Educate me

#1
Volizona

Volizona

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#1
I’m far from being an expert on offensive schemes, but I’m curious about the drastic change of play calling this year vs last year. First of all, the offense is CJHs baby. I don’t care who the OC is, CJH is calling plays. Why was he so aggressive last year and never wasted any
 
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#2
#2
Message got cut off. Why were we super aggressive last year, but this year we are seeing all of these runs up the middle, screen passes behind the LOS, crazy options that don’t make any sense. Before you say Hooker, Hyatt, blah blah, I think Joe has performed better with aggressive play calling at a faster tempo. I know the first series is scripted, but why can’t the coaches keep ‘scripting’ / calling plays for him if that works best for him? Are these stupid play calls making things worse for Joe? Perhaps the problem is that all plays are a read option and it’s up to Joe to decide whether to run or pass and he’s the one choosing the option? If so , why can’t the coaches just give him the play instead of making him process more than he needs to?
 
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#3
#3
Volizona said:
I’m far from being an expert on offensive schemes, but I’m curious about the drastic change of play calling this year vs last year. First of all, the offense is CJHs baby. I don’t care who the OC is, CJH is calling plays. Why was he so aggressive last year and never wasted any
Click to expand...

Last year they had a a Heisman candidate (until injury) at QB. This year they do not.

Last year they had a couple WRs (one missed most of year) that are now in the NFL. Since McCoy injury, they do not at this point have an NFL level WR.

They have had a make shift OL all year missing a future NFL center for the first half of the year. They lost a couple OL now in the NFL.

they are not as talented on the field as the players they put on the field last year. So they are not as efficient and able to execute like CJH would like. He has to call the game based on the skill sets available.
 
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#4
#4
@LWSVOL Nailed it.

There's not a lot of trust in Joe Milton to make the proper reads. For as much talk as there is about how easy Huepel's system can be to pick up, it still requires a quarterback who can quickly read what the defense is in and know where the holes in the zone are going to be or which corners are playing man or if it's entirely man and well covered, knowing when to take off.

This isn't a bash Joe Milton thing though. He's a fine QB. And I'm not entirely convinced that if he didn't receive more trust from Huepel that we wouldn't have a more successful offense. But Huepel watches him in practice every day, Huepel can be 100% certain when watching film who is at fault on bad/broken plays(Milton missing a read or a receiver running the wrong route or whatever else the case might be), where as I nor anyone else not inside the Tennessee film room can.

You combine that with our receivers being kinda just.. guys, I guess. Squirrel is a good player but he's it(with McCoy injured) at the receiver position for guys we can rely on constantly too.

Fine QBs however are generally only going to lead to fine results, which is what I'd overall describe our offense as this year.

I don't think Hooker gets enough credit for how good he was last year. Dude was special. I hope Nico can be too.

I also hope this forum isn't vile towards Milton. He is what he is, and gives 110% each Saturday. And he's going to lead us to a potentially 9 win(counting bowl) season more than likely that we shouldn't be quick to forget the best a previous coaching staff here could do even with studs like Dobbs, Kamara, Jennings, Barnett, Sutton, etc on the team.

Also need to take the time to praise Huepel for how well Milton has developed here. Calling him a "fine QB" is something some might take as an insult, but as I said, it's not, and that's a huge step forward from what Milton was at Michigan.

If Huepel works similar magic on Nico as he did on Hooker and Milton, we're in for something really special at the QB position.
 
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#5
#5
We did all of those things last year too. The option play you don’t like is how Hooker got injured. We threw a lot of screens. We ran a lot of inside zone and iso.

The only difference is last year we had more explosive players on the perimeter, a better line, and a QB who was an escape artist when things broke down.
 
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#7
#7
If we're taking players out of the equation (and that's a big part of the equation), I have a theory.

If you look at the 2021, 2022, and 2023 season, Golesh was better at calling plays than Heupel. It's still Heupel's system but Golesh was able to make full use of it with the plays ran and the formations used to run them, granted with better players to an extent. With that said Hooker was QB in 2021 and we still wouldn't attack vertically against good teams. Golesh was taking shots against Bama at USF. Unfortunately USF isn't any good.

Think of it like this. Mike Leach was the inventor of the Air Raid and was a purist. Very simplistic gameplan that was good enough to win some games but too simplistic for good teams. Then comes along Lincoln Riley who incorporated the gap scheme runs and more creativity into getting guys open. Heupel has created a great offense. Golesh amplified it with his own touch to it. Heupel can definitely have the same results as we had last year but he has to be willing to attack good teams and be creative to manipulate open WRs and busts in coverage.

I understand we have some talent deficiencies in certain spots but if you're not willing to stretch the field, teams don't have to honor it, making life harder in other phases of the game.
 
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#14
#14
Volfanstucknga said:
My two issues with play calling this season.
#1 - Play to punt when we put ourselves in 1st & 15 and longer.
#2 - When we have success with a play we continue until it doesn't work. I'm good going back to back, but a third time? C'mon. It gets stuffed EVERY TIME!!!
Click to expand...
We don’t play to punt. It’s just that our vertical passing game is nonexistent. It’s a bunch of screens, slants and comebacks because that’s all they can trust Joe to read. We’re operating with about 25% of the playbook.
 
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#15
#15
I get that Hooker and Co really set the bar super high. However, it would be different if this offense didn’t give us glimpses of what it could be. First drive vs Fla and first half vs bama are prime examples. Those 2 offenses compete with anyone in the country and I think the OP is just wondering where they went.
 
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#16
#16
It’s a lot like a puzzle. You have the picture on the front that shows you what it’s supposed to be, so you dump it out and start working on it. However, you then find you’re missing some pieces; so no matter how hard you work on it, if you’re missing those pieces, the picture will never be complete. Same in this situation. We just don’t have the same pieces we had last year to create the picture that is CJH’s offensive mind.
 
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#17
#17
Lots of really good, thoughtful answers in this thread and all with a ton of merit. It’s possible it’s every single one of these issues that’s contributing to the difference between last year and this one.

But something feels different about this team. It’s almost like there is a lack of urgency or focus with a large part of our guys that are getting minutes. See some interviews and pressers and there is an air of indifference or going through the motions on some of the guys. Mind you, this is not all of them and I don’t question the heart of several of them - Beasley, Baron and Simmons come to mind as a few of the guys that put it all on the line game in and game out.

Maybe we are missing leadership somewhere along the line. We don’t have an inspiring leader like Hooker, a veteran workhorse like Fant, or a defensive beast like Young to hold the collective team accountable and rally for more effort.
 
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#18
#18
Volizona said:
I’m far from being an expert on offensive schemes, but I’m curious about the drastic change of play calling this year vs last year. First of all, the offense is CJHs baby. I don’t care who the OC is, CJH is calling plays. Why was he so aggressive last year and never wasted any
Click to expand...
Do you really need to be told?

QB.
 
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#19
#19
LWSVOL said:
Last year they had a a Heisman candidate (until injury) at QB. This year they do not.

Last year they had a couple WRs (one missed most of year) that are now in the NFL. Since McCoy injury, they do not at this point have an NFL level WR.

They have had a make shift OL all year missing a future NFL center for the first half of the year. They lost a couple OL now in the NFL.

they are not as talented on the field as the players they put on the field last year. So they are not as efficient and able to execute like CJH would like. He has to call the game based on the skill sets available.
Click to expand...
Who is they???
 
#20
#20
DooleyOrangePants said:
Lots of really good, thoughtful answers in this thread and all with a ton of merit. It’s possible it’s every single one of these issues that’s contributing to the difference between last year and this one.

But something feels different about this team. It’s almost like there is a lack of urgency or focus with a large part of our guys that are getting minutes. See some interviews and pressers and there is an air of indifference or going through the motions on some of the guys. Mind you, this is not all of them and I don’t question the heart of several of them - Beasley, Baron and Simmons come to mind as a few of the guys that put it all on the line game in and game out.

Maybe we are missing leadership somewhere along the line. We don’t have an inspiring leader like Hooker, a veteran workhorse like Fant, or a defensive beast like Young to hold the collective team accountable and rally for more effort.
Click to expand...
No desire to give their all for Tennessee today,no fight. Apparently all soft. #7 for misery had more fight and desire to win, than our entire team
 
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#22
#22
Vol865 said:
If we're taking players out of the equation (and that's a big part of the equation), I have a theory.

If you look at the 2021, 2022, and 2023 season, Golesh was better at calling plays than Heupel. It's still Heupel's system but Golesh was able to make full use of it with the plays ran and the formations used to run them, granted with better players to an extent. With that said Hooker was QB in 2021 and we still wouldn't attack vertically against good teams. Golesh was taking shots against Bama at USF. Unfortunately USF isn't any good.

Think of it like this. Mike Leach was the inventor of the Air Raid and was a purist. Very simplistic gameplan that was good enough to win some games but too simplistic for and good teams. Then comes along Lincoln Riley who incorporated the gap scheme runs and more creativity into getting guys open. Heupel has created a great offense. Golesh amplified it with his own touch to it. Heupel cdefinitely have the same results as we had last year but he has to be willing to attack good teams and be creative to manipulate open WRs and busts in coverage.

I understand we have some talent deficiencies in certain spots but if you're not willing to stretch the field, teams don't have to honor it, making life harder in other phases of the game.
Click to expand...
And there is the problem, Golesh left and instead of going out and getting an hiring an experienced OC he promotes a staffer to that position, Why ? I think that it is a control issue. Butch went the same route and it was one of the reasons he lost his job. Why not hire the best available ? If Heuple doesn’t get this corrected I give him 2 years max
 
#23
#23
I am right along with one of the posters when it comes to not having all the knowledge about football, but I have noticed that when we get penalized and we face a 1st and 15, we just can't seem to do well in that scenario. When I see that happening, I know it will end up in a punting situation. Then the other team comes out swinging balls all over the field. Quite depressing.
 
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#24
#24
There is a lot of mention here of what we do NOT have on our offense.

But what we DO have is speed, at least in guys like Wright, Sampson, Seldon, plus RB depth.

Why don't we run more toss sweeps right and left, instead of running right to the linebackers making their jobs easier? Even if other teams figured out our wide game, we'd still be making their D run til their tongues are hangin out, while we can keep rotating fresh backs. Why not?
 
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#25
#25
Volizona said:
I’m far from being an expert on offensive schemes, but I’m curious about the drastic change of play calling this year vs last year. First of all, the offense is CJHs baby. I don’t care who the OC is, CJH is calling plays. Why was he so aggressive last year and never wasted any
Click to expand...
Here's my take - -
You must have a QB who can think fast, pass the ball, not throw it run and handle the ball pretty good. You also must have really good to excellent receivers. Just don't have either this year.
 
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