Our New Offense

[Yah-E]

So now Fisch is hired, he'll have plenty on his plate:

1) Help recruit
2) Become friends with Tim Davis
3) Work with current returned players
4) Install a new offensive scheme

I found this article from ESPN Big Ten Blogs:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigten/0-2-1147/Bond-with-Brewster-brings-Fisch-to-Gophers.html

It said that Fisch stated "I'll have 30-60 days to put an offense together"

That's it? Are you kidding me? Two months to throw something together and lets go play?

I'm excited about what Davis-Fisch and Cosgrove-Lee will bring to the table in 2009, but anyone else thinking that it will be another clusterfcuk year next year?

It sure will be interesting!

 

[Schnoodler]

It is a problem no doubt. I'd be inclined to believe they'll keep the same framework and adjust, hopefully avoiding the cluster fuckedness of the situation. There is some continuity, Davis did overlap Dunbar, and Brews still here, so it might not be so bad. I think the better balance will make up for the shortcomings.

 

[strokemonster]

I too hope that Fisch and Davis will be able to work closely together without egos getting in the
way. If they can it appears that Davis could provide an O line that eats raw meat for breakfast
lunch and dinner. I'm kind of excited to see a good power run game again. Most O lineman say
they enjoy that style of play also. Most of 'em like to get out and hit people.

 

[harrys ghost]

So now Fisch is hired, he'll have plenty on his plate:

1) Help recruit
2) Become friends with Tim Davis
3) Work with current returned players
4) Install a new offensive scheme

I found this article from ESPN Big Ten Blogs:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigten/0-2-1147/Bond-with-Brewster-brings-Fisch-to-Gophers.html

It said that Fisch stated "I'll have 30-60 days to put an offense together"

That's it? Are you kidding me? Two months to throw something together and lets go play?

I'm excited about what Davis-Fisch and Cosgrove-Lee will bring to the table in 2009, but anyone else thinking that it will be another clusterfcuk year next year?

It sure will be interesting!

My take is that 30-60 days is to put together a framework and offensive philosophy. It will be a lot easier for players to pick things up if the plays are logical progressions of each other. The name of the game is to fool defenses and create mismatches. There really aren't that many plays. This isn't rocket science.

IMO, the big complexity is blocking schemes and getting the OL to play as a unit. Davis will likely be a big contributor there.

Where I would expect (hope?) to see the biggest improvement is in QB play. Brewster was emphasizing QB coaching in this hire. I am hopeful that he got the right guy.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

The biggest improvement must be in the OL. If they do that, the QB play should be better. Weber was on the hotseat too much due to poor OL play and teams were waiting for the pass. He has his own issues to improve upon but playing behind a decent OL and more experienced WR corp has to help.

I hope Fisch doesn/t install a complex system and will use the KISS principle. Its all about execution and not a thick playbook. The simpler the better.

 

[harrys ghost]

I didn't mean to imply that QB play was the problem. Our OL was clearly floundering the latter part of last season. I believe that if plays go as diagrammed QB is an easy position. However, plays seldom go exactly as planned. I think this is where a good QB coach comes in. When things break down how does the QB compensate? I think that is the most realistic hope for improvement next year. I fully expect improvement in our OL but I don't know that they will suddenly emerge as one of the top units in the BT. It would be nice if that happens, but I don't expect it.

 

[Maverick]

So now Fisch is hired, he'll have plenty on his plate:

1) Help recruit
2) Become friends with Tim Davis
3) Work with current returned players
4) Install a new offensive scheme

I found this article from ESPN Big Ten Blogs:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigten/0-2-1147/Bond-with-Brewster-brings-Fisch-to-Gophers.html

It said that Fisch stated "I'll have 30-60 days to put an offense together"

That's it? Are you kidding me? Two months to throw something together and lets go play?

I'm excited about what Davis-Fisch and Cosgrove-Lee will bring to the table in 2009, but anyone else thinking that it will be another clusterfcuk year next year?

It sure will be interesting!

What do you expect??? The Spring game is coming right up and do you want them going into that without an offense plan????

 

[grunkiejr]

Do you believe that he has been coaching for 8 years in the NFL and has not developed an offensive philosophy? I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he was asked about his offensive philosophy in his interview for the job.

After signing day he will spend his time talking to the position coaches and looking at film from last season so he can get a feel for the personnel that he has. I'll go out on another limb to say that the offensive quality control person is already putting the cut ups together for him.

Once he has a read on his offensive personnel he will go about fitting formations and plays to his personnel and that will be the offense. There obviously will be some power running formations with double tights, I-formation, etc. The running backs catch the ball well so he will make sure to get some screen plays in as well as plays where we can use them like a Bryan Westbrook catching the ball out of the backfield. We'll have good depth at WR so you'll see 3-4 receiver formations that allow us to get Decker, Green, and Carpenter on the field at the same time. With Carpenter and Allen being legitimate deep threats I'm sure you'll see them attack down field more than we did last year. If the line struggles you'll probably see more 3 step drops, that don't allow the D-line to get pressure on the QB, than we did this year. Smith is a big body receiver that should see more looks in the red zone so I'm sure he'll figure out ways to get him in there too. Weber and Gray are both good runners at QB so I'm sure you'll see some spread option read as a component of the running game.

This stuff isn't rocket science. A good offensive coordinator will understand his personnel and fit the scheme to the personnel. A great coordinator will understand the weaknesses in the opponents defense and figure out how to use the strengths of his personnel to attack their weaknesses.

As far as implementing the offense, he'll work as much in during spring practice as they can handle. Spring practice will also give him up close work with the personnel so he will likely come back in the fall with more ideas about exploiting the strengths of his personnel.

This should be exciting and I can't wait for the spring game.

 

[Kratos3]

This was going to happen with ANY new OC. I'm sure they'll keep a lot of the plays installed before the bowl game. It's not like he's starting completely from scratch. The toughest part will be Adam Weber making the adjustment to going under center more. I always did hate the fact that we were always in the shotgun. Just didn't like it.

 

[grunkiejr]

This was going to happen with ANY new OC. I'm sure they'll keep a lot of the plays installed before the bowl game. It's not like he's starting completely from scratch. The toughest part will be Adam Weber making the adjustment to going under center more. I always did hate the fact that we were always in the shotgun. Just didn't like it.

I agree. I know you can run out of the shotgun and plenty of teams do it effectively. However, I would rather have my running back taking a hand off with a running start and hitting a hole quickly. It's just much easier to run out of that type of a formation than out of the shotgun.

 

[The Big L]

I hope Fisch doesn/t install a complex system and will use the KISS principle. Its all about execution and not a thick playbook. The simpler the better.

Mike Martz strongly disagrees.

I don't want the playbook to be too skinny. How often did we complain last season about our lack of variety on offense. The one running play, lots of bubble screens, ect. I'm not saying we should go to a Martz-thick playbook, but I would like to see more variety this season.

 

[grunkiejr]

Mike Martz strongly disagrees.

I don't want the playbook to be too skinny. How often did we complain last season about our lack of variety on offense. The one running play, lots of bubble screens, ect. I'm not saying we should go to a Martz-thick playbook, but I would like to see more variety this season.

Dunbar had a very thick playbook which is why it was such a complex offense for freshman receivers to learn. He just wasn't very imaginative in how he called the game and how he attacked the defense.

 

[GopherGod]

Do you believe that he has been coaching for 8 years in the NFL and has not developed an offensive philosophy? I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he was asked about his offensive philosophy in his interview for the job.

After signing day he will spend his time talking to the position coaches and looking at film from last season so he can get a feel for the personnel that he has. I'll go out on another limb to say that the offensive quality control person is already putting the cut ups together for him.

Once he has a read on his offensive personnel he will go about fitting formations and plays to his personnel and that will be the offense. There obviously will be some power running formations with double tights, I-formation, etc. The running backs catch the ball well so he will make sure to get some screen plays in as well as plays where we can use them like a Bryan Westbrook catching the ball out of the backfield. We'll have good depth at WR so you'll see 3-4 receiver formations that allow us to get Decker, Green, and Carpenter on the field at the same time. With Carpenter and Allen being legitimate deep threats I'm sure you'll see them attack down field more than we did last year. If the line struggles you'll probably see more 3 step drops, that don't allow the D-line to get pressure on the QB, than we did this year. Smith is a big body receiver that should see more looks in the red zone so I'm sure he'll figure out ways to get him in there too. Weber and Gray are both good runners at QB so I'm sure you'll see some spread option read as a component of the running game.

This stuff isn't rocket science. A good offensive coordinator will understand his personnel and fit the scheme to the personnel. A great coordinator will understand the weaknesses in the opponents defense and figure out how to use the strengths of his personnel to attack their weaknesses.

As far as implementing the offense, he'll work as much in during spring practice as they can handle. Spring practice will also give him up close work with the personnel so he will likely come back in the fall with more ideas about exploiting the strengths of his personnel.

This should be exciting and I can't wait for the spring game.

Do you believe that he has been coaching for 8 years in the NFL and has not developed an offensive philosophy? I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he was asked about his offensive philosophy in his interview for the job.

I am sure he has developed an offensive philosophy but wouldn't take it as a given. Brewster was an offensive assistant for 17 years and never developed one, which is why he switched from a straight spread with Dunbar to now wanting to run the ball more.

 

[TheDinkytowner]

Brewster was an offensive assistant for 17 years and never developed one, which is why he switched from a straight spread with Dunbar to now wanting to run the ball more.

How is what Brew wanted any different that what Jeff Tedford at Cal wanted (Dunbar's former boss)? Did Tedford also not have an offensive philosophy?

 

[GopherGod]

How is what Brew wanted any different that what Jeff Tedford at Cal wanted (Dunbar's former boss)? Did Tedford also not have an offensive philosophy?

Tedford had the same philosophy before Dunbar got there and after he left. Can you tell me what is Brewster's philosophy then, I don't think he knows for sure.

 

[TheDinkytowner]

Tedford had the same philosophy before Dunbar got there and after he left. Can you tell me what is Brewster's philosophy then, I don't think he knows for sure.

I think I'm done posting for the night. Have fun!

 

[grunkiejr]

Tedford had the same philosophy before Dunbar got there and after he left. Can you tell me what is Brewster's philosophy then, I don't think he knows for sure.

Brewster wants to have an explosive offense that can put up points. He recognizes that you need to run the football to be an effective offense but he also wants to be able to have speed on the outside that can hurt a defense. The spread was the offense that Brewster felt gave him the best opportunity to recruit the athletic players that Brewster envisioned running his offense and that is why he hired Dunbar.

With the difficulty that we had converting short yardage situations Brewster is evolving in what he wants from his offense. The spread is not designed for short yardage situations and running out of the shotgun on those situations is difficult. Dunbar was a spread purist and didn't want to have the QB under center. We are not scrapping the spread all together, but we are evolving in the formations that we run (like Oklahoma does--mix of spread & power running).

If you pay attention, we are still recruiting the same type of players. QB's that have strong accurate arms and good mobility. The running backs all run 4.5 or faster, can catch out of the backfield, and the size varies by RB (different bodies for different situations). The WR's we are recruitng are all 5'11" or taller, run a 4.55 or faster, and there is a mixture of speed/deep threats and possession receivers. All the lineman are 6'3" or taller and have the body to be 300 lbs or greater. The fact that this hasn't changed indicates we shouldn't expect drastic changes in the offense.

Personally, I prefer a coach that continues to learn and experiment because his philosophy is evolving with the game around him.

 

[GopherGod]

Brewster wants to have an explosive offense that can put up points. He recognizes that you need to run the football to be an effective offense but he also wants to be able to have speed on the outside that can hurt a defense. The spread was the offense that Brewster felt gave him the best opportunity to recruit the athletic players that Brewster envisioned running his offense and that is why he hired Dunbar.

With the difficulty that we had converting short yardage situations Brewster is evolving in what he wants from his offense. The spread is not designed for short yardage situations and running out of the shotgun on those situations is difficult. Dunbar was a spread purist and didn't want to have the QB under center. We are not scrapping the spread all together, but we are evolving in the formations that we run (like Oklahoma does--mix of spread & power running).

If you pay attention, we are still recruiting the same type of players. QB's that have strong accurate arms and good mobility. The running backs all run 4.5 or faster, can catch out of the backfield, and the size varies by RB (different bodies for different situations). The WR's we are recruitng are all 5'11" or taller, run a 4.55 or faster, and there is a mixture of speed/deep threats and possession receivers. All the lineman are 6'3" or taller and have the body to be 300 lbs or greater. The fact that this hasn't changed indicates we shouldn't expect drastic changes in the offense.

Personally, I prefer a coach that continues to learn and experiment because his philosophy is evolving with the game around him.

Why did Brewster hire Dunbar in the first place then if he wanted to run the ball and Dunbar did not, could it be because he didn't have a philosophy and know what he wanted to do offensively when he was hired.

 

[grunkiejr]

Why did Brewster hire Dunbar in the first place then if he wanted to run the ball and Dunbar did not, could it be because he didn't have a philosophy and know what he wanted to do offensively when he was hired.

I know what you're saying, but I don't really think your statement is accurate. It's not like Dunbar ran a pass happy offense and we are suddenly moving to a run happy offense. We're still going to run a balanced offense.

Under Dunbar the number of running plays and passing plays was almost exactly equal. It may not have seemed like it but I saw a stat at the end of the year and it was within one percentage point.

I think Brewster grew tired of the ineffectiveness of the running game (11th in the Big Ten) and decided we needed to make a change to improve the performance of that aspect of the team. It's not that a team can't run effectively out of the spread, but we weren't running effectively out of the spread. Brewster decided that other spread teams like Oklahoma and Texas that were using power formations within their spread offenses were having more success running the football and that would help improve the effectiveness of our offense.

The only thing that has really changed is that Brewster saw a problem with the execution of what we were doing and he made a change.

Some of the greatest coaches in college football have continually reinvented themselves and what they are doing. Look at Oregon, the offense that they ran with Joey Harrington a few years ago was completely different than the spread offense they run today. Tressel runs his offense differently with Troy Smith or Terrelle Pryor at QB than with Boeckman at QB. A good coach must adjust their schemes to the talent that they have in the program so the philosophy is not tied in to being a spread team or a power running team as much as it being an attacking team (USC, Florida, what Minnesota is trying to do) versus a conservative ball control team (OSU, MSU, Alabama, Minnesota under Mason).

 

[btowngopher]

Why did Brewster hire Dunbar in the first place then if he wanted to run the ball and Dunbar did not, could it be because he didn't have a philosophy and know what he wanted to do offensively when he was hired.

You are so ignorant, quit making crap up to fit your entirely negative views. Back up your statements with some facts once in a while. Dunbar had a good history of producing exactly what Brewster wanted on offense. Dunbar coached many good running teams. There is a big difference between saying Dunbar did not want to run the ball and Dunbar was not effective with the running game. He has proven he wants to run the ball in the past. Drop the philosophy crap. Yeah I'm sure Brewster just hired some guy who has no clue what he wants to do with an offense, I'm sure he didn't even ask to see if they had similar views on offense. Spring practice is gonna start up and the offense will come out in the wishbone while a very suprised Brewster watches.