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Athlon - Anonymous coaches on NU
- FloridAlum Memorial Football Board
- 223 Replies
How much of that was due to Hank's D?
Disagree that his O paired well, as his Read&React scheme required an experienced QB; which is why the Cats pretty much never had a young frosh/RS come in and be anything other than a glorified RB (with the exception of Siemian in spot duty), and were completely lost when the starter went down to injury.
But not only did his scheme require an experienced QB, it also required the players around the QB to be on the same page - which is why we pretty much never saw a young, inexperienced WR come in and be an impact contributor.
Otoh, we have seen young, inexperienced players come in (whether it is due to injury or graduation) and make an instant impact in Hank's defense.
Persa still has his letter from Walker, which was written not long before coach passed.
Where's the proof that McC had a lot to do in developing Kafka and Persa?
Had previously linked a no of articles where the 2 credited (quite effusively at that) Basanez for their marked improvements as a passer.
Kafka is pretty far removed from his time at NU, and yet this recent article still mentions Baz (nothing about McC).
At Northwestern, he became an NFL prospect after spending hours working with former Wildcats quarterback Brett Basanez — in order to stop throwing line-drive passes. Basanez, then in the NFL, had Kafka stand near the goal post and “bend” throws over it, to create arc. Kafka listened. He pounded away at every rep, “always wanting to do it right,” Basanez said.
How a guy who ‘doesn’t like B.S.’ breathed life into Giants’ offense with Steve Harvey jokes and ‘Jackass’ clips
New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka has helped transform quarterback Daniel Jones — and has become a hot head coaching candidate.www.nj.com
And it wasn't just improving mechanics, both Kafka and Persa had stated in previous articles that Baz really helped them in the mental aspects (arguably more important) of the game, such as making quicker and better decisions, ball placement, etc.
The one QB that McC can take credit for in developing is Thorson, but despite 5 years in the program (4 as a starter), Thorson never achieved that high level of decision making a QB with all his experience should have.
Now, do agree that Fitz played a large role in the O turtling, but can't say McC's O was complementary when there were way too many times when the O not only had trouble scoring, but had difficulty moving the ball (it's not "ball control" when there were way too many instances of 3 and out).
Good article on Kafka. Had no idea his mom's parents were Puerto Rican "immigrants."
I enjoyed your comments as well.
I can't agree with you that because Kafka worked with Basanez that McCall deserves no credit for Kafka's development.
The fact is that we had a pretty good run under McCall and that he gets at least some credit for every success.