Head coach Pat Fitzgerald opened up about the quarterback problems that have plagued his team all season.
Preparation has been the problem for Northwestern's QBs
Preparation has been the problem for Northwestern's QBs
Fitz goes deep on the problems at quarterback
- Thread starter lou v
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Teddy Greenstein has apparently jumped on the bandwagon to can McCall. I like McCall a lot - both as a person and as an OC. I think Fitz does too. The article confirms that which I have heard since July: other than Green, our QBs are not doing their homework. McCall's system is not easy to run - it depends to a very large degree on the QB making reads and calling assignments for the OL, WRs, and RBs. It takes a great deal of preparation. Our guys are not doing it. Johnson may have an excuse. I recognize that families seem much closer these days and some college-aged young men are still little boys - much moreso than 40 years ago. I think Hunter will be OK once he starts putting in the time - IF he can win back the clubhouse. Changing OCs is just playing to the disgruntled and shifting blame. When NU does well, it is because of great chemistry; when it does not, it indicates bad chemistry. The last time we looked this bad was during the Cain Colter union organizing fiasco. Simien took over the clubhouse after that. We need someone to step up in the off season. I'd love it to be Johnson, but my guess is on Green, who is coming back for a fifth year. Then, in 2021, I think Adkinson starts as a RS frosh.
So who are you blaming for the very below average offense the 5 prior years to this year? Players then too?
It is not a below-average offense when you win 9 or 10 games. Stats do not tell the entire story, in fact they are frequently capable of distorting the important picture. Winning is all that matters, and we have done that with McCall. I promise you, he is not going anywhere anytime soon.
"... it's curious that so little progress was made in the 12 weeks the QBs have had to work on their games since Aug. 31, the date of the opener."
My thoughts too. Even if Smith was unprepared coming into the season, he's had a long time to know he's playing and he's had a fair amount of game experience now. It's just bizarre that he winds up throwing two interceptions at this point in the season, against UMass.
How could it be so simple that Fitz just needs to make him do his homework?
My thoughts too. Even if Smith was unprepared coming into the season, he's had a long time to know he's playing and he's had a fair amount of game experience now. It's just bizarre that he winds up throwing two interceptions at this point in the season, against UMass.
How could it be so simple that Fitz just needs to make him do his homework?
Not buying it. The body of work over his tenure at NU suggest strongly that McCall is a below-average OC. We have won a lot of games while McCall was the OC, but the data suggest that it was in spite of McCall, not because of him. You plug in any decent OC, and we would've probably won more games. The Akron and Illinois State games come to mind, among others.
I'm tired of the narrative of "it takes time to learn the offense". See Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields, among others, that immediately shined when transferring. Heck, how many true freshman have you seen come in and do well, or, at least, not the worst in the country x both QB's? Purdue guy - 4th string walk-on? Now, to be fair, perhaps we don't have the talent around these guys - OL providing too little time early in the year, RB's ok not great, WR's a long-standing problem and injuries. Perhaps we are accepting "less talent, need a more complicated offense to survive"?
I think he continues to emulate Iowa, but doesn't have the horses to consistently ball-control others to death. And anyway, Iowa is fine as a rival, but they have a definite ceiling, with a once a decade standout team and a bunch of other 7-9 win seasons. Sounds good about now, eh?
We left marquee wins on the table prior to this year. Change is needed.
Fitz was asked specifically about Hunter's and Kyric's injury status, and he didn't have an update for either of them.
There are a host of transfers that immediately do well not to mention Redshirt and true freshman on many teams across the country that are quite successful. We might have just recruited quarterbacks that can't make good in-game decisions even if they know the Playbook. The quarterback has to scan the entire field and look at all this options in a split-second with opposing players rushing at him. This takes a special type of mindset and capability.
Guess we just have to assume that H.J. got injured sometime between the release of the depth chart and the kickoff. Maybe at the pre-game meal or getting on or off the bus? If you believe this, then I have a bridge to sell you Nebraska.
Could it be that this group has tuned McCall out? How does he get them back? If those questions cannot be answered, McCall might have to move on regardless of whether it is his fault.
Not curious when you figure changing OL, QB, RB, etc on a weekly basis and having a big hole at TE. Hard to make major improvements in the middle of the season under those circumstances
Likely HJ's mom's health situation did not occur just a few weeks ago. It may have started 6-12 months ago. That may have stunted his preparation. TJ was likely well prepared but not as talented. That left the coaches with a problem (and the two QB approach) . They tried to muscle through it giving HJ reps hoping he could take the step up and then the injury but with critical treatment coming for his mom, very difficult to concentrate. Other guys being farther back on the depth chart did not think they had a shot at the field so they had not picked things up. Then injuries to HJ. Perfect storm.
With all due respect saying that we won so we had a good offense utter nonsense. Saying that we have an okay offense but our guys don’t know it is also utter nonsense.
It *could* be true that we had a good offense, but it doesn’t have to be. The best companies can have bad employees and still be the best companies. You don’t retain an incompetent head of department just because he’s not messing up the entire company.
Additionally, maybe the system takes a long time to learn but that’s an excuse too. Aidan Smith, In his fourth year in the system, is doing no better than anyone else. You’d expect that if it was a good system the more experienced guys would be able to produce better quarterback play than triple option teams, but they aren’t.
If a whole class scores 30% on an exam, the probability is exceedingly high that the problem isn’t that no one in the class knows anything, but instead that the test was bad, or the professor is bad.
If an entire position group can’t learn the offense, why then would we assume that the offense isn’t the problem?
Everyone is entitled to their own assessment of the situation but all of the actual evidence suggests that we have an atrocious OC.
Exactly, the NU offense is terrible to say it nicely. It has been below average for at least a half decade. There are two sides of the ball. Common sense tells you to be as proficient as you can be on both sides. Accepting the offensive performance because NU has been winning is what has got NU into this mess. It was only a matter of time before the defense regressed or we had key losses of players that hid the weaknesses. This offense is stuck in the 2000’s.
It’s great that McCall is a nice guy. I would expect that. However, this is a results business now more than ever and NU is not getting the job done on offense.
“College aged men are still little boys”. The MAN’s mother is going through life threatening treatment for crying out loud. This comment is uncalled for.
Support Mick all you want and spin yarns about what a guy he is, fine, but implying a 20 year is a “little boy” because he isn’t as hard scrabbled as you think he should be is crossing the line.
This is a reasonable response if you say we regressed from, say, 70th to 100th. But to drop to the bottom of the pickle barrel, against a now-exposed mediocre schedule (two most improved teams upcoming, not yet played), is simply unacceptable.
Agreed. Disgusting comment, but attacking players is about the only thing left for McCall supporters to do at this point, so not surprised.
You would make a great CEO. Hey, the company made money this year! Who cares about that business unit that lost $100 mill missing revenue projections the last 5 years, the company bottom line is all that matters! Let's hope the other business units keep picking up the slack.
Geez...I didn't read it that way, but even if it was a little insensitive, you've not exactly distinguished yourself with delicate decorum. There is certainly a case to be made for Coach McCall, but regardless it doesn't help much for Cats fans to be turning on each other like this.
You would make a great CMO with how you are slanting what other people say to fit your narrative.
There is. A case of grand larceny when he cashes his paychecks!
Not buying this but it looks like I'm in the tiny minority here. McCall's offense has won games with the help of timely playmaking, e.g., Nebraska and Iowa games last year. I also recall instances where he outcoached the opposing teams DC with in-game changes that decided the outcome. PSU 2015 comes to mind. Seems to me it's more an issue of having the talent and focus to execute the offense effectively than a deficiency in the offensive scheme. When we really needed the points, we got them. I've already provided data on the talent differential between our defense and our offense back to 2008 when McCall joined the program. These differences are most notable between the O and D lines. I still think the main issue is with scouting and recruiting.
While I agree the comment is inappropriate, there's nothing errant about pointing out the talent deficiencies we've had on the OL and WR's the past decade. Jimmy's and Joe's... I'm not an X's and O's guy (I'm really ignorant about football...that should be my signature) so I can't judge if our scheme is zoomy enough for today's football. If there's a bright, innovative OC out there that we can hire, I'd have no issue with that. My point is I think there are other things that fans overlook or are unaware of that are likely in play here, talent and prep being two of them. Fitz's comments shouldn't be dismissed outright. A new OC could come in and still struggle if we don't address our talent deficiencies on offense.
Yeah, that stuck out at me, too. What an awful thing to say.
Ok, you have problems with offensive line and wide receivers for years and and now QB problems, especially considering you have a five star one. Who's left? Running backs. Who is responsible for that situation, the OL, WR and QB? How could we possibly have ended up with so many unprepared players over all those years? No, it's on the coaches.
You are pointing out 3 games where McCall “did good” (I’m paraphrasing) and in 2 of them the offense scored less than 17 points. Your honor, the prosecution rests.
Ultimately, it is. However, deficiencies in player recruitment and preparation will do in a coach just as quickly, if not more so, than a predictable offensive scheme. Right now, we don't have a QB who can run the offense effectively. Smith may have some moxie but he isn't showing D1-level skills or competence right now. How is that gonna change with a new OC? You can bring in a new OC but man, we've got some talent deficiencies that need to be addressed as well.
I'm gonna transition to the relative tranquility of the political discussions on the Rant board now...
It was not an exhaustive review. I can mine 36 instances over the past four years for other examples if you're interested including record-setting performances. Maybe having a skilled QB who knows the offense thoroughly is important. Or a WR with great hands and a knack for finding gaps in the defense helps. Or a record-setting RB who can consistently make something out of nothing. Jimmy's and Joe's...
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