Transcript from GoHens portion of Monday's Zoom call with Coach Carty

[Cluck U]

Step away from the ledge.

We will be OK.

[hensfan40yrs]

Step away from the ledge.

We will be OK.

not sure we are at the ledge but plenty of reasons for concern.

[Udforever1]

Step away from the ledge.

We will be OK.

not sure we are at the ledge but plenty of reasons for concern.

I’m confused. What major concerns are there from a first year head coach who has been here for exactly one year after a complete waste of a decade? I certainly have some minor ones like our red zone offense, but nothing that I don’t think can or will be fixed. Some on this board are acting like we went 4-7 this year.

[77HEN]

It seems that some have latched on to this from Coach:
“ Coach Carty said that he thought the O-Line made the most progress over the course of the year of any position group, and most of them will be coming back bigger and better next year. ”

Well, it probably is true. The line went from bad to below average - that’s improvement. And he says most will be back! Take it easy boys, this is all coach speak. What’s he going to say - “they’re terrible and we have to replace just about all”? His actions will speak much louder than his words.

Funny, though, Coach mused about W&M being physical and interested to see how they fare in the next round of the playoffs. LOL! That didn’t do the CAA any favors.

[hensfan40yrs]

Step away from the ledge.

We will be OK.

not sure we are at the ledge but plenty of reasons for concern.

I’m confused. What major concerns are there from a first year head coach who has been here for exactly one year after a complete waste of a decade? I certainly have some minor ones like our red zone offense, but nothing that I don’t think can or will be fixed. Some on this board are acting like we went 4-7 this year.

Navy was a good one .... wins against Del State, Hampton, Towson, Morgan State, Monmouth, St Francis and a URI team that was overrated preseason. Seems like a continuation of the lost decade to me. Not saying he wont turn things around but the 8-4 season isn't really that impressive. We can't talk about the "weak watered down CAA" in one breath and celebrate a 8-4, 4-4 conference record with the other.

[Udforever1]

not sure we are at the ledge but plenty of reasons for concern.

I’m confused. What major concerns are there from a first year head coach who has been here for exactly one year after a complete waste of a decade? I certainly have some minor ones like our red zone offense, but nothing that I don’t think can or will be fixed. Some on this board are acting like we went 4-7 this year.

Navy was a good one .... wins against Del State, Hampton, Towson, Morgan State, Monmouth, St Francis and a URI team that was overrated preseason. Seems like a continuation of the lost decade to me. Not saying he wont turn things around but the 8-4 season isn't really that impressive. We can't talk about the "weak watered down CAA" in one breath and celebrate a 8-4, 4-4 conference record with the other.

Look, I’m in complete agreement that we need to get back to where a season like this is considered a down year. But expecting Carty to completely turn things around in year 1 is a bit ridiculous. This past season was far from a continuation of the lost decade.

[Cluck U]

We certainly can celebrate an 8-5 (4-4) season that included a home playoff win. 8 wins and a home fall playoff game hasn't happened here in a freaking long time. Frankly, I enjoyed that playoff game atmosphere.

Remember, we were coming off a 5-6 (3-5) season.

And, we can celebrate that we now have a coach that is focused on winning on a national level.

Carty wasn't winning the world, or even the CAA, with what the Rocco left us. We came close to being 9-2 or 10-1...as deceptive as that record would have been.

First year...didn't even have an entire year since he was hired in December and than had to immediately go into emergency mode spending valuable recruiting time trying to save our own players from jumping ship. He won more games than anyone in a decade...yet we have people complaining.

Carty has some lessons to learn. Whether he actually learns them or not is to be seen. But, there is promise. Brock was a dud...everyone who knew anything about football knew that from the beginning. Rocco was another inflated resume filler...and he had no fire or creativity. Goodbye. But, Carty? He has fire and two championships to his resume. That = hope.

Celebrating our accomplishments this year while looking forward to our Hens getting much better in the future.

[Hens79]

not sure we are at the ledge but plenty of reasons for concern.

I’m confused. What major concerns are there from a first year head coach who has been here for exactly one year after a complete waste of a decade? I certainly have some minor ones like our red zone offense, but nothing that I don’t think can or will be fixed. Some on this board are acting like we went 4-7 this year.

Navy was a good one .... wins against Del State, Hampton, Towson, Morgan State, Monmouth, St Francis and a URI team that was overrated preseason. Seems like a continuation of the lost decade to me. Not saying he wont turn things around but the 8-4 season isn't really that impressive. We can't talk about the "weak watered down CAA" in one breath and celebrate a 8-4, 4-4 conference record with the other.

You said “not sure we are at the ledge”. We aren’t even close to the ledge. Why even say it? And few are “celebrating” and no one is saying the record, which actually was 8-5, was “impressive”. But it certainly is a step forward from last year and a break from the lost decade.

I really don’t get our fans some times. Either some were and still are are pining for the long lost DII glory days complete with the Wing-T, beating up on a former coach who will be a HOFer, apologizing for a lost decade of sheer incompetence and/or worrying too much after an initial 8-5 season with a new coach who brought an attitude sea change to the program.

SMH

[Bluewyn Gold]

Look, I’m in complete agreement that we need to get back to where a season like this is considered a down year. But expecting Carty to completely turn things around in year 1 is a bit ridiculous. This past season was far from a continuation of the lost decade.

Agree with this and what CluckU and 79 wrote. Spot on, each of you.

Hard to know where we are with this but 2022 seemed a bit like progress, no matter how incremental. Next year will present a ton of challenges on the field and off, and we should know a heck of lot more by this time next year.

[Info Hound]

There was a level of fun and excitement this year, that had been missing for too many years.

Looking forward to what comes next. One thing I am sure of: Ryan and all of his coaches and support staff are working their azzes off to move this program ahead.

Keep (or get) the faith!

[77HEN]

Let’’s see what everyone says at this point next year. There are a lot of players to replace - many of them the core that led this team to the success it had. Coach has a lot of work to do. Hoping he can work some portal magic to stay above the water line as we accelerate to the future.

[hensfan40yrs]

I’m confused. What major concerns are there from a first year head coach who has been here for exactly one year after a complete waste of a decade? I certainly have some minor ones like our red zone offense, but nothing that I don’t think can or will be fixed. Some on this board are acting like we went 4-7 this year.

Navy was a good one .... wins against Del State, Hampton, Towson, Morgan State, Monmouth, St Francis and a URI team that was overrated preseason. Seems like a continuation of the lost decade to me. Not saying he wont turn things around but the 8-4 season isn't really that impressive. We can't talk about the "weak watered down CAA" in one breath and celebrate a 8-4, 4-4 conference record with the other.

Look, I’m in complete agreement that we need to get back to where a season like this is considered a down year. But expecting Carty to completely turn things around in year 1 is a bit ridiculous. This past season was far from a continuation of the lost decade.

Maybe continuation of the lost decade was too strong, my point is, i had the same uneasy feeling i have had for a decade this season, just one example, knowing that the Richmond game should be in the bag, i had a pit in my stomach with 1 minute left before they even started their scoring drive to win. Giving games away and losing to inferior teams on the road just became the norm. Maybe I'm spoiled by the Hens putting teams away in the 3rd quarter all those early years. Just an opinion, 10 different people have 10 different opinions I'm sure.

[Caribbean Hen]

Thanks Big R! Really like what Carty had to say. Only thing I’d disagree with is the oline part. That gap was way too much this past Saturday. Recruiting wise I feel like we’re off to a great start with Caccese and O’Neil, they are not only big but also athletic. However may take them a few years.

The guy does get it. He has goals for this program that go way past just being “relevant.”

Agree with the OL comments. From all of his interviews recently and prior to last season he does not seem to grasp the urgency of improving the OL on a physical level IE: getting stronger faster players. He is fully prepared to bring the same OL back again next year and to continue recruiting the same areas using the same methods we have been for OL players.

Carty says he wants to have the best skill players and will continue to focus on WRs and creating a talent GAP in other areas to counteract the gap the elite teams have upfront. Reality is, as we saw on Saturday, Carty can have all the passion and speedy skill players he wants but it won't matter when our running backs are constantly smashed 3 yards behind the LOS and our QB runs for his life the entire game, gets sacked 5 to 10 times, and gets injured.

The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different outcome. If he does not correct the OL and DL issues, which means changing recruiting philosophy CARTY WILL FAIL as HC (the ceiling is winning the CAA, not beating MSVC teams in playoffs) and be offensive coordinator for life somewhere.

Do we have reason to worry? Does he REALLY GET IT?

03, with all due respect, asking if Carty is “grasping” the importance of getting better upfront is ridiculous. Of course he does!

What I got from that article (excellent question BigR) is Carty is hinting that it might not be realistic for Delaware to be able to assemble the kind of OL that South Dakota State and North Dakota state are known for. Having said that, he said you can still win and he would know. I bet he “gets it” and is trying to upgrade the OL. Long time to go before August.

True to his word about creating a talent gap at the skill positions, Carty has landed some excellent WR talent.

Putting the skill back into the skill positions at Delaware was so sorely needed and adding players like Harvin, Wimberly and now Jojo Bermudez is a big deal. These guys would play for the best FCS teams in the country and 2 of them already have. * Jojo

Carty mentioned JMU and JMU beat both of those Amber waves of grain teams by creating a big talent gap. JMU OL was serviceable but they surely had a big talent advantage on D and at DE ... Delaware needs that now,

Ryan Carty is in a great situation at Delaware and is certainly trying to take advantage of it and that is very refreshing after the Dave and Buster Rocco show. Rocco thought he was such a good coach he could win with Patriot league level talent... got fired for being stubborn

What Dave and Buster didn’t get was any average coach can call an average play, but its talent that takes it all the way.....

Carty definitely gets that last part because he knows that 75% of coaches are created equal

[Udforever1]

Thanks Big R! Really like what Carty had to say. Only thing I’d disagree with is the oline part. That gap was way too much this past Saturday. Recruiting wise I feel like we’re off to a great start with Caccese and O’Neil, they are not only big but also athletic. However may take them a few years.

The guy does get it. He has goals for this program that go way past just being “relevant.”

Agree with the OL comments. From all of his interviews recently and prior to last season he does not seem to grasp the urgency of improving the OL on a physical level IE: getting stronger faster players. He is fully prepared to bring the same OL back again next year and to continue recruiting the same areas using the same methods we have been for OL players.

Carty says he wants to have the best skill players and will continue to focus on WRs and creating a talent GAP in other areas to counteract the gap the elite teams have upfront. Reality is, as we saw on Saturday, Carty can have all the passion and speedy skill players he wants but it won't matter when our running backs are constantly smashed 3 yards behind the LOS and our QB runs for his life the entire game, gets sacked 5 to 10 times, and gets injured.

The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different outcome. If he does not correct the OL and DL issues, which means changing recruiting philosophy CARTY WILL FAIL as HC (the ceiling is winning the CAA, not beating MSVC teams in playoffs) and be offensive coordinator for life somewhere.

Do we have reason to worry? Does he REALLY GET IT?

03, with all due respect, asking if Carty is “grasping” the importance of getting better upfront is ridiculous. Of course he does!

What I got from that article (excellent question BigR) is Carty is hinting that it might not be realistic for Delaware to be able to assemble the kind of OL that South Dakota State and North Dakota state are known for. Having said that, he said you can still win and he would know. I bet he “gets it” and is trying to upgrade the OL. Long time to go before August.

True to his word about creating a talent gap at the skill positions, Carty has landed some excellent WR talent.

Putting the skill back into the skill positions at Delaware was so sorely needed and adding players like Harvin, Wimberly and now Jojo Bermudez is a big deal. These guys would play for the best FCS teams in the country and 2 of them already have. * Jojo

Carty mentioned JMU and JMU beat both of those Amber waves of grain teams by creating a big talent gap. JMU OL was serviceable but they surely had a big talent advantage on D and at DE ... Delaware needs that now,

Ryan Carty is in a great situation at Delaware and is certainly trying to take advantage of it and that is very refreshing after the Dave and Buster Rocco show. Rocco thought he was such a good coach he could win with Patriot league level talent... got fired for being stubborn

What Dave and Buster didn’t get was any average coach can call an average play, but its talent that takes it all the way.....

Carty definitely gets that last part because he knows that 75% of coaches are created equal

Excellent post and points Carib.

[HENJOHN]

GREAT POST with some on point facts and humor only you can provide. The fact some are still wondering if our HC "gets it" regarding our needs is beyond ridiculous. Been here One year so let's let him develop his roster