Coach's Game Management

[howeda7]

Running a play at the end of the first half was just plain stupid. If any of you can find a post of someone whining about kneeling with a 17-point halftime lead in a game we were favored to win by double digits, I'll eat my hat. Kneeling on the ball with a big halftime lead in a game we were expected to lose is a different story - you need to take chances to maximize your chance of winning as an underdog. In a game like this where it was already well in hand, there is very little to be gained and a lot to potentially lose, as evidenced by what actually transpired.

IIRC, there was ~30-40 seconds left. I'd say 80% of teams run one play there to see if they break one. It's very unfortunate what happened. But the odds of the RB getting hurt on that one play are remote.

 

[howeda7]

Mike Dunbar. Who passed away in 2013. OC at Northwestern and Cal before Gophers.

Yes him. I understand there were talent limitations. But taking a team built around running and trying to run the spread exclusively in the first season was a mistake. I know they felt they had to show it to recruits, but at the very least some sort of hybrid for season 1 was in order. I guess you can argue it didn't matter if they won 5 games or 1, but it sure was painful to watch.

 

[dpodoll68]

IIRC, there was ~30-40 seconds left. I'd say 80% of teams run one play there to see if they break one. It's very unfortunate what happened. But the odds of the RB getting hurt on that one play are remote.

There were 45 seconds and the ball was on our own 13-yard-line with no timeouts. According to ESPN, our win probability at the time we took possession of the ball was 96.5%. The very small odds of moving the ball 55-60 yards in 44 seconds with no timeouts was not worth the risk of injuring somebody so we could raise that win probability from 96.5% to maybe 98%.

 

[BroncoRedux]

So far my impression is that this team won't lose because of mental errors. They may get beat by superior talent or coaching but not drive killing illegal motion penalties or drive enabling offside penalties. (Although both offenses occurred on Saturday I think they were a first?)

 

[Thomasthetank]

I think one of the major improvements this year has been clock management between each play. How often did we see Mitch waiting for a play to be called, realize the play clock was at 10, run to the line, have no time to switch the play and either barely get the play off or have a penalty called for delay or motion for being rushed??? At least 3-4 times per game. We are at the line with the possibility to snap the ball at 15 seconds on almost all plays. I really appreciate that.

 

[GopherRock]

He forgot to the decline the delay of game penalty and almost got us pinned within the 1 in the second quarter of the last game, but other than that, yes.

Delay of game penalties are pre-snap and can't be declined.

 

[GopherBulldog]

Dunbar had success at both Northwestern and Cal and he was available when Brewster was hired three weeks before signing day in 2007. He had about one week to put together his coaching staff before they hit the recruiting trail for two weeks. Brewster played the hand he was dealt with no whining at all. He never complained even when he had to start 3 true freshman in the defensive backfield against Michigan that year.

Contrast that with Kill who whined every chance he got during his first two years at the U about not being able to win with Brewster's players. And Brewster's players hated Kill for it, too. Oh, and by the way, the academic standing of Brewster's teams were significantly higher than Mason's teams. They only went downhill after Brewster was fired and nobody was minding the store. That has been proven to be true many times before in GopherHole. Unfortunately, facts don't matter to many people anymore.

Are you really comparing the state of the program when Mason was fired vs. when Brew was fired? Seriously, take stock of the program immediately post Mason, post Brew and post Kill/Claeys and explain who has the liberty to whine and who does not.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Are you really comparing the state of the program when Mason was fired vs. when Brew was fired? Seriously, take stock of the program immediately post Mason, post Brew and post Kill/Claeys and explain who has the liberty to whine and who does not.

Don't feed the troll...

 

[Buck_Buchanan]

Fascinating. I'd argue a decent number of HCs seem to have trouble with managing the clock when stopped...coming out of T/Os.

It is a fascinating read. Time outs and how to manage them are are addressed in it as well.

His general philosophy is for an offense to hurry up when trailing and to slow down when ahead regardless of how much time is left.

He even advocates a hurry-up/slowdown offense, where the offense that’s ahead immediately bolts to the line of scrimmage and goes through motions and shifts to make the defense run around – but still snaps the ball with one second on the play clock. However, that would be boring and against conventional wisdom in many cases.

I do think it is a great resource to have for any coach IMO.

 

[PMWinSTP]

It is a fascinating read. Time outs and how to manage them are are addressed in it as well.

His general philosophy is for an offense to hurry up when trailing and to slow down when ahead regardless of how much time is left.

He even advocates a hurry-up/slowdown offense, where the offense that’s ahead immediately bolts to the line of scrimmage and goes through motions and shifts to make the defense run around – but still snaps the ball with one second on the play clock. However, that would be boring and against conventional wisdom in many cases.

I do think it is a great resource to have for any coach IMO.

Reminds me of the HC who rarely punts...contrarians. I'll have to give it a closer look.

 

[Buck_Buchanan]

Reminds me of the HC who rarely punts...contrarians. I'll have to give it a closer look.

He has a book entitled "The Contrarion Edge for Offenses" as well.
That's a good read as well. Ski-U-Mah!

 

[joshvanklomp]

Vanilla offense.....yeah, I wish we were like every other coach in the country and ran a double reverse fleaflicker hook and ladder on every possession. Then our game management would truly be elite like the rest of the country!