If you were the coach

[AUJedi 243]

If by some miracle you could land in CGM shoes right now, what REALISTICALLY would you and could you do to  improve our offense starting today? Even if you’ve realized you had a bad plan going into the season? 

[AUsince72 11,084]

Let CCL run the offense like I let CKS run the defense.

This is NOT CCL's offense and I'm not sure CCL is doing the best job he can to be honest, based on that totally uninspired junk last night.  (My tin-foil hat tells me there might be some dissention on the O side of the ball right now).

I would just be the CEO and make sure they have the tools they need and let them both do their jobs.

[AUJedi 243]

3 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

Let CCL run the offense like I let CKS run the defense.

This is NOT CCL's offense and I'm not sure CCL is doing the best job he can to be honest, based on that totally uninspired junk last night.  (My tin-foil hat tells me there might be some dissention on the O side of the ball right now).

I would just be the CEO and make sure they have the tools they need and let them both do their jobs.

What do you think we’d be seeing different in that offense than what we’re seeing now? 

[AUBwins 10,064]

2 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

I would just be the CEO and make sure they have the tools they need and let them both do their jobs.

Someone stated in a previous thread we could be worse and have coach O. Well Orgeron is doing this very thing of being a CEO of the team. Both offense and defense at least have an identity. 

[AUsince72 11,084]

1 minute ago, AUJedi said:

What do you think we’d be seeing different in that offense than what we’re seeing now? 

At the very least, you'd have a guy in the booth calling plays he believes in.  They showed shots last night of CCL throwing up his hands, and Stids slamming the ball and yelling angrily (NEVER seen that before) and there was no cohesion in why they did things....I couldn't pick out a strategy or game plan.

I can't remember if it was 3rd or 4th qtr but they showed the passing play breakdown and they had only 1 (one) attempt beyond 10 yards.  Then suddenly it was overthrown bomb after overthrown bomb....like they watched the stat come up on TV.

I'm telling you, I've watched AU football for 40+ years and last night had a very strange vibe to it that I'm real curious to see how this week plays out.

[sevenlee36 1,654]

I’d have Gus take over the offense completely. Last I checked it was Gus’s offense that helped us win a NT. Gus was very involved in 2013 when we made it to the NT. We griped when Chizik was HC that we need to let Gus open it up and run 80+ plays. We gripe now because Gus is holding back the offense. Just let Gus run the offense and let it ride if it fails then it’s his fault. No guessing.

[AUJedi 243]

6 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

At the very least, you'd have a guy in the booth calling plays he believes in.  They showed shots last night of CCL throwing up his hands, and Stids slamming the ball and yelling angrily (NEVER seen that before) and there was no cohesion in why they did things....I couldn't pick out a strategy or game plan.

I can't remember if it was 3rd or 4th qtr but they showed the passing play breakdown and they had only 1 (one) attempt beyond 10 yards.  Then suddenly it was overthrown bomb after overthrown bomb....like they watched the stat come up on TV.

I'm telling you, I've watched AU football for 40+ years and last night had a very strange vibe to it that I'm real curious to see how this week plays out.

If so I just wonder what Gus ‘fingerprints’ are or how his philosophy differs from CCL. This may very well be the case but the stubbornness and meddling that many accuse him of sounds like one who wouldn’t have the mental capacity to get a high school coaching job much less a gig like Auburn. Idk maybe the situation is more complex than we think 

[AUsince72 11,084]

Just now, AUJedi said:

If so I just wonder what Gus ‘fingerprints’ are or how his philosophy differs from CCL. This may very well be the case but the stubbornness and meddling that many accuse him of sounds like one who wouldn’t have the mental capacity to get a high school coaching job much less a gig like Auburn. Idk maybe the situation is more complex than we think 

The bolded part is key as everything ANY of us says is opinion & conjecture.  I don't pretend to be the gospel truth right...I just give my opinion.  Please don't think that I think that I know it all.

With that said, the offense has not changed one iota, to my eyes, since 2015.  If you watch some Arizona State film from CCL's year there the running game is similar but the passing game is more dynamic and confident.

I said last week that I don't think Gus is calling plays but I do feel he's being heavy handed in the game plan and probably hands CCL the play sheet he wants him to use.  If we continue to see the same type performance as last night then I think CCL is gone after this year.

[tbone1430 1,346]

10 minutes ago, sevenlee36 said:

I’d have Gus take over the offense completely. Last I checked it was Gus’s offense that helped us win a NT. Gus was very involved in 2013 when we made it to the NT. We griped when Chizik was HC that we need to let Gus open it up and run 80+ plays. We gripe now because Gus is holding back the offense. Just let Gus run the offense and let it ride if it fails then it’s his fault. No guessing.

Have to disagree it was Cam that won us that NT. Our offense in 2011 when he was OC was not great. He did well when we had NM because we had a dual threat that could run his offense. I just wish he would go back to 2009 playcalling when Chris Todd wasn’t mobile but he still had passing concepts instead of run run deep pass rinse wash repeat.  

[tbone1430 1,346]

Also if I was magically the head coach we’d be doing west coast style offense. Short quick pass concepts that reduce the need to have a great pass block and reduce Stidham getting happy feet back there and use his accuracy and our WR talent which then can open up the run by having linebackers worry about short middle of the field passes. Also mix in speed sweeps utilizing Schwartz and stoves abilities. 

[AUJedi 243]

8 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

The bolded part is key as everything ANY of us says is opinion & conjecture.  I don't pretend to be the gospel truth right...I just give my opinion.  Please don't think that I think that I know it all.

With that said, the offense has not changed one iota, to my eyes, since 2015.  If you watch some Arizona State film from CCL's year there the running game is similar but the passing game is more dynamic and confident.

I said last week that I don't think Gus is calling plays but I do feel he's being heavy handed in the game plan and probably hands CCL the play sheet he wants him to use.  If we continue to see the same type performance as last night then I think CCL is gone after this year.

IF (I’m guessing too) Gus has had a big hand in CCL offense since the off season, if he completely turned it over do you think CCL could fully implement his offense at this point in the season. Would all the plays and terminology he might use have even been put in for the players to have already learned? IF all of this was the case, is it too late to make any real changes to the offense this season? Are we just stuck with what we have? 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

I'd run it like Baylor's offense under Briles.  Throw to set up the run.  Quick passes, use speed from receivers, etc.  Do everything possible to make the game easier for Stidham and the o-line.

[johnnyAU 3,630]

21 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

With that said, the offense has not changed one iota, to my eyes, since 2015

Yep. This offense should have evolved a much more sophisticated passing game given the talent we've acquired and situation we're in.  Successful coaches are able to grow the system organically in one direction or other to mesh with the athletes on hand or the need depending on how defenses are attacking them.  It seems Malzahn is either too stubborn to allow that to happen or is in over his head on how to do it.

Gus keeps trying to force every different combination of QB (style, skill set, etc...), WR corps and RB's into the same set of predictable formations/plays we've used since then, give or take a few wrinkles here or there.

 

(With the exception that if he has a mobile QB, he attempts to morph him into Nick Marshall 2.0 and run the same 4-6 plays we did over and over in 2013). 

[AUsince72 11,084]

6 minutes ago, johnnyAU said:

Yep. This offense should have evolved a much more sophisticated passing game given the talent we've acquired and situation we're in.  Successful coaches are able to grow the system organically in one direction or other to mesh with the athletes on hand or the need depending on how defenses are attacking them.  It seems Malzahn is either too stubborn to allow that to happen or is in over his head on how to do it.

Gus keeps trying to force every different combination of QB (style, skill set, etc...), WR corps and RB's into the same set of predictable formations/plays we've used since then, give or take a few wrinkles here or there.

Precisely.

[sevenlee36 1,654]

2 hours ago, tbone1430 said:

Have to disagree it was Cam that won us that NT. Our offense in 2011 when he was OC was not great. He did well when we had NM because we had a dual threat that could run his offense. I just wish he would go back to 2009 playcalling when Chris Todd wasn’t mobile but he still had passing concepts instead of run run deep pass rinse wash repeat.  

That’s why I said he helped I didn’t say he single handily won the NT. Hey don’t leave Nick Fairley out. He has been a constant in our NT appearances though. If he’s so bad maybe we should have let him go to Arky and saved some money. But he’s here and it’s his show. 

[Beaker 2,457]

It's not easy to dissect.  This is what I think:

#1. The OL plays horribly.   I don't know why - I have never coached an OL.  Stidham is on the run half the time.  

#2.  Gus devises a complicated or predictable strategy and gives it to OC.   Lindsey is is trying to make lemonade.  

#3.  Stidham is expected to audible at the line, which he has never done before.  I suspect he doesn't get choices he would like b/c he was pissed a bunch last night (timing?  Plays called?  OL?   Who knows).

#4.  The running game is close to non-existent.  See #1

 

I think I have 2 or 3 things correct.   Maybe 4.

[AUsince72 11,084]

20 minutes ago, AUJedi said:

IF (I’m guessing too) Gus has had a big hand in CCL offense since the off season, if he completely turned it over do you think CCL could fully implement his offense at this point in the season. Would all the plays and terminology he might use have even been put in for the players to have already learned? IF all of this was the case, is it too late to make any real changes to the offense this season? Are we just stuck with what we have? 

Hypothetically, yes CCL can implement his passing game.  They have the QB & WR's to make it happen.  The OL?  Not so sure...

Terminology can be fitted however they need. I'm not smart enough to speak on that but I'd guess they'd need to adapt Gus' terminology to Chip's plays to keep it simple.

No, it's not too late (only 4 games in).  #ButGus

[Gowebb11 9,308]

I would get Chip out fo the press box and on the ground so he could communicate with Stidham directly. Grimes would stand by me and greet his O line unit when they came off the field to provide immediate and direct coaching and teaching, chew rears when assignments were blown, insert backups when the same mistake was made twice. If I were Gus, I would also act and look like a confident coach. I would be busy looking for solutions to challenges instead of looking nervous, unsure, and confused. Direct traffic and be the CEO this team needs. 

[AUsince72 11,084]

4 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

I would get Chip out fo the press box and on the ground so he could communicate with Stidham directly. Grimes would stand by me and greet his O line unit when they came off the field to provide immediate and direct coaching and teaching, chew rears when assignments were blown, insert backups when the same mistake was made twice. If I were Gus, I would also act and look like a confident coach. I would be busy looking for solutions to challenges instead of looking nervous, unsure, and confused. Direct traffic and be the CEO this team needs. 

Outta LIKES but this gets a LOVE!

[Beaker 2,457]

7 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

I would get Chip out fo the press box and on the ground so he could communicate with Stidham directly. Grimes would stand by me and greet his O line unit when they came off the field to provide immediate and direct coaching and teaching, chew rears when assignments were blown, insert backups when the same mistake was made twice. If I were Gus, I would also act and look like a confident coach. I would be busy looking for solutions to challenges instead of looking nervous, unsure, and confused. Direct traffic and be the CEO this team needs. 

For $583,000/month,  I expect more.

[bmartin3228 117]

Gus Stands in his own way. Two weeks in a row we burn a timeout to get stuffed on 4 and 1 . I mean how are you not thinking and already have a play ready to go on 3rd down if you do not get and decide to go for it . I was at game and have not seen on tv yet, TV did not record because its full of frozen, brave , and other two year old daughter movie crap. I plan to watch after it records the rerun.

I could go all day about Gus but I really just want someone to fill me in on something. With the game in hand why did we not put 2nd string in Willis or SandBerg for at least 2 drives towards end of the game????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. I was tired of seeing our " 1st round QB" not see  open guys and take sack or over throw  ( yeah I know , he was pressured all night but quick timing routes were there)

NOTE: Arkansas QB took an absolute beating but the entire game he would take hits to try and make a throw

2. Why not do something to spark or at least try to spark even if there would be no change at the position. ( cause honestly believe we do not have any on roster better but again game is in hand)

3. Why keep you starting QB to potentially get hurt?

4. If you are going to keep him in then why not work on quick downfield timing throws to try and find a fix.(as long as your not going deep that's not bush league) 

NOTE: The whole section calls out the play before it happens because of personnel and who is in motion

I more so venting , but did not know if someone had an answer for this that had heard something. Question may have already been answered. Only thing I could think of is Gus did not want someone to come in and have a little success then have a "QB controversy." 

At end of the day we won , but the getting the ball inside the 5 and losing yards sfijjnw efinwe iufnwef.

 

WAR EAGLE!!!!!!

 

[sevenlee36 1,654]

So are we thinking that a Rhett Lashlee or Chip Lindsey is a better offensive coach then Gus?

[I_M4_AU 7,768]

3 minutes ago, sevenlee36 said:

So are we thinking that a Rhett Lashlee or Chip Lindsey is a better offensive coach then Gus?

Who could answer that, neither ran their own offense?

[sevenlee36 1,654]

4 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Who could answer that, neither ran their own offense?

Rhett has been at several places so has Chip.

Rhett has been at Samford, UCONN and SMU

Chip has been at Southern Miss and Arizona St I think?

[I_M4_AU 7,768]

1 minute ago, sevenlee36 said:

Rhett has been at several places so has Chip.

SMU is doing pretty good, UCONN wasn’t the best though.

Chip did pretty good at ASU. 

I misinterpreted your statement and added “while at AU”. My fault.