There is a lot to this conversation so it's impossible to convey it all in one post but here my best efforts, lol.
This is 100% on the coaches. Because it's either an evaluation issue, a developmental issue, or a combination of both. The coaches evaluate, recruit, and develop the talent that they currently have. Right now, we're living with those missed evaluations and/or lack of development. So, the coaches should be taking responsibility for this in some manner. Max accountability time for them. I said in the gameday thread, this can be a watershed moment for Quinn. I truly believe that. And, I think he should be given the opportunity to change it. Maybe make it a group effort since the results at the present are so bad.
The question then becomes, what should they do about it? And, like stated above, I don't think this is a situation where anybody, ex. Quinn, should lose their job over. Ultimately, I think the solution is to remove all the egos, seniority, and get back to forcing accountability in the room regardless of age. Creating more competition will create more accountability.
I think Lugg is a very good, if not the best, example of this. Someone within the program has seen him virtually everyday for 4+ years. He's a 4 star prospect, former HS AA, and 5th year Senior. There is that evaluation, development issue, or both. Maybe he actually needed those reps at RT that I was clamoring for them to give him during camp. And, if he couldn't get those reps in because of health. Then maybe he shouldn't have been penciled in as a starter and they should've went to someone else. The final answer very well might be, he's just not that good. Or, at least not good enough to have Veteran days during camp. But, it shouldn't take 4 years and two really important Camps to figure this out. How about Correll? I think he can be a very good C but he's an undersized OG and very inexperienced LG. Is it surprising when he never practiced LG during Spring camp? Madden is as known commodity as they're going to get. Plenty of evaluation had to or should have went into this. And here we are. Kristofic and Carroll. Both stud recruits, no meaningful starts. So far, busts. Evaluation and/or development. Tosh Baker, stud recruit not remotely ready to play as a Sophomore. And, let's just be honest with ourselves. We're not talking about these guys being busts or not playing on a good unit. Apparently, Kristofic and Carroll can't compete on a bad unit. Lugg is the best we have at RT. This is just epic level of failure for long stretches dating back to 2019.
And, that leads me too what I mentioned during Spring Camp. I really sensed a lack of urgency. Or a feeling that they were being very cavalier with the unit as a whole. And, I still feel that way. They just assumed that they had these studs on the roster and they'd just plug them in and coach them up. But, it's a lot harder than that. They need reps and lots of them. They grossly miscalculated the room they had and the ability for those guys to just play where they put them. Or, in some cases, for them to just play at all. But, like others, I got sucked in to the preseason hype of the team and expected that they'd "figure" it out.
And, Kelly's comments yesterday further cement these thoughts for me. I was very disappointed to see that he spent a lot of time scapegoating the OL struggles on having to "play the 3rd string LT" or Tosh Baker. If I was Tosh, I would point out that he's not the only one that isn't playing well. Accountability should start at the top. I'd much rather see coach point out that this is a room full of OL that need to play better and that they need to do a better job of coaching and developing them. Because that is the truth. ND is OL U because of it's standards. Those standards are achieved through accountability of performance and competition. Lugg should've never been handed a job. Correll should've never been the LG without more practice. And, if the answer is, we don't have anyone better then that's not Tosh Baker's fault but the entire offensive coaching staffs for their evaluations and development of the players they do have.
This is nothing short of a disaster at the present. And, like (I believe) NDAccountant stated, this will probably account for an epic failure or two this season. Could it have been avoided last March/April? Probably doubtful. But, it certainly didn't help being so cavalier with reps when it's crystal clear everybody, sans Patterson, needed more of them where they'd ultimately be playing. The real answer is always a lot further in the past, like recruiting since 2018-2019, but it's hard to not be frustrated with the present.
