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

[mnhusker]

I'd like to see and offense with a stronger identity as a team, not as a Person .....in this case the person in Martinez. I would expect some changes as players come in and out but not a total drop off .... It is up to the coach to set that identity and that has not happened.

[C N Red]

Our biggest problem on O is we have a zone read running game and still use a west coast passing game. If your base is gonna be zone read running you also need to adapt the passing game that goes along with it. If watson was willing to do that then we probably wouldn't be riding him so hard. Seems like common sense to me but not apparently to watson.

[huskerfan333157]

Once again, you will ignore my questions but so be it. Isnt it the OC's job to get the whole offense disciplined? Why has our offensive always had mental breakdowns? Why does all of our qbs look consistently at just one Wr? Why do we always have fumbling problems? Why do our wrs always ddrop the ball? Why does our offensive line play inconsistently and make stupid penalties? Isnt it the OC's job to get the whole offense mentally prepared? I mean, he controls the whole offense. Its not like this is the only year we have had those problems, they consistently have happened here and when he was at colorado. But apparently its not watsons fault are offensive always plays incosistent or that our offense always has mental breakdowns? Yeah, he may be smart guy but id rather have our offense play sound and smart football.

 

Man, I can't respond to everyone's posts. Don't take it personally.

 

Yes, our offense has had discipline troubles, mental breakdowns, etc. It's hard to explain away. Pinning it all on the OC and saying getting rid of him will change everything is a copout in my opinion.

 

Taylor looks at one WR because he came in that raw as a passer. Taylor and Green were both complete projects that had very little to offer in the passing game and I can't believe more people don't realize this.

 

The coordinator's job isn't to do the job of the WR and OL coach, whose job it is to get those players coached up and ready to play. It's not as if we have one offensive coach here. Bo isn't doing this by himself on defense, he has the benefit of one of the top secondary coaches in the nation, for example. Watson has a good TE coach and guys like Reed and Cotton have emerged to become cogs on the offense.

 

There are a variety of issues with the offense that I think at best are hard to pin down. A few guys on the staff do not pull their weight by accounts, but Watson isn't one of them. I think the offense has lived and died by a streaky QB this year, and that is a large part of it. But it's just my take.

 

I have no idea what Green could still be injured from, just throwing that out there as a contrasting report to 'Green was gonna be ready to go in, but Bo wouldn't have it.'

 

All of our qbs have looked at one wr though. Green and Lee have also done that. The OC coordinator sees the whole offense, is it all of watsons fault? Of course not, but he needs to get the players mentally prepared and maybe tell Bo that he needs a better staff? Everything on offense is inconsistent and always has been with Watson's teams. Is he a smart guy? Of course he is but I also think he gets too smart for his own good. The players never have developed on the offensive side of the ball to be great players. Bo is a very smart guy, hopefully he will decide on his offensive staff instead of Osborne.

[The Dude]

and?........guess it hasn't caught on like the spread quite yet, my point is it is really only effective if you have the right athletes running it.

It's only really effective if you're playing Pac-10 defenses every week.

 

The zone read is a nice play and all, but it's just a play. Watson's problem was he tried to base the whole offense around 1 play.

[Hunter94]

and?........guess it hasn't caught on like the spread quite yet, my point is it is really only effective if you have the right athletes running it.

It's only really effective if you're playing Pac-10 defenses every week.

 

The zone read is a nice play and all, but it's just a play. Watson's problem was he tried to base the whole offense around 1 play.

 

i agree, he sold out to a concept that we didn't have the athletes to support......oh well, the experiment started well.

[zoogs]

and?........guess it hasn't caught on like the spread quite yet, my point is it is really only effective if you have the right athletes running it.

It's only really effective if you're playing Pac-10 defenses every week.

 

The zone read is a nice play and all, but it's just a play. Watson's problem was he tried to base the whole offense around 1 play.

 

i agree, he sold out to a concept that we didn't have the athletes to support......oh well, the experiment started well.

 

The zone read being our entire offense was tied to having to play to Taylor's biggest (only) real strength.

 

So the experiment, was Bo's, IMO.

 

I thought it worked out quite nicely for the most part. Defenses keyed on stopping Taylor and Taylor gashed them for long passes to wide-open tight ends.

[DJR313]

Ok, so is there any real chatter about Watson being a legit candidate for this job?

[huskerscott]

Ok, so is there any real chatter about Watson being a legit candidate for this job?

I did a quick google search and found pretty much nothing other than this thread. I found something thats a little interseting....... Watson was a candidate for this job back in December 2004 when he was at CU.

 

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-126349433.html

[Hujan]

Lots of good points in this thread. I thought I'd toss out a few more for the Watson supporters:

 

1) Does it bother you at all that, in the face of overwhelming pressure on the QB, Watson never calls screen passes?

 

2) Does it bother you that with a QB who panics when the pocket begins to collapse around him, Watson never calls bootlegs to get our athletic QBs out in space?

 

3) Does it bother you that for a supposedly good QB coach, our QBs consistently look like the least-prepared players on the field on offense and that the players supposedly preventing Watson from "opening up the playbook" are the QBs? (Note my use of the plural here.)

 

4) Does it bother you that Colorado fans were all too happy to see Watson leave, and that Watson is having a difficult time finding a HC position outside of Nebraska? (As a twist on the old adage, "If everyone else seems crazy, it means you're crazy," I would argue, "If everyone but you thinks Watson sucks, it means you're crazy.")

[zoogs]

Interesting link huskerscott. Sounds like Watson has real connections to Miami(OH) and could be a serious contender.

 

I can only go off what we have heard about Taylor's skills, but people have said (frequently) that throwing on the run is not in his repertoire, and neither is rolling out, and (less frequently) that he doesn't have the necessary touch to make screen passes effective. For what that's worth. Taylor, was always raw as a passer but as we saw made some strides over the course of the year. But his ankle injury derailed and destroyed that progress as bad habits came back and his mechanics were messed up again. I think Taylor was raw/streaky before then as a passer but had his moments, whereas afterwards it was a lot more than 'streaky', it was just bad, all the time. And that's not even his fault so much as his dealing with an injury, and you can't fault Taylor for it. Taylor just shut down and was more or less an ineffective, or much less effective player, post-injury.

 

It's too bad we only saw what Cody Green could do in one game.

 

3) Does it bother you that for a supposedly good QB coach, our QBs consistently look like the least-prepared players on the field on offense and that the players supposedly preventing Watson from "opening up the playbook" are the QBs? (Note my use of the plural here.)

 

I mean, this really speaks to the recruiting of projects and the personnel we have at the position. It sucks, I don't like recruiting only project QBs that will always invariably limit the playbook and have limited passing ability, but so many fans were stoked at the time that we were getting guys with fast 40 times. Some of it is also bad luck with some missed prospects. This is why Carnes really excites me, as he could, with experience, take the handcuffs off the offense in a really huge way, and not sure that potential is there for Taylor unless the light bulb REALLY comes on. Otherwise we will have a couple of WR type guys playing QB, and that is going to limit the playbook every time. But apparently, we don't need a wide open playbook or a stone-footed pocket passer to make use of the weapons, as long as the QB can remind us of our option QBs of the good old days.

 

It takes both a player and a coach to make a successful player. The right player is more important, I would have to say.

[Hunter94]

Lots of good points in this thread. I thought I'd toss out a few more for the Watson supporters:

 

1) Does it bother you at all that, in the face of overwhelming pressure on the QB, Watson never calls screen passes?

 

2) Does it bother you that with a QB who panics when the pocket begins to collapse around him, Watson never calls bootlegs to get our athletic QBs out in space?

 

3) Does it bother you that for a supposedly good QB coach, our QBs consistently look like the least-prepared players on the field on offense and that the players supposedly preventing Watson from "opening up the playbook" are the QBs? (Note my use of the plural here.)

 

4) Does it bother you that Colorado fans were all too happy to see Watson leave, and that Watson is having a difficult time finding a HC position outside of Nebraska? (As a twist on the old adage, "If everyone else seems crazy, it means you're crazy," I would argue, "If everyone but you thinks Watson sucks, it means you're crazy.")

 

 

the answer is yes, to all the above.

[Hunter94]

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.

[huskerscott]

4) Does it bother you that Colorado fans were all too happy to see Watson leave, and that Watson is having a difficult time finding a HC position outside of Nebraska? (As a twist on the old adage, "If everyone else seems crazy, it means you're crazy," I would argue, "If everyone but you thinks Watson sucks, it means you're crazy.")

 

I have family that are CU fans(more bronco than CU)but they all laughed at me when we hired Watson. I surprisingly stuck up for Watson then, pointing to CU's run 2001. Also the fact that they had made more CCGs in the decade so far than we have. Boy do I look stupid, now.

[zoogs]

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.

 

That is a huge concern I share, but which I am completely unsure about as far as to whom it should be attributed. I have my theories, but they are just that...

[Hujan]

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.