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Shurmur taking over play calling

I imagine we’ll see more running the ball now, too bad McCaskill is out. Was really looking forward to him putting up Tecmo Bowl numbers.
 
When we signed A.J. Hill, that should have been the end of coach Lewis. Hill is a pro style QB like Shedeur

O'Neil is a perfect fit for the offense Coach Lew is playing.

This is what I thought. Looking at his stats, Hill is a pure pocket passer. His rushing stats:

Screenshot 2023-11-03 at 11.34.59 AM.png

I have always thought that if you are recruiting elite talent, then pro-style is the way to go. "Gimmick" offenses are intended to narrow the talent gap.
 
I also believe that Coach Prime was being given 2 pieces of feedback in regard to the Lewis offense which soured him (and these are criticisms I agree with):

1. You will never have a dominant defense if you're running that style of offense.

2. The top teams with their talent and scouting/ preparation / coaching resources will be able to adjust to this scheme and hold it down, especially with time to prepare.

So the conclusion is that the system will get you some upsets you may not otherwise get, but puts a success cap on the program similar to what we've seen with Lincoln Riley programs and how NFL teams caught up quickly to what Kliff Kingsbury was running.
 
I’m thinking this might go all the way back to the CSU game. Then was really glaring against Oregon. The 2H of USC may have eased the watch, but since then, the offense has been handled by opposing defenses.

I have no doubt that it boils down to bad system/scheme for the type of players on the team. Seeing the OL ole on just about every play against UCLA means that opponents DC’s know what to do. The Oline that was already thought to be the weak link on this team, was made completely ineffective once (what was probably the best they’ve gone up against) the DL lined up and/or went to completely differently spots to penetrate.

I wouldn’t be surprised if 2 went rogue at some points in the games since CSU. I do think the ineffectiveness and stall outs at UCLA may have been the straw that broke camel’s back…maybe even 2H against Stanford, and Prime gave Lewis and the collective of offensive coaches the bye to get things on the right path?

Not hot on Schurmer, but it seems that the Broncos have been on snooze since Peyton called it a day…even then, it was that 2015 D that won the SB.

It stinks now that McCaskill is redshirting. Maybe that is related to all of this?

Unfortunately for Lewis and BoB, the days of being part of this rebuild are winding down probably.
 
I also believe that Coach Prime was being given 2 pieces of feedback in regard to the Lewis offense which soured him (and these are criticisms I agree with):

1. You will never have a dominant defense if you're running that style of offense.

2. The top teams with their talent and scouting/ preparation / coaching resources will be able to adjust to this scheme and hold it down, especially with time to prepare.

So the conclusion is that the system will get you some upsets you may not otherwise get, but puts a success cap on the program similar to what we've seen with Lincoln Riley programs and how NFL teams caught up quickly to what Kliff Kingsbury was running.
"Hold it down" yet the team is scoring more than 30 pts per game. I mean if the offense was scoring 16 ppg or even low 20's, make a move. But when your offense is scoring well over 30 a game, changing the OC is a risk. Changing to Shurmur is a death penalty.

Is the offense the problem or is the OL coach and OL the problem?
 
"Hold it down" yet the team is scoring more than 30 pts per game. I mean if the offense was scoring 16 ppg or even low 20's, make a move. But when your offense is scoring well over 30 a game, changing the OC is a risk. Changing to Shurmur is a death penalty.
There's a chance that it's more a matter of wanting Shurmur to take over the OL but him accepting a college position coach job is too far beneath him for him to take it without being given any control.
 
Really want to come back to this. Thanks for nothing, UK. Could have shared some major scoop
I don't want to violate the trust of the players that I know. I appreciate that they sometimes tell me things. It doesn't fundamentally change anybody's life if they find out Friday instead of Monday. Also, I PM'ed everybody but you.
 
There's a chance that it's more a matter of wanting Shurmur to take over the OL but him accepting a college position coach job is too far beneath him for him to take it without being given any control.
That makes sense. Although such a move could mean some recruits bolt with the departure of Lewis, I think having Lewis as OC was seen positively by recruits. Not up in arms, but after having such poor results on offense for so long and seeing what scoring actually looks like, I would prefer to see BOB replaced. Give Shurmur a Co-OC title and have him run the lineman as well, that should suffice his ego. But, it's done, let's roll the dice and see what we have tomorrow
 
I'm not a big Shurmur fan but this is a positive step. He isn't dynamic, he isn't cutting edge. What he is though is a guy who knows football and has seen a lot of struggling teams.

He also isn't a permanent fix because unless something dynamic happens (and face it, Shurmur and dynamic have never been associated) he either wants to get back into the NFL or maybe be a head coach at the college level. This job was and will be a transition job for him.

He does have a knowledge of working with overmatched offensive lines and other talent deficiencies.

He also has the experience and credibility to work with Prime on a different level that a guy like Lewis which may be a real positive. He can tell him that at times they need to go to two tights or to stick more with quick slants instead of trying to go 4 wides and throw 30 yards downfield.
 
I'm not a big Shurmur fan... He isn't dynamic, he isn't cutting edge. What he is though is a guy who knows football and has seen a lot of struggling teams.
Yes! Teams he has led have all struggled. So he does have experience in chaos and failure, usually right before being fired for lack of results.
 
I'm not sure how I feel about this. Time will tell and if it ends up the offensive line really is the issue this could be a bad move. It could also be a good move. Rolling the dice on this one.

It does seems as though Lewis is not able to adjust his scheme to the strength of the team when needed though.
 
"Hold it down" yet the team is scoring more than 30 pts per game. I mean if the offense was scoring 16 ppg or even low 20's, make a move. But when your offense is scoring well over 30 a game, changing the OC is a risk. Changing to Shurmur is a death penalty.

Is the offense the problem or is the OL coach and OL the problem?

There's a lot more to it than "this offense is averaging 30 per game!" Put up 45 on TCU in a track meet when no one had film. 36 against ****braska was legit. CSU was only 28 in regulation (and it was tough sledding to get it), the other 15 came in OT. Oregon ****ed us in the ass without lube. USC, if we're being honest, we put up a bunch of points when USC (not a defensive juggernaut) took its foot off the gas too early. Scratched and clawed our way to 27 against a not great ASU defense. Scored 36 in regulation against a ****ty Stanford team, but that second half was ****ing brutal. UCLA ate our lunch and poured the milk it didn't want to drink on our head.

This isn't a well-oiled machine.
 
There's a lot more to it than "this offense is averaging 30 per game!" Put up 45 on TCU in a track meet when no one had film. 36 against ****braska was legit. CSU was only 28 in regulation (and it was tough sledding to get it), the other 15 game in OT. Oregon ****ed us in the ass without lube. USC, if we're being honest, we put up a bunch of points when USC (not a defensive juggernaut) took its foot off the gas too early. Scratched and clawed our way to 27 against a not great ASU defense. Scored 36 in regulation against a ****ty Stanford team, but that second half was ****ing brutal. UCLA ate our lunch and poured the milk it didn't want to drink on our head.

This isn't a well-oiled machine.
It's worse than you said really. The 36 against nebraska was fueled by turnovers and a woeful Nebraskan O. Cal had a better offensive game against USC (to pile on). I will give them that the ASU result was solid given their resurgence. Not great though.
 
Being an unsuccessful NFL OC 4 times =/= being an unsuccessful CFB OC (a position he has never held). Something convinced 4 separate NFL HC’s to hire this guy as their OC, and he failed. The positive attributes he has could end up making him an amazing OC in a CFB, we’ll see.
 
Howell’s story is up. I’m thinking BOB is now OL coach in name only.


Shurmur, the former offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos, will take over play-calling duties and assist with coaching the offensive line. He and Lewis will both have a role in play calling, according to a source. Shurmur will be in the coaches’ box, with Lewis signaling in plays from the sideline.
 
There's a lot more to it than "this offense is averaging 30 per game!" Put up 45 on TCU in a track meet when no one had film. 36 against ****braska was legit. CSU was only 28 in regulation (and it was tough sledding to get it), the other 15 came in OT. Oregon ****ed us in the ass without lube. USC, if we're being honest, we put up a bunch of points when USC (not a defensive juggernaut) took its foot off the gas too early. Scratched and clawed our way to 27 against a not great ASU defense. Scored 36 in regulation against a ****ty Stanford team, but that second half was ****ing brutal. UCLA ate our lunch and poured the milk it didn't want to drink on our head.

This isn't a well-oiled machine.
Almost like context matters more than raw stats
 
Byron Leftwich right now...

Excited I Like It GIF by LA Clippers
Why wasn't Leftwich named the OC? Isn't he an offensive analyst at CU, just like Shurmur? Seeing as he was Brady's SB winning OC I'm surprised Prime didn't make him OC.
 
That makes sense. Although such a move could mean some recruits bolt with the departure of Lewis, I think having Lewis as OC was seen positively by recruits. Not up in arms, but after having such poor results on offense for so long and seeing what scoring actually looks like, I would prefer to see BOB replaced. Give Shurmur a Co-OC title and have him run the lineman as well, that should suffice his ego. But, it's done, let's roll the dice and see what we have tomorrow
Let's be honest, Lewis as OC was never a huge factor in getting recruits. The dude was all about the "MACtion" this time last year. 4 and 5 star recruits didn't have a clue who he was until Prime introduced him.
 
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