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Trigger warning! )
I know there are many who strongly disagree, and that’s fine. What I humbly request is that there be good-natured, good-faith discussion for those disagreements, where arguments are presented rather than “LOL! You’re stupid!” kinds of replies. Logic and kindness over sarcasm?
Why we should hire an option coach:
Trigger warning! )I know there are many who strongly disagree, and that’s fine. What I humbly request is that there be good-natured, good-faith discussion for those disagreements, where arguments are presented rather than “LOL! You’re stupid!” kinds of replies. Logic and kindness over sarcasm?
Why we should hire an option coach:
- It’s a mathematical, numerical advantage. Defenses have to defend all 11 players horizontally and vertically. That’s the fundamental reason it’s such a successful offense. It really does boil down to something that simple. This is why you always have WR’s wide open on pass plays.
There’s more to it (formation, blocking schemes and angles, quick hitting, making defenses think too much, etc), but that’s the most fundamental reason. - Other offenses have tried to incorporate enough option concepts to have that numerical advantage while also keeping some notion of vanity in their look. Those offenses when they first come out have a lot of success (See Chip Kelly, Urban Meyer, Dan Mullen, Gus Malzahn). But, eventually everybody copies it, and then the advantage is largely depleted.
- How can you have a sustained successful football program at a military service academy??? I’m talking D1 football while recruiting to the military … which means you will almost certainly have the least talented personnel in the nation? You run the offense that has that numerical advantage. But, that isn’t enough, because everyone else would copy it, and then you’d have no advantage. So, how can it be possible to have sustained success at an Academy? Well, it just so happens that there’s an offense out there that has that numerical advantage, but because of the vain, evil pride of men, no one else wants to run it. That’s the only way it would even be possible to have significant, sustained success at a Service Academy.
- Even if we hire some coach who somehow comes up with some new amazing way to get those same advantages while keeping the vanity, we will all be joyous for 1 or 2 seasons until everyone else copies it.
- Please understand this: WE ARE NEVER GOING TO OUT RECRUIT GEORGIA AND ALABAMA, and so many other programs around us. Unless we accept this, we are doomed to poorer results. We're never going to out-Georgia/Alabama Georgia and Alabama. We HAVE to have some other advantage. If you can explain to me a better way to gain that advantage than the CPJ-option tree of coaching, I am perfectly willing to listen and be convinced. But, I think you’re going to have an extremely hard time doing that.
- If you say Jamey Chadwell, I’ll say … Amen, let’s do it. That looks like the closest thing to the unicorn of the schematic advantage without the vanity-recruiting disadvantage.
I’d rather go with CPJ stuff, but I can get on board with the logic of the Jamey Chadwell argument. His results speak volumes. - Do you realize what CPJ did here? He took us to higher heights than we’ve been to since freakin’ Bobby Dodd – 2 Orange Bowls, top 10 finish, 3 wins over Georgia, ACC Champs, 3 other ACCCG appearances, so many great times on the Flats … And this was all WITHOUT support – lowest paid coaching staff in the conference … and AWFUL defense … how do you do all that with awful defense??? Give this man money to hire a great defensive staff (or even just competent), and we would’ve been continually hanging out around the Jordan River and very well might’ve crossed on over into the Promised Land.
- Does it take more than just scheme to be a great coach? Yes. Definitively, whole-heartedly yes. But, it doesn’t take less than a great scheme to be a great coach. Great scheme is sine qua non of great coaching.
- The option with Academy-level personnel is good. The option with GT-level personnel is great. The option with GT-level personnel + 2 or 3 key players is unstoppable (Nesbitt/Dwyer/BayBay. JT/Shaq/Smelter.). Use NIL to get those 2 or 3 key players.
- So, this would be my order of coaches:
1. Jeff Monken (Look at what this guy has done at freakin’ Army – hardest job in the nation. He’s CPJ-Junior).
2. Jamey Chadwell (White and Gold Unicorn (with navy hoofs)?).
3. Dave Clawson (Love this guy. What he’s done at Wake is outstanding. Similar to the Chadwell-unicorn scenario and should perhaps be above Chadwell).
4. Troy Calhoun (I admittedly don’t know as much about him. He’s not directly tied to CPJ, I don’t think. Is he as good as Monken?).
5. Deion (I mean, he’s Deion, so … is he the only person in the history of the universe who could break my argument?).
