The real work for Brady Hoke and his staff of San Diego State football coaches started around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, when their disappointing 4-8 debut season ended with a 28-24 loss at Nevada-Las Vegas.
The unfortunate fact of the matter is that Hoke and his assistants were prisoners of circumstance during the 2009 campaign. As do all first-year coaches, they came into the recruiting battle late and picked up a few nuggets, though not nearly enough. They spent the spring practice both trying to install fresh schemes and evaluating the players on hand. They went into the fall having to play with the hand dealt by fate.
The truism in football is you are what your record says you are. It's not something that necessarily applies early in the season but when you reach the last couple weeks, it's something you can't avoid. SDSU was a 4-8 football team in 2009.
Now it's time for Hoke, offensive coordinator Al Borges, defensive coordinator Rocky Long, and the rest of the assistants to get to the real work of building this program back to respectability and, hopefully, bowl eligiblity.
Here are some of the issues they have to deal with, as I see it:
1. Strength - this team remains physically weak on the offensive line and across the entire defense, though Long's attacking scheme contributed mightily to a reduction in injuries. The OL can't hold blocks and the defenders can't fight them off. Another off-season with heralded strength coach Aaron Wellman will help, but Hoke has to bring in some bigger, stronger kids -- hopefully a few from junior colleges who will be eligible immediately.
2. Speed - the other component of a good football player, and the Aztecs have little of it. An enduring image of this season will be CB Larry Parker scooping up a fumble at the goal line against Wyoming and returning the ball with no one around him at first -- and being caught easily by a couple Cowboys much bigger than him.
Consider for points one and two that the Aztecs ran a defensive system based on pressure, yet ranked 89th out of 120 teams with 19 QB sacks, and 76th in tackles for loss.
3. The secondary - this group was the unit that worried me most coming into the season and they delivered by being unable to defend any passes at all in the come-from-ahead losses to Wyoming and UNLV. They ranked 55th out of 120 teams in passing yards allowed per game, but in efficiency were rather low in yards per attempt and yards per completion.
4. Offensive line - they lose stalwart tackle Peter Nelson and guard Ikaika Aken-Moleta who, as hard as they worked, wouldn't have started on too many other Division 1 teams. Them getting regular playing time meant younger players couldn't beat them out. That doesn't inspire confidence about what's in the pipeline. The depth is mostly deadwood and the youth, other than G Nik Embernate, is not promising.
5. Quarterback - Ryan Lindley came out of El Capitan HS appearing to be a budding star, and his freshman year gave credence to such hopes. His rocky sophomore year gives one pause, however. The first half of the season, he had little blocking, no running game and both he and his receivers were struggling to get on the same page with a new offense. That was understandable and he hit his stride at mid-season. But the past four games or so he's regressed. The pass protection was reasonable, the running game a bit better and the receivers were stepping up. Trouble was, Lindley didn't keep pace. I'd take four Mountain West quarterbacks before I'd choose him right now. He has to get better, since he's unlikely to face challenge for his position.
6. Keeping the Commits - Much of the work ahead is in recruiting, where Hoke's staff has already made considerable headway, getting verbal commitments from a larger number of players with multiple stars by their names than did his predecessor. Coaches from other programs are coming in after their bowl games in hopes of poaching off some of these players. Hoke has to figure out how to keep their loyalty even though they'll be playing in a very large morgue the next couple of years. Most of the current commits are skill players. They have to add linemen, particularly from the JC ranks.
7. Community Interest - Which brings us to fan support, of which there is very little left. The Aztecs frittered away at their fan base with past teases of the sort that occured when they entered the Wyoming game with a 4-4 record. Hoke has made numerous media appearances, and he has to keep it up through the entire upcoming off-season. He should also re-open some of his practices to fans and the media. Nothing will beat winning.
I'm relatively pleased with things I saw this season. I think the coaches can get SDSU into a position to win football games, which is something I can't say about their predecessors. They simply have to upgrade talent, which is a long and arduous task. The way I see it, some stronger Aztecs will again flirt with 6-6 in 2010. By 2011, maybe they can challenge for an 8-win season. That will make things much better.
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I still don't see the Cotton Bowl passing up fan-heavy Nebraska for Oklahoma State as the morning paper suggested, but it could happen I guess. Even after the Cowboys were skunked by Oklahoma Saturday? I don't know. I think the Pokes are back in San Diego to face the Oregon-Oregon State loser.
The Arizona-USC loser for the Poinsettia makes sense, as does BYU coming here instead of Las Vegas because they've been there so many times recently.
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I have no problem with TCU being left out of the championship game picture if both Florida and Texas win their conference title games Saturday. As a traditionalist, I see the Gators as the undefeated defending champs who should keep that spot until knocked off, or if they clearly don't meet the eye test. None of those has happened. My own eye test's result is that the Longhorns are the best team in college football. Alabama does not pass the eye test. If it's Florida-Texas for all the marbles, fine by me.
With tons of returning stars, I do see the Horned Frogs as preseason number one in 2010, however.
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My somewhat different take on the Heisman:
1. Colt McCoy - the Texas QB is the leader of the best team and deserves the award for his four-year body of work.
2. Toby Gerhart - the Stanford RB is the best in college football at his position and had a Kellen Winslow-type performance against Notre Dame on Saturday.
3. Andy Dalton - the TCU QB is playing as well as anyone, leading a team that is playing as well as any team.
Tebow has his award. So there.
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