Now that we've evaluated the individual components of the Cal offense, how can we fix it? Each one of you give your suggestion and play couch potato quarterback.
Avinash: Go back to what made you great in the first place.
The Cal offense has had one superb season since that magical 2004 year. People will look at the quarterback, they'll look at the offensive line, but I look at shifting philosophies. Every season seems to bring a new offense.
2002-2005--power run game to open up the passing offense
2006--Dunbar and the spread offense
2007--Back to Tedford-style offense, with elements of the spread incorporated
2008--Back to staple plays, but with new blocking schemes incorporated
2009-2010: Never knew what our offense was the last two seasons. A lot of everything from the past few years showed up.
With each layer of offense we've added, the execution has gotten worse, and worse, and worse. I don't believe the guys we have are THAT much below the rest of the offenses we've had in the past. There are definitely talented guys on this team. But it just feels like they're not processing the plays they're provided on gameday. That speaks to an emphasis on scheme over technique, which usually ends very poorly in the college level.
Get the focus back to one particular thing. Spread, power, whatever. Try to avoid being multiple until the team can prove they can handle one type of offense.
What do you guys think?
TwistNHook: I do [believe the guys we have are THAT much below the rest of the offenses we've had in the past]. Sorry.
As Kodiak has illustrated greatly this year, it was not necessarily our scheme that had problems. It was our execution of said scheme. Now, that is also on the coaching, because it is their responsibility to help with execution. But on the same wavelength.
Here is what I'd like overall:
1. Tedford take over QB coaching duties. Where did "ball on the shelf" go?
2. Retain Ludwig, but he does solely OC duties. As Kodiak illustrated, in that particular arena, he was OK.
3. Make Coach Gould the RB/WR/OL coach. OK, that's just a joke. But I do believe we need to look at new WR and new OL coaches. We already have a new OL coach coming in, so that's good. I'm incredibly concerned regarding the dropsies.
yellow fever: I'm with Twist on this one - it seems like the most obvious solution.
Having him become the CEO of the program and oversee things while delegating more responsibility sounds noble in hindsight, but it seems relatively obvious that he should be the one running the offense since things have fallen apart on that side of the ball since he took a step back there. It would be like Chip Kelly all of a sudden deciding he didn't want to handle the Ducks' offense anymore - isn't that why he's there?
LeonPowe: It all starts with 5 positions. The hogs up front.
Kodiak: I'm with yellow who is with Twist who is with me who is with Avi who...well, I'm dizzy now.
As the couch potato guy, it's easy to say "let's just do this one thing," and have it fix everything. Fixing our offense is a multi-factorial issue that requires a complex solution. Recruiting, preparation and scheme all go hand in hand. I think the key is that all three facets (and this is a gross oversimplification) share a common vision. I've called for Tedford to go back to girl that brung him and resume coaching the QB's as well as having a direct hand w/ the offense. I still feel that this approach gives us the best chance for re-establishing a potent offense. I simply do not believe that "Tedford's offense is outdated" or that "everyone has caught up to Tedford's schemes." If it were that easy, he would have been stopped years ago at Fresno, Oregon, or in his early years at Cal.
I think the key is that he has to become the quarterback of the offense again. He has to pick his guys, develop them, and then put them in a position to succeed. (I know, duh.) But right now, there appears to be a disconnect between who gets recruited, who handles the position coaching, and then who calls the plays.
I don't think it's necessary to go with the flavor of the month and switch our entire system to the Pistol or Oregon's uptempo zone-read. However, I do think we need to take a hard look at whether it's viable long-term to utilize a system which is so dependent on college players being able to learn and execute an offense that has so many options; pro-style power, spread, wildcat. History suggests that it's quite possible. It's not like Kyle Boller was a Rhodes scholar. But he had a damn good position coach.