Connor Shaw & Mike Davis

[GH]

Originally Posted by Coondog

I seriously doubt whoever replaces Dooley will get rid of Graham. He's not just a great RB coach but a great recruiter as well. That and being a Tenn Alumni I think his job is safe. Also Tenn o-line has been the only consistent position performing well all season so I have to believe that he would be safe as well but you never know.

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

Graham has a multi year deal. He will be on the next coach's staff at UT.

A guy can wish can't he? And looking around, after this season there should be a lot of coaches, coordinators and recruiters with SEC experience and ties available...

[CoverTwo]

The thing to keep in mind with Elliott is that he has redshirted a lot of the freshmen he has signed. You have got to give him more time to get these kids into their sophomore/junior years. Let him get his first class through the system before casting judgement.

And with Bubba, ill keep saying it. WR is a lot more than catching passes. This is a complex offense and takes time to learn what to do. You guys that want to use Shaq Roland as an example need to understand that he didn't get a benefit of Spring ball or a full Summer of workouts. He will be a lot better next year, I promise you that. Bubba catches way too much crap than he deserves.

[CoverTwo]

Spurrier isn't going to shake up the staff too much after a 10-11 win season. And he shouldn't because he has an excellent staff.

[ThisMr X]

Originally Posted by TKE226

Shaw plays well at home...gotta get him comfy on the road

He looked really good against arky last year and miss state. The line is the biggest issue he has had to overcome. He makes plays happen.

[carolinafan111]

Shaw has yet to win the big game on the road. that is the next hump that he (and we as a team) have to take to be on the national scale.

UGA next year should be the stage for that.

[OfficeLinebackerCock]

Originally Posted by pantera17

Our pass protection has been fine. That's certainly not the problem. Run blocking has been another story.

This is just my personal opinion, but you seriously need to reevaluate your grading method for the O Line play. I assure you that our pass protection has been only marginal (at best). You have to be able to protect on pass plays (something that is very iffy with this group) and you have to be able to "drive" block which is something that only happens occasionally. This is not even an average O line ....not in the SEC. Time we stopped BS'ing ourselves about that.

[Spurticus]

Originally Posted by Coondog

Are you saying that we need yet another o-line coach? Elliott wasn't exactly handed a stable of SEC caliber o-lineman but he has recruited them. With the exception of TJ Johnson we are playing Freshman and Sophomores up front. Ronald Patrick is a Junior but he's not exactly all SEC like Johnson is. It seems to me that our o-line problems are mostly youth and depth not coaching. I do agree that due to the o-line we do need to move Connor and the pocket around more to give plays time to develope.

As for the other position coaches who do you believe is not coaching up to par? Personally I would start with Special Teams but they haven't looked good since Ryan Succop so maybe some of the blame needs to be put on recruiting kickers which falls back on the head coach. The defensive secondary once again has struggled against good passing teams but they did play pretty well against Arky but Tenn lit them up all day.

Just curious on who you think needs replacing. This is Ward's first year in charge of the defense and while I wasn't all that thrilled with the hire and with it I knew there would be a learning curve but all in all I think he has done a pretty good job for his first season. Again, just curious on your thoughts since like most CockyTalkers I respect your opinion.

Elliott is about to complete his third season as the O/Line coach here.
It doesn't matter if he's got a lot of RS guys playing from last year, or
whether he's in his second season with vets playing etc... I see teams
like UT, Vandy, LSU etc... who are playing true freshman and RS
freshmam players who are playing MUCH better with less talent than we
have. I don't see NUMEROUS changes to the O/Line every season going
into the fourth / fifth game of they season with those teams. I'm sorry
if I don't share other GC fan's love of Elliott, but he's had three years to
at least show "SOME" sign of improvement with our line, and it's not
manifested itself yet. Yesterday's game was yet again another example
of this. Watching two players block one man, while another comes up
a gap in the middle untouched to our backfield. Watching our O/Linemen
move backwards at the snap, and seeing 2-3 defensive linemen in our
backfield at the time the QB hands the ball to the RB. ... It's getting old.
This should not happen to a line who's coach is in his third season at that
job. Agree or not, it is fact. Unless our O/line plays somewhere close to
decent, we are not going to be in Atlanta again playing for an SEC title.

[Dizzy01]

Bubba doesn't get enough criticism for his coaching. He may be a great recruiter and possibly has some of his Dad's offensive mindset but in terms of position coaching he's nothing to write home about. If you look at the number of receivers who have come into the program compared to the number that contribute on the field in a meaningful way it's pretty bad. Even the guys who have gone to the next level all leave with the same question mark concerning running routes and making adjustments. I know the response will be the WRs are underperforming because of the QBs and Oline because it's easier to make excuses than look at reality sometimes.

[GH]

This thread has become a discussion that may be better served out of the general public's eyes.

[pantera17]

There were many times Saturday where I was like "he has all day to throw"

Some people think when the QB takes off running it means the line didn't block well. When really the ball should have been out.

[Flameout12]

Originally Posted by Spurticus

I've said it before and It's as true now as it was when I said it after
game one.

Connor is a Zone Read QB. He can be a decent pocket passer, but he
is at his best when he can roll out or move around. We FINALLY figured
that out last week against UT, and yesterday and in passing downs
we are getting him out of the pocket and allowing him to move some to
throw....... HOWEVER, this is ony a result of what I've been saying for
9 weeks. Our O/Line is causing this team to underachieve and unless it
gets better next season, we are going to continue to see our offense
struggle and be less than what it can be.
Shaw could have become a consistently good drop back and pass guy, but
with the line we had, he was under fire way too quickly. Our line is also
the reason Lattimore has not gotten the full measure of his talent here,
and had to do what he did on his own for the most part.

Unless we get the line playing like an SEC Caliber line is capable of playing
Connor Mitch and Brandon Nosovich will suffer the same fate. If our
coaching staff wants to compete for the SEC Title next year we have to
re-evaluate a couple of position coaches (3 at least IMO). Make the
changes or suffer a team that is going to be less than it is capable of
being.

Our OL is a WIP, but it is not the main reason our running game has been off. A lot of this is schemes, play calling and defenses adjusting to what we are doing. We are not playing as smart as we could.

Even yesterday when we were beating Arky with the pass, they continued to load the LOS with guys and dare us to run on them. 5 OL cannot block 6-7 guys...someone is free.
Teams are scheming to stop the zone-read and make us beat them with the pass...this is why the play action thing is working.

We had 2 outside runs that yielded ~-7 yds...why we think we're fast enough to run outside on a SEC defense is beyond me. That's just stupid play calling...we are an inside running team and we are at our best with a big RB pounding the rock.

And our passing....we still don't have enough shorter/quicker routes...this is why we are taking some of the sacks...the plays take too long to develop. We seem to never throw that dump off to RB anymore....that and those TE drags should be our bread and butter.

Marcus....he was not the same runner until the UTen game...it wasn't his cuts or speed...but his drive after contact. I never saw him drive the pile like he didn't in '10...he wasn't as big and strong...let's be honest.

And Shaw is doing the same thing...just sliding...

[5lbYardcock]

The deal is our O-line has done a decent job. 19 sacks in 10 games and a few were probably due to receivers and a few due to Shaw. Put that in perspective. Boyd at clemscum has been sacked 20 times in a weak ass league. Manziel 21 times. Murray 18. McCarron 19 times in the SEC. The fewest have been Bray and Wilson.

[Dizzy01]

Originally Posted by pantera17

There were many times Saturday where I was like "he has all day to throw"

Some people think when the QB takes off running it means the line didn't block well. When really the ball should have been out.

This is true and I have defended the oline in the past but they struggled yesterday especially on the right side of the line. I still think the biggest problem is the players were recruited and coached for one style of play but when the game starts the plays called are from a different style.

[Legalman72]

We're 8-2 gang. Can we hold off on canning any coaches for a few more weeks?

[pantera17]

Originally Posted by Dizzy01

This is true and I have defended the oline in the past but they struggled yesterday especially on the right side of the line. I still think the biggest problem is the players were recruited and coached for one style of play but when the game starts the plays called are from a different style.

I agree they didnt play as well as they have been. But I wouldn't call them the problem. Shaw still takes sacks. And holds on to the ball to long. Still. Buuut the past two weeks you can tell he's been trying to get better. So that that's good. He has shown improvement. And these two games have prolly been his two best back to back games. Since he's been here.

[gin house]

IMO.....Bubba has sent Kmac, Sidney, Tori and Alshon to the pros, Sidney blew up his first year in the NFL and Alshon was looking good until his injury. High praise for their skill sets from NFL coaches. Elliot has brought fire and recruiting skills. He hasnt had enough time IMO to get his guys on the field. I wouldnt fool myself into thinking we recruit with UT and LSU on the Oline. Every O lineman for UT this year will go pro. Sands has his hands tied until we can block for the backs, give him some time. Robinson has coached some great players and is proven to be a great coach. He hasnt had enough time or experience players to work with. I feel good about the whole staff and as long as we have Lawing and Ward..........Beast Mode. I love defense.

[Goofyboy]

Shaw played an adequate game yesterday. He made three bad throws missing open receivers that likely cost points. He made a terrible throw and judgement on the int in the end zone. He looked tentative a few times when scrambling or running. With all that, he helped us win the game. Connor protects the ball. He has improved in the check-down game, but doesn't make the early throw without a clear cushion. He ran and avoided negative plays several times, and his potential for running keeps defenses off-base a little. We can be grateful for the kind of effort he gives and the steady hand he provides in making our offense an asset to the defense as opposed to what they (the defense) faced the last 2 years. The OL protected well yesterday and struggled to block against a tight box. The tight ends broke their back yesterday with some help from the rest of the offense and some defensive playmakers including Swearinger and Holloman.

[Red Devil]

Originally Posted by carolinafan111

Shaw has yet to win the big game on the road. that is the next hump that he (and we as a team) have to take to be on the national scale.

UGA next year should be the stage for that.

The problem is: by the time we find out he can't do it at UGA, another season's expectations are down the toilet.

[gin house]

Originally Posted by Legalman72

We're 8-2 gang. Can we hold off on canning any coaches for a few more weeks?

You mean we shouldnt try to get rid of a few of them for losing to pretty much two top five teams??????? LOL....I agree. We went to a really rough environment in LSU and almost won. Lost to #2 Florida in their house.........Its not the end of the world. We crushed the east champs. You can tell the attitude and expectations have changed in gamecock nation. People, We will be fine.

[Red Devil]

Originally Posted by Spurticus

Elliott is about to complete his third season as the O/Line coach here.
It doesn't matter if he's got a lot of RS guys playing from last year, or
whether he's in his second season with vets playing etc... I see teams
like UT, Vandy, LSU etc... who are playing true freshman and RS
freshmam players who are playing MUCH better with less talent than we
have. I don't see NUMEROUS changes to the O/Line every season going
into the fourth / fifth game of they season with those teams. I'm sorry
if I don't share other GC fan's love of Elliott, but he's had three years to
at least show "SOME" sign of improvement with our line, and it's not
manifested itself yet. Yesterday's game was yet again another example
of this. Watching two players block one man, while another comes up
a gap in the middle untouched to our backfield. Watching our O/Linemen
move backwards at the snap, and seeing 2-3 defensive linemen in our
backfield at the time the QB hands the ball to the RB. ... It's getting old.
This should not happen to a line who's coach is in his third season at that
job. Agree or not, it is fact. Unless our O/line plays somewhere close to
decent, we are not going to be in Atlanta again playing for an SEC title.

Look at how well the LSU line played and they had a bunch of freshman playing too.