That is based on his resume and what he's showed during the 2008-2012 season. McCall has shown that he knows what he's doing and didn't magically forget. If I were Fitz, I would stress to the offense that they need to choose an identity, recruit and develop that identity, and stress that identity in the game. Are we going to be a RB oriented team? Do we want speed backs or power backs? What type of QB do we want? How do we develop the rest of the team around that.
Ok, so I would keep McCall based on his resume... but this season does have some huge issues. There are two positional groups that I don't think the current coach has ever had a successful group at Northwestern in his position group. That's the Oline and WRs. The 2012 Colter Mark offense made a lot of groups look better than they were. We rode that to 10 wins and were close to another 3. The oline could suddenly run block. The WRs were suddenly all talented but not getting opportunities. The thing that surprises me most about this is Oline and WR are the positional groups I was most happy with recruiting/transfers in based on my completely uneducated opinion of watching highlight tapes. Watching these groups on the field, it's shocking to me how they just don't get any better.
I'm not going to say Cushing and Springer better be fired... but I will say that I'd hate to see McCall go because I don't think he's the problem.
Second thing we have to take a look at is the strength and conditioning. There are 2 huge issues the team has had for 2 years. 1 we're weak in the trenches and 2 we're injured constantly. Why? Is it a matter of what we're doing in the weight room? Are we working the guys too much and that's causing injuries? Are we not working the guys enough so that when they're on the field they don't have the strength to not get injured? Are we ignoring some important factor like flexibility? Hooten was promoted in July of 2011. 2011 I don't remember injuries being a problem except for Persa. 2012 we were abnormal healthy, but a lot of lineman were having offseason surgery. 2013 and 2014, we're abnormally unhealthy. Can over-training/under-training/lack of emphasis on certain areas show up 3-4 years down the road because the older guys in 2011 and 2012 had a different foundation?
I'm definitely not calling for Hooten to get fired, but I would think that Fitz and co need to take a look at why lots of guys are getting injured.
Ok, so I would keep McCall based on his resume... but this season does have some huge issues. There are two positional groups that I don't think the current coach has ever had a successful group at Northwestern in his position group. That's the Oline and WRs. The 2012 Colter Mark offense made a lot of groups look better than they were. We rode that to 10 wins and were close to another 3. The oline could suddenly run block. The WRs were suddenly all talented but not getting opportunities. The thing that surprises me most about this is Oline and WR are the positional groups I was most happy with recruiting/transfers in based on my completely uneducated opinion of watching highlight tapes. Watching these groups on the field, it's shocking to me how they just don't get any better.
I'm not going to say Cushing and Springer better be fired... but I will say that I'd hate to see McCall go because I don't think he's the problem.
Second thing we have to take a look at is the strength and conditioning. There are 2 huge issues the team has had for 2 years. 1 we're weak in the trenches and 2 we're injured constantly. Why? Is it a matter of what we're doing in the weight room? Are we working the guys too much and that's causing injuries? Are we not working the guys enough so that when they're on the field they don't have the strength to not get injured? Are we ignoring some important factor like flexibility? Hooten was promoted in July of 2011. 2011 I don't remember injuries being a problem except for Persa. 2012 we were abnormal healthy, but a lot of lineman were having offseason surgery. 2013 and 2014, we're abnormally unhealthy. Can over-training/under-training/lack of emphasis on certain areas show up 3-4 years down the road because the older guys in 2011 and 2012 had a different foundation?
I'm definitely not calling for Hooten to get fired, but I would think that Fitz and co need to take a look at why lots of guys are getting injured.
