eoltmer said:
Enhance89 said:
The thing that really worries me is that at one point or another, you HAVE to start looking at your staff if you are having consistency issues.
We had a good o-line in 2008, and I think two of those guys made NFL rosters and were all part of Callahan's tutelage for close to four years. Also, a year or two removed from coaching at Nebraska, the Jets had the best rushing offense in the nation. That says quite a bit.
Anyways, we have some good answers here but I'm looking more towards the technical side of things rather than Cotton just being a bad coach. I'm wondering what specific things our players are doing that isn't working well. We've had some good responses so far so let's keep em coming.
I had the privledge of attending the Coaches clinic at UNL this summer. Now I worked with mostly the O-line and D-line during that time AKA, Barney and Carl. Barney explained a few things that they did change as far as technique goes and that pre-Arizona game they went to wider gaps and a different pulling technique that were successful. So this year has been a learning experience for not just the new recruits but also some of the veterens. Now I know that this shouldn't even be an issue this late into the season but you can see the effects of the constant playcalling and game plan changing that takes place week to week that these kids cannot get into a constant rythem when you put all your eggs into one basket AKA making the zone read your bread and butter.
One thing that got brought up post Callahan is that the offense was a jack of all trades but a master of none. You can see that still today, this offense lives and dies by the big play. You've seen it in every game this year, we break a long run/pass for a big play. We fail to have a big play and we get held to little to no points. We do not have a smash mouth footbal team that can pick up the tough yards without the obvious pass play. I'm not trying to bash Watson or Cotton but when viewers at home can tell what you are calling before you even call it then your game plan is pretty predictable.
This O-line of ours is better in pass protection than run protection, fact. How many times do we really see the O-line dominate past the first level? How many times does a Guard pull and not get to his block fast enough? That is one thing that Osbourne really excelled at was the O-line dictating the play of the offense. Do I think the coaching is the issue, yes. Do I feel the players are an issue, yes. Do I think it can all be fixed without someone being fired, yes. But this is something that can be fixed in time as long as the STAFF comes together and identifies the issues and come up with a way to resolve them. Staff consistency breeds success, its a fact we just need to be patient and allow them to learn and develope properly.
Great breakdown, man. Thanks for the insight.
I've come to the conclusion, after bashing Cotton mercilessly all of last year and calling for his head, then this year thinking he many have turned a corner after the first three games and then the Mizzou game, then realizing he didn't, that Barney is merely an adequate line coach who may be better suited as an O coordinator at a small time school like ISU than here. He does an ok job with the linemen, but isn't inspiring in any way whatsoever. Our guys do doo a good job in pass pro, but they have never been able to consistently dominate teams week after week for a whole season like we did back in the Pipeline days under Milt.
What needs to happen is that we need to part ways with Cotton, Wats, and Gilmore, the last three holdovers, and then have T.O. be extremely involved in selecting the new coaches, especially the offensive coordinator and O Line coach. If there's one thing that man knew how to do, it was implement a successful offensive attack, and his 100% required a successful O Line. So he made sure he had a quality position coach there. I'd think he'd know how to pick one out again.
The reason I think we need a fresh start in those three spots is because the last two years have been very disappointing offensively. Too many damn :facepalm: moments on offense. I realize last year we didn't have the pieces to light the world on fire, with a ton of O Line injuries and still a very young, inexperienced offense, and a human turnover machine at wideout, but Wats showed something that is inexcusable as a coordinator-- an inability to get out of his own way. The two moments that particularly highlight our struggles last year that stick out in my mind are Niles fumbling twice IN ONE PLAY as he headed into the endzone in the ISU game, and in the B12 championship game, after our D picked off McCoy and got the ball near (if not already in) field goal range, and Wats calls a deep bomb to Niles that gets picked off-- first play.
Our offense does not remember fundamentals at all, as shown by all the turnovers in the ISU game last year, and the ridiculous fumbles numbers this year. I just yearn for some consistency on offense, a team that does not have multiple personalities, and a team that executes fundamentals, like we had under Dr. Tom. And that WILL NOT HAPPEN under this offensive staff. Ever. Period. I'm serious. Wats' offense can be flashy and look unstoppable at times, but it cannot give us CONSISTENCY.
