Next Year's Offensive Philosophy

oleboy41

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Does it change? We all know that to this point that Kill and Limey have really played things close to the vest and have focused more on minimizing mistakes and winning the field position battle while then trying to capitalize on short fields and turnovers (the only times when this offense has really gotten aggressive).

So looking at our personnel, recruiting, and staff, does next years offense change? I believe Kill has been basically biding time offensively. They've consistently said that the passing game is a few years behind the rest of the team and made a very conscious choice to redshirt all those frosh. Kill has also said the program is a bit further along than he expected the team to be at this point and he's doing what he thinks is best to keep his team competitive against programs a bit further along than us. I've seen a number of fans of teams like Mizzou, IA, WI and MSU say essentially the same thing which is that MN looks like those teams did at the beginning of their runs or whatever you want to call it. Teams heading in the right direction but without all the pieces. In our case the missing piece is the passing game and instead of forcing it, Kill has spent the past 2 years trying to hide it and play around it. I think that starts to change next year
 

Definately have to make some adjustments. Bowl games, championship games, etc are all or nothing. Time to act like losing by 3 or 30 makes no difference...got to play to win!
 

It better be more high powered and fun. Jerry's been pumping up Rodney Smith and the three redshirt receivers all year.
 

If we could at least get a two minute and one minute drill in place, that would be great. I think occasionally running a no huddle with a little bit of a hurry up would be beneficial as well, especially if you can keep gashing opponents in the run game. Just line up and keep running the read option for a few plays to get their D tired.

Hopefully Mitch can figure out his checkdowns quickly to air the ball out a little to our playmakers. The bowl game showed some promise for passing. I like Berkeley as a receiver, he just needs to catch the ball when it hits him in the hands.
 

First off, the whole seven years to build the program was B. S. I don't think we are necessarily further ahead than where kill thought we would be but he was giving himself a safety net. I'd buy Jerry a ticket to go down and spend a week with Gary Patterson for them to talk through why Gary made the 180 switching his offense. I absolutely am not calling for us to completely re-create the wheel but kills good buddy Patterson made the change and it certainly paid off.
 


One can try to be a bit more aggressive but for the most part you guys are talking about things that would be implemented with personnel that we do not have.
 

One can try to be a bit more aggressive but for the most part you guys are talking about things that would be implemented with personnel that we do not have.

You are drinking the Kool-Aid. Yes, we have some areas where we need to get better talent but yesterday Leidner was clicking and we had receivers running open and our coaches refused to adjust. It's not all about the players and the coaches have a big hand in game plans being put in place that just are going to be the big boys.
 

WRs ran open because Missouri was selling out to stop the run.

Leidner could maybe do that a few times in a year but you'd have to guarantee me that he'd be on for 10 or so games. These guys are pro coaches. If Leidner was that good we would be chucking it all over the field. Do some of you have amnesia for 8 or so of the games this year? Chucking the ball around with this set of talent on offense likely means more turnovers, worse field position, and less ability to beat some of the better teams.
 

WRs ran open because Missouri was selling out to stop the run.

Leidner could maybe do that a few times in a year but you'd have to guarantee me that he'd be on for 10 or so games. These guys are pro coaches. If Leidner was that good we would be chucking it all over the field. Do some of you have amnesia for 8 or so of the games this year? Chucking the ball around with this set of talent on offense likely means more turnovers, worse field position, and less ability to beat some of the better teams.


Missouri didn't come up with that idea out of nowhere. EVERYONE has sold out on the run against us, since, like, forever ago.
 



WRs ran open because Missouri was selling out to stop the run.

Leidner could maybe do that a few times in a year but you'd have to guarantee me that he'd be on for 10 or so games. These guys are pro coaches. If Leidner was that good we would be chucking it all over the field. Do some of you have amnesia for 8 or so of the games this year? Chucking the ball around with this set of talent on offense likely means more turnovers, worse field position, and less ability to beat some of the better teams.
Well as many in here could attest I'm certainly not a Leidner fan but you are kind of making my point. I just don't know how hard it would be to notice that we have receivers running open and Leidner is throwing a good ball so let's maybe try to score 3 points at the end of the half, etc., etc. I think kill and his staff are very, very good coaches in almost every area. The offensive philosophy and in game coaching is where I would say so far I think they are below average. At one point I would say that only applies to the offense but lately it seems like defense we have given way, as well. Some of that maybe is the kids have gotten tired but how we are getting gashed up the middle for those long runs seems like it has to be a deeper issue than that.
 

First off, the whole seven years to build the program was B. S. I don't think we are necessarily further ahead than where kill thought we would be but he was giving himself a safety net. I'd buy Jerry a ticket to go down and spend a week with Gary Patterson for them to talk through why Gary made the 180 switching his offense. I absolutely am not calling for us to completely re-create the wheel but kills good buddy Patterson made the change and it certainly paid off.

I agree somewhat about the 7 years part but I think there's truth to it. We see right now that while we have a lot of talent in spots we don't have it all over. Our DBs are excellent but we're playing 3 true frosh and a D2 transfer on the DL because of poor depth there. Our OL and TEs are solid but we still lack WRs and explosion on offense. It takes time to get the overall depth and talent Kill is looking for. That said I do think they've been overly conservative on offense and that philosophy as both helped and hurt. It makes sense in that we have inexperience at QB and our WRs were mediocre and nothing gets you beat quicker than turnovers and a bunch of 3 and outs. That philosophy kept us in games last year like WI and MSU along with our D. That said this year our best games were games like Nebraska, Iowa, etc where we were able to have real balance. I doubt we go TCU and go air raid offense but I think we see a much more aggressive and balanced approach offensively
 

I want to see what Leidner can do with the receivers next year before I start writing off his ability to throw it around more. Our receivers this year really struggled to get much separation, and we pretty much had to design plays for one option to be open. When that one option wasn't open, we pretty much had nowhere to throw it. If these freshman receivers are as good as Kill is building them up to be, I'm confident that we will be able to throw it around quite a bit more.
 

I have no doubt that we have 3 good redshirted WRs and 1 or 2 may someday be discussed for all conference honors, but if they were THAT good, they should have played this year. Let's take a step back on the excitement here. We've done this too many times before.

As for the in-game stuff, it isn't perfect, you're right. However, we have thrown it around well in the past. We've chucked it around against lesser teams that must sell out to stop the run (Purdue, Indiana, etc.). I agree that there were some missed opportunities, but most times when we play a top 30 team, they can defend both run and pass on us. In general, we cannot throw against good teams and that won't change next year. That's why the TCU comment was silly from somebody. Their team is filled with talent on offense that can run thag offense.
 



I think we see a more dynamic and aggressive offense next year with more explosive plays in both the running and passing game.
 

I have no doubt that we have 3 good redshirted WRs and 1 or 2 may someday be discussed for all conference honors, but if they were THAT good, they should have played this year. Let's take a step back on the excitement here. We've done this too many times before.

As for the in-game stuff, it isn't perfect, you're right. However, we have thrown it around well in the past. We've chucked it around against lesser teams that must sell out to stop the run (Purdue, Indiana, etc.). I agree that there were some missed opportunities, but most times when we play a top 30 team, they can defend both run and pass on us. In general, we cannot throw against good teams and that won't change next year. That's why the TCU comment was silly from somebody. Their team is filled with talent on offense that can run thag offense.

I think its been mentioned a few times that Gentry was going to play but got hurt. Gant is very athletic but was raw and I think they didn't want to go the D Jones route again with playing a guy before he's ready. Connor K got banged up and Gibson is likely more of an inside guy/Hback. My guess is Holland could have played but at this point probably wasn't clearly a top 2-3 guy and thus they didn't want to burn his RS for 10 catches ala Jones and Woli last year which I'm ok with.
 

I don't think it will change much. Leidner looking sharp in the bowl game had to give the coaching staff some confidence, but at the same time we're losing our biggest weapon (by far) in the passing game in Maxx Williams. It's great we have talented freshmen WR's, but that doesn't mean they are going to be productive right away. I still think our passing game is a year away unfortunately.
 

a better offense needs better athletes. Look at the good bowl teams - 4* and 5* players making plays. Unfortunately, those are the types of players that the Gophers have simply been unable to recruit in the last 40 years.

I think Kill and his staff have shown an ability to work with 2* and 3* players and get them to play above their "star" level - but when push comes to shove, the team with the better athletes is going to win more often than not. So, the ultimate question is this: can Kill and his staff recruit high-caliber offensive players to a program, when no other coach has been able to accomplish that feat?

Unless Kill is a miracle worker and can win recruiting battles for elite players, I expect the offense to look very similar to this year. Wish I was more optimistic, but that's how I feel.
 

a better offense needs better athletes. Look at the good bowl teams - 4* and 5* players making plays. Unfortunately, those are the types of players that the Gophers have simply been unable to recruit in the last 40 years.

I think Kill and his staff have shown an ability to work with 2* and 3* players and get them to play above their "star" level - but when push comes to shove, the team with the better athletes is going to win more often than not. So, the ultimate question is this: can Kill and his staff recruit high-caliber offensive players to a program, when no other coach has been able to accomplish that feat?

Unless Kill is a miracle worker and can win recruiting battles for elite players, I expect the offense to look very similar to this year. Wish I was more optimistic, but that's how I feel.

Jeff Jones was a consensus 4-star recruit. ESPN gave Melvin Holland 4 stars. I get what you're saying but I think the 2014 class was a pretty good start towards recruiting better athletes on offense.
 

I don't know if the offensive philosophy needs to change, this is still going to be a running team. What we need is for the passing game to become a more credible threat so that teams can't afford to sell out against the run and dare the Gophers to pass. I'd like to see the non-conference schedule be used to wok on the passing game.
 

If i'm not mistaken, Kill has sounded very optimistic about the O next year thinking it will be much more explosive. I too feel it will be more explosive and maybe a little less physical or won't need to be as physical.
 

Kill may be optimistic about the O next year, but with Limegrover as the OC, it won't matter. It will be the same old song and dance; underutilizing the talent we have with stagnant play calling.
 




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