The ultimate defender

[corchjay 5,311]

3 minutes ago, johnnyAU said:

It's just a broken record.  He needs an established OC, a QB mentor and a solid OL coach in some combination, and all of them need to recruit their players and develop them. It's an old problem that never gets corrected.

I agree.  Maybe it will get corrected soon.  but the things you listed every staff needs.   This has been the ultimate if it can go wrong it will go wrong kind of season as well.  Just a couple little things go differently in the UT and MSU games and we win going away.... No PI calls in the LSU game do they even get in FG range to kick the game winner.  It's just been a weird season.  

I've stated a couple times already the only thing this team is consistent at is it's inconsistency 

[thrustmaxwell 413]

18 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Could be.  QB projection is very tough.  Stidham is about as highly rated a guy as you can get and has all the tools you could possibly want in a QB... but for whatever reason he processes information very slowly, he doesn't read defenses well at all and I'm not talking difficult schemes just normal "high schoolish" defensive schemes, and definitely wilts under pressure whether it be game pressure or pressure from the rush.   I don't want this to be a bash Stidham thread either.  

I get that it's tough to project QBs, but it seems like Gus is worse than most at it.  His QBs have a consistent lack of football IQ, quick decision making, and intestinal fortitude.  What are other coaches doing to weed out these traits while Gus seems to be attracted to them?

[corchjay 5,311]

1 minute ago, OnthePlains said:

Corch I appreciate your point of view. The problem is no one wants to think about staff changes and all that right now because most of us believe it won’t help. We’ve been down this road before and we’re getting the same result. The fan base is checking out on this season and next already. And before the “always support the Tigers “ lecture I mean checking out on Gis not the players or the program. But this is beyond fixable now. With a new OC , new QB and probably mass defections from players either to the NFL or jumping off this sinking ship then next year looks to be no better. I don’t understand why anyone thinks after six years of this that anything would be any different just because he hires another patsy.

I'm not saying he shouldn't be fired... I'm saying he won't because of the buyout.  Yes AU football is a huge money maker but we ain't profiting 20 million a year.  More like 4 million after paying all the other stuff that the AD does.   

[corchjay 5,311]

2 minutes ago, thrustmaxwell said:

I get that it's tough to project QBs, but it seems like Gus is worse than most at it.  His QBs have a consistent lack of football IQ, quick decision making, and intestinal fortitude.  What are other coaches doing to weed out these traits while Gus seems to be attracted to them?

I think it's been a mixed bag for him.  He got Nick and he was a gamer, thought JJ was a stud (we all did), and flopped, Sean was a really good QB but was probably to tough for his own good, and now Stidham (everyone thought he would be a 1st rounder this year) and he isn't playing like an SEC qb much less an NFL QB.  

[I_M4_AU 7,801]

9 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Chip doesn't want out as bad as you think he does.  He's making bank and shouldering very little blame...  

In your OP you stated that Chip was going to be the scape goat; how is that not shouldering the majority of the blame?

[lala 327]

14 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Also we have plenty of threads about why Gus should be fired... this is not the thread for that.  I'm of the opinion the AD will not eat the buyout and we have 1-2 more years regardless.  Now I wanted to see what everyone thought would/should happen in that context.  

I'm for either hiring an OC and let him do his thing or Gus goes back to being head coach and play caller...  It can't be a combo of both.  

I'm a Chip fan but it's just wrong time wrong situation for him.  

Corch, my issue is that our success should not be based on an asst coach.    They should be held to high standards like they do at Al, OSU, etc..... and success does not change when one comes or goes    

 

 

[AURealist 2,185]

Chip should get out.  Whatever is happening on offense or whoever is actually calling the plays, it's just not working.  He and Gus are not an effective team.  If we have to keep the genius for a couple more years, I'm good with the KBriles idea.  

 

[corchjay 5,311]

Just now, I_M4_AU said:

In your OP you stated that Chip was going to be the scape goat; how is that not shouldering the majority of the blame?

From the coaching community

[corchjay 5,311]

Just now, lala said:

Corch, my issue is that our success should not be based on an asst coach.    They should be held to high standards like they do at Al, OSU, etc..... and success does not change when one comes or goes    

 

 

We don't have a Saban or Meyer.  No one else does.  Dabo, Fisher, no one else is on the same level as Saban and Meyer.  

Also I guess you don't remember the Mike's at alabama or John Cooper at OSU...  

[I_M4_AU 7,801]

2 minutes ago, corchjay said:

From the coaching community

Good, hope he will land another position next year.

[doug3020 842]

Question for Coach-

Have you ever had a time in your career as a coach where you felt you were over your head? If so, did you seek advice or just plow thru on your own? In my field of practice not knowing your limitations is probably the most dangerous thing there can be. Just curious. 

[corchjay 5,311]

Just now, I_M4_AU said:

Good, hope he will land another position next year.

He does need to get Stidham playing smarter and tougher.  Stidham improving over the next 6 weeks will go a long way toward proving he's a quality coach as well.  

[lala 327]

Just now, corchjay said:

We don't have a Saban or Meyer.  No one else does.  Dabo, Fisher, no one else is on the same level as Saban and Meyer.  

Also I guess you don't remember the Mike's at alabama or John Cooper at OSU...  

They got canned.   Dabo lost his OC but they don’t miss  a beat, even similar with Mullen at MSU.   I agree that is not case everywhere but it is with the better more consistent coaches.

[80Tiger 899]

I am a lot like corch. I have wanted Gus to be successful and discount posters that say they know what Gus is thing or what kind of ego he has etc. Gus is not going anywhere after this year. The buyout is obscene and nationally we would be a laughing stock for giving huge raise one year and firing him the next. Changes are needed with the staff and on the team and I agree with those mentioned. IMO you relieve Chip now. Make a change at QB. JS is aliability at QB not an asset. His fumbling has been a problem for both years and now he just chucks the ball wherever. Gus calls plays and live and die with what we have. As it stands now we win one more game and will not even be competitive in some of the others.

[thrustmaxwell 413]

7 minutes ago, corchjay said:

I think it's been a mixed bag for him.  He got Nick and he was a gamer, thought JJ was a stud (we all did), and flopped, Sean was a really good QB but was probably to tough for his own good, and now Stidham (everyone thought he would be a 1st rounder this year) and he isn't playing like an SEC qb much less an NFL QB.  

I was mainly referring to the litany of HS QBs that he's recruited. Narshall was incredible but Gus had little to do with that, if anything.  I'll give you him though if you like, but that makes him like 1 out of 12 or so.  Sean White should not have been evaluated as the guy for Gus offense.  He was tough as nails but had CUSA talent.  I love him for the beatings he took for my enjoyment but he was not a feather in the cap for AU recruitment.  Talent/want-to evaluation, pretty much across the board on offense, has been staggeringly bad under Gus.  I get that there's a kinship among HS coaches, but Gus makes too much money and has too much responsibility to let that cloud your judgement.

[corchjay 5,311]

8 minutes ago, doug3020 said:

Question for Coach-

Have you ever had a time in your career as a coach where you felt you were over your head? If so, did you seek advice or just plow thru on your own? In my field of practice not knowing your limitations is probably the most dangerous thing there can be. Just curious. 

That's a tough one.  Coaching can have a macho factor to it and no matter who your players are or who you are going up against you think you have a chance because you think you're gonna have and call all the right things to make it work out somehow.  You kind of have to be that way.   But on top of that it's kind of a mixture, coaches steal ideas and techniques from each other all the time and coaching is a copy cat business.  You see how one team does things with success against another team and you try to do some of the same things.  I've never been the head guy in football and knew my role and tried to do it the best I could.

As far as baseball it's a little different because at the end of the day schemes don't mean a lot if you can't hit the other guys pitcher.   As the saying goes you can't steal first base. 

[GBAU83 212]

6 minutes ago, corchjay said:

I agree.  Maybe it will get corrected soon.  but the things you listed every staff needs.   This has been the ultimate if it can go wrong it will go wrong kind of season as well.  Just a couple little things go differently in the UT and MSU games and we win going away.... No PI calls in the LSU game do they even get in FG range to kick the game winner.  It's just been a weird season.  

I've stated a couple times already the only thing this team is consistent at is it's inconsistency 

Consistency - I get it.  We don't have it on.  That is where my question comes in.

We looked like crap against MSU.  We start the UTenn game with a great drive, mixing things up, looking like we did against Washington.  We start the second drive and use Malik Miller, changing up some looks as well.  And then it seemed we went back to what we did against other teams this season and goofy play calls (we are driving down the field, moving the ball and we go for some trick play).  It just doesn't make sense to me why we go away from what was working on first two drives and stop the mix of plays and players.  Then our QB makes very bad decisions, but he doesn't get pulled.  If Whitlow had fumbled, we would not see him the rest of the game.

So my question, since I am not an insider and not in the know, who is making the calls on the plays.  Personal opinion, the first drive looked like the Old Gus scripted plays well executed.  Not so sure the rest of the time.  So did Gus tell Chip to back off or was it all on Chip?

I have always felt Gus was a better OC than HC - could we maybe demote him to OC and let someone like Kevin Steele take over has HC?  I mean, if we still have to pay him, let him do something he could be good at.  Prime example of the old Peter Principle of being promoted to ones level of incompetence.

I think Gus needs to donate a good portion of this year's salary towards the new football facility and then man up enough to walk into the ADs office and say, I be OC for $1.2M and get a good head coach.

okay, enough rambling, like so many AU fans, just frustrated to see what we are getting when I know it could be so much better.

[kd4au 1,145]

13 minutes ago, corchjay said:

I'm not saying he shouldn't be fired... I'm saying he won't because of the buyout.  Yes AU football is a huge money maker but we ain't profiting 20 million a year.  More like 4 million after paying all the other stuff that the AD does.   

If Gus can not be fired, how can he be made to hire another OC and be made to let him run his own offense without Gus medaling?

[corchjay 5,311]

5 minutes ago, GBAU83 said:

Consistency - I get it.  We don't have it on.  That is where my question comes in.

We looked like crap against MSU.  We start the UTenn game with a great drive, mixing things up, looking like we did against Washington.  We start the second drive and use Malik Miller, changing up some looks as well.  And then it seemed we went back to what we did against other teams this season and goofy play calls (we are driving down the field, moving the ball and we go for some trick play).  It just doesn't make sense to me why we go away from what was working on first two drives and stop the mix of plays and players.  Then our QB makes very bad decisions, but he doesn't get pulled.  If Whitlow had fumbled, we would not see him the rest of the game.

So my question, since I am not an insider and not in the know, who is making the calls on the plays.  Personal opinion, the first drive looked like the Old Gus scripted plays well executed.  Not so sure the rest of the time.  So did Gus tell Chip to back off or was it all on Chip?

I have always felt Gus was a better OC than HC - could we maybe demote him to OC and let someone like Kevin Steele take over has HC?  I mean, if we still have to pay him, let him do something he could be good at.  Prime example of the old Peter Principle of being promoted to ones level of incompetence.

I think Gus needs to donate a good portion of this year's salary towards the new football facility and then man up enough to walk into the ADs office and say, I be OC for $1.2M and get a good head coach.

okay, enough rambling, like so many AU fans, just frustrated to see what we are getting when I know it could be so much better.

Chip calls the plays.  The game plans are designed by Chip, Gus, Horton and Kodi each week.    I think the reason why we saw the "trick play" was to try to get a score.  We haven't been very good finishing off drives and wanted to try to cash in on a TD.  

[Gowebb11 9,314]

35 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Also we have plenty of threads about why Gus should be fired... this is not the thread for that.  I'm of the opinion the AD will not eat the buyout and we have 1-2 more years regardless.  Now I wanted to see what everyone thought would/should happen in that context.  

I'm for either hiring an OC and let him do his thing or Gus goes back to being head coach and play caller...  It can't be a combo of both.  

I'm a Chip fan but it's just wrong time wrong situation for him.  

Serious question for you. Knowing what you know about our situation, you’re a proven up and coming OC with career aspirations of moving up. What would you see as the pros and cons of taking the AU OC job right now?

[corchjay 5,311]

3 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

Serious question for you. Knowing what you know about our situation, you’re a proven up and coming OC with career aspirations of moving up. What would you see as the pros and cons of taking the AU OC job right now?

SEC job, big money, opportunity to be on the big stage against the best, and if you show out and do well 3-4 years you probably get a head gig yourself at  big school and set for life.  

Cons are obvious, might only have the chance 1-2 years,  could set you back a little in your quest of moving up beyond an OC if you fail miserably.  

[GBAU83 212]

8 minutes ago, 80Tiger said:

As it stands now we win one more game and will not even be competitive in some of the others.

I am an AU fan and love my Tigers - but I am not sure what game you think we win.  If you are are thinking Liberty, I get it, but you need to look at Liberty and how they are doing, they just beat Troy this weekend.  If we play like we did on offense against Arkansas or how we played against MSU, and take out the first two drives against Tenn and one big play, the rest of our game - if we play like that we will lose to Liberty.

Folks, realize we just paid a coach $7M and a coaching staff (key parts) over $10M and we will not make a bowl game this year, not even the Birmingham bowl.  UAB who has been back for a second year after having the program shut down will be at a decent bowl game while we sit at home!

 

[corchjay 5,311]

10 minutes ago, kd4au said:

If Gus can not be fired, how can he be made to hire another OC and be made to let him run his own offense without Gus medaling?

I'm not saying he will be made to make changes but I think he knows he needs to make changes.  

[kd4au 1,145]

3 minutes ago, corchjay said:

I'm not saying he will be made to make changes but I think he knows he needs to make changes.  

Well at least we would hope he is seeing what we are seeing. I've got to the point where I'm not so sure anymore.

[twilli13 600]

56 minutes ago, corchjay said:

This is what is frustrating for me as a poster on this board.  None of this is can be backed up by anything tangible, you don't know Malzahn's ego, you don't know what he thinks, and you definitely don't know if he's to prideful to let and "athlete" play QB.  Seems we recruit a lot of athletic guys at the QB position to not want an "athlete" there.  

 

The issue isn't that Malzahn doesnt want great dual threat qbs. In fact, Nick Marshall saved Gus's ass and made him like look better that he was in 2013 and 2014. Perfect example is the 2014 Ole Miss game. Nick Marshall scrambling and hitting huge plays to Sammy Coates won us that game. Period. Not Gus's play calling. The real issue is Gus and his merry band of lackey assistants have not landed a really talented dual threat since NM, while missing on many. Deondre Francois, Lamar Jackson, Justin Fields, Kelly Bryant, etc. Instead, he had to settle for John Franklin iii, Malik Willis, etc. Imo Gus's qb recruiting has been weak.