Dear Shawn Watson,

[Sparker]

This game WAS NOT Watson's fault. Our players did not execute the game plan. Make no mistake about it, the game plan that Watson constructed would have won us the game had it been executed properly.

 

Stupidest argument ever. I can come up with a game winning game plan if its "excited properly". First play: TD pass. Defensive play: Pick 6. Second offensive play: TD run. Repeat until we are up by 50 or so, then let the other team get to mid field before a couple more pick-6's.

 

Then, when the players fail to execute my "game plan", at least I can rest assured all the die hards at huskerboard will come to my defense and point out what could have been, had the players only executed. If the player would have only executed my game plan, we would have had 100 points! We'd be undefeated!

 

Enough with the excuses. Shawn Watson didn't fumble. Shawn Watson didn't drop the pass. Shawn Watson didn't take the sac. What exactly did Shawn Watson do?

[Hujan]

You can put RB execution on Beck, OL execution on Cotton, TE execution on Brown, and WR execution on Gilmore. Two or three of them have been pretty solid this year. QB is what comes down to Watson, and...

 

When Taylor doesn't execute: It's okay, he's a freshman, this is expected.

 

When Taylor doesn't execute: Fire Wats! Taylor isn't executing, that's outrageous.

 

I'm surprised how continually people forget what we are working with at QB right now. And who was responsible for that choice last night.

 

If you actually believe any of what you just wrote, then we could get rid of the Pelini brothers, keep the defensive assistants, and the defense would continue to dominate. I doubt seriously you believe that's true.

 

You're missing the point of what the OC does.

 

The OC is responsible for taking the guys at TE, WR, RB, OL, and QB, and designing an offense. He calls the plays during the game and gameplans against opponents. He isn't responsible for coaching up the WRs, we have a WRs coach for that. Does Watson teach them to run the offense? Yes. But when the players can't do their jobs, you got to start looking at the position coaches, unless you just want a scapegoat and point fingers meaninglessly.

 

Here's the thing: There are problems at every position. So either all of our assistants are miraculously and coincidentally failing to do their jobs in fundamental ways, or the problem is due to one common denominator: The offensive coordinator.

 

Why isn't Watson in their ear telling them to get things done? If it's not getting done, why doesn't he step in and make sure it gets done? Ultimately it is his responsibility.

 

And to be clear, I am not saying that it is entirely Watson's fault. Bo, Watson, Cotton, and Gilmore are all to blame. But we're not getting rid of Bo, obviously. At least he has an upside. But Watson doesn't and I'm assuming that if he goes, the others (Cotton and Gilmore) will go with him. Hence, we target Watson. He is the biggest, most fundamental part of the problem and there is no upside to retaining him.

[zoogs]

To me, though, Watson is ultimately responsible for the way the entire unit plays and for preparing them. He needs to be sure his coaches are putting players in a position to win. I remember watching Bo get in Mike Ekeler's face all the time in 2008 because of shoddy play at the linebacker position. I know Watson isn't as vocal at Pelini is, but does he hold his assistants accountable in the same manner?

 

The thing about this is that Bo gets to fire those guys. Watson doesn't. It's not like they really answer to him. I suppose that's a guess on my part.

 

I do get what you mean about raising the level of the coaches that are position coaches under him. Stylistically, he's not as vocal maybe but I don't have any answers as far as how he deals with his assistants. All I have to go with is what I believe BW said a while back on these forums, that Watson has wanted some assistants gone for a while, but Bo isn't willing. I'm not sure how anyone could know that or how this works, but there you go.

 

Bo yells at players and coaches, but how accountable is it really, when it seems just about all of them have infinite job security?

[zoogs]

Really? I'd say our RBs are doing fine, and Brown has done a masterful job with the TEs.

 

Cotton/Gilmore have been on some people's ish lists since the Callahan days. Including Cotton who wasn't even a hire then. I guess we just view the situation differently. I see it as a staff where these 2 position coaches aren't pulling their weight, and it seems like you see it as one where the offense should be doing better, so something is fundamentally wrong with the head man on that side of the ball.

[Enhance]

To me, though, Watson is ultimately responsible for the way the entire unit plays and for preparing them. He needs to be sure his coaches are putting players in a position to win. I remember watching Bo get in Mike Ekeler's face all the time in 2008 because of shoddy play at the linebacker position. I know Watson isn't as vocal at Pelini is, but does he hold his assistants accountable in the same manner?

 

The thing about this is that Bo gets to fire those guys. Watson doesn't. It's not like they really answer to him. I suppose that's a guess on my part.

 

I do get what you mean about raising the level of the coaches that are position coaches under him. Stylistically, he's not as vocal maybe but I don't have any answers as far as how he deals with his assistants. All I have to go with is what I believe BW said a while back on these forums, that Watson has wanted some assistants gone for a while, but Bo isn't willing. I'm not sure how anyone could know that or how this works, but there you go.

 

Bo yells at players and coaches, but how accountable is it really, when it seems just about all of them have infinite job security?

I assumed early on that they had job security (mainly on the offensive side of the ball) because Bo just straight up didn't want to revamp two sides of the ball at once as a first time head coach.

 

And defensively, he didn't keep a single Callahan guy. He brought all his own people in and knew exactly what he wanted to do, how he was going to do it, and what people he needed to do it. I don't think Bo would fire any of his defensive coaches because he knows what he wanted.

 

As far as the offense goes, you gotta wonder, did he collaborate with Watson, give Watson the ability to hire who he wanted, or did Bo say 'this is who I want so take em'? I know that information would go a long way in understanding what does or doesn't need to be changed here. Bo knows continuity among a staff is crucial to success on the football field, which also might be why he is against getting rid of coaches.

[zoogs]

I don't think Watson had any say at all in that department. Maybe he requested Gilmore to stay? That's extremely speculative of me and I hope that isn't true.

 

I think the only other person who had a hand in those hirings was Tom Osborne. Who basically said as much, that he would give 'suggestions.' Wasn't there supposedly that one coach that turned us down because he wanted his own assistants to bring here?

 

I can see the continuity argument, but not when it means dead weight. We are not going to get good development out of receivers with Gilmore here. It'll be either the already talented Swifts of the world or the Gilleylens and Brooks who pass through here with no impact. Similar argument with OL I guess, I think we can do better. But then again, there's continuity to weigh any decision against. It's Bo's call and in the end something he will answer for if it's bad.

[roundegotrip]

Thank God we, The Great Unwashed of this Board, have you as a Moral Beacon to guide us Egotrip.

 

Is that what that smell is?

[Igetbored216]

We can look at the total yards at the end of the game as well as the points scored by the offense already, and compare that to what people were saying before the game about what would be enough for Watson to show.

 

Not much more to say than that.

 

How many times did the offense turn the ball over in this game? How many times did they turn it over for the whole year? How many times did they commit stupid penalties time and time again throughout the year? How many times did their offense take a giant crap on the field during the year and last year too? How many times has Watson had an overall above average offense (in the top 15)? How many times did Watson decide to stretch the running plays to the outside on a fast Oklahoma defense just to get blown up time after time? How many times has he found something that worked, and then immediately change to doing something else and not go back to it until it's too late?

 

Sorry...but there's a time where a coordinator has to be accountable for the piss poor performance over the last two years. The excuses are getting old. I'm done with him. I have no faith he can win games for us and we will be in very bad shape going into the Big 10 thanks to his atrocious play calling and game planning. He's bad. Haven't you wondered why no one has called him to offer him another job, yet the defensive coaches have been offered a few already? There's a pretty good reason for it, but you seem to not want to see the truth. So, I guess you can keep the blinders on and say Watson has done a great job in every area.

[HUSKERCR]

Thank God we, The Great Unwashed of this Board, have you as a Moral Beacon to guide us Egotrip.

 

Is that what that smell is?

 

We don't smell a thing.

 

Must be your Ego......

 

Have you checked it recently for runny leaks?

 

(At least you've come down off your high horse and gotten into the spirit of things.)

[VA Husker2]

if we just ran burkehead out of the wildcat the whole game i bet we win.

zone read plus gimp equals "who gets the ball?

 

I'm not a math genius,but I've figured that one out111

[butterswolfman]

1) Taylor played poorly. He looked rattled. But unlike past games, he also looked visibly upset at the end of the game. I liked that. It showed he cares about winning. Hopefully he learns from this game and continues to grow as a player.

 

2) Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice (and again... and again... and again), shame on me. Goodbye Shawn Watson. You're inability to adjust mid-game pisses me off. You're refusal to call what works pisses me off even more. I'll cheer you when you come back, but I'll be cheering even louder when I hear you're leaving.

 

3) Bo, this loss is on you too. Why didn't you take out Taylor? Why didn't you go up into Watson's suite and kill him? This is your team, and until you get rid of the dead weight the majority of the blame will be on your shoulders, period.

On point 1.) I also saw taylor slapping helmets with his team mates, talking to the other QBs and trying to stay loose, I dunno if all the rumors were over blown or something was said that sunk in and he's trying to be a leader but i was very impressed.

 

On 2) I was never fooled. From my first time i saw this offense this season i had a lot of issues with it's predictability the risk it poses to players and inability to evolve to fit situations. Its hard to win games based on only getting 60 yard runs for TDs. I have been wanting him gone since he got here. None of the offensive players play up to expectations week in and week out.

 

3) TOTALY agree. Bo is a great coach, and you can't complain at all about his win percentages or his defenses. But at what point do you realize your hurting your QBs future and development by letting him get racked around. I for one think it may have been to humble Taylor a bit.

[butterswolfman]

Best options available for an upgrade to a bigger school. NIU OC. Matt Limegrover, Arkansas OL coach Chris Klenakis, Nevada's Cameron Norcross ECU's Lincoln Riley, maybe TROY's Kenny Edenfiel as we missed out on Neal Brown. any other ideas people?

[butterswolfman]

You should not be calling those fumbles in our own territory, if you would, wait till we are on the 40. For example, when Rex fumbled, that was a good time to call that fumble. The INT that TMart threw was at a perfect time as well. Impecable. That WildCat with Rex, HORRIBLE. We don't need to be creative at all. Simplify the offense. And zone read after zone read? Open the playbook up.

 

I hope everybody that reads this understands what I am saying. Watson called a good game last night. The wildcat package with Rex was very innovative and well timed. This game WAS NOT Watson's fault. Our players did not execute the game plan. Make no mistake about it, the game plan that Watson constructed would have won us the game had it been executed properly. This one is on the players for not executing what was put in. If you turn the ball over four times against an OU team you will not win it.

 

They rarely ever execute, and if your players aren't executing then your not coaching ='s Watson's fault.

EZ-E i REALLY respect your posts you are generally speaking very insightful, smart, and construct idea's well. But you are flat out wrong. Fumbles and INTs are the coaches fault. as are dropped passes, they DON'T HAPPEN (at least very otent) to well coached teams. There was nothing good about the play calling even the Kirk Herby was making comments about the odd play calling. Isn't the definition of stupid doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result? This offense is predictable as i have been saying all year. When your best/most explosive player is your QB your only plays that put the ball in his hands running are zone reads no hat on hat, no power runs, ISOs or sweeps with the QB, no roll outs. no Pitches. Its just a version of the option that is more easy to defend because the assignments are easier for the defense. the only thing multiple about this offense is its multiple deficiencies. I have said this from day one. We dominate bad opponents because they are bad. Our offense get's dominated by good defenses because IT is bad. SW had ONE good season because he was running a Calahan style offense with Calahan style players. anyhow i have gone on long enough. If we are smart there will be a new OC next year. if not we are going to get beat the eff up in the big 10.

[dvdcrr]

When Martinez or Helu are breaking off 60+ yard TD runs, they make Watson look like a genius. The rest of the time it's like the coach in Waterboy, "Offense for Dummies". After OU figured out our 5 plays, it was over. These guys deserve better. Out D has gone from the sh**house to the Penthouse in 1 1/2 years, and our Offense kills us yet again. Leave Watson in Dallas.

I share the same emotion, but I also remember how sure I was that Charlie McBride needed to go when the 5-2 wasn't stopping anybody, and our defense couldn't shut down Georgial Tech. I remember how sure I was that a staff change was in order.... Well as it turned out we kept the same dudes but changed athletes and went to the 4-3 and BAM, McBride was the best defensive coordinator in the country. If Watson gets sold on a direction for this offense and commits to it... you never know what can happen. But I do think a fresh young start might be as good or better. Scott Frost came to my mind right away, but I also (at the time) thought Steve Petersen made perfect sense to come back to the university as AD (being a Neb. man) and we all know how that turned out...

[T_O_Bull]

there are a lot of things to question in this game, but here's what made me pretty angry. 3 minutes to go, ball at the 50 yard line (which it shouldn't have been because Martinez should have thrown it away). Oklahoma gets called for being off sides so now we are at the 45. it may seem ridiculous, but why not kick the 62 yard field goal? Alex made the 53 yarder by a mile. i'm all for trusting the defense to get a 3 and out with 3 minutes left, which they did. but did the coaches really think the offense would push us back into field goal range? i say put the ball in the hands (or on the foot) of the teams MVP Alex Henery and let him show the world that he is the best kicker in NCAA history.