Poll. Weakest Link: Sanford or Morgan

Weakest Link:

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Pompous Elitist

Pompous Elitist

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Chicken or egg question. Is Morgan salvageable? I don’t know. I’m hopeful. This poll is an attempt to get a pulse of the fanbase.
 




There should be a third answer and that is Fleck.
Fleck won't sit Morgan and until he does, we don't know if it's the QB or the OC. It has become obvious that even though he won't bench Morgan, he doesn't trust him either. That is likely holding the play calling back.
 


This is a tough one for me. Earlier in the season, I would have said Sanford without hesitation due to the predictable offense, taking weeks to adjust running plays to the RBs talents (Mo is Mo), and poor pass routes that never provided an outlet in the case of pass rush pressure. On the other hand, Morgan has played poorly and has been exposed lately. His play, along with mediocre receiver play, has limited the play calling too. Overall, Sanford.
 

fmlizard said:
It's bigger than those two - the WRs aren't doing many favors - but I say Sanford.

I've seen Morgan perform well here without Sanford, but I haven't seen much in Sanford's resume elsewhere that says he makes offenses better over time.
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I would say wideout inconsistency #1
Morgan being late #2
Play calling 3


general scheme might be part of the cause of 1 and 2. So maybe coaching is 3.
I’m not sure you start over though. If they get rid of sanford, they should go outside hire for OC. Promoting from within is putting lipstick on a pig
 

FormerFatOL said:
This is a tough one for me. Earlier in the season, I would have said Sanford without hesitation due to the predictable offense, taking weeks to adjust running plays to the RBs talents (Mo is Mo), and poor pass routes that never provided an outlet in the case of pass rush pressure. On the other hand, Morgan has played poorly and has been exposed lately. His play, along with mediocre receiver play, has limited the play calling too. Overall, Sanford.
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I'm with you on this one. They both have some part in this debacle. But sanford is the coach and if he is coaching the offensive "weapons" and they are not performing, then I guess he's ultimately responsible. What worries me is maybe there is nothing that would be an improvement on the bench either at QB or receiver. They should be slaying defenses with the threat of this running game.
 

Mike Sanford is one of the worst OC I can remember. The playcalling has been brutal all year. But lately Tanner Morgan has been brutal. I actually felt like Sanford called a decent game vs Iowa. He tried to balance it out more between the pass and run. Tanner Morgan was brutal in both execution and decision making in this game.
  • Morgan could've walked into the end zone on that first drive but instead threw an absolute low percentage pass attempt.
  • The missed pass on the third down early in the 3Q killed both the drive and the momentum. I truly believe if that pass was completed, the Gophers go on to score a TD and win. It was such a momentum killer. Iowa's very next play after the punt was the long TD pass to Charlie Jones.
  • Morgan had "happy feet" all game. He clearly looked anxious and has lost confidence in himself (a lot of this can be put at the feet of the play calling earlier in the season).
 



fmlizard said:
I've seen Morgan perform well here without Sanford, but I haven't seen much in Sanford's resume elsewhere that says he makes offenses better over time.
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I said Morgan because my perspective in answering this question is "what can we do to improve the team for its last three games (including the bowl)?" Whatever blame Sanford deserves for Morgan's regression is water under the bridge and what's done is done. Morgan's fabulous moments as a starter are also water under the bridge. Morgan appears to be a bundle of stress and nerves right now and I don't think replacing an offensive coordinator at this point will make a difference to his psychological state.

I agree with Iamthewalrus' post that the offensive game plan overall was not the problem against Iowa. It was a pretty good one despite some poor play calls. Only two teams put up more than 400 yards against Iowa this season (us and Purdue).

I believe that we can beat Indiana regardless of who plays quarterback and we likely cannot beat Wisconsin regardless of the quarterback. Give Morgan a rest and let Kramer have a go at it. Maybe Morgan will be better by the time the bowl comes around and can be reinserted as the starter for his last game.
 

This is one of the best veteran OLs Minnesota has had in a long time. QB? Veteran with an excellent year in 2019. WR? Your head coach is a former WR and he and Simon have produced nfl WRs.

So the question to me is this: Given the above circumstances, how many college level offensive coordinators could churn out a better offense than what we've faired?

Logic says that Sanford, Simon, or Fleck is the weakest link here.

Morgan? I simply cannot blame him. If the playcalling is not producing good results, change your playcalling/playercaller. If a player is not producing good results, change your player. If a HC chooses to not budge on those... (whether wrong or right) they must be eying the long game. I honestly don't know and cannot think of another good reason a HC would put their season or job on the line.
 

Missing Fleck as an option. Ultimately, he’s accountable for the performance of both of them. He hired Sanford, and at the same time controls much of the play calling. Conservative approach.
 

Morgan has been rough this year. But the answer in Sanford. Anyone with an ounce of creativity or imagination would have been able to devise a gameplan to beat Bowling Green. Losing to Illinois is mostly inexcusable as well.
 




You forgot to add our O-line pass protect as an option. They have not helped the cause but with the two options, it appears our OC cannot adapt to fluid conditions on the field but many cannot.
 

A bad OC can be bailed out by superior/creative skill position play with QB being the most important. The Gophs don't have that. Both are issues.
 

This is an unanswerable question, because it assumes that the passing game issues originate at a focal point.

Can you have a successful passing game with the Gophers' WR corps? Yes. With a different QB.

Can you have a successful passing game with Tanner at QB? Yes. With a different WR corps.

In this regard, the offense is simply malformed. No matter what you do this season, it will be malformed.

Is Sanford responsible for its malformation? No. This isn't the NFL: you can't simply buy missing talent. Did Fleck/Sanford see this problem coming? Yes. That's why they went out and got Wright. You didn't see them signing a RB from the transfer portal, did you? Why not? Wright was your best bet at addressing the malformation. But he's not quite ready yet. It happens. Calm down.
 

Going With Sanford... but not because of any OC stuff. Simon and Fleck should deserve just as much derision.

Sanford, as QB coach, sure hasn't done anything to help Tanner improve, though. For that, he deserves the blame...
 

gopherjay said:
You forgot to add our O-line pass protect as an option. They have not helped the cause but with the two options, it appears our OC cannot adapt to fluid conditions on the field but many cannot.
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Mason brought up the pass protection in his appearance on Barrerio's show yesterday. Basically equated it to Morgan not feeling comfortable which contributes to his struggles.

I don't think the poll can be answered until we see another QB running Sanford's offense and that is unlikely to happen this year.

I did watch some highlights from 1999 and as has been discussed Johnson and Bateman made some amazing catches on balls that were not thrown the greatest. We are missing that ability to make the tough and spectacular catches in our current group of receivers.
 

touchdownvikings said:
This is an unanswerable question, because it assumes that the passing game issues originate at a focal point.

Can you have a successful passing game with the Gophers' WR corps? Yes. With a different QB.

Can you have a successful passing game with Tanner at QB? Yes. With a different WR corps.

In this regard, the offense is simply malformed. No matter what you do this season, it will be malformed.

Is Sanford responsible for its malformation? No. This isn't the NFL: you can't simply buy missing talent. Did Fleck/Sanford see this problem coming? Yes. That's why they went out and got Wright. You didn't see them signing a RB from the transfer portal, did you? Why not? Wright was your best bet at addressing the malformation. But he's not quite ready yet. It happens. Calm down.
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The play calling has been piss poor for the better part of the last 2 seasons. The rhythm and the way plays are set up and called have all been sub par. The longer Sanford is here the more you'll see it. He is in over his head.
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
The play calling has been piss poor for the better part of the last 2 seasons. The rhythm and the way plays are set up and called have all been sub par. The longer Sanford is here the more you'll see it. He is in over his head.
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The Iowa game was one exception where it really felt like they diagnosed something in the Iowa defense and found a way to exploit it. But outside of that I totally agree that there is no rhythm with the constant sideline checks and the running around like crazy right up until the last second of the play clock.

The sideline checks are very common but I just don't see teams running that system look as frantic as we do while making checks right up to the very last second. The hard part is knowing how much of that is on Morgan and how much is on Sanford.

I won't be shocked to see Sanford pursue another opportunity in the off season. But if he is back I really hope they get it figured out to the point where we can get back to snapping the ball with some time on the play clock the way we did before Sanford got here.

If we are going to run the no huddle, sideline check system, we need to get to a point where the play is called, the check is made and then we go. This is how a lot of teams do it, not sure why we aren't able to.

I know Fleck wants to control TOP but I don't think he is dictating this style of burn the entire play clock offense we are running. Watching some video from 2019 it looked like we were snapping the ball with time on the clock and not rushing to get the play off at the end of the clock the way we so often do now.
 

touchdownvikings said:
This is an unanswerable question, because it assumes that the passing game issues originate at a focal point.

Can you have a successful passing game with the Gophers' WR corps? Yes. With a different QB.

Can you have a successful passing game with Tanner at QB? Yes. With a different WR corps.

In this regard, the offense is simply malformed. No matter what you do this season, it will be malformed.

Is Sanford responsible for its malformation? No. This isn't the NFL: you can't simply buy missing talent. Did Fleck/Sanford see this problem coming? Yes. That's why they went out and got Wright. You didn't see them signing a RB from the transfer portal, did you? Why not? Wright was your best bet at addressing the malformation. But he's not quite ready yet. It happens. Calm down.
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Good points. For example, this sort of sideline pass (tried many times unsuccessfully by Morgan), then catch and run, simply isn't happening this year.

 

FormerFatOL said:
Good points. For example, this sort of sideline pass (tried many times unsuccessfully by Morgan), then catch and run, simply isn't happening this year.
t
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TJ was a very gifted receiver. Could really elevate, and made very difficult adjustments look easy. Several of those catches simply wouldn’t be made this year.
 
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Gophergrandpa said:
TJ was a very gifted receiver. Could really elevate, and made very difficult adjustments look easy.
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Yeah, he and Bateman were special. They made some crazy difficult catches look easy.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
There should be a third answer and that is Fleck.
Fleck won't sit Morgan and until he does, we don't know if it's the QB or the OC. It has become obvious that even though he won't bench Morgan, he doesn't trust him either. That is likely holding the play calling back.
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This really is the correct answer.

- Fleck and his nepotism hired Sanford in the first place, over a more qualified candidate.
- Fleck and his loyalty won't fire Sanford until it's way too late.
- Fleck and his nature towards players won't bench Tanner until it's way too late.


Fleck did this. He did all of it.
 

Some guy said:
I would say wideout inconsistency #1
Morgan being late #2
Play calling 3


general scheme might be part of the cause of 1 and 2. So maybe coaching is 3.
I’m not sure you start over though. If they get rid of sanford, they should go outside hire for OC. Promoting from within is putting lipstick on a pig
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I would put play calling #1
Coaching of the QB #2
Inconsistent WR play and Tanner being late at 3a and 3b.

We run way to many passing plays where Tanner has one read and one read only. Teams have figured it out and are taking it away more often than before.
Tanner was incrementally improving from year to year while KC was the OC. Since Sanford has been his AB coach he has not improved. Coincidence...I think not.
Don't agree that if Sanford isn't back they should look outside for an OC. Find a guy who can be the AB coach and let Simon call plays as he's been with PJ for a long time and knows the type of offense that he wants to run, but as the Auburn game showed, he is willing to make some gutsy play calls.
 

fmlizard said:
It's bigger than those two - the WRs aren't doing many favors - but I say Sanford.

I've seen Morgan perform well here without Sanford, but I haven't seen much in Sanford's resume elsewhere that says he makes offenses better over time.
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Iss he #1 by a mile is Sanford. WR issue #2, then morgan
 

MNVCGUY said:
Mason brought up the pass protection in his appearance on Barrerio's show yesterday. Basically equated it to Morgan not feeling comfortable which contributes to his struggles.

I don't think the poll can be answered until we see another QB running Sanford's offense and that is unlikely to happen this year.

I did watch some highlights from 1999 and as has been discussed Johnson and Bateman made some amazing catches on balls that were not thrown the greatest. We are missing that ability to make the tough and spectacular catches in our current group of receivers.
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Highlight reel catches are but few. In '19 Morgan also threw a couple hundred good balls on the money. He has just mysteriously lost a lot of that. Sanford is a factor but Tanner has also lost his confidence.
 

Some guy said:
I would say wideout inconsistency #1
Morgan being late #2
Play calling 3


general scheme might be part of the cause of 1 and 2. So maybe coaching is 3.
I’m not sure you start over though. If they get rid of sanford, they should go outside hire for OC. Promoting from within is putting lipstick on a pig
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As a “good” college coach, you adjust to your players strenghts.

Sanford is running these weird route trees that take so long to develop. Hes putting his receivers and QB in bad positions.
 

Dakota2 said:
Highlight reel catches are but few. In '19 Morgan also threw a couple hundred good balls on the money. He has just mysteriously lost a lot of that. Sanford is a factor but Tanner has also lost his confidence.
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Might partly be due to not trusting his receivers.
 

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