Greggy Hansen's not going to budge

[Wildcat Jones]

I won't provide link, but there is a video of Hansen and Ryan Finley talking UA's upcoming spring practices and new defensive staff. While Hansen sort of admits changes on the D staff were needed, it's clear he thinks RR failed. First, he says RR hired "rookies" all over the defensive staff. Personally, I feel a rookie is exactly that, somebody who has ZERO experience at their position, which is not the case at all for our DC Yates or Williams (look at Hansen shake his head when Finley speaks about bringing in Williams from San Jose St....disdain or pure shock!). Then, Finley says if things go well in 2016, he sees 6, 7, 8 wins. Hansen then basically says that with a "rookie" staff and no Pac-12 caliber defensive players on the unit, Hansen doesn't see that. So Hansen, at best, sees UA winning 5 games or less.

I'll take that bet.

[Black Oaks]

I won't provide link, but there is a video of Hansen and Ryan Finley talking UA's upcoming spring practices and new defensive staff. While Hansen sort of admits changes on the D staff were needed, it's clear he thinks RR failed. First, he says RR hired "rookies" all over the defensive staff. Personally, I feel a rookie is exactly that, somebody who has ZERO experience at their position, which is not the case at all for our DC Yates or Williams (look at Hansen shake his head when Finley speaks about bringing in Williams from San Jose St....disdain or pure shock!). Then, Finley says if things go well in 2016, he sees 6, 7, 8 wins. Hansen then basically says that with a "rookie" staff and no Pac-12 caliber defensive players on the unit, Hansen doesn't see that. So Hansen, at best, sees UA winning 5 games or less.

I'll take that bet.

Many things get better with age. Sadly, Hansen is not one of them. He is like a vintage wine that has reached its peak 10 years ago. I think the defensive staff has shown plenty of football savvy. I think our defensive squad is better than he thinks and is much better than the first team Rich Rod inherited from Stoops. And I am sure no matter how many game they win, that one of those wins will be over BYU.

Bearing Down on bitter old men should not be the judge of how much talent younger men have

[Wildcat Jones]

I am not privy as to why he does not like the hirings on D. Maybe he played golf with a few other D coaches and hoped they'd be hired, I do not know. But to disregard what Yates (specifically) has accomplished and refer to him as a rookie is rude as hell at minimum, and certainly not true. Yates was the CO-DC at Tex A&M for 2 seasons before becoming the lone DC at Boise St for 2 yrs. So he has 4 years of DC experience. Hardly a rookie. Here's Yates bio on official website:

"Yates previously served as the defensive coordinator at Boise State where he led an attacking-style defense with a reputation for forcing turnovers the past two seasons. Under Yates, the Broncos’ defense ranked highly in notable categories, including being one of two teams nationally to post top-10 finishes for turnovers forced each of the last two years. His 2014 unit also ranked seventh nationally in both tackles for loss and sacks, while the 2015 squad turned in the fifth-best rush defense, 12th total defense and 18th-best scoring defense. The Broncos earned a pair of bowl victories along with the 2014 Mountain West championship in Yates’ tenure as a coordinator. A graduate of Boise State and an assistant coach with the Broncos from 2003-11, Yates returned to his alma mater in 2014 following a two-year stint as the co-defensive coordinator at Texas A&M. During his time in College Station, the Aggies concluded the 2012 season ranked fifth nationally in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls, and won 11 games for the first time since 1998. The Aggies went 9-4 in 2013, finishing the season ranked No. 18 in each poll."

Hansen also referred to Donte Williams as a rookie (and shook his head negatively as Finley spoke of Williams hiring). Here is Williams bio:

"Williams joins the Arizona coaching staff after three seasons at San Jose State, including the final two when he served as the secondary coach and recruiting coordinator. Under his tutelage, the Spartans boasted one of the nation’s top pass defenses, including the best mark in all of FBS in 2014 (117.8 yards per game), which was followed up by a No. 2 finish in 2015 (153.6 ypg). The Spartans’ defense made immediate improvement with Williams, who was promoted from cornerbacks coach to secondary after one year. In his first season overseeing the entire secondary in 2014, San Jose State’s total defense improved 56 spots in the FBS rankings, while passing yards allowed improved 74 spots and passing touchdowns allowed jumped 103 spots. In addition to his on-field work, Williams has garnered recognition for bolstering San Jose State’s recruiting efforts. In February 2015, Sports Illustrated named Williams a Top 10 recruiter in college football. He was also tabbed the top recruiter in the Mountain West Conference by 247sports.com in 2014."

Again, if Hansen wants to think RR could have done better, that's his right I suppose. But why disrespect a man who has position coaching experience at the position he was hired for, AND some pretty high accolades on his recruiting abilities from 247sports and Sports Illustrated?

Coach Addae is a younger coach and no experience as a position coach at the safety position, however, he has 2 years experience as a position coach of running backs at Cincinnati. Only Coach Amey is truly a ROOKIE as a position coach. But he's been paying his dues working his way up, as every single coach ever has done. But Amey is the only rookie.

Hansen just seems either uninformed completely and is standing his ground, or he's bitter his guy he supported didn't get the job. Who knows.

[b_dog]

He's got this curmudgeon thing he sometimes likes to promote, presumably like that's supposed to attract readers by being such the contrarian. Also to show how neutral he would like to be perceived by his peers after covering one team for 30 or 40 years. But, whether he is interviewed on the radio or in one of these little video snippets, this excessive disdain just pours out of him. Long history shows he's always wrong when he goes all Chicken Little, but he doesn't seem to be able to control it. We've got some decent athletes who will be playing defense next season, and some decent coaches. And how much worse do you think we can be after last season? Our defense will be okay in some games, and we'll outscore people in others. Same ol' same ol' from Hansen.

[sharkeez]

He is like a vintage wine that has reached its peak 10 years ago.

vintage wine? more like boone's farm

[Black Oaks]

He is like a vintage wine that has reached its peak 10 years ago.

vintage wine? more like boone's farm

OK cheap wine that has been out in the sun too long

[b_dog]

I think he seizes on an idea and then won't let go. There was some early talk about Joe Salavea, Ricky Hunley, and Chuck Cecil, along with Rich Ellerson, Duane Akina, etc. That would have been a big story angle to write about, and maybe one of his cronies is upset that it didn't happen, so he's channeling that person's angst. We got some folks who are widely considered to be rising stars in the coaching world. I also believe you'll see our recruiting ramping up to another level, which is 80% of the game in college football. Hansen can see the sky falling, but I'm excited about the next few years.

[FlagCat]

AAA journalist...

[Black Oaks]

AAA journalist...

I will wager that no one has ever invited him to a pool party, well except Rick Neithling

Bearing Down on a lonely guy

[b_dog]

I think they way they've got it structured means I can't provide a link if I wanted to, so unfortunately for the Star: "no clicks for you." There are some people who think if you repeat the same flawed argument over and over, people are more likely to buy it. When that happens, you're just dealing with an annoying person, and considering that we're talking about Hansen, he'll likely keep repeating his latest pet theory through spring drills, if not longer. (He's like the dweeb in Young Frankenstein: "So, Dr. FRAHNkensteen, isn't it true...") Anyway, here's a summary of his latest weird combination of waffling and digs:

The headline is: "New young coaches could give UA edge." Sounds positive. And it starts out talking about how college football "coaching staffs are getting younger" because you need to "speak the language of millennials." Gee, so he claims everybody's doing it; great. And then RichRod had a "master plan", and he lists the ages of the new coaches, ranging from 32 to 41. And then it talks about how RichRod saved a lot of money in the transition from the older coaches to the younger ones, which was how he was able to hire Chris Singletary from Michigan to work with Matt Dudek on recruiting. Yup, that's what he did. Glad you were paying attention.

Now you start to shift with this: "The most astute X's and O's coaches...can't do much good with lower-tier recruits." So you might think that's supporting the idea that it's appropriate to focus on recruiting, and that the younger coaches can coach "well enough." Or you can take it to mean we've got no talent. (Kind of like his pre-season assessment of Derrick Williams' Elite Eight basketball team.) To that point, I'll list a couple of incoming defensive recruits, as cobbled together by a coaching staff going through transition, along with the schools that offered them scholarships, according to ESPN:
Chaco Ulloa: Notre Dame, Michigan St, Nebraska, Stanford, Wisconsin, Arizona St
Josh Allen: Alabama, LSU, Miami, Arizona St
Isaiah Hayes: Oklahoma, Wisconsin

Then, you've got: "The unknown is whether RichRod acted soon enough to alter the course of Arizona's football program." Now that's interesting. We're talking program here, not the disappointing defensive performance in 2015 with all of the injuries. So the course we're talking about is the four straight bowl games for the first time in school history (winning three), including appearances in the Pac-12 Championship Game and the Fiesta Bowl, and wins over Oregon (twice), USC, Oklahoma St, Washington (twice), and others. That's the horrible course we're trying to alter, right?

Here's the capper: "Blowing off a traditional spring game to concentrate on blocking, tackling and fundamentals is a loud and clear message that the Wildcats are in serious trouble." Well, to begin with, Greg Hansen wouldn't know a loud and clear message if it bit him in the ass, and his opinions defy statistical probability by being wrong as often as he is. It really requires a special kind of talent.

So there you have it. Nothing really new under the sun. Just Hansen being the same old attention whore, trying to figure out something to be a snarky "expert" about, while worrying all the time about getting hit by a meteorite.