The scoop on Rhett Lashlee

[cockylaw]

Mentioned here as a name that is popping up in inner circles.

https://247sports.com/college/south-...hamp-111857417

His name has been batted around here as on the of the possibilities. The biggest knock is that he coached under Malzahn, so it was likely Malzahn who was responsible for any offensive success at Auburn. Further, he left Auburn for the same position at UConn and a pay cut, so the perception is he encourage by Malzahn to leave.

This article sheds some light on that situation:

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/ind..._auburn_f.html

So, Malzhan was apparently in charge of calling plays during Lashlee's final season (2016) for the first 3 games when Auburn started 1-2. Malzahn then says he then turned play calling responsibilities over to Lashlee. Auburn went on to win 6 straight games and put up some pretty big numbers. With Lashlee calling plays, their scoring went up 12 points per game during that 6 game win streak. For the 10 games Lashlee called, their scoring was up 4 points per game compared to the 3 games Malzahn called.

For what it's worth, none of the articles I'm reading on Auburn sites about Lashlee's departure indicate anything sinister. Just that it was time for him to step out of Malzahn's shadow after 10 years.

For Lashlee's part, he said the reason he took the UConn job was to have an opportunity to run his own offense and basically do his own thing. The obvious implication being that anyone coaching offense under Malzahn will always have him looking over their shoulder. Working under a defensive head coach like Edsall afforded him that opportunity to run an offense with little oversight.

Lashlee did have very successful offenses at Samford and Arkansas State (With Malzhan head coach at Arkansas State). And, of course, he has drastically improved UConn's woeful offense in his one season there.

It's hard to tell. This is almost like a Kirby Smart situation. At some point the protege has to step out of the mentor's shadow and show if he can do it on his own. You have to assume that after coaching under Malzhan for 10 years, he picked up a thing or two. His one season of results at UConn are promising.

Promising enough to take a chance on?

[Dizzy01]

This is one of the reasons it wouldn't shock me to see TRob leave and why his going to UConn doesn't trouble me. At some point you have to prove you can be the guy.

[Emery]

I was and am skeptical because as of now, Lashlee is still Malzahn's protégé. He hasn't really done a lot separate. However, the more I read, watch highlights of UConn (it's slow at work) and listen to him, the more I like it.

Like I read somewhere, he seems to have 'it' that Roper and Pease didn't.

And Muschamp has lauded Auburn's offense since he was hired, why not hire the kid who helped build it?

[InletCock1989]

Rhett Lashlee is the worst possible hire ever under Muschamp if that happens! I will literally throw the **** up!!!

[WayzUp]

Originally Posted by InletCock1989

Rhett Lashlee is the worst possible hire ever under Muschamp if that happens! I will literally throw the **** up!!!

Why?

[Goofyboy]

Originally Posted by InletCock1989

Rhett Lashlee is the worst possible hire ever under Muschamp if that happens! I will literally throw the **** up!!!

Wildly negative or positive posts without any rationale or supporting facts just beg to be ignored.

[spurfan93]

Originally Posted by InletCock1989

Rhett Lashlee is the worst possible hire ever under Muschamp if that happens! I will literally throw the **** up!!!

Will you? Will you LITERALLY throw up?

Worst possible hire...so even worse than hiring Charlie Wise? The OC at Tennessee?

[Emery]

Originally Posted by InletCock1989

Rhett Lashlee is the worst possible hire ever under Muschamp if that happens! I will literally throw the **** up!!!

Because of the Auburn to UConn transition or the perception that the offense at Auburn improved?

UConn's defense sucked hard--127th in total defense, but still managed to be 51st in total offense up from 122nd the year before. Their defense couldn't get off the field, and yet this year had 4982 yards of total offense, up from 3840. They were deadlast in scoring offense last year and improved a good bit this year. Nothing crazy, but still solid improvement.

I don't know. The knee jerk I had was why make the same type hire you've failed at 2 times in a row? Accept the fact that you're not the best at recognizing offensive potential in an up and comer and hire a known commodity, even if it isn't the flashy one.

[crowcutta]

like i said in an earlier post their total offense numbers went up dramatically but a lot of that was pace driven, their yards per play and metrics rose, but not anywhere near as significantly as their total offense. every situation is different but i wouldnt expect a ton of improvement simply based on the uconn total offense numbers and it probably doesnt make a ton of sense for muschamp to hire him if hes not going to let him run a fast paced offense.

the positives id point to beyond if hes allowed to run hunh is uconn was uconn went from 116th to 57th in passer rating under his watch and hes likely to use the qb run.

[Emery]

Originally Posted by crowcutta

like i said in an earlier post their total offense numbers went up dramatically but a lot of that was pace driven, their yards per play and metrics rose, but not anywhere near as significantly as their total offense. every situation is different but i wouldnt expect a ton of improvement simply based on the uconn total offense numbers and it probably doesnt make a ton of sense for muschamp to hire him if hes not going to let him run a fast paced offense.

the positives id point to beyond if hes allowed to run hunh is uconn was uconn went from 116th to 57th in passer rating under his watch and hes likely to use the qb run.

True, they ran 798 plays for 4.81 yds/play last year and 907 for 5.49 yds/play. The yds/play this year puts them nationally at 82nd, and exactly the same as us this year.

[FilchCock]

Does he run Malzahn's offense at UCONN? I know it's effective with the right personnel, but I don't love watching it, and am in no hurry to be the Auburn of the East.

[spurrierismyhomeboy]

Originally Posted by FilchCock

Does he run Malzahn's offense at UCONN? I know it's effective with the right personnel, but I don't love watching it, and am in no hurry to be the Auburn of the East.

You mean the team that wins 9 to 10 games every year? The team that just beat Alabama? The team that played for a national championship with this offense in 2013?

Get real.

[InletCock1989]

Let Cover Two explain Rhett Lashlee and you’ll know why!!!

[ConwayGamecock]

Originally Posted by spurrierismyhomeboy

You mean the team that wins 9 to 10 games every year? The team that just beat Alabama? The team that played for a national championship with this offense in 2013?

Get real.

No, I think he means the team that won 9 or more games a season 3 times out of the last 10. We've had 1 more than that in the same time period, and may have 2 more depending on what we do in our bowl game. Of course, two of those 3 had them playing in the NC game, and all 3 in the SECCG.

What concerns me is that for Malzahn to be this excellent offensive coach, he has a terrible record of developing the QBs in his system. His offense uses the pass to set up the run. Of course, if Lashlee runs that same type offense at USC, we may have a ton of 1,000-yd RBs, but IMO Malzahn's offense STILL needs an effective QB to make the run game work, even as the total offense puts up tremendous numbers.

That's why you see a lot of 7 and 8 win seasons, or even worse, then suddenly they explode into a NC-contending team. Malzahn has relied a ton on QB transfers from other programs that bring their development with them in their suitcases. But if Lashlee was Malzahn's right hand man with his offense, what has Lashlee been doing with those QBs????

[sc455]

Originally Posted by InletCock1989

Let Cover Two explain Rhett Lashlee and you’ll know why!!!

he doesn't know everything..

[spurrierismyhomeboy]

Originally Posted by ConwayGamecock

That's why you see a lot of 7 and 8 win seasons, or even worse, then suddenly they explode into a NC-contending team. Malzahn has relied a ton on QB transfers from other programs that bring their development with them in their suitcases. But if Lashlee was Malzahn's right hand man with his offense, what has Lashlee been doing with those QBs????

Well, Malzahn has been in charge of the offense that has beaten BAMA on multiple occasions, won a couple of SEC titles, and been in a couple of National title games. Who give a **** if they're inconsistent or rely on transfer QB!

[FilchCock]

Originally Posted by spurrierismyhomeboy

You mean the team that wins 9 to 10 games every year? The team that just beat Alabama? The team that played for a national championship with this offense in 2013?

Get real.

Wow, what's it like being the smartest person in the room? Tell me more about that.

Auburn's offense looks great when it's rolling, but it can stagnate and collapse really quickly with just slightly wrong personnel or if the defense takes away one of its options.

I don't know if we can recruit the type of personnel needed to make it work, since that's been a problem for even Auburn. I also don't know if I want us to run a system that doesn't easily change to play to the players' strengths.

This is the opinion of a simpleton, though, so feel free to ignore it.

[cocknblue]

It's worth noting that UConn football bloggers are raving about the improvement they saw in their offense this year under Lashlee. They are all fearful of what will happen if he leaves.

[sc455]

Originally Posted by cocknblue

It's worth noting that UConn football bloggers are raving about the improvement they saw in their offense this year under Lashlee. They are all fearful of what will happen if he leaves.

Can't stand those guys after 2009..that was their superbowl.

[gamecockphan]

IDK if RL is the answer but someone made the point earlier in the week that lack of success in an early previous job is lot necessarily an indicator of future success. Both Heupel and Norvell were pushed out of OU by Stoops and both are now head coaches.