The Great Big Thread of Shawn Watson Angst

[kchusker_chris]

I love how every offensive problem we have is the fault of Bo, the players, or a mish-mash of the two. Watson, poor guy, is just borne along by the current created by guys above and below him, and has no responsibilities for the disappearing offense.

If there's one thing to take away from zoogies' posts, it's that no matter what is wrong with our offense, the one person whose fault it isn't is Shawn Watson's. That's the point from which all conversations start, then we extrapolate the data to support it.

OK, but who got the blame for Cosgroves D? Callahan. But Bo has nothing to do with Watson's O? OK... Callahan got crucified b/c the defense sucked, which was he not the offensive guy? But Watson gets all the blame for the offense, b/c Bo is the defensive guy... Does anyone besides me not see the similarity? :bang All i read on here on how terrible a coach Watson is, but the line has been drawn b/c the HEAD COACH is the defensive guru? Sorry but you can't blame Watson without a side of BO, or does Bo not recruit offensive players, or evaluate HIS offensive staff during the season? I don't care if he stays or goes, but not going to sit here and follow along with all the garble that it is all WATSONS FAULT! :rant

Callahan got crucified b/c we lost a lot of games (because the defense sucked) - Bo is winning games despite the offense which is why Bo is going to be cut some slack in this area.

And we ARE asking him to evaluate HIS offensive staff - and make a decision. I don't think many believe it is ALL Watson's fault, and I'm not trying to make Watson out to be the scapegoat...but the system we've had in place the last few years just has not worked. In 2008 we completely revamped the offense mid-way throught he year. Same in 2009. Same in 2010 to a lesser degree, mostly due to injury...but when you build your offense around a single player, then aren't capable of adjusting when that doesn't pan out you need to own up to it.

If Osborne had come in and forced Callahan to fire Cos, he would have fixed a singular piece of the team struggles. Instead he identified the larger issue and took care of it. In comes Bo. In Bo's case, this is not so much a team issue, as it is an offensive issue. Bo needs to identify the larger issue, and take care of it. And it's a lot of things. Offensive philophy, playcalling, exectution, attitude, etc. It's not a singular possition coach, it's a global problem...and that is on the coordinator.

 

[knapplc]

I love how every offensive problem we have is the fault of Bo, the players, or a mish-mash of the two. Watson, poor guy, is just borne along by the current created by guys above and below him, and has no responsibilities for the disappearing offense.

If there's one thing to take away from zoogies' posts, it's that no matter what is wrong with our offense, the one person whose fault it isn't is Shawn Watson's. That's the point from which all conversations start, then we extrapolate the data to support it.

OK, but who got the blame for Cosgroves D? Callahan. But Bo has nothing to do with Watson's O? OK... Callahan got crucified b/c the defense sucked, which was he not the offensive guy? But Watson gets all the blame for the offense, b/c Bo is the defensive guy... Does anyone besides me not see the similarity? :bang All i read on here on how terrible a coach Watson is, but the line has been drawn b/c the HEAD COACH is the defensive guru? Sorry but you can't blame Watson without a side of BO, or does Bo not recruit offensive players, or evaluate HIS offensive staff during the season? I don't care if he stays or goes, but not going to sit here and follow along with all the garble that it is all WATSONS FAULT! :rant

Cosgrove got the blame for his defense, and Cosgrove alone. Were you not around Nebraska during that era? Cosgrove got a death threat drunk-call at 2am, his son got heckled at a High School game, and he was constantly eviscerated on message boards and in the newspapers. The focus of the problem was Kevin Cosgrove. Period, end of story.

Callahan never got hammered for how bad our defense was. Callahan took flak for not firing Cosgrove, for destroying the culture of Nebraska, for dismantling the walk-on program, for turning his back on our alumnae and for publicly throwing his players under the bus for his mistakes. At no time did anyone say, "Our defense sucks, Callahan is to blame." It was always Cosgrove, Cosgrove, Cosgrove.

The time frame for Callahan to catch heat was FAR shorter than it's been for Bo for several reasons:

Bo has never had a losing season at Nebraska.

Bo has never failed to reach a bowl game.

Bo is undefeated in bowl games.

Bo has reached nine wins each season.

Bo has embraced the culture of Nebraska.

Bo has revived the walk-on program.

Had Bo done none of those things, like Callahan, he would be in as much hot water as Callahan was, and likely more. Most of us forgave Callahan for the "throat slash" incident and the "f-ing hillbillies" comment because they weren't worth griping about. On the other hand, Bo's extreme sideline outbursts are forgiven because he's a winner, with a personality most Nebraskans can embrace. Were Bo continuing to ignore walk-ons, having losing seasons, failing to make bowls, losing bowl games, and failing to embrace the culture here, he'd be in serious hot water over his behavior. He's already in some hot water with some folks despite his positive attributes.

 

[DelK]

All this discussion reminds me of the LONG time when TO "couldn't win the big one" and took all sorts of heat and criticism for not beating OU and FSU and whoever else it was we lost to, to the point that he thought about moving to Colorado. the criticisms were that he just kept running the same old plays, used the wrong qb, didn't let Solich call the plays, didn't have enough trick plays in the repertoire or had too many gimmick plays and on and on. Truth to tell, it seems to me those teams suffered from the same thing this one "suffered" from. Not enough horses to pull the load. A gimpy quarterback, no high quality replacement, and no Johnny R to pick up the slack and what ought we to expect? I'll take the season's results thank you very much and be happy and well able to say wherever we happen to be in the country, "They play a little football in Nebraska" with a wry, sly smile.

 

[holvy83]

I love how every offensive problem we have is the fault of Bo, the players, or a mish-mash of the two. Watson, poor guy, is just borne along by the current created by guys above and below him, and has no responsibilities for the disappearing offense.

If there's one thing to take away from zoogies' posts, it's that no matter what is wrong with our offense, the one person whose fault it isn't is Shawn Watson's. That's the point from which all conversations start, then we extrapolate the data to support it.

OK, but who got the blame for Cosgroves D? Callahan. But Bo has nothing to do with Watson's O? OK... Callahan got crucified b/c the defense sucked, which was he not the offensive guy? But Watson gets all the blame for the offense, b/c Bo is the defensive guy... Does anyone besides me not see the similarity? :bang All i read on here on how terrible a coach Watson is, but the line has been drawn b/c the HEAD COACH is the defensive guru? Sorry but you can't blame Watson without a side of BO, or does Bo not recruit offensive players, or evaluate HIS offensive staff during the season? I don't care if he stays or goes, but not going to sit here and follow along with all the garble that it is all WATSONS FAULT! :rant

Cosgrove got the blame for his defense, and Cosgrove alone. Were you not around Nebraska during that era? Cosgrove got a death threat drunk-call at 2am, his son got heckled at a High School game, and he was constantly eviscerated on message boards and in the newspapers. The focus of the problem was Kevin Cosgrove. Period, end of story.

Callahan never got hammered for how bad our defense was. Callahan took flak for not firing Cosgrove, for destroying the culture of Nebraska, for dismantling the walk-on program, for turning his back on our alumnae and for publicly throwing his players under the bus for his mistakes. At no time did anyone say, "Our defense sucks, Callahan is to blame." It was always Cosgrove, Cosgrove, Cosgrove.

The time frame for Callahan to catch heat was FAR shorter than it's been for Bo for several reasons:

Bo has never had a losing season at Nebraska.

Bo has never failed to reach a bowl game.

Bo is undefeated in bowl games.

Bo has reached nine wins each season.

Bo has embraced the culture of Nebraska.

Bo has revived the walk-on program.

Had Bo done none of those things, like Callahan, he would be in as much hot water as Callahan was, and likely more. Most of us forgave Callahan for the "throat slash" incident and the "f-ing hillbillies" comment because they weren't worth griping about. On the other hand, Bo's extreme sideline outbursts are forgiven because he's a winner, with a personality most Nebraskans can embrace. Were Bo continuing to ignore walk-ons, having losing seasons, failing to make bowls, losing bowl games, and failing to embrace the culture here, he'd be in serious hot water over his behavior. He's already in some hot water with some folks despite his positive attributes.

Bo is a winner and Watson is not, is that what you are telling me?

 

[knapplc]

I love how every offensive problem we have is the fault of Bo, the players, or a mish-mash of the two. Watson, poor guy, is just borne along by the current created by guys above and below him, and has no responsibilities for the disappearing offense.

If there's one thing to take away from zoogies' posts, it's that no matter what is wrong with our offense, the one person whose fault it isn't is Shawn Watson's. That's the point from which all conversations start, then we extrapolate the data to support it.

OK, but who got the blame for Cosgroves D? Callahan. But Bo has nothing to do with Watson's O? OK... Callahan got crucified b/c the defense sucked, which was he not the offensive guy? But Watson gets all the blame for the offense, b/c Bo is the defensive guy... Does anyone besides me not see the similarity? :bang All i read on here on how terrible a coach Watson is, but the line has been drawn b/c the HEAD COACH is the defensive guru? Sorry but you can't blame Watson without a side of BO, or does Bo not recruit offensive players, or evaluate HIS offensive staff during the season? I don't care if he stays or goes, but not going to sit here and follow along with all the garble that it is all WATSONS FAULT! :rant

Cosgrove got the blame for his defense, and Cosgrove alone. Were you not around Nebraska during that era? Cosgrove got a death threat drunk-call at 2am, his son got heckled at a High School game, and he was constantly eviscerated on message boards and in the newspapers. The focus of the problem was Kevin Cosgrove. Period, end of story.

Callahan never got hammered for how bad our defense was. Callahan took flak for not firing Cosgrove, for destroying the culture of Nebraska, for dismantling the walk-on program, for turning his back on our alumnae and for publicly throwing his players under the bus for his mistakes. At no time did anyone say, "Our defense sucks, Callahan is to blame." It was always Cosgrove, Cosgrove, Cosgrove.

The time frame for Callahan to catch heat was FAR shorter than it's been for Bo for several reasons:

Bo has never had a losing season at Nebraska.

Bo has never failed to reach a bowl game.

Bo is undefeated in bowl games.

Bo has reached nine wins each season.

Bo has embraced the culture of Nebraska.

Bo has revived the walk-on program.

Had Bo done none of those things, like Callahan, he would be in as much hot water as Callahan was, and likely more. Most of us forgave Callahan for the "throat slash" incident and the "f-ing hillbillies" comment because they weren't worth griping about. On the other hand, Bo's extreme sideline outbursts are forgiven because he's a winner, with a personality most Nebraskans can embrace. Were Bo continuing to ignore walk-ons, having losing seasons, failing to make bowls, losing bowl games, and failing to embrace the culture here, he'd be in serious hot water over his behavior. He's already in some hot water with some folks despite his positive attributes.

Bo is a winner and Watson is not, is that what you are telling me?

No, absolutely not. I'm telling you that Bo isn't getting eviscerated because of Watson's issues because of all the reasons listed above. We have no idea if Watson "is a winner" because he's not the head coach.

Watson is simply not getting it done on his side of the ball, and that's why he's (justifiably) taking heat.

 

[holvy83]

ok, thought about starting a separate thread but what's the point? If Shawn Watson is what is wrong with this program, why is he not already gone? I would think to have him gone now would help out with recruiting and/or keeping recruits we already have verbals from. No reason to keep him for the bowl game at all. The other thing and I have said this before is what will Bo want for his offensive philosophy if Watson is gone? Completely scratch everything and start new? Is it really that easy? Do we want to take a step back heading to the big 10 or fix what is broken. That has been my stance all along, I could care less about Shawn Watson. I am all about the debate on this, but if the best the anti Watson crowd can come up with is Scott Frost then I will continue to dispute...

 

[knapplc]

ok, thought about starting a separate thread but what's the point? If Shawn Watson is what is wrong with this program, why is he not already gone? I would think to have him gone now would help out with recruiting and/or keeping recruits we already have verbals from. No reason to keep him for the bowl game at all. The other thing and I have said this before is what will Bo want for his offensive philosophy if Watson is gone? Completely scratch everything and start new? Is it really that easy? Do we want to take a step back heading to the big 10 or fix what is broken. That has been my stance all along, I could care less about Shawn Watson. I am all about the debate on this, but if the best the anti Watson crowd can come up with is Scott Frost then I will continue to dispute...

It's not incumbent upon the people saying "Watson should go" to name a new OC. Nobody posting here is well-connected enough to know if Scott Frost or Hoogie Pringle is going to be the next great OC at Nebraska.

If I give you a spoiled foie gras you're going to know it's spoiled. It's not your job to name a French duck farmer who can produce a better product. You'll have the vomit on your sweater to prove that what you've been given is bad.

 

[zoogs]

Knapp, you list a lot of reasons why we should all love Bo and not want him to go. That's fine, but I don't think I am attacking Bo in really any way. I am looking at what we know about this situation, and trying to pinpoint the reasons we are here. Really, with as much involvement as he has had in the offense, some of it goes back on him by default, but not everything does. And this isn't me blaming Bo so much as just making sense of what has been going on.

I feel strongly about this: no matter who the OC is, stay the course with the current philosophy and it's going to be a longshot to work. I don't see firing Watson as a solution (and if it is, hardly all of the solution), and if that is going to be the only thing that is done while Bo stays this course, it's going to hurt us.

I don't think Bo will be staying his course on this, though. He likely knows that something's funky and he *will* get it figured out and fix it.

 

[knapplc]

Knapp, you list a lot of reasons why we should all love Bo and not want him to go. That's fine, but I don't think I am attacking Bo in really any way. I am looking at what we know about this situation, and trying to pinpoint the reasons we are here. Really, with as much involvement as he has had in the offense, some of it goes back on him by default, but not everything does. And this isn't me blaming Bo so much as just making sense of what has been going on.

I feel strongly about this: no matter who the OC is, stay the course with the current philosophy and it's going to be a longshot to work. I don't see firing Watson as a solution (and if it is, hardly all of the solution), and if that is going to be the only thing that is done while Bo stays this course, it's going to hurt us.

I don't think Bo will be staying his course on this, though. He likely knows that something's funky and he *will* get it figured out and fix it.

I don't think you're attacking Bo, either. I think you're going to crazy lengths to defend Watson at all costs, to the point where you deflect blame from him onto anyone around, including Bo, when the real story is Watson really is responsible for the offense.

What is this "current philosophy" that you're talking about?

 

[Haspula]

Hire Scott Frost or Tommie Frazier

 

[Danny Bateman]

The boys on USC were just interviewing Mitch Sherman from the OWH and they brought up something that I think most eloquently and effectively sums up Wats' big problem: When asked why he got away from using the Wildcat Saturday night when it was clearly effective, Wats responded that he "didn't want to get too one-dimensional."

This is the man's fundamental problem. We all understand you want to look like an offensive genius, Shawn. We know you want to drop points like the Washington game (part 1) or the K-State game on teams every time our team takes the field. We understand your infatuation with "multiplicity." However, when you put up as BLATANTLY TERRIBLE results against good defenses as you have, don't you think maybe you should stop trying to get cute and out-think your opponents, and DO WHAT WORKS? If you don't understand this concept after this long in the business... give up. You're a blockhead. Anyone who can't understand that if something works and you don't continue to go to it while everything else you try fails, you are an absolute moron and should not be wearing a whistle, on a sideline, in a press box, or anywhere else.

Also, I'd just like to point out, Rex may have fumbled once running the Wildcat, but that could've been put more on Caputo with a bad snap than anybody, and I guarantee you running that formation the rest of the night wouldn't have netted us the four fumbles Taylor alone did. Another of Wats' flaws: He continues to let this team fumble. When we're leading the nation in fumbles... by far. Unacceptable.

So, why, Watson backers, when is it ever acceptable to choose the principle of being multiple as an offense, as opposed to doing what works? If you can answer this, I'll go away. I'm just curious.

I know I'm not Bo or Dr. Tom or anyone else relevant in the decision making process about whether our offensive staff stays or goes. But seriously: Wats, Barney, Gilmore need to hit the road for this offense to start off on the long, winding road to recovery.

 

[knapplc]

The boys on USC were just interviewing Mitch Sherman from the OWH and they brought up something that I think most eloquently and effectively sums up Wats' big problem: When asked why he got away from using the Wildcat Saturday night when it was clearly effective, Wats responded that he "didn't want to get too one-dimensional."

This is the man's fundamental problem. We all understand you want to look like an offensive genius, Shawn. We know you want to drop points like the Washington game (part 1) or the K-State game on teams every time our team takes the field. We understand your infatuation with "multiplicity." However, when you put up as BLATANTLY TERRIBLE results against good defenses as you have, don't you think maybe you should stop trying to get cute and out-think your opponents, and DO WHAT WORKS? If you don't understand this concept after this long in the business... give up. You're a blockhead. Anyone who can't understand that if something works and you don't continue to go to it while everything else you try fails, you are an absolute moron and should not be wearing a whistle, on a sideline, in a press box, or anywhere else.

Also, I'd just like to point out, Rex may have fumbled once running the Wildcat, but that could've been put more on Caputo with a bad snap than anybody, and I guarantee you running that formation the rest of the night wouldn't have netted us the four fumbles Taylor alone did. Another of Wats' flaws: He continues to let this team fumble. When we're leading the nation in fumbles... by far. Unacceptable.

So, why, Watson backers, when is it ever acceptable to choose the principle of being multiple as an offense, as opposed to doing what works? If you can answer this, I'll go away. I'm just curious.

I know I'm not Bo or Dr. Tom or anyone else relevant in the decision making process about whether our offensive staff stays or goes. But seriously: Wats, Barney, Gilmore need to hit the road for this offense to start off on the long, winding road to recovery.

According to the Watson supporters, you must name his replacement and have that name pass inspection before your argument has any validity.

 

[Hunter94]

The boys on USC were just interviewing Mitch Sherman from the OWH and they brought up something that I think most eloquently and effectively sums up Wats' big problem: When asked why he got away from using the Wildcat Saturday night when it was clearly effective, Wats responded that he "didn't want to get too one-dimensional."

This is the man's fundamental problem. We all understand you want to look like an offensive genius, Shawn. We know you want to drop points like the Washington game (part 1) or the K-State game on teams every time our team takes the field. We understand your infatuation with "multiplicity." However, when you put up as BLATANTLY TERRIBLE results against good defenses as you have, don't you think maybe you should stop trying to get cute and out-think your opponents, and DO WHAT WORKS? If you don't understand this concept after this long in the business... give up. You're a blockhead. Anyone who can't understand that if something works and you don't continue to go to it while everything else you try fails, you are an absolute moron and should not be wearing a whistle, on a sideline, in a press box, or anywhere else.

Also, I'd just like to point out, Rex may have fumbled once running the Wildcat, but that could've been put more on Caputo with a bad snap than anybody, and I guarantee you running that formation the rest of the night wouldn't have netted us the four fumbles Taylor alone did. Another of Wats' flaws: He continues to let this team fumble. When we're leading the nation in fumbles... by far. Unacceptable.

So, why, Watson backers, when is it ever acceptable to choose the principle of being multiple as an offense, as opposed to doing what works? If you can answer this, I'll go away. I'm just curious.

I know I'm not Bo or Dr. Tom or anyone else relevant in the decision making process about whether our offensive staff stays or goes. But seriously: Wats, Barney, Gilmore need to hit the road for this offense to start off on the long, winding road to recovery.

According to the Watson supporters, you must name his replacement and have that name pass inspection before your argument has any validity.

Mickey Mouse.......done

 

[74Hunter]

You're a blockhead. Anyone who can't understand that if something works and you don't continue to go to it while everything else you try fails, you are an absolute moron and should not be wearing a whistle, on a sideline, in a press box, or anywhere else.

I agree.

I understand that you want to keep the defense guessing, but OU was reeling at that point, keep running it straight at them and get 6 yards a pop.

The other horrible call was in the 4th qtr, we were right at the 35, and he called a dropback pass, Taylor got sacked, and we were out of FG range, when running the wildcat probably would have at the worst would have lost us a yard or two.

 

[zoogs]

As far as the current philosophy goes, it has to do with the offense that Bo wants to run and the coaches he has assembled to run it. You can see on defense how Bo's got mainly his own guys in there, and that's a staff that is united (mostly) in specialty/philosophy and capable of achieving the goal being set forth.

Compared to the offensive staff which is a bit of a mix of guys as the crucial position, OL coach, just doesn't belong especially in this scheme. You can even argue that Shawn and his WCO roots are not that suited for the kind of offense we want to go to, when we could eschew the groundings in that philosophy and try to build something similar to what we had back in the day, just for the modern era. It can be up for debate if WCO passing elements even have their place in a spread option offense, but I'm too big a fan of that personally to want to see it go. It can be up for debate, though.

I think the important point here is that the offensive staff is clearly not put together the same way the defensive staff is, and that's responsible in part for the differences in quality of these two units. In my opinion, this can change drastically if you get a great spread OL coach in there, or if Watson away from his "good friend" Ted Gilmore (I'm quoting Sam McKewon here, so I don't mean that in jest) who is just not doing his job. That may not be the solution either, so I don't know; it's just an opinion and not a deeply vested one anymore. I'm not saying if you pull together a group of guys that can be all Bo/Watson's guys for this kind of offense, and you turn Watson loose and take the chains off, that it will perform to an elite level like Bo's defense. Likely not, but right now something like that is not even getting a fighting chance to happen.

Now, Watson can go, but I will not feel good about that at all if we stay the course, and promote from within, which is what has appeared to be the plan for if/when Watson decided to leave. Hopefully that plan is changing, because it is not a solution at all. If Watson goes, and we just promote Tim Beck while finding some guy to coach QBs, it is not going to be long-term healthy as that is continuing down the same path we are going now, just with less on the staff than what we had before. If Watson does leave, there need to be sweeping changes that Bo has full control over, that are the right ones. If Watson doesn't leave, there need to be similar sweeping changes, that are the right ones.