Great season, my one beef and then I'm moving on to Auburn game.

[Bamabuzzard]

I think CMS should be signed to a very long term contract after the season.....and I'm being serious. He is a VERY VERY good HEAD COACH and the best person to coach and lead this program.

But, I just don't think he is the best we can do as a playcaller. I think his offensive playcalling is very very questionable. He tends to go away from things that are working, unless "what is working" is the up the middle runs. Today's game is a prime example. LSU couldn't stop our runs to the outside, especially when we pulled the guard and brought the WR down to seal the end. LSU NEVER showed that they had an answer to that yet in the second half we all but abandoned it....WHY? We were getting chunks of yardage running out side and then quit doing it? Why stop running the draw play (to slow down the rush like we did in the first half) when it worked so well in the first half to slow down the front line of LSU? Please someobdy explain the rationale behind that. In a game this big what would rationalize going away from what worked the entire first half? I'm just baffled as to why we went away from multiple things that were keeping the rush off of us the entire first half. :conf2: Folks, I understand the OL circumstances (youth, inexperience, injuries) but we found away in the first half to have success with this line then went away from it in the second half. That is something I can't understand or explain.

That is the biggest problem I've had with CMS. I think he is a wonderful HEAD COACH, but I don't think he is a very good offensive mind. Not being a great offensive mind doesn't mean he's not a good coach, and it doesn't mean he needs to be axed. It just means we might be better off if he delegated the offensive playcalling to someone who specializes in it. I don't think that is such a "detestable" idea.

I've stated my beef and I still think we've had a great season. We just need to make some tweeks and adjustments this offseason and I think we'll be back strong for next year.

Great OVERALL job Coach Shula, you've won nine games and let's go get ten next weekend.

 

[Jaco]

great post, I completely agree with everything you said. However, when I question the play calling, i'm accused of bashing the team. nevertheless, good post

 

[RamJam]

Ya know what...that may be one of the best posts as far as the "presentation" of the question, issue, etc ever...AT LEAST with the point being made, BB has given accolades where they are due & has stated his loyalty despite the question - I appreciate that & I know the staff & players would too.

 

[babyray]

I think he called a good game. He can't block for the line and keep the d-line off of #12. He can't throw the deep ball that #12 overthrew numerous times. He can't catch the ball for #84. All he can do is call the plays.Its up to the players to execute them.

Question, if #84 catches the passes that hit him in the hands, do we win? If we win, do you make this post?

 

[RamJam]

Jaco - I think it comes down to HOW we make the questions, disappointments, issues, etc sound...showing our loyalty & support DESPITE the issue keeps it from being downright TRASH-TALKING or fair-weather, it's just all in the presentation...

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I think he called a good game. He can't block for the line and keep the d-line off of #12. He can't throw the deep ball that #12 overthrew numerous times. He can't catch the ball for #84. All he can do is call the plays.Its up to the players to execute them.

Question, if #84 catches the passes that hit him in the hands, do we win? If we win, do you make this post?

I totally agree with in that players make plays not coaches. But it is the coaches job to recognize that his wr's are dropping A LOT of balls (tonight) and his qb is badly off target with this deep balls. In recognizing this I would believe that he would want to start calling plays that his team is having success with rather than continuing to go back to plays that his team isn't having success with. It doesn't matter who's fault it is that the plays aren't working, the bottom line is they aren't working so why keep calling them?

Why not go back to the things that your team was having success with and call more of those plays rather than the ones that have proven aren't working?

 

[bayoutider]

We have always said it's not what you say but how you say it.

 

[babyray]

BB,

#84 is on scholarship and plays WR for BAMA. He oughta be able to catch a ball every now and then. The right plays were called tonite. LSU has more talented players. That's why we lost. JMO.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

BB,

#84 is on scholarship and plays WR for BAMA. He oughta be able to catch a ball every now and then. The right plays were called tonite. LSU has more talented players. That's why we lost. JMO.

Again, I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU. But the fact of the matter is that at that point and time you have to recognize that (though it is the player's fault and not the coach's for the dropped balls) you have to go to something else that your players ARE EXECUTING RIGHT. That part of the responsibililty falls on the coach's shoulders.

Continuing to go to plays that aren't working, irregardless of "who's fault it is" is just plain hard headed. Do you see where I'm coming from? Sure, the receivers should have caught those passes but they weren't. So, in KNOWING that your wr's aren't having a great day of catching the ball, why continue to call that many passing plays, when your running plays to the outside was gashing the LSU defense? At some point that "fault" passes from the player to the coach.

 

[Dakotatider]

I agree with you. I just think that the Jimmy Johns play and the outside runs were working and would have opened our offense much more to do other things. I question that also.

 

[bamar]

i believe most of the plays are being called by mr. radar the offensive coordinator. of course, coach shula can change any of them he wants, and i agree, i would like to have seen more of johns at qb, in the second half, with rollout, and maybe a pitch to coffee. we needed to change something because they were destroying our offensive line between the tackles the whole second half. especially britt up the gut, which resulted in brodie being mauled. they kept coming. we stepped up in class tonight, and our offensive line just was not up to it. we will get to that level soon. i wish someone would have asked kines to blitz russell more on 3d down. especially on the overtime touchdown play 3 and 6, rushing 4 and russell had all day to find the open receiver. I kept thinking watching the ga and auburn game and russell for LSU, if brodie had the time those qbs had he would pass for over 3000 yards this year. what a shame.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

i believe most of the plays are being called by mr. radar the offensive coordinator. of course, coach shula can change any of them he wants, and i agree, i would like to have seen more of johns at qb, in the second half, with rollout, and maybe a pitch to coffee. we needed to change something because they were destroying our offensive line between the tackles the whole second half. especially britt up the gut, which resulted in brodie being mauled. they kept coming. we stepped up in class tonight, and our offensive line just was not up to it. we will get to that level soon. i wish someone would have asked kines to blitz russell more on 3d down. especially on the overtime touchdown play 3 and 6, rushing 4 and russell had all day to find the open receiver. I kept thinking watching the ga and auburn game and russell for LSU, if brodie had the time those qbs had he would pass for over 3000 yards this year. what a shame.

I believe this topic came up last season and one of the mods posted that Shula calls all plays. Could someone that knows for a fact confirm that? I might be mistaken though. Either way, the play callings is very suspect and predictable.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Here is a quote from Mr. RADER...

from three weeks ago: "Mike Shula is a heck of a play caller."

 

[Bamabuzzard]

from three weeks ago: "Mike Shula is a heck of a play caller."

Thanks.


TIDE-HSV,


Though I don't always agree with you, I always like reading/hearing your opinions and assessments. What are your thoughts on our offensive shortcomings (for tonight and all season) and your opinion on what is/are the problem(s) with our offensive ineptness. Is ALL just youth and injuries? :conf2:

 

[Bama_Deb]

I agree with your assessment Bamabuzzard 150%!!! I've been saying the same thing for 3 years now. Bama has much, much better success with outside runs compared to stright up the middle. Why oh why do they insist calling up the middle runs when 99% of the time it doesn't work. Our O-line can't keep 'em off Brodie, much less create holes for the run up the middle. I can see it if that play was called every once in a while to mix it up. I am just so sick and tired of watching our RB run straight into a brick wall. Darby's style is much more suited for outside running by getting his momentum going and being able to throw off tackles on the run. Man, if the Bama coaches would read just one post on this board, I wish it were this one! Great post!

 

[TommyMac]

The rap against Coach Shula as the OC of Tampa Bay was the predictability of his offense. I got into a lot of spirited arguments over that perception, I blamed Tony Dungy for handcuffing him, but it looks like I may have been wrong. Even so, we were put into a lot of plays that should have been successful, but were killed due to a lack of execution, i.e., no pass protection and dropped passes. Coach Shula can't control those things.

 

[Chukker Veteran]

We started off the season looking much better in the second half, with great halftime adjustments. That's one reason the second half was so disappointing yesterday.
If Shula continues to show the year to year improvement we have seen so far, everything should fall in place about the time our depth is back to normal.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

The rap against Coach Shula as the OC of Tampa Bay was the predictability of his offense. I got into a lot of spirited arguments over that perception, I blamed Tony Dungy for handcuffing him, but it looks like I may have been wrong. Even so, we were put into a lot of plays that should have been successful, but were killed due to a lack of execution, i.e., no pass protection and dropped passes. Coach Shula can't control those things.

I certainly agree with you that the entire barrel of pooh can't be dumped on Coac Shula but he certainly deserves a portion of the share.

I can't argue that players were put in position (by CMS playcalling) to make plays and they didn't, i.e. Brodie continuing to over throw wide open receivers and the wr's continuing to drop ball after ball.

But here's where I think CMS carries part of the blame. It was no secret that the first half our outside running, sweeps and draw plays were having excellent success at slowing down the LSU defense. It also was no secret that the our passing game was mediocre at best in the first half with the dropped balls and Brodie just simply missing receivers.

So in KNOWING that, CMS went totally away from what was working and kept trying to make something work that hadn't worked for most of the game. Now I could see where toward the end of the game where he had to pass but I'm talking about before that time. Why abandoned pretty much EVERYTHING that was working and go to things such as up the gut run attempts and third and 2 passing when it hadn't worked for most of the game? That is where I think he failed. But as for as the players not making plays, you're right. They stunk it up in that aspect.

 

[ed4tide4u2]

BB,

#84 is on scholarship and plays WR for BAMA. He oughta be able to catch a ball every now and then. The right plays were called tonite. LSU has more talented players. That's why we lost. JMO.

Please do not blame this entire loss on #84. He is a sophomore and though he did drop some passes, this loss is not on his back. It is a team loss. Did you mention that our QB overthrew receivers on plays that could have been scores? Am I blaming him? No I am not. Our coach does call plays as if he is still at Tampa Bay. We don't have much adjustments after halftime for the offense. Everything BB said is correct but he is not blaming one player. #84 is a young player who will get better in time. If you destroy the confidence of a player by blaming him for a loss, he'll never get better and the rest of the team won't either. I think we need more imagination in play calling. I hate to say it but watching AU, makes me wish we had that diversity in play calling that they execute each game. I hope we can get better by next week but if not, I am still proud of this team and will not blame any one player for a 9 win season.

 

[dvldog]

Definitely not a coach and I really think we are lucky to have some real good ones right now. I hope we keep them all for a long time. That said, play calling has been a little suspect and especially in the second half last nite. One of the axiom's of play calling is "keep doing it until they adjust" then you adjust to some other part of your game that is strong. In this case, we changed before they adopted. Thus we played to their strength and not ours.

BB is correct. LSU really did not stop us in the first half. So why change in the second until they adjusted their defense? Why not keep calling the same plays and when they adjust their approach e.g less pressure to cover the draws and end runs; then you start with the longer balls off play action giving you a little more time for the quaterback and a little more space for the receiver to get open.

Regardless, we are having a great season. Team and coaches are giving max effort. Lets beat Aubarn, win a bowl game, capture some great recruits and continue the rise. Roll Tide!