Understanding this man...

This argument is clearly a strawman.

3). It requires players who will improvise and ignore Davis’ calls:

So true, So depressing.

Shit, one of the greatest non-VY victories under Mack was the last-minute win over Tech in Lubbock when Chance and Roy said fuck no to whatever GD GD had called. Roy deep = 6 points and the W.

You seem to have glossed over the paragraph following that point Black Scholes.

How many losses will it take this year for Mack to succumb to the calls for his incompetent OC’s job? I don’t think Mack is a stupid guy….his loyalty to GD has probably cost him one NC, and maybe 2 considering the level of talent that has graced the 40 acres. Greg Davis is about the only wrong button Mack has pushed and he refuses to let his finger off of it. Mack need decide if he wants to win another NC or two before he retires. VY’s incredible athletic talent in combination with a great team gave him one, but it took VY’s heroics to make that happen.

I heard Barry Switzer quuted the other day saying in essence, he doesn’t understand how Texas with the talent they get does not win the Big 12 every year. The answer is simple, the subject of this post.

“It’s an offense that is theoretically unstoppable and more versatile than any other but in practice has yielded the inconsistent putridity we have come to know and hate.”

This is the basic dichotomy of theory/experimentation. In science, when experiment contradicts theory, generally theory is tweaked until it conforms better to experiment. When theory can no longer be tweaked to conform to experimental results, new theory is needed. Worldview often influences the nature of theory. Sometimes, theory cannot change until the world view, the context in which theory is steeped, changes. Thomas Kuhn called this a paradigm shift.

We need a paradigm shift. Who’s willing to contribute a pair of dimes to it?

Nickel, great post. I get so tired of posts saying Davis is an idiot. Obviously, he’s no idiot. He does, however, have flaws. Still, the task he manages- developing an offense, designing, collecting and selecting plays, supervising assistants, developing depth charts, creating game plans and calling games- is a sizable undertaking. That said, he does have flaws, and there are better OCs out there.

A couple of points- You say:

“(his system needs-) A simple running game that can be implemented without stealing the necessary reps necessary to get the timing, routes and protections down.”

and point out that:

“6). Davis sucks without the zone-read.”

I look at it a different way, and think point 3 quoted is a bug, and not a feature. The Davis passing system works great when paired with a top running game, and stinks when paired with a poor ground game. The offense Davis wants to run, and has failed at creating – a balanced spread where the QB doesn’t run- is a good idea. That description fits Bama’s and OU’s offense. Their offenses work because they have good running games. Davis’ (Texas’) doesn’t because we don’t have good running attacks, and it’s not all attributable to the lack of an elite RB.

Texas would be far better served by practicing the passing game less and the ground game more. Improved timing in the OL will help more than any marginal improvement with the receivers. In 1998, 2004 – 2006, receivers were wide open because of the running threat, and the passing game was at its most effective.

my goal here is not to prevent the hatred of Greg Davis

You successfully avoided achieving your non-goal.

so you need to be at a pure football or private school in order to run the WCO effectively.

paging mike leach?? in fact, paging dana holgorson. you guys have the funds necessary to pay 2 head coaches and keep mack on in a fund raising / dealing with the doners capacity. a simple scheme on offense, the state’s best athletes on defense. am i missing something?

Was Leach running the WCO? If not, who does in college? UH?

There are programs, like those two, that employ the passing game first and seem to have success every year (at least with their offense) and they do it with talent that UT doesn’t even recruit. This would indicate a system simple enough where you plug in players and watch them succeed.

Good stuff

"I don’t think Mack is a stupid guy."

I believe that’s correct. Does it then put too fine a point on it to say that Mack is, right now, literally choosing between his legacy and his loyalty?

It’s said of presidents, as they approach the end of their term, that they all think there’s room for one more face on Mount Rushmore. Mack’s bound to have contemplated his face up there. Is he really willing to allow one dysfunctional piece to prevent it?

Mack won’t shit-can anyone during the season, but this will be an interesting off-season, especially if we drop two or three more.

Davis seems to have a firm grasp on his own job security. He is comfortable in the knowledge that he can run the system he wants (WCO) and just bide his time until he gets the right combo of talent to make it work.

“Texas would be far better served by practicing the passing game less and the ground game more.”

Indeed. But with only 20 hours of practice per week I imagine the running game gets less time than the passing game. Hell, rumor has it that Mike Leach never allotted any time to the running game during practices in Lubbock.

The basic philosophy is that the offense can throw the ball virtually every down on these short, occasionally adjusted, timed routes and complete them at a high percentage.

So you’re saying the GD offense is the Air Raid, only it should be more aptly coined the Roman Candle.

“Was Leach running the WCO? If not, who does in college? UH?”

Leach’s offense was called “The Spread”, a variant of the WCO. Many, many college teams run the spread.

"I don’t think Mack is a stupid guy."

Nope, he’s being patient. He believes that the offense will click eventually, it’s just taking longer than expected. The question is: is his belief reasonable?

I disagree a little bit.

Davis makes a lot of mistakes, but to say that the offense will only work with experienced combinations of qb/wr seems off. The offense performed pretty well in the second half of the NC game against Alabama and Gilbert looked promising. I doubt he had much reps with those WR’s either. The problem is that our WR’s a) don’t block anyone on the screens, or any plays for that matter…besides M. Williams, and b) run sloppy routes when they do go downfield along with c) don’t focus enough to catch the ball and get the required depth on their routes. The reality is that there just isn’t any superstar talent on offense this year. Talent, yes. Superstar talent, no.

Nickel:

Nice rational discussion, which is needed given our emotional attachments to Texas football.

The time constraint & personnel turnover are the factors that really stand out to me as limiting. Davis’ system probably could be successful if he had enough time and player continuity to put in the necessary repetitions – specifically, those needed to develop the rushing game. As you noted, he robs reps on the rushing game to focus on the passing game, and with lack of turnkey rushing plays the rush performance falls behind.

I agree that Davis isn’t stupid, though he is blinded by the commitment to his model. Lurker put it well in terms of the theory needing adjustment based on empirical evidence that fails to support it.

“3). Versatility from the non-WR skill players. If you play the WCO with a tight end, running back and fullback those guys better be able to get out into routes AND know protections.”

You mean like a fucking TE and fullback? Brent Jones and Tom Rathman were perfect for those roles. GDGD would put Harris Barton at TE and have Montana check down. Yes Taylor, GD is an idiot. A stubborn one at that. He allows his QB to improvise, because he can’t do it himself.

The West Coast Offense is sort of a misnomer as it goes back even further than Walsh. The 9ers didn’t throw nearly as “horizontal” as you think, and certainly not as much as the Rube in the Box. Yes, they threw short, but always giving the WR a chance to make a play. This is where accuracy is key. The staple of Walsh’s WCO was the slant. Anyone remember John Taylor housing two for 90 + against the Rams on MNF? Both slants. Rice made a living off of that, with Montana or Young hitting him in stride he was afforded the chance to make a play. We don’t run slants. Malcolm Williams should make a killing off of that. “He can’t catch.” I realize that, give him reps on the fucking slant, and he’ll catch it. Rep him 100 throws a day. Fuck the jug machine. Give him live action.

What was the death blow when the D jumped the short routes? The post. Rice probably caught 50 of his touchdowns (maybe more) off of defensive overplay. How often do we run posts?

Oh, and Rice, though a superstar was always a willing blocker in the run game. As was John Taylor and just about any other WR that played for Walsh/Siefert.

And Nickel, that’s one of your better posts. I have a close friend that played for GD, and to hear my friend explain GD’s offense you’d think it’s unstoppable. As you mentioned, it’s fine art as it appears on paper. It’s a freaking train wreck as it appears on TV and in person. You have to wonder just what Shallow Greg is actually looking at.

“The time constraint & personnel turnover are the factors that really stand out to me as limiting. "

That’s where McCoy spoiled them, he was plug-and-play. Colt came in as a RS frosh and threw a 60 yd. touchdown on his second career pass. Wound up breaking the freshman touchdown record and throwing for 68% in his first year. I suspect that they thought Gilbert would do the same, forgetting that they had Quan and Charles in 2006.

That pass was to Limas Vs. Baylor, right? Colt’s Fr. year was somewhat of a mirage. He got a way with a lot of bad decisions. Finley saved him from throwing 3 or 4 picks in the endzone that year. I got into it with some friends by saying Colt wasn’t that damn good. Colt came back and proved me right the next year, and then went back to proving me wrong after GD designed an offense suited for his abilities. GD was nails in ‘08. We’ve all given him love for that year. And then the evolution stopped.

Last year, everyone knew exactly what we were going to do. If Colt were here this year, I suspect he regression in his effectiveness would continue.

EnglishAg-

You’re instincts are spot on, but you’re missing the fact that Mack Brown will NEVER get rid of Greg Davis. Moot point.

Fine post, NR, of the sort that makes this blog so worth the read.

GD’s philosophy is 20+ years old. As you note, the book on defending it has been written and memorized by adequate defensive coaches. The game has certainly passed GD by.

Another factor (a bit off the beaten path of your subject) is the failure of this offensive staff to recruit to the philosophy, resulting in a number of talented players that don’t fit the scheme very well and are wasted.

I thought it was called West Coast because it was first used effectively by Walsh when he was in California, though your explanantion makes some sense too.

This is a fun site. It is just as entertaining as the old 360bbs was during the MacKovic Wars. There really hasn’t been anything like that until now. Thank you, Founding Bloggers!!!!

Of course, there are no wars going on here as the site is well moderated. Or I presume it is as there are no nut cases, bullies, or ego maniacs (thankfully, the latter have all gone off to super secret private bbs). But there is no Santini, either.

The bloggers do a great job of creating content and the posters provide some really good feedback and discussion. AND ITS FREE.

We are all a bit obsessed with GD lately, and much less tolerant of what I hope is a slight downturn in football fortunes than I had hoped we would be when it inevitably happened. I knew it would come someday, but I have no idea how deep this slump will be.

What I find fascinating is the difficulty so many programs have in recruiting well to support the HC’s over-arching vision for the football team. McWilliams and Mackovic failed at it. Even DKR had serious slumps in the mid-60s and late-70s. Now MB has repeated history and it creates huge cracks in his armor. Clearly GG and most of the O do not measure up to the level of talent we saw when Vince and Colt were pups. Now my biggest concern is not the WCO, but what is in the talent pipeline and will it get here soon enough?

Mack Brown will NEVER get rid of Greg Davis.

Agreed. But, we don’t need him “fired” – we need him effectively out of the loop.

Kick Greg Upstairs.

Make him “Deputy Assistant Head Coach for Offensive Strategy” or whatever title sounds good to them both. Hire a new OC or promote Applewhite and give him his shot. Just remove Greg’s authority over any aspect of the team.

K. G. U. Kick Greg Upstairs.

Get this idea to Jamail and other Big Dogs and get it done.

“That pass was to Limas Vs. Baylor, right? "

No, Colt’s first TD was vs. The Mean Green of North Texas.

Logical. However, the origin of the phrase lies in the fact that Walsh, Young, and Montana are all associated with America’s West Coast (SF Bay area).

What Davis runs might be called a Flyover Offense.

In the Flyover Offense, the entire middle of the field, from the center forward to the end zone, is considered in the way people like Paris Hilton sometimes consider “flyover states” — a big place in the center that’s of no account, which has no potential, and which must never be taken seriously.

Davis’ great contribution to the traditional Flyover Offense is the sideways and backwards element. First you aim for the coasts, ala old-school Flyover, then you fail to reach them, instead retreating either backwards or sideways depending on your read of the defense.

This is in close accordance with Mack’s policy of taking what the defense gives you.

Mack realized some time ago that current FBS defenses invariably fail to cover the area behind the quarterback. Therefore, he worked hand-in-hand with Davis to develop a team capable of fully exploiting that region.

Like Torbush, the game has passed him by. When Davis came here, nickels were the sign of a weak defense trying to catch up, and the 20-hour/week rule didn’t exist.

(The) Ohio State showed everyone how to stop UT a couple of years ago, one broken tackle (QUAAAAAAN!!!) notwithstanding. Since then, good defenses have humiliated Texas and Texas does nothing to adjust.

When they came here, these coaches talked about winning with talent rather than scheme. Today, that sounds to me like coaches who don’t want to do their jobs after signing day.

But I do remember that Brown wanted Torbush to come here with him from UNC. He had Brown’s full confidence. Just think about that.

He even told Norm Chow as much when instructing him in the usage of Vince. Clearly Chow didn’t listen.

The thought that GD GD had the wherewithal to teach Chow something is laughable.

Louis L’am Jones said:

October 6th, 2010 at 8:10 am

What Davis runs might be called a Flyover Offense.

In the Flyover Offense, the entire middle of the field, from the center forward to the end zone, is considered in the way people like Paris Hilton sometimes consider "flyover states" — a big place in the center that’s of no account, which has no potential, and which must never be taken seriously.

Amen, brother.

I think it’s a function of how Mack-Greg is risk-averse. They probably believe that the middle of the field is where turnovers sprout like wildflowers on TX highways.

Unfortunately, you only handcuff your offense by limiting it to the sides along or behind (!) the LOS.

There must be something way over my head about what Davis thinks he’s doing, because I cannot for the life of me understand how one play is supposed to set up another. The lone exception was the late score in a losing effort in Lubbock two years ago, when Davis built a pump and go off of a play that had just generated a pick six for the Gay Blade.

… but that play only yielded a pick six because Davis ran it too often. The LB said he couldn’t believe they kept running it, so he picked it.

Great write up, Nickel. I’m still seeing too many comments suggesting Mack might do something in the offseason with a couple more losses. Let’s say it once again, Greggy aint going no where. In Mack’s eyes, even from an impersonal perspective, Greg has done enough to warrant seasons of “transition” (e.g. offenses that suck so bad you can hear them sucking).

Let’s not forget that Mack is an offensive minded coach. It’s what he did, so for Greg to hang around so long means that Mack must see things similar to Greg. While their philosophical differences have been expounded upon in times past (Mack likes to run, Greg likes to throw), I’ll bet they are somewhat likeminded at this point. I could be way off on that, I don’t have inside sources like just about every poster here so it’s pure guesswork on my part. However, let’s not just assume it’s all Greg. We were utterly humiliated by UCLA, and clearly Mack didn’t do much to demand change from Greg since the first two plays were negative yarders to Kirkendoll. They both think they are clever offensive strategists.

Fantastic post Nickel.

You have spoken what was welled up inside me and caused me many nights of study in the UT Law Library with a team of grad Psych students trying to dissect the enigma that is Davis.
Now I’m going to have to start cutting myself this season….just so I can feel something.

Last year, I am one of those that gained access to the Enigma Davis. Armed with my questions that should have shut him down and made him feel like Forest Gump at a spelling contest. I walked away with nothing other than feeling like Eric Massa after a shower encounter with Rahm Emanuel.

Davis is an intimidating figure one on one. He’s much like Dick Cheney with his scary pinpoint intellect backed by a “let’s go hunting, you little shit” grin and folded arm demeanor.

I had to diffuse him by asking for his autograph, it really threw him off, he didn’t see that one coming. It was all I had though, much like a statue of Liberty play from Rice on an opening
drive.

He did openly admit to me that he uses the better part of the first half to probe the defense.
Hence the non aggressive sideways and backwards. He’s watching to see how the defense reacts. When we bust a running play to never see it return, it’s based on how the defense is reacting. Other than that, I walked away with nothing.

Davis admitted that he would rather make mistakes and fall behind in the first half because games are won in the second half and Mack partakes in this flavor of Koolaid by the washtubful. When hearing this in person, I was ready to move to French Guayana and work on a farm for this guy.

This is why Mack defers receiving the ball until the second half. This is why we are a 4th quarter/2nd half team.

My old rowing coach used to yell at me…….“Quit thinking too much!!, just row!” This is Davis’s weakness.

Davis does something very well that can’t be denied……..develop quarterbacks. Let us not forget that Vince Young sucked until halfway through his sophomore year (averaging 2 turnovers per game) and Davis raised from a pup the winningest quarterback of all NCAA time.

That being said, I’ve always hated him. Why? The mob love love loves a running game and a big bomb throw. He teases us with both.

There are a few reasons we don’t have 4 total National Championships under Mack Brown, and it isn’t Greg Davis’s fault:
  
1. Vince Young goes pro early.
2. Blake Gideon drops INT/ Earl Thomas blows coverage on Crabtree in 2008 Tech game.
3. Colt McCoy loses his arm in 2009 MNC game.
4. Chris Simms loses his boner in Big 12 Championship Game against Colorado.

So there you go, we were in line for 4, and debatable, 5 National Championships with him……..and I can’t wait to see him leave.

We would have been curbstomped by Miami in 2001.

No emoticons here. No rolling smiley faces. This blog board sucks.

Good Post.

We would have been curbstomped by Miami in 2001.

Ha, that would’ve been ugly.

And no offense, but the rest of the list is pretty silly too. Every quality team has bad breaks (or completely expected breaks, like Vince leaving early) that they could point to as defeating their MNC title chances. It happens every year to several teams.

Check out this projected 2012 depth chart here. The poster may have gotten some things wrong; mostly irrelevant for the discussion as to who lines up where.

http://www.burntorangenation.com/2010/10/6/1733683/2012-wrs-cayleb-jones-and-bralon-addison

The hope is that it will answer your points.

1. Improvisation – I think we all expect Gilbert can be the guy to do this. Clearly, he’s done a better job at LT than here, but he’s 5 starts in. Lest we forget what Colt’s and Vince’s first 5 starts looked like.

2. Playmakers – Davis, Shipley, Goodwin, White. That sounds like a pretty good base to start with. God knows what we’ll do with MB and Bergeron trying to mix and match a 4-wide spread with a power running game, but at least the man’s got options.

3. Horizontalism – well, at the very least we might have some willing blockers in White and Shipley. It’s not like we don’t have the quickness to turn a bubble screen into a 7 yard game. Wait, never mind.

4. Pass protection – that o-line depth is starting to look a lot better, huh? That’s a solid 2-deep if everyone develops as expected. Mac or otherwise.

5. Zone read – it’s not coming back unless Texas decides to recruit Matt Davis as a QB. Sorry. Fuck it, I’m throwing it to the left hash.

Davis develops QB’s well is simply a myth. There is not one good example of that. Neither Vince Young or Chris Simms could read defenses worth a damn when they got out, and Colt doesn’t see the field at all beyond 8 yards. I can tell you for a fact the great concern for Garrett Gilbert expressed to me by a former NFL QB is he will not be developed properly by GD.

I don’t know how smart GD is, but he’s been consistently dumber than the opposing defensive coordinator lately.

Jerry Rice caught 1500 balls and averaged about 15 YPC with only a handful of yards after contact.

He was ALWAYS on the move downfield. Texas doesnt run that version of the WCO at all.

Walsh scripted the first 15 plays so he could see the defense react. His intent thereafter was to gash your ass later, using that information.

I am not sure what Davis’ intent is. As a game caller he is rigid and without just the right combo of talent that is fatal.

I have known many lawyers like him. Brilliant sounding guys who can give you a victory if they have overwhelming advantages. Kinda like General Bernard Law Montgomery. But throw them a couple curveballs and their heads explode.

Look, the guy is a turtle. We have all met that guy and probably worked for him. Pedantic cocktail party genius who shits his pants when the live bullets fly. Whatever.

bullzak is right on – the success of the WCO was always contingent upon yards after catch.

YAC is a lot easier if your guys catch the ball on the move. We prefer routes with non-vertical vectors.

“The bloggers do a great job of creating content and the posters provide some really good feedback and discussion. AND ITS FREE.”

What do you mean this site is Free!? I need HenryJames phone number pronto!

Bullzak: I hope in general my point is not being confused with the following: Greg Davis=Bill Walsh.

Please, please, please no one think I believe that.

Walsh ran more slants, Walsh hit guys on the run, Walsh used more effective deep throws and running games. All true.

Greg Davis used slants and deep throws more with Colt but hasn’t quite done that with Gilbert. He has also had the fear of God put into him by OU’s Robber 2-deep coverages that allowed them to pick Simms posts early this decade. Overall, Bill Walsh had the essential time and personnel to run his offense. Davis runs his own version which is incomplete and often poorly executed.

As far as scripting plays, I think between Shaltshaker’s comments and the repeated complaints here from guys like ChrisApplewhite we have all pretty well figured out that Davis likes to come out and throw his most simple stuff and see what the defense is doing before adjusting and trying to punish their weakness. Even Muschamp has adopted this strategy since he came here.

As for the term “West Coast”, the tiniest amount of research proves me wrong. I figured that since Bill Walsh didn’t invent his offense at San Francisco it wasn’t called the West Coast offense because he was in California, but apparently that is exactly how it earned that name.

Anyways, anyone can check out this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_offense and recognize many of the features of Walsh’s offense in our own. I’ll be back with a post soon comparing Davis’ strategy to that of other college teams today.

Oh, just wanted to reemphasize that Colt hit guys on the run fairly often. Also, thanks to better WR blocking, the hitches and screens commonly saw the receiver have time to get going as well. I have…well, only some doubt that we see this from Gilbert more and more as Davis takes the training wheels off. Much of our sideline game is meant to prevent turnovers.

That was actually faily enlightening. You presented cogent explanation to all the typical Davis criticisms. Well done.

The man still has no tactical aptitude and little creative perception it seems. I have no idea why he ended up in coaching. The money I guess.

Excellent post, but I still wish we could simply airbrush GDGD out of the picture.

Great article. The flaws in Davis’ approach were magnified at Nebraska, where Callahan tried to unveil even more complicated WCO schemes with a more limited cast. The outcome was predictable.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/callahan%20nebraska%20playbook/HskrFanMike/blog/callahan_playbook.jpg

To further your argument, some college defenses, notably Norm Parker’s at Iowa, do nothing more than play a very simple base 4-3 defense giving up the short passing routes. The thinking behind this scheme is that it maximizes defensive familarity with their scheme, and is very difficult for college offenses to execute the 8-10 plays needed to score without a penalty, drop or turnover. Parker’s very good results over time speak for themselves.

I agree with Texas-13’s point about our WRs. The horizontal game works when there’s downfield blocking—and ONLY when there’s downfield blocking. When Cosby didn’t get the ball, he was blocking (as Lendy Holmes if this is so). Shipley could and would block. If you get those one or two key blocks, those horizontal plays make it to the edge—and someone like Goodwin or Monroe can turn the corner and do their thing.

But it makes no sense to consistently calls these plays when it’s obvious we can’t block on the edge. (Matthews can’t block anywhere.) If we have to go outside, I’d rather see Whitaker or Monroe on a quick-developing off-tackle or sweep play. When GD does run it outside, he chooses reverses that take forever to develop: the line can’t hold blocks long enough for that sort of thing.

So the answer seems to be that GD needs to make a sustained effort to recreate the culture of blocking WRs (I don’t know if it’s that they can’t or they won’t) and start to call plays this season that don’t necessarily play to our strengths (I don’t know what those are) but avoid our most glaring weaknesses. I think only quick-hitting plays allow the RB to get to the second level of the defense and show us what they have (I think the RBs are being unfairly judged for not getting YAC when they’re met at the LOS or even behind it by more than one defensive player).

@ Saltshaker – Weren’t you singing GD GD praises in another thread?

Have you seen the light?

Can’t one of the 150 lawyers that read this site come up with grounds for a class action to remove The Davis?

I mean, y’all are a creative lot when it comes to interpreting laws.

Greg Davis is doing exactly what Mack wants him to do….it’s just that GD isn’t any good at getting it done effectively without the stud hosses we normally have….

GD ain’t going anywhere….

Nickel,
I have been thinking about your words all day ever since reading them early this morning. I don’t think I have ever read a clearer and more lucid explanation of what Greg Davis has been doing all these years.
Far from having no system, he has a very elegant, intricate system. Unfortunately the system is at the mercy of the twin, but independent curves of TALENT and EXPERIENCE. When the peaks of the curves reinforce one another, we get years like 2005 and 2008. When the troughs of the curves reinforce, we get this year. Most years the curves reinforce and cancel at random, leaving a somewhat fluctuating line of steady mediocrity. As it happens, Texas’s level of mediocrity is higher than most teams level of achievement, but not higher than the good teams. That’s why good defenses give our offense consistent trouble unless the Talent and Experience curves are at matching peaks. COACHING IS IRRELEVANT because there IS NO ADJUSTMENT to the talent/experience level beyond mindless simplification. THE SYSTEM IS ALL, HALLELUYA!
I am saving your blog in my football folder so that in suckceeding years when I am bemoaning the offensive woes of the Longhorns I can remind myself that IT’S ALL PART OF THE PLAN.
Mack bought into it from the beginning. As much good as Mack has brought us, we must live with the bad, because that is the way it is. AS IT IS EVER SHALL IT BE! HALLELUYA!

I dub thee, Nickel Rover, BUBBASATVA, “He Who Brings Football Enlightenment.”
For you have given me understanding.
From understanding comes acceptance.
From acceptance comes enlightenment.
From enlightenment comes release.
From release comes apathy.
From apathy comes…a little more work I can get done.

Thank you.

Lurker: 2008 was our least talented offensive team since 1999. More important to the scheme is WRs with a comprehension of how to get open with Davis’ short routes under blanket coverage. Or what you call experience. As 2009 showed, you need more than one guy who’s consistently able to do that, or the offense looks like feces.

Louis ‘Lam and Joetx have a key piece. Greg Davis, in his self-impression with his own brilliance, and Mack don’t trust quarterbacks to read defenses. His whole offensive scheme is built on simple little rules of thumb, and his development of a new quarterback is like a 12 year-old unwrapping Christmas presents. We do the little ones first, and then save the big ones for last. Right now Gilbert has one meaningful route and then the “easiest” checkdown. GD makes it sound all sophisticated by saying that GG went to his third or fourth option in the press conferences.
Recall that Colt said his advice at halftime of the MNC was, “just throw it to Shipley.” GD asked GG “what he saw,” on the 44 yard touchdown pass, and GG replied, “The safety went to Malcolm and I knew Ship would be open.”
Right now, the throws that have been unwrapped are 1. anything to somebody open by ten yards, 2. the deep out, 3. stop routes in the seams, 4. the WR screens, 5. flairs to the RBs. One route that was opened for Rice has since been re-wrapped: the deep out back shoulder throw. The WRs aren’t even running routes in the middle of the field to open up the allowed routes.
So popquiz hotshot, how do you expect receivers to be open if the D only has to cover 25% of the field and half the receivers are stationary?
With the attitude, “My offense is perfect, you’re just not grown up enough to use it,” coupled with receivers that generally lack the explosion to separate on short routes, and we have the 80 somethingth offense in the BCS.

However, I really don’t buy completely that it’s experience, because Texas Tech and Ohio State stuffed the short game in 2008 by jumping routes, Oklahoma, Nebraska stuffed the Horns even with McCoy at the helm and a lot of other teams frustrated us in 2009. It’s simple arrogance and surreptitiously throwing the players under the bus: my offense is unstoppable by any defense if executed properly. If it doesn’t work, it’s because the players didn’t execute, not because Mack/GD didn’t put the players in position to succeed. I think having a good defense just makes GD more arrogant because he thinks the defense will slow the scoring enough for him to fiddle around in the first half.

Lurkerinthedark: thanks, I felt more clarity thinking about Davis’ system and flaws after the OU game and when I wrote this myself.

BlakeB: The common claim that 2008 had less talent than other years is not one I find particularly convincing. Quan Cosby is talented, he is playing in the NFL. Jordan Shipley might be the best receiver Texas has ever had, and he’s playing in the NFL. Colt McCoy was talented, at the very least, for the college level. Brandon Collins had a lot of talent and was really good as a freshman, we don’t even know what would have become of him as a Senior. Irby, before he was injured, had drawn praise from JerMichael Finley as the potentially superior tight end.

And you can do worse than Kirkendoll as a 4rth or 5th option.

Burnt: great points, glad you stopped by. This is a better and more well-understood explanation of why Texas will be miles better when Gilbert is unleashed. If you are right about the out route…I don’t understand why they would cut that off. When he was completing it to Malcolm Williams I turned to my girlfriend and was like, “that’s going to option no. 1 for getting 1st downs on 3rd and long.” He throws it well and Malcolm is a great target for it.

I would hesitate, though, to say that either OSU “stuffed” Texas in 2008. Texas had over 400 passing yards against Buckeye but failed to finish strong in the Red Zone on a few occasions (another big problem in the last 2 years) and had 4 field-length drives against OSU. They both shortened the game with running attacks and dared Texas to execute all the way down the field enough to win. McCoy answered. If those games are the worst we can point to that suggests to me that 2008 was a nearly unstoppable offense.

Yeah. Agreed

I have always wondered how Davis managed to hornswoggle not one, but two, former NFL QB fathers of #1 recruits. This post goes a long way in explaining that. It probably helps that both men’s careers largely occurred in the WCO heyday. As bullzak pointed out, he is the cocktail party genius, the uber-nerd whose brilliant plans never survive the first shot fired in anger.

Also, Mack has been a head coach for almost thirty years now, and only spent three seasons as an offensive coordinator. That’s thirty years of worrying more about keeping boosters and the local high school coaches happy than what to call if the secondary are jumping your routes. At this point, I think Davis can talk circles around him whenever they breakdown film or discuss the playbook. To put it in military terms, I think Mack knows a lot about the tactical execution of each skill position and the strategic execution of building a program towards consistent national championship contention. But, he basically skipped the operational level, has been leaning on one guy for years, and now he’s lost. Calling for Davis to be fired is asking Mack to enter the void; how would he even know how to interview candidates? He can get away with relative ignorance on the defensive side of the ball , but he is supposed to know offense.

Nickel, I know you arent confusing GD with Bill Walsh.

Its just that the WCO has become a loose term these days. A Lamborghini and a Buick are both cars.

The only reason to probe soft spots is so you can stick the butcher knife in there with a vengeance. Thats the part that is missing.

Operationally, the way I would deal with this since Davis isnt going anywhere, is to let Greg knows he also works for Will Muschamp.

So Muschamp should be tasked with laying out how he wants offense run, and how the current steaming pile of shit falls short, in detail. And Mack MUST listen or let him go to UGA.

None of this is conceptually difficult, just emotionally unpleasant for some folks who need a kick in the ass anyway.

So… what are you doing Big-Game sunday? MegaGate2011.com$100k up for grabs at the 2011 MegaGate Sin City!

I’ll bet more Muslims have been killed in the USA, Western Europe, the Middle East and West Asia in the last ten years than Christians killed in the USA, Western Europe, the Middle East and West Asia during the same period. Don’t know how to calculate the factor, but it’s a big one, I am certain.