Re: Camp soon!! -- Lehigh University Sports

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Date Posted: 10:45:23 07/31/08 Thu
Author: LU in NJ (Facts are Facts)
Subject: Re: Camp soon!!
In reply to: LU Fan 's message, "Re: Camp soon!!" on 08:58:58 07/31/08 Thu

>>>>>>Who worked for who in past years isn't important.

What is important is that every Lehigh fan wants the team to perform well----which means we all want Coen to be a successful head coach.

What you call criticism is, in many cases, simply stating facts about a coach's record.

My comments are directed to two fronts:

A.) Despite posting the best w-l record in Lehigh history, Lembo was crucified by a sizable number of fans for "not winning the big one" and not being warm and fuzzy. Those fans were dead wrong to think that winning was a Lehigh birthright and that Lembo would be easily replaced.

B.) Coen came in and announced plans to change from Air Lehigh to a more run oriented offense and thereby win more games with 4th Q ball control and toughness. The facts, however, show a decrease in scoring and far fewer wins.

Facts are facts---the last two years have been nowhere near as successful as the prior 5 years.

I want the team to be successful and I hope this is the year Coen puts his mediocre record behind him.

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[> [> [> Re: Camp soon!! -- LU Maven, 05:46:46 08/01/08 Fri

Well said, LUinNJ

For this to happen, though, we need a competent QB and a squad that can master the Lehigh offense that was installed in the early '90's and which dominated the League. In addition to having talent and adequate size, The ingrediants are:

- an offense that spreads out the opponents' D because of it is versatile and keeps them uncertain
- a QB that can hit open receivers
- receivers that don't drop so many passes
- complexity in the offense
- a coaching staff that does not dumb down the offense but, instead, makes it more confusing for the opposition

A graduate who once played QB for Yale remarked to me how he and others used to love to watch Lehigh play because of our unique, complicated offense that kept them guessing. They said it was exciting and was a special part of college football. Of course, it also caused us to win most games, regularly beat the Ivy League, and win the PL championship.

It is sad to see what has happened since then - ineptitude at the passing game, simplified offensive schemes that enable our opponent's to read our plays, boring and poor play calling, and the abandonment of exactly the things that made us a great team. In game after game, we yield momentum and lose games because the offense has been poor.
We also we saw a cult of personality that was harmful.

We all pray for a turn around this year and the return of what we loved about Lehigh football.

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[> [> [> [> Re: Camp soon!! -- Neighbor, 11:14:16 08/01/08 Fri

Maven, you have touched upon a topic that also concerns me. For many years, it seemed to me, Lehigh used the mental ability of its player personnel to "outsmart" its opponents. They threw nothing at us that we couldn't understand and we were diverse enough, flexible week-to-week to keep our foes guessing and confused.

The best example of this was the playoff game at Western Illinois. Frankly, Lehigh made them look foolish trying to deal with what Lehigh presented, both offensively and defensively.

What happened?

Does Lehigh now recruit with an emphasis more toward athlete and less toward student?

Lehigh DID seem to once have an edge, but not now. Has it become too rare to find a true student-athlete combination to fit the traditional Lehigh mold?

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[> [> [> [> [> Re: Camp soon!! -- RichH, 12:14:34 08/01/08 Fri

A very astute point but one w/o an answer. I hope 1 of these qbs steps up so that Coen can run some kind of O.Last year we spent so much time, mostly due to injuries, with a patchwork O scheme hard to tell what Coen can do. We no longer have such a distinct edge as we had for a while with speed and athletes, Air Lehigh supplies the crucial difference.

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[> [> [> [> [> [> Re: Camp soon!! -- LU in NJ, 14:48:56 08/01/08 Fri

>>>>>>>>I posted, at the beginning of the Coen years, that changing the offense away from Air Lehigh would take away a unique advantage that helped Lehigh become an elite I-AA program.

In essense, Air Lehigh helped attract recruits that fit the model------- hs QB or receivers were attracted to an Air Lehigh.

Scatbacks like Jean, Pugh, etc who may not have been big enough for I-A or a I-AA program that liked to play power football were perfect for Air Lehigh.

O-lineman didn't need to overpower opponents-----Air Lehigh used pass blocking and often created running lanes by spreading th field and sealing off d-lineman as opposed to overpowering people.

Air Lehigh had the flexibility to exploit defense's weaknesses and utilize special players skills---the TE position was emphasized when Bergen was on the field.

I understand a new coach wanting to put their mark on the program.

What hasn't made sense to me is Coen moving Lehigh toward a 3 yards and a clump of mud offense when the entire college game is moving toward spread offenses.

Lastly, the Yale comment was interesting-----the same QB who came in for an injured Borda and brought Lehigh from behind to beat Yale in OT. He posted a 5-1 record as a soph QB in an Air Lehigh offense somehow regressed over the next two years.

Coen was hailed as an offensive guru when he was hired-----I hope this is the year we turn things around.

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[> [> [> You overstate the complexity of the O -- Ex-Big Fat Slow Lineman, 17:18:58 08/01/08 Fri

Only one year under Coen but I keep in touch with players and the offense is not much different from what many other schools are playing. Plus we are playing other PL schools and Ivies so the standards are all about the same or in some cases higher. Also schools with much lower standards play the same way. It is football and it does not require a bunch of geniuses. It requires gys who work hard and want to win and a coaching staff that can show them how.
The first year under Coach Coen there was a lot of confusion. Substitutions were not always done right. The players like him. Play calling is always a matter of debate when a team loses but not when it wins.
A lot of us are not surprised by what Coach Lembo has done at Elon. He is very organized and makes the most of practice time and he is not afraid to shift guys to different positions if it helps the team that is one of the things he really knows well.

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[> [> [> [> Re: You overstate the complexity of the O -- Ex Big Fat Slow Lineman, 17:23:23 08/01/08 Fri

Mostly what you need a solid base and on top of that playmakers. Sedale was a playmaker for two years. He had a receiver who came out of basically nowhere to be a playmaker two years ago.
Somebody has to spark a team. The differences in teh Lafayette games of the last four years turned on playmakers. What a lot of people call a lucky catch at the end of the game three yeras ago was a great play made by a guy who was a playmaker.

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