Tired of the McCall Criticism--and so is Fitz

[HappyNUyear]

I've gone back as far as 2006 for Offensive Stats via ESPN & NCAA websites. I used the ESPN Stats as reference via their Year-by-Year Stat Information.

There have been two OC's under Fitz, McGee (2006-2007) and McCall (2008-Current) for sake of argument.

2006 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McGee)
Passing Offense #98
Rushing Offense #58
Receiving Offense #96
Total Offense #95

2007 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McGee)
Passing Offense #20
Rushing Offense #96
Receiving Offense #18
Total Offense #48

2008 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #53
Rushing Offense #60
Receiving Offense #53
Total Offense #55

2009 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #12
Rushing Offense #89
Receiving Offense #12
Total Offense #34

2010 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #45
Rushing Offense #53
Receiving Offense #45
Total Offense #44

2011 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #38
Rushing Offense #44
Receiving Offense #38
Total Offense #34

2012 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #107
Rushing Offense #17
Receiving Offense #107
Total Offense #60

2013 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #81
Rushing Offense #70
Receiving Offense #81
Total Offense #82

2014 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #88
Rushing Offense #105
Receiving Offense #88
Total Offense #111

2015 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #120
Rushing Offense #43
Receiving Offense #120
Total Offense #108


NU's Total Offense might be ranked 108th, but they're certainly not ranked last, such as these teams listed below;

109 Florida Intl
110 Hawaii
111 UTEP
112 Army
113 Miami (OH)
114 Charlotte
115 Louisiana Monroe
116 Oregon State
117 Connecticut
118 Wake Forest
119 Kansas
120 Vanderbilt
121 North Texas
122 Syracuse
123 Tulane
124 Fresno State
125 Missouri
126 Boston College
127 Kent State
128 UCF

Is NU getting away from the Spread Offense and attempting to go to a Traditional Offense? Maybe? Maybe not? 1995 changed everything for all fans who were use to the losing. When a team starts to win, nobody likes to go back to the old ways.

Anyway, it was an unexpected good season going 10-3.

 

[Gladeskat]

Great, so we are the tallest amongst a few midgets

What? Do you want to be the smallest midget?

 

[EvanstonCat]

I've gone back as far as 2006 for Offensive Stats via ESPN & NCAA websites. I used the ESPN Stats as reference via their Year-by-Year Stat Information.

There have been two OC's under Fitz, McGee (2006-2007) and McCall (2008-Current) for sake of argument.

2006 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McGee)
Passing Offense #98
Rushing Offense #58
Receiving Offense #96
Total Offense #95

2007 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McGee)
Passing Offense #20
Rushing Offense #96
Receiving Offense #18
Total Offense #48

2008 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #53
Rushing Offense #60
Receiving Offense #53
Total Offense #55

2009 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #12
Rushing Offense #89
Receiving Offense #12
Total Offense #34

2010 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #45
Rushing Offense #53
Receiving Offense #45
Total Offense #44

2011 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #38
Rushing Offense #44
Receiving Offense #38
Total Offense #34

2012 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #107
Rushing Offense #17
Receiving Offense #107
Total Offense #60

2013 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #81
Rushing Offense #70
Receiving Offense #81
Total Offense #82

2014 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #88
Rushing Offense #105
Receiving Offense #88
Total Offense #111

2015 OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: (McCall)
Passing Offense #120
Rushing Offense #43
Receiving Offense #120
Total Offense #108


NU's Total Offense might be ranked 108th, but they're certainly not ranked last, such as these teams listed below;


109 Florida Intl
110 Hawaii
111 UTEP
112 Army
113 Miami (OH)
114 Charlotte
115 Louisiana Monroe
116 Oregon State
117 Connecticut
118 Wake Forest
119 Kansas
120 Vanderbilt
121 North Texas
122 Syracuse
123 Tulane
124 Fresno State
125 Missouri
126 Boston College
127 Kent State
128 UCF

Is NU getting away from the Spread Offense and attempting to go to a Traditional Offense? Maybe? Maybe not? 1995 changed everything for all fans who were use to the losing. When a team starts to win, nobody likes to go back to the old ways.

Anyway, it was an unexpected good season going 10-3.

So, we were the tallest midget. Is that something to be proud of?

BTW, someone remind me when we lost Johns and Springer came aboard.

 

[HappyNUyear]

So, we were the tallest midget. Is that something to be proud of?

BTW, someone remind me when we lost Johns and Springer came aboard.

I'm certainly not happy with the offensive production over the last few years. NU is trending downward. It would be great if NU could have a defense and offense that are good at the same time.

 

[HappyNUyear]

So, we were the tallest midget. Is that something to be proud of?

BTW, someone remind me when we lost Johns and Springer came aboard.

Losing Johns was bad, I'd love to have Johns and Wilson back. I doubt that will happen.

 

[NJCat83588]

BTW, someone remind me when we lost Johns and Springer came aboard.

January, 2011. Springer was announced 1/31/11.

 

[hdhntr1]

As Turk noted, over the past 24 months, our offense is dead last, #122 in total offense over the past two years. Over that span, McCall had an NFL QB. If our offense could move the ball and function just modestly then I could understand, but we are on embarrassing mode and are the worst. It's not going to get any better next year if we don't do anything.

Quit the NFL QB crap. TS was injured all last year so he was a shadow of what he would have been if healthy. He was healthy for all of a game and a half and performed pretty well but then went down. So when he had the QB healthy he did well but when not so healthy had problems? Big surprise. And Oliver never showed he was good enough to really move the O.

I am not saying McCall is above reproach, just don't say it was because he had an NFL QB.

 

[hdhntr1]

The NFL QB was hobbled, played behind an awful pass pro OL, and had a quick receiver who dropped balls (T. Jones) and a big receiver with decent hands who had no speed (Prater). We had another guy with good size and some speed (Cam Dickerson), but he also dropped balls. We had nothing else at receiver last year.

This year, it might have been even worse. Our best receiver was probably the walk on, Carr. Christian Jones just didn't have it anymore. Struggled to get open, struggled to hold on to the ball.

It is hard to judge McCall when the OL and Receivers were so poor. To the extent he was responsible for those failings, he should be held to the fire but it those are truly beyond his area, it is very hard to judge him.

 

[hdhntr1]

McCall has more talent on this offense than any other OC has ever had. Period. Michael, nobody is talking about a dynamic offense or even a hint of a dynamic offense, we are talking about the worst offense, statistically in college football over a 2 year span. People bring up the zone option with Colter in 2012 as a basis for a McCall argument. But people should realize that that offense was the 60th ranked offense in college football, as our defense was ranked higher that year as well. At any rate, the evidence is clear, but Fitz will not fire this guy. Instead Fitz will imput community credit to McCall and the offense in regards to the 10 wins. Absurd but clearly Northwestern.

What talent is that? The OL is below average and the receivers are the worst. When he had average talent on the OL and other areas, he did well enough. Yes we have a good RB but good Os are based on balance and we have none. Just saying make sure you are looking at the right problem

 

[hdhntr1]

THe

I wish our offensive coaches had the coaching chops of the guys at Baylor.

They were missing almost all of their starters, switched their offense up significantly, and set records doing it.

I fear our crew would have just gotten killed.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...ussell-athletic-bowl-1230-20151229-story.html

They are in Texas. A hotbed of talent and even they get a lot of guys to fall into their lap that want to stay in TX.. IL is extremely weak and there is a lot of competition. Should we do better at getting talent into the position? Absolutely.

 

[hdhntr1]

All those receivers you named were low rated recruits who came to NU and sat for a couple of years before they were productive. They didn't come here and set the world on fire right away. You could add many more names to the list like Patrick, Herbert, Philmore, Sid Stewart, Rasheed Ward, Zeke M. etc.. The list of lowly rated WRs who were taught to become productive WRs under the previous position coach is endless. Someone taught them how to become productive Big Ten WRs. The one constant with all those players is they had a different position coach that the one we have there now. The other observation I'll make is that some of the WRs that overlapped the previous WR coach and the current one actually regressed during the tail end of their careers. Tony Jones, Rashad Lawrence, Cameron DIckerson, Christian Jones. Don't tell me it's about talent. It is not. It is about coaching and player development. Maybe the previous coach was exceptional but it's clear to me that the current coach is sub par at developing WRs.

Can't say it is not about talent. That obviously has something to do with it. But you are right in that I have seen nothing positive in the position since our present WR coach got here. I do put a lot of blame on him. We always had trouble getting a lot of talent here but we always had serviceable WRs. Now that is a rung way to high.

 

[hdhntr1]

Corbi right on and what about Ross Lane? How about Musso? We should see if we could get one of those guys or Ebert or Zeke to coach the receivers. All of those guys knew how to get open and all but Ebert were not fleet of foot!
Yesterday's argument is fundamentally flawed and senseless, McCall needs to go, end of discussion!!!

That is not necessarily saying McCall has to go but it does indicate that Springer should be keeping his resume up to date. McCall has had past success. I do not know of any success that Springer has had.

 

[Captain Insano]

That sucks to know. Because it was really hard for me.

No it wasn't. Old people just have a tendency to exaggerate how tough they had it "back in the day".... Walking 12 miles uphill, both ways, to school every day and eating shoe leather for dinner.

You were probably out 5 nights a week instead of the 7 you wanted to be, couldn't skip class as often as you'd have liked, had to do your homework on time, weren't getting as much as you'd have liked from the ladies, and had to drink Busch Light instead of Amstel...

Decades later, that's an impossible life and NU was a total bitch of a school.

Boo-hoo...

 

[GlideCat]

No it wasn't. Old people just have a tendency to exaggerate how tough they had it "back in the day".... Walking 12 miles uphill, both ways, to school every day and eating shoe leather for dinner.

You were probably out 5 nights a week instead of the 7 you wanted to be, couldn't skip class as often as you'd have liked, had to do your homework on time and weren't getting as much as you'd have liked from the ladies.

Decades later, that's an impossible life and NU was a total bitch of a school.

Boo-hoo...

No. I am just not real bright. I considered myself proof that NU had a quota for different geographical regions and assumed that Alabama was one short my year of real students.

In terms of how much I was distracted by female companionship, if you saw my picture (and you can guess at my personality from my posts) you know that was not an issue. I am a total geek.

 

[hdhntr1]

Are we sure Turk said this? Does he actually know that two years is 24 months?

How you been?

 

[Captain Insano]

I like you. You're humble. Unlike Glades.

 

[Captain Insano]

That is not necessarily saying McCall has to go but it does indicate that Springer should be keeping his resume up to date. McCall has had past success. I do not know of any success that Springer has had.

Why would he need a resume. It's about who you know...

 

[hdhntr1]

I totally disagree. That team won a B1G. Had Wheeler not tragically died, I think we would have won another one. The talent on that team was impressive. We had a Heisman finalist at RB who went over 2000 yards. The offense was super prolific. Multiple All-conference linemen. WR's that could separate and catch. 3 LB's were on the draft board (until Silva got injured). DL's were drafted. We were done in by the Colby Swiss.

I'm not against the shotgun offer approach (and have actually suggested it) - given that it seems to deliver better results, at least for Stanford.

Again, that was the weakest BIG championship in I don't know how long. This years performance was at least an equal to that ans wasn't even good enough for the division.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

Because it's based on historical evidence for the profile of strident who can succeed at NU. The Admissions Office's job is (in part) to ensure that those students admitted to NU can do the work and graduate. A kid at the NCAA minimums (which are really laughably low) is most likely not prepared for an NU curriculum.

Yes, I know all of this. But, if NU wants to play that game, it ought to make the football players pass through regular admissions. Oh, wait! We can't do that because we wouldn't have enough players to field a team with any expectation of winning a game.

My point is that we are already rigging the system to allow athletes into NU. At the same time, we are rigging the teams against success by handicapping them.

You say that minimum qualifiers would not cut it at NU. That may be true, but no one says that Fitzgerald and his staff must recruit minimum qualifiers. I'm merely proposing that we eliminate this NU-created artificial bar because it is not competitive in the conference or among our FBS peers. If Fitzgerald recruits poor students and our GSR suffers, then he has to be held accountable. If he recruits only great students and poor football players, he's already held accountable for that.

Based on my personal experiences, I do believe that some minimum qualifiers could graduate from NU within 6 years, which is the time period used in the GSR measurement.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

It is hard to judge McCall when the OL and Receivers were so poor. To the extent he was responsible for those failings, he should be held to the fire but it those are truly beyond his area, it is very hard to judge him.

Yes, exactly.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

Can't say it is not about talent. That obviously has something to do with it. But you are right in that I have seen nothing positive in the position since our present WR coach got here. I do put a lot of blame on him. We always had trouble getting a lot of talent here but we always had serviceable WRs. Now that is a rung way to high.

I'm on the fence about corbi's remarks. I feel that Springer has the least talented position group. On the other hand, the lack of talent means that he has had the opportunity to coach up lesser talent and that hasn't happened.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Yes, I know all of this. But, if NU wants to play that game, it ought to make the football players pass through regular admissions. Oh, wait! We can't do that because we wouldn't have enough players to field a team with any expectation of winning a game.

My point is that we are already rigging the system to allow athletes into NU. At the same time, we are rigging the teams against success by handicapping them.

You say that minimum qualifiers would not cut it at NU. That may be true, but no one says that Fitzgerald and his staff must recruit minimum qualifiers. I'm merely proposing that we eliminate this NU-created artificial bar because it is not competitive in the conference or among our FBS peers. If Fitzgerald recruits poor students and our GSR suffers, then he has to be held accountable. If he recruits only great students and poor football players, he's already held accountable for that.

Based on my personal experiences, I do believe that some minimum qualifiers could graduate from NU within 6 years, which is the time period used in the GSR measurement.

NU expects its athletes to graduate in four years.

 

[Captain Insano]

Man, I would love to get a job with any of you WEAK STICKS!

I'd never be at risk of losing my job no matter how badly I screw the pooch.

We scored 262 points this year. 20 PPG. However, the defense and special teams had 5 TDs. Take those away and it's 227. 17.5 PPG.

That is HALF what we used to do. Half. Try this: cut your productivity in half and see how long you last at your job. If you own your own company, see how long you continue to own your own company...my hunch is that the bank will before too long...

 

[YesterdaysCat]

NU expects its athletes to graduate in four years.

I don't know how realistic it is without a union (smiles). With summer session every year, it's still probably possible. It's a tough climb, but I believe every student is different. I also don't believe that our team would lean heavily toward minimum qualifiers.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

Man, I would love to get a job with any of you WEAK STICKS!

I'd never be at risk of losing my job no matter how badly I screw the pooch.

We scored 262 points this year. 20 PPG. However, the defense and special teams had 5 TDs. Take those away and it's 227. 17.5 PPG.

That is HALF what we used to do. Half. Try this: cut your productivity in half and see how long you last at your job. If you own your own company, see how long you continue to own your own company...my hunch is that the bank will before too long...

I don't think that anybody here is pleased with the offense. It's a question of blame and whether or not it's recruiting or coaching or both and how you make that determination.

 

[EvanstonCat]

I don't think that anybody here is pleased with the offense. It's a question of blame and whether or not it's recruiting or coaching or both and how you make that determination.

Recruiting is part of the job. Whatever it is, it was a big fat F. Accountability for results. This is not a one year issue, it's a deep and steady regression. Bring back Johns!

 

[NURoseBowl]

I like you. You're humble. Unlike Glades.

Let's be clear here, Cap'n. Glades has nothing to be humble about. He is, for all intents and purposes, FootballPhil in the flesh.

 

[corbi296]

It's clear that we just don't have the horses to operate the offense properly. The receivers can't get separation because the opposition plays them tight on the line of scrimmage. Opponents aren't respecting our receivers' 'ability' on go routes because our receivers don't have that ability. Why play quarters and off our receivers when we can't go deep? If we do take shots down the field, the receivers can't catch the ball when it's thrown well, which isn't often, either. Our opponents play tight on our receivers and live with it because there's only a slim chance that we'll be completing passes down the field.

A lack of receiving talent means that we have no short passing game and a nonexistent deep passing game.

As for the zone read and option looks so successful with Colter and Mark, Thorson is fast but he doesn't have the wiggle of Ohio State's Barrett or our former QB, Kain Colter. Thorson has straight line speed and does not have the ball skills that Tennessee's Dobbs has. Thorson has fooled no one with ball fakes.

Thorson is especially adept at scrambling when passing plays break down, but you can't build an offense out of broken plays. (Sometimes it feels like entire drives are predicated on that, though.)

We have developed a nice running game, but it's entirely contingent on winning the line of scrimmage because Long and Jackson are not speed guys. They have good vision, strength, and durability, and they don't turn over the ball. When you win the LOS, these guys are brilliant. With our thin offensive line (thin due to mediocre recruiting and injuries), it's difficult to sustain dominance of the LOS with no passing game and no deception with the option game.

That's why we're one dimensional and I don't quite see how it's McCall's fault. I am laying the blame at the feet of our coaching staff's recruiting strategy. It's been well documented that we have prioritized defense, specifically the defensive backfield (e.g., putting "athletes" like Henry and Igwebuike at safety). We have targeted receiving recruits like Grant Perry and Jehu Chesson, but we don't have anything to sell but playing time. We don't have a downfield passing game, and now we don't have a short passing game. Why would a top receiving prospect come here?

Our coordinator must be beyond frustrated at the talent that he has and the lack of development from the receivers coach. Of course the receivers coach will say the same thing: I don't have the players.

Based on McCall's past success, I feel confident that he hasn't forgotten how to coach. He just isn't going to take risks that are so low percentage that it would put our defense in a much worse situation than a three and out. I hate the three-and-out drive, but it's better than repeated turnovers. I can't imagine how ugly practice is for McCall. He must be depressed.

My question to McCall haters is this: what should we be doing instead? Throw the ball down field? Our receivers can't get separation and can't catch. Run the zone read? Thorson has not been able to sell the fake. More play action? Our receivers still need to get open and our QB still has to execute a good throw. We have not done that well. We have done nothing well and it really is on the players but at the macro level it's on the recruiting.

I agree 100%. I am still convinced McCall is not the problem. McCall has no control over his assistant's and he is handcuffed by two assistants that I don't believe are Division 1 caliber coaches let alone Big Ten caliber coaches.

 

[Sheffielder]

I agree 100%. I am still convinced McCall is not the problem. McCall has no control over his assistant's and he is handcuffed by two assistants that I don't believe are Division 1 caliber coaches let alone Big Ten caliber coaches.

Springer is a McCall guy.

Cushing is a Fitz guy.

As I stated elsewhere...plenty of blame to go around (but spread it around enough and suddenly it's no one's fault...funny how that works)

 

[corbi296]

Why is Springer a McCall guy? Because he coached with him for a few seasons at Bowling Green? It's clear that Fitz hires his coaches and it's clear he is the one who can fire them. Soringer and Cushing still being here is 100% on Fitz.

 

[Sheffielder]

Why is Springer a McCall guy? Because he coached with him for a few seasons at Bowling Green? It's clear that Fitz hires his coaches and it's clear he is the one who can fire them. Soringer and Cushing still being here is 100% on Fitz.

Let's first agree that we have no idea what the dynamics are between these guys behind closed doors. You're right - for all we know McCall has been calling for Springer's ouster for years and Fitz has vetoed. We'll never know.

To my point, I do feel pretty confident that if McCall didn't vouch for Spring in 2011, he wouldn't be working in Evanston today.

To your point, the buck stops with Fitz.

 

[PURPLE Book Cat]

Losing Johns was bad, I'd love to have Johns and Wilson back. I doubt that will happen.

Johns was a huge loss. No coincidence that the offense went downhill after that.

 

[Katatonic]

Quit the NFL QB crap. TS was injured all last year so he was a shadow of what he would have been if healthy. He was healthy for all of a game and a half and performed pretty well but then went down. So when he had the QB healthy he did well but when not so healthy had problems? Big surprise. And Oliver never showed he was good enough to really move the O.

I am not saying McCall is above reproach, just don't say it was because he had an NFL QB.

Uhm, Siemian was healthy for the Cal and NIU games and apparently was healthy enough to use his legs prior to the 4th Q of the Michigan game (which is apparently, when McC woke up and realized that he had a QB who can use his legs to set up the pass and finally started to move the pocket).

If McC had let Siemian use his legs against Cal and NIU, that would have put more pressure in their defenses.

But regardless, there were those who (inexplicably) placed the blame on those losses on Siemain (as well as the Michigan loss).

Notwithstanding things like this...

https://media.giphy.com/media/aRaKFyUa72Mxy/giphy.gif

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Uhm, Siemian was healthy for the Cal and NIU games and apparently was healthy enough to use his legs prior to the 4th Q of the Michigan game.

And he was consistently on target, only for the WRs to drop the ball.

 

[Katatonic]

Yep, click that link I just added.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

I agree 100%. I am still convinced McCall is not the problem. McCall has no control over his assistant's and he is handcuffed by two assistants that I don't believe are Division 1 caliber coaches let alone Big Ten caliber coaches.

Whoa, time machine, man.

I think McCall handcuffs himself, though, too. It's part of his deal and all that, but it's not like he's out there recruiting like a madman.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

Johns was a huge loss. No coincidence that the offense went downhill after that.

Hmm, well, some players were not Johns fans. And maybe it would have been great to keep him from going to IU, except that Johns was allegedly not following procedure and was gone no matter what, for failing to cross his t's or whatever.

What if the big loss was Ingalls? You know, he was OL coach when we produced good linemen and he was also "running game coordinator," just as Johns was "passing game coordinator" or whatever.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

Why is Springer a McCall guy? Because he coached with him for a few seasons at Bowling Green? It's clear that Fitz hires his coaches and it's clear he is the one who can fire them. Soringer and Cushing still being here is 100% on Fitz.

Fitz really bought into Randy Walker's "we're a family" coaching staff thing. I don't know if there were tears when Greg Colby was not retained, but we all know that Coach Walker would not have let go of Colby, unless Colby would have run afoul of NU policy like supposedly one or two of Walk's people did and they left.

In any case, Pat loves his guys and he touts having the longest-tenured staff as part of the "Wildcat family."

 

[honestrules]

Fitz really bought into Randy Walker's "we're a family" coaching staff thing. I don't know if there were tears when Greg Colby was not retained, but we all know that Coach Walker would not have let go of Colby, unless Colby would have run afoul of NU policy like supposedly one or two of Walk's people did and they left.

In any case, Pat loves his guys and he touts having the longest-tenured staff as part of the "Wildcat family."

So might be time to start a new family.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Hmm, well, some players were not Johns fans. And maybe it would have been great to keep him from going to IU, except that Johns was allegedly not following procedure and was gone no matter what, for failing to cross his t's or whatever.

What if the big loss was Ingalls? You know, he was OL coach when we produced good linemen and he was also "running game coordinator," just as Johns was "passing game coordinator" or whatever.

Who gives an F that they weren't Johns fans? Johns leaves and those same WR's look like crap. Meanwhile, IU is breaking offensive records... Well, I guess we are breaking records too, in futility, and being offensive at the same time.