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SALT LAKE CITY — Five big local issues. Five strong opinions. Let’s roll!
Jazz midseason grade — C+
Some would say posting a winning record when playing seven more road games than home games deserves a higher mark. Like some of your old teachers, I say grades depend on expectations and grading scales. Admittedly I’m a tough grader. Maybe it’s because I had several teachers that were unfair — whoops, I mean hard — on me, or so I thought. I’m really not grading this team on wins and losses. I prefer to look at the big picture, which means: Are the younger players getting minutes and developing? As I wrote before on KSL.com, that is what will put this franchise in the best position to be a true contender down the line — not just the seventh or eighth seed in the West.
So the C+ is the result of this: The Jazz have a winning record but it’s still coming at the expense of the younger players. Gordon Hayward is becoming the go-to guy in crunch time, but he still doesn’t get 30 minutes a night. The minutes of Derrick Favors, Alec Burks and Enes Kanter are sporadic at best. Until these individuals get on the court more, this team will just continue to be slightly above average for the foreseeable future.
Aaron Roderick’s flip flop
One day we’re talking about how big of a coup it was for BYU to secure the services of Utah wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator Aaron Roderick. The next day Roderick flip flops, and we have to do a total reversal of our opinions. Roderick is a very good coach and recruiter. He really is more qualified to be Utah’s offensive coordinator than Brian Johnson. Fortunately, his play-calling is a lot more decisive than his decision-making about whether he’s leaving the Utes for another job.
It was a good get — or should I say re-get? — for Utah to keep him. Not sure about how good a career move it was for Roderick, however. Considering this is the second time he’s changed his mind after accepting a job — the first time was in 2009 when he originally took a position at Washington before reneging — coaching sources told me it will be very difficult for him to get another offer in the future. Coaching is a tight fraternity and when you burn bridges like Roderick has, that won’t be forgotten. He better hope the Ute program remains stable.
BYU’s offensive coaching staff concerns
Losing Roderick was very painful to the Cougars, who lost a guy that would have been a huge part of Robert Anae’s offensive staff. In him, you had a BYU alum who excels as a recruiter and has a ton of coaching experience. He also could have been the good cop to Anae’s tendency to be the tougher bad cop. Now the staff consists so far of just Mark Atuaia and Garett Tujague. They're two former BYU players, but neither has any Division I coaching experience. Depending on whom Anae hires going forward this could be a concern as BYU continues to try to compete as an independent with the “big boys” in college football.
Utah State coach Matt Wells on offensive play-calling and defensive coordinator searchMatt Wells, the new Utah State coach, joined our radio show, Gunther and Graham on 1320 KFAN this week to discuss his transition from being the offensive coordinator to the face of the program. As for his staff, Wells has hired Kevin McGiven as the offensive coordinator and his younger brother Luke Wells as the co-OC. However, when we asked him who would call the plays he said that was still to be decided between himself and McGiven. In addition, he said he was taking his time and being patient about hiring a defensive coordinator.
In Wells' defense, he has been going nonstop since he was elevated into the top job — his plate full with recruiting, interviewing and hiring coaches, embracing his current players, etc. Wells just needs to make sure he doesn’t overwhelm himself by continuing to call plays in his first year in addition to the added responsibilities he has to take on as head coach. Also as an offensive coach, Aggie fans need to hope he hires the right guy to run his defense considering the talent that is returning.
BYU’s Ziggy Ansah’s Senior Bowl practices Reports have been mixed on Ziggy Ansah’s performance in practices at the Senior Bowl this week. The positives continue to be his raw athleticism, speed,and power, but the negatives being reported are his lack of polish and fundamentals. One has to wonder if his draft stock will actually drop more than improve after the workouts and game. In some ways that may not be such a bad thing for the BYU standout. He could be drafted by a better team, which means less expectations to perform right away, instead of being taken higher in the first round and being expected to contribute significantly immediately.
