Housewright Interview w/Flores

[Augustus]

I’m not encouraged after reading this interview.

That's being generous.

I am DIScouraged after reading this interview. This guy is a smug clown who doesn't appear to know what in the h*** he is doing.

[Joe Bobcat]

People have been getting extremely spoiled/arrogant/disrespectful on this board/twitter/etc.
House/Vigen/anyone associated with bobcat football does not owe us any answers for anything, not why some one didn’t play much, not why certain plays were called and not specifics on injuries.
The fact that we are calling for coaches jobs after an 8-3 year and a first round bye is RIDICULOUS.
Be better, be a truly supportive fan.

You're using the word we rather loosely when you say that we are calling for coaches jobs. Some are calling for jobs but shouldn't it at least take a majority before you say we? A quick count in this thread shows only about 10% of the posts actually calling for replacement of this one coach. Most of the posts are basically expressing a desire that this coach needs to be better.
I can't speak for others but what I mean is he needs to be a better person. The simple act of him being a better person would immediately make him a better coach.

[ThoughtUKnew14]

Housewright sure is one arrogant dude. This offense hasn’t done ****** against the best 3 teams we faced! This interview didn’t give me any sense of confidence heading into Saturday.

So much is going on behind the scenes and I hope it all comes out after the season. IMO there is a lack of institutional control!

[bobcatfan123]

People have been getting extremely spoiled/arrogant/disrespectful on this board/twitter/etc.
House/Vigen/anyone associated with bobcat football does not owe us any answers for anything, not why some one didn’t play much, not why certain plays were called and not specifics on injuries.
The fact that we are calling for coaches jobs after an 8-3 year and a first round bye is RIDICULOUS.
Be better, be a truly supportive fan.

You're using the word we rather loosely when you say that we are calling for coaches jobs. Some are calling for jobs but shouldn't it at least take a majority before you say we? A quick count in this thread shows only about 10% of the posts actually calling for replacement of this one coach. Most of the posts are basically expressing a desire that this coach needs to be better.
I can't speak for others but what I mean is he needs to be a better person. The simple act of him being a better person would immediately make him a better coach.

I agree Joe Bobcat.

Being a better person makes you a better leader. . . I also think having kids helps with both leadership and personal development. You become completely selfless in so many aspects.

I think it’s much harder to develop that identity otherwise. I think Housewright is TRYING too hard to present confidence.


Just needs to work on being genuine

[GoldstoneCat]

I'm going to reserve judgment on him as a human being. I've never met the man. Certainly some red flags (the DUI, sideline look at times, etc) but we've had plenty of beloved players and coaches who have made mistakes, and who have been arrogant or brash at times. If we we scoring 40 on SDSU and he was yelling at the QBs we'd call him "fiery."
My issue with him is the offense in big games, especially on the road. He does not seem to be able to figure out a way to sequence plays if the "first 15" doesn't work. When almost the entire scheme, plan, identity of your offense is to get the ball rolling downhill, get a defense dizzied up and their eyes moving laterally, you simply have to have some things you can get to if your initial runs don't work. Sometimes defenses just scout you and play well, and sometimes they're really good. But if you're an elite offense, as we style ourselves as, you've got to be able to morph and adjust quickly to that, and there are times where we can't.
Anybody who watches that grizzly game or the film from it can see that there were plays to be made that the players didn't make. I'm OK with that being called out, and even being called out publicly in a general sense, as I think that provides accountability. I remember being shocked the first time Choate did it because it never happened prior. But you have to take some yourself, as coaches, and not just lip service, when it doesn't go well.

[LTown Cat]

I believe Vigen has 6 FCS losses. Look at the scoring in those. More than 10 only 3 times. More than 20 only once. Admittedly these are to the best teams Vigen has faced but the offense isn’t getting it done against the good teams. From a scoring standpoint Idaho was the best performance, especially if you factor drops and missed FGs.

To me it isn’t losing those games…it’s not even being competitive in the majority of those games. I watched a lot of the rivalry games last weekend and in most the over matched teams at least made them interesting.

Last, if he’s going to put blame on one guy doing something wrong every time…ok, that’s still his fault as leader of the offense.

[94VegasCat]

When exactly are our Coordinators having their dates in court? Hasn’t been any talk of that here at all that I’ve seen.

I just saw that Beau Baldwin is out at ASU. He’s always had great offenses. Get him in our house.

[BelligerentBobcat]

I don’t particularly care for Housewright, and certainly don’t think that was a stellar interview, but some of you are misunderstanding a lot of what he said.

A lot of what he said certainly wasn’t wrong. I think he’s just a poor communicator with the press, which isn’t exactly what you want from a coach, but I digress. I don’t expect any coach to be thoroughly honest and forthcoming scheme and strategy wise with the media, just isn’t going to happen. Is he arrogant? Yeah, and you’d be hard pressed to find a coach that isn’t. Humility isn’t exactly a strength for top coaches. They’re stubborn, all-knowing, in a word, arrogant. We should remember there’s a ton of stuff going on that we know literally nothing about. We don’t know the playbook, don’t go to practices, don’t see how the players are doing in class, don’t watch film with them. We think we’re smart, and sometimes we’re even right, but in general, we don’t know ******.

Anyways, Vigen is the top dog here. He knows exactly what is at stake, and if he thinks Housewright is a problem he’ll get rid of him.

[BornBobcat2000]

What BN would have liked to hear:

"Chambers will be starting QB with Mellott, Davis and Elliot in the diamond formation."

Maybe, and I'm just spit balling here, the goal was to give absolutely no information on the Bison game plan.

I for one wasn't looking to hear that Chambers is starting and they would run the diamond formation, and I didn't want him to give any part of the game plan.
But the things he did say and how he said them were so uninspiring and disappointing that my opinion of him is even lower than before reading that interview. To use his own words, the man is "just out of sync, out of whack" and no I don't find him interesting.

The last sentence from the interview was, "We scored a lot of points doing it the way we've done it so far this year." I would like to point out to him that scoring 16,21, and 7 points against the 3 best teams the Cats have faced so far this year wasn't enough and that NDSU is as good or better than 2 of those teams. Bottom line is they're going to have to do better and more than they did in those 3 games. If he isn't aware of that now he will be by the end of the game on Saturday.

Exactly. That came across as very arrogant as his interviews often do, and the reality is that our offense has been very underwhelming when we play good defenses. It’s easy to score points when we totally overwhelm the opponent’s defensive line, which our team will do to a lot of teams, but when we have more of an even matchup our play calling and execution has been inconsistent at best

[Cledus]

Housewright is a clown… Plenty of blame on the players but NOT ONE mention of self accountability or potential for him to call better plays suited to the players. Such a classless ass. The dude has an extraordinary amount of swag for a coordinator whose offenses have folded far too often on the biggest of season stages.

When Vigen hired him, Housewright hadn't had any literal coaching experience in something like five years. He'd just been an analyst (e.g. spreadsheet nerd). I'm not knocking spreadsheet nerds because I'm probably the biggest one here, but being good with Excel doesn't make me better at my profession.

He might have great ideas and he might have a brilliant offensive mind, but if he can't execute then he's no better than sh|t on a stick. Plus, assuming he doesn't have a drinking problem then he's got the maturity of an adolescent or a sub-25 adult.

I'd love to see Vigen promote Udy.

[ThoughtUKnew14]

When exactly are our Coordinators having their dates in court? Hasn’t been any talk of that here at all that I’ve seen.

I just saw that Beau Baldwin is out at ASU. He’s always had great offenses. Get him in our house.

Get Beau as our HC. He knows the Big Sky and had success at EWU! Can you imagine our run game with a splash of the throwing offenses he had at EWU!!!

Vigen is clearly looking elsewhere, maybe he’ll get a new gig and all the pieces will fall into place!

[84CatGrad]

If Vigen doesn't replace both the OC and DC this offseason then I can't see how he is the right man for the job.

That's right! Replace our lousy OC and DC who could do no better than a horrible 8-3 record, an average winning margin of 41-20, and a #6 seed in the playoffs. Off with their heads!

[ThoughtUKnew14]

If Vigen doesn't replace both the OC and DC this offseason then I can't see how he is the right man for the job.

That's right! Replace our lousy OC and DC who could do no better than a horrible 8-3 record, an average winning margin of 41-20, and a #6 seed in the playoffs. Off with their heads!

I think you’re failing to understand just how poorly we have competed against good competition.

However, out of curiosity how many years in a row would the scenario you describe be acceptable before a change should be implemented? Honest question…

[St George]

Just my opinion, but Housewright isn't doing the team or his career any good by keeping Chambers on the bench.

[Camo_Cat]

If Vigen doesn't replace both the OC and DC this offseason then I can't see how he is the right man for the job.

That's right! Replace our lousy OC and DC who could do no better than a horrible 8-3 record, an average winning margin of 41-20, and a #6 seed in the playoffs. Off with their heads!

You do realize that those stats are padded with wins against some very poor teams? Of our 8 wins, only 2 came against teams with a winning record - Sac State (8-4) and Weber (6-5). And even the win against Weber was not that quality of a win considering how most people thought they were going to be much better than they were.

Combined, the overall record of teams we beat this year was 36-53. I think what most everyone here is frustrated about is that we have no problem rolling weak teams, especially at home, but struggled against quality opponents. It doesn't take much of a genius at either OC or DC to beat the teams we beat. Where our staff struggled was game planning against good teams.

[Camo_Cat]

If Vigen doesn't replace both the OC and DC this offseason then I can't see how he is the right man for the job.

That's right! Replace our lousy OC and DC who could do no better than a horrible 8-3 record, an average winning margin of 41-20, and a #6 seed in the playoffs. Off with their heads!

You do realize that those stats are padded with wins against some very poor teams? Of our 8 wins, only 2 came against teams with a winning record - Sac State (8-4) and Weber (6-5). And even the win against Weber was not that quality of a win considering how most people thought they were going to be much better than they were.

Combined, the overall record of teams we beat this year was 36-53. I think what most everyone here is frustrated about is that we have no problem rolling weak teams, especially at home, but struggled against quality opponents. It doesn't take much of a genius at either OC or DC to beat the teams we beat. Where our staff struggled was game planning against good teams.

In comparison, of SDSU's 11 wins, 7 of them came against teams in this year's FCS playoffs - MSU, Drake, UND, S. Illinois, USD, NDSU, and YSU. There's a reason they are king of the hill; they beat all-comers good and bad.

[coloradocat]

I don’t particularly care for Housewright, and certainly don’t think that was a stellar interview, but some of you are misunderstanding a lot of what he said.

A lot of what he said certainly wasn’t wrong. I think he’s just a poor communicator with the press, which isn’t exactly what you want from a coach, but I digress. I don’t expect any coach to be thoroughly honest and forthcoming scheme and strategy wise with the media, just isn’t going to happen. Is he arrogant? Yeah, and you’d be hard pressed to find a coach that isn’t. Humility isn’t exactly a strength for top coaches. They’re stubborn, all-knowing, in a word, arrogant. We should remember there’s a ton of stuff going on that we know literally nothing about. We don’t know the playbook, don’t go to practices, don’t see how the players are doing in class, don’t watch film with them. We think we’re smart, and sometimes we’re even right, but in general, we don’t know ******.

Anyways, Vigen is the top dog here. He knows exactly what is at stake, and if he thinks Housewright is a problem he’ll get rid of him.

A lot of people here are intentionally misreading what Housewright said throughout the interview. They need someone to hate and he makes himself an easy target at times.

He's not a great communicator with the media but that's not generally a part of his job as a coordinator. How often do non-HCs really do interviews, especially below the FBS level? He mostly needs to work on his coach-speak. He toes the line between that and honesty and it comes out poorly. The only illuminating (non)answers, which were really the entire reason for the interview, were around Chambers.

TH: No comment. Yeah, I can’t. That’s… yeah, no. Sorry.

TH: Yeah, we'll see. I think obviously when those two guys are rolling, as you know, it's a good thing. It's tough, some of that stuff is, when you're moving the ball and you get down there and don't move the ball. That changes things. His role’s been his role, and sometimes the rhythm doesn't work that way. Obviously there are other things in there that are between us as a program. Always want to try to put our best 11 out there.

Those two answers are a good example of his lack of skill in interviews. They make it seem like there's something going on behind the scenes but he can't or doesn't want to talk about it, but he's not practiced enough to just say nothing the right way.

[CelticCat]

After reading this I was definitely unimpressed and it didn't give me much confidence for Saturday, but now I actually agree with some of the comments here that maybe we are reading too much into it and Housewright just sucks at interviews. He's always struck me as somewhat of an immature guy but for the most part his results have been good and frankly it isn't his job to be likable. Let's also not forget this in just his 3rd season as an OC, he is still learning and (hopefully) growing. Vigen knows all the behind the scenes stuff.

Bobcat fans want answers and Housewright (fairly...?) doesn't want to give them right now, and to make matters worse doesn't really know how to answer "no comment" type questions very elegantly, so it's a bad mix.

[Augustus]

Let's also not forget this in just his 3rd season as an OC, he is still learning and (hopefully) growing.

If the (purported) goal is to win a national championship, why, pray tell, do we have an offensive coordinator who requires OJT?

The guy needs to be coordinating a high school team, not the Bobcats.

[2015cat]

If Vigen doesn't replace both the OC and DC this offseason then I can't see how he is the right man for the job.

That's right! Replace our lousy OC and DC who could do no better than a horrible 8-3 record, an average winning margin of 41-20, and a #6 seed in the playoffs. Off with their heads!

I think you’re failing to understand just how poorly we have competed against good competition.

However, out of curiosity how many years in a row would the scenario you describe be acceptable before a change should be implemented? Honest question…

Say the TD wasn’t overturned vs SDSU and say the kick is good vs Idaho. Two things that the coaching staff don’t have a say in. How different do you look at this season and staff?