Watson a candidate for the Miami(OH) head coach position

[suh_fan93]

I never thought I'd see the day when arguably Nebraska's worst offensive coordinator in the modern era would be defended so much. He was a lackluster at best offensive coordinator at Colorado and then moved on and has had the very same results with Nebraska.

I would ask his supporters, what do you think are Watson's shortcomings? It's almost as if he does not have any as far as his supporters go.

I hate to say it but defenses like last years your lucky to have once in a lifetime. Guys like Ndamukong Suh. Dejon Gomes and Eric Hagg who are gone after the bowl game, rare, rare guys as far as a program is concerned.

The botton line is the only reason this guy has a job here right now is simple. The Nebraska defense.

Does anyone truly think Nebraska can produce a national championship with Watson running the offense?

 

[zoogs]

I never thought I'd see the day when arguably Nebraska's worst offensive coordinator in the modern era would be defended so much. He was a lackluster at best offensive coordinator at Colorado and then moved on and has had the very same results with Nebraska.

I would ask his supporters, what do you think are Watson's shortcomings? It's almost as if he does not have any as far as his supporters go.

I hate to say it but defenses like last years your lucky to have once in a lifetime. Guys like Ndamukong Suh. Dejon Gomes and Eric Hagg who are gone after the bowl game, rare, rare guys as far as a program is concerned.

The botton line is the only reason this guy has a job here right now is simple. The Nebraska defense.

Does anyone truly think Nebraska can produce a national championship with Watson running the offense?

There are coaches with shortcomings on this staff, but if they were to go they would be weeped for by many who would not even acknowledge the possibility of shortcomings, when in reality such a move could really stand to benefit us. Along with some questionable decisions our (very good) head coach has made, Watson is the least of our concerns if we are talking about fixing the offense. Maybe not the least, maybe you could say Kyler Reed/Ron Brown are the least of our concerns, but you get the idea. He is lower on the pecking order but receiving an inordinate amount of blame. That's all it really comes down to.

It is just rare for a team to have the right mix of players on offense and defense at the same time. Maybe if we had a rock star staff completely on both sides of the ball along with some elite recruiting - yes, but that staff would stay intact for about I don't know, one year, two maybe. Which is OK, it's just the downside. But sometimes your players on defense are too young yet, and as a result the D will have down years. Graduating guys like Prince/Dejon/Hagg will hurt us, no doubt. So did graduating guys like Ganz/Swift/Peterson.

The 'lackluster at best' offense led by Watson carried the team completely in 2007 and 2008, and these past two years, the defense had the torch. Maybe it would be better if we could complain about both units equally, but I somehow don't think so...

 

[husker_99]

I never thought I'd see the day when arguably Nebraska's worst offensive coordinator in the modern era would be defended so much. He was a lackluster at best offensive coordinator at Colorado and then moved on and has had the very same results with Nebraska.

I would ask his supporters, what do you think are Watson's shortcomings? It's almost as if he does not have any as far as his supporters go.

I hate to say it but defenses like last years your lucky to have once in a lifetime. Guys like Ndamukong Suh. Dejon Gomes and Eric Hagg who are gone after the bowl game, rare, rare guys as far as a program is concerned.

The botton line is the only reason this guy has a job here right now is simple. The Nebraska defense.

Does anyone truly think Nebraska can produce a national championship with Watson running the offense?

There are coaches with shortcomings on this staff, but if they were to go they would be weeped for by many who would not even acknowledge the possibility of shortcomings, when in reality such a move could really stand to benefit us. Along with some questionable decisions our (very good) head coach has made, Watson is the least of our concerns if we are talking about fixing the offense. Maybe not the least, maybe you could say Kyler Reed/Ron Brown are the least of our concerns, but you get the idea. He is lower on the pecking order but receiving an inordinate amount of blame. That's all it really comes down to.

It is just rare for a team to have the right mix of players on offense and defense at the same time. Maybe if we had a rock star staff completely on both sides of the ball along with some elite recruiting - yes, but that staff would stay intact for about I don't know, one year, two maybe. Which is OK, it's just the downside. But sometimes your players on defense are too young yet, and as a result the D will have down years. Graduating guys like Prince/Dejon/Hagg will hurt us, no doubt. So did graduating guys like Ganz/Swift/Peterson.

The 'lackluster at best' offense led by Watson carried the team completely in 2007 and 2008, and these past two years, the defense had the torch. Maybe it would be better if we could complain about both units equally, but I somehow don't think so...

Watson doesn't get a pass because the defense has been fixed but the offense hasn't. Watson has been here a while also. There are no more days when you get 5-6 years to get an offense running. Most schools he would have been fired. If he doesn't have the talent for what he runs then he needs to go get it. Or maybe he needs to tailor an offense to what he has got. Why is it so hard to admit Watson may just suck?

 

[zoogs]

Watson 'taylors' the offense to what he has, and it's all he has ever done, nobody will just admit that Taylor is not some mega star yet. Bo is probably a lot more square peg/round hole stubborn than Watson is.

There could be reason to believe that Bo's choices with the direction of the offense, this year in particular and as well as on the recruiting front, have really hindered the entire offense. But I don't think anyone wants to admit that possibility either because we are all so enamored with having a running QB like the good old days. Is it really worth it, or could we not have built off of Watson's offenses in 2007 & 2008, or even the unwrapped O of the Holiday Bowl? IMO it hasn't been *too* not worth it, but we jumped the gun this year hoping for some miracle instant spark. The plan was just too thin and full of potential pitfalls that we saw come to reality, despite the promise it shows for the future.

Many said to take our lumps this year on offense and have a hardened, battle-ready QB in 2011 for the Big Ten. I disagree that you ever take lumps one year for the sake of the next. Well, we took our lumps. And now nobody who called for it, is happy about it. Here's to all that paying off next year...if we don't start from scratch, that is.

 

[suh_fan93]

There are coaches with shortcomings on this staff, but if they were to go they would be weeped for by many who would not even acknowledge the possibility of shortcomings, when in reality such a move could really stand to benefit us. Along with some questionable decisions our (very good) head coach has made, Watson is the least of our concerns if we are talking about fixing the offense. Maybe not the least, maybe you could say Kyler Reed/Ron Brown are the least of our concerns, but you get the idea. He is lower on the pecking order but receiving an inordinate amount of blame. That's all it really comes down to.

zoogies he is our Offensive coordinator. Let's not diminish the guys role here. Being the Offensive coordinator he's not going to be considered 'low on the pecking order' as much as you may want this to be the case.

And I also find the notion that Watson taylors his offense to 'what he has' to be laughable. Zac Lee running the option last year??? Refusing to shy away from the zone read with a clearly injured and gimpy quarterback and 2 qb's behind him who's strength clearly isn't the zone read this year? Without an all star quarterback (ex: Joe Ganz) Nebraska's offense has no identity. None. Watson's offense is NOT going to catch any defense off guard. This guys lack of offensive production dates all the way back to his Colorado days and since he has come to Nebraska it hasn't changed. As I said before if it weren't for Nebraska's defenses he would be GONE. There is no way Nebraska would survive behind his offenses.

Can you imagine what state we'd be in if we weren't so privledged to have had the defenses we've had????

 

[bshirt]

i guess the thing that bothers me the most, is it appears that developing Green was an after thought, don't know for sure, but it seems that way. until TM got injuried it appears Wats never gave a thought to what plays he would script around Green, as he tried to put Green in the TM playbook, obviously one size does not fit all....that's the real rub i have with Wats.

I totally agree. I think it's fair to say that Green does not have the makings of an all star who goes 23 for 30, with 300 yards and 3 TDs. But there is a wide margin between an all star QB and a guy who, in his two starts this season, didn't throw for more than 100 yards. Watson gets off the hook for not turning Green into an all star, but he has no excuse for failing to develop him into a serviceable QB who can still keep defenses honest. Put it this way: Green should have been capable of a CU-type performance at the start of this year.

Frankly, I think that Cam Newton is the biggest indictment of Watson's ability to coach QBs. What do I mean? Newton completely, unequivocally, and indisputably shatters the notion that behind every quality QB there is a quality coach. You cannot convince me that any coach on Auburn's staff can take credit for the fact that, in a one-year span, Newton went from JUCO commit to Heisman QB. What sets Newton apart are natural physical abilities that you can't teach. All he needed was a little polish to make him unstoppable at the college level.

Why am I bringing this up? Because Cam Newton definitely resolves the question of whether Watson should be given any credit for Martinez's early glory. The answer is most assuredly, "No." What made/makes Martinez special is insane acceleration and top speed, which is extremely rare at the QB position. Martinez was born with that ability; Watson didn't teach it. At the same time, Watson failed miserably at the things he could have done to improve Martinez's game. Teach him to live to fight another day by not being afraid to throw the ball away or take a sack when the play isn't there. Help him to learn to dump the ball off to Helu or Burkhead when nothing else is there. Put him in position to succeed by slowing down the pass rush with screen passes. Roll him out of the pocket so Martinez can operate where he's most comfortable---in space.

So when I evaluate Watson, I look back on his work minus Martinez, because in my opinion, he cannot take any credit for the best aspects that Martinez has (blazing speed), and deserves most of the blame for things he doesn't (an ability to make plays in the pocket or under pressure). And without Martinez on his resume, Watson's body of work with QBs looks all too mediocre.

Great post and I agree with everything except "mediocre" is giving SW way too much slack. There's a good reason sCUm fans laughed so hard at us for taking him. That may sound harse but I'm soooooooo sick of the excuses.

 

[Hunter94]

I never thought I'd see the day when arguably Nebraska's worst offensive coordinator in the modern era would be defended so much. He was a lackluster at best offensive coordinator at Colorado and then moved on and has had the very same results with Nebraska.

I would ask his supporters, what do you think are Watson's shortcomings? It's almost as if he does not have any as far as his supporters go.

I hate to say it but defenses like last years your lucky to have once in a lifetime. Guys like Ndamukong Suh. Dejon Gomes and Eric Hagg who are gone after the bowl game, rare, rare guys as far as a program is concerned.

The botton line is the only reason this guy has a job here right now is simple. The Nebraska defense.

Does anyone truly think Nebraska can produce a national championship with Watson running the offense?

no, not a chance in hell..zero.

 

[zoogs]

There are coaches with shortcomings on this staff, but if they were to go they would be weeped for by many who would not even acknowledge the possibility of shortcomings, when in reality such a move could really stand to benefit us. Along with some questionable decisions our (very good) head coach has made, Watson is the least of our concerns if we are talking about fixing the offense. Maybe not the least, maybe you could say Kyler Reed/Ron Brown are the least of our concerns, but you get the idea. He is lower on the pecking order but receiving an inordinate amount of blame. That's all it really comes down to.

zoogies he is our Offensive coordinator. Let's not diminish the guys role here. Being the Offensive coordinator he's not going to be considered 'low on the pecking order' as much as you may want this to be the case.

And I also find the notion that Watson taylors his offense to 'what he has' to be laughable. Zac Lee running the option last year??? Refusing to shy away from the zone read with a clearly injured and gimpy quarterback and 2 qb's behind him who's strength clearly isn't the zone read this year? Without an all star quarterback (ex: Joe Ganz) Nebraska's offense has no identity. None. Watson's offense is NOT going to catch any defense off guard. This guys lack of offensive production dates all the way back to his Colorado days and since he has come to Nebraska it hasn't changed. As I said before if it weren't for Nebraska's defenses he would be GONE. There is no way Nebraska would survive behind his offenses.

Can you imagine what state we'd be in if we weren't so privledged to have had the defenses we've had????

I know that he is the offensive coordinator, but you are holding on to those two words an completely ignoring a situation where his OL coach is completely not up to par, his WR coach consistently makes nothing out of something, and his head coach has decided for him what kind of offense to run and who to run it with, whether they are injured or not.

Joe was not some all-star QB, at least not physically. He was a real gamer and got after picking up this offense and knowing it inside and out. He was the beneficiary of the system and not the other way around. Cam Newton walks into any school in America and lights it up. The production we got out of Ganz was spectacular.

Watson's 2007 and 2008 offenses were the kind that will catch defenses off guard. This year with Taylor, of course it wasn't on nearly the same level and I could have told you that at the beginning of the year! But everyone hated the idea of multiple back then. Bo evidently wanted to stick with Taylor, injured or not, instead of changing the offense for ONE healthy QB behind him. In the CCG in particular, Watson had to make do with a QB that couldn't do much of anything after a while, which put us in a position to fail more than any series of playcalls did.

Finally, Zac Lee actually runs the zone read expertly. He just doesn't have the acceleration to pull off big gains like Taylor, but he is always good for a couple of yards on the ZR. In 2008, the privilege was to have our offense. But we went away from a system that was working to satisfy Bo's vision with mobile quarterbacks. I could have it either way honestly, but to not expect to take lumps in the process is a bit foolish.

Anyway -- people want only to hear about the Miami (OH) job, but I guess there is not much to say other than it looks like Watson is doing everything he can to leave this year, and probably will succeed.

 

[suh_fan93]

There are coaches with shortcomings on this staff, but if they were to go they would be weeped for by many who would not even acknowledge the possibility of shortcomings, when in reality such a move could really stand to benefit us. Along with some questionable decisions our (very good) head coach has made, Watson is the least of our concerns if we are talking about fixing the offense. Maybe not the least, maybe you could say Kyler Reed/Ron Brown are the least of our concerns, but you get the idea. He is lower on the pecking order but receiving an inordinate amount of blame. That's all it really comes down to.

zoogies he is our Offensive coordinator. Let's not diminish the guys role here. Being the Offensive coordinator he's not going to be considered 'low on the pecking order' as much as you may want this to be the case.

And I also find the notion that Watson taylors his offense to 'what he has' to be laughable. Zac Lee running the option last year??? Refusing to shy away from the zone read with a clearly injured and gimpy quarterback and 2 qb's behind him who's strength clearly isn't the zone read this year? Without an all star quarterback (ex: Joe Ganz) Nebraska's offense has no identity. None. Watson's offense is NOT going to catch any defense off guard. This guys lack of offensive production dates all the way back to his Colorado days and since he has come to Nebraska it hasn't changed. As I said before if it weren't for Nebraska's defenses he would be GONE. There is no way Nebraska would survive behind his offenses.

Can you imagine what state we'd be in if we weren't so privledged to have had the defenses we've had????

I know that he is the offensive coordinator, but you are holding on to those two words an completely ignoring a situation where his OL coach is completely not up to par, his WR coach consistently makes nothing out of something, and his head coach has decided for him what kind of offense to run and who to run it with, whether they are injured or not.

Joe was not some all-star QB, at least not physically. He was a real gamer and got after picking up this offense and knowing it inside and out. He was the beneficiary of the system and not the other way around. Cam Newton walks into any school in America and lights it up. The production we got out of Ganz was spectacular.

Bo evidently wanted to stick with Taylor, injured or not, instead of changing the offense for ONE healthy QB behind him. In the CCG in particular, Watson had to make do with a QB that couldn't do much of anything after a while, which put us in a position to fail more than any series of playcalls did.

Finally, Zac Lee actually runs the zone read expertly. He just doesn't have the acceleration to pull off big gains like Taylor, but he is always good for a couple of yards on the ZR. In 2008, the privilege was to have our offense. But we went away from a system that was working to satisfy Bo's vision with mobile quarterbacks. I could have it either way honestly, but to not expect to take lumps in the process is a bit foolish.

With all due respect zoogies. Let me reply here.

According to you Watson should shoulder none of the blame then for Nebraska's apparent slide in offensive performance and from what you have written it is instead Bo Pelini's fault that Nebraska has been held back offensively?

Joe Ganz was indeed an all star quarterback for Nebraska. You can be your bottom dollar he was. No Joe Ganz in 2008=No Gator Bowl victory or 9 wins that year. Sam Keller wasn't going the win the MVP of anything that year except for maybe best athlete to engage in road rage and anyone can tell you Nebraska doesn't win 9 games in 2008 with Keller as our quarterback. Not happening. Joe Ganz threw for over 3,500 yards that season. I think he holds something like over 20 NU all time records the last time I checked?

Laughable?

Umm, no.

Lastly watching Zac Lee painfully run the option last year was anything but 'expert'. He ran the zone read a few times this year and was successful since there is no way on God's green earth that teams were expecting this guy to come in and...run the football. I think it's a safe bet to say that he is and always will be seen as a passer and not a runner.

If you want to support Watson, hey by all means. That's your opinion and it should be respected but I guess the biggest thing I have a problem with is your non discussion of what Shawn Watson hasn't done well and the subtle shifting of blame onto Bo Pelini instead.

Should Shawn Watson not shoulder the blame or be held accountable for anything then????

 

[knapplc]

.... it looks like Watson is doing everything he can to leave this year, and probably will succeed.

Did you ever wonder why that is? And did you ever wonder why Nebraska isn't throwing money at Watson to keep him here? Watson is making $380K here as OC. Chuck Long makes $350K at Kansas, and if they can afford that, we can definitely afford more. If we're truly interested in keeping Watson around, we'll make it worth his while to stay. The fact that we're not locking him down with a salary boost has got to tell you something.

 

[ESPY]

.... it looks like Watson is doing everything he can to leave this year, and probably will succeed.

Did you ever wonder why that is? And did you ever wonder why Nebraska isn't throwing money at Watson to keep him here? Watson is making $380K here as OC. Chuck Long makes $350K at Kansas, and if they can afford that, we can definitely afford more. If we're truly interested in keeping Watson around, we'll make it worth his while to stay. The fact that we're not locking him down with a salary boost has got to tell you something.

Doesn't the athletic office generally wait until after the completion of a season before dealing with coaches' salaries? I believe some bonuses are tied to the bowl game, the overall record for the season and where we're ranked after the final BCS polls.

 

[knapplc]

.... it looks like Watson is doing everything he can to leave this year, and probably will succeed.

Did you ever wonder why that is? And did you ever wonder why Nebraska isn't throwing money at Watson to keep him here? Watson is making $380K here as OC. Chuck Long makes $350K at Kansas, and if they can afford that, we can definitely afford more. If we're truly interested in keeping Watson around, we'll make it worth his while to stay. The fact that we're not locking him down with a salary boost has got to tell you something.

Doesn't the athletic office generally wait until after the completion of a season before dealing with coaches' salaries? I believe some bonuses are tied to the bowl game, the overall record for the season and where we're ranked after the final BCS polls.

There is no hardened-fast rule that says we can't make emergency contract negotiations with a coach if they're in danger of leaving. This happens all the time.

 

[zoogs]

.... it looks like Watson is doing everything he can to leave this year, and probably will succeed.

Did you ever wonder why that is? And did you ever wonder why Nebraska isn't throwing money at Watson to keep him here? Watson is making $380K here as OC. Chuck Long makes $350K at Kansas, and if they can afford that, we can definitely afford more. If we're truly interested in keeping Watson around, we'll make it worth his while to stay. The fact that we're not locking him down with a salary boost has got to tell you something.

Oh, it does. Not sure you could entice Watson to stay regardless, and not sure Bo would have it regardless. Hard to say just by looking at the situation but hard to argue against what is happening either. Bo is going to need to change up his handling of the situation if we're ever to hope for improvement. Although if Gilmore and Cotton both leave, and we bring in stud position coaches for each, I think it would be a huge boost all on its own.

suh_fan, as much as I have come to like Taylor's play on the field, I will always regard the decision in fall camp this year to promote him to starter with a skeptical eye. In a year where many of us were thinking title run, we hitched the wagon to a streaky freshman "quarterback" and it meant we were going to take lumps. Then when he was injured and the *only* thing that pushed him on top to begin with was taken away, Bo still stuck with the kid. I like Taylor but that cost us. Plain and simple.

With Ganz, here is what I am talking about. His production was stellar, yes. But you were talking about a situation where a staff benefits from some stud player walking through the door and carrying them. It's not like Cam Newton or Vince Young walked through the door. Ganz had no physical tools, but took his time learning the offense and really got it down. And he was a gamer, love that guy. He flourished because of the system, not in spite of it. Taylor has plenty of time to finish his story on a similar note as Ganz, to be fair. Not totally his fault he is in this position as a freshman.

The report on Zac Lee is simply that he makes those reads to perfection. That's all I am saying on that.

If you want to support Watson, hey by all means. That's your opinion and it should be respected but I guess the biggest thing I have a problem with is your non discussion of what Shawn Watson hasn't done well and the subtle shifting of blame onto Bo Pelini instead.

Should Shawn Watson not shoulder any blame at all then????

The issue here is that you don't like Watson and you won't feel better until I say something bad about him. And you are hurt that I am saying bad things about Bo. I am just trying to paint a realistic picture of the situation. We can surely do better than Watson, and Bo is a great defensive coach and I am very glad he is our HC. But IMO at least, his calls regarding the offense have really hampered us this year, and so did the decision to bring in Barney Cotton in '07/08. Which I recognize could have very well *not* been Bo's. It is just what it is. I want our offense to do well and think it has a good chance of doing so without Watson, *if* some changes are made - and we will see, on this.

 

[haymarket]

"I have learned that Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson is involved in the Miami (Ohio) job search." per Tom Dienhart twitter.

Tom Dienhart twitter

 

[ESPY]

.... it looks like Watson is doing everything he can to leave this year, and probably will succeed.

Did you ever wonder why that is? And did you ever wonder why Nebraska isn't throwing money at Watson to keep him here? Watson is making $380K here as OC. Chuck Long makes $350K at Kansas, and if they can afford that, we can definitely afford more. If we're truly interested in keeping Watson around, we'll make it worth his while to stay. The fact that we're not locking him down with a salary boost has got to tell you something.

Doesn't the athletic office generally wait until after the completion of a season before dealing with coaches' salaries? I believe some bonuses are tied to the bowl game, the overall record for the season and where we're ranked after the final BCS polls.

There is no hardened-fast rule that says we can't make emergency contract negotiations with a coach if they're in danger of leaving. This happens all the time.

I understand there's no rule about the timing of contract negotiations. That's not what I'm saying because I know it happens quite often. I'm just not entirely sure in-season negotiations happens very often at Nebraska, regardless of the coach.