexual assault scandal, followed by suspensions, followed by the players threatening a boycott of the Holiday Bowl.. while the previous coach supported both the suspensions and the boycott.. what a dope. So there was some lockerroom cancer there. And for Fleck to fire a friend of his in early November in his second year... he's showing some growth.

 

[bac2therac]

Did he learn after year 1? No

Did he learn after year 2? Noin

Why would you think he would learn after year 3 when his decision making during year 3 was a continuation of poor leadership and bad decision making

 

[ScarletDave]

How many more years and millions of dollars will it take for Ash to learn his lesson on when to call timeouts? Game management, and momentum? What about recruiting? I guess if he learns one lesson a year, I can understand the 6 to 8 year rebuild comment.

 

[RU#1fan]

The talent level has dropped through the floor under Ash due to poor recruiting. Even improved coaching would need a few years of better recruiting classes to put a decent team on the field.

Wait to see how the current Class finishes in February. Possibly the worst RU Recruiting class in the last 15 years. No Four Star Recruits (again) and many Recruits whose only FBS offer is Rutgers. Not to worry, Ash has a plan. LMAO

 

[RUfromNJ]

Any lesson he learns here will be his first.

 

[RUich]

I don’t really feel warm and fuzzy knowing we are paying a guy millions to learn lessons.
He should have learned that lesson two years ago. He didn’t . He should have learned it last year. He didn’t . Now we are hoping he may have learned it by now? Great.

I hear you. But one can certainly hope that during what will be a very cold winter for him, he will have some kind of epiphany. If not, next year could be like UCONN's season. And...money or not, they will have to get rid of him.

 

[RUskoolie]

He isn’t learning fast enough. He finally stopped punting 100% of the time on 4th and 4 at the 40 yard line...but still does it 50% of the time.

He still hasn’t learned to coach with any balls. ONE trick play on Special Teams in 36 games. Have we ever blocked a punt in his tenure? KR or PR touchdown? He’s a door knob.

 

[CrazyfoRU]

Remember he has an accomplice in McNulty in most of the decisions impacting the offense including whether to keep sending AS out there every week.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Remember he has an accomplice in McNulty in most of the decisions impacting the offense including whether to keep sending AS out there every week.

I don't know what you guys see in Gio. He was maybe marginally more capable of winning a game than AS this year.. I'd be more concerned about the QBs that left the program that proved they can play a bit since leaving. AS was not the answer this year.. but this investment may pay dividends down the road.. we will see. If AS does not improve for next preseason practices... maybe even if he doesn't show an ability to look off safeties in the spring game... then we best have a good plan B.. and plan C. McNulty should be able to coach him up on small aspects like the footwork and pump fakes to look off DBs.

 

[RUScrew85]

How many more years and millions of dollars will it take for Ash to learn his lesson on when to call timeouts? Game management, and momentum? What about recruiting? I guess if he learns one lesson a year, I can understand the 6 to 8 year rebuild comment.

We went cheap. Cheap isn't always actually cheap.

 

[LETSGORU91_]

I don't know what you guys see in Gio. He was maybe marginally more capable of winning a game than AS this year.. I'd be more concerned about the QBs that left the program that proved they can play a bit since leaving. AS was not the answer this year.. but this investment may pay dividends down the road.. we will see. If AS does not improve for next preseason practices... maybe even if he doesn't show an ability to look off safeties in the spring game... then we best have a good plan B.. and plan C. McNulty should be able to coach him up on small aspects like the footwork and pump fakes to look off DBs.

I mostly agree with what you say. The only thing Gio added was the ability to scramble and use his body like a bowling ball to get extra yards. I love his toughness but am amazed he didn't get seriously injured trying to mimick a running back/full back combo. His runs were very predictable but surprisingly effective. He laid it all out there for the team. As far as the QBs who have departed, these were D1 rostered players who had to drop ranks to JUCO and lower level conferences. I would expect them to do decent/well at that level. Flacco couldn't get on the field at Western Michigan and didn't get any big time offers when in high school. Success at Towson needs to be measured at the level of competition. Dare transferred to a JUCO, again the level of competition is just not there.

 

[MoobyCow]

I don't know what you guys see in Gio. He was maybe marginally more capable of winning a game than AS this year..

That's it really. It's a pattern of not playing the guys who are better. No one sees anything in Gio other than we are a team that can't afford to just hand the other team the ball on a regular basis and he did that less than Art. Also made a few plays with his legs to extend drives. He is an objectively bad QB who is objectively better than the QB we started for the entire year.

Maybe playing Art pays off next year, if it doesn't he effectively flushed two seasons down the drain hoping the kid who didn't start in HS could save the program.

 

[Caliknight]

Art regressed as the year went on. That’s a really bad sign.

 

[RUChoppin]

Any lessons from this year will be learned 2-3 years from now. He has shown he's not fast on the uptake, and it takes 2+ years to see things aren't working and he needs to make a change (see: taking over the defense).

 

[RedSpartan]

Ash is a narcissist who, by definition, takes no responsibility and blames others for any failure. He started it with his opening press conference and continued on through this year, mostly dumping problems at the feet of his own players. He is completely wrong for this team, this school, and this state, and needs to go asap.

 

[NotInRHouse_anon]

Rutgers Athletics: We pay you millions a year to hopefully learn how to do your job in an average fashion in the 4th year.

 

[Ru-baby]

He used a timeout yesterday and then Michigan state ran for a touchdown on next play . That happened a lot this season .

Yes-see Michigan 4 th down timeout.

Throughout his tenure he has called an inordinately high number of 3rd or 4th down D timeouts and the resulting play has generally been favorable or a td for the other side. Knows D so calls more D time outs-simpleton.

 

[RUonBrain]

He still hasn’t learned to coach with any balls. ONE trick play on Special Teams in 36 games. Have we ever blocked a punt in his tenure? KR or PR touchdown? He’s a door knob.

Blocked punt for TD vs Kansas

 

[RUskoolie]

Blocked punt for TD vs Kansas

That was a FG.

 

[fg7321]

Amazing that someone can get paid 2 Million $$$ to learn on the job

 

[ScarletCrimson]

Ash has learned that at Rutgers, results don't matter.

Ash must go.

 

[Hondo77]

Art regressed as the year went on. That’s a really bad sign.

He was getting his head handed to him every game. I hope this hasn't destroyed his confidence.

 

[rufeelinit]

Lots of HC OJT going on here the past three years.

 

[brookdale-soda]

Why did it take Ash 2 and half years to take over the defense? D looks good since he took over. Maybe he should take over the offense too.

Speaking of coaches.. Fleck got Minnesota to beat Wisconsin for Paul Bunyons Axe for.. I think it was the first time in 14 years. They are going bowling.. and mid-season, he fired his DC.. former Rutgers coach Rob Smith... who looked like a great special teams coach (taking over special teams that GS had set up).. but failed at DC.

While making a bowl doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment for a team that had gone 9-4 before Fleck was hired, that team had a big sexual assault scandal, followed by suspensions, followed by the players threatening a boycott of the Holiday Bowl.. while the previous coach supported both the suspensions and the boycott.. what a dope. So there was some lockerroom cancer there. And for Fleck to fire a friend of his in early November in his second year... he's showing some growth.

A lot of ex RU coaches there. Speaking of this, Panagos seems to be doing well at Temple.

https://owlsports.com/news/2017/11/9/football-panagos-named-broyles-award-nominee.aspx

 

[LotusAggressor_rivals]

He used a timeout yesterday and then Michigan state ran for a touchdown on next play . That happened a lot this season .

I think there were statistics that detailed RU's performance after timeouts on offense and defense. They weren't pretty. Sort of makes you wonder what's being discussed during these timeouts and if the players have just tuned the coaches out.

 

[scarletrat]

we all should have jobs like this...to learn on the job, and lack of accountability.
I'm not that encouraged about the D...the bend and occasionally break. they still were bad at tackling; they just did a better job not getting gashed by the big play. they kept the plays in front of them for the most part. masked a bit better the embarassing lack of speed, and just toughness.
offense though...3 years...and no better than a cloud of dust. maybe this works in 1988, not in 2018.
we have no identity in 3 years, other than a joke. that's on Ash, staff, and of course Hobbs. who the hell goes for a defensive coach now as HC, esp unproven? and doesn't interview more than 1 candidate? was that his shoe experience in football he leaned on?
many schools have finite funds, and not everyone can pay their way out of mistakes...but RU is amazing in making bad choices at HC.

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

Art regressed as the year went on. That’s a really bad sign.

Not true. Arts best game was the Wisconsin game, so there was progress. He was also ok but not great vs Michigan. Against Penn State he took a step back, but that was due to Penn States pass rush, which rang his bell.

 

[rucoe89]

Art regressed as the year went on. That’s a really bad sign.

Not all on Art. Receivers were awful and never helped him out. None of the receivers are worth much on offense. Put them on defense and maybe they can still provide some use to team with some tackling. Also OL was clueless on many blocking scheme calls. Can’t tell if they’re just not getting it or physically capable of execution.

 

[RUonBrain]

That was a FG.

Even better!

But you are correct

 

[NickRU714]

Not all on Art. Receivers were awful and never helped him out. None of the receivers are worth much on offense. Put them on defense and maybe they can still provide some use to team with some tackling. Also OL was clueless on many blocking scheme calls. Can’t tell if they’re just not getting it or physically capable of execution.

Coaching too.

McNulty is supposed to be a OC/QB "genius" also.
Doesn't appear to have added any value this year.

 

[theRU]

Coaching too.

McNulty is supposed to be a OC/QB "genius" also.
Doesn't appear to have added any value this year.

Ash did what we all wanted and got mcnulty. I dont know how or why they decided playing art was the way to go, but they did that together.