Herman is not a bad coach

[CyBobby]

I don't think you can judge the defense at all. They play the whole game. We need a run based offense, to take time and possessions away from the spread based teams in the Big 12.

That sounds like either Jimmie dean walden wishbone or senile old billy bob snyder's

ground hugging offense that is well.....


6 & 0.............................

[joefrog]

Wow you guys never cease to amaze me, I bet you cant get to all of the coaching offers you receive on a daily basis. Good grief. Jantz is heads and shoulders above where we'd be if Jerome Tiller was starting, wait he isnt eligible so we'd be forced to throw a freshman into this gas fire. Tom Herman has forgotten more than all of you know about football, but when you have guys that are getting beat consistently its hard to get a rhythm. Face it the B12 is tough as nails and it takes no prisoners.

Oh I agree completely, as I am sure many others do to. The problem is, we seem to be trying to do nearly the exact same thing that our opponents do, only with inferior talent. They practice all year long against different variations of the spread. Then ISU shows up with spread jr. and defenses have to just salivate at their prospects. Heck, they almost don't even have to prepare for us specifically. Continuing to do this is completely illogical. We need to come up with something different, or dramatically improve our talent level overnight.

As others have pointed out, we don't seem to utilize any motion during pre-snap reads or anything. We just tell the opposing defense what we are going to do, and invite them to come beat our *****. Now how in the world are we supposed to routinely score 30+ points to be competitive in games if that is the case?

Once you realize the pieces will not work in the framework, you have to change the framework or face continued failing results.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. --- Albert Einstein

[cloneu]

I don't think you can judge the defense at all. They play the whole game. We need a run based offense, to take time and possessions away from the spread based teams in the Big 12.

I would agree with this. We need other teams to have to prepare for something different than they are use to. Big 12 defenses are use preparing for and playing against great quarterbacks, great WRs and great passing games. How about make them prepare for a good running game that will pound you the whole game instead of running something the D has seen 8 times already this season.

We are never going to have the talent of at least half the Big 12 teams so we need to be different then most offenses in the Big 12.

[HILLCYD]

May not be a bad coach, but he sure isn't a great O coordinator if I can predict what play we are going to run with 80% accuracy.

[Peter]

To play devil's advocate: the spread is already beginning to wain in popularity. Defenses are catching up and teams are looking for new offensive wrinkles to get an edge. Suddenly an offense like Wisconsin, which looked antiquated a few years ago, looks like total genius.

I think there will be a huge trend back to running attacks like Wisconsin's to counter all the speed defenses have accumulated. Look at what Georgia Tech and LSU are doing. They literally don't pass the ball. If we go back to power we might get swamped in another trend; by the time we get the personal, defenses will be ready. What if we stick with the spread, add some of our own unique wrinkles and wait for defenses to go back to the old school 4-3.

[HILLCYD]

Wow you guys never cease to amaze me, I bet you cant get to all of the coaching offers you receive on a daily basis. Good grief. Jantz is heads and shoulders above where we'd be if Jerome Tiller was starting, wait he isnt eligible so we'd be forced to throw a freshman into this gas fire. Tom Herman has forgotten more than all of you know about football, but when you have guys that are getting beat consistently its hard to get a rhythm. Face it the B12 is tough as nails and it takes no prisoners.

I haven't been in practice with the guy or anything, but the play calling is lacking and he is the O coordinator. I engaged my wife in an exercise during the last couple of televised games. I asked her to try to predict what play we were going to run on every down. I would say she was right about 70% of the time and she knows as much about football as I know about ballet dancing.

Is the reason for this personel? Are we so lacking that we don't have any other plays we can execute? I guess that is possible, but it seems to me we throw away 1st down on a regular basis. We are NEVER on schedule. You can't win in this league with a 3rd and 8 on every series.

[JustRedman]

Holding, INT, false start, sack, block in the back, fumble, personal foul, INT, fumble, fumble, holding, false start, INT, fumble, INT, punt (if we are lucky), fumble, false start, false start, false start, false start, dropped pass, fumble, INT.

I'm putting it on the players to not shoot themselves in the foot. Herman can't be on the field, if he were, we would have 12 on the field and get flagged. At which point, people would call for Herman's head.
The players themselves better be taking responsibility for the killing of drives. I'm not saying Herman's future is secure, but with the talent he has vs. the competition we play, it's an uphill battle. Remember we were coming off of a 4-8, 3-9,2-10 stretch before he got here. Tiller got replaced by a JC. AA would not have been the QB here if it weren't for the lack of options Herman had. Tom Herman needs HIS guys in the system for it to be successfull. I think with guys like ShonJohn, White, Standard, Nealy, Ecby, Bundrage, Daniels, Hollis, Jantz, Barnett, Richardson, Rohach, etc he finally has some guys that 1) have more talent than when he got here, and 2) have played a similar system in HS. That will be key in the next year or two.
What we don't want to do is fire a coach, watch multiple guys transfer or decommit, and be right back to square one. Coaching turnover is rarely a good thing when it happens every 2-3 years, especially if you aren't the Ohio States of the world.

[CyCloned]

To play devil's advocate: the spread is already beginning to wain in popularity. Defenses are catching up and teams are looking for new offensive wrinkles to get an edge. Suddenly an offense like Wisconsin, which looked antiquated a few years ago, looks like total genius.

I think there will be a huge trend back to running attacks like Wisconsin's to counter all the speed defenses have accumulated. Look at what Georgia Tech and LSU are doing. They literally don't pass the ball. If we go back to power we might get swamped in another trend; by the time we get the personal, defenses will be ready. What if we stick with the spread, add some of our own unique wrinkles and wait for defenses to go back to the old school 4-3.

This is exactly what I would like to see ISU go back to. Sure it is boring as heck, but it does keep the scoring down, limits the time the defense needs to play and uses the type of players that ISU is more likely to get. ISU is never going to get 4 and 5 star recruits, so they are trying to get quicker, smaller guys or overlooked players. I think this is fine for defense, because teams that can get the great players are still going to run the spread, and you have to have speed to defend it. With the power I or other run first attack your QB does not have to make as many plays on his own or be a great passer. Plus when the weather turns cold and nasty in the next month teams that can pound out 4 yards on the ground will be able to operate as usual.

[cyclones18]

Holding, INT, false start, sack, block in the back, fumble, personal foul, INT, fumble, fumble, holding, false start, INT, fumble, INT, punt (if we are lucky), fumble, false start, false start, false start, false start, dropped pass, fumble, INT.

I'm putting it on the players to not shoot themselves in the foot. Herman can't be on the field, if he were, we would have 12 on the field and get flagged. At which point, people would call for Herman's head.
The players themselves better be taking responsibility for the killing of drives. I'm not saying Herman's future is secure, but with the talent he has vs. the competition we play, it's an uphill battle. Remember we were coming off of a 4-8, 3-9,2-10 stretch before he got here. Tiller got replaced by a JC. AA would not have been the QB here if it weren't for the lack of options Herman had. Tom Herman needs HIS guys in the system for it to be successfull. I think with guys like ShonJohn, White, Standard, Nealy, Ecby, Bundrage, Daniels, Hollis, Jantz, Barnett, Richardson, Rohach, etc he finally has some guys that 1) have more talent than when he got here, and 2) have played a similar system in HS. That will be key in the next year or two.
What we don't want to do is fire a coach, watch multiple guys transfer or decommit, and be right back to square one. Coaching turnover is rarely a good thing when it happens every 2-3 years, especially if you aren't the Ohio States of the world.

Isn't Barnett supposed to be the guy Herman picked to lead his style of offense?

[Clones21]

Isn't Barnett supposed to be the guy Herman picked to lead his style of offense?

Barnett was the 2nd QB Herman picked up next to Capello. I think Herman has upgraded over Barnett with Richardson at this point.

[CRAZYGREG]

Herman chose to use AA and Jantz so far. This leads me to believe that he is a HORRIBLE coach. These are really bad QBs at the big 12 level.

[WalkingCY]

Oh I agree completely, as I am sure many others do to. The problem is, we seem to be trying to do nearly the exact same thing that our opponents do, only with inferior talent. They practice all year long against different variations of the spread. Then ISU shows up with spread jr. and defenses have to just salivate at their prospects. Heck, they almost don't even have to prepare for us specifically. Continuing to do this is completely illogical. We need to come up with something different, or dramatically improve our talent level overnight.

As others have pointed out, we don't seem to utilize any motion during pre-snap reads or anything. We just tell the opposing defense what we are going to do, and invite them to come beat our *****. Now how in the world are we supposed to routinely score 30+ points to be competitive in games if that is the case?

Once you realize the pieces will not work in the framework, you have to change the framework or face continued failing results.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. --- Albert Einstein

I agree with all of this.

[JUKEBOX]

Here is a talent ranking IMO.

Talent Scale in Big 12 (1-10)

Oklahoma -10
OSU - 8 (Great coach)
Texas A&M - 9 (poorly coached)
Texas - 8 (poorly coached)
Mizzou - 7
Baylor - 7
Texas Tech - 7
ISU - 6
KSU - 6 (Great coach)
Kansas - 6 (poorly coached)

[CY ST8T]

First those of you calling for more of a running style must realize that we don't have the blocking for it. So far our offensive line does not create the holes and lines like Wisconsin's block down field running with the running back. Wisconsin has guys that are 300 lbs. and run maybe a 4.9 where we have the 330 lbs. guys that probably are lucky to run a 6. We don't have the personnel to do what you want with success. And I do believe that Jantz' biggest issue is his line. He needs to go talk to Brett Meyer for advice on how to do something when your line doesn't block for squat!

[mkadl]

It is our linemen on both sides of the ball. Watch a game and watch them get manhandled. (the last 3 games) Only so much coaching helps when it comes to physical abilities. Good depth helps too, not just depth. Injuries have cost us dearly and our lack of good depth shows.