My .02 on Watson

[Glendower]

OC's & Playcallers are born, not made. Like Greg Davis at Texas, Watson just doesn't have "it".

He goes through the motions of having "it," but is too proud and self-satisfied to actually have that "it." He doesn't seem to get that he's in it with his players-- it's not just him setting the balance of his little figures on the vibrating game board.

 

[zoogs]

Okay, if we're going to have some out-of-butt talking, I'll jump in

Damn, you weren't kiddin'

I will not argue on the Wildcat really. There were critical times when we could have gone to that or any basic run instead of a pass, at the end of the game.

Stuff like the Frost as OC, Burkhead as QB is just not reality IMO, unless by Frost you mean "Osborne" and by Burkhead you mean "'97 Frost". I know people want to imagine stuff like that but it's some kind of fantasy. Frost has been covered before, but on Burkhead, maybe he has a lot more passing ability than he has shown, but we really have not seen much. I mean, Burkhead is a RB, and it's like Lucky threw some TD passes for us, but he wouldn't be a QB even in this offense either. Maybe I am totally wrong about Burkhead's arm....in which case, correct me, somebody.

And stuff like this:

He goes through the motions of having "it," but is too proud and self-satisfied to actually have that "it." He doesn't seem to get that he's in it with his players--

is garbage.

 

[Glendower]

Okay, if we're going to have some out-of-butt talking, I'll jump in

Damn, you weren't kiddin'

I will not argue on the Wildcat really. There were critical times when we could have gone to that or any basic run instead of a pass, at the end of the game.

Stuff like the Frost as OC, Burkhead as QB is just not reality IMO, unless by Frost you mean "Osborne" and by Burkhead you mean "'97 Frost". I know people want to imagine stuff like that but it's some kind of fantasy. Frost has been covered before, but on Burkhead, maybe he has a lot more passing ability than he has shown, but we really have not seen much. I mean, Burkhead is a RB, and it's like Lucky threw some TD passes for us, but he wouldn't be a QB even in this offense either. Maybe I am totally wrong about Burkhead's arm....in which case, correct me, somebody.

And stuff like this:

He goes through the motions of having "it," but is too proud and self-satisfied to actually have that "it." He doesn't seem to get that he's in it with his players--

is garbage.

IIRC, Rex played QB in high school-- I know that's not the same as playing in college, but it's not like he was a QB in St. Edward or something. I don't care if it's Frost as OC or not, I was just using that as an example. And, hey, at this point, I'd be pretty happy with an unproven-but-developing coach because in case no one noticed, we already don't score many points against good teams. So how much worse could someone be? If we hit a homerun with someone who is still developing as a coach, that's awesome. Finding someone who has a lot of experience as an OC, well, we know what we're getting and they might not get that much better. And you'll notice that I didn't narrow it down to Frost, it was just heading back into that sort of conversation.

And I don't get why it's garbage. He seems awfully disconnected from what's going on down on the field. He doesn't adjust, he doesn't pull ineffective QBs, and he derails his own drives. It's more like he's following a script that he thinks is awesome instead of trying to line that script up with the realities of the game.

 

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Okay, if we're going to have some out-of-butt talking, I'll jump in

Damn, you weren't kiddin'

I will not argue on the Wildcat really. There were critical times when we could have gone to that or any basic run instead of a pass, at the end of the game.

Stuff like the Frost as OC, Burkhead as QB is just not reality IMO, unless by Frost you mean "Osborne" and by Burkhead you mean "'97 Frost". I know people want to imagine stuff like that but it's some kind of fantasy. Frost has been covered before, but on Burkhead, maybe he has a lot more passing ability than he has shown, but we really have not seen much. I mean, Burkhead is a RB, and it's like Lucky threw some TD passes for us, but he wouldn't be a QB even in this offense either. Maybe I am totally wrong about Burkhead's arm....in which case, correct me, somebody.

And stuff like this:

He goes through the motions of having "it," but is too proud and self-satisfied to actually have that "it." He doesn't seem to get that he's in it with his players--

is garbage.

He does appear to be wanting Burkhead playing QB. I'm not a fan of that but agree he would have the Frost mentality back there.

Some one in another thread was knocking Burkhead for not completing the pass to Martinez. It is amazing that Burkhead was on target with the throw with the pressure he was under and could not plant to throw. The kid is certainly a gamer.

 

[Glendower]

Okay, if we're going to have some out-of-butt talking, I'll jump in

Damn, you weren't kiddin'

I will not argue on the Wildcat really. There were critical times when we could have gone to that or any basic run instead of a pass, at the end of the game.

Stuff like the Frost as OC, Burkhead as QB is just not reality IMO, unless by Frost you mean "Osborne" and by Burkhead you mean "'97 Frost". I know people want to imagine stuff like that but it's some kind of fantasy. Frost has been covered before, but on Burkhead, maybe he has a lot more passing ability than he has shown, but we really have not seen much. I mean, Burkhead is a RB, and it's like Lucky threw some TD passes for us, but he wouldn't be a QB even in this offense either. Maybe I am totally wrong about Burkhead's arm....in which case, correct me, somebody.

And stuff like this:

He goes through the motions of having "it," but is too proud and self-satisfied to actually have that "it." He doesn't seem to get that he's in it with his players--

is garbage.

He does appear to be wanting Burkhead playing QB. I'm not a fan of that but agree he would have the Frost mentality back there.

Some one in another thread was knocking Burkhead for not completing the pass to Martinez. It is amazing that Burkhead was on target with the throw with the pressure he was under and could not plant to throw. The kid is certainly a gamer.

No kidding, everything about that pass was crazy and bad except for the accuracy of the throw itself. But, really, Martinez doesn't have the same experience fighting through D1 defenders and Rex doesn't have experience throwing through them, either. Bad decision, but the ball was there... unfortunately, so was a defender (fortunately, the defender had stonehands ).

 

[zoogs]

I love me some Burkhead, but I don't know. That pass was really lucky not to be picked off; granted, he had pressure. In my mind I was screaming "BAD DECISION" when it happened but I could be off base in my assessment here. The other pass, to Reed, also seemed like it was poorly aimed, but he got it to Reed so what can you say. Small sample size. Seems like a best case scenario here though is he's raw like Taylor.

And I don't get why it's garbage. He seems awfully disconnected from what's going on down on the field. He doesn't adjust, he doesn't pull ineffective QBs, and he derails his own drives. It's more like he's following a script that he thinks is awesome instead of trying to line that script up with the realities of the game.

Some wildly unfounded characterization being done. Too proud and self-satisfied? Disconnected? Come on now. There are hushed whispers and reported-on comments by Phil Dillard about Taylor's attitude and character, which aren't good, and people here would say it's ridiculous when those are brought up or if anyone tried to characterize Taylor that way. Fine. But this is just ridiculous as well. FWIW, all reports are that the players love Watson and playing for him. The disconnect is mostly dreamed up IMO, by a fanbase that will never see past the fact that he was hired by Callahan.

 

[DJR313]

I haven't said much about this, because I didn't want to infringe on the other threads. But after watching the game last night, and being able to think about this some, I've come to a couple conclusions.

There have been moments where I have to ask myself, is it our QB's or the OC? In the beginning, it was easier to pin it on the QB's (Lee playing through injury last year, Martinez being a freshman, Green being completely ineffective at times) than on Watson. But it just seems to me, and i'm sorry for beating a dead horse, that he's got "Callahanacy" which is the inability to change your battle plan mid fight. He kept plowing ahead with his plans, instead of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of our offense, and adapting to the situation at hand.

So, for the most part, Watson as OC, has been a disappointment. On any other team, with a defense not as prevelant as ours, his deficiencies would be even more glaring. The games we've lost have for the most part, been relatively close. So to somebody who's not as aware as the majority of the board members are, these just look like "hard luck losses".

Then there are his moments where he looks like he knows what he's doing. Prime example, last years Holiday Bowl. That game got every one excited, thinking with our defense, this offense is going to put us in the national championship hunt.

Here is my thing about this. Watson's supposed inability to change according to the talent he has.

Is this Watson or Bo? Bo rotinuly when asked says "we are going to pu whomever in their and they will run the defense or offense." In other words, I don't care who plays, we are running our plays regardless who is in there. We just plug people in there. If you don't know the plays ...you don't play.

Does this come down from the top?

You're on point, Bo should have done more, but he's not the offensive minded guy. I kinda got the impression that that is just "coach speak" and that he defers to Watson on things on the offensive side of the ball. Now, am I happy about that, not particularly.

Exactly. This question needs to be asked largely of Husker Nation. Why does Bo get a pass for having no involvement in the offensive gameplan/direction and Callahan was blasted for not having his hands in the defense?

I have bit my tongue on this for a long time. Callahan was justly criticized for his lack of control of the defense. Bo needs to be held to this same standard for allowing an inept offense to be put on the field. If he doesn't do something about the problems on offense in big games, his abilities as a head coach should be questioned as well.

 

[zoogs]

DJR, I think it is actually very far from the case. Bo has had quite a hand in the direction of the offense. The quote here I took from another board provides a decent summary of the situation.

If there is an impression that Watson is being left along to run his O his way like Cosgrove was, I think it is really, really far from the case.

The hope right now isn't for Bo to start taking charge of the offense. It's for Bo to think about the right next move to make in his steering of that ship.

 

[Glendower]

I love me some Burkhead, but I don't know. That pass was really lucky not to be picked off; granted, he had pressure. In my mind I was screaming "BAD DECISION" when it happened but I could be off base in my assessment here. The other pass, to Reed, also seemed like it was poorly aimed, but he got it to Reed so what can you say. Small sample size. Seems like a best case scenario here though is he's raw like Taylor.

And I don't get why it's garbage. He seems awfully disconnected from what's going on down on the field. He doesn't adjust, he doesn't pull ineffective QBs, and he derails his own drives. It's more like he's following a script that he thinks is awesome instead of trying to line that script up with the realities of the game.

Some wildly unfounded characterization being done. Too proud and self-satisfied? Disconnected? Come on now. There are hushed whispers and reported-on comments by Phil Dillard about Taylor's attitude and character, which aren't good, and people here would say it's ridiculous when those are brought up or if anyone tried to characterize Taylor that way. Fine. But this is just ridiculous as well. FWIW, all reports are that the players love Watson and playing for him. The disconnect is mostly dreamed up IMO, by a fanbase that will never see past the fact that he was hired by Callahan.

I did say "seems"-- there are reasons that he might be seeming that way. I would also say that Martinez seemed disconnected, distant, standoffish, and pouty during the CU game as he sat on the sideline, away from his teammates, not congratulating them after really good drives or plays. I also said in those threads that there were a LOT of reasons that he might seem that way. If nothing else, I give everyone tons and tons of reasons for seeming the way that they seem (in the latter case, he might have been disappointed, concentrating on watching the game, processing a lot of what was going on in the game, etc. I've heard that Dr. Tom is the same way in his box-- you don't talk to him, make noise, or expect him to talk to you. I know at least one person who turned down an invite to sit in his box because of that... point being, people get into games in different ways).

There are probably a lot of reasons that Watson might seem like he's disconnected-- but the plans and the play calls often seem like they are disconnected from the actual action on the field. I don't know what that means with any certainty, but putting his own words together with some of his play-calling tendencies makes it seem like his schemes take precedence over something that works but is "one-dimensional."

I don't believe that people ever have to stop learning and developing, and Watson could change the way he runs a game-- I don't think that he has some fundamental flaw that keeps him from really leveraging strengths of his players and his abilities as an offensive coordinator... I just wish he'd get to it

Edit -- ANd yeah, that was an AWFUL decision (re: Rex -> Taylor pass). I have said that just about everything about that pass was terrible, but it shouldn't have been called in the first place. The ONLY thing that was impressive about it was how accurate it was for how much pressure there was... that was something. But the call, the decision, and, well, everything else was awful.

 

[zoogs]

Fair enough on the "seems", Glendower. Apologies for jumping on you over that. :cheers Appreciate your elaborating/clarifying.

 

[Glendower]

The hope right now isn't for Bo to start taking charge of the offense. It's for Bo to think about the right next move to make in his steering of that ship.

And I think that if you strip down what everyone has said in ALL of these threads, that that's definitely what we all agree on. The speculation is just what that right next move is. I hope that no one has lost faith in Bo's ability to do that! :koolaid2:

 

[Glendower]

Fair enough on the "seems", Glendower. Apologies for jumping on you over that. :cheers Appreciate your elaborating/clarifying.

Haha No problem at all. It's fun and is definitely helping me put off writing a paper, so it's a win/win

Besides, there is a lot of speculation, surprisingly specific speculation at that, about what is going on in players' and coaches' minds, what their conscious and unconscious motivations are and that makes me nuts to read, and, yeah, I was getting dangerously close to that. I just meant to say that this is what I have seen, this is what I've heard, and these are the impressions that it gives me (and that latter part is really what message boards are for ).

So definitely :cheers

 

[zoogs]

Well - yes, but most people see it as a "Time to decide whether to fire Watson or not." I think Watson only leaves of his own accord, and not in a PR "mutual parting of ways" either, no matter how people may hope otherwise.

Bo really has to evaluate the way he has steered the ship so far, and what he ought to do to turn it around. To me it's less about changing a couple of coaches and more a question of the philosophy Bo will take regarding his offensive staff and how he handles them. I realize that's not very specific but I think these things are rarely described easily.

 

[NUance]

Does anyone else feel this thread being irresistibly pulled into that black hole known as The Great Big Thread of Shawn Watson Angst?

 

[DJR313]

DJR, I think it is actually very far from the case. Bo has had quite a hand in the direction of the offense. The quote here I took from another board provides a decent summary of the situation.

If there is an impression that Watson is being left along to run his O his way like Cosgrove was, I think it is really, really far from the case.

The hope right now isn't for Bo to start taking charge of the offense. It's for Bo to think about the right next move to make in his steering of that ship.

I think you missed my point. I don't believe Bo should start leading the offense, but he needs to put his stamp on the offense, IE; getting his own coordinator to run his offense the way he wants it done. This team needs an offensive identity and it has not had any consistent identity the last 3 years.