Wondering why Thorson didn't work with and create chemistry during the off season with the receivers like C.J., Persa and others had done. Maybe he did and if that's the case, other problems need to be addressed, like always sprinting to his right when escaping the pocket.
Where did CJ say that the position coach isn't the problem? Maybe he deflected criticism from the OC, but if the WRs "consistently" aren't getting open against man defense, then who's that on?
Michigan: New coach, same players, one year, much better result. How can you possibly say coaching is not part of what ails the NU offense?
The point is not Michigan, it is better coach, same players. That's not dumb. Of course NU isn't Michigan, but if we ever want to beat them we're going to have to do something different.
Oh, come on. Our WR recruits in recent years haven't exactly been a bunch of nobodies off the street. Sure, we're not MICHIGAN, but we've had a talented group of players at the position who have underperformed pretty significantly. Tony Jones was a HS track star who turned down Michigan State to come to NU, and after his first catch as a true freshman - a long TD catch against Minnesota - I thought we had a star in the making. Alas, his career at NU ended up being pretty disappointing. R. Lawrence and C. Jones had offers from a number of good programs including Stanford and Duke. M. Shuler was a 4-star recruit and another former track star. K. Prater, as everyone knows, was the #1 WR recruit out of HS. These guys as a group had size and speed, and at one point a few years ago, they were ranked as one of the top WR position groups in the Big Ten. I don't think anyone can say with a straight face that they performed up to expectations. So what happened, and who's to blame? Why was that group not able to stretch the field and beat defenses that dared to play tight man coverage?
Michigan's issues on offense were that they didn't have a QB and their Oline was young. Brady Hoke had some phenomenal recruiting classes at Michigan and they had tons of talent. Their Oline got a year older and better, and they got a 5th year starting big ten QB transfer in Jake Ruddock. So no, it's not new coach, same players.
Irrelevant? Michigan is one example of many in which a coaching change has resulted in better performance on the field. I don't know for certain that our problem, and the solution to it, is one of coaching, but there definitely is a problem, so I think it's fair game to ask if it is related to coaching. Look at Ohio State. They won the NC last season with Herman as OC. He then left, and the offense, with almost all the same guys returning, struggled for much of this past season. There are numerous examples of this type of thing, and they don't have to be at "name" schools like Michigan and Ohio State. Coaching should be a factor in evaluating performance on the field.
OK, I see that now. But really, is Bacher going to throw the coaches under the bus here (many of whom he played for), or he is going to cop out with the "confidence" excuse? And if it really is a matter of confidence (or lack thereof), don't the coaches have any effect on that? I mean, it was Gary Barnett who instilled the values of "Expect Victory", and he took the Purple to Pasadena when no one thought it was possible. So now we can just shrug our shoulders and say, oh well, the players don't believe in themselves?
Hah! So now we can attribute their disappointing lack of production to the fact that they didn't have offers from the likes of Ohio State and Alabama? What a standard! But of course, we've never had WRs with that level of talent (or at least with those types of offers), and yet we saw much better production from our WRs under the previous WR coach. Ebert had offers from a couple of MAC schools and Navy, and yet in his junior and senior years, he averaged nearly 1000 yards and 10 TDs a season! No one has come close to that since then. And Zeke M. was a former walk-on who was a tremendous possession WR for the 'Cats his senior year.
Look, I appreciate CJ's insights as to schemes and player performance, but I'm skeptical that he's going to pull a Nate Williams and throw his former coaches under the bus. Maybe he'd say something different in a private conversation. I could be wrong, but that's my speculation.
That's not entirely what CJ said. He did blame McCall to an extent in that he should have used JJ more in the passing game. This is what I have harped on all year long. Our backs are great and our receivers stink thus the decision is easy, get the backs more involved in the game. Use the strengths that you have. McCall to me does very little to adjust his scheme. He keeps trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. No one is saying scrap the spread but for goodness sake make a friggin adjustment!
JJ had more carries than anyone in D1. How much more are you going to give it to him with him remaining upright? Just saying have to have other areas of the O to keep from having 9 in the box and getting him killed. If he wants to see more passes to him in the flat or down field, OK but there is still a limit.
Again, that RS Sr QB was hurt all year. Please stop suggesting that they did lousy with him (suggesting that he was 100%) when he was really at 50% or less. When he was starting to get healthy we were doing better (ND and first half Purdue)
OK, what about in 2013, when TS was presumably healthy (wasn't he?) and Colter was playing too? The offense wasn't much better that year either. Even in 2012, when we had both those guys plus V. Mark, the offense was just middle of the pack in the B1G.
