Fire Shawn Watson

[Hunter94]

after 3 years i think most of us are still waiting for Watson to open up the playbook...i guess we should appreciate the wildcat when Burkhead runs it...zone read or whatever you want to call it, too bad it took most of the season getting around to calling it.

[junior4949]

After three years, Watson is still breaking in a new QB. Every year, he's had a new starting QB. This is the reason losing Martinez will be so damaging if he transfers. I've always believed one of the biggest reasons Clownahan's offense failed against better defenses is because he never had a QB that had been in the system more than a year or two.

[lionsfan93]

Its clear that Watson needs to go. Even when our offense was being productive it wasn't because of good play calling, it was because of great athletes making athletic plays. We shouldn't be asking do we need to replace Watson, we should be asking who should be replacing Watson. I have a few ideas, but I think we offer Scott Frost the job first.

[74Hunter]

Interesting fact: on USC, they just said that Watson has coached in 6 Big 12 Championship games, and his offense has scored a touchdown in ONLY ONE of the 6 games he has coached.

 

I'm less anti-Watson then I used to be, but this should be the telling trend, not the one time the sun shined on the dog's ass and his CU team put up 62 on our less than athletic defense.

[bball_backer]

Interesting fact: on USC, they just said that Watson has coached in 6 Big 12 Championship games, and his offense has scored a touchdown in ONLY ONE of the 6 games he has coached.

 

I was just getting on to post this. That is horrendous. They did point out that Wats' teams were big underdogs in most games, but you still have to find a way to score. In a few of those games he had less than 100 yards, and in the one against OU I believe, they had 50 yards passing and -4 yards rushing. Wow. Wow. A good OC finds SOME way to manufacture SOMETHING.

[BornRedCornFed]

to all the haters in this tread, tell me what this guy has to do to earn your respect?

 

it seems like no matter how well our offense does, there are a wealth of new criticisms. our offense has fared extremely well this year, with the aTm game being the one exception. our game plan/play calling wasnt the reason we lost the UT game. 4 dropped td passes with 1 more that could have went the distance as well as an uncalled PI penalty get the blame for that one.

 

i guess i just dont understand how people cant be relatively pleased with our offensive production this year

[74Hunter]

to all the haters in this tread, tell me what this guy has to do to earn your respect?

 

it seems like no matter how well our offense does, there are a wealth of new criticisms. our offense has fared extremely well this year, with the aTm game being the one exception. our game plan/play calling wasnt the reason we lost the UT game. 4 dropped td passes with 1 more that could have went the distance as well as an uncalled PI penalty get the blame for that one.

 

i guess i just dont understand how people cant be relatively pleased with our offensive production this year

SDSU, Kansas, ISU, A&M, tu, come on........

 

Yes, we put up big #'s against KSU, Washington, OSU, for 1 quarter against Mizzou, and decent #'s against CU, but how horrendous are those defenses? At the very best, Watson's offenses have been inconsistant and puzzling to say the least. The criticism is deserved.

[bball_backer]

to all the haters in this tread, tell me what this guy has to do to earn your respect?

 

it seems like no matter how well our offense does, there are a wealth of new criticisms. our offense has fared extremely well this year, with the aTm game being the one exception. our game plan/play calling wasnt the reason we lost the UT game. 4 dropped td passes with 1 more that could have went the distance as well as an uncalled PI penalty get the blame for that one.

 

i guess i just dont understand how people cant be relatively pleased with our offensive production this year

For starters, I don't like your wording. I'm not a Wats hater and I do respect him as a man, but he simply is not good enough for me to want him to stay.

 

I'll tell you what he has to do. SHOW UP IN A BIG GAME. Just look at all the stats posted in this thread about how horrible his offenses have been in big games. In his last 4 championship games as an OC his team hasn't scored a TD, and has only scored ONE TD in the last SIX championship games under Wats as an OC. You may say the plays were there against Texas, well guess what, Texas ISN'T BOWL ELIGIBLE, THAT'S A BAD TEAM. What about Mizzou? Missouri backers three times took a bad angle and Helu blew by them. Look at the next three quarters of that game after Mizzou made adjustments. Watson has time and again proven he can't get a team to score in the BIG game (as in Championship games or games against top 40 defenses).

[zoogs]

Interesting fact: on USC, they just said that Watson has coached in 6 Big 12 Championship games, and his offense has scored a touchdown in ONLY ONE of the 6 games he has coached.

 

I'm less anti-Watson then I used to be, but this should be the telling trend, not the one time the sun shined on the dog's ass and his CU team put up 62 on our less than athletic defense.

 

Watson was OC in name only at Colorado, but since he's only had three true years as his own OC, people like to add in all these filler years just to have a larger sample size. For example it's really Bo's defense, or at least "Bo and Carl's" defense, and while Callahan was here, it was really Callahan's offense, not Callahan and Norvell. In New England, it's Belichick's defense, not Dean Pees (last year's DC).

 

To review, Barnett's Buffalos won 39-37 in 2001 in an upset, lost 7-29 to a better Oklahoma team in 2002 (touchdown was a punt return), and were blown out in 2004 and 2005 when nobody in the North was any good and the South team were national championship contenders. I suppose you could pin those on Watson, or just the general extremely lopsided state of affairs in those days. OU '04 and Texas '05 were elite, and CU just the lucky North whipping boys.

 

That's four games so far, so then the USC people are apparently counting the 2006 game, when Watson was tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator here. Which we scored a touchdown in on offense.

 

What about Mizzou? Missouri backers three times took a bad angle and Helu blew by them. Look at the next three quarters of that game after Mizzou made adjustments.

 

No...Almost every big play happens because the defenders don't make the tackle or aren't in position when they should be. We identified a weakness of the Tiger D and gameplanned to run it right at them. It worked beautifully. Then our starting QB got knocked out and Bo decided to grab a lead and hang the hell onto it. Those weren't Missouri adjustments, that was Nebraska shutting it down on O.

 

Missouri was a fine performance by the offense and there's really no other way to look at it.

[holvy83]

To defend Wats a little while at CU, aside from KSU in 03 the North was absolute crap, the winner was like picking the tallest nerd in gym class. Look at some of the offenses around the big 12 the last couple years, they has QB's come up in the system and blow it up on the field, Wats has had to deal with a new QB every year, and Ganz does not count... Like I said before, change the OC if you want, but Bo will want the same philosophy.

[74Hunter]

Watson was OC in name only at Colorado, but since he's only had three true years as his own OC, people like to add in all these filler years just to have a larger sample size. For example it's really Bo's defense, or at least "Bo and Carl's" defense, and while Callahan was here, it was really Callahan's offense, not Callahan and Norvell. In New England, it's Belichick's defense, not Dean Pees (last year's DC).

First, USC = Unsportsmanlike Conduct, a radio show in Omaha.

 

Second, the bolded. GREAT, then I never, ever, ever, ever EVER hear about how great of an OC he is due to his CU teams putting up 62 on NU, or having the 40th rated offense in 2001 or whatever he was. He is an average OC at best, pure and simple.

[bball_backer]

Interesting fact: on USC, they just said that Watson has coached in 6 Big 12 Championship games, and his offense has scored a touchdown in ONLY ONE of the 6 games he has coached.

 

I'm less anti-Watson then I used to be, but this should be the telling trend, not the one time the sun shined on the dog's ass and his CU team put up 62 on our less than athletic defense.

 

Watson was OC in name only at Colorado, but since he's only had three true years as his own OC, people like to add in all these filler years just to have a larger sample size. For example it's really Bo's defense, or at least "Bo and Carl's" defense, and while Callahan was here, it was really Callahan's offense, not Callahan and Norvell. In New England, it's Belichick's defense, not Dean Pees (last year's DC).

 

To review, Barnett's Buffalos won 39-37 in 2001 in an upset, lost 7-29 to a better Oklahoma team in 2002 (touchdown was a punt return), and were blown out in 2004 and 2005 when nobody in the North was any good and the South team were national championship contenders. I suppose you could pin those on Watson, or just the general extremely lopsided state of affairs in those days. OU '04 and Texas '05 were elite, and CU just the lucky North whipping boys.

 

That's four games so far, so then the USC people are apparently counting the 2006 game, when Watson was tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator here. Which we scored a touchdown in on offense.

 

What about Mizzou? Missouri backers three times took a bad angle and Helu blew by them. Look at the next three quarters of that game after Mizzou made adjustments.

 

No...Almost every big play happens because the defenders don't make the tackle or aren't in position when they should be. We identified a weakness of the Tiger D and gameplanned to run it right at them. It worked beautifully. Then our starting QB got knocked out and Bo decided to grab a lead and hang the hell onto it. Those weren't Missouri adjustments, that was Nebraska shutting it down on O.

 

Missouri was a fine performance by the offense and there's really no other way to look at it.

For the record, they guys said they didn't know if Watson was allowed to call plays or not at CU. They also said they were NOT counting 2006, and if NU had made it in 2007 they wouldn't have counted it simply because we all know he wasn't calling the plays.

Say what you want about identifying a weakness against Mizzou, I don't think Bo wanting to shut down the O would take away the run game... which is what those 3 big plays came from - basic run plays. The fact is, as you said yourself, without Martinez in the game, this offense shuts down. That's not good. Watson has been in his position 4 years, he knows what he has on his team, he should be able to identify his players strengths and manage a little production.

 

Let me ask this to the pro-Watson guys:

What does he have to do in your eyes, to be in jeopardy of losing his job. Since you obviously believe field goals and rare defensive touchdowns are enough to eventually win a National Championship. A NC is the eventual goal, correct?

[junior4949]

Why does Ganz not count? He was a new starter. Yes, he did start what three or four games the prior year but in all reality he was a brand new starter.

[holvy83]

Why does Ganz not count? He was a new starter. Yes, he did start what three or four games the prior year but in all reality he was a brand new starter.

 

that is what I meant, he was a "new" guy, if Cally's love child never got hurt during the texas game, Ganz wouldn't have seen the field that year.

 

All I'm saying is that everyone screams for a new OC, but rotating QB's, having average O lines and dealing with injuries is not going to help anyone. Talent still has to produce Watsons game plan on the field, and if based solely on that, then let him go...

[Landlord]

Let me ask this to the pro-Watson guys:

What does he have to do in your eyes, to be in jeopardy of losing his job. Since you obviously believe field goals and rare defensive touchdowns are enough to eventually win a National Championship. A NC is the eventual goal, correct?

 

 

I'm not pro-Watson parse, but I am pro wait and see. I would wait another year, because of the following already mentioned points:

 

1. This is his 3rd year as a true, bona fide offensive coordinator. '08 was a great offense, '09 was horrendous (partially be design), '10 has been up and down, but overall, has to be classified as above average or good.

 

2. He's yet to have a returning starter at quarterback.

 

3. This is the first year of THIS offense, which was the vision we had three years ago. Give him at least another year with this offense and doing exactly what we want to with it, the same way you give a new head coach more than one year to get things how he wants them.