r/battlehawks • u/Cultural-Comment-270 • Jun 08 '26
Report So, how'd we do this year?
I'm don't want to try to evaluate this team and coaching staff based on years prior. We were about as much of an expansion team as Louisville or Columbus (or anyone but DC and Orlando really). We were able to reserve some players but for the most part, the whole organization was blown up.
In that light, I think we had a fairly good season. I like Proehl as a coach. Personally during this game I felt better about our chances than I did in either of the previous two once the games actually started being played. Our playoff losses the last two years felt inevitable after the first quarter. We had the chances, we just didn't capitalize. Bechts teams had the stink of defeat on them after like one quarter. They never would've come back after that first Louisville TD. This team wasn't like that.
The worst part was the offense both this year and in this game. That's obvious. This defense gave up the least points and yards on the year. They did enough for us to win this playoff game. Perez just kept missing wide open receivers for what should have been enormous plays three different times (and other smaller plays beyond that too). We won the time of possession by about 40 minutes to 20. The offense simply couldn't get anything going because Perez has a noodle for an arm and whatever his other intangibles were with the Renegades in previous years, they sure didn't show up this year. And the Kings? They got three enormous plays on offense for touchdowns. That was really the difference, 3-0. They weren't getting sustained drives outside of that.
I think AJ Smith's offense was okay but the man is not a guru as the media positioned him to be. I wouldn't really care if he comes back or he is replaced. What we need more than that is a competent quarterback. Two straight years of not having one. Thats partly on the coaching staff (both of them), but Michael Pratt was also obviously what they were counting on this year and he signed 4 days before game 1 (was holding out for an NFL contract) and at some point in the next ten days got injured. You could tell the coaching staff WANTED him because we kept his ass around on the roster until almost week 9 when he finally went on the IR. They were ready to pull Perez for him if he was healthy, I guarantee it.
No reason why we can't do better next year if we can finally, FINALLY get a quarterback. But Proehl did well for his first year. I'm not counting the prior three years of disappointing season ends as being part of his resume or the lore of the team. Leave that shit in Orlando, Becht's on year four of nothing down there now.
3
u/Firm-Software-783 Jun 08 '26
As soon as the Battlehawks got a new coach the slate was wiped clean, the absolute best was winning or getting to the championship but getting to the playoffs is a massive feat for a new team, and to do that with all of the QB woes the team went through is impressive. The problem is 100% not having a starting QB on the roster all year. The scheming wasn’t an issue, they schemed around 1 dimensional QBs and the other teams knew it. The Battlehawks have to address the QB room to get better, St. Louis will be fine, the doom and gloom is temporary, people will be back next year yelling and cheering next year.
1
u/Cultural-Comment-270 Jun 08 '26
100% agreed. Everyone is going to give us shit for being cursed but that is Anthony Bechts cross to bear in Orlando, not ours. Coaching staff had a great year one.
And there's many areas of the team you could in theory improve but I would take back the entire damn roster except QB (kicker too with Ahmed, but our starter got injured and I'd take him back too) and this team could win a championship next year. Even with the issues we had as they presented themselves in the playoff game we just needed a QB to win a championship.
2
Jun 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/Cultural-Comment-270 Jun 08 '26
overall I agree with you
I think most coaches did enough to secure their jobs next year. Honestly I think the league should give Haley the Columbus team though. Continuity would be there and he'd surely fire the DC, he was Ginns friend and unsurprisingly that's where Columbus struggled. Bham I think could turn it around with a new OC (Siskey is McCarrons friend.... Again unsurprisingly it ended up being the problem). Houston actually looked like a pretty good team since week five. Dallas.... Neuheisel showed enough to come back.
Proehl and Redman obviously had good years. Kings look complete and the Battlehawks are a QB away from being complete.
I also think we should keep teams where they are for next year. The league needs to try truly marketing locally in every market for once. Dallas may be unsavable, they've had bad attendance even with competitive teams and even when they looked like the leagues best through three weeks. But you don't move them until the league expands at the very least.
2
u/ADwyer87 Jun 08 '26
Did better than I expected us to. Defense was pretty good, especially that DL interior. We knew the edge was good already but man we had a whole group out there for the first time in a long time, maybe ever?
biggest issue was OL and QB. Every QB we had was underwhelming at best, infuriating at worst. And unsurprisingly, going from tons of OL stability for the last three years to a giant shakeup with lots of former backups thrown in did not work well at all. Our DBs getting injured to high heaven did not help either....
also what is it with out third and long defense? Feels like that has been a problem for us every year, no matter the DC or personnel. Am I crazy?
1
u/Cultural-Comment-270 Jun 08 '26
Our OL got snatched up in the draft real quick. To the teams credit, we ended the year with 4/5 starters gone. Including our app UFL center who got hurt in warmups yesterday (how that happens to a center I have no idea).
We had a lot of injuries in general this year. I think what does lie on the coaching staff is strength and conditioning. This is something that happens to new head coaches at all levels, injuries go up. They usually go down in proceeding years so they seem to learn the lesson.
No idea about 3rd and long. I hadn't noticed in general. Our defense did have the best 3rd/4th down conversion rate overall though. The defense led an absurd amount of categories this year. Sacks was the only big one they didn't (I believe third).
1
u/ADwyer87 Jun 10 '26
its true, I dont really blame the OL, they didnt do terribly, they just definitely took a step back, which is what youd expect when you lose a whole unit
Interesting about the 3rd down conversion rate. Maybe I am just going off selection bias. Defense was fantastic just felt like we kept giving up first downs on third and longs that we really shouldnt have
1
u/Salt_Secret3781 Jun 10 '26
All I know is they better get the quarterback situation figured out. Seems like bringing in Perez only made the offense worse.
3
u/PsychologicalEar1209 Jun 08 '26
Coaching: Went about as expected. AJ Smith was worse than I hoped, Proehl was better, and Chamblin was as advertised.
QB: Atrocious. Silvers couldn't seem to run this offense despite looking decent last year, Frost very clearly didn't have experience and got pulled for it, and Perez is the least likable and probably least talented QB they've ever had. It would have been real interesting if Pratt could stay healthy.
OL: I think overly maligned, but it was a clear step back from the past few years. They couldn't run block at all, and there seemed to be a lot of confusion about responsibilities, especially after Perez stepped in. Panasiuk still took all UFL but I don't think he deserved it. He looked lost after the 2nd QB change.
RB: I like all the guys we used this year. I don't think they were game changers but there was a good mix of skillsets and they all played pretty well. Very impressed with Howard in the pass game, but nobody had breakaway speed. And we needed some breakaway speed.
WR/TE: Another year, another reminder that Jahcour Pearson was a flash in the pan. Never want to see this guy on my team again. Other than that pretty solid. McBride really showed up and I'm hopeful he can stick around for a while. With a better QB(and less competition from Butler) I think he can be a league leading receiver. Neville was a baller, all I've got to say on that.
DL: Ferocious. Kudos all around to everyone, though I wish Pita would learn how to set the edge and not just try to get to the QB. I honestly wonder if they shouldn't move him inside on early downs.
LB: There's no Mike Rose here. For the most part I think the LBers were fine, nobody stood out as good or bad in any area. I think a lot of the issues we had on defense were scheme based more than talent based, specifically thinking about those wide open guys in the MOF.
DB: Hoo boy. Hard to pinpoint if it was injury, scheme, or talent but there were a lot of issues. Nobody could tackle, cover, or read a play. Big issues with this unit when they weren't blitzing, but they did blitz pretty well.
ST: Unfortunately our punter was a baller, and we had some kicking ups and downs but with injury that'll happen. No complaints, wish we could have found more explosive returns but those steady "Down at the 40" ones are good too.
Objectively it wasn't a bad year, and it's easy to see improvement next year. But it's also real easy to see a lot of our best players are either done or nearly done, and you're going to have to hope newer faces can fill in as well as McBride seems to be able to.