So, Barry Brunetti...
by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Jan 13, 2011 8:42 AM EST
Email
PrintYou should already know why I'm over here asking about your former backup quarterback, so I'll spare any sort of pleasant introduction and dive right into this: what is wrong with Barry Brunetti?
Is he a troublemaker, rabblerouser, or all-around ne'er do well? Does he have a snotty attitude? Does he have terrible on-field decision making? Does he not respect authority? Does he not understand even the simplest of playbooks? Does he wilt under pressure?
Something's gotta be wrong with this guy, or else he wouldn't have transferred to my Ole Miss, right? I mean, just look at what we've endured at quarterback for the past several seasons:
- 2006-2007 - Brent Schaeffer, former Tennessee Volunteer who was kicked out of school (Think about that for a minute; he was kicked out of Tennessee.) for beating the hell out of some guy over a cell phone. He eventually wound up at Ole Miss where shitty coaching compounded with a shittier attitude rendered the otherwise talented Schaeffer completely worthless.
- 2008-2009 - Jevan Snead, former Texas Longhorn who transferred out of Austin to avoid competing for playing time against Colt McCoy. Soon thereafter, it would be revealed that he wasn't really that good at quarterback to begin with as he would crumble in half of the big games he ever played in and eventually lead the FBS in interceptions in his second season under center.
- 2010 - Jeremiah Masoli, former Oregon Duck who was kicked off of the team for two run-ins with Johnny law in a year, decides to clean up his image in Oxford, Mississippi. He actually played really good ball for us this past season, at times seeming like the only player on the field to actually give a damn, but garnered our program more negative press than wins. Also, he was only able to suit up for the Rebs for one lone season meaning that his efforts were more-or-less in vain.
Ole Miss hasn't had a starting quarterback since Ethan Flatt ("Who?" Exactly.) who was recruited to play for Ole Miss out of high school. And, since we somehow aren't able to attract talented quarterbacks out of high school, we've become adept to searching around for somebody else's sloppy seconds. I hate to jump the gun on this guy, but recent history has dictated that something somehow must be wrong with Barry Brunetti. What exactly could that be?
Or, somehow, is he a legitimately talented guy who simply didn't want to sit behind an even more talented Geno Smith and wanted to move closer to home? Could it really be that simple and that innocent? Could we have landed, for once, a solid quarterback transfer who could actually remain a part of our program for several seasons?
Thanks in advance. I'll hang up and listen.
PS - Can any of y'all hook a brother up with lift passes at Snowshoe? I'd appreciate it.
19 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
or...
he could just want to be closer to home since his mother was in a car accident this year.
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Jan 13, 2011 9:10 AM EST reply actions
x2
Plus I don’t think he wanted to sit behind Geno for another 2 years. I was never on the Brunetti Band wagon, so I never really cared that he left.
by ShadyMountaineer on Jan 13, 2011 9:55 AM EST up reply actions
I think Barry Brunetti is in the Barry Brunetti business.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as you need that type of confidence in a starting quarterback. I think Brunetti committed to WVU with the idea that he could come in and beat out projected (but generally untested) starter Geno Smith. That didn’t happen. Seeing the writing on the wall that he could potentially sit for two more years before starting as a senior (or a redshirt junior if that happened in the next two years), Ole Miss looked like a better option. Plus, it’s close to home, which is always a plus for kids that aren’t happy with their college situation.
He’s certainly not a troublemaker, rabblerouser, or all-around ne’er do well, at least that we’ve seen yet. From all accounts, he’s a good, upstanding kid that thinks he should be a starting QB. Apparently, he thinks he has a better shot at that opportunity at Ole Miss than WVU.
by Dr. Charley West on Jan 13, 2011 10:08 AM EST reply actions
+1
Da'Sean Butler - A Mountaineer Legend
by McCutchenIsTheTruth on Jan 14, 2011 1:15 PM EST up reply actions
Also,
He was an Elite 11 quarterback coming out of high school. But then again, so was Tom Savage, and he got beat out of his position as the starting QB at Rutgers by a wide receiver (Mohammed Sanu). So take that for what it’s worth.
I think Brunetti could be a solid QB for Ole Miss, and I certainly wish him the best.
Barry, We Hardly Knew Ya
I got the impression that OC Mullen was in love with Geno and was very clear that Geno was his guy. That’s great for Geno but not so good for Barry and Jeremy Johnson. Mullen didn’t have much confidence in Barry judging from the comments about lack of depth at the position as an explanation as to why Geno wasn’t running the ball. Of course they started Geno running the ball just after they made that statement so who really knows besides Stew/Mullen.
Brunetti and Savage may have suffered from the same ailment, incompetent coaching.
I was with you until the last sentence.
Completely different situations, IMO. We didn’t even see Brunetti play, so we can’t really evaluate how good he is/was/would have been. But we CAN evaluate Geno, who also happened to be an Elite 11 QB, and was in the same class as Savage. He actually had a pretty good year, IMO. He had a good TD:INT ratio, and posted what, the 2nd or 3rd best season, yardage-wise, by a WVU QB? His stats compared favorably to guys like Jake Locker and Blane Gabbart, who some folks are mentioning as high draft picks this year. Now, he was no Newton, Steven Weedon, Landry Jones, or Andrew Luck, but he had a solid season. Rutgers would have been ecstatic with Geno’s stats. So to say Brunetti had poor coaching would be to say that Geno had poor coaching (as opposed to poor playcalling), and I simply don’t think the evidence supports that. Or at least it’s not comparable to Savage’s situation.
by Country Roads on Jan 13, 2011 6:07 PM EST up reply actions
Brunetti played the whole fourth quarter against UNLV (I was there)
He QB’d three drives. One went three and out, one went 46 yards for a TD and one ended the game after six plays. The coaches had him on a simplified game plan – hand off to Shawne Alston, Matt Lindmood, Trey Johnson, or Daquan Hargrett. I remember Barry only got to throw the ball three or four times, and only completed one of them.
"Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature." ~ Tom Robbins
by MtnEer_in_SC on Jan 13, 2011 7:07 PM EST up reply actions
I said it then, and I still believe it now – it was a disgrace to put in your true freshman backup quarterback and not give him any real experience beside turning and handing the ball off. It’s not running up the score to have your backup throw the ball to learn the position. It seemed Stewart was more concerned with the feelings of the other team than preparing his own team for the future.
The Premise
of my post was that Geno was the chosen one and Brunetti (and Johnson for that matter) was given very little opportunity. I realize that all backups must wait their turn but we lost two highly rated qb’s in one season and it seemed to me that Mullen did a poor job of keeping Brunetti and Johnson invested in the program, so they left the program. So to say Brunetti and Johnson may have been mishandled does not imply that Geno was mishandled.
I just don't think you can compare Savage and Brunetti.
Savage started as a true freshman and then regressed in his sophomore season to the point where he lost his starting spot. Brunetti was (fairly or unfairly) stuck behind a sophomore starter who was having a pretty good season.
by Country Roads on Jan 14, 2011 10:56 AM EST up reply actions
I Didn't Compare Savage and Brunetti
Stating that Brunetti and Savage may have both suffered from poor coaching isn’t comparing their respective situations or abilities.
That's not how I took what you read.
But even so, how did Brunetti suffer from poor coaching? Just because we didn’t play him as much as he wanted?
by Country Roads on Jan 14, 2011 11:59 AM EST up reply actions
That's Not How You Took What I Read?
I assume you meant that is not how you took what I wrote.
Brunetti and Johnson are gone and it may be that things could have been better here for them or they would still be here. Part of coaching is keeping backups engaged and invested in the program, particularly when the backup is your only backup.
However, I don’t know this for sure which is why I used the phrase “may have been”. Perhaps I am wrong.
What indications of solid coaching did you see from Brunetti or Johnson?
Yeah, what you wrote. I think I meant to say how I read what you wrote. Or something like that lol.
I guess I can’t say anything about how Brunetti or Johnson were coached because I didn’t see them play other than BB handing the ball off at the end of a blowout or two. I’m basing how they were “coached” on how Geno was “coached” because they all shared the same QB coach, Mullen. Now, I don’t particularly like Mullen as an OC, but I (as a lay observer) thought he did a decent job as a QB coach as our QBs seemed to have good fundamentals and make accurate throws, at least for the most part.
I think maybe our disconnect is that you are connecting coaching to managing their playing time/happiness with the team/etc. with their fundamentals/play on the field/productin? I tend to separate the two, and I agree that perhaps BB and JJ could have been managed better in their development, but I don’t think they were poorly coached in the same sense that Savage was poorly coached to the point he got worse on the field.
by Country Roads on Jan 14, 2011 3:45 PM EST up reply actions
I agree with you there.
And it’s Locker.
by Country Roads on Jan 14, 2011 10:55 AM EST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on The Smoking Musket
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
