And Weis himself said in his presser that the explanation for ND's running woes the last couple years would require "a 20-minute answer," which means it goes well beyond "Latina was the problem."

He dropped our sack total from 58 to 20 last year - the lowest in 8 years.

Maybe the guy was just gripping the bat way too tight.

I think you hit the nail on the head.

I presume Weis thought highly of Latina and felt he was a good line coach. He probably also felt that Latina would eventually be the right fit for his system. While the running game was never great, it was serviceable enough in 2005 and 2006 to hide many of the underlying issues.

Maybe the best of the things... :)

I've had guys that I held onto on teams for too long, just for liking them, or for feeling like I had other fires to squelch first. Only when my own butt was really on the line because of them or because I failed to work with them well did I pull the trigger.

Maybe both Weis and I are bad managers, but I see that sort of thing happen all the time.

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Sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes I rhyme quick.

It might just be that Latina is a good line coach for certain schemes, but does not have the toolset to pull off the zone blocking that Weis' offense demands.

It makes you wonder, though...why did he stick for four years?

I do it in my work. If I have a problem, and no way to fix it elegantly within my domain of knowledge, I try to brute force it.

My guess, Latina's answer to the OL problems was "more coaching."

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Sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes I rhyme quick.

Also interesting: His nitty-gritty details in his coaching echo so much of what's been said on a litany of forums and blogs. Sometimes I wonder if the crowd could see the issues because we were further away from them.

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Sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes I rhyme quick.

A guy holding an ESPN microphone asks Johnson "Do you see differences this year compared to other years coming back?"

Johnson: "This is my first year, so....."

Nice work ESPN.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/video/college-football/Johnson-Speed-is-my-strength-48073;_ylt=...

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It also makes you scratch your head. What the hell was Latina teaching the last four years?

We've suffered in technique for a long time, and everyone has noticed that. It's about time we got a technician to coach the line. If this is true, I expect quick dividends. A good line could legitimately mean an NC run for this team.

Rivals has a look:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/video/college-football/offensive-line-gets-to-work-48060

It struck me how detailed he was in his critique. Constant feedback, constant emphasis on little things.

Then I see an interview from today with Sam Young on UND.com. First question, what do you think of Verducci so far?

Young: "He's a technician. For me, that's a good thing, because I think I've been lacking in my technique, and it's something I've needed to work on. It's a different perspective. He brings a lot of things to the table that I haven't heard before, that the guys haven't heard before."

Very interesting.