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Post by bogeyman on Nov 14, 2022 12:16:49 GMT -6
Lots of time on my hands these days so I just went back and read all the "coach hire" posts from before Dorrell and then before KP. Interesting comments to say the least, including my own. We are now on the cusp of probably our most important game since the CT era and was wondering how we think the KP hire has gone down in this first year? I realize that a more in depth conversation will probably be held at the end of the season but would like to hear comments from both his initial detractors and supporters. Do you think your pessimism was justified or was your optimism proven? Any takers?
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Post by wildcat1997 on Nov 14, 2022 12:22:20 GMT -6
Coach KP has really proven me wrong. I thought hiring an older, first time head coach who hadn’t really impressed at his last stop wasn’t going to go very well. I tried to be optimistic though and thought maybe since everyone always spoke about what kind of man he was that he would be able to be successful at getting players to give their all and play as a team and also if he brought in a good staff. I predicted us to win around 3-4 games but he has really proven me wrong and I’m very glad that he did. He’s been a breath of fresh air to this program and I’m hopeful he can help keep building this program up.
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archsimon
arm chair Grad Assistant
Posts: 241
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Post by archsimon on Nov 14, 2022 13:00:46 GMT -6
My initial reaction was mixed, but as I said here last December, KP won me over in his press conference. He further impressed me by hiring a veteran staff with guys coming from multiple backgrounds (NFL, FBS, FCS, DII, DII, and Texas high schools), including AHS's Coach Badon. It also was key for him to hire an AD / Chief of Staff whose sole focus is football - a luxury not afforded to the previous coaching staff.
20 + years of coaching DI FBS football has to count for something, and in KP's case, those experiences provide him a clearer lens for how to recruit and coach talent required at this level.
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Post by ybp80 on Nov 14, 2022 13:17:07 GMT -6
I had no initial impression other than some folks saying that his success as a defensive coordinator was suspect at best. I liked his first press conference and was impressed with his demeanor. I became even more impressed with his ability to retain players from last year, but maybe more importantly, the talent he (and his crew) were able to convince to transfer to what was obviously, at best, a struggling program.
The difference between last year and this? Night and day.
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Post by Outsider on Nov 14, 2022 17:04:17 GMT -6
I was at a point where it was a give him a chance and time would tell. So far he has done an excellent job at bringing in talented coaches and players. He has also developed good relationships and set a culture of winning. The first season isn't over and more time will tell if that trajectory holds.
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Post by rc on Nov 14, 2022 19:36:37 GMT -6
KP gets an excellent grade given the program he inherited. I thought our last coach was almost antagonistic toward the fans and I could not understand his lack of buy into the ACU culture. KP seems to enjoy the ACU culture. We seem to be going glove and hand down an exploratory path of this new direction for ACU football. So far he seems interested in the fans, the school and certainly his players but best of all, I see us change as some things prove not to be quite the right strategy and some new things emerge. I really enjoyed the difference in the SHSU game. It was not three runs up the middle and punt, it was a more exciting brand of football.
The sport is changing as well, just as basketball has changed with the three point shot. Now teams go for it on fourth down more often, and you never know if a short yardage play will be a run or a pass. Let's see going forward if we can continue to be innovative yet sensible. So far we have been about right, and getting better. I hope SFA proves we are all right in thinking we have a far more contending team. We might as well build a powerhouse, why not. The school is a rocket ship right now and it is fun to be in contention for a championship in our new conference.
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Post by bogeyman on Nov 15, 2022 11:49:36 GMT -6
Originally, I was elated by the hire--D1 coach, Coordinator at some elite schools, coming from a Texas university. Then the naysayers started speaking up, moved around, defenses gave up 30+ points a game, tied to bad coaches, etc, so I took a step back. I was impressed with his intro press conference and meeting individually with each player and really impressed with the young coaches he hired to build his staff. But the results so far, have far exceeded my expectations. I'd have been happy with a winning season and being competitive in the losses. To think we've only lost 3 games and 2 of those could have gone either way and playing Missouri to a 17 point game was beyond what I expected. To be playing for a conference championship in KP's first year and a possible playoff berth for the 1st time is pretty unbelievable. But the best part for me is to see the very evident growth of this team from game to game, to see how KP and staff have been able to integrate 50 new players into the program and win with them, to see weaknesses (big plays, slow start to games, porous run defense in first have become a wall in the 2nd, etc.) be tackled head on and adjustments made, to see the very vanilla offense at the first of the year grow to the much more creative offense that we saw versus Sam Houston (as Mav and Ethan have grown and coach Lee has given them more). I see some young men who have grown up in this program start to excel with a new coach and staff (Hargrove, Thielan, Egbo, Morgan, Dobbins, etc). End of the season and we're still playing for championships, the team is continuing to get better, the confidence level seems to be high, we're playing lots of players due to injury with very little drop off, which speaks to the depth this staff has built so far. It's been an incredible ride for this old fan. Keith Patterson was a great hire.
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Post by dallasalum on Nov 15, 2022 17:47:52 GMT -6
The players like and respect him. They can see a great improvement in the program and the much more "professional" way that everything is done. He is not a control freak and expects and allows the OC, DC, and position coaches to coach. It is very interesting to watch him in practices and in the games. I suspect if he doesn't think that an assistant is getting the job done, he will replace him very quickly.
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