Croom inherited more talent on his 2004 team than what's on the team currently. Sure it sounds out of left field but think about it. Norwood, Willie Evans, Deljuan Robinson, Dockery, David Stewart, Culberson. I mean really, do we have anyone now that would beat out any of those guys at a position? If Croom was near the coach/recruiter that we were lead to believe, this shouldn't even be a comparison after 5 years.
Crazy Buy/Sell but hear me out on this one...
- Thread starter Phil Wenneck.sixpack
- Start date
crooms best offensive year was his first year at like 300 yards per game......since then averaged around 270 yards per game....</p>
We had some of our best recruiting classes in our entire history right before Croom became coach. Unfortunately, things were just way out of control, the inmates were running the asylum. Croom definitely had more talent when he got here than he will leave us. There will be no comparison too. And the cycle continues. Our next coach was left with nothing when he got here, an impossible situation. That seems to be what we are in football. An impossible situation.
and I still say a harder worker who was more interested in being a true mentor rather than just somebody trying to show what a bad mofo he was could have salvaged a few more of the guys that got run off or quit.
When he left, JWS said "I can't get this turned around, but I've gotten the players here for the next guy to win." And he was right. The only place we might be better as a unit is OL. But Big Country was still better than anyone we currently have except potentially Sherrod.
it's mainly just sad that those guys from Croom's first team never so much as sniffed a winning record and we all agree that they had at least the talent or more talent than what's left from an 8 win season. I think this tells as much about what Croom hasn't accomplished more than anything. Talent wise, we're not 1 bit better off than the day he finally decided to leave Green Bay.
Croom had more top flight talent when he inherited the program. But he's got far more quality depth now in 2008 than we did in 2004.
BFB
BFB
D
Dawg725
Guest
And don't forget Ronald Fields - starting some for the 49ers. Also had McKinley Scott, Fred Reid (who I think is now playing in Canada), and a couple of good fullbacks. Who knows what we could've done if we'd have used either Ken Topps or Aries Nelson at QB instead of trying to force Conner into running the "West Coast Offense". And talk about wasted talent - what could Conner have done if he wasn't being wasted for a couple of years at QB?
Also, in 2004, when we were supposedly terrible, no talent, learning new system, etc, Jackie's players averaged 340 ypg. In 2008, we're averaging less than 280.
Honestly, what has Croom upgraded?
Honestly, what has Croom upgraded?
We had a few guys that were super talented, but we had no depth and big holes. We had a great RB, a good FB, a really good Tackle, a great DL, one good CB, and not much else. We had no LBs, our OL was crap other than Stewart, our WRs sucked, and we no experienced QBs. Now, we should have won more games that year, but I'll argue against the idea that Croom would leave us in worse shape than he found us if he is gone this year. The attitude adjustment alone is enough to put that thought to bed.
Come up with a list of all the NFL draft picks from 2005 - present and see how many were recruited by Jackie and how many were recruited by Croom. This next year will be his first full class and he might have 1 guy picked.
Oline was better then too, remember Richard Burch? He would've played in the league too, we haven't had two tackles that good at the same time since.
That team was far and away more talented, and the program being 'out of control' is just an excuse. All it takes is 1 year to change the mentality or attitude of a team, especially if you find the right guy (Saban anyone?)
So don't give me the crap about that team having worse character or worse people in general than the ones we have now. Kids are kids, and the ones we have now are still getting in trouble. We wouldn't have so many kids off of that 04 team playing in the NFL if they weren't good people. (Dockery, Stewart, Fields, Norwood, Robinson, Evans, Culberson, etc...)
The depth argument is bs also
That team was far and away more talented, and the program being 'out of control' is just an excuse. All it takes is 1 year to change the mentality or attitude of a team, especially if you find the right guy (Saban anyone?)
So don't give me the crap about that team having worse character or worse people in general than the ones we have now. Kids are kids, and the ones we have now are still getting in trouble. We wouldn't have so many kids off of that 04 team playing in the NFL if they weren't good people. (Dockery, Stewart, Fields, Norwood, Robinson, Evans, Culberson, etc...)
The depth argument is bs also
Color me unimpressed with his ability to coach up our running backs. At first, I thought he was a good RB coach because of what I saw out of Norwood. Now I think that Norwood just had "it". But Dixon, who Croom has coached for the past 3 years, has regressed, if you ask me. Ducre (who probably receives less coaching than Dixon) impresses me more, and of course he is 2nd (or 3rd) string.
What do people see out of our running backs that make them think Croom is a great RB coach?