Highly Unlikely - but what if CPJ hired an OC?

InsideLB

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,905
I don't think CPJ would EVER give up playcalling, period. And that's not the point of this thread. The point of the thread is to have fun exploring "what if he did give up playcalling".

Here is an argument for "it might actually work in that alternative reality where he would would do it":

Generally Johnson's tenure has been marked by a good to great offense in most years (with a few seasons as notable exceptions), and terrible special teams with mediocre to below average defenses. Due to this, at times he has had to become involved with defense and special teams. Generally when that's happened there was some improvement on those units. QB play this year has also seemed to improve when he stepped in and was more active coaching QBs. A case can be made that when he gets involved with stuff other than offense or otherwise functions as a consultant to tweak things then they get better.

So what if he (and again won't happen in reality) hired up an OC and freed himself up to have more time to coach special teams and consult on both sides of the ball (like most head coaches do)? A P5 HC has a lot of duties in addition to coaching already (admin, public speaking, etc.) so we've seen over the years it's hard to also be a coordinator as well as a HC.

I just thought it was an interesting question to ponder because he runs a clean program and graduates players. Perhaps the offense would remain just as potent but the other aspects of the program would improve and GT could finally see what this offense paired with better ST's and defense could do. What say you?
 

PTCjacket

Banned
Messages
48
I don't think it would help. If he was a strong recruiter and other aspects of the team were strong, then I'd say..."hey, he seems to be a good manager of the program, let's give it a shot". But none of those things are true. We are paying him his salary because of his offense, so if you take that away then why would we be giving him 3+ million a year?
 

jgtengineer

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,057
I wouldn't be so sure it wouldn't happen. Apparently he wanted to do it in 2012 and was not given the money for it. He wanted to hire an OC particularly for Vad. I could see him doing it this offseason. A new OC hire would probably fill the need for blood a lot of people have. Showing he's making a change, just like the woody hire did. Who he would go after i don't know.
 

Whiskey_Clear

Banned
Messages
10,486
I think a large part of the joy he gets from coaching is calling his plays against the opposing D. Take play calling away from him and he’d probably rather just retire.

But to complete the exercise how many in his coaching tree can truly equal his play calling? 2 or 3 maybe?

For this reason, when CPJ does leave, it’s highly unlikely we will see a trip option offense here.
 

LongforDodd

LatinxBreakfastTacos
Messages
3,261
I don't think CPJ would EVER give up playcalling, period. And that's not the point of this thread. The point of the thread is to have fun exploring "what if he did give up playcalling".

Here is an argument for "it might actually work in that alternative reality where he would would do it":

Generally Johnson's tenure has been marked by a good to great offense in most years (with a few seasons as notable exceptions), and terrible special teams with mediocre to below average defenses. Due to this, at times he has had to become involved with defense and special teams. Generally when that's happened there was some improvement on those units. QB play this year has also seemed to improve when he stepped in and was more active coaching QBs. A case can be made that when he gets involved with stuff other than offense or otherwise functions as a consultant to tweak things then they get better.

So what if he (and again won't happen in reality) hired up an OC and freed himself up to have more time to coach special teams and consult on both sides of the ball (like most head coaches do)? A P5 HC has a lot of duties in addition to coaching already (admin, public speaking, etc.) so we've seen over the years it's hard to also be a coordinator as well as a HC.

I just thought it was an interesting question to ponder because he runs a clean program and graduates players. Perhaps the offense would remain just as potent but the other aspects of the program would improve and GT could finally see what this offense paired with better ST's and defense could do. What say you?
PJ's career identity has been built upon him being the subject matter expert of his offense. If he can't be that, I don't believe he has any interest in doing something else. The other phases of the game are a nuisance to this identity.
 

jgtengineer

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,057
I think a large part of the joy he gets from coaching is calling his plays against the opposing D. Take play calling away from him and he’d probably rather just retire.

But to complete the exercise how many in his coaching tree can truly equal his play calling? 2 or 3 maybe?

For this reason, when CPJ does leave, it’s highly unlikely we will see a trip option offense here.

He could still call plays on saturday and have an OC hired. When I say hire an OC i mean hire another renowned offensive mind to build a new offense. And have someone to run the offensive practices so he can float more.
 

Whiskey_Clear

Banned
Messages
10,486
He could still call plays on saturday and have an OC hired. When I say hire an OC i mean hire another renowned offensive mind to build a new offense. And have someone to run the offensive practices so he can float more.

That’s as likely to happen as Saban turning his D over to a new DC and letting same install a completely different scheme. It’s a nonsensical notion.
 

jgtengineer

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,057
That’s as likely to happen as Saban turning his D over to a new DC and letting same install a completely different scheme. It’s a nonsensical notion.

You would be right, if he hadn't done this with Bryan Cook in 2013. Cook was brought in specifically to build the scheme we ended up running in 2013. Now that scheme had flaws in it and outside of Vad we didn't have another QB in the pipe that it made sense to run it with. But if he was willing to do that with cook, he'd probably be willing to do it again with someone else. Yes we had some games that year that were basically the normal johnson scheme ( syracuse) but it was definitely a step in teh direction most of these posters want.
 

Cam

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,591
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
You could see pressure from TStan to "modernize the offense" as an alternative to firing at the end of this season. With Gregory and Hewitt coming off the books next year, we'll technically have the funds to hire one of those OCs Quinlan suggested we were going to bring in for fresh ideas. Like others mentioned, Cook was originally that experiment (but on a budget).
 

ATL1

Helluva Engineer
Messages
7,377
Ivin Jackson could still be hired. T. Stan would have to approve it. It’s still a flexbone offensive schemes.
 
Top