This article in the J&C gives me great concern. It reminds me of the feeling I get whenever the coaching staff admits they didn't have a plan for something or didn't know what they were going to do if a given situation happened... it just makes my eyebrows go up involuntarily.
Danny Hope says he's happy for the bye week, as his players are showing "signs of fatigue." Hey, it's hard work kicking Eastern Michigan's ass. A quote from Hopey:
“Focus in practice, energy in meetings,” the fourth-year coach said Sunday. “I tell one of my good jokes and some of them didn’t get it.”
I, for one, would love to hear some of Danny Hope's good jokes.
But seriously, being focused for a few weeks tires guys out? I mean, yes, I know staying focused over a course of a season is indeed tiring and requires tremendous discipline. But it's just worrisome and odd to make such a statement now. It's almost like Hope feels the need to talk up everything that's ever related to the program. A bye week? It's a good thing for us! We'll rise to the challenge! By lying down and taking a nap!
It only gets better, too.
“They should be tired,” he said. “I think our staff is tired. Everybody works long days and seven days a week. Fatigue set in some but the end result was we scored 50-something points and had 600 yards of offense and shut them down with our first-team defense. They did a good job of sucking it up and pushing themselves but I know they’re all looking forward to the off week.”
I might beg to differ on whether or not they "should" be tired.
Coach was then asked if he has concerns over playing the next nine straight weeks, which is a fair question given what he's just said about fatigue. The answer....seems unclear.
“Traditionally, most football teams struggle recovering from camp. I think we did a better job of managing our football team during camp,” Hope said. “We gave them a little more time off during camp and tried to shorten the practices."
I don't see how this answers the question of if he's concerned about this team being tired over the next 2+ months.
"I think the way this football team pushes themselves from an effort standpoint, a focus standpoint and we practice hard and when I say we practice hard, they practice hard. We have shortened the agenda but they extend themselves more.”
Oh, please stop talking, Coach.