This is how I plan to approach this season since my only choice as a fan is to decide to either try and enjoy what I can or be miserable about our weaknesses.
- I don't expect a stellar season in the W-L column because our defense is just too weak for now as everyone can see. But, I do think it is possible for us to win 7 games and make a bowl just by winning enough shootouts (it looks like there will be a ton of these all across the Big 12 this year). If we can't pull off 7 wins I won't be shocked and will try to enjoy whatever wins we get
- Offense - I won't let expectations for the offense get absurd. This may be the best offense we have had in long time and it has the potential to consistently score a lot of points in every game. But we all know that it is very hard to go through an entire season and never have an off game or two. I will assume we will and not be shocked when it happen.
- Defense - Our defense is very bad right now as anyone can see. This situation could create the miserable feeling mentinoned above. There is no doubt that it is hard to watch games when you feel that your offense HAS to score on virtually every possession to have a chance to win. So, I will change my focus completely for defense. I will accept the reality of where we are now and look for
any signs (even small steps) that we are showing some improvement. And there are some places that can happen. We can't do anything about lack of pure talent in some positions. However, it does appear that we do have some very young players that do have some talent and can be expected to improve over time. The key is to allow a reasonable time for players who have almost no game experience to get better. Sometimes players like this can improve very quickly, but the norm is for slower and gradual improvement. This means I should expect that the defense is not going to get a lot better right away. But, it is at least possible that by mid season there will be some signs that some players are improving with experience. By the end of the year I might see quite a bit of improvement compared to where we are right now. I will focus my attention on looking for that and just accept teams are going to score a lot of points on us in most games. When I see a Brooks or a Hill or a Joe Wallance or some of the young DB's show improvement, I will focus on that rather than the fact that our defense is most likely going to be a liability this year in most games. If they prove me wrong on that, I will be delighted.
For me, looking at our games as just entertainment and watching for anything positive we do is helpful in reducing anxiety over our obvious problems. Who knows, by the end of this year if everyone on the team (all coaches and players) stay committed to improving no matter what happens each week, things might look brighter for next year for our defense and therefore for our team's W-L prospects. If we can manage to end up with a solid recruiting class on defense this year we will finally at least be headed towards where we need to be with a chance to eventually have some depth and experience on the field. But I have no delusions this will be a quick process. At this point there is no way to speed things up other than the existing staff working with the young players to get better and adding more talent each year. Any other path will only result in an even longer process for any hope of improvement.
- I don't expect a stellar season in the W-L column because our defense is just too weak for now as everyone can see. But, I do think it is possible for us to win 7 games and make a bowl just by winning enough shootouts (it looks like there will be a ton of these all across the Big 12 this year). If we can't pull off 7 wins I won't be shocked and will try to enjoy whatever wins we get
- Offense - I won't let expectations for the offense get absurd. This may be the best offense we have had in long time and it has the potential to consistently score a lot of points in every game. But we all know that it is very hard to go through an entire season and never have an off game or two. I will assume we will and not be shocked when it happen.
- Defense - Our defense is very bad right now as anyone can see. This situation could create the miserable feeling mentinoned above. There is no doubt that it is hard to watch games when you feel that your offense HAS to score on virtually every possession to have a chance to win. So, I will change my focus completely for defense. I will accept the reality of where we are now and look for
any signs (even small steps) that we are showing some improvement. And there are some places that can happen. We can't do anything about lack of pure talent in some positions. However, it does appear that we do have some very young players that do have some talent and can be expected to improve over time. The key is to allow a reasonable time for players who have almost no game experience to get better. Sometimes players like this can improve very quickly, but the norm is for slower and gradual improvement. This means I should expect that the defense is not going to get a lot better right away. But, it is at least possible that by mid season there will be some signs that some players are improving with experience. By the end of the year I might see quite a bit of improvement compared to where we are right now. I will focus my attention on looking for that and just accept teams are going to score a lot of points on us in most games. When I see a Brooks or a Hill or a Joe Wallance or some of the young DB's show improvement, I will focus on that rather than the fact that our defense is most likely going to be a liability this year in most games. If they prove me wrong on that, I will be delighted.
For me, looking at our games as just entertainment and watching for anything positive we do is helpful in reducing anxiety over our obvious problems. Who knows, by the end of this year if everyone on the team (all coaches and players) stay committed to improving no matter what happens each week, things might look brighter for next year for our defense and therefore for our team's W-L prospects. If we can manage to end up with a solid recruiting class on defense this year we will finally at least be headed towards where we need to be with a chance to eventually have some depth and experience on the field. But I have no delusions this will be a quick process. At this point there is no way to speed things up other than the existing staff working with the young players to get better and adding more talent each year. Any other path will only result in an even longer process for any hope of improvement.
