Jim Harding

[Utah5410]

How do we feel about him ? Would someone who knows coaching help me understand is he a good coach ? Whit says he is.. But, his O-line was terrible two years ago. Then CR started playing and then all of the sudden the O-line is good…

Is he a good coach or super overrated ?

Our Line has Been Terrible This Year.

[Utah]

I have 100% been in Harding’s corner. I fully felt that he was a very good recruiter, which he is, and he just needed time to get his guys in. His first couple years he did an excellent job piece mealing together a line that was not up to P5 standards. Then the next few years, he got his guys in, but there was injury after injury after injury.

Right now, we are fully stocked with his guys. We have good depth. We have a really, really good OL room. Right now, there is no excuses.

So, my grade on Harding is this: He’s fine. Not great. Definitely not bad. There are a ton of worse OL coaches out there. If you can upgrade him with something proven, I’m ok with that. If you can’t and you keep him…I’m ok with that as well.

Harding is good enough and you could do a lot worse. A lot worse. But if an elite OL coach came along and you moved on, I’d be ok with that as well.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

It’s tough for an offensive line when they have 7 and 8 in the box. Barnes holds the ball and goes right everytime. He never steps up. How good would the line be with Nix and their receivers?

Our defensive got dominated by Oregon. I think a good QB and balanced offense make an offensive line better. We have talent and Hardy isn’t the problem. Our “throw” game is the issue. We’re not going to dominate every team on the line at this level. All good teams are strong on both lines. Hardy is a proven commodity. Our receivers and passing game is the issue.

[2008 National Champ]

When did it become okay to call out the coaches?

The GOAT hired Harding —> The GOAT has never made a mistake —> Harding is the best OL coach ever

Why do you want to Fire Whitt?

[//r00t4Utes]

Going back many years, the OLine is probably what I complain about the most. With that said both Ludwig and Harding were sought after by Notre Dame this past off season, so they must be well thought of nationally.

[2008 National Champ]

Deepest, most talented line in the history of Utah is pretty much the quote

[RedRocks]

Careful. Questioning people’s opinions is frowned upon around here… 😉

[2008 National Champ]

hee-hee. I’ve got the downvotes to prove it

[Charlie]

As soon as an offense struggles, the OL will be viewed as poor. Same as soon as an offense is predictable. The OL depends greatly on scheme requiring the Defense and especially the DL to play both run and pass for one or two counts, pickup reads, then react. A single second or a single step means the world. Receivers don’t separate, most notice the OL. QB reacts slow, most notice the OL. RB misses the crease, most notice the OL. Of course, there are good OLs but when they are doing great, most notice the RBs and QBs. The relationship between play calling and OL is similar. The key to winning in the trenches for the offense is the defense is guessing or when wrong, confused. The key to winning in the trenches for the defense is to make the offense one dimensional or predictable. The same OL will look great or horrible simply due to these things.

Still, there are good and bad days for the OL and some are better than others. You need rows and rows of fans to find someone that might get to the bottom of this because those that do use film study. Utah’s OL defiantly have some things to clean up, however, if Bernard and Jackson along with Rising and Kuithe were healthy they would suddenly be improved. If Utah could execute quick throws on a scripted drive like Oregon did on the first two, the same OL would be considered good as they block for 3 seconds.

The skill guys on the offense and the OL work hand in hand. If I was to begin getting granted wishes for the offense, I would start first with the QB. Acid test: if Nix was our QB would he struggle with our OL? A QB that makes quick reads and passes would be first. Second would be the second part of quick passes, being receivers that have been working for months and months with 1 QB getting to know the finer points of each other that only comes with that many reps. I think our receivers are yet to gain that rhythm due to the multiple QBs. An average amount of injuries would be a great wish granted. Last, the TEs slipped away from us, I suppose the next guys have not developed. Ludwig may not have adjusted the offense, which was great, enough for the changes in personal we have experienced.

I suppose an OL without pieces in and out and even a better OL would help, it just does not jump up as our greatest need for me. But this is an armature view.

[Ute2]

This!

The oline looks bad because our opponents are keying the run.

Barnes had a chance to loosen that up vs. Oregon. But he missed open dudes in favor of short routes and check downs.

Been the story all year. We just need great qb play! The rest will(or would) fall into place.

[2008 National Champ]

The opponents have been keying the run since Utah got into the PAC, if not before. Why would this year be any different for the O Line?

Utah was at least able to have an offense that was complimentary to the defense and special teams with Jon Hayes, Travis Wilson and Troy Williams at QB. Why does the team require great QB play this year?

[Ute Dub]

I think they’ve been solid. 6-2. Utah’s offense is 5th in the PAC 12 in rushing at 175 YPG and dead last in passing. Do you think the dead last part is the Olines fault? I don’t.

Here’s what the Oline is working with: do they have a featured running back that is healthy? No. Do they have a featured quarterback, no. Do they have their best offensive pass catcher? No.

Basically, I think your comment that they have been terrible is a mostly casual fan comment. There’s a reason Harding is coaching and we’re commenting on a message board.

[EagleMountainUte]

I love Whitt and everything he has done. But it is apparent the consistent Utah drum has always been to his beat. I can’t really blame other coaches anymore. He has assembled a fine team. Utah will continue to get better and build off of what Whitt established. I have no doubt about it.

Offensively though it is Whitt. Any blame lies at his feet.

[Charlie]

The big picture: Every school in the country except 7 or 8 would love to switch HCs with us. Schools above us, schools ranked higher than us, would trade HCs with us. The thinking is man, with our resources Whitt would do so much better with top recruiting. Whitt is punching way above his resources support. Who with fewer resources does better? How many schools with more resources do less? There may be exceptions on some weeks when an AFA or OSU or a undefeated mid major pop up, but month in, month out look where Utah stands the last several years. I believe it is resources, not coaches, that keep us from sticking in the top 10. If we ever had a coach better than Whitt, it would be short lived, like Meyer and they would be gone to someone with top resources. Normally, a school with our stature, would not hold on to Whitt but family connections caused him to put down deep roots. Just like mid majors have a ceiling, Utah has a ceiling relative to the power conferences. Our hope is to pop thru one year and exceed that ceiling. When the playoffs change to 12 teams that dynamic will give Utah a new opportunity and lucky for us, I think Whitt wants to stick around see what kind of bell we can ring in that world. I expect if we could review actual NIL we could see how Oregon gets a class of recruits at the level of our best single recruit.

[2008 National Champ]

The list of coaches who were in the category of “if they only were at a top school with unlimited resources” that also failed miserably is pretty long. For every Chris Petersen I’ll give you 25 Neal Brown’s.

To Eagle’s point: Whitt has been in the position for 19 years. Every aspect of the program has his fingerprints on it. He’s put forth the vision, he’s in charge of the roster formation, he’s in charge of the execution. So is the ceiling Whitt, or the University of Utah?

I’m asking plainly without judgement and won’t argue with any answer. I’d just really like to know if people truly think 8-4 or 9-3 most years with an undefeated or one loss regular season once a decade is truly the best we can hope for? Don’t get me wrong, that is damn good consistency. But as someone who dearly wants his favourite school to be one of the best instead of one of the above average, I want Whitt PLUS whatever is required to get to and stay at that next level.

I’m well aware of the Glenn Mason and Bo Pellini principles which state that a fanbase which is unhappy with just being successful deserves the wasteland that happens when they get rid of the coach who achieved that success. Which is why I’ve never advocated for getting rid of Whitt.

[Charlie]

The ceiling is not Whitt or the University of Utah. The ceiling is current resources. As an example, Oregon moved from average to where they are today, not because of a HC hire, not because of their name or culture or whatever. They moved up because their resources increased drastically relative to others. Would you rather have Oregon’s HC or their resources? Pair a very good HC with very good resources and you have the match everyone wants. The good news is it feels we may be making gains in resources.

[2008 National Champ]

I guess I’m considering the resources as under the school umbrella and you have them as a separate entity?

[Charlie]

I think they are a separate entity. Oregon’s Phil Knight or Utah’s Jon Huntsman were not developed by the university, they simply chose to support the school they loved and their success to do so was unrelated to university efforts. I am sure universities do things to welcome or attract donors but I can’t imagine the discussion in a conference room around how do we find a willing billionaire and who wants the assignment to get them ASAP. There may be a fair amount of luck involved.

[2008 National Champ]

very fair. I’ve always considered the boosters, facilities, etc., everything other than the team itself that would make a kid want to go somewhere as part B and team success, coaching staff, playing time as part A on why I would choose one school over another. It makes sense to split the outside funding off from the rest as it is not guaranteed, even though it should not change drastically while I would hypothetically be attending.