What I've seen with Embree & Co, is that their coaching skills do not match up with what we need right now. I suspect that they have too much nfl experience: they assume a higher football IQ/talent in their players than exists (or could even be reasonably expected to exist). To draw an analogy, I think it's as if they are teaching calculus to students that haven't even mastered algebra.
It keeps on looking to me that the players feel like they are in over their heads: they don't understand enough of the game plan/playbook to really perform well. Many of the college programs out there that are doing really well don't do anything that's really all that complicated (if you doubt this, do some serious research into Oregon's, or Leach's, or any "zone-read" offense out there; hint: they are a lot more basic than they appear to be on the surface). What they do is keep it simple, make sure that talented players thoroughly understand what they are supposed to do, and then go out and do it.
To answer a question that a few people have asked more than once (what could be done today, right now, that would make a difference this season), I think the answer is "simplify."
-Start by throwing out half or more of the playbook.
-Teach each receiver two routes that match their skills, and teach them to run it perfectly, every time - then substitute receivers if you need different routes (oh, how Kasa could improve with this...).
-Teach the linemen simple, basic reads to decide who to block - sure, a sophisticated blitz will get through, but who cares? You hardly ever see those in college, and right now simple blitzes and even base, no blitz defenses are beating our linemen.
-Call simpler plays - it seems that as we struggle more and more, the deeper into the playbook EB digs, and the less sure everyone on the field is with where they're supposed to be, and what they're supposed to be doing once they get there. I would be happier with 15-25 plays that everyone on the field knows perfectly and executes aggressively than I am with what we're seeing now. (Hell, at this point, I would be happy with 10 plays that were executed perfectly and with lots of aggression.)
-If you're serious about getting different quarterbacks into the game and getting them experience, limit them to 8 to 10 different plays that can be called - and make sure they know each one perfectly.
-Defense is harder to simplify, but it still needs to be done (and probably should have been done the moment Polk got hurt - his leadership in the backfield made "complex" a lot more possible).
At the end of the day, I think the coaches are trying to build a playbook and coach a team that would not be flummoxed by any NFL-level strategy. But, they don't need to be ready for NFL style linebacker shifts, blitz packages, etc - they need to be ready for the strategy that a bunch of sheep farmers and FCS teams are capable of deploying.
Keep it simple...
It keeps on looking to me that the players feel like they are in over their heads: they don't understand enough of the game plan/playbook to really perform well. Many of the college programs out there that are doing really well don't do anything that's really all that complicated (if you doubt this, do some serious research into Oregon's, or Leach's, or any "zone-read" offense out there; hint: they are a lot more basic than they appear to be on the surface). What they do is keep it simple, make sure that talented players thoroughly understand what they are supposed to do, and then go out and do it.
To answer a question that a few people have asked more than once (what could be done today, right now, that would make a difference this season), I think the answer is "simplify."
-Start by throwing out half or more of the playbook.
-Teach each receiver two routes that match their skills, and teach them to run it perfectly, every time - then substitute receivers if you need different routes (oh, how Kasa could improve with this...).
-Teach the linemen simple, basic reads to decide who to block - sure, a sophisticated blitz will get through, but who cares? You hardly ever see those in college, and right now simple blitzes and even base, no blitz defenses are beating our linemen.
-Call simpler plays - it seems that as we struggle more and more, the deeper into the playbook EB digs, and the less sure everyone on the field is with where they're supposed to be, and what they're supposed to be doing once they get there. I would be happier with 15-25 plays that everyone on the field knows perfectly and executes aggressively than I am with what we're seeing now. (Hell, at this point, I would be happy with 10 plays that were executed perfectly and with lots of aggression.)
-If you're serious about getting different quarterbacks into the game and getting them experience, limit them to 8 to 10 different plays that can be called - and make sure they know each one perfectly.
-Defense is harder to simplify, but it still needs to be done (and probably should have been done the moment Polk got hurt - his leadership in the backfield made "complex" a lot more possible).
At the end of the day, I think the coaches are trying to build a playbook and coach a team that would not be flummoxed by any NFL-level strategy. But, they don't need to be ready for NFL style linebacker shifts, blitz packages, etc - they need to be ready for the strategy that a bunch of sheep farmers and FCS teams are capable of deploying.
Keep it simple...
