Reports of the demise of Jeff Brohm and Boiler football are greatly exaggerated...of course there will be a reaction to 2 losing seasons after hopes were sky high, but the guy didn't forget how to coach all of a sudden. The specifics of the 2019 season are well documented - it was a perfect storm - yet that team competed like crazy, and got progressively better, with all the qualities we've come to appreciate about Brohm coached teams. We were a catch by Milton Wright away from winning the bucket against a bowl bound IU team that matured into a formidable squad in 2020.
Plenty has been said about the 6 game COVID season - and there is a reason that the NCAA isn't counting it against the player eligibility clock...it was real football, and it was disappointing football, but it was a weird and disjointed season for all with an asterisk beside it. Brohm's team underperformed and it was a bad look. He made a terrible DC hire, and COVID multiplied that mistake. Offensively, it seemed like Brohm had tunnel vision, misplacing the inventive exploitation of match-ups we've come to enjoy. There is plenty to critique, but do we really dismiss previous seasons of success maximizing offensive talent with 1 discombobulated season of weirdness?
Last but not least...Brohm has a lot of talent on the offensive and defensive lines that will be maturing in their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years in the program. The storm has been weathered. We could all see the progress on the O-line this year, and odds are in our favor that the DL talent recruited in 18, 19 and 20 are ready to contribute if Brohm makes a quality hire to run the defense. Maybe Brohm can't get the right guy, maybe there is some fatal flaw that the hiring of Diaco exposes...but it seems more likely that he simply made a mistake and might actually know a thing or two about the defense he'd really like to have complementing the offensive style he likes to play. Brohm's job is quite secure - he'll be able to make a solid hire, or maybe Poindexter is the right guy...
The magnitude of the post Hazell rebuild can't be forgotten in the face of the perfect storm of 2019 and 2020. It was a set back, but the pieces are in place to expect a solid season in 2021
Plenty has been said about the 6 game COVID season - and there is a reason that the NCAA isn't counting it against the player eligibility clock...it was real football, and it was disappointing football, but it was a weird and disjointed season for all with an asterisk beside it. Brohm's team underperformed and it was a bad look. He made a terrible DC hire, and COVID multiplied that mistake. Offensively, it seemed like Brohm had tunnel vision, misplacing the inventive exploitation of match-ups we've come to enjoy. There is plenty to critique, but do we really dismiss previous seasons of success maximizing offensive talent with 1 discombobulated season of weirdness?
Last but not least...Brohm has a lot of talent on the offensive and defensive lines that will be maturing in their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years in the program. The storm has been weathered. We could all see the progress on the O-line this year, and odds are in our favor that the DL talent recruited in 18, 19 and 20 are ready to contribute if Brohm makes a quality hire to run the defense. Maybe Brohm can't get the right guy, maybe there is some fatal flaw that the hiring of Diaco exposes...but it seems more likely that he simply made a mistake and might actually know a thing or two about the defense he'd really like to have complementing the offensive style he likes to play. Brohm's job is quite secure - he'll be able to make a solid hire, or maybe Poindexter is the right guy...
The magnitude of the post Hazell rebuild can't be forgotten in the face of the perfect storm of 2019 and 2020. It was a set back, but the pieces are in place to expect a solid season in 2021
