The first half of the Holiday Bowl answered, IMO, which one of these coaches we should pursue (along with Petrino)....and it's NOT Leach. Dispite going into halftime with a 24-14 lead, I'm not impressed with the idea of having him coach at LSU. Is his offense impressive? Yeah. It's more exciting than anything, but it was said that in their interviews with him, when asked if he ever runs the ball, Leach gave a grimmace like he "bit on a lemon". Texas Tech is WAY too one-dimensional. Yes, they're up vs the 13th ranked defense, but Cal doesn't have any dominant defensive players--BOTH coaches said that Cal plays well as a team. It's just as a team that they aren't doing well tonight. His (Leach's) handling of the ball in the last 50 seconds of this game (dinking and dunking the ball, NO runs) is horrible! There's no way that that philosophy will win games in the SEC. Besides that, Leach's reluctantcy to run the ball at all will certainly lead to more and more top-notch high school RB's like Warrick Dunn, Anthony Thomas and other Louisiana players to by-pass LSU in favor of a school that's more commited to running the ball. Leach just as soon not even have a scholarship running back because the only time he uses him is when the defense has seen nothing but passes for a hundred plays in a row, and when they run, it's a draw at the goal line. There you go Henderson, take your consecutive games with a TD and sit the bench for the rest of the game. :shock: On the other hand, I prefer Cal's offensive playcalling. They've already racked up 100 yards rushing by Arrington and have a QB that's one of the best in the nation (although Cal's hurt in this game with their top-2 WR's out due to injury). The receivers that are healthy for Cal are dropping passes left and right. Texas Tech's offense might prove too much for Cal tonight, but over the course of an entire SEC schedule, Leach's offense doesn't do that week in and week out. In fact, it would give us fits because we'd win one week by 50 against a team like UGA, and lose by 3 to a team like Ole Miss because we couldn't run the ball. As far as I'm concerned.... SAY NO TO LEACH!!!!! I'll buy the website domain if I have to!!!
Great point about the running game and his philosophy. Every time TT goes up against a formidable opponent (OU/UT), their team has no chance winning since they have no running game. It's a fun team to watch, but that's about it. SEC demands balance of offense.
I've blasted a few people for some of the names on their lists - personally, I think Les Miles, Rich Rodriguez, Mike Price, and a few others are lame ideas... However, I think it's only fair that I stick my neck out and give you my dark horse: Larry Blakeney
the best way to evaluate coaches right now might not be to judge them based on what you observe during only one game in their coaching careers
No but when you evaluate a total disregard for the run over many seasons... i find it a valid evaluation.
When you play against defenses like UGA, Auburn and 'Bama, you'll need to run the ball enough. Those 3 teams have defenses better than Cal....and unlike Cal, have ledgit defensive players that are All-American-caliber.
