There’s no arguing it- we 100% need an OC. Now it can be argued WHO it is. Do you find someone who tweaks? Do you build on Lagways comfortability and run a similar O? Do you make bigger changes with same base philosophy? But the idea that we are moving in the right direction is insane. We had 41 TDs on the year 24 rushing, 17 passing and averaged 375 yards pg. 27 ppg. Forcing your D to make stop after stop and chalking up failure to score because of missed assignments etc is missing the boat. I watched a TON of college football this year and the Lagway- Mizell, Hawkins, Tre, Dike, Badger, Jean, Burke combo in any other scheme averages 35-40. Way too often we are running the same 10-12 plays. Boring route trees. Not using the whole field or tempo or knowing when to be aggressive. Not using 4-5 wide is insane for many reasons. 1. It lets Lagway see more passing lanes and options rather than our bunch sets 2. It opens up more of the zone runs Billy and Jaluke are great at 3. Recruiting- your WR room next is year is THIN- Tre and Jean might transfer so that leaves you Khaleil, Tank, Abrams and Mizell and that’s IT. That’s because guys don’t wanna come play in a system that runs 2 WRs and throws 10- 15 completions Kade Bell and Spurrier Jr both come to mind. SOS jr is available because Tulsa Kevin Wilson got fired. He had success under Leach and Lebby. I know it was a failure at Tulsa but he runs similar concepts but spreads it out a little more. Major Applewhite at South bama Jason Candle at Toledo Brian Johnson but I did see fired FSU OC Alex atkins on the gator sideline wearing a gator hat / hope that’s not the direction we go. Wonder if he’s coming on as an analyst to bring in Solomon Thomas?
I agree it would be a good idea to bring in an OC, most head coaches have enough on their plate managing the game without scheming the offence so the right hire should improve things! As far as our passing game goes I do believe it was simplified with DJ's injury, his mobility is obviously very limited and that changes the plays you can call in my opinion!
I agree that we need an OC. I would like to see Tom Herman. He was a great OC under Meyer at OSU. Maybe not a great HC but he can run an offense.
I will let Google explain. Bette than I could. “Tom Herman's offensive strategy is rooted in the spread formation, but it incorporates a power-based approach. His system emphasizes a downhill running game to draw defenders in, creating opportunities for passing over the top”.
Bring in a guy who can execute napiers system and allow Napier to be the head coach. That will free him up to make sure we have 11 guys in the field and all jerseys are correct. You don’t have to give up the vision, you just delegate to someone you trust. Think of any organization, which he prides himself on having built, (organization and process), the CEO establishes vision and relies on his lieutenants to execute. I get that playing with the toys is fun, but this is also a major national brand with potential market value in the Billions. No need to placate ego. I agree with the OP that our offensive will be limited by napiers play calling cadence. Lagway will get figured out and game planned for. Lagways talent will win us games we shouldn’t but our lack of OC will and has lost us games we should win. And what about when Lagway gets carted off next year? And our next man up isn’t a generational talent? i try s time to quit playing F—k F—k and get an OC. And then get a national championship.
Napier is never going to take himself out of the spotlight or give up control. He's happy with himself and his vision. We are going to have to suck it up.
I think Billy, and Lagway for that matter, are close with Ryan O'Hara who is presumably the QB coach and quasi OC. Bringing in a true OC would upset that apple cart and that dynamic. OCs usually coach the QB. Things are starting to go Napier's way and I don't see him changing that now.... I mean if he was ever going to make a big change it would have been before we actually started playing winning football, not after.
our last 3 games our O looked pretty good- you are fooling yourself if you think he is going to hire a pure OC and give up play calling
The "system" has good plays. Lots of them. Its the knack for calling them at the right time that Billy struggles with. Bring in a guy that can incorporate some nice plays from Billy's system into a better package schematically.
Which is why I had to point out to the forum that in both the LSU and Ole Miss wins, they each outgained us in total yards and one look at the analytics on that tells you it's not a recipe for sustained success. Credit goes to the D for causing turnovers, but you can't count on turnovers for sustained success. It's like some people here can't accept any honest critiques of the team for the sake of protecting Billy. And I'll get torched, but there is no reason FSU's freshman QB should have more passing yards, completions and rushing yards than DJ Lagway. No reason whatsoever Lagway should not have doubled up that dude and it ain't the injury. FSU sucks and Lagway should have been over 400 yards passing. FSU is Samford level (and that's being gracious). Yes, we need an OC, but Billy is not bringing one in. I hate the discussion so much. Not because we don't need an OC, but because I know it's an exercise in futility. And yeah, we'll have to see if Malzahn does anything at FSU, but at least there was an obvious need filled there. Just look at Lagway's stats. We rave about him constantly, but his stats on the year: 9 TD, 7 INTs... I believe he had one game over 200 yards passing (Samford). How does he not have positive rushing yardage against Florida Suck? I'm not mad at Lagway. I'm mad he's not being utilized properly. Yes, we need an OC, but we're just going to drive ourselves nuts by continuously talking about it, because it ain't gonna happen.
Improvisation is nice, but I would rather have an offense that doesn’t require that. Relying on DJ to go beast mode to have the offense go isn’t sustainable. I don’t think we can out-talent teams as most teams we play will have equivalent talent at worst. Napier’s philosophy will keep games close, but that is a double-edged sword.
100% agree on the last part, but not sure I can agree on the last 3 games and our offense. Our backs have done better. We are getting some good run blocking at times. But after yesterday's game, our team finished 81st in the country in total offense. 100th in total 1st downs. 89th in 3rd down conversions. 74th in pass completion %. And I was a little surprised, but our rushing offense ranks 75th on the year. This is going to be our offense going forward, because Napier will not hire an OC. Love the way our defense has stepped up, but it is wrong to expect them to rescue us every game. 8 fumbles forced last night. Just not realistic. They bailed us out against Ole Miss. We have DJ Lagway. Our offense should continue to improve, but until I see it in the stats, it's hard to argue that it's even serviceable if our aspirations are 6-2 or better in the SEC reg season.
We got lucky in one of the two wins, and unlucky in the loss. How many times does a punt returner muff a punt with no pressure? Happened in our favor in the last two games. How many times is there a fumble on a QB sneak? Cost us a chance in at a 10 point half time lead in the UT game. Napier will keep games close, but the flip side of that is when we should be aggressive but stay conservative, it allows the opposing team to stay within striking distance. Then a bad bounce or two can lead to a loss. That is the reason some of us talk about a lack of killer instinct by Napier.