Now that Dunbar has been s'canned, I

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oak_street1981

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would like to grade him.

I give Dunbar an F, and I predicted the failure back in early 2007.

Just lining up in the shotgun 99.9 perent of the time in sort yard situations should garner an F grade.

I find it ironic that we used to run a Denver Broncos style offense under Mason/Browning, and now we have returned to those roots.

I do really hope Brewster gets it right this time, otherwise the Crow Buffet line will be very long at some point in the near future.
 

Are any of the Kool Aid drinkers here grading him an A?

Rupert?

uPnORTH?

Other Brewster brown nosers?

F F F F F F F F


PS. What are the odds of T. Brock returning? Is he going to Canada to be a TA for the LOON?
 

The national champions lined up in the shotgun in short yard situations 99% of the time.

Simply put, arguments about the system sound unintelligent. It might be your preference to do something else because that is what you believe in, but the system can and does work.

You might knock the playcalling within the system, but saying that the spread is the issue does not wash.
 

I give Dunbar a C+/B- , His system is good and can be very productive. He was an offensive genius at Northwestern. I give the players an F. Given a few years of Brewsters recruiting and Dunbar would be very successful here. YOU NEED TALENT, NOT CRAP PLAYERS.

and we have not given up the spread

and Brock will be back
 

You can really breakdown this last season into two semesters. The first semester (all games up to Purdue) Dunbar gets a B+. However, the second semester he gets an F. The offense became very predictable in the second half. I wished Dunbar would have just once a game ran a damn screen or reverse or something to mix it up. But instead he went with the predictable shotgun formation looking for a 5 - 7 yard pass completion. It was clear our opponents knew what we were doing and made that area very congested leading to many incomplete passes and leaving us in 3rd and long situation.
 


The 12th Man said:
The national champions lined up in the shotgun in short yard situations 99% of the time.

Simply put, arguments about the system sound unintelligent. It might be your preference to do something else because that is what you believe in, but the system can and does work.

You might knock the playcalling within the system, but saying that the spread is the issue does not wash.
Click to expand...

Ditto
 

When does it become the job of the coaches to put the players in the best positions possible to win the football game being played? Six years? Five years? .......Two years? The First year?
 

I give him an F as well. I agree with go4inlalaland in that he got a better grade during the early part of the year but my biggest gripes on offense:

1) The offense did not improve as it got more comfortable with the system - it got worse.

2) Stupid penalties continued to plague the team and that did not get better.

3) Offensive line play got worse and I have to blame at least part of it on coaching because it did not get better either.

4) WR's blocking was even worse.

5) Unlike the defense, the offense did have some returning talent but it was not utilized to its maximum advantage. It got worse.

6) He had a huge reluctance to try something different. He would continue to run plays that didn't work. Even when many people suggested to try running with 2 TE's or 2 RB's to help with a HORRIFIC running game, especially on short yardage situations, he just would not mix it up.

6) There is a reason why Dunbar is looking for a new job. It is because he simply did not get it done here. If Brewster did not make the change, pretty soon the fingers start pointing in HIS direction -- he HAD to make a change.
 

While I don't necessarily disagree with any of you

I think the injury to Decker and his inability to play was the biggest difference between first half and second half of the season. This shows how little depth the Gophers currently have at a number of positions, so I agree, the talent level isn't there yet.

I also agree, however, that the OL was one of the central issues that limited offensive production in 08. Carufel and the JUCO beast will hopefully remedy that somewhat but the Gophers are probably sitll a year out from having the necessary talent and depth there as well.

I never liked Dunbar's overall offensive philosophy though, glad he's gone.
 



oak_street1981 said:
Just lining up in the shotgun 99.9 perent of the time in sort yard situations should garner an F grade.
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So, how do you grade Urban Meyer? You know the man with two national title rings? He lines up in the shot gun 99.9% of the time.
 

If you had attened the practices....

you could see both OL Coach Phil Meyer and OC Mike Dunbar were not on the same "24/7" intensity level that Brewster and the rest of his staff are. Phil Meyer actually reminded me alot of Gordy Shaw in demeanor on the field; although Gordy was a better recruiter than Meyer. Both Meyer and Dunbar were dead weights on the recruiting circle and if you don't produce in the other elements of the position you end up out on the street. Like many of you I questioned Dunbar's play calling and the OL even though banged up in some cases always seemed to be taking two steps backwards. I like the mix now with Davis Cosgrove and Fisch. On the offensive side of the ball who would you rather have sitting accross from you son in the living room, Dunbar or Fisch? Sorry, but Dunbar's persona is that of the greeter at Walmart
 

tjgopher said:
So, how do you grade Urban Meyer? You know the man with two national title rings? He lines up in the shot gun 99.9% of the time.
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Adam Weber is not Tim Tebow. Makes a little bit of a difference, don't you think?
 

I'd give him a C, but a U for "not playing well with others" and "takes criticism well."
 



PlayHosea said:
Adam Weber is not Tim Tebow. Makes a little bit of a difference, don't you think?
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Maybe. But Meyer also did it with a guy named Omar Jacobs who was a nobody 2* recruit. He did it with Alex Smith who was nobody 2* recruit.

In other words, before we simply say how stupid it is and how its the system's fault, let's analyze.

It is simple why Dunbar did it. His offensive line could not move people. Exhibit A - goal line offense in the Insight Bowl. We couldn't score a TD from 1st and 1 from the 1. Brewster insisted we attempt it by lining up under center and it didn't work. Dunbar knew that long before that Insight Bowl. So, he figured he'd better gimmick it up during the regular season.

There are no right answers, other than if you have the guys up front to move people, then it matters not what formation you use in short yardage situations. Hopefully some day we'll get guys up front who can get a push.
 

tjgopher said:
Maybe. But Meyer also did it with a guy named Omar Jacobs who was a nobody 2* recruit. He did it with Alex Smith who was nobody 2* recruit.

In other words, before we simply say how stupid it is and how its the system's fault, let's analyze.

It is simple why Dunbar did it. His offensive line could not move people. Exhibit A - goal line offense in the Insight Bowl. We couldn't score a TD from 1st and 1 from the 1. Brewster insisted we attempt it by lining up under center and it didn't work. Dunbar knew that long before that Insight Bowl. So, he figured he'd better gimmick it up during the regular season.

There are no right answers, other than if you have the guys up front to move people, then it matters not what formation you use in short yardage situations. Hopefully some day we'll get guys up front who can get a push.
Click to expand...

Good points. You have to knock people over in any offense. Whether you do that through brute force or by getting angles through sets and blocking stunts, it needs to be done. Unless, of course, you have 4.2 speed at all of your skill positions. We had neither and that has to be mentioned in defense of Dunbar.

But it was obvious by the end of the season, we were facing 8 or 9 guys in the box and the passing lines were just completely clogged.
 

First Year probably, second for sure

Goldy74s said:
When does it become the job of the coaches to put the players in the best positions possible to win the football game being played? Six years? Five years? .......Two years? The First year?
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Dunbar failed. First year go for the new system all the way, no problem teaching young dogs tricks right. Second year, requires learning from the first year, adapt the system to the players you've got and are likely to get again. This is how a team moves forward. There seemed to be a complete failure to adapt the highly successful and beloved "spread offense" to the players on the field.

Failure to adapt cost another MN coach his job - it just took 11 years. Dunbar earned an F, and he was released for his efforts.

Say what you want, but I think PSU and tOSU and Oklahoma are much more fun to watch than Florida is. I'd much rather watch football played at some point than during a game than whatever happens to the sport when there are too many receivers to fill passcatching positions. Yuck!

I gave the spread a chance and it worked well enough here to prove the point to me. The Godfather is married to the system, and pounding players into that mold than molding the players and system together. In MN Dunbar needed to innovate what knew with what he had. He never made any attempt to do that. Perhaps by not retaining the zone blocking methods and its great uncle, Brewster didn't put Dunbar in a position to succeed? But Dunbar in year two should have adjusted to his fate and altered the system. He did not and now he is gone.

I'm not sure how, except for pinning everything on Brewster how a passing grade can be given to Dunbar.
 

tjgopher said:
Maybe. But Meyer also did it with a guy named Omar Jacobs who was a nobody 2* recruit. He did it with Alex Smith who was nobody 2* recruit.

In other words, before we simply say how stupid it is and how its the system's fault, let's analyze.

It is simple why Dunbar did it. His offensive line could not move people. Exhibit A - goal line offense in the Insight Bowl. We couldn't score a TD from 1st and 1 from the 1. Brewster insisted we attempt it by lining up under center and it didn't work. Dunbar knew that long before that Insight Bowl. So, he figured he'd better gimmick it up during the regular season.

There are no right answers, other than if you have the guys up front to move people, then it matters not what formation you use in short yardage situations. Hopefully some day we'll get guys up front who can get a push.
Click to expand...
Fair points. I fully admit I don't know enough about Meyer's history to argue about the accomplishments of Jacobs or Alex Smith. The point I was making was that Tebow's one of the best short yardage runners I've ever seen (QB or RB). That's an asset that changes the dynamic of any offense.
 

Pairing Two different things doesn't help an argument

For part A you put the responsibility on the player for not being the right size, having the right strength or the correct speed. Okay so you get what you get. And then it comes to plan/method B. This is the coach putting the players in the best possible positon to succeed. A player without great strength, or height or speed, can succeed within the right system. or with adjustments for his actual abilities. Dunbar did not put the players in the best position to win.

Of course teams with the second option almost alway have parts A and B covered too. And the concensus seem to be that Dunbar did as little as possible to get those players.




50PoundHead said:
Good points. You have to knock people over in any offense. A Whether you do that through brute force or B by getting angles through sets and blocking stunts, it needs to be done. Unless, of course, you have 4.2 speed at all of your skill positions. We had neither and that has to be mentioned in defense of Dunbar.

But it was obvious by the end of the season, we were facing 8 or 9 guys in the box and the passing lines were just completely clogged.
Click to expand...
 

As much as I hated Dumbar's play calling, he was a better coach in everyone's eyes last year when the offense had an experienced OL, better RB's and 2 experienced WR that Weber could rely on. While there were limitations put on him this year with the lack of experience he didn't rise to the challenge and come up with creative ways to move the ball.
 

an incomplete

Can't grade the guy when he has such inconsistency from a young O line and running back squad.
 

There are a lot of good points being made, but I think giving him anything less than a C is ludicrous. The truth is our offensive line was absolute garbage this year (partly because of injuries, partly because of lack of experience and talent) and you CANNOT win without at least a decent offensive line (also you cannot have a successful defense without a good line). They may never touch the ball, but the guys in the trenches win or lose you games. It doesn't matter what type of scheme you have.

I think a couple of people hit the nail on the head that Dunbar was fully aware that we could not run the ball from under center with the current offensive line so he stuck with the shotgun. Not saying he ever would have adjusted, but as The 12th Man pointed out, Urban Meyer seems to have been fairly successful taking nearly every snap from the gun.

However, where Dunbar failed was in mixing things up. Like others have said, he didn't run any trick plays, no reverses, double passes, etc. Not even any screens.

I would give him a C+/B-
 

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