Michael Fredrick Denbrock Hired as Offensive Coordinator (2023)

[Jiggafini19Deux]

FEI Ratings for Offense over the last decade:
5th (Denbrock)
37th
11th
25th
27th
19th
22nd
41st
17th
9th (Denbrock)
11th (this year -- Denbrock)

So yeah, it would be great if he could figure it the fuck out with short yardage stuff rate and red zone play calling but he is consistently orchestrating a top 10 offense.

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[PutuporShutup]

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Everyone should want the team to improve throughout the season. It's obvious the defense has improved significantly. Our kicking game is also obviously worse. If the offense has improved, it's not obvious.

 

[Free Manera]

I think every OC gets cute sometimes because let's be honest to be a high level football coach you have to be a psychopath or at least a narcissist.

They are proving something to themselves and future opponents and the current opponent and past opponents and their neighbor's dog and their mother in law and everyone else, all the time.

Remember at Clemson when there was a staffer assigned to holding Brent Venables back by his belt? I think every playcaller should have a guy like that whose job is to just slap them in the face as soon as they make an outsmart the room call. Then maybe Denbrock shakes it off and is like oh right, hand it to Love we need one yard.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I think every fanbase thinks they know more than their offensive coordinator. Rees, Parker, Denbrock. None of these guys have made certain chucklefucks out here close to remotely calm and or happy. I don't think it matters who the OC is, this is just going to be narrative for certain people that just want to piss and moan.

Hiring Denbrock was a fucking coup. He's not perfect. The calls, the execution, it's just not going to be 100% ever. It's pretty damn good and we're pretty damn fortunate to have him, but whatever. They've won eight games in a row while managing to have a short yardage catastrophe on their hands. The Pope is busy making the Bears unstoppable. Just going to have to grit it out from here.

 

[IrishLax]

Everyone should want the team to improve throughout the season. It's obvious the defense has improved significantly. Our kicking game is also obviously worse. If the offense has improved, it's not obvious.

The offense was at its worst Week 1... then peak through the Arkansas game... then "explosive but inconsistent with too many mistakes and a lack of short yardage efficiency" the latter half of the season. It has regressed from being a Top 5 offense to now borderline Top 10 (9th in SP+, 11th in FEI). They absolutely must figure out how to convert short yardage at a higher clip to be a true contender.

 

[IrishLax]

Who couldn’t orchestrate a too 10 offense with the gifts Denbrock has been afforded. He’s also been greatly supported by a very good D. Riley Leonard is also a better passer than given credit for Denbrock just preferred to run him which is fine. We didn’t need him to pass until second half of Ohio state game and he was great. He gets an F for short yardage which is embarrassing given what he has to work with. I’ll take Charlie Weiss Jr.

Looking at SP+, ND has the 9th rated offense. Oregon is loaded and is 10th. Bama has Ryan Williams and (until this past week) a Heisman front running QB and is 19th. Texas has at least a half dozen future NFL players on offense with "wizard" Sarkesian and is 47th (!!!!). Ohio State -- who is the gold standard of having an embarrassment of talent at QB + WR -- is ranked just barely ahead of ND at 7th.

The idea that any jamoke can coordiante a top 10 offense as long as you have talent 1) isn't supported by the last two decades of ND football 2) isn't supported by looking at other schools who have just as much if not more talent than ND.

 

[StPaul_Irish]

The offense was at its worst Week 1... then peak through the Arkansas game... then "explosive but inconsistent with too many mistakes and a lack of short yardage efficiency" the latter half of the season. It has regressed from being a Top 5 offense to now borderline Top 10 (9th in SP+, 11th in FEI). They absolutely must figure out how to convert short yardage at a higher clip to be a true contender.

The struggle is real, real enough to the point where using...

1. TB12 as a wildcat type option - strong enough to fight for yards, fast enough to get outside if needed, and is a QB so teams need to at least stay honest (in theory)

2. Using someone, TE or lineman to serve as a lead blocker/ FB type

3. See number 2, but get under center (I think I say CJ under center for the first time all year on Saturday)

4. See number 2/3 but with a full house backfield.

5. See number 4, but with TB under center. Triple Option FB dive or QB bubble anyone?

 

[IrishLax]

Wasn't he the OC in 2016 too, or did he not have playcalling that year?

They actually gave Sanford the OC title in 2015 to get him to come in and be the QB coach but Denbrock called the plays. Then in 2016 they gave play calling to Sanford and we all know how that season went (even if it wasn't really the offense's fault). Then in 2017 they cleaned house, Denbrock moving to Cincinnati to get play calling duties back. This is also one of the main reasons he ditched Kelly to come back to ND because after producing a Heisman winner + elite offense Kelly went and floated the idea of giving Sloan "more responsibility" in order to keep him because he was so important to Underwood's recruiting... another masterstroke from Boston Brian.

 

[ColoradoIrish]

The offense was at its worst Week 1... then peak through the Arkansas game... then "explosive but inconsistent with too many mistakes and a lack of short yardage efficiency" the latter half of the season. It has regressed from being a Top 5 offense to now borderline Top 10 (9th in SP+, 11th in FEI). They absolutely must figure out how to convert short yardage at a higher clip to be a true contender.

The timing of it all correlates with the injuries to the IOL. Not saying they haven't played well but I think anyone would expect to have some the inconsistency and short yardage issues we've had when we're on our second center and 3/4 guard. With that being said I would like to see some more creativity for short yardage situations.

 

[PutuporShutup]

Looking at SP+, ND has the 9th rated offense. Oregon is loaded and is 10th. Bama has Ryan Williams and (until this past week) a Heisman front running QB and is 19th. Texas has at least a half dozen future NFL players on offense with "wizard" Sarkesian and is 47th (!!!!). Ohio State -- who is the gold standard of having an embarrassment of talent at QB + WR -- is ranked just barely ahead of ND at 7th.

The idea that any jamoke can coordiante a top 10 offense as long as you have talent 1) isn't supported by the last two decades of ND football 2) isn't supported by looking at other schools who have just as much if not more talent than ND.

I think what gets lost a lot of times with both the DC and OC is actual coaching/execution. Most comments on coordinators are strictly X's and O's. I think Denbrock runs a very vanilla offense (compared to some) but he does a great job of having the team execute a lot of it at a very very high level. Due to this, it's very clear when parts of our offense do NOT execute at a high level, short yardage and wr screens. I personally think denbrocks scheme for WR screens and even more so short yardage is just not smart, and relies on perfection to run plays that need to be executable without everyone being perfect. It's too easy to make plays against ND in short yardage and wr screens due to the scheme we're running IMO. Denbrocks scheme works in short yardage with the QB run, because he lets the ends go unblocked a lot, and a qb run you don't have the wasted half second during a hand off to the RB. With our WR screens, he runs them very tight to our line. Doing it that way allows the defense to have an opportunity to make a play much easier (less space to react to), but if you hit a WR screen in tight space perfectly it can be a house call easier. We don't have any house calls on wr screens, but we have 2 or 3 turnovers.

 

[IrishLax]

I think what gets lost a lot of times with both the DC and OC is actual coaching/execution. Most comments on coordinators are strictly X's and O's. I think Denbrock runs a very vanilla offense (compared to some) but he does a great job of having the team execute a lot of it at a very very high level. Due to this, it's very clear when parts of our offense do NOT execute at a high level, short yardage and wr screens. I personally think denbrocks scheme for WR screens and even more so short yardage is just not smart, and relies on perfection to run plays that need to be executable without everyone being perfect. It's too easy to make plays against ND in short yardage and wr screens due to the scheme we're running IMO. Denbrocks scheme works in short yardage with the QB run, because he lets the ends go unblocked a lot, and a qb run you don't have the wasted half second during a hand off to the RB. With our WR screens, he runs them very tight to our line. Doing it that way allows the defense to have an opportunity to make a play much easier (less space to react to), but if you hit a WR screen in tight space perfectly it can be a house call easier. We don't have any house calls on wr screens, but we have 2 or 3 turnovers.

1000%. It's not a video game, the teaching/culture component is so important, and you also need to focus on "putting people in position to succeed." I honestly think what he would benefit from is more unbiased self-scout and an analyst or two focused on these kinds of things. You want to run screens? Ok cool, how can we make them more successful? Why aren't they succeeding right now?

I bet if he was gathering honest feedback from the RBs/OL/WRs a lot of things would be tweaked.

 

[PutuporShutup]

The offense was at its worst Week 1... then peak through the Arkansas game... then "explosive but inconsistent with too many mistakes and a lack of short yardage efficiency" the latter half of the season. It has regressed from being a Top 5 offense to now borderline Top 10 (9th in SP+, 11th in FEI). They absolutely must figure out how to convert short yardage at a higher clip to be a true contender.

The most disappointing thing about our team as a whole was a lack of change/improvement with short yardage after the bye week when that was a focus point for freeman (per freeman) during the bye.

It was almost like they weren't willing to adjust their scheme and tried to focus on execution of it. That's just poor self scout. The tape just doesn't lie. Washington has been an average blocker at best, and our WRs are asked to block some big dudes in short yardage and that's just not a good recipe. A hat on a hat is not always created equal. Pauling on a A&M DE wasn't a good recipe for success. Teams are doing some creative, but very simple short yardage packages with extra OL. The Ole Miss example over the weekend and what Penn State has been doing should be clear examples of how you do it. I also think part of the issue short yardage is having tackles at guard, especially absher. We don't get good leverage.

Against pitt, we didn't even PA into the raridon flat throw on fourth, and it only had one option. Same darn play we ran against USC that ended up being a poor decision pick.

 

[greyhammer90]

If I was Denbrock and I had a short yardage heavy/power solution I wouldn't be showing it against any team post-USC. That stays in the playoffs part of my binder until I'm in a genuinely scary situation.

Not saying we do have a solution but I do think it's worth pointing out that we've not been in a close game since September.

 

[SoIll]

Can't believe I am going to even say this,

But bring the wildcat back. Put Price or Williams as lead blocker similar to last year with Riley. Everyone knew it was coming with RL, that's' irrelevant

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

How some of these games have been officiated have not helped the offense whatsoever. Boise State and NC State come to mind.

The banged up OL. The lack of field goals being an option.

 

[SoIll]

First 3 plays.

 

[greyhammer90]

Can't believe I am going to even say this,

But bring the wildcat back. Put Price or Williams as lead blocker similar to last year with Riley. Everyone knew it was coming with RL, that's' irrelevant

It seems weird to say but I'd reverse it. Love is probably the best RB blocker we have so let him block/decoy and let Williams run it. In limited carries Williams seems to have a nose for getting a yard.

 

[greyhammer90]

First 3 plays.

I cannot tell you how loud the ND crowd was on that drive. I've been to multiple USC games and the 37*-0 Michigan game and that drive completely blew those out of the water.

 

[SoIll]

It seems weird to say but I'd reverse it. Love is probably the best RB blocker we have so let him block/decoy and let Williams run it. In limited carries Williams seems to have a nose for getting a yard.

solid idea!

 

[StPaul_Irish]

 

[BleedBlueGold]

First 3 plays.

The highs from that first drive....ugh. I thought to myself in that moment, "ND is finally going to beat OSU....and it's for a title." Something about that entire playoff run just screamed that ND was the bigger, faster, stronger team and would bully whoever got in their way. I loathe OSU. And for the record, I doubly loathe Michigan, for obvious reasons, but also since they've clearly figured out how to consistently beat OSU lately. Drives me insane.

 

[Bane]

How some of these games have been officiated have not helped the offense whatsoever. Boise State and NC State come to mind.

The banged up OL. The lack of field goals being an option.

Yeah, we're going for it quite a bit in times when maybe we wouldn't but the unreliable place kicking compels us to do so which makes a potential flaw in our offense seem worse. It might sound weird but I have more trust in the kicking getting sorted out than the 4th and short stuff. The kicking shit is entirely mental and random and I feel it will even out at some point. The short yardage stuff is far more baffling and I'm not sure there's an easy answer.

 

[RudyVerse]

These next two games are the last experimental time we have. In goal line, on 1st down, I bring in Buchner and go single back. Give that combo 3 times rushing and I'd bet on a TD every time. Don't bring Buchner in on 3rd down, I want all 3/4 downs with this package.

 

[ab2cmiller]

If I was Denbrock and I had a short yardage heavy/power solution I wouldn't be showing it against any team post-USC. That stays in the playoffs part of my binder until I'm in a genuinely scary situation.

Not saying we do have a solution but I do think it's worth pointing out that we've not been in a close game since September.

I've wondered the same. I'm beginning to doubt that we have a solution, but I've certainly considered the possibility that we are holding it in our back pocket until the CFP.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

These next two games are the last experimental time we have. In goal line, on 1st down, I bring in Buchner and go single back. Give that combo 3 times rushing and I'd bet on a TD every time. Don't bring Buchner in on 3rd down, I want all 3/4 downs with this package.

Sure. The millionaire Defensive Coordinators ND are playing against won't see this coming.

Bringing in Buchner is supposed to make them more efficient? Is it supposed to fool the opponent or catch them off guard?

In the fourth quarter on Saturday, they capped a 12 play drive with a TD on a designed QB draw with Carr going in for the score on a 5 yard run. He tried it after failing inside the goal line earlier in the game, it worked.

So the experimentation has likely already commenced.

 

[RudyVerse]

Sure. The millionaire Defensive Coordinators ND are playing against won't see this coming.

Bringing in Buchner is supposed to make them more efficient? Is it supposed to fool the opponent or catch them off guard?

In the fourth quarter on Saturday, they capped a 12 play drive with a TD on a designed QB draw with Carr going in for the score on a 5 yard run. He tried it after failing inside the goal line earlier in the game, it worked.

So the experimentation has likely already commenced.

No one will be fooled just like they weren't last year. Still couldn't stop it and our star RB is actually healthy.

 

[PolishDomer]

The struggle is real, real enough to the point where using...

1. TB12 as a wildcat type option - strong enough to fight for yards, fast enough to get outside if needed, and is a QB so teams need to at least stay honest (in theory)

 

[FOTY977]

It is making me chuckle how many folks are clamoring for Buchner in a key goal line situation when it’s his hands that played a big role in losing one of our earlier matchups.

 

[Irish#1]

Go back under center and run the Power I. Nobody has seen that in a couple of decades.

 

[RudyVerse]

It is making me chuckle how many folks are clamoring for Buchner in a key goal line situation when it’s his hands that played a big role in losing one of our earlier matchups.

I hear you, but catching a spiral on a tight rope on your knee is a different animal than a lobbed snap 6 yards off ball. I don't recall Buchner having issue catching snaps but maybe I'm forgetting.