I am very appreciative of the love for the articles. I even appreciate the criticism, and try to take that to heart. I write a lot of words, so having the patience to stick with it is appreciated.
Remember my caution at the beginning of the article. I have the luxury of hindsight and do not hold a coaching pedigree. I am not on the inside, but am an outside analyst. But, I work hard to provide defensible and accurate assessment.
There are a ton of comments and questiins I would love to address, but don't have time to do so.
I will say this. I respect Tom Manning and while I believe there is work to do in scheme and execution, I think he has a bright future. There was a logic to his plan and if it had worked once then it would have been validated.
ISU had not worked deep an any prior game. Last year Texas played tight to the line and stifled our mid range passing options. I believe the deep attack was aimed at breaking tendancy and catching Texas unaware.
That didn't work, but it doesn't mean it was ill-conceived. We have a young talent core and the coaching staff is included in that. They have given no indication that they will not work hard to improve.
Setbacks happen and where you go from there determines your mettle. This staff has plenty of it. ISU will win more games this year, but the year of evaluation is next year. Enjoy the highs and note the lows in 2017. 2018 promises to be fun.
