The Martins

[Riddickulous]

They're not related, but two of our greatest unsung heroes this season both have the last name Martin:

LT Zach Martin
Defensive backs coach Chuck Martin

Zach Martin has been relatively solid on the outside, especially for a sophomore in his first starting role. He's done a pretty good job at protecting Dayne Crist's blind side. Last week, aside from the first play of the game, he did a great job at completely shutting down a great defensive end in Jabaal Sheard. There is incredibly noticeable improvement over Paul Duncan from a year ago. He could be potentially be an outstanding tackle down the road, as he still has three full years of eligibility.


Now for Chuck Martin. This guy is just phenomenal. He was 74-7 at Grand Valley for a reason. What incredible improvement in the pass defense. Gary Gray has been a complete stud, Robert Blanton is studly and Darrin Walls is still average but light-years ahead of last year. His work with Harrison Smith has been incredible. Smith has been fairly good at saftey, considering he is on the field almost every play. And good old Chuck is at the forefront of our current #4 recruiting class. Good deal.

 

[IrishInColumbus]

I couldn't agree more.

Give Chuck Martin a pay raise, that man needs to stick around.

 

[JughedJones]

Here Here and Amen!

Chuck is doing something that many before him haven't been able to do: Make our defense intimidating.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I agree with everything except I think Darrin Walls has been above average, considering his shoulder, and Harrison Smith has been a stud also. As BK says he is the leadership, and the glue that keeps the db's together!

 

[irish1958]

Finally, some coaching!!

 

[TinyT]

I think that these talents were already here, but the scheme put them in bad and overly confusing situations. I do not believe that any of the above players have been even associated with the root cause of the secondary's problems. I grow tired of blaming players...it is just seems that it is so unlikely that they all made a jump this year, solely because somebody showed them a better way. I firmly believe that scheme and maturity, and even perhaps an increased level of accountability forced an improvement in all of the players, not just the secondary!

To give credit to one coach is incredibly short sighted.

 

[PatsandBostonfan1975]

I think that these talents were already here, but the scheme put them in bad and overly confusing situations. I do not believe that any of the above players have been even associated with the root cause of the secondary's problems. I grow tired of blaming players...it is just seems that it is so unlikely that they all made a jump this year, solely because somebody showed them a better way. I firmly believe that scheme and maturity, and even perhaps an increased level of accountability forced an improvement in all of the players, not just the secondary!

To give credit to one coach is incredibly short sighted.

Agreed but just in case lets give him a 10 year contract !!!!!!!

 

[irish1958]

I think that these talents were already here, but the scheme put them in bad and overly confusing situations. I do not believe that any of the above players have been even associated with the root cause of the secondary's problems. I grow tired of blaming players...it is just seems that it is so unlikely that they all made a jump this year, solely because somebody showed them a better way. I firmly believe that scheme and maturity, and even perhaps an increased level of accountability forced an improvement in all of the players, not just the secondary!

To give credit to one coach is incredibly short sighted.

But that is exactly what coaching is. Football is a team sport and no one facet stands alone. The best secondary is worthless if the QB is given five or ten seconds to make a play; on the other hand, if the secondary is out of position and misses assignments, the best pass rush or run defense is worthless.

When I refer to coaching, I mean the entire coaching staff. All too often in recent years, players arrived with great potential which was neither recognized nor developed.

 

[Old Man Mike]

There's nothing wrong with giving an individual coach some praise. We've been praising Kelly for months and Diaco for weeks and several others here and there. I like that someone decided to call Martin up and think that we should cite everyone of them in turn for what they're doing---which is obviously a lot. I'm all for generous praise and respectful criticism for all our gang, both coaches and players---so good job Chuck Martin, and same to Riddickulous for bringing it up

 

[JughedJones]

Agreed but just in case lets give him a 10 year contract !!!!!!!

HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Reps for funny.

 

[TinyT]

I don't have a problem with giving coaches credit when it is due. I just feel that it is a tad premature to say that the coaches are the sole reason for the improvement. The secondary is a year more experienced, and maybe, just maybe the players made some individual effort to improve themselves.

I also don't enjoy reading how a player is just average or any other downplay of what they have accomplished. I am going to pull a statistic out of my arse here, any scholarship player is a more talented and better football player than 99% of the people on this board.

It really irks me that these kids sacrifice so much for our entertainment, and the thanks that we give them is calling them out for something we couldn't do ourselves.

Slam the coaches all you want, but leave the kids out of it, each and every one of those guys is exceptional simply for earning a scholarship to play at Notre Dame.