In the end that is who we all thought, but in the beginning we all speculated several different options. Right now we are at the beginning, actually before the process has even begun. At least to our knowledge it hasn't begun, but if I were a betting man it has. If you want to know who I think is a good choice, I would say Mike Sanford, UNLV's ex HC. He was the OC under Urban at Utah and has a pretty nice resume'. UNLV may suck, but on offense they weren't that horrible, and he got a lot out of players that are not up to the level of the competition. Just a thought, not sold on it as a choice, but it is an option that is out there.
Miles made a mistake hiring Crowton. Hiring a spread offense guy and asking him to change his philosophy is like putting a square peg in a round hole. Miles has Crowton running something he has never run before and may not even believe in. Crowton was touted to be a developer of QB's upon his arrival. I questioned it then and question it now. The only QB that Crowton can claim to have developed is Tim Rattay. Crowton is a bad fit for a Les Miles mandated offense. If he is replaced I hope Miles looks for a guy who is aligned with his own offensive philosophy instead of trying to invent the wheel like he's done with Crowton.
He was an O-line coach before he was an O-coordinator. You can look up his profile at lsusports.net. Stud got here 3 years ago along with Crowton. We didn't change the scheme till this year. So he already had the job when they decided to change the blocking scheme. Doesn't mean he liked it and it doesn't mean he disliked it to the point of wanting to find a new job. It's not like we are paying him chump change (especially with the economy the way it was). All I am hearing is that they are staying, we are only going to be looking for 2 new coaches unless someone else raids our offensive staff. I think Miles knows he is strapping his future at LSU to Crowton, Stud, and the development of young talent on the offense over the next year.
Porter is gone and that will be a blow because of recruiting and our RBs have done quite well. The Oline simply failed them this year - and miserably. Stud will go. There has been plenty of excitement about him but not a lot of results. McViolations is gone for obvious reasons. Biggest problem was watching the perpetual confusion of our WRs not knowing where to line up, constantly running routes into each other, or just not getting open in general. There is big talent there and it has been squandered. Lafell and Toliver have risen in spite of the coach, not because of him. Crowton should go, but I am unsure if he will. This guy cooks the gumbo, and it sucks. I mean it really sucks. There is some element of player execution, but the truth is, he doesn't know how to run an offense to fit his personnel. JJ is not RP. RP would be doing better in this offense but who is to say our Oline, WR, or RB would be? We saw this offense last year with Hatch running and Lee throwing. Fooled everyone didn't we? This year JJ has done it all and most of it poorly. Shepard can run it, but apparently can't throw it(according to our coaches). And who is the next QB after that? A dual threat or pocket passer? See where this is going??? Crowton does not appear to be able to coach a pocket passer and is asking to much of our current QBs without enough coaching support. His play calling seems erratic just to be erratic. It makes little sense to me, has no rhythm, and is ultimately unsuccessful. I would prefer to see him go. Miles is taking a chance with a new OC next year, but is also taking a chance with Crowton. I am unsure if he can reign him in and make him adjust to an offense he does not want to run.
Here's my graceful scenario: Maybe Miles and Alleva could contact Nicholls State and ask NSU AD Rob Bernardi, to hire Crowton as the Colonels' new coach. Heck, that worked out well for Northwestern State when Miles recommended Bradley Dale Peveto for the Demons' head coaching job. Peveto only guided the Demons to an 0-11 campaign in his first year. Crowton could bring his multiple schemes to the Bayou and have the Flyin' Colonels. Then it might work out that Verge Ausberry could call up Crowton and schedule Nicholls to play in 2012. After all, LSU is playing McNeese next year in Tiger Stadium. So, we should start a grassroots campaign to call Nicholls and recommend Crowton for the job.
It seems that a lot of the offensive problems are related to problems in the OL. I don't know the difference between man and zone blocking...I couldn't even tell you what type LSU employed this year. But if the OL can't perform well enough to allow Charles Scott to run effectively, then opposing teams forced JJ into obvious passing situations and we saw the results. The opposing defenses didn't stack the line as much as everyone talks about. They didn't really have to in order to stop the run. And when we couldn't run...we couldn't pass either. Anyway, if the problem with the offensive line affects the other passing and rushing woes we saw, then maybe a change in the OL coach may be more appropriate than wholesale, top to bottom house cleaning. After the bowl game, if we see position coaching changes first, I bet Crowton stays. But like last year with the defense, If Crowton goes...they ought to hire an OC first and let him bring in his position coaches. It seems that coaches have to develop their own sense of teamwork first so the coaching team, as a whole, is greater than the individual parts. Last year, we almost screwed completely up when we tried to hire Orgeron first and tell Chavis "here's your D-line coach. Ed have you met Chief before? Chief, This is Ed; Ed...Chief." I bet that Alleva is working the circuit right now in secret so that we can move quickly after the bowl game taking one of the two paths.
In pass protection the offensive line has been terrible, but i think they have been good in run blocking. The only running back averaging less than 5 yards a carry is Charles Scott at 4.7. Keiland averaging 5.3, Shep averaging 6.2, Ridley 5.1, Holliday 5.0, and Murphy was at 5.0.
Thanks for the stats. I'm just thinking that we never really established the ground game during the season...especially in big games. Miles was catching a lot of flack on this forum from a lot of people for a predictable running game that didn't convert on third down, etc. Scott was our main runner this year and his yardage was way down compared to last year. The coaches also took a lot of heat for trying to establish the run at the expense of the pass. People referred to Miles' big 10 mentality. I'm mainly thinking that if we had an off year running the ball and our passing ability was way off and we're ranked so low offensively, then it's possible that the blame falls more on the offensive line than on a general, overall failure in all areas. Maybe with better OL play, there would have been major improvement in total offense lat season. And maybe coaching changes concerning the OL is all that is needed. Personally, I'm for wholesale changes because we're losing Porter and probably McCarthy anyway. So if we change the OL coach, what's left?...just the OC? Might as well get a new one of those too, while we're at it and let him bring in his own coaching team so a coaching chemistry can be developed. That seemed to be the way it worked on defense last year. These are my impressions...I really don't have any above average knowledge of the game. I'd be interested in the thoughts of others as to whether wholesale changes are needed or just a few tweaks are better.
