With his first year in the books, what is your assessment and overall grade of Rod Carey and his staff.
Grade: C+
The Good: 8-5 is not a bad season (record wise) for a new coaching staff using new offensive and defensive systems with other coaches players.
The Bad: Memphis was really their only good win and that win came with an asterisk due to a very questionable call. The Maryland win seemed good at the time, but they ended up being a bad football team. All their other wins were verses mediocre or less than mediocre opponents. With the exception of Cincinnati, the Owls were exposed verses nearly every better than average to good opponent they played. Their special teams were atrocious. Play calling was not great and very predictable. Getting humiliated in the bowl exposed lack of talent/speed on the roster (not Carey’s fault). as well as the staff having a bad game plan and the team poorly prepared.
I am thinking my C+ may be a little high, but giving Carey some benefit of the doubt as 8-5 in a transition year is not bad. However, my “eye test” saw a lot of bad things with this coach and staff that has me concerned with the future. The talent he inherited is not his fault, but there was enough experience and good players on the roster to make the coaching transition easier. I really think a Carey coached team and his offensive system needs a good dual threat QB and great running game to be successful.
