Looking on to 2017 (Merged)

[AUsince72 11,084]

21 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

Which goes back to my point that it's about recruiting.  Jeremy was a bust. It happens to ALL coaches. Queen broke... that happens too.  The thing is, it rarely happens all at once. The moment he knew Queen was out for a season, he should have added a QB to the next class.  Then when Jeremy was a bust, he should have added yet another real QB (non-project). He finally got it, this year.  A 3-Star who has the basic skills can "keep the spot warm" and can be coached up to be much more. Based on this year's class, I think Gus finally sees that.

Again, I hear ya' but here's the key to my feelings on this (agree or disagree, that's fine)...

You call JJ a "bust".  Well, if you expect 5* Heisman winner or you suck, then sure.  But I contend, after watching him in 3-4 games before the disaster that was 2015, that with some decent coaching, he could have been a decent back-up.  Great leader to the promised land? No.  But much better than hydra-backs and whirly-birds.

[AUsince72 11,084]

5 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

Have to say, I miss silver lining 72

I can't say I'm huge fans of Freeze or Sumlin, either, but I will say that they are better than 70% or more of the coaches out there, and on par with probably another 20-25%

Yeah, the silver was harder to find as the late season came upon us.  I DEFINITELY felt like Yukon Cornelious... "Eh...Nuttin'"

[lionheartkc 6,150]

4 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

Again, I hear ya' but here's the key to my feelings on this (agree or disagree, that's fine)...

You call JJ a "busy".  Well, if you expect 5* Heisman winner or you suck, then sure.  But I contend, after watching him in 3-4 games before the disaster that was 2015, that with some decent coaching, he could have been a decent back-up.  Great leader to the promised land? No.  But much better than hydra-backs and whirly-birds.

I think the best explanation I've heard for Jeremy's success prior to 2015 was the lack of pass defense that he faced. The only other thing I can think of is that when things started to fall apart, he basically got a QB version of the yips and couldn't shake them. The Sugar Bowl, to me, was a microcosm of his career... Brilliant 59 yard pass in a touchdown drive along with an INT in the end zone and a near INT earlier, both of which were thrown right at a defender. Jeremy's issues are 100% mental and mental is the hardest thing to coach out of someone.... even more so when they aren't replicating the issues in practice.

I don't condone some of the crazy crap Gus did this year to try to make up for the lack of a QB at the end of the season, and I certainly don't condone his inability to see what he had in Sean until the LSU game, but I totally understand the awful circumstance that he was in, not entirely due to his own failings.

[doc4aday 1,887]

Guys, I have been in the hall of fame of sunshine pumpers since 2008 when I think this site came up and running. Since that time, we have done some remarkable things and won a NC and came very near to winning another one. We all know that Gus has been a big part of the NC and 2 SEC Titles. After the Sugar Bowl, I realized that if Gus wants to be the HC at Auburn for years to come, he needs to make adjustments whatever they might be. I believe his offense is kind of like an expensive sports car that can outrun anything on the road. This happens when you have the right QB, right RBs, right O-line, and the right group of receivers on the field each play.

If the sports car has anything to go wrong such as a fouled out spark plug, a stopped up fuel injector, and a driver who does not know how to drive the car to achieve maximum results, we have what we have had over the past seasons. This scenario has played out in each of the past seasons since Nick Marshall left for the NFL. We saw the machine work to near perfection in 2010 and pretty much all of 2013 with a little bad driving in a couple of the games in 2013. For the first part of 2014, the car ran fairly smooth until a plug or injector stopped up. I know this is an odd way to describe the situation. I am all ears and eyes waiting to hear from all of you on this "Doc" assessment of things small and even smaller.

[johnnyAU 3,633]

Gus has a potential game changer in Stidham, but it IMO it all depends on Malzahn breaking his recent tendencies. If he follows a similar script he has the last two seasons, I don't see things ending up differently. 

He must evolve this offense to suit the talent on hand. He has been extraordinarily vanilla and predictable in the scheme and play calling, other than the stupidity that was the Cox Cat nonsense. May he never try that again...ever, and he can do the same to that "hide the little guy" behind the LOS after the sugar huddle business too. 

Perhaps his conservative play calling has been the result of his lack of confidence in his QB situation after JJ's rocky start last year, and perhaps he became too reliant on the read option and the running game with his success with Nick Marshall. I'm not certain of the factors, but he has different personnel now. He's got to find a way to use them to their potential or fall on his own sword of obstinance. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

9 minutes ago, johnnyAU said:

his lack of confidence

I believe this explains the lion's share of his poor decisions going back to recruiting Franklin. Franklin was a case of Gus not believing in Sean. The Clemson game was a case of him not believing that his kids could line up against Dabo's kid and beat them at the sport of football. Resuming playcalling duties was a case of him not believing that Rhett could overcome the injuries. And so on down the line. It was so disheartening to watch. 

[cole256 17,084]

Gus was a reason that the qb's played bad, there isn't a qb that can overcome all that shuffling and early bad play calling