Where do you stand with Gus?

[auburnphan 6,050]

Our base seems to be divided.  Where do you stand with Gus and his offense?

Personally, I think we will never get to that next level with his offense

[80Tiger 899]

Don’t take this the wrong way but this thread is useless. Gus is the coach for another 3 or 4 years at a minimum. 

[auburnphan 6,050]

8 minutes ago, 80Tiger said:

Don’t take this the wrong way but this thread is useless. Gus is the coach for another 3 or 4 years at a minimum. 

that is a given, I just really wanted to see where the divisions are and percentages.   I love how he runs the program but despise his offense

[BJCrawford 1,568]

29 minutes ago, 80Tiger said:

Don’t take this the wrong way but this thread is useless. Gus is the coach for another 3 or 4 years at a minimum. 

There are not enough likes for this. I am not a Gus apologist but these same threads every week are tiring.  He is a high school coach, he makes 49 mil, his offense is tired, he’s calling the plays, he’s not calling the plays, he can’t recruit offensive linemen, he doesn’t have enough fire.......

[api1957 1,783]

I don't necessarily think it's his offense that hurts us. I think he does an atrocious job getting our boys prepared and focused. 

[AUFriction 1,179]

You are missing an option between the second to last and last choices...

”We need to get faster finding an identity each year, but otherwise Gus is fine.”

Every year, it seems like we go through the same swing. Expectations are high. We come out of the gate looking confused and weak on offense. But by the end of the season we end up with one of the best offenses. For once, I just want to see us start the year playing well. If we’d do that, I’d have no complaints about Gus.

[gr82be 14,402]

We can throw out #1 and #4 because one is not happening and the other is not true. That leaves finding a QB to run his offense or getting a new offense. Since Gus seems to have forgotten what it was about his offense that made him successful I think we can scratch finding a QB for it. That leaves getting a new offense. I don't know that Gus will ever do that but he needs to look at his work objectively. If only he could see the game replay with our team in different uniforms and see if he actually thinks what he sees is good then maybe he would admit there is a problem. 

[gctiger 924]

Gus the “offensive genius” is in his 6th season at Auburn, he’s consistently recruited very good talent and and we’ve got major problems with offense.  If the problem is not the talent level then it must be the coaching.

Bear in mind the the defense has been totally retooled in the same time period.  

This is all on Gus!

[Zeek 16,617]

I like seeing this in poll format. It’s hard to gauge opinion through posts since there are some who posts 20 times and others mostly lurk.

Im glad and surprised that I ended up in the majority on this one. Either Gus needs a journey quest in the dessert to come up with a new offense and to be relevant again or he needs to allow someone else to come in and design the whole thing.

He needs to come to grips with two the following: 1) his offense was innovative and exciting and took the CFB world by storm but time has passed and like any offense, defenses have adjusted.

2) JB Grimes wasn’t a good OL hire and we need to open up the checkbook to bring in a stud OL recruiter and coach. It’s not about being loyal to people with Auburn ties.

3) We can’t be in constant fear of turnovers. That’s why we have struggled in the red zone over the years. It’s also why we haven’t had a stud receiver because we’re not willing to throw it enough and down field for that matter.

4) He needs to define his philosophy as a coach. It shouldn’t be a question on 4th and 1 whether we go for it or not. Quit burning time outs and looking indecisive just to run a HB dive. As a coach you create a “if this, then this” so if it’s 4th and 1 from anywhere between the goal line and the 10 you do X. If it’s from the 10-20 you do Y. And so on. Then you have 3-4 plays you feel comfortable running in those same scenarios.

5) just google a damn route tree ? 

[DAG 33,955]

Nothing is ever perfect. Heck Bama still has things they need to work on such as their secondary. Don’t see how anyone can honestly say it’s perfect. It’s not as bad as people want to make it seem either but we do need to adjust on offense. Can’t do what we are use to doing.

[YankeeTiger24 98]

Currently I don't think Gus is doing a good job, because he needs a dual threat at QB. The passing game is not for Gus. I think once we get a dual threat in and go back to zone-reading the crap out of teams, everything will be on the table for us. You take the defense we have now with the offense from 2013-2014 and we win at least one NC. The offense we've had post-Nick Marshall is not the same. And I'm sick of it.

[jAUSon 2,836]

We got what we got. Love it or not. We've picked up on his tendencies, confirmed them as reality, and accepted that he won't change them. There will be good years and bad. He'll giveaway two losses for every true beating we recieve. Our schedule these years is a bigger problem than our play caliber anyways, so I say buckle up and hope for the best. 

[AU-24 3,063]

Kind of torn.

This is the same coach that in his first year, won the SEC championship and led us to the national title game! If Gene Chizic left us with any defense at all, Gus wins a national championship his first season. It’s the same coach that sent lil Nick Satan whining and crying to the SEC and the NCAA to change the rules on a Gus style hurry-up. It’s the same guy that beat Alabama and Georgia last year! This year he coached well enough to beat two top 10 teams in the first three weeks of the season, however the SEC officials were not going to let us beat LSU. He is currently 2-3 against the recruiting-cheating world beater Nick Satan

Same guy that lost some ball games he should’ve won! Should not of lost to LSU last year, should not of lost to Georgia two years ago,  should not of lost to mighty Central Florida last year. Same coach of the O that looked absolutely terrible against Arkansas yesterday.

So I’m torn, I just don’t know what to think.

[clwn 336]

Liked him before I saw how stubborn he is in his ways and refuses to change. You play to your teams strengths. It's obvious the running game isn't that right now so I rather see a Mike Leach type of coach have fun with these receivers and develop a QB who can make proper reads. Such a waste. I'll give Gus props on getting Steele to run the Defense though.

[AuMarine 1,372]

I am between 6’s and 7’s with CGM. He frustrates and aggravates the hell outta me and I do not personally know the man. I WANT him to be successful but he can’t get out of his own way. There in lies my frustration with him.

[AUFAN78 3,890]

5 hours ago, auburnphan said:

Our base seems to be divided.  Where do you stand with Gus and his offense?

Personally, I think we will never get to that next level with his offense

We are less than one year and one crushing injury from playing for it all. 

• We need to up the ante in recruiting
• Players need to execute

[kd4au 1,145]

To me Gus needs to decide what kind of offense he truly wants to run. Then go out and recruit players to run that offense, if he wants to pass the ball(which it looks like he doesn't) he needs to get a OC that can coach QB's(JS looks as if he has regressed). If he wants to run a read option O then recruit a running QB not a JS or a BN. You have got to start with a plan of what you intend to do and recruit towards that type of O. Different O's require different type players and not skill players different linemen and all. A FAIL TO PLAN IS A PLAN TO FAIL and sometimes it seems Gus does not have a plan or if he does he failing very bad.

[Gowebb11 9,309]

1 minute ago, kd4au said:

To me Gus needs to decide what kind of offense he truly wants to run. Then go out and recruit players to run that offense, if he wants to pass the ball(which it looks like he doesn't) he needs to get a OC that can coach QB's(JS looks as if he has regressed). If he wants to run a read option O then recruit a running QB not a JS or a BN. You have got to start with a plan of what you intend to do and recruit towards that type of O. Different O's require different type players and not skill players different linemen and all. A FAIL TO PLAN IS A PLAN TO FAIL and sometimes it seems Gus does not have a plan or if he does he failing very bad.

This^^^ When Gus has a running QB, and/or a veteran line, and/or a KJ level talent at RB, his scheme works fine. The problem is, those 3 things only come together every 3-4 years. And his recruiting doesn’t reflect consistency of talent relative to what he wants to do. He needs to grow in the areas of program management more than scheme or playcalling. 

[kd4au 1,145]

7 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

And his recruiting doesn’t reflect consistency of talent relative to what he wants to do

I would say he doesn't seem to know what he wants. He recruits a passer in JS and Bo Nix and a runner in Joey G and M. Willis. It's confusing to me that you would recruit those very different QB's to run the same type O. Gus needs to settle on what O he wants and recruit the players to run that O.

[AUFriction 1,179]

57 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

We are less than one year and one crushing injury from playing for it all. 

• We need to up the ante in recruiting
• Players need to execute

I agree with you on the second point but not the first. We’ve been doing very well in recruiting. The recruiting ratings are loaded with bias, so being consistently in the top 10-15 means you are doing very well. The differences among the top 15 are not based on any reliable criteria. Last year is probably the best example of this. This year’s freshman class is very good. That’s why we have a lot of freshmen cracking the depth chart. Yet, we were ranked just outside the top 10 by 247.

[DAG 33,955]

4 minutes ago, AUFriction said:

I agree with you on the second point but not the first. We’ve been doing very well in recruiting. The recruiting ratings are loaded with bias, so being consistently in the top 10-15 means you are doing very well. The differences among the top 15 are not based on any reliable criteria. Last year is probably the best example of this. This year’s freshman class is very good. That’s why we have a lot of freshmen cracking the depth chart. Yet, we were ranked just outside the top 10 by 247.

Yep it’s not the Jimmie and joes. The Jimmie and joes were not the reason for the offensive production last night.

[AUFriction 1,179]

38 minutes ago, kd4au said:

To me Gus needs to decide what kind of offense he truly wants to run. Then go out and recruit players to run that offense, if he wants to pass the ball(which it looks like he doesn't) he needs to get a OC that can coach QB's(JS looks as if he has regressed). If he wants to run a read option O then recruit a running QB not a JS or a BN. You have got to start with a plan of what you intend to do and recruit towards that type of O. Different O's require different type players and not skill players different linemen and all. A FAIL TO PLAN IS A PLAN TO FAIL and sometimes it seems Gus does not have a plan or if he does he failing very bad.

I don’t know if I agree. Recruiting to a scheme limits your talent. You should recruit elite players and find a way to utilize their potential. Case in point... Stidham is not a prototypical Malzahn QB, but he is an elite QB that’s smart and has a great arm and enough mobility to keep defenses honest. What we need to do with Stidham: 1. Stretch the field vertically. This would help to open the RB running game in the same way a read option would, but, instead of spreading defenses horizontally, it would spread them vertically (keeping the box empty). 2. RPOs RPOs RPOs. This is the equivalent to a read option for a largely immobile QB. 3. Let Stidham keep it occasionally. Unfortunately for options 1&3, our line isn’t playing well enough for these things to work. That leaves RPOs. We should be using them more.

[tbone4jc 2,238]

I really don't think CGMis to blame. His loyalty is. Our current oline coach, receiver coach and OC are decent at best. He needs to hire offensive coaches that have ice in their veins and have a proven record of coaching big boy football, ( similarly to our defense). Tired of little to no experience of our o coaches.JMHO

[jared52 4,354]

The only two choices are “Gus is doing a good job” or “Fire Gus”. There’s middle ground there...

[Swamp Eagle 5,128]

There is a caveat with this poll in that 'Gus' offense' should be clarified. If you're calling the offenses of 2009 to 2011, and everywhere else he's been as OC his offense, then choice #2 is what I pick. If you're calling this hot mess we've seen as of late 'his offense,' then I'm for choice #3 or #1.

Choice #4 shouldn't even be an option.