I, too, think that Coach Capel's recruiting abilities have been a bit overstated. He's proven to be good at grabbing some McDAA types, but, so far, not so great at building a team around them.
He's still a young coach, of course, and he'll continue to grow, but he's got to learn how to fill out a team with glue guys, players who, despite being less heralded, are tough and play with heart, who contribute in the less obvious ways.
And he's got to learn how to quickly instill some sense of team in the star players he does bring in and to foster some toughness in them, too. It's quite distressing to see a Sooner squad playing with so little fire and hustle, making boneheaded mistakes and getting burned by their own lack of tenacity and effort.
Like so many others have said of late, I can deal with losses (though I don't like having to), but I really can't forgive the lackadaisical performances this team has turned in. There's really no excuse for that, and I blame Coach Capel, his staff, and the players. I'm disappointed in all of them.
And while some have been chastised for mentioning Coach Sampson, I think it's fair to do so in this context: He was our previous coach, and the current coach will always be compared to the man who preceded him (heaven knows Sampson was subjected to that comparison throughout his tenure in Norman). And given that Sampson's strength as a coach was what appears (this season at least) to be Coach Capel's weakness -- his ability to instill a good work ethic and a hard-nosed attitude in all his players, the stars and the role players -- it's only natural that fans would find the current situation that much more untenable. We well remember when effort was rarely, if ever, lacking.
I also think that Coach Capel may be lacking an underlying approach, a philosophy, in his coaching and game-planning. Coach Tubbs certainly had his identity, his niche, an approach that served him well, and though Sampson's was big change from what came before, he, too, knew what he was about, what style of play he would demand from his players.
I honestly don't know what Coach Capel's aiming for, and I wonder if the players do. He speaks often of installing a running game, but he's yet to achieve that at any point in his coaching career.
When you commit to a particular style of play, as Tubbs and Sampson did, it may in some ways be limiting, but you do tend to know exactly which pieces you need to have on hand at all times and how they fit together.
I wouldn't take Sampson back on a bet, and it's likely he wouldn't have brought in this many highly touted players, but I can't help but wonder how much tougher this group would be under his tutelage, how much harder (and smarter) they'd play.
Until his senior year, Johnnie Gilbert took a lot of abuse from certain of our fans, but what would we give to have him (or someone like him) playing alongside Tiny right now?
