The Coaches and the Offesne in perspective | The Boneyard

The Coaches and the Offesne in perspective

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There is little doubt in my mind that this coaching staff came to the conclusion that given the talent they had (or rather, did not have), they would need to be fairly inovative with the offense. Hense, two offensive schemes and a QB rotation. I think they viewed the offense as a complete rebuild and I think they were justified in that conclusion.

First, the offense had issues in the passing game that they inherited.

Second, the personnel losses from the start of last season were staggering:
  • top 3 QBs (granted, in passing on Box they may have been shortsighted)
  • top 4 RBs (don't forget Meme who could have been a huge help this year as a power back)
  • top 3 OGs (then throw Bennet in at OT for good measure)
  • an NFL FB and probably one of the best in the country
  • 2 WRs - one the leading receiver from last season and the other, Difton, a likely 2 deap this season
I just cannot be too critical of what these coaches did with the offense in light of what they inherited. The talk of a high-powered offense simply because we would move away from Edsall's ball control philosphy never made any sense to me. Likewise, the "we can't get worse play at QB then we got from ZF" was complete nonsense when you talk about putting untested kids under center. I think these coaches get a pass for the offense this season and given some of the recruiting talk about transfers and JUCOs my sense is that they are going to address this issue right away.

That all said, we left at least 3 potential Ws on the field this season with Vandy, WM and IS. These guys were just getting going, but they were terrible in those games imo. Don't get me started on clock management......
 
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I agree, pasqualoni said that you need the right personnel. Our bread and butter was the run game and even that was shaky at times this year. I will agree with you on most points. However, I cannot accept that personnel were the only problem. There were crucial coaching decisions that made for some of those head-scratcher moments. Our third and short conversion game really hurt us on offense this year. And I also believe there were also some underutilized pieces of the offense (nick williams, jjl, mccummings (at times)). It will be an offseason of really finding the playmakers who can step up and really lead this offense to its potential.
 

SubbaBub

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This game and Louisville were there to be had as well.
 
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It's just not that hard to score a touchdown!

And this offense couldn't put one on the board in three games and only got a TD in garbage time in a couple of others.

Obviously I have a huge problem with the use of personnel. I think that is at the root of all the offensive woes.
 

FfldCntyFan

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I believe that the ideal scenario (in this staff's eyes) would be to run both offenses with one guy behind center. I also believe (contradictory to what many have posted on other threads since the Cincy loss) that the last the this staff wanted to do was go into this season with McEntee as the #1 QB. They appeared to give everyone (at least everyone with mobility) the opportunity to win the starting job and McEntee ended up as #1 by default.
 
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Again, there is no problem with the offensive scheme. Out of all the new coaches, it was Coach Deleone I was worried the most about. 9,000,000 page playbook, questionable offensive play calling is what I heard. Buth through the season, I saw great play calls. Problem was (wait for it Edsall haters), there was no execution. From early in the season when McCummings overthrew an uncovered receiver by 40 yards, it has been mistake after mistake. And not because of a complex playbook. Receivers dropping passes, quarterbacks missing wide open receivers, qb's scrambling from a pass rush that wasn't there . . . etc.

Where do we go from here? Who knows. We lose our best receiver in Kash, and 2 all league caliber offensive lineman. We need the players to learn from experience, spend a year in the weight and film room. And the coaches now have a season under their belt, they know current personnel. Nick Williams is not without warts on offense. He has inconsistent hands, and has trouble getting separation when lined up outside. So get him the ball in space on short passes. Line him up in the backfield, send him in motion . . .etc. He is one of our few playmakers, and although he is not a traditional receiver, he can (and has) made plays on O. Doesn't need to start, but he does need to be in there on 3rd downs. McCombs was fantastic, he was shaky in decsion making the first 3 games and then made adjustments to the game and was great. He will be a steady back for the next 3 years. He is not going to gain weight, he is not going to gain speed, but he will be a solid runner. And I think he needs to be utilized more in the passing game. Griffin is a great pass catcher, feature him. Its alright to have a TE as the leading receiver.

The young WRs (Davis and Jones) need to spend all offseason working on routes, catching 100 passes a day, and studying film. They showed flashes of their ability but often made mental mistakes. Love the way Davis blocks.

As for qb? Sigh. McEntee had a couple good games managing the game. But he too often made costly mistakes, and showed little pocket presence (almost 4 sacks a game). 51 % completion rate will not cut it in Deleone's offense. Not sure if the game will slow down for him. He has alot to prove in the spring. As for Nebrich? It was obvious that coaches had no faith in him this season. Deleone's comments late in the year indicate he was making alot of mistakes in practice, which can be expected from any true frosh. Jury is still out, but I will say, the few plays he played this year, he looked like a leader, having a blast out there, getting his lineman fired up. Liked to see that. He will benefit more than any other player, IMO, from this offseason. Nobody knows how Cochran will do as a true frosh, but I will be absolutely shocked if he plays. QB is such a huge transition from high school to college.

The Line is a huge question mark. Greene, Masters, and Friend are penciled in, but where is anyone's guess. If the coaching staff wants to get the 5 best players, we might see them switch positions along the line. The only thing keeping Friend from great things is strength and that is something that can be improved on.
 
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Something not being mentioned is that I would expect a big shakeup in the coaching staff. I think there was some issues between previous regime and new staff along the lines of schemes and such. I think Coach PP was expected to keep those coaches that were loyal to the program. I wouldn't be suprised to see any of them go including Foley.
 
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You can believe that there was a severe lack of playmakers on O, and that makes it impossible to judge Deleone's schemes, and still question many of the offensive decisions that were made. They are not mutually exclusive.

It is not fair to give up on what the coaches want to do on O. And if fully agree that they were dieing to have someone other than JM step up, and I have no reason to question their decision that he remained our best chance up to the end.
 

willie99

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if AO or AD or anybody else is playing so poorly that they're killing the team, they ride the pine and somebody else gets a chance.

McCummings was very effective when playing, only the UConn coaching staff really stopped him.

All the defenders say something akin to the coaching staff know he can't get it done, so they stop him before somebody else does.

We seem to be the only team in the country that sticks to a bad QB from game to game, year to year, on and on
 
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I was in the camp that QB would not be an issue because we couldn't get worse. Well how wrong was that? And looking forward to next year, we might have the same QB issues as this year. That said, contrary to many other opinions, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if CC was our QB next year. I never saw CC play and have only read the press clippings so all this is guesswork on my part.

IMO Coaching this year was a disaster. Too much confusion. Too many poor decisions on 3rd and short. Terrible red zone performance. Timeout usage - worst I've ever seen. I believe poor coaching decisions cost us at least 2 W's. Too many mental errors - as evidenced by (and not mentioned by anyone as far as I know) the two penalties on our first offensive possession put us in a hole and led to the "fumble" and TD by Cincinnati.

Not to be all negative, I'm encouraged by the recruiting. But even recruiting is at risk unless the Providence folks don't get it right. And the longer Providence delays, the less confidence I have that they will get it right.

There's no bigger UCONN fan than History Major on this board. But History Major is also a realist and the program is at a critical juncture. We need to get it right and it starts at the top: the right Providence decisions; or UCONN's Susan H making the right moves to get into the ACC or another BCS league and the right coaching team. Coach PP deserves some more time but changes on his staff need to be made. And of course the right recruits where I believe we are on the right track.
 
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...... I also believe (contradictory to what many have posted on other threads since the Cincy loss) that the last the this staff wanted to do was go into this season with McEntee as the #1 QB. They appeared to give everyone (at least everyone with mobility) the opportunity to win the starting job and McEntee ended up as #1 by default.

Are you high?

They gave What quarterback besides JM a full Quarter to play?

48 Quarters played this year and they can not try to develop any young QB with actual Playing time? QB play for next year looks almost as dismal as this year. At least we know McCummings is a D1 player. We know JM is not, and (unfortunately) we have No idea about MN.

wow
 
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Are you high?

They gave What quarterback besides JM a full Quarter to play?

48 Quarters played this year and they can not try to develop any young QB with actual Playing time? QB play for next year looks almost as dismal as this year. At least we know McCummings is a D1 player. We know JM is not, and (unfortunately) we have No idea about MN.

wow

I tend to agree with FCF. P wanted someone else to win the job in practice. No one did.
 
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It seems as if coaches were trying to get offense skill players to fit their system rather finding a system that suited the players. Might have turned out a little better if the John Fox (John Elway?) model had been followed.
 

ctchamps

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I tend to agree with FCF. P wanted someone else to win the job in practice. No one did.
I also agree with FCF. It's logical no one stepped up or they would have been given the reins. And it is logical for fans to come to the conclusion that the coaches blocked their entry as opposed to evaluated their entry. It doesn't serve a good complaint to recognize reality.
 
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Nothing evaluates like actual playing time. i can not recall one quarter where McCummings had the reigns. And MN must not remember or understand the playbook. i can not think of any other reason why he sat the bench. He can throw.

But anyway this is an open ended conversation.

i am happy that on D Smallwood, and the 2 new safeties got real pt and will be that much better next year. This is encouraging. Unfortunately on O I don't think they gave youth a chance. Tebucky jones almost came up with the catch of the year. He obviously has skills, but did not get much PT.
 
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It's just not that hard to score a touchdown!

And this offense couldn't put one on the board in three games and only got a TD in garbage time in a couple of others.

Obviously I have a huge problem with the use of personnel. I think that is at the root of all the offensive woes.

you're right but this problem isn't new so i don't think you can lay it entirely on the current coaching staff. this has been the case every season since DanO graduated, with the temporary exception of when Easley was playing out of his mind. those were the only times i really felt like our offense could just move when we needed to. i think we did pretty well this year considering how many players we lost from last year, and considering we're installing a new offensive system.
 
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It's just not that hard to score a touchdown!

And this offense couldn't put one on the board in three games and only got a TD in garbage time in a couple of others.

Obviously I have a huge problem with the use of personnel. I think that is at the root of all the offensive woes.

Agree entirely,Pal.
 
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It's really quite simple. This year's results were either the result of poor decisions and lousy personnel choices by the coaches---or the coaches were handcuffed by a dearth of playmakers able to run the system they felt would bring us to glory.
If next year's team, with PP and coordinators having a year under their belt, and a recruiting class more to their liking, goes 10-2 and makes a Bowl and has a legit chance at a BCS Bowl as Big East Champions, I'll chalk this year up to the lack of playmakers to run the PP system. If we repeat the 2011 debacle, I'll be calling for the coaches dismissal and echo Pal that there was "a huge problem with the use of personnel. I think that is at the root of all the offensive woes."
 
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I'm speculating here, entirely, but to me, as an outsider watching, and having to believe that Nebrich was not especially better in performance than McEntee early on in the season.....given that.......by putting Nebrich in the game over junior walk on Johnny McEntee at any point in this season barring injury, when he didn't especially separate himself early on, would have sent the signal to this team from the new coaches, that they were throwing in the towel on the 2011 season and in turn the Edsall era, even though they had just come off the Fiesta Bowl appearance. That didn't happen. They were a team that played together, very hard, and dedicated, through an entire year of big time transition, and for an entire year through thick and thin and played for a post season birth in their last game of the year. They failed to make a post season game, but they were in position to succeed, over and over throughout the year, and you can't succeed in reaching some goal, if you don't get in position to succeed.

Call me cuckoo, but I'm thinking that the reason that the decision to play McEntee given repeatedly as the "best chance to win" according to the coaches, had more to do with team chemistry and unity on and off the field, than performance on the field, and make no mistake, I'm guessing on all that, but there is no guessing when it comes to team unity being absolutely essential to success, and this was a coaching staff that walked into a program that was not theirs, and had just had a very successful season.

They gave Nebrich plenty of time to earn the job as a true frosh, but it was a tall, tall order to earn the respect of that huddle, and to me, watching from the outside, that's what it had to be, for the QB position to stand out because it wasn't standing out on the field - earning the respect of the huddle.

I'm also pretty sure that it will be much easier for a guy like Nebrich to earn the huddle next year.

Oh, but they burned his red shirt Carl.......wah wah. Endres burned Nebrich's shirt with whatever he was smoking, don't even start that tired argument again.
 
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I will defend this staff again on the redshirts. Out of 20 + true freshman, we only played 3. That is a low percentage number. In each case, the player was given a chance to earn time at a skill positon where we needed a contribution. The fact that, in each case, the player ended up not earning a bigger role is not something I'm willing to beat the coaches up on. If it happens with seven players every year, sure. Three, during a transition year? Where we did need help at the positions? I give them a total pass.
 
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