re: Gripefest (Formly know as Coaching Changes)

Just my take from 2000 feet above sea level...

The changes that the offense made in playcalling while trying to find any semblance in hope for offensive rhythm probably worked against all of the offseason reps that the QB/receivers took.

It might explain late season issues with Fromm/receivers being on the same page. The playbook in the offseason/fall camp was scrapped. Maybe even for more Coley style plays (we ran more RPOs as the season progressed imo). It still didnt work out for the offense. But it is like trying to go to a new OC/scheme/playbook midseason. It is very tough to make that happen efficiently.

I did like seeing us run more power against baylor. Even just changing things up a little made the inside zone plays more effective (either that or the 3-3-5 is just not a great scheme against our personnel).

The staff has to do better this offseason. We lacked an identity this fall. It will be so much better with cohesion if we can come up with a better scheme that the boys can work on in their own time during summer workouts.

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No one in the history of internet debates or conversations has ever exaggerated a point in order to make it more clear...

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True, but when it substantially alters the argument, I think it makes things more unclear. I'm talking about improvement, not a complete transformation.

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Prior to the bowl game, I would argue we didn't see this on the offensive side of the ball at all, save the UF game. For some reason the guys came out with intent to take that game over from the beginning, but other than that, where were the games where you thought "man this OL is really playing up to their standards" or "Fromm is really on fire tonight"... Swift looked less than stellar... it was a collectively bad offensive performance as a team. That doesn't rest on Hankton, so much as Coley/Smart's plan for the year.

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I agree completely that the offense as a whole is to blame and not just the WRs and not just Hankton. However I believe that our inability to move the ball through the air greatly hindered our offensive capabilities and our struggles throwing the ball effectively were substantially due the inability of our receivers to execute consistently.

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I think a bit much is made about our receiver's route running because it's been an easy scapegoat for Kirby/Coley to reference for the offensive woes. They weren't perfect, but I didn't see a bunch of guys consistently running the wrong route either.

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I don't see it as an easy scapegoat at all for the coaches because it's one of the hardest things to defend to the casual observer. It's easy to see when a QB throws a ball that goes over the head of the intended target. It's hard to know if it the ball was overthrown because of an inaccurate pass or because of a bad route. I'd say the coaches would know better than we do whether or not the receivers are running their routes appropriately. It's not often that you're going to see someone turn the opposite direction than they are supposed to. It's more about speed and distance (timing) than obvious disorientation.

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Outside of Cager, they frequently weren't physical enough at the line of scrimmage (or with the ball in the air) IMO so they struggled with press coverage.

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I agree with this completely.

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BUT... we also weren't that effective at dialing up runs that generated enough success against quality defenses to force them to adjust.

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I agree with this, as well, as I would have preferred we hit the outside more rather than running up the middle for no gain or for a couple of yards so often. Still, the running game was hindered by our lack of a passing game, and the lack of a consistent running game made it that much harder to execute in the passing game. They are supposed to compliment each other in our offense and if one struggles, the other likely will, as well.

For example, it seems to me that a lot of those 3rd and long draw plays weren't so much the result of unimaginative play calling as they were the result of not trusting our passing game. Why risk an incompletion and zero yards when we will likely pick up six yards before the punt with a draw? It's not great, but six is more than zero.

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This was an obvious hyperbolic statement, but seriously where are all the teams that faced similar turnover with their WR corps that had major development over the course of the season the last couple of seasons? It just hasn't been something that I've seen happen routinely. You don't typically see an *entire* group turnover like we had and then have no drop-off...

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I agree with you again completely. I believe the mass atrition we had at WR was the impetus to all our offensive problems this season. Some saw it as a problem with the QB, but no PP QB is going to come in and execute well with the supporting cast that Fromm had.

That said, I still expected the group to get better overall as the season progressed.

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Again, other than the bowl game and UF, I'd argue this was largely the case for the entire offense. If it was limited to one position, fine throw it at Hankton, but it was not. It's why the hate for Coley this season has been so justified.

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And again, it's not just Hankton that I have issues with. I called him out specifically because I didn't see much progress in our WRs as a unit, which I would have expected to see regardless of what happened elsewhere. Our passing issues have been the most obvious issues we experienced this season and I believe the WRs are at the center of those issues, which leads back to that position coach first of all, and then ultimately the OC and HC.

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I said before and I'll say again, by no means is this some ringing endorsement for Hankton's greatness... simply that I think the WR troubles are a symptom not a cause. The "cause" was our erroneous belief that "players not plays" as an offensive mantra meant anything other than we have an OC who is incapable of consistently designing effective play calling to generate schematic advantage. To his credit, the play calling adjustments late in the year did seem to be *better* but they were too little too late for getting the players to "round into mid-season form"... Instead, we saw mid-season form happen in the damn bowl game.

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The scheming has been up and down like the execution this season and I won't deny it. However no matter what the OC dials up, it still needs to be executed. If we executed everything to perfection and we still can't move the ball, you can chalk it up to whatever you like, including bad play calling, but if you can't execute, it's difficult to blame the play calling specifically for the troubles we have, especially when you admit the calling improved towards the end of the season yet our struggles continued.

Is anyone from Georgia coming to Arkansas with Pittman? Saw a rumor on a strength coach...

And I am so glad Chaney stayed at Tenner... Whew Pig Sooiee on that one.

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fibonaccisquared

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Fromm fangirl status not withstanding.

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Wait, what? You’re a chick? I had NO idea.

Think he was talking about Foo being a Fromm fangirl. I think Foo is a dude, but I could be wrong. He IS a Fromm fanboy/girl depending on gender. Couldn’t even allow compliments on good throws to go by in the game thread without backdoor downing Pickens. It’s a weird hill to die on, but he will ride or die with Fromm in the face of all adversity, and has a couple of folks who are known to troll the board for their own amusement pretending to support him enthusiastically (looking at you deeprig and Cracker) which just makes the whole thing sad.

Here we go.

Wait....we still talkin’ bout Fountain?

Not a girl and my reaction in support of Fromm is proportionate to the irrational negative responses to him.

No. It isn’t. But it’s funny that you had to come downvote my post.

You absolutely backdoor downed George Pickens after people complimented Fromm on a throw in the game thread. That’s how insidious your Fromm defense is. Even when people compliment him with no qualifier, you have to down the receiver to defend him. It’s pretty fricked up, and I would absolutely bet everything I had on a clinical psychologist disagreeing with your self-analysis of rational proportionality.