Hunter Johnson Dark Horse 🐎 for First Team All Big Ten Next Year!

[EvanstonCat]

LOL, you wouldn’t know what a good OC looks like just like you have no clue what you are looking at when you watch a football game. Should we Dig up all the stupid shit you have said about NU players and coaches over the years. Should I go find the prescient posts with your evaluations of Mike Kafka as a QB? Heck, you are too busy posting stupid shit on game day threads to even watch a game with the attention that is required to really understand what is going on. You have no clue about McCall. McCall was part of a staff that helped NU post winning seasons repeatedly despite a roster that is half as talented as what is in place now. If TJ Green does not get hurt against Stanford, NU goes to a bowl game in 2019 and McCall would still be here winning ten games+ per year with an OL coach that actually has a clue what he is doing. That’s the reality of the situation whether you want to acknowledge it or not. Now in the end everything probably worked out as it should because Bajakian is terrific and McCall seemed to have worn out his welcome with the players but that has nothing to do with his capabilities as an OC. Now do me a favor and stop wasting my time with your nonsense. I am interested in talking NU football with like minded fans who actually have a clue about what they are talking about. That does not include you.

LOL. That hill is a lonely one to die on. McCall a good OC. Good OC's don't preside over the #117 offense in the country. Good OC's don't manage more bottom half or even quartile defenses than top half (above average) offenses during their tenures. There's a reason why no one in the country is employing him as one at the moment. Obviously, my untrained eye was unable to see this hidden genius in his consistent rush up the gut on first down, bubble screen, and dives on 3rd downs or the sophistication of his unimaginative and highly predictable playcalling, and that it was only because TJ Green wasn't there to make it all work that prevented us from going to a bowl game in 2019. Yes, he was a part of a staff that helped NU post winning seasons. But, the likely the more accurate narrative is that Mike Hankwitz and the Defense helped us win games DESPITE McCall's ineptness. Oh, yeah, it was complementary football. If the O was any better, our D couldn't have played nearly as well. LOL.

Please do dig up all this stupid shit that I've said about NU players and coaches over the years. Please find any evaluation of Mike Kafka that I made approaching yours on Hunter Johnson, Andrew Marty, etc... I recall ripping Kafka for his horrid play (and Brewer's) as a freshman and screaming for Bacher. I don't recall suggesting that because of his play as a freshman, that he would never become an adequate QB in his senior year. Or that anyone who suggested otherwise simply didn't have a clue.

This all said, I have already said it - I don't have a clue what I'm talking about. But, my point is this: neither do you, so drop the tired expert act. Not only are you as clueless as any of the rest of us, but I don't think anyone has been worse at making personnel and coaching predictions than you. And that's a very low bar, so perhaps a worthy accomplishment. No one's asking you to stop making dumb opinions or predictions like the rest of us, because this is what this board is all about, but please get off your high horse and stop pretending that you have any more insight than any of the rest of us clueless fans. At least until you start hitting the ball as well as the Wrassler.

 

[hdhntr1]

LOL, you wouldn’t know what a good OC looks like just like you have no clue what you are looking at when you watch a football game. Should we Dig up all the stupid shit you have said about NU players and coaches over the years. Should I go find the prescient posts with your evaluations of Mike Kafka as a QB? Heck, you are too busy posting stupid shit on game day threads to even watch a game with the attention that is required to really understand what is going on. You have no clue about McCall. McCall was part of a staff that helped NU post winning seasons repeatedly despite a roster that is half as talented as what is in place now. If TJ Green does not get hurt against Stanford, NU goes to a bowl game in 2019 and McCall would still be here winning ten games+ per year with an OL coach that actually has a clue what he is doing. That’s the reality of the situation whether you want to acknowledge it or not. Now in the end everything probably worked out as it should because Bajakian is terrific and McCall seemed to have worn out his welcome with the players but that has nothing to do with his capabilities as an OC. Now do me a favor and stop wasting my time with your nonsense. I am interested in talking NU football with like minded fans who actually have a clue about what they are talking about. That does not include you.

Isn't part of being an OC in college to be able to create an environment where top guys want to come to compete? While McCall did plenty of good things while he was here, his O became stale and predictable and top targets for WR, OL, QB, TE and RB decided Evanston was not the place to be. Maybe he had grown tired and that shut down his creativity but his offenses no longer had IT. While it wasn't all his fault, it was time to move on from him

 

[StreamCat]

Settle down, boys. If you keep this up, the free board may go the way of the rant board. 😀

 

[peatymeanis]

If McCall was a good OC, he’d be on a staff somewhere. Former NU players have been publicly denigrating him for years and years. None of us here know jack shit but I trust the former players and McCall’s D1 coaching peers.

 

[hdhntr1]

If McCall was a good OC, he’d be on a staff somewhere. Former NU players have been publicly denigrating him for years and years. None of us here know jack shit but I trust the former players and McCall’s D1 coaching peers.

At one point, I felt he was great as an OC and developer of QBs. We were concerned about losing him to bigger program or most likely to a HC gig. Then, for whatever reason, creativity went down and his O became somewhat stale. In addition, his recruiting was fairly weak (not as weak as Hank but definitely not a strength) 2In addition, 2020 was a very strange year so he was off. Teams might look at that combination and just have a hard time signing up for it

 

[peatymeanis]

At one point, I felt he was great as an OC and developer of QBs. We were concerned about losing him to bigger program or most likely to a HC gig. Then, for whatever reason, creativity went down and his O became somewhat stale. In addition, his recruiting was fairly weak (not as weak as Hank but definitely not a strength) 2In addition, 2019 was a very strange year so he was off. Teams might look at that combination and just have a hard time signing up for it

Schematically the only good year I felt McCall had was in Kafka's senior year. The Siemian/Colter experiment that had one good year I chalk up more to individual brilliance on the part of Venric/Colter/Siemian. None of the QBs under his tutelage ended up outperforming their initial expectations.

 

[corbi296]

If McCall was a good OC, he’d be on a staff somewhere. Former NU players have been publicly denigrating him for years and years. None of us here know jack shit but I trust the former players and McCall’s D1 coaching peers.

From what I hear McCall’s biggest problem seems to be his bedside manner. Doesn’t Really fit in with most of today’s athletes who seem unable to deal with tough love coaches. That has nothing to do with his abilities as a coordinator.

 

[NUCat320]

From what I hear McCall’s biggest problem seems to be his bedside manner. Doesn’t Really fit in with most of today’s athletes who seem unable to deal with tough live coaches. That has nothing to do with his abilities as a coordinator.

Of course it does. He’s not coaching robots or a video game.

 

[Titanium999]

Wrassler = savant

All day, every day! You don't have to be a star to be in my parade! Just execute football plays!

 

[peatymeanis]

From what I hear McCall’s biggest problem seems to be his bedside manner. Doesn’t Really fit in with most of today’s athletes who seem unable to deal with tough live coaches. That has nothing to do with his abilities as a coordinator.

Considering his job was to coach today's athletes and not just call plays on Madden, I'd say it matters a lot.

Separately, there's a lot of anecdotal evidence from opposing teams talking about how predictable NU's schemes were under McCall, and how consistently easy it was for defenses to get the jump on us at the snap. A lot of Hank's contemporaries were pretty effusive about his abilities. Do we recall any coach not named Fitz ever complimenting McCall's abilities?

 

[StreamCat]

A lot of Hank's contemporaries were pretty effusive about his abilities. Do we recall any coach not named Fitz ever complimenting McCall's abilities?

Huh?

 

[corbi296]

Considering his job was to coach today's athletes and not just call plays on Madden, I'd say it matters a lot.

Separately, there's a lot of anecdotal evidence from opposing teams talking about how predictable NU's schemes were under McCall, and how consistently easy it was for defenses to get the jump on us at the snap. A lot of Hank's contemporaries were pretty effusive about his abilities. Do we recall any coach not named Fitz ever complimenting McCall's abilities?

The won/loss record while he was at NU speaks for itself. He oversaw the offensive side of the ball during one of the more successful stretches of NU football up to that point and did so with a fraction of the talent NU has now and while he was handicapped the whole time by a sub par OL coached by someone who had no clue how to teach OL play. He did it each year by designing a complimentary offense that masked our weaknesses and maximized our strengths for that particular team. Along the way he developed more QBs that matriculated to the NFL than at any point in NU history. None of this will resonate with meathead fans but like I said, the record speaks for itself.

 

[mountaindrew]

The won/loss record while he was at NU speaks for itself. He oversaw the offensive side of the ball during one of the more successful stretches of NU football up to that point and did so with a fraction of the talent NU has now and while he was handicapped the whole time by a sub par OL coached by someone who had no clue how to teach OL play. He did it each year by designing a complimentary offense that masked our weaknesses and maximized our strengths for that particular team. Along the way he developed more QBs that matriculated to the NFL than at any point in NU history. None of this will resonate with meathead fans but like I said, the record speaks for itself.

Everybody else who's bashing Corbi and McCall might be right. Maybe his play calls were so predictable and easy to read by the opposing DCs. Maybe he had no clue in 2019. Maybe the former players who have bashed McCall had good reason. Maybe this, maybe that. And maybe Corbi's right that it was time for him to go, more due to his inability to relate to these oversensitive kids of today, than his lack of play calling skill.

I'm not sure, I'm like ECat - a football goofass. But Corbi is dead right about one thing: even with Clueless McCall, we won. And I'm not talking about the last decade with Hank, I'm talking about with The Great Greg Colby. From 2006 till Hank got here, it was not our defense carrying the weight.

It used to drive me freakin crazy - every recruiting class we got nothing but 2 star (sorry Glades) wide receivers with almost all MAC offers. Ross Lane, Rasheed Ward, Jeremy Ebert, Sid Stewart, Demetrius Fields .... when I looked at their offers, I thought "Sheesh! Seriously?" And of course most of those guys ended up excellent starters or All Big Ten.

And not just at WR. Just comparing talent by recruiting classes alone, we should have been like Indiana, Minny and Purdue. 4-7 or 5-6 year after year. But instead we were winning, and in my double goofass football opinon, besides Fitz it was because of McCall's ability to develop guys like Bacher, Kafka, Persa and Colter into super productive Big Ten QBs, and to make use of "average" receivers and make them highly productive. We all agree it sure wasn't because of our great OLs.

So maybe McCall eventually lost the recipe for the Secret Sauce. But I agree with Corbi. For quite a while, he was a pretty darned good OC.

 

[peatymeanis]

And I'm not talking about the last decade with Hank, I'm talking about with The Great Greg Colby. From 2006 till Hank got here, it was not our defense carrying the weight.

Uh, didn’t McCall and Hank come during the same season? It was Garrick McGee carrying those Colby defenses

 

[mountaindrew]

Uh, didn’t McCall and Hank come during the same season? It was Garrick McGee carrying those Colby defenses

I could be wrong here - I'm going totally by memory. Lou can set us straight... but as I recall, Mick McCall came in right after Mike Dunbar left... right after 2005? I don't recall McGee ever being OC, just QB coach.

Lou, what's the true scoop?

 

[peatymeanis]

I could be wrong here - I'm going totally by memory. Lou can set us straight... but as I recall, Mick McCall came in right after Mike Dunbar left... right after 2005? I don't recall McGee ever being OC, just QB coach.

Lou, what's the true scoop?

You can confirm for yourself on the NU athletics website. McCall and Hankwitz profiles are still up. They started within one day of each other in January 2008

 

[hdhntr1]

Schematically the only good year I felt McCall had was in Kafka's senior year. The Siemian/Colter experiment that had one good year I chalk up more to individual brilliance on the part of Venric/Colter/Siemian. None of the QBs under his tutelage ended up outperforming their initial expectations.

Schematically the only good year I felt McCall had was in Kafka's senior year. The Siemian/Colter experiment that had one good year I chalk up more to individual brilliance on the part of Venric/Colter/Siemian. None of the QBs under his tutelage ended up outperforming their initial expectations.

Sorry but that is nonsense. What he was aboe to do with a dual QB system was also pretty special. For a number of years, he was a very good OC. He had a number of QBs that did pretty well. But in the end, his system was getting stale and predictable. and coupled with his weakness in being able to bring in the next QB, it was time to move on

 

[hdhntr1]

From what I hear McCall’s biggest problem seems to be his bedside manner. Doesn’t Really fit in with most of today’s athletes who seem unable to deal with tough love coaches. That has nothing to do with his abilities as a coordinator.

No, but in the end, his O started to get stale and predictable and that does. Again, I thought he was quite good for an extended period of time but in the end his O sort of lost it. While it was time for him to go, he was solid for us for quite a while.

 

[FeralFelidae]

I could be wrong here - I'm going totally by memory. Lou can set us straight... but as I recall, Mick McCall came in right after Mike Dunbar left... right after 2005? I don't recall McGee ever being OC, just QB coach.

Lou, what's the true scoop?

McGee was definitely our OC before McCall.

 

[mountaindrew]

McGee was definitely our OC before McCall.

I stand corrected.

 

[peatymeanis]

I stand corrected.

Poor Garrick. Carries Colby’s porous defense and there are NU fans that credit that heroic work to Mick McCall!

 

[epicbret]

I smell what @Titanium999 is cooking

 

[CatManTrue]

I smell what @Titanium999 is cooking

Well he did predict our 13 seasons of defensive dominance under Hankwitz. So maybe wrassler is on to something…

 

[Titanium999]

Well he did predict our 13 seasons of defensive dominance under Hankwitz. So maybe wrassler is on to something…

I liked our chances alot more before Porter got hurt! Hope the two new guys can step up.

We don't need to be great at running back,but Jacob Schmidt talent won't cut it as Minnesota and Iowa look pretty salty.

I have no idea what are running backs can do. I know Hunter can be All Big Ten with a solid supporting cast.

I love Fitz and me thinks he will pull this together.

Ohio State doesn't have an amazing QB, so we got a shot if we winbour division.

For the Chicago Bears, I would make sure Justin Fields does not take one more stinking hit in the preseason as I think he needs to start!

 

[Katatonic]

The won/loss record while he was at NU speaks for itself. He oversaw the offensive side of the ball during one of the more successful stretches of NU football up to that point and did so with a fraction of the talent NU has now and while he was handicapped the whole time by a sub par OL coached by someone who had no clue how to teach OL play. He did it each year by designing a complimentary offense that masked our weaknesses and maximized our strengths for that particular team. Along the way he developed more QBs that matriculated to the NFL than at any point in NU history. None of this will resonate with meathead fans but like I said, the record speaks for itself.

We're you watching the same games that most of us were watching?

Don't want to go into all the things McC wasn't very good at, but here's one that really got me thinking that McC was a subpar OC.

Incredibly slow to change/adapt the game plan or personnel, which end up costing the Cats more than a few games.

For example, a rudimentary scouting report would have shown that Army's weakness on D was their secondary.

So what does McC decide to do?

He goes with a run heavy game plan; a good part of that coming from the QB position.

Despite the disparity in talent, the Army D was prepared for that.

Was calling for a switch-up after the 1st Q, but slow McC didn't make the change until the 4th Q and by then, it was too little, too late.

Saw something similar with the M00N game against UM.

For 3 Qs, we saw Siemian get pummeled by UM's pass rush (McC's "solution" to that was to make Trevor drop back further, but that made zero difference).

For pretty much the entire game, was calling McC to move the pocket, but hen he didn't do so, figured it was bc Trevor was still suffering from his lower leg injury.

But then, once again, on the 4th Q, we saw McC finally make the move and we end up seeing TS lead the Cats to 2 90+ yr scoring drives (Fitz also shoulders some of the blame by not changing his mind and kicking the PAT to go into OT).

Then there's his continued stubbornness to hand the ball off to the (deep) tailback on short yardage situations despite well knowing that the O-line was unable to sustain any kind of push.

After yelling for the QB sneak for half a season, McC finally resorts to using it, with pretty good results (much better than in handing the ball off).

But McC, again, was too slow in adapting, and went to the well one too many times.

In Siemian's SR year, in a shortage situation, the PU D had stacked up the interior.

Upon seeing that, was hoping that McC would change the call, but no, despite what the PU D was showing, went ahead with the QB sneak and we all knew what happened next.

With Trevor out, that pretty much ended any chance of beating the Pumpkin
heads and going to a bowl that season.

As for developing QBs, funny how Kafka and Persa would credit someone else and not McC.

Persa carried McC with his magicianship; it certainly wasn't bc of McC's scheme.

Trevir also did that during his last season, even tho McC held back Siemian from being the best QB he could be for the team.

 

[Katatonic]

Not only that, McC's read and react system was overly complicated and made it tough for a young QB (or receivers) to come in and contribute immediately.

That's why there was the over-reliance on a young QB to use his legs, until he gained more experience in the system as a passer.

 

[peatymeanis]

The won/loss record while he was at NU speaks for itself.

The offensive stats while he was at NU speak even louder

 

[Katatonic]

^ That W/L record that corbi speaks of largely had to do with Hank being the DC...

 

[EvanstonCat]

We're you watching the same games that most of us were watching?

Don't want to go into all the things McC wasn't very good at, but here's one that really got me thinking that McC was a subpar OC.

Incredibly slow to change/adapt the game plan or personnel, which end up costing the Cats more than a few games.

For example, a rudimentary scouting report would have shown that Army's weakness on D was their secondary.

So what does McC decide to do?

He goes with a run heavy game plan; a good part of that coming from the QB position.

Despite the disparity in talent, the Army D was prepared for that.

Was calling for a switch-up after the 1st Q, but slow McC didn't make the change until the 4th Q and by then, it was too little, too late.

Saw something similar with the M00N game against UM.

For 3 Qs, we saw Siemian get pummeled by UM's pass rush (McC's "solution" to that was to make Trevor drop back further, but that made zero difference).

For pretty much the entire game, was calling McC to move the pocket, but hen he didn't do so, figured it was bc Trevor was still suffering from his lower leg injury.

But then, once again, on the 4th Q, we saw McC finally make the move and we end up seeing TS lead the Cats to 2 90+ yr scoring drives (Fitz also shoulders some of the blame by not changing his mind and kicking the PAT to go into OT).

Then there's his continued stubbornness to hand the ball off to the (deep) tailback on short yardage situations despite well knowing that the O-line was unable to sustain any kind of push.

After yelling for the QB sneak for half a season, McC finally resorts to using it, with pretty good results (much better than in handing the ball off).

But McC, again, was too slow in adapting, and went to the well one too many times.

In Siemian's SR year, in a shortage situation, the PU D had stacked up the interior.

Upon seeing that, was hoping that McC would change the call, but no, despite what the PU D was showing, went ahead with the QB sneak and we all knew what happened next.

With Trevor out, that pretty much ended any chance of beating the Pumpkin
heads and going to a bowl that season.

As for developing QBs, funny how Kafka and Persa would credit someone else and not McC.

Persa carried McC with his magicianship; it certainly wasn't bc of McC's scheme.

Trevir also did that during his last season, even tho McC held back Siemian from being the best QB he could be for the team.

I think the Army game was a complete indictment of his lack of acumen as a coordinator. You decide you're going to run the ball on a team that practices against the run every fricking day and whose secondary is one of the worst in the nation. I mean what a dumbass.

Of course, we put Siemian in towards the end and he finally gets something going, but too little, too late. Had we played him the whole game, we would have killed them.

And of course putting in a natural WR to run our offense and leaving an NFL QB on the bench is just idiotic. Reduced our capability at two positions and our overall offensive firepower. Dude was here over a decade and never had a top notch offense in all his time here, and sever in the bottom quartile, and of course that last one was literally one of the worst offenses in all of CFB and some people think he's a great OC. What a joke.