Scheme-I don't think the scheme matters much at all. I recall we had trouble recruiting players to fit into Gailey's pro style offense and I clearly recall how frustrating it was to watch that offense do nothing in big games (think Wake Forest in the ACC Championship game, for example). So I reject the idea that this scheme is the problem or hurting us in recruiting. Maybe for a few players, sure. But not overall. I get how ugly it feels when it isn't working. Watching this team runs dive plays when they trail 40-10 is...disturbing (to say the least).
Scheme#2- I am MOST disappointed to finally reach the conclusion that this scheme also offers us no real advantage. Knowing GT's recruiting limitations, I had hoped this scheme would offer us a chance to compete with better athletes/teams/programs....the Florida States and Georgias we play....In 5 of the last 6 years, it clearly has not. It appears that we looked good last year not because of our scheme, but we had a good team that would have made any scheme look good. Jimmys and Joes......
Dave Braine was right-it has been shown year after year, again and again. GT can expect to win maybe 7 games, 8 if we're lucky, and in special years maybe 10 once in a long time. Last year was an outlier, and so was 2009. GT simply has too many disadvantages from the Hill to be able to recruit the Jimmys and Joes necessary to really push into Clemson/FSU/SEC territory consistently.
Offense (up until now) hasn't been our Achilles heel. It has been defense and special teams. Both are driven more by sheer athleticism than by coaching (well, in truth, I am not sure what drives our special teams performances). With our defense, we rarely win tight defensive struggles. Last year in the 2nd half of the season, our defense played as well as they could, and we won some games where we yielded few points (Clemson & Georgia come immediately to mind). But, in general, our defense has been a liability through coach after coach, ever since Tenuta left. I think it is really just about athleticism. I would admit I would MUCH rather see attacking on defense, the way our opponents are playing us, than the read and react style we are playing now. In fact, I HATE read and react on defense, as I think it simply exposes our lack of athleticism. I thought Roof had changed the last year, but we seem to be back to it this year, with predictably poor results.
Offensive Balance is Essential-In our two outlier years, 2009 and 2014, we have had NFL wide receivers to go along with everything else on the roster. Effective passing isn't just give, IT IS NECESSARY for any offense to work in this day and age. The one thing I fault this coach for is not doing the necessary things to make us an effective passing team without NFL wide receivers. The blocking problems are there for all of us to see, but they are exacerbated by the fact that defenses KNOW how to stop us if they can ignore our passing attack. They ignore it, they stuff the box. That means we have to execute our blocking...nearly perfectly. That's hard to do against determined defenses. It is especially hard when (as in Stinger's example above) you're outnumbered in the box. This is the one place I fault CPJ for being too stubborn to see and do something about. We don't have the three step drop and throw that would make it IMPOSSIBLE to sack us and which might, just MIGHT get some defenses to loosen up their defense in the box.
Beyond that ...and it is back to the Jimmys and Joes. For that to change the administration has to give a damn, and it seems to me they just......don't.
Those who blindly think that things will get better "when the leaves turn" or that somehow it'll all be alright....make me shake my head. Things will get better when we get better players, and/or when our coach realizes he needs to invest in a short passing game to keep defenses from stacking the box. Soon, these same folks will be talking about how NEXT year will be better. Why? I have no idea. Next year should be another year much like 2010-3. You are what your record is. Unless one of you sees a Bebe or Smelter on the roster who can make us a dual threat again, we will (at best) be Sun Bowl caliber again....next year. This scheme is NOT the problem, and this coach is NOT the problem. Not really.
It's the Hill, folks. Dave Braine was right. He tried to tell us, but against all data points which support what he said, we choose to believe otherwise.....
