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chicago51

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I’m not sure Rees’ resume is good enough yet for a NFL gig

I tend to agree with you but he's well thought of in coaching circles. Harry Hiestand likes him a lot, and Harry's opinion carries a lot of weight.
 

Te'o4Heisman

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We needed the Senior WRs to step up when OSU's coverage tightened. We knew we couldn't run the ball on them, which is why we went Air Raid 1st half. Austin and Lenzy completely disappeared until the final drive, Among the WRs Styles was the only one 2nd half that consistently still got open and pulled down his targets. Passing was the only way we were going to win that game period, although it would have been nice if Elston could have found a way to give up less than 600 yards of offense.

Watching in person it was VERY noticeable the WRs were visibly gassed in the 2nd half. Not sure how much it was evident on TV. I dont think the 2nd half gameplan was the issue as much as the individual players ability to execute. The WRs lack of explosiveness and ability to get open due to fatigue handcuffed the gameplan.
we saw it in person at the time, and an article actually came out either today or yesterday where Lenzy flat out said they were tired and were basically told to stay on the field when they asked out for a play to get a breather.
The lack of depth was the problem, not the gameplan. There were still plays to be had, the players just couldnt quite get there.
 

IrishTusker

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We needed the Senior WRs to step up when OSU's coverage tightened. We knew we couldn't run the ball on them, which is why we went Air Raid 1st half. Austin and Lenzy completely disappeared until the final drive, Among the WRs Styles was the only one 2nd half that consistently still got open and pulled down his targets. Passing was the only way we were going to win that game period, although it would have been nice if Elston could have found a way to give up less than 600 yards of offense.

What do you mean we "knew" we couldn't run on them? We never really tried. The adjustments were inadequate, and that's on Rees. It's true that the defense was the bigger problem, though.
 

bumpdaddy

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Watching in person it was VERY noticeable the WRs were visibly gassed in the 2nd half. Not sure how much it was evident on TV. I dont think the 2nd half gameplan was the issue as much as the individual players ability to execute. The WRs lack of explosiveness and ability to get open due to fatigue handcuffed the gameplan.
we saw it in person at the time, and an article actually came out either today or yesterday where Lenzy flat out said they were tired and were basically told to stay on the field when they asked out for a play to get a breather.
The lack of depth was the problem, not the gameplan. There were still plays to be had, the players just couldnt quite get there.

In today's SB Tribune, Lenzy is quoted as saying he was completely gassed in the 2nd half due to having to run so many fly routes well above the norm. He said at one point he tried to remove himself from the game because he was unable to run routes at full steam but Del turned him back onto the field, telling him there would be no substituting. I doubt that was Del's decision. That falls on TR. At some point, he should have realized he had to run the ball more just to give his receivers a breather and he needed to substitute more by giving Colzie more reps and Thomas any reps at all. You can read about it here (it's behind a paywall).

And if anyone saw the most recent Inside the Garage Podcast, Cam basically said the defense collapsed because they weren't ready for the speed of OSU uptempo offense. He said they practiced against uptempo, but OSU was running a hyper version they weren't prepared for. So by the 4th quarter, they had a double whammy of both the O and D gassing.
 

NDRock

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Btw I'm saying 15% chance Rees doesn't make it to the Horseshoe in September. We got to wait for these NFL head coaching positions to get filled. I'm thinking Rees could take an NFL HC and/or OC position.

You may think Rees is unproven nobody will hire him. You'd probably be right. But Rees is actually pretty well talked about in coaching circles.

I think Rees would prefer the pros where he doesn't have to recruit. He's also a big McVay and Shanahan fan.

Edit: QB coach or OC, not head coach in NFL.

If he did leave I think we should go after another up and comer. I’d look at someone like Ole Miss’ OC.
 

Dale

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If he did leave I think we should go after another up and comer. I’d look at someone like Ole Miss’ OC.

I can’t tell if this is unaware that it was Lebby who is now landing Jackson Arnold, a joke about it being Lebby who is now landing Jackson Arnold, or a joke about it being Charlie Weis Jr now.
 

Irish4life

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Btw I'm saying 15% chance Rees doesn't make it to the Horseshoe in September. We got to wait for these NFL head coaching positions to get filled. I'm thinking Rees could take an NFL HC and/or OC position.

You may think Rees is unproven nobody will hire him. You'd probably be right. But Rees is actually pretty well talked about in coaching circles.

I think Rees would prefer the pros where he doesn't have to recruit. He's also a big McVay and Shanahan fan.

Edit: QB coach or OC, not head coach in NFL.

NFL OC, no. NFL QB coach gig, absolutely. Not sure it happens this offseason, but I could see Sirianni hiring him should Brian Johnson return to Utah and/or get an NFL OC job. I think he's an FBS HC sooner rather than later if not.
 

InKellyWeTrust

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What is going on in this thread? Tommy as an NFL OC? I would say we've officially run out of things to talk about this off-season but we still don't have a DC.
 

ulukinatme

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What do you mean we "knew" we couldn't run on them? We never really tried. The adjustments were inadequate, and that's on Rees. It's true that the defense was the bigger problem, though.

We ran 17 times, subtracting Coan's sacks, for 45 yards. How many times do you run into a brick wall before you decide to go around it?

The only team to really run on OSU all year was Oklahoma, a rivalry game where the Sooners picked up 180 yards on the ground...half of which came on just 3 runs.

We had a piecemeal OL all year, and were working Big Fish back in for the first time to boot. We were never going to run all over that defense. Hell, Kyren only broke 100 yards twice all year because of the OL situation and it came in the 2nd half of the season. We weren't gonna get it done with Kyren out and the OL against that defense.

The blueprint to beat OSU was there in the Iowa State game. They were able to pass on them and play their staunch defense to beat them during the regular season. Baylor manged to beat them too during the Big 12 Championship, but only just...and that was due to OSU gifting them 4 INTs.
 

ulukinatme

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In today's SB Tribune, Lenzy is quoted as saying he was completely gassed in the 2nd half due to having to run so many fly routes well above the norm. He said at one point he tried to remove himself from the game because he was unable to run routes at full steam but Del turned him back onto the field, telling him there would be no substituting. I doubt that was Del's decision. That falls on TR. At some point, he should have realized he had to run the ball more just to give his receivers a breather and he needed to substitute more by giving Colzie more reps and Thomas any reps at all. You can read about it here (it's behind a paywall).

And if anyone saw the most recent Inside the Garage Podcast, Cam basically said the defense collapsed because they weren't ready for the speed of OSU uptempo offense. He said they practiced against uptempo, but OSU was running a hyper version they weren't prepared for. So by the 4th quarter, they had a double whammy of both the O and D gassing.

So what you're saying is the failure is on Balis' shoulders!

Del's out for a reason. If it's his personnel I wouldn't discount the chance he made the call in that situation. In any case, the lack of depth at the position falls on his shoulders, along with the inconsistencies of the WR group in general. Gassed or not, Austin and Lenzy both struggled all year to get open when coverage was tighter. That wasn't something unique to the 2nd half of the OSU game. That's on Del's coaching. Even if they had more energy they were going to struggle. I guess my question would be...if Styles was out there just as much as Austin and Lenzy, why was he still bringing down all his targets 2nd half while Austin and Lenzy disappeared? Styles and Big Fish were the highest graded offensive players in the bowl game, which is a bit embarrassing when you've got Freshmen showing up Senior leaders.
 

bumpdaddy

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So what you're saying is the failure is on Balis' shoulders!

Del's out for a reason. If it's his personnel I wouldn't discount the chance he made the call in that situation. In any case, the lack of depth at the position falls on his shoulders, along with the inconsistencies of the WR group in general. Gassed or not, Austin and Lenzy both struggled all year to get open when coverage was tighter. That wasn't something unique to the 2nd half of the OSU game. That's on Del's coaching. Even if they had more energy they were going to struggle. I guess my question would be...if Styles was out there just as much as Austin and Lenzy, why was he still bringing down all his targets 2nd half while Austin and Lenzy disappeared? Styles and Big Fish were the highest graded offensive players in the bowl game, which is a bit embarrassing when you've got Freshmen showing up Senior leaders.

No one's debating that Del is out for a reason. At least I'm not. I was just trying to back up Te'o4's comment about what happened in the Fiesta Bowl. Poor WR recruiting and development is all on Del. But TR is the OC. He's the one that decided to throw the ball 68 times. Overall, I don't fault him for deciding to pass a lot more considering the OL couldn't block OSU's front 7, but he had to gauge what all that passing was doing to the receivers. TR is the one that needed to adjust. Even if Del ultimately decided who would be subbed in and who wouldn't, which I doubt, at some point, the OC has to see what's happening and overrule the position coach.

And it doesn't matter what Styles did. Lenzy was the one running mostly fly routes and he had 12 more snaps than Styles. There should have been more substituting and/or more running no matter how you slice it. Am I saying TR is responsible for losing the game? No. The offense still scored enough to win but that doesn't mean TR couldn't have done a better job.

And again, I'm glad Del's gone so his absence should help the WR position group moving forward.
 

Irish#1

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What is going on in this thread? Tommy as an NFL OC? I would say we've officially run out of things to talk about this off-season but we still don't have a DC.

No kidding. I'm reading this thread thinking WTF? Tommy leaving already? I just don't see it.
 

stlnd01

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No one's debating that Del is out for a reason. At least I'm not. I was just trying to back up Te'o4's comment about what happened in the Fiesta Bowl. Poor WR recruiting and development is all on Del. But TR is the OC. He's the one that decided to throw the ball 68 times. Overall, I don't fault him for deciding to pass a lot more considering the OL couldn't block OSU's front 7, but he had to gauge what all that passing was doing to the receivers. TR is the one that needed to adjust. Even if Del ultimately decided who would be subbed in and who wouldn't, which I doubt, at some point, the OC has to see what's happening and overrule the position coach.

And it doesn't matter what Styles did. Lenzy was the one running mostly fly routes and he had 12 more snaps than Styles. There should have been more substituting and/or more running no matter how you slice it. Am I saying TR is responsible for losing the game? No. The offense still scored enough to win but that doesn't mean TR couldn't have done a better job.

And again, I'm glad Del's gone so his absence should help the WR position group moving forward.


Only thing I'd really fault Rees on in the Fiesta Bowl was not bringing Buchner in for a couple of drives in the third quarter, when our offense had stalled but we were still ahead. Slow the game down. Force OSU to adjust. Maybe it opens up the running game enough to at least get a couple of first downs and give the defense a chance to regroup from all that tempo OSU was throwing at them.
The fact that we only had four viable receivers - and they got tired - in a game were we had little hope of running is not really Tommy's doing.
 

chicago51

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One interesting thing to consider about Al Golden. Lou Anarumo is getting a couple interviews for head coaching jobs. I doubt he gets hired this cycle, I think this is more of him getting interviews to build his profile. But what if he does get an offer?

Do the Bengals offer Golden their DC position? It’s sounds like Golden has sort of been the co DC already (he calls the 3rd down and long plays out their nickel package). Do the Bengals try to keep him to keep contiuity with their improving defense? Does Anarumo offer Golden the DC position for his team if he gets does indeed get an HC position? They seem to have a good collaborative relationship. If these options are available does Golden choose to be an NFL DC or ND's DC; assuming Marcus Freeman ultimately chooses him?
 

Grahambo

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1. I highly doubt Rees would leave this off-season. I get it, never say never but he turned down big money to follow BK to LSU. And he’s not leaving his co-HC/OC gig to be a QB coach in the NFL.

2. More often then not, it’s the position coach who does the subbing. If Lenzy said Del refused to sub him out then chances are that’s on Del. Rees is the OC and QB coach so chances of him noticing Lenzy is gassed on a specific play is slim. Del should’ve subbed Lenzy and told Rees. Del is just not a good coach. And Watts moved to safety, not because he can’t play WR.
 

ulukinatme

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[TWEET]https://twitter.com/NDFootball/status/1485613453217783814?s=20[/TWEET]

Official.
[TWEET]https://twitter.com/NDFootball/status/1485613453217783814[/TWEET]

Just for ACamp1900

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IrishFanForever23

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Also, not on 247 but been on ISD for 2 years. ISD is so behind on breaking anything, it's always posters breaking things based on what 247/others say, the ISD staff just seems focused on context, not news. I think I'll move over to 247 long term.

Yep. I canceled my subscription about two years ago, and decided to subscribe again when Kelly left. They're not breaking anything, and are just stating everything 247 is saying after it breaks. I'll be canceling again and won't look to renew.
 

chicago51

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Please NO ex-players that aren't proven coaches or in this case aren't proven recruiters.

Seriously just get a good recruiter. A GA can work on ball security, an experience o-line coach like Hiestand can tell RBs where to run / how to follow their blocks, and they can work on route running with the WR coach.

You don't even need a good coach here like the other positions, just get a really good recruiter.
 
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