M Rock Nation article to bring some optimism

I read it yesterday & we're basically screwed. All of us witnessed the worst OLine in modern Mizzou history last year and the article said we downgraded or pushed across the board. IF true 5-7 will seem like a NC season & Drew may want to increase his life insurance policy. I guess we'll see if coaching matters.

I'm really hopeful that last year was as bad as it was on the line because of the coaching. There was better talent on the line than what they showed on the field. No way you have 2 guys potentially starting on Sunday's this year and were that bad last year.

quote:

---

New OL coach, RB coach, WR coach, QB coach and OC will be the difference.

---

hoping you're right

I also don't understand the crap job GP and Ricker did of recruiting OL last year. The new staff has had to scramble to fill gaps, and done a really good job at it I might add, because we basically stopped recruiting at a position we need the most help at. While GP did a lot of great things, he also had a lot of head scratchers in there.

The O-Line is the main reason for concern with Mizzou going into next season. I think the defense should be stout and your QB should play better after a baptism of fire last year.

But without at least decent O-Line play the defense will be left on the field too long and the QB could develop a case of the yips if he gets popped in the backfield too often (which is what I think happened to Brandon Allen at Arkansas).

I expect the OC to call some screens and draws to try and back the pass rush off to give the O-Line time to find their feet.

Reading that article I blame a lot of Missouri's problems last year and this year on GP. You have a senior laden wr corp in 2014 and you don't give the under classmen enough reps in games to have experience in 2015. Same with the OL. The OL was pitiful. Was our recruiting that bad that there were only 7 O lineman that could see the field?

I think HCBO has can turn it around rather quickly. Use the formula that Justin Fuentes used in Memphis and happy days maybe here by 2018

quote:

---

quote:
I'm really hopeful that last year was as bad as it was on the line because of the coaching. There was better talent on the line than what they showed on the field. No way you have 2 guys potentially starting on Sunday's this year and were that bad last year.


Totally agree.

---

Second that. bad o Line coaching was our biggest problem last year.

Can someone with a better understanding than me comment on whether the problem may be worth the blocking schemes as opposed to talent or coaching? Is there a way we could be blocking smarter? This is a playbook issue rather than technique.

I appreciate what RockM Nation does, but it's foolish to try and value each position when we have no idea who is starting. And we're dealing with almost an entirely new staff.

Regarding last year, the line suffered due to a multitude of reasons:
1. Recruiting. Pinkel and staff simply whiffed their last several years. They only brought in two or three OL in those classes. That's simply not enough. Many who they did recruit left (injury, whatever) or simply weren't talented enough...

As an aside, I'm very happy to see Odom's philosophy on OL is much different than Gary's. Gary preferred lean, highly athletic kids. He then counted on our strength staff to bulk them up. Well... That didn't always work. Odom is bringing in heavy bodies, which I love. IMO, it's easier to strip bad weight and build up good. But at least you have a big athlete used to playing at a large weight... and he has the build to lean on people. That's the way of the SEC. Big bodies. No more power forwards playing OL.

2. Schematically, Mizzou's OL looked to be a disaster. It's hard to point exactly what it was because I don't have the time to breakdown game film, but you simply could tell the execution was poor when plays would breakdown. Let's not forget, as soon as Ricker came back, we immediately had issues with snaps, too. Just so many issues when he arrived, which is shame because he was a good player. But it goes to show that not everyone who plays can coach.

3. Henson should get a bulk of the blame on this, too. His play calling was awful. Odom hinted at it in his SEC Media Day presser -- he said we need to get more creative offensively. That's the damn truth. Henson was so boring, so predictable. When you have a deficiency at a position (like OL), you MUST scheme around it. Focus on getting rid of the ball quickly. Vary up the formations constantly. Lots of motion. Keep the defense from reacting immediately. None of that happened under Josh... It's telling how poor of an OC he was, that now he's simply an offensive assistant at OK St, which is his home school. His star has plummeted.

........Now, I'm hopeful for this new staff. I was very much impressed by what Embree did with this Arkansas State OL when we played them last year. They were technically sound. They played us pretty damn well, given how much less athletic they were than our impressive front... If you remember, we didn't put a bunch of pressure on them. Sooo, I'm hoping he can teach up our better athletes to perform. One thing I AM confident about is Josh Heupel will be a better play calleer... He has to be. He was a QB and did very well at OU. I suspect he'll be able to scheme around our weaknesses better.

At least... I hope. We'll see in a few more months.