New Offensive Coordinator? Who would it be?

[HUSKER FREAK]

I know there was a few people in this thread that had stated that Bo and Frost do not see eye to eye. I haven't (unless I missed it) seen the response to the question of why they don't? Did something happen or what is the deal here? Really curious if somebody knows.

Not sure what happened, but it's not like Scott has the resume. Maybe with some more experience and polishing, but I would say he's probably a position coach at best right now. The only reason why people keep calling for him is because of his name. I think the story is basically Scott was around and had interest when Bo was hired, but Bo opted not to put him on the staff.

I guess generally people want some big name OC to come and bring his system here, but it isn't likely to happen. Lack of interest both ways, probably. Bo wants a certain offense which is what we have, so any OC would probably come from within. Not necessarily a guy on the staff currently, but maybe a guy coming in as a position coach and then getting groomed for OC after a year or two. Watson came on in 2006 as a Tight Ends coach, remember.

We don't have a lot of good working pieces on offense, which is getting to be a big concern (Ted Gilmore...and Barney Cotton is probably somewhere where we can upgrade, though Bo probably doesn't want him to leave and there is a continuity argument to be made). But Watson is one of the better minds there as a QB coach and OC, so we should really just be thankful to hold onto him as long as we are able to. I know people are results driven, but give him better pieces to work with and the results will come. Of course, wanting to hold the offense back to let the defense win games and minimize mistakes doesn't help the numbers either. The bottom line is that we would be fairly hard pressed to do better at OC, IMO. Anyone that comes in here to replace Watson, still has to work with the same pieces he does.

Thanks, I guess I was just curious if something actually happened or if it was all speculation. I do agree with the name being the big reason for him being on the list, but I do think he may be getting some very good experience where he is at right now. I don't know if he would consider taking a position coach job or not, but I think he would be good to have in the program. He is knowledgeable, in the state and as a player here as well as some in the NFL. Another positive is he is young and can relate maybe a little better than some with recruits, like Ekler. He also has some good career experience out of the state especially now on the west coast, which could bode well for recruits as well.

As far as Cotton I know I am the minority, but I think he should stay. Gilmore on the other hand, well I don't think I am in the minority on that one. I think he needs to go. Watson, I really don't think he is all that bad. He IS inconsistant at times and usually in pressure situations as it has been already stated. I think he has been getting better though, through the past few years, and people also have to understand that he has also had to change with the new staff as well. ( I know that's his job and he should) I really do think that he needs a couple more years and if there is any dropoff well then yeah he needs to go, but until then I think he will and should stay.

Rag on me if you want believe me I have done my share of cussing him, but everytime ai look back at the situation he is in sometimes I have to give him credit. Meaning we set up an offense with Martinez and then he gets hurt well that kind of puts him in a bit of a bind with the game plan. Sorry but you can not just insert any QB and expect them to run it the same way as Martinez, it won't happen unless you have another QB with the same type of talents. Now this last game, even though it was Colorado, Like the papers have said I guess, Green knew he was going to start and worked all week as the starter and I think that showed. I think with time he will be able to make better adjustments and be more consistent. JMO

 

[HUSKER 37]

Was watching 30-for-30 tonight about Marcus DuPree.

The best Player by far I ever saw at Memorial Stadium.

I still have trouble believing Switzer scrapped the Wishbone durring the season (after the 1st three or four games) and switched to the I formation to feature the Freshman he'd been ragging on all season.

I think with a great O-Line, pretty much any Offense will produce, but one thing that has concerned me the last couple of HBCs

The Bastid Callihan seemed to keep/recruit the best athletes for himself on the Offensive side of the ball and despite some gawdy numbers, The Offense didn't win many time of possesions..i.e. our Defense was on the field way too much not to wear out and was almost "designed to fail".

Now it seems the Amazing Pelinis are hording the best Athletes for the Defense and leaving Watson to fend for himself with whatever's left.

Can we give Tom some Viagra and let him loose with his old playbook..maybe wake Milt up too?

 

[Hercules]

I agree it would be impossible to find an OC who could do better than this....

2000: #66

2001: #20

2002: #58

2003: #66

2004: #85

2005: #89

2008: #12

2009: #99

Throw in this year's zero offensive Tds vs Texas & TAM and the amazing steamrolling performamces vs both Kansas & South Dakota State and we're talking Bill Walsh. Yep, we would be crazy to want anybody else.

Pretty hard to argue with this... The Watson supporters always bring up 2008 to remind us of Watson's prowess, but it would seem more likely that 2008 was the statistical outlier.

 

[Landlord]

You're gonna have to explain the part in bold. That is an unbelievable statement. We purposefully tried not to score last year? Really?!?!? Like I said, I have no idea what you mean by that.

If you want to word it that way, then in a sense, yes.

Our offense most likely could have put up more yards and scored some more points (see Arizona) if we were committed to it, but we also could have turned it over. Bo pulled the reigns wayyyyyyyy back, and said to Watson "Look, you can try your best to pick up first downs by running the ball with our depleted O-line and throwing passes that will ABSOLUTELY NOT GET INTERCEPTED, and if you get them you get them, if not, well, we have the best defense in the country." We went to the most conservative, vanilla approach an offensive football team could possibly go to.

I think zoogies and plenty other people who understood last season pretty well would back me up on this. Our offense was that atrocious because we chose for it to be just as much as it just really being bad.

Edit: Two things to think about in this thread:

1. Every year before 2008 was with Colorado. While they had some success and were an okay football team at times, keep in mind that they never, ever had the kind of talent or surrounding staff that Watson has at Nebraska now (strength & conditioning, position coaches, etc.).

2. This year's offense has been, more or less, two or three years in the making. Our coaches had a long term vision of what they wanted it to look like, this is that vision, BUT, this is only year one of that vision. Next year is the start of having 100% of our scholarships going towards kids that Bo and Wats brought in to run THIS system, and it will be year two (like Zoogies, said, Bo's first year defense was 55th, last year's was 9th). Let's give it one more year.

 

[SnowBigRed]

Lsu would love this!! They hate chowder

for some strange reason this sounds similar, dispite sucess a fan base dislikes its OC. It might becuase any body who can pick up an xbox controller and throw for 1000 yards thinks they know the job of the OC better than the people who actually make the decisions.

Really? I'd wager that no top-25 program has been held to fewer points against top-25 defenses than Nebraska has under Watson. Dude smashes face against crappy teams, no doubt. Sadly, we fold like a lawn chair against even remotely threatening defenses. How do you not score an offensive touchdown in four games against top-25 defenses in a two-year span?

Mizzou was a top 10 team when we beat them and we ran all over them, believe it or not after the game people actually said that Helu didn't run enough. Okie state was also a top 10 team and we put up more points on them than anybody else this year. More points than A&M, more points than Texas Tech, name anybody that played them and the only offnese to put up over 40 was the offnese coached by Watson that put up 51. So yes that is success when you do thing offensively that other teams could not do than that is success. On another point do you know how many teams have put up more than 30 on Mizzou this year. hint: its one and it was a Watson coached offnese.

Do you know who scored the least amount of pts against TAMU (don't give me this reffing crap either)? Nebraska, Stephen F. Austin scored 7. How about who scored the least on Texas? Wyoming with 7, then Nebraska with 13, 7 of which came from a special teams return, which essentially puts them at 6. Would you like to know the three lowest point totals that Kansas has given up this year? NoDakSt with 6, New Mexico St with 16, then Nebraska with 20. South Dakota State gives up 21 ppg to a 1AA schedule. Guess which team brought that average down? Nebraska, by only scoring 17. These are not elite defenses either folks. The sign of a good offensive football team is being able to score consistently, no matter the opponent. Every team has a game or two where they just suck that night (Oregon vs. Cal), but to really lay an egg on a pretty consistent basis is pitiful. I'm not trying to say Watson needs to go, but something on the offensive side of the ball has to change. Nebraska has a MNC caliber D with a 1AA playoff berth caliber offense (maybe).

 

[GMoose]

Lsu would love this!! They hate chowder

for some strange reason this sounds similar, dispite sucess a fan base dislikes its OC. It might becuase any body who can pick up an xbox controller and throw for 1000 yards thinks they know the job of the OC better than the people who actually make the decisions.

Really? I'd wager that no top-25 program has been held to fewer points against top-25 defenses than Nebraska has under Watson. Dude smashes face against crappy teams, no doubt. Sadly, we fold like a lawn chair against even remotely threatening defenses. How do you not score an offensive touchdown in four games against top-25 defenses in a two-year span?

Mizzou was a top 10 team when we beat them and we ran all over them, believe it or not after the game people actually said that Helu didn't run enough. Okie state was also a top 10 team and we put up more points on them than anybody else this year. More points than A&M, more points than Texas Tech, name anybody that played them and the only offnese to put up over 40 was the offnese coached by Watson that put up 51. So yes that is success when you do thing offensively that other teams could not do than that is success. On another point do you know how many teams have put up more than 30 on Mizzou this year. hint: its one and it was a Watson coached offnese.

Do you know who scored the least amount of pts against TAMU (don't give me this reffing crap either)? Nebraska, Stephen F. Austin scored 7. How about who scored the least on Texas? Wyoming with 7, then Nebraska with 13, 7 of which came from a special teams return, which essentially puts them at 6. Would you like to know the three lowest point totals that Kansas has given up this year? NoDakSt with 6, New Mexico St with 16, then Nebraska with 20. South Dakota State gives up 21 ppg to a 1AA schedule. Guess which team brought that average down? Nebraska, by only scoring 17. These are not elite defenses either folks. The sign of a good offensive football team is being able to score consistently, no matter the opponent. Every team has a game or two where they just suck that night (Oregon vs. Cal), but to really lay an egg on a pretty consistent basis is pitiful. I'm not trying to say Watson needs to go, but something on the offensive side of the ball has to change. Nebraska has a MNC caliber D with a 1AA playoff berth caliber offense (maybe).

That stat really puts in perspective. I think the underlying problem may be that our team has problems staying hungry. it happened last year against TTU, this year against SDSU and Texas. The and which unit has failed to show up in these losses? The offense. The defense has showed up for all of these games (except for TTU in 2009)

 

[HuskerNMO]

Lsu would love this!! They hate chowder

for some strange reason this sounds similar, dispite sucess a fan base dislikes its OC. It might becuase any body who can pick up an xbox controller and throw for 1000 yards thinks they know the job of the OC better than the people who actually make the decisions.

Really? I'd wager that no top-25 program has been held to fewer points against top-25 defenses than Nebraska has under Watson. Dude smashes face against crappy teams, no doubt. Sadly, we fold like a lawn chair against even remotely threatening defenses. How do you not score an offensive touchdown in four games against top-25 defenses in a two-year span?

Mizzou was a top 10 team when we beat them and we ran all over them, believe it or not after the game people actually said that Helu didn't run enough. Okie state was also a top 10 team and we put up more points on them than anybody else this year. More points than A&M, more points than Texas Tech, name anybody that played them and the only offnese to put up over 40 was the offnese coached by Watson that put up 51. So yes that is success when you do thing offensively that other teams could not do than that is success. On another point do you know how many teams have put up more than 30 on Mizzou this year. hint: its one and it was a Watson coached offnese.

Do you know who scored the least amount of pts against TAMU (don't give me this reffing crap either)? Nebraska, Stephen F. Austin scored 7. How about who scored the least on Texas? Wyoming with 7, then Nebraska with 13, 7 of which came from a special teams return, which essentially puts them at 6. Would you like to know the three lowest point totals that Kansas has given up this year? NoDakSt with 6, New Mexico St with 16, then Nebraska with 20. South Dakota State gives up 21 ppg to a 1AA schedule. Guess which team brought that average down? Nebraska, by only scoring 17. These are not elite defenses either folks. The sign of a good offensive football team is being able to score consistently, no matter the opponent. Every team has a game or two where they just suck that night (Oregon vs. Cal), but to really lay an egg on a pretty consistent basis is pitiful. I'm not trying to say Watson needs to go, but something on the offensive side of the ball has to change. Nebraska has a MNC caliber D with a 1AA playoff berth caliber offense (maybe).

Do you know who scored the most on teams that we faced?

OSU- 51 (NU)

Missouri- 31 (NU)

Kansas State- 48 (NU)

Washington- 56 (NU) Oregon scored 53

Obviously our offense is feast or famine this year, but it's better than it was last year (by far), and will be better next year.

 

[Jason Sitoke]

If Shawn Watson were to get the boot who would you predict would take his place? My husband and I were wondering about that and he wondered how Scott Frost would do in that position. Scott is at Oregon right now. Would he be a valid candidate?

-ladyhawke~

Gary Crowton from LSU. He has an excellent track record, has worked with Bo before, and it's a well-known fact in Baton Rouge that he and Les Miles don't see eye-to-eye.

Congrats on finding a coordinator that has unequivocally under acheived even more than Watson.

There's a reason LSU fans have been clamoring for this guy to be gone. #90 in total offense, and were pretty bad the year before as well.

 

[GMoose]

If Shawn Watson were to get the boot who would you predict would take his place? My husband and I were wondering about that and he wondered how Scott Frost would do in that position. Scott is at Oregon right now. Would he be a valid candidate?

-ladyhawke~

Gary Crowton from LSU. He has an excellent track record, has worked with Bo before, and it's a well-known fact in Baton Rouge that he and Les Miles don't see eye-to-eye.

Congrats on finding a coordinator that has unequivocally under acheived even more than Watson.

There's a reason LSU fans have been clamoring for this guy to be gone. #90 in total offense, and were pretty bad the year before as well.

Jordan Jefferson = Zac Lee

 

[Jason Sitoke]

I agree it would be impossible to find an OC who could do better than this....

2000: #66

2001: #20

2002: #58

2003: #66

2004: #85

2005: #89

2008: #12

2009: #99

Throw in this year's zero offensive Tds vs Texas & TAM and the amazing steamrolling performamces vs both Kansas & South Dakota State and we're talking Bill Walsh. Yep, we would be crazy to want anybody else.

this pretty much says it all. 2 different schools, tons of different players. some good teams, some bad teams. some injuries, some defections. But generally, pretty freaking CRAPPY results. Just for example in 2001 watson looks like complete genius riding those horses to 62 against us. Then the next week CRAPS THE BED and only puts up 3 against texass. So typical. watson sucks, my friends. don't be fooled by 2 or 3 decent games a year against sub-par defenses, cuz if someone smacks his offense in the mouth, it crumbles and he has no counter-punch. If our all world Blackshirts weren't saving his a$$ every game, it would be much worse. MUCH worse.

2 goal line stands against SDSU

6 turnovers gained v Idaho (including 2 pick 6)

2 picks in 3 minutes (one for a TD) v ISU, plus an OT pick at the goal line

9points given up on the road v aTm

only 87 total yds in a measly 20-3 win v KU

a HUGE goal line stand v Mizzou only up by 14, long after our huge start had stalled

thats 6 games off the top of my head where our defense SHUTS the DOOR on the opponent or it could've been much worse result

Wrong. CU won that game 39-37. Otherwise, point taken.

 

[Igetbored216]

It is funny that the day after our offensive coordinator calls a damn near perfect football game a thread like this sprouts up.

Yeah, we also started past the 50 in most of our scoring possessions because our defense put us in great position. Why couldn't we do this against a really bad Kansas team? How about Texas or Texas A&M? South Dakota St? Where was his "perfect" game calling in those games?

Nevermind the fact that in our last five losses the offense has put up a whopping two touchdowns. Sorry, but that's unacceptable and I'm tired of hearing the excuses. There's always a crutch for Watson to grab ahold of to cover up the fact that he just isn't very good at what he does.

Look how many injuries we had on defense this year. We lost nearly our whole starting linebacker corps. Why is it that the defensive side of the ball can overcome injuries, but the offense takes a crap on the field once they have a few injuries?

But let's not kid anyone here. Not a single staff member will be forced out at the end of the year fellas. If Watson leaves, it will be by his own choice.

And this is unfortunate. It's unfortunate that our defense has been elite the last two years while our offense has sputtered and struggled to put up points. You hold a team to nine points, you should win.

It's a shame that more games are going to have to be lost - because of an inept offense - before a change is made.

Bo needs to make a move. He needs to hire somebody he wants on offense and that person - along with Bo - need to pick new offensive assistant coaches. The excuses on that side of the ball are getting real old.

I don't expect our offense to do much against Oklahoma. It will once again be up to our defense and Alex Henery to win the game. I am hoping these two things will be enough.

 

[kchusker_chris]

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.

 

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Any other candidate by the fans? So far:

Scott Frost

Barney Cotton

Tim Beck

Damon Benning

Dave Remington

Norm Chow

Jeff Simms

Gary Crowton

Greg Studrawa

Bryan Harsin

Dan Hawkins

Ron Brown

Mike Leach

Jon Gruden

Jim Svoboda

Kerwin Bell

Ken Collums

Gus Malzahn

Gunter Brewer

Bill Callahan (shame on you)

Mark Whipple

Rich Rodriguez

Tom Osborne

 

[SnowBigRed]

Lsu would love this!! They hate chowder

for some strange reason this sounds similar, dispite sucess a fan base dislikes its OC. It might becuase any body who can pick up an xbox controller and throw for 1000 yards thinks they know the job of the OC better than the people who actually make the decisions.

Really? I'd wager that no top-25 program has been held to fewer points against top-25 defenses than Nebraska has under Watson. Dude smashes face against crappy teams, no doubt. Sadly, we fold like a lawn chair against even remotely threatening defenses. How do you not score an offensive touchdown in four games against top-25 defenses in a two-year span?

Mizzou was a top 10 team when we beat them and we ran all over them, believe it or not after the game people actually said that Helu didn't run enough. Okie state was also a top 10 team and we put up more points on them than anybody else this year. More points than A&M, more points than Texas Tech, name anybody that played them and the only offnese to put up over 40 was the offnese coached by Watson that put up 51. So yes that is success when you do thing offensively that other teams could not do than that is success. On another point do you know how many teams have put up more than 30 on Mizzou this year. hint: its one and it was a Watson coached offnese.

Do you know who scored the least amount of pts against TAMU (don't give me this reffing crap either)? Nebraska, Stephen F. Austin scored 7. How about who scored the least on Texas? Wyoming with 7, then Nebraska with 13, 7 of which came from a special teams return, which essentially puts them at 6. Would you like to know the three lowest point totals that Kansas has given up this year? NoDakSt with 6, New Mexico St with 16, then Nebraska with 20. South Dakota State gives up 21 ppg to a 1AA schedule. Guess which team brought that average down? Nebraska, by only scoring 17. These are not elite defenses either folks. The sign of a good offensive football team is being able to score consistently, no matter the opponent. Every team has a game or two where they just suck that night (Oregon vs. Cal), but to really lay an egg on a pretty consistent basis is pitiful. I'm not trying to say Watson needs to go, but something on the offensive side of the ball has to change. Nebraska has a MNC caliber D with a 1AA playoff berth caliber offense (maybe).

Do you know who scored the most on teams that we faced?

OSU- 51 (NU)

Missouri- 31 (NU)

Kansas State- 48 (NU)

Washington- 56 (NU) Oregon scored 53

Obviously our offense is feast or famine this year, but it's better than it was last year (by far), and will be better next year.

This is my point. No consistency.

 

[bshirt]

It is funny that the day after our offensive coordinator calls a damn near perfect football game a thread like this sprouts up.

Yeah, we also started past the 50 in most of our scoring possessions because our defense put us in great position. Why couldn't we do this against a really bad Kansas team? How about Texas or Texas A&M? South Dakota St? Where was his "perfect" game calling in those games?

Nevermind the fact that in our last five losses the offense has put up a whopping two touchdowns. Sorry, but that's unacceptable and I'm tired of hearing the excuses. There's always a crutch for Watson to grab ahold of to cover up the fact that he just isn't very good at what he does.

Look how many injuries we had on defense this year. We lost nearly our whole starting linebacker corps. Why is it that the defensive side of the ball can overcome injuries, but the offense takes a crap on the field once they have a few injuries?

But let's not kid anyone here. Not a single staff member will be forced out at the end of the year fellas. If Watson leaves, it will be by his own choice.

And this is unfortunate. It's unfortunate that our defense has been elite the last two years while our offense has sputtered and struggled to put up points. You hold a team to nine points, you should win.

It's a shame that more games are going to have to be lost - because of an inept offense - before a change is made.

Bo needs to make a move. He needs to hire somebody he wants on offense and that person - along with Bo - need to pick new offensive assistant coaches. The excuses on that side of the ball are getting real old.

I don't expect our offense to do much against Oklahoma. It will once again be up to our defense and Alex Henery to win the game. I am hoping these two things will be enough.

Exactly.

It looks like we'll just continue to annually waste NC caliber blackshirts "and" the best FG kicker in the nation due ONLY to our wildly inconsistent (or vs decent defenses, simply non-existent) offense. The SW apologists are perfectly fine with that as they can and will say accurately that "we still won many games!".

Again, they're correct that we're still a fine program but we'll never get back to a premier status without a reasonably productive offense. Just like TO's program until McBride got the blackshirts dialed up in the 90s (however, McBride never had defenses as putrid as our recent offenses....he just brought them up to a new level that complimented TO's great offenses nicely).

Excuses are endless but NU cfb isn't the Post Office. At some point, hopefully soon, results will be demanded.