Former coach talks about Pete Kaligis and Dave Christensen

[WyoBrandX]

I spoke with College Hall of Fame football coach Don James today for a story in Friday's "Coin Toss" on Wyoming running backs coach Pete Kaligis, who was an offensive lineman on James' national champion Washington team in 1991.

http://trib.com/news/opinion/blogs/cowboys/hall-of-famer-don-james-says-wyoming-s-christensen-was/article_5cc7e186-1917-5001-8aa3-58f5795cde2c.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Practice in the Rain:
http://trib.com/news/opinion/blogs/cowboys/wyoming-gains-valuable-experience-by-practicing-in-rain/article_30851e0d-27fb-5179-a34d-1e44f0a46a91.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting article as well:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsususports/56857221-55/game-week-season-force.html.csp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Boise Coach on Air Force

What did Petersen learn from that experience?

"That I was really hoping that we wouldn't be in the same league as them," he said. "It's not fun to go against them."

In the same article, the Ram's are overlooking Cal Poly:

The Rams didn't focus on the specifics of each team's version of the offense, McElwain said, but they did spend time learning the basic principles they'll employ to try to slow down the rushing attacks of Cal Poly, Air Force and New Mexico. The Rams allowed Air Force to run for 459 yards last season in a 42-21 loss to the Falcons but limited New Mexico to just 137 rushing yards later in the season in a 24-20 win over the Lobos.

 

[fromolwyoming]

Its true though with DC, he does know how to call the game for offense. Only question is, why did he wait this long? Because unlike the last 4 years, we've actually been able to have a balanced offense with (mostly, trick play still stands out) great offensive play calling. Last year, against bad defenses, we struggled to move the ball after the 1st half in every game except Idaho. This year, we made swiss cheese out of not only Idaho, but Nebraska as well.

 

[YankPoke]

Its true though with DC, he does know how to call the game for offense. Only question is, why did he wait this long? Because unlike the last 4 years, we've actually been able to have a balanced offense with (mostly, trick play still stands out) great offensive play calling. Last year, against bad defenses, we struggled to move the ball after the 1st half in every game except Idaho. This year, we made swiss cheese out of not only Idaho, but Nebraska as well.

My opinion is that he was waiting to build up enough athletes in the program to be able to run his offense. Also he needed some time to get used to being the head coach for the first time in his career. I do think it was his plan all along to eventually go back to calling plays once he felt they had enough talent, and when he felt comfortable.

 

[Fullback41]

Its true though with DC, he does know how to call the game for offense. Only question is, why did he wait this long? Because unlike the last 4 years, we've actually been able to have a balanced offense with (mostly, trick play still stands out) great offensive play calling. Last year, against bad defenses, we struggled to move the ball after the 1st half in every game except Idaho. This year, we made swiss cheese out of not only Idaho, but Nebraska as well.

I didn't mind the trick play call. DC kind of called himself out during the postgame interview on that one. I think the defender putting pressure on the back throwing the ball killed that play. I think without the pressure, we score a TD. It was an aggressive play call, trying to score, just didn't work, and the TO happens with those kinds of plays. You just gotta gamble some times to win big games.

 

[djm19]

Wyoming has not played Northern Colorado since 1949, but in that game it set an NCAA record for most points in a game with a 103-0 victory. ...

 

[TSpoke]

Its true though with DC, he does know how to call the game for offense. Only question is, why did he wait this long? Because unlike the last 4 years, we've actually been able to have a balanced offense with (mostly, trick play still stands out) great offensive play calling. Last year, against bad defenses, we struggled to move the ball after the 1st half in every game except Idaho. This year, we made swiss cheese out of not only Idaho, but Nebraska as well.

My opinion is that he was waiting to build up enough athletes in the program to be able to run his offense. Also he needed some time to get used to being the head coach for the first time in his career. I do think it was his plan all along to eventually go back to calling plays once he felt they had enough talent, and when he felt comfortable.

I read in an interview somewhere that in the first several years he was concentrating on geting the entire team set to his system and getting players and coaches used to the program and how we run things and this year his system is installed and players and coaches know what to expect so he has more time to devote to offense instead of overlooking the entire program as much. He also said he met Mike Holmgren in Arizona and had a talk and Mike told him that if you are a play caller then always call the plays. So I think those two things lead him to taking the reigns this year.