I personally take issue w/ the statements "the coaches didn't drop balls" or "the coach didn't fumble" etc. I don't see Watson going, but Gilmore needs to (and Cotton too). Someone needs to be accountable. His loyalty to NP through this season can only be surprassed by Callahan's loyalty to Cosgove - and you can see where that got us. Niles played like crap against Texas yet stayed in the whole game because he can block? What happens when we have a passing play - oh yeah...drop. Then he redeems himself the next week (against the 115th ranked pass defense) and gets a "get out of jail free card" issued by Gilmore for the rest of the season.
There are countless guys on that bench that can make plays. Did Tech give a crap if Crabtree could block? You think Okie St. cares if Blackmon can block? How about Alabama and Julio Jones? They are playmakers, they make plays. We need someone that can unleash that from our WR corps. The talent is there. We took a walk-on off the bench last week and I thought for sure Nate Swift had returned.
Here's what would make me happy.
1) Gilmore out and Scott Frost in as WR coach. His zone-read experience makes him a natural fit. He has a growing presence in Pac-10 & CA recruiting regions, with some big targets/commits from Oregon/CA. He can take over CA. Then move Carl's recruiting base to the Ohio/Upper midwest region to put more emphasis there w/ our move to Big10.
2) Promote JP to defensive line coach (from just DE) - freeing Carl up to concentrate everything to the coordinator position.
3) Get rid of Cotton
4) Give Watson the offensive line in addition to his OC duties. I think the zone-read and overall offensive philosphy needs to start with the line. Watson needs more control over the OL. Relieve him of his QB duties. I don't think he's the best QB coach when it comes to this dual threat guys we're recruiting as of late.
5) Hire a QB coach. (Zac Taylor?) Or maybe someone that has a better track record w/ dual threat type QBs.
6) Do something with Ron Brown. Tight End coach? Few teams have a dedicated TE coach.
I don't think Watson can handle the OL and OC duties, but he needs to have someone coaching the OL that is on the same page as he is. I don't think that's the case currently. Overall the staff alignment seems odd when you look at other teams. Having a DE coach? a TE coach? Seems like some re-alignment needs to happen.
