ANCHORAGE BRUINS [GM YOUNT]

[GM Dario]

S17 - WEEK 7 POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE

Tough week for the Bruins. Tough game for us as well at home. I'm gonna speak about the week first. We're gonna #KeepItCrystal here.

Everyone may have noticed about the trades made earlier in the week as well as the news comin' from the High Chief about next season.   Sometimes puttin' together a franchise isn't like playin' a game on McFadden. You can take all the star ratin's, the stats, the attributes and all the factoids into play, but things just don't always gel.  That's what happened this season in KC.  It's not on the coaches, the players, the fans or anyone in the office except me. Truman said the Buck Stops Here, and I'm playin' the part of Truman in this scenario.

So The High Chief and I had a pow-wow, then I talked with the players and staff about what's goin' down.   We're gonna do a reboot and ramp up for 18. Doesn't mean we're completely given up on the season, but we're gonna try some things outside of the box a bit.

The roster is gonna change. It already has. I expect more to move as well. The players know, and they've been offered a chance to stay if they wanna or go if they wanna.  We may have some coachin' changes. We're gonna try to set up KC for a banner year next season.

I hope y'all come along for the ride.

Just gonna hit some random thoughts here about the game now-

Took a hard L on this one vs the Lake. Tough sleddin' without some injured players but we got some good PT outta the guys and gals regardless.

Losin' AMac early put us behind the 8 Ball early, but Randy did a backup's job to keep us in play.

York was a workhorse in the run and the pass. I thought he showed his worth to us today.

Really liked how Atherton looks at WR2 and Duran was active at WR3 as well. We just put ourselves into Pass Mode gettin' down big early but we still made things work.

The defense didn't look very good but missin' Fullerton and Stones didn't help things either. We may have to get creative with more movin' parts to try and get some things happenin'.

We're gonna shake this one off and get ready for Monday night in Seattle against the 'Jacks. They're on a 2 game Dub Streak and just a game outta first, so they're gonna be hungry to show out on Primetime. But like it's said in the HIFL, everyone's gotta a puncher's chance.

Any questions from y'all?

[Talon]

GM Dario, your trade with Miami has been processed and the league believes that you retained $100K more than allowed in the deal; As a result, you are again being fined $500K from your international bonus fund, and you have also been fined $500K from your bonus fund as well as punishment.   If you make this mistake for a 3rd time this season the penalty will be much more severe, so please be careful.

[Talon]

 

Upon review with GM Gates, we have found that there is no violation, and you will not be fined. 

[GM Dario]

Not a problem, Kate, glad we could get it all figured out.  I know trades involve a lot of movin' parts so I appreciate the heads up and also the waiver too. 1 Strike is better than 2.

****

Shay, remind me to send the Commissioner's Office a gift basket for Kate's visit. Best to keep them on our good side.  Let's talk with Coach Graham as well.

****

Coach,  I appreciate all the work that's goin' on with the staff. It can't be easy tryin' you put round pegs in square holes with all of the personnel moves. But I think in the end, we're gonna be in a better position for 18 than we are now. I expect some more moves to be made but we'll let things play out.

I'm lookin' at this as an in-season tryout for some of the guys. I see some gems that we might be able to keep beyond this season. So just do your best to keep everyone playin' for the team, and themselves. Pride can go a long way to help a player.  I'm gonna talk with them as well, but sometimes they just need to hear it from the Coaches too.

We gotta a lot to figure out so let's go Offense then Defense.

AMac is banged up and I'd like to sit him for this game versus Seattle. . We know what Hensley brings to the game. But what do we know about Nick Byrd?  Is he more like AMac or Hensley or does he have the skill set of someone in the HIFL now?

[Talon]

 

Nick is more in the mold of McGhee, but obviously a a tier or two lower.  Decision making is his biggest question mark.

[GM Dario]

Got it, Speakin' of decision makin',  I'd like to go a little more run heavy regardless if it's AMac, Randy or Byrd.  Movin' York and addin' Darby puts us into more of a Power Run Mode team.

I know Provost should probably slide into the Starter spot for this week so Darby can get acclimated to the offense but I'm gonna talk to some of the new acquisitions, includin' Darby, and see if he and some of the others can learn on the fly a bit. Mix in Joseph and we could go with a three headed monster to ground and pound and Imma ask Coach Luce about that in a few.

Coach,  I'm also gonna turn the D loose. Let's go balls to the wall since we got nothin' to lose now. You make all the defensive calls still, and crank up the aggressiveness to 13.  Walston looks to give us another fiery LB to work with. With the Corner depth thin, we gotta generate pressure , even if that means sendin' the house at times.

Don't worry Coach, you're my guy, sometimes I'm loyal to a fault but you and I got Season 18 to get ready for .

Thanks for the insght on Byrd.

****

Shay,  can you get Coach Luce please.

****

Coach,  I know this is a little topsyturvy with Jeudy and York gone plus AMac hurt. And I know you said our best option before was to run outside the tackles. With the options on the roster we have now, is runnin' outside still our best play, or can we beat and bang between the tackles a bit more, like we did when You were on the line?

[Talon]

I think with our RBs we have now, we look to run inside more

[GM Dario]

That's what I was thinkin' as well. 
On the O-Line, who's the best 5 for the run?

[Talon]

 

Sarget at center.   Kaminski and West at guard, and Oher and Stinnett at tackle, I think.

[GM Dario]

With Stinnettt still banged up, we'll slide Donn Brown in ther for now. That works for me, Coach, thanks for the input.

****

Shay, will ya send Daniel Darby in?

****

Daniel, welcome to SkyBear Country.  When I saw ya were on the board for a potential trade after movin' York, I felt like you'd be a good fit for our Offensive Scheme.  This week, I wanna get ya acclimated to the playbook so we'll have ya sharin' time with Provost and Joseph. But I'd like to see ya as our RB1 for the remainder of the year. Just wanted to #KeepItCrystal with ya.

If ya have any questions, let me know.

[Talon]

 

Hell yeah.

[GM Dario]

That's what I like to hear! Gonna be good to see ya on the field.

****

Shay, let's talk with Coach Graham about the Defense. .

****

Coach, Not sure how long we're gonna have this roster on the D side, but with our CB's a little less than optimal, I wanna turn up the heat. Play Ultra Aggressive on Defense.

Get creative with some 2-4-5 Nickel to get Jack, Marks, Brandon and Walston on the field.

Maybe get de la Cruz and Head on the field in Dime and Quarter packages.

I wanna play balls to the wall and throw fresh people at them as much as we can.

Use Quantity over Quality in this case with some earlier substitutions.   

If the Offense controls the ToP, then we can afford to take chances and gambles on the other side.   

Whaddaya say?

[Talon]

COACH EXPLAINS THE LACK OF 2-4-5 DEFENSE IN THE UNIVERSE.  HE UNDERSTANDS YOUR CONCEPTS AND WILL WORK TO PUT THEM INTO THE GAMEPLAN.

[GM Dario]

Then Coach, let's do the Dang Thang!!


QB1 McGhee
QB2 Byrd
QB3 Hensley

RB1 Provost
RB2 Darby
RB3 Joseph
RB4 Lewis
RB5 Cox

OT1 Oher
OT2 Brown
OT3 Stinnett
OT4 Fonseca

DT1 LaPorta
DT2 Koenig
DT3 Kaplan
DT4 Fullerton

LB1 Jack
LB2 Marks
LB3 Brnadon
LB4 Walston
LB5 Michel
LB6 Martino
LB7 Mooney

CB1 Stones
CB2 White
CB3 al-Taalim
CB4 Paulson
CB5 Haney
CB6 Cantwell

FS1 Rose
FS2 Head
FS3 Starling

KR1/PR1 Lewis
KR2/PR2 Mulligan

Offensive Attitude - Aggressive
Offensive Focus- Running
Offensive Tempo - VERY SLOW
Third Down Back - Committee
Goal Line Back - Daniel Darby
RB by Committee- Yes
Running Back Focus - Inside


Defense - Very Aggressive
Defensive Line Focus - Balanced
Match CB to WR - No


Play Calling Ratios - Coaches Decision
Blitz % - Coaches Decision

Substitutions - 70/80

LOCKED IN BABY!!!

[GM Dario]

S17 - WEEK 8 POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE


Not quite how we wanted it to play out this week in Primetime. Seattle's a good team and with Slinger, they've added another element to their advance. With all the changes we made, i had hoped we'd fare better but there's still some positives to take account of.

I thought Nick did ok for his first start. Not the most accurate but hated to see him get hurt. Randy will start this week against Lincoln while AMac gets healthy. Yours truly will go to QB3, and let's hope we don't have to go to QB3.

I thought Provost did yeoman's work for his first start. I did like Darby's burst in his short time on the field and I expect to see him get the Majority of the carries this week. Nothin' against John, but I want see if Darby is ready to carry the rock like he wanted to.

Speakin' of John, John Joseph had a season endin' injury. I know there's a little flak headin' towards Coach Graham, but injuries do happen. It coulda happened to anyone on the team, includin' me, but we're goin' to get the Shamen to work their magic on JJ and get him ready for next season. We're gonna need him in the backfield.

Not a lotta 'cakes on the OLine but with a change in philosophy and change in personnel, I'm not too worried about it right now. We're workin' around some injuries and some young guys so it's a work in progress.

Defensively, I was disappointed we didn't get to Slinger on sack. Lots of hurries and knockdowns, but we're also playin' mixy-matchy there too.  Walston did quite well in his time on the field. And Timmy White did well in a Spot start as CB1 for Stones who's still nursin' a banged up knee. We should see Kieran back on the field though against Lincoln as should Lance Fullerton.

I had talked with everyone a couple weeks back about the direction of the team and that we'd be movin' some people around. Sam Rose, Walter Rivers and Myles Jack were three I had hoped would stay but I definitely understand they see what I see. We gotta shake things up a bit, even with Walter bein' here since my Day 1. I don't take their requests personal, I know it's the biz. But as I've told y'all and told everyone on the team, I went out and got ya, re-signed ya, drafted ya, or otherwise asked ya to be on the SkyBear's team for a reason. They say Loyalty doesn't have a lot of value these days, but I'm always loyal to a KC Bruin, whether they're on the team, on another team or callin' it a day in the HIFL. That's just me bein' me.

But the trade window is still open. Imma field calls from everyone to help maximize the options for the SkyBear's team for Season 18. My butt is on the line so I gotta do what I gotta do.

Questions from anyone??

[Talon]

 

Damn. Walt and Sam... those are big holes for the rest of the ride.

[GM Dario]

I know, Coach, and it's a tough pill to swallow but I just got this feelin' that we're gonna hit some lightnin' on these trades for next season.

What we had, for whatever reasons, wasn't clickin' so it's gonna be get back to basics and scratch some fresh surfaces to see what we got.

As I said in the PC, Nick's out. We'll give Randy the start, AMac then me to back him up. Pray to the SkyBear that we don't get to that point but hey, we been there before.

We'll switch Darby to RB1 and Provost to RB2. Think we'll also go Bellcow with Darby and try to pound the rock even more against Lincoln. The kid's been beggin' for the ball everywhere he's been, so why not see if he's got what we want.

With Walter in Bama, I like Atherton to WR1. Mulligan to WR2. Boudreaux to WR3. Duran to WR4.
Coach Beasley has got some raw material to mold so let's see what he can make.

With Sam in DC, we'll go with Head at FS1, Starling at FS2.
Coach Higgins will need to acclimate Ty workin' with Soliman but Isma's a vet so that will help out.

As for the injury to JJ, I know we both wanted to see him take a step up but injuries do happen. You know this. Things happen every year. We just gotta watch out for everyone a little better next time.

For the next couple weeks before the trade deadline, I wanna do a deeper dive into some of these young guys and gals to see who wants to step up and be a major contributor for the rest of the year. So we wanna keep the rotations goin' and throw fresh bodies out there as much as we can.  This is also gonna force all the coaches to step up their games to see what they can do too.  Then after the deadline, we'll start to focus a bit more on who we like to be 18 ready.

Last week, we used quite a bit of 3-3-5 but I think we may wanna shift back to a traditional 4-3 for now.
Does that make sense Coach?

[Talon]

 

Yeah, sure. Makes sense to me.

[GM Dario]

I have a list of some of the new guys we just acquired that I'll have Shay send to Coach Luce and Coach Shoes to get me some more info as we build toward 18.

One of our newest acquisitions, Charles Fonseca, was drafted as Guard but was converted or attempted to be converted to Tackle. Which is his more natural position, Guard or Tackle? Or Neither?

[Talon]

 

He has no business ever playing tackle.  Guard is where he belongs.

[GM Dario]

Noted, Coach.

We just shuffled a few more deck chairs, and I'm sayin' that tongue-in-cheek, Coach, so let me get the dust to settle and I'll circle back with ya.

****

Shay,  when Joseph Ruiz arrives in town, will ya send him in.

****

Joseph, welcome to Kansas City. Apologies for catchin' ya before ya have a chance to settle in, but I like to #KeepItCrystal with everyone as much as I can.  Ya came into the league as a Tight End but you've been playin' a little bit of Wide receiver as of late. Is there a preference in the position or is this gonna be more of a 'let you make plays' type of answer comin' from ya?

[Talon]

 

  I like playing TE, it's where I'm more comfortable.

[GM Dario]

Then we'll keep ya pencilled in at TE1. Glad to have ya on board.  Go on and get settled in. I'll see ya on the practice field in a bit.

****

Shay,  if ya see Trinidad Boles on the way in, send him over to say Hi.

****

Trinidad, glad to have in SkyBear Country.  We're lookin' at buildin' big for this year and next as well, and I can definitely see ya workin' well in a ln aggressive D like we got being rebuilt as we speak.

I saw how ya were tearin' OLs apart and I hope to see ya doin' the same here in KC. Just bring that intensity ya got and things are gonna be Hittin',  ya got me?

[Talon]

  I'm sorry if I come off too apathetic, but I just signed a 6 year deal to stay in Long Beach and then that obnoxious little nerd trades me away right after saying she was going to fight off the people interested in trading for me... I don't trust a damn thing any of you suits say.

Period.

You're all a bunch of leaches sucking me off.

[GM Dario]

I gotta tell ya, TB, that's some really crap that you've been dealt with. I get your frustration to get sold a bill then get traded away.

But I'mma #KeepItCrystal on this.  That's not how I do biz. I don't like dealin' people that I signed to be here, but I'm a realist that knows what's what. When this trade was offered, that offer came to me. I didn't ask for certain players, but after I saw what was comin' on the return, it made sense to make the deal. Didn't have anythin' to do with Dollars, but Peeps and Potential.

** Looks at his notes on Boles' contract **

But the last thing I want is a guy who's sour about bein' here cause that doesn't help him, the team or me.  And the bad part is, it's gonna be the same as long as ya got that contract.  I know I can't talk official numbers without Amber bein' present, but I've got an idea to hopefully make it better for you in KC.

If I make a few adjustments on the contract ya got, and Miss Molina gives ya the Thumbs Up on it, would that help change your view on this leech?

[Talon]

 

...Hold up and rewind for me.

Are you saying my old GM, that skanky ass overtalker, offered me in a deal? 

That little bitch told me that teams were calling and asking for me and she was having to "fight them off with a stick" or some shit...

...

...she's a dirty ass liar.

Is that what you're telling me?

[GM Dario]

Imma give ya a deep dive on this. Probably showin' a bit more of my hand than I should, but this is just you and me here.

The ask was for Jack. I said Yeah, he's available.

The offer was made with the players involved and a pick. No players were changed from the offer.

The pick was bumped to a 4th.

The deal was made.

Whether anyone else inquired on ya, I dunno. So that statement of fightin' off everyone might be true.

But, as I said, when I saw the offer made to me, it was a no-brainer for me to accept, especially how we're reloadin' and stackin' up for next season.

And I'll still talk with your agent about tweakin' your contract specs regardless.

[Talon]

So that's how the sausage is made, huh?

...Gross.

That being said, Handle your scandal. I'll tell Amber you're going to call and talk about my contract.

I guess I better go meet my new teammates and try to talk some fashion sense into them before its too late.

[GM Dario]

Nah, it ain't pretty. Sometimes it takes a bit more work, but get the right ingredients and the sausage cooks up nicely.

Do ya thang, TB. I'll chat later.

****

Shay,  Can we get Amber Molina on the phone?

****

Amber, It's TD in KC.  So I just acquired Trinidad Boles from Long Beach, and he was mighty ticked off. Had somethin' to do with his contract and assurances and such, ya know, us leeches often look at the players like they're just a number on McFadden, so I wanna do a Solid for him here. Good Faith Gesture to keep him happy in KC instead of bein' a Mopey-Mope.

His contract was a 6yr, 4 per, for 24 total.

I can't do anythin' with the 4 for this year, but Imma play it like a flip of 4 for 6, instead of 6 for 4.  So this year is a 4, that means he's got 20 left over 3. So we don't play Devilish, I'll bump another 1M and make it 21 over 3. 

So Contract Restructure.
1 year at 4M (S17)
3 years at 7M (S18,S19,S20)

And I'll do a "Blodgett" Offer to keep TB stable and give him a little bitta say on what goes on. Let's make S18 and S19 Fully Guaranteed, and S20 a Player Option.

Like I told him, I want players playin' on this team 'cause they wanna be here, not because they gotta be here.

This work for you?

[Talon]

 

You've got a deal.  Thanks.

[GM Dario]

That's how we do it Baby!  I'll let ya tell TB the good news. Thanks for the deal.

****

Shay,  Let's talk with Coach Luce.

****

Alright, I think I've got most things settled out for the moment, so we can look at Lincoln. I appreciate ya patience with all the mixy-matchy we're doin' here.

So let's check off the boxes here.

Randy, AMac, me at QB for this week. Byrd Inactive
Darby at RB1 (Bellcow), Provost RB2, Cox RB3, 'Tini RB4, Joseph out for the year
Koz at FB

With our receivers, I think it's best to leave Ruiz as a TE1, I like Scott, but we need the pass catchin' ability Ruiz has to help Randy out as much as possible, even though he's not up to speed on the playbook, so we'll keep Campbell at TE2.

Atherton becomes defacto WR1. I think we should let Duran work opposite of him at WR2, Boudreaux in the slot at WR3. Middleton at WR4.

Imma put every bit of the playcallin' directions, tempo, the whole nine- in your hands. We don't need to be perfect but we do need to put ourselves in positions where we can steal some opportunities and collect some points.

Any changes on the skill positions you recommend?

[Talon]

 
 

I like it.

[GM Dario]

Then we'll get that all set up.  I'll be down on the field in a few. Will ya send Coach Graham in?

****

Coach, I think we've settled all the movin' parts on the Defense for the moment.

Across the D-Line, I'd like to see Boles into the lineup to see he can generate some penetration at the interior. With Fullerton still iffy, would we be better with LaPorta, Koenig or McMurray beside TB?

[Talon]

 
 

Koenig has graded better on the season.

[GM Dario]

We'll run Boles and Koenig, LaPorta, McMurray and Fullerton then.

The LB Crew has a different feel with Jack leavin' so I'm thinkin' Brandon and Walston on the OLB, Marks in the Middle. Mcaffrey and Michel as the primary backups. 

Should we put the Headset with Marks, Brandon or Soliman on the Defense?

[Talon]

 
 

Marks has the highest football IQ of the bunch, so I think it should be him.

[GM Dario]

Noted-

In the Secondary, I see Stones, White, al-Taalim, Paulson at CB1-4,
Head at FS, at Soliman at SS.

I'd like to see de la Cruz get some reps too but I know we don't roll much with a 3 Safety look.

With the Changes on Defense, Imma put the ball in your hands with all the calls, like I did with Coach Luce. So percentages, packages, PT, everythin' is on you. We need to limit our time on the field obviously, but we need to make some plays too. I think we have some windows of opportunity here, so I'd like to see some flashes of brilliance as we look ahead.

[Talon]

 
 

Understood. just emphasize it in the lock in.

[GM Dario]

Ok Let's get this thing locked in then

QB1- Hensley
QB2- McGhee
QB3 - Dario

RB1- Darby
RB2- Provost
RB3- Cox
RB4- Lewis

WR1- Atherton
WR2- Duran
WR3- Boudreaux
WR4- Middleton

TE1 - Ruiz
TE2- Campbell

OT1- Oher
OT2- Stinnett
OT3- Brown

OG4- Fonseca
OG5- Nelms

DT1- Boles
DT2- Koenig
DT3- LaPorta
DT4- McMurray
DT5- Fullerton

LB1- Marks
LB2- Walston
LB3- Brandon
LB4- McCaffrey
LB5- Michel
LB6- Martino

CB1- Stones
CB2- White
CB3- Paulson
CB4- al-Taalim
CB5- Haney
CB6- Cantwell

FS1- Head
FS2- Starling

SS1- Soliman
SS2- de la Cruz

KR/PR1- Lewis
KR2/PR2- al-Taalim

Inactive- Byrd, Joseph

Bellcow- Darby

All Other Offensive Playcalling and Percentages - Coaches Decision (Offensive Coordinator)

Defensive Headset- Marks

All Defensive Playcalling and Percentages - Coaches Decision (Head Coach)

** LOCKED IN BABY!!! **

[GM Dario]

S17 - WEEK 9 POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE


So, not a very good day for us in the Great State of Lincoln. Battlin' some injuries and havin' a couple more pop up, losing Ath early in the game didn't help things either, but there's no quit in the guys and gals, despite the scoreboard.  We've got a lot of new movin' parts on the roster and that's gonna take some time to gel, so I'm dejected that it's not comin' together as quickly as I had hoped but I'm still confident that we'll get some good play outta everyone for the rest of the year..

I was very happy with how Duran stepped up with Ath out. I'm pretty sure if ya asked him about bein' the #1 WR in a game when he signed his Draft Tender, he woulda said 'Yeah Right', but things change in the HIFL. One day ya are lookin' at the shiny new playbook, the next, ya are out there catchin' 7 for 58 on 9 targets in your first start.  I thought Tyson did a good job for his first start as well. Nice to see De La Cruz get some PT, as well as Poirier gettin' some reps. There's a lotta young talent on this roster that's gonna improve as they get more game-time work. I think that's gonna be a theme from here on out.

Oh hey there, Mr. Babar,  nice of ya to stop by and sittin' in with us today.  What's that?  OHHHH . Yeah, I did see the vultures circlin' overhead askin' about dinin' reservations.  Now that I've acknowledged the Elephant in the Room, let's talk about what's goin' on here in KC.

When I started here 5 years ago, people thought I was Cray-Cray for all the moves I was makin' that went against the conventional wisdom.  I had a plan and tried to make that plan work. It didn't. I changed up my plans 2 years ago to a more mainstream line, and we had some moderate success. I thought that this year those plans were gonna bring us a big step up.  They didn't. As I said before, that's not the fault of the players, or coaches, or anyone else but me. So, Imma try a new plan for next season. I get that we don't have the probable top 3 pick at the moment, but we do have 8 of the first 96 picks, and 18 picks overall. The Cap Gurus in the Press Corp can point out that we're gonna have some major Dollars to make some impact signin's. So to the people outside of the Wigwam with the boilin' oil, the tar and feathers and that one guy sellin' torches and lighters, be patient y'all. We're gonna make this all work out.

So, let's answer a few Q's here.  Am I happy we're 1-7? Nah. Did I expect us to be 1-7? Nah.  I expected us to be challengin' for the division but it's not pannin' out. That's been my biggest surprise. We returned a lot of peeps from S17 when we were 1 game from the playoffs. I didn't expect the fall to happen but it did. Now we gotta stop that fall or we just gotta hit bottom so we can climb back up. That's just me #KeepinItCrystal.

The player that's impressed me the most as bein' Most Valuable on the team at the moment is Robert Brandon. The kid's made a position change from the last 2 years, signed as a UDFA late in 15, and has been all over the field makin' plays. He's been solid in all phases of the game on and off the field and I think he's gonna be a stalwart in the HIFL for a long time.

Coach Graham has done C+ work but that's not all on him either, so don't take that grade for anythin' more than what's asked of me here.  Any of y'all would probably grade him lower but when your boss keeps changin' your personnel and ya gotta figure out what to do on a daily basis, not even week to week or month to month, things are gonna be topsy-turvy.  He's managed to keep everythin' goin' despite the constant change so C+ is plenty good for me. I might even buy him a Red Ryder for doin' a good job with it all.  *Points for those of you who get the reference.*

So does anyone else have Q's for me?

[Talon]

 
 

...this is not fun.

[GM Dario]

No Coach, It's not fun at all.

And the way it looks, it's not gonna be much fun the rest of the year if we keep things as they are, so we need to figure somethin' out.

Publicly, I'm willin' to take' the blame for all of this in the media and chat rooms and blogs, and I'm ok with that, but right now, there's still a major disconnect goin' on inside the Wigwam.

I saw some Fun Facts on one of the media blogs that KC hasn't scored a TD in 4 games.  That most of our offense is now on other teams. That our defense is 32nd in everythin' because we can't be 33rd. And damn if they aren't #KeepinItCrystal. 

But, to counter all that blogsense, when the top players we had were here, we were still stinkin' up the place. Tradin' the players at least gives us some draft capital and some cap room to try and reboot the team next season. But we still have half a season and I don't think we're done like everyone expects us to be.

Now I know that there's 53 players on a roster, there's 15 coaches on the staff, plus Shay and the High Chief.  And for some reason, we can't get any of these 70 people to figure out just what is going on with any part of our team. Whatever has been goin' on, hasn't worked.  Players, Coaches, Schemes, hell the colors haven't worked this season. That's how far we've fallen. I don't like it one bit.

So we're gonna scrap everythin' we can cause we can't fall any farther down.

First thing, I wanna get Coach Shoes back on Callin' the Defense. This isn't a scratch on you, I just want Coach Shoes to take on some of the responsibilities for play calls and personnel, so that you can be freed up a bit. You're still my Coach for as long as you wanna be, but that's somethin' we need to try to change things up.

Now on Offense, other than Coach Luce, who else can make the play calls?  I'm willin' to try anythin' from anyone to try and jumpstart the offense, so if we gotta get Shay out of the office or Roscoe the Popcorn Vendor up in Section 109, we're gonna do that to try and make this fun again. 

[Talon]

 
 

You tell me a team who's got a playbook you like and Ill ask our staff if anyone has that style in their back pocket, if they do we'll make something out of it.

To keep it Crystal with you, with the trades we've made, we could have film of the signals, the playbook to match, and have recordings of their walk throughs and we might not be able to hang.  We're a JV squad right now.

[GM Dario]

We may be JV at the moment, but we're gonna find out how many can make Varsity. It's a little bitta Trial By Fire but hey, whatta we got to lose, right?

As for Playbooks,  I know Coach Seaton had a very basic scheme compared to Coach Cannon, and Coach Luce is different from both. I'm just tryin' to find some sorta happy place that can be Ball Control-Play Action type of things yet not so complex that the guys and gals have problems thinkin' it through.

Ya remember the options on the McFadden Game where ya had Team Specific ones, then ya had Balanced Pass, Balanced Run, West Coast, Spread and the like?  I think we may just wanna 'dumb it down' to one of those. Keep it a little simple to help this JV Squad build up their confidence a little.

On the Injury Front, McGhee should be able to play this week. Hensley is back to QB2.
With Atherton Doubtful, let's drop him to WR4, Bump everyone up a notch. Might need to slide 'Tini over to WR5 just in case.

The rest should be able to play, barring any odd occurrence.

[Talon]

Right.  What do you want our offense to be, I'll get a generic playbook in our system and make it work but I need more than "something generic from a video game."  work with me here.

[GM Dario]

Power Inside run game with Darby and Kozlowski leadin' the way.
 
Pro Set, I Formation, Offset-I Formation would probably be the best three choices.

21 Personnel would fit best.

Three Wide on occasion and we can put Provost,Cox or 'Tini in at the 3rd back

Coach Luce works a Medium Passin' but AMac has range so let's go to a Balanced Pass area to see if we can stretch the Defense a little.

Will you ask Coach Newman about the possibility of Zachary Castaneda bein' able to work as a Guard or a Tackle, with the proper trainin', of course? I know some players can flex a little, and have the IQ to handle the different position, but others can't. I'm just tryin' to get the best 5 on the line and I think we might be missin' a component.

[Talon]

 

Unfortunately Zach is really only cut out to work as a center.

[GM Dario]

Worth askin' at least. But better to have two than Zero.

With the Secondary, I assume that  Stones and White should be 1 & 2. White has worked well in the slot before all the changes but with Paulson more acclimated to the system, would he work better on the outside or in the slot as CB3?  And al-Taalim should now number CB4 or is he above Paulson and better in the slot or outside?

[Talon]

 

Stones and White give us the most speed.  Paulson from a technique standpoint is our second best corner, but his speed has just fallen off badly since he got over the 30-hill.  In the slot he might be effective, but honestly its anyones guess.

[GM Dario]

We'll just keep it as-is then with al-Taalim at CB3 and Paulson at CB4

I'll circle back in a few, Coach.

****

Shay, let's see if Steve Rosenhaus will take my call.

****

Steve-O!  It's TD in KC. Hope things are well with ya in South Fla.

So I got one of your guys, Timothy White, who I drafted a couple years back, And I'd like to give him an extension startin' in S18.

Is 2 Years at 5M per, somethin' we can make happen?