Thoughts on practice and if it matters ....
Disclosure: I have never been to a ND football practice. I have a child that is a D1 collegiate athlete (not football). I am only adding the part about my child to say that I know the amount of work it takes to be a student athlete and what goes into practicing and how that can translate to a game.
I have no doubts that practice "stats" are much better than game stats. I have no doubts that RL looks good throwing the ball in practice. RL performed very well at the Manning stuff this past summer.
I do agree that evaluation starts at practice and if you practice poorly you will probably not play much. Practice is the first place to show your coaches that you deserve to start at your position. However, practice speed and game speed are different. You can't lose practice but you can lose a game. Eighty thousand fans aren't watching practice. The QB isn't wearing a red jersey in a game.
To play a player continually in a game situation where that player obviously struggles to do the things that he did in practice well, is insane. RL is a tremendous runner as a QB. Above average. Great stats. I get it. Navy can rush for 300 yards a game but it doesn't make them a contender.
Being the best guy on the practice field means nothing if you can't do it in a game! When these kids are being recruited and they consistently play poorly on Friday nights coaches aren't asking the question "Yeah, but is he the best at practice?". Come on guys. This "have you seen practice" crap is old. We have seen games.
Replies to: Thoughts on practice and if it matters ....
MF needs to read this...
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Very well stated
There was a time in the early 90's where offensive linemen Mike McGlinn and Winston Sandri were kicking serious butt in practice, but when it came to gametime playing, both were basically spot starters when injuries popped up among the regular starters. They simply weren't as good as the other starting linemen. Both Lou Holtz and Joe Moore knew his, which is why the offensive line starting lineups during those times were remarkably stable (barring injuries).
Also, in 1991, all of the linemen would tell you that Reggie Brooks was absolutely destroying everyone in practice, and that he was easily the best back on the roster (despite the fact he had been a cornerback for his first two years), but since his older brother (Tony Brooks) and Rodney Culver were already established, had to wait his turn. He did get one start, though, when both Culver and the older Brooks were banged up one week, and turned in a very nice 100+ yard performance on just a few carries.
That being said...
Lou Holtz would give sometimes give practice standouts a shot, with the understanding that there were guys in front of them who were better, and that they could be yanked at any time. He wouldn't die on a hill with them, though.
He did this to Todd Norman in 1993, where McGlinn was given the start against Pitt (and did decently), to motivate Norman to have better practices. He did put Norman back in for the second half, and it certainly worked.
The opposite of this was Bob Davie, where he'd stick with the practice standouts, even when they basically lost the game for us. The worst case of this was when he stuck with Jim Sanson as the placekicker, simply because he was the best in practice. Sanson's shanks made the difference in several of the games during the Davie tenure... He had better kickers on the bench, but refused to give them a shot. During the pressers, he'd say that Jim Sanson was easily the best in practice and that it wasn't even close.
Everyone hits the ball well on the driving range.
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I don't.
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Ha! Ha! Ha! Nothing messes with your mind more than shanking an entire bucket of balls.
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So, they should play who the fans think? They put Angeli in and lose to Louisville, the same fans
will bitch that it should have been Minchey or Carr and the coaches are stupid. We don't know how close the coaches were to making a qb change in the Miami, Ohio game. If they put Angeli in the NI game and he threw the interception, they would say, they should have run the ball with Leonard because it was working.
Not what I said at all. They should play who gets it done in a game. Simply put!
Furthermore ... Louisville hasn't happened yet. We do know exactly how close they were to changing QBs in the NIU game (never considered it) and the run game wasn't working against NIU.
Sunday morning is an easy time to second guess any play or decision that didn't work out. There are
persons, who post regularly on this board, who complain about everything. They come in after the fact and bitch about everything that wasn't perfect. It doesn't matter if ND wins, it wasn't easy or by enough. It doesn't matter if they recruit well, because the player isn't ready to go on day one of their freshman year. "The coaches don't see things as clearly as we fans do." It gets tiring listening to so much negativity, which is not balanced with optimism, when things go as well (by some incessant posters).
The posters that are down on the QB also post positive things about other aspects of the team/game.
And it's not just a Sunday morning reaction. It's good and bad during and after the game.
It does matter that ND wins except that they didn't against NIU. There are many, many examples in history of coaches turning to the backup mid game in an attempt to change things up and spark the offense. This is literally a thing!
Why can't a freshman or sophomore be ready to go? Why is RL a senior and still not ready to go? Wait, RL is what he is. A good runner. A good athlete. Probably a good leader and I'm sure a great person. But he is one dimensional and that won't win championships in today's game. Why stick with him? He is one and done for ND. He isn't a development project.
I agree with what you said regarding back-ups coming in and sparks fly (Joe Montana comes to mind).
I am saying that I believe the coaches see Leonard's deficiencies the same as us. Perhaps, they feel he is the best option to continue to win games at this time, while working to bring one of the "higher ceiling" qb options along. For example, Carr may be getting closer, but isn't quite ready, but may be their plan later this season. Do they tell everyone their thoughts, or do they support their current qb, while working on a better option for a run in the playoffs?
Fair enough but I would end with this ... NIU exposed the plans. They are sticking with RL.
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^^^^^^this. Woa
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