It's half way through the season, and that means it's report card time for Jeff Quinn and his new Staff. Everything about Jeff Quinn seems to be a 180 from the direction in which UB had been going. Beyond the Pro-set vs Spread (and 4-3 vs 3-4) there is the personality, the volume, and the candor.
I went out to ubfan.com to get their take on how Quinn has been performing to date:
Lets start with his first job at UB, assembling a staff: A-
Usually a new mid major staff is filled with grad assistants and other assistants who have little experience. For the most part Quinn's guys were doing thier Job in a BCS conference before coming here or were a head coach down below (FCS). I also like the retention of Juan Taylor who has really done an amazing job getting the team ready. He did bring one one or two guys that were at or below the experience of the guys they were replacing hence the '-'.
Media/Program Relations: A
Quinn has been far more outgoing with the Media than Gill, and the coverage has reflected that. He has also tried to engage fans in every conceivable way (Bulls On Parade, Freshman Picnic, Darian Lake).
Recruiting: A
Its early October and we have half our recruits set. The most recent verbal, Dale Stewart talked about how he would get cards from the staff after each of his games. Licata is a huge local get and there are several other players that are names in their area (Williams, Tamaro)
The recruiting up to this point as been phenomenal. I don't think anybody, except Quinn himself, would have thought that we would have 12 commits heading in to week 6 of the regular season. -- BullsFaninChiTown
The recruiting has been great and I like the fact Quinn has "been there, done that" with other programs. He knows what kinds of players and schemes it takes to win. You got the feeling with Gill at times that he was learning on the job. - Zigo230
Player Morale: B+
Given the fact that Gill was a Father figure type coach and he was very bonded to the players the initial transition was not pleasant (hence the B+). But Quinn, being who he is managed to get the leaders on board and the support has bubbled up from there.
Scheme C+:
On offense it's been nothing but a square peg meet round hole, seems to me that Quinn was not willing to transition into a spread even though he had the players for a proset. That's his prerogative and many coaches do the same thing but it has been really painful to watch at times. The upside comes in a year or two when the players transition over via development and recruitment.
The defense has been amazing, Coach Inge has done one hell of a job working with a squad that had never run the 3-4. The linebackers have been truly phenomenal and that is his main area of focus.
Let's be real though, did anyone really expect them to come out with all these new starters on O and be a juggernaut? -- Zigo230
Play Calling D:
Quinn's offense seems to have a six page playbook, and its full of nothing but outs flag patters.
o not because of stubbornness or ego keep running a tiny RB into the backs of his offensive line for no gains and losses time and time again. Do not make a freshman QB make throws for first downs when you are running the ball all over the defense. Do let the hot RB keep pounding the ball until it does not work anymore. Do sit on the ball and waste time when you are winning late in the game against a team that has not proven to be able to move the ball against you. Do huddle up and run out the clock when you are ahead even if it means going away from your vaunted spread offense. -- Highlander72
Personnel Decisions D:
Saved from an F by the defense, but the Dennison/Davis revolving door that has not once produced a decent result. Also waiting until week five to give Nduka a shot and then promptly putting him back on the bench because of one fumble.
The Dennison project has been complete fail so far. Every time he comes in, something bad happens. Interception, 3 and out or a fumble at the goal line. Davis needs as many reps as possible. I don't want to see Dennison in the game unless Davis gets injured, or we're up by 30 in the 4th quarter. -- BullsFanInChiTown