From the Gregg Ellis blog....

[thunderclap]

about spring football:

"Very little new stuff has been introduced. However, of the new formations that have been implemented, quarterback Wesley Carroll said he likes them. And yes, its still going to be the West Coast offense."

Take that, DJ Looney.

p.s. we knew it

 

[Stormrider81]

we just need to change how we call it. It's playcalling that kills us more often than not. We get into a mode where we run every first down, throw a 2 yard pass on second down, and then find ourselves in third and long. We need to mix things up more, try to use more 5 yard routes in order to get ourselves into more managable third downs, and keep the defense guessing on first down. Those things would do wonders for our offense. We could change our offense and it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference if we were still as predictable as we are right now.

 

[thunderclap]

in Lexington in amazement at our playcalling that day and wondered why that couldn't happen every Saturday.

 

[patdog]

Quote:_________________________________________________We get into a mode where we run every first down, throw a 2 yard pass on second down, and then find ourselves in third and long._________________________________________________

Which is exactly the opposite of Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense. It was built on short passes on first down, then if you find yourself in second and long, run a draw play to get you to a short and manageable 3rd down.

 

[SnakePlissken]

How much of an offense did you expect to be put in the first or second day? You do realize that the first few days will be used to get back in the base offense and get the basics back down don't you?

 

[MSUCostanza]

that 90% of the people on this board are idiots, right?

I've given up arguing with them. Not good for the blood pressure.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Quote:_________________________________________________Croom has been studying various offenses on film to steal some ideas. After spring drills conclude, hes going to visit some coaches at other schools to get more advice. He wouldnt go into detail as to which schools._________________________________________________

And like someone said earlier, its the second day of practice. And at least give him a little credit for saying he is going to try to do some new things.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

or are we starting later? I have no idea, but we don't start for a few weeks.

 

[Goat Holder]

getting back to the basics and getting fundamentals down.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

[No message]

 

[Stormrider81]

Quote:_________________________________________________And at least give him a little credit for saying he is going to try to do some new things._________________________________________________

Exactly. This is a hell of a long way from where he was early in his tenure when he said we were running the WCO his way, end of story. Despite common thought, Croom isn't an idiot. He knows that he has to keep winning in order to keep his job.

 

[Stormrider81]

I also second thunderclap's comment about the UK game. What we did in that game was try to keep our third downs in managable form, and it worked. It still boggles the mind that we throw a one or two yard pattern when we have some big WRs that we could run slants and outs with and a QB that can deliver the ball consistently. Most of our offensive problems I lay at the feet of poor playcalling. Some is personnell, but most is playcalling. I like running the ball, we just need to be smarter and less predictable.

 

[Xartox]

I too don't think the problem is the West Coast offense or scheme persay as much as it is the predictability of the playcalling. I agree that the KY game was excellently called and think that even with the scheme we have that we should be able to break the Top 100 with better playcalling.

Run, Run, Pass, Punt gets old in a hurry and that is NOT West Coast Offense regardless of whether the plays come out of the WCO playbook or not!

 

[SwampDawg]

and I think watching game films to learn new stuff is a great idea. But it bothers me when he says he is going to ask other coaches for ideas. He's gonna go to Saban and Miles (for example) and get them to tell him how to beat them? They'll probably tell him to run on first, draw play on second, pass on third and then punt.

 

[BriantheDawg]

looking for help.

 

[patdog]

No. And he's not doing anything at all unusual. It's common practice for coaches to travel around to share ideas with other coaches during the offseason.

 

[FlabLoser]

I think offensive plays are being called ultra-conservatively because we (perhaps rightfully) don't trust our passing game.

Now I'm a baffled as anybody about why we don't have a QB and multiple WRs that can play pitch and catch. But the facts are we don't have that.

So Croom is going to keep boring us to death until we have people than can execute the stuff you guys are wanting to see. He'd rather get short yards on 1st & 2nd and hopefully have a makeable 3rd down rather than go incomplete, incomplete, 3rd & sack.

 

[windcrysmary]

I think we could also utilize more 3rd and 5 or 6 draw plays.. even when they are not successful, it keeps the defense honest on those downs going forward where the play action becomes easier..

predictability is our biggest nemesis on offense

 

[TR.sixpack]

Croom would rather jump off the back of the stadium before he'd call a pass over 5 yards. He lost a lot of confidence in WC's passing ability late last year.

 

[Eureka Dog]

work if the QB can't get the ball to the receivers in the position that allows them to get YAC's. In the WCO, when the QB repeatedly throws a passes that require the receivers to alter their patterns, the WCO will sputter. YAC's are crucial for the WCO to work.

Too often last fall, our receivers would have to stop, dive, etc. in order to catch too many of WC's passes. This especially hurt when throwing to the RB's in the flat or to the TE running an underneath route parallel to the LOS.