Open practice takeaways

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Bob_Loblaw said:
I don't think people forget about 2017 and 2018, I think they probably assume it takes a coach a bit to build his system. I don't think it's forgetting, it's putting those years into context. 2018 was also pretty middle of the road.

As far as Simon, I don't think people pine for him to be the OC because of the Auburn game. That was a cherry on top. He has been a position coach at one of our best positions. He gets quite a bit of credit for developing Bateman, Johnson, CAB, and people trust him to develop Jackson, Wright, Emelian. The other part of it is that Simon is one of our best recruiters. I think most people see him as an up-and-coming coach and someone we would really miss if he left. When Kirk C. left, it felt like a natural move to promote Simon (he seemed like next in line and for all of the reasons above).
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I get all that. He was in position to get the job, he didn’t get it. Either because he didn’t want it or fleck didn’t think he should get it.

So I guess I have to make the decision if I think fleck knows what he is doing or not
 

Some guy said:
I get all that. He was in position to get the job, he didn’t get it. Either because he didn’t want it or fleck didn’t think he should get it.

So I guess I have to make the decision if I think fleck knows what he is doing or not
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I agree with that but I don't think it's anything out of the ordinary to second guess coaching decisions. Even decisions from coaches we like. I know you're not saying we shouldn't discuss those things.

I think some people do not think Fleck made the right decision with Simon/Sanford.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I agree with that but I don't think it's anything out of the ordinary to second guess coaching decisions. Even decisions from coaches we like. I know you're not saying we shouldn't discuss those things.

I think some people do not think Fleck made the right decision with Simon/Sanford.
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I just assume if Simon didn’t get it it is because Simon didn’t want it.
If he wanted it and didn’t get it, he would’ve tried to move on.

He has the resume to get an OC job somewhere if he wants one


so people can blame fleck all they Want. Simon might not even want it
 

Some guy said:
I just assume if Simon didn’t get it it is because Simon didn’t want it.
If he wanted it and didn’t get it, he would’ve tried to move on.

He has the resume to get an OC job somewhere if he wants one


so people can blame fleck all they Want. Simon might not even want it
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Simon might also be the OC heir apparent, after a little more seasoning and exposure to another offensive approach apart from KC’s.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Agree there is currently more accumulated evidence that Sanford is not good than Simon would -not be - good. Of course, both or neither could be true going forward.
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Well said. This is the most correct framing.

Pompous Elitist said:
I don’t like to be in a position of getting emotionally invested in hoping a coach fails to support a prediction he sucks, ie the Brewster Paradox.
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Agreed again.

I'll take Sanford being good for the first time in his career -- depending what you think about his one good season at Notre Dame in 2015 and then nevermind'ing the awful follow-up 2016 where Brian Kelly then fired him -- over a "I told yall so".

Pompous Elitist said:
I was eg skeptical of PJF upon arrival but I’ve seen enough to throw in my total support.
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Yeahbut ..... Robb Smith.

Right? Objectively PJ made a mistake, there.
 


Some guy said:
I just assume if Simon didn’t get it it is because Simon didn’t want it.
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PMWinSTP said:
I was being rhetorical. Many GHers often pined for him to return.
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Apologies -- I didn't make my point explicit enough.

My point was: 2019 was the first year that Simon was the co-offensive coordinator (and Callahan was the running game coordinator). Prior to that, Simon (and Callahan) was just a position coach.
 

btowngopher said:
Hard to say hiring Sanford instead of Simon was a blunder when we haven’t seen much of a sample size of either of them.
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Except that we do have the following evidence on Sanford:

- fired as Notre Dame OC after a bad 2016 season (granted, it followed a good 2015 season)
- fired as Western Kentucky HC after only three years, where they had a great offense prior to that under Jeff Brohm and it went into the crapper
- OC at Utah State where he took a first round draft pick QB (Jordan Love) who had a awesome year the year before Sanford shows up, and sent it down the crapper.


I don't know man ..... fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed that something gets figured out.
 

MplsGopher said:
- fired as Notre Dame OC after a bad 2016 season (granted, it followed a good 2015 season)
- fired as Western Kentucky HC after only three years, where they had a great offense prior to that under Jeff Brohm and it went into the crapper
- OC at Utah State where he took a first round draft pick QB (Jordan Love) who had a awesome year the year before Sanford shows up, and sent it down the crapper.


I don't know man ..... fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed that something gets figured out.
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He had a good year at Boise St before Norte Dame. Was he fired from Norte Dame? Weird he’d be hired as a head coach after being fired. He only coached WKU for two years I think.
 



I guess I don't attach as much importance to play-calling.

In the end, whether you call a run, a pass, a reverse or a fumble-rooski, the players are supposed to execute that play. doesn't matter what the play is, the players are supposed to execute it.

and in theory, any play can be successful if it is executed properly.

Granted, it was in a different era, but the Packers under Lombardi ran a very simple offense - they just executed the bleep out of it.

Now, if the QB feels the play called from the sideline doesn't work, he theoretically has the ability to audible out of it. there has been speculation in the past that Gopher QB's were not allowed to audible - or at least were not encouraged to audible.

But barring that, it is still on the players to execute the play that was called.
 

btowngopher said:
He had a good year at Boise St before Norte Dame. Was he fired from Norte Dame? Weird he’d be hired as a head coach after being fired. He only coached WKU for two years I think.
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Good points, thanks. They are fair.

I don't know for a fact that he was fired, or if he "quit" to take the WKU opportunity. If he hadn't taken that opportunity, would Brian Kelly have had him back? I think that is a fair question.

2016 Notre Dame was one of their worse seasons in modern history. Have to go back to 2007 for a season that bad. It does appear the DC was fired after week 4. (same DC as in 2015)

I don't see anything about MSjr being fired, so I could easily be wrong to suggest that.

It does appear that at least on the offensive stats category, DeShone Kizer hard pretty similar years in 2015 and 2016. The team just did a whole lot less winning.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/notre-dame/2015.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/notre-dame/2016.html


Also agree that in 2014 the Boise St offense appeared to do just as well, probably better, than in 2013. They did much better as a team, also Bryan Harsin's first season, finished ranked #16 in the nation. QB did pretty well both years, slightly better in 2014, could use a few less int's.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/boise-state/2013.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/boise-state/2014.html


But you can see for yourself how badly things went downhill from 2016 Western Kentucky (Brohm's last year) to Sanford's two years (yes two, not three) in 2017 and 2018
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/western-kentucky/2016.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/western-kentucky/2017.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/western-kentucky/2018.html

And similarly Utah St from 2018 to downhill in 2019
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/utah-state/2018.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/utah-state/2019.html
 
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short ornery norwegian said:
and in theory, any play can be successful if it is executed properly.
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Sure ... on paper, you can score a touchdown every time you call a FB-lead run up the middle.


So that tells you right there, play-calling is critical. The right play call puts your players in a significantly better position to make a play and increases the chance of likelihood for the play.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I guess I don't attach as much importance to play-calling.

In the end, whether you call a run, a pass, a reverse or a fumble-rooski, the players are supposed to execute that play. doesn't matter what the play is, the players are supposed to execute it.

and in theory, any play can be successful if it is executed properly.

Granted, it was in a different era, but the Packers under Lombardi ran a very simple offense - they just executed the bleep out of it.

Now, if the QB feels the play called from the sideline doesn't work, he theoretically has the ability to audible out of it. there has been speculation in the past that Gopher QB's were not allowed to audible - or at least were not encouraged to audible.

But barring that, it is still on the players to execute the play that was called.
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Play design and concept is more important, but they all work together.

Go look at highlights from Gophers pre fleck, many of our plays were designed dump off to FB/TE in flat or deep bomb. Never seemed to attack multiple levels and very basic route trees.

Go look at brad childress Vikings, 3rd and Long and we often had ,0 Wrs running beyond sticks
 



short ornery norwegian said:
I guess I don't attach as much importance to play-calling.

In the end, whether you call a run, a pass, a reverse or a fumble-rooski, the players are supposed to execute that play. doesn't matter what the play is, the players are supposed to execute it.

and in theory, any play can be successful if it is executed properly.

Granted, it was in a different era, but the Packers under Lombardi ran a very simple offense - they just executed the bleep out of it.

Now, if the QB feels the play called from the sideline doesn't work, he theoretically has the ability to audible out of it. there has been speculation in the past that Gopher QB's were not allowed to audible - or at least were not encouraged to audible.

But barring that, it is still on the players to execute the play that was called.
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In a complete vacuum, yes. A play can be executed properly on offense and not succeed because the defense executed the right play to defend against it.
 


Annexstead was throwing the ball well during the open practice last week. IMO it was coming out with more zip and accuracy than Morgan. Deep throws seemed to be in Annexstead’s favor too. I would like to see Annexstead get some time this year.
 


GopherCountry said:
Annexstead was throwing the ball well during the open practice last week. IMO it was coming out with more zip and accuracy than Morgan. Deep throws seemed to be in Annexstead’s favor too. I would like to see Annexstead get some time this year.
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It's not going to happen without some kind of injury or implosion. Tanner has been the unquestioned leader of this team since 2019.
 

WriterGoph said:
It's not going to happen without some kind of injury or implosion. Tanner has been the unquestioned leader of this team since 2019.
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True, but why not let someone play who has been working hard etc. at some point during the game?
 


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