Can we start with the premise that our coaching staff isn't, as a whole, stupid?

ND has an analytics staff. They have to know Bear tore up the zone and struggled greatly against the man.

There are also some very good and experienced coaches on this staff. They came up with a game plan they thought was best but obviously wasn't. You don't know until you play the game.

I agree there was probably some stubbornness in sticking with the original game plan too long, no argument. They undoubtedly thought the best way to contain Bear's running was through zone and make him beat you with his arm. The problem was, like Edwards from North Carolina, Bear was deadly accurate, hitting extremely small windows time and time again. (And yes, a few times receivers were wide open.)

Not playing KVA at all on the first defense series was strange. Barely letting Walton play was strange. Not rotating at WR was strange. Again, no argument.

But certainly they must see it's time for a reset. If Freeman is as open to feedback as he claims, maybe Guidugli would tell him Denbrock needs to be more creative and less conservative (of course, purely guessing). Maybe the assistant defensive coaches will tell him to can Ash's zone, who knows?

My friend who played ball for Ohio State said the coaching staff will have a big pow wow after each game, no holds barred. Let's hope we see some real change for Miami. I'm confident we will.