I'm very intrigued by Coley

[BlueRaider22]

I posted this in another thread....regarding James Coley (Miami, OC)



My gut says that Stoops is a very loyal guy.......and he'll stick with Dawson for another yr. This worries me.

Personally, I would make the change now. Right now, Stoops' seat is fairly warm. He's tied up with a long-term contract......he has core of young talent that is still developing. It's not smoking hot yet. But you don't want to wait until the seat gets hotter and hotter before you make a decision.

Coley knows Stoops since they coached together. It would make sense that they still talk. Coley is available. This is a prime opportunity to grab Coley if you want him.

Miami is currently 58th overall on offense. They run a fairly balanced spread attack that's slightly biased to pass. And they are doing it with a young offense......QB soph, RB soph, 3 of 5 OL are soph, 2 are jr.


And check out with a recent 4* QB has said about Coley.

https://miami.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1826426

 

[DACats86]

IMO, because Dawson is on a 2-year contract, there is no way that Barnhart will pay him (Dawson) to not coach, so we are stuck with him for another year regardless of whether Stoops wants him or not...

 

[akaukswoosh]

I posted this in another thread....regarding James Coley (Miami, OC)



My gut says that Stoops is a very loyal guy.......and he'll stick with Dawson for another yr. This worries me.

Personally, I would make the change now. Right now, Stoops' seat is fairly warm. He's tied up with a long-term contract......he has core of young talent that is still developing. It's not smoking hot yet. But you don't want to wait until the seat gets hotter and hotter before you make a decision.

Coley knows Stoops since they coached together. It would make sense that they still talk. Coley is available. This is a prime opportunity to grab Coley if you want him.

Miami is currently 58th overall on offense. They run a fairly balanced spread attack that's slightly biased to pass. And they are doing it with a young offense......QB soph, RB soph, 3 of 5 OL are soph, 2 are jr.


And check out with a recent 4* QB has said about Coley.

https://miami.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1826426

As far as I've concerned we really haven't seen what Dawson can do freed up, without Stoops breathing down his neck.

 

[GCASE]

IMO, because Dawson is on a 2-year contract, there is no way that Barnhart will pay him (Dawson) to not coach, so we are stuck with him for another year regardless of whether Stoops wants him or not...

It doesn't matter who we get, Stoops will not leave the Offensive Coordinator alone to do his job. Just like he said after the Vandy game, that he should have had Shannon Dawson run the ball all four downs.

Until he trusts the OC to do the job it doesn't matter who we get, I just do not understand if you hire someone, give them the parameters of what you want done & trust them to do the job.

 

[Calsarmy]

This years schedule was set up for a huge success with the "New" stadium opening up and the breaking ground on the new training facility. 8 winnable home games. All that coupled with the SEC TV Network and a very manageable SEC schedule and it was built for a banner year. It didn't happen as we know. Next years schedule will be a lot more difficult. We could in fact be a way better team and win only 5 games. If you have an idea it was getting hot this year, wait till next year if we throw in a 5-7 or so.

 

[TBCat]

Just to be clear this is our 2nd OC and both have had issues with running the offense. I do not think Dawson is the issue but it is clear to me that there is turmoil on the staff. What we are seeing is close to what we saw during Mumme's final year. I remember Mumme, who never used headphones, started wearing them because he was paranoid over what Franklin was doing. Having a coaching staff that is a chaotic mess will ensure the kind of garbage we are seeing.

It even appears we are seeing it on defense. You could tell by Eliot's response to the trick play that one of the coaches blew it and Eliot did everything he could to not throw him under the bus. I believe that's what the "it's football stuff that you wouldn't understand" answer was about. It was clear that he was pissed at an assistant and didn't want to call him out for it so he gave an answer that was taken out of context.

There is clear frustration and turmoil on the staff and it needs to be fixed. I don't see any way of doing that with the same staff. I believe Scott, Eliot, Brumbaugh, Ansley and Marrow survive. The rest are 50/50 at best.

 

[domino79]

Stoops tried bringing Coley on board at the beginning, but Coley is a south Florida guy and turned it down. Going to be an interesting off-season.

 

[BlueRaider22]

As far as I've concerned we really haven't seen what Dawson can do freed up, without Stoops breathing down his neck.

Unfortunately, I think we have. Dawson was given a very long leash to begin with. Stoops stepped in b/c the offense was incredibly stagnant.

 

[BlueRaider22]

IMO, because Dawson is on a 2-year contract, there is no way that Barnhart will pay him (Dawson) to not coach, so we are stuck with him for another year regardless of whether Stoops wants him or not...

I agree. I mentioned as such in the OP. And to be fair to Dawson, his playcalling would appear much better if the players executed what was called. Drops, missed passes, botched o-line protections, etc......if much of this was improved, Dawson would look better.

But, of course, my argument has always been that Dawson not making adjustments is one of the bigger reasons for the lack of execution.

 

[Glenn Fohr]

What would the season look like if not for the bad reads, drops, and bad oline play?

 

[theoledog]

In the off-season I think UK would/should try and upgrade the coaching staff...
That does not mean it CAN/WILL do so...
It takes two-to-tango....
Dawson hasn't shown anything we can't see on a Friday night. And if he or anyone else is letting Stoops be the omnipresent coach then he's doomed to fail....and the Cordinators were never, all-that.. Not a good situation any how you look at it.
The outlier in all this talk is the willingness of our AD to pay the money... Personally I don't think he gets it...STILL.
OMHO.... It's not the 4-5 record that bothers me as much as the way we have arrived at it....
I go to the games... I think we have lots more talent than CJP had... There is even a few spots where I see improvement and development...
Unfortunately one of the places where I'm not seeing improvement is the, in-game coaching, and that's not on the players.

 

[Gabewcat]

I predict that Stoops and Dawson will part company in the off season.

 

[tntuk]

Unfortunately, I think we have. Dawson was given a very long leash to begin with. Stoops stepped in b/c the offense was incredibly stagnant.

So since Stoops has gotten involved it's gone from stagnant to non-existent?

First half of ULL was all Dawson (it seems)....and it was fun. Dawson once threw the ball 70 times in a game as OC at a small college. He wants to throw the ball.

My uneducated guess is that Stoops is what's holding this offense back (minus the execution issues)....probably did the same thing with Brown as well.

 

[Kats23]

Part of me thinks this isn't all on Dawson. I think two of the biggest mistakes Stoops made when he was hired at UK was not hiring an experienced defensive coordinator and hiring an offensive coordinator who didn't have the same coaching principals as the head coach. Then he does it again in the hiring of Dawson.

Both Brown and Dawson are disciples of the Air Raid offense. Stoops is a run the ball and play defense kind of coach. It's too polar opposites of each other. I think you have too much head butting and confusion. The other part people forget about is if a head coach wants to play more ball control offense he recruits to that style. Now the OC wants to get out and throw it and go vertical and quick decisions. He's going to recruit to that style. Those don't work together. From the O-line to QB to the WR to the Running backs. You look at UK and they are a mixed bag still in year 3. I think this is why UK has struggles to find an offensive identity.

One or two things have to happen on offense next season. Either Stoops gets out of the way of Dawson and lets him run the offense & figure out the type of athlete you want to recruit. Or, you find a coordinator who has the same style as you and hire him. I don't think either happens so that's why I think this comes to a disastrous end next season.

 

[richbrookstomato]

I wonder if anyone knows what the offensive players think about Dawson?

Do they enjoy playing in this offense?
Do they believe in the offensive scheme?
Are they fully bought in?

The answers to those questions should help determine the direction of the OC position.

 

[BlueRaider22]

Well, Stoops is a defensive guy. So, stepping in to help out a struggling OC doesn't mean that its gonna lead to improvement.

The offense was completely irradic throughout the entire yr. Poor execution, sloppy playcalling, drops, bad passes, poor decisions, absolute no adjustments. Stoops likely tried to step in to help in anyway possible.

Personnel is what held Brown back. Back then Stoops said that he wished the offense was much more balanced......b/c we were running at nearly 55-60% rate. Brown, being an Air Raid/spread guy, wanted to as well. It's illogical to think that Stoops held Brown back when all indications were that Stoops/Brown were both wanting to accelerate the offense.

 

[DACats86]

Stoops tried bringing Coley on board at the beginning, but Coley is a south Florida guy and turned it down. Going to be an interesting off-season.

There was an "arranged marriage" between Stoops and Brown...

 

[Mr Schwump]

There was an "arranged marriage" between Stoops and Brown...

With Tim Couch performing the ceremony.

 

[Anjiejo]

So since Stoops has gotten involved it's gone from stagnant to non-existent?

First half of ULL was all Dawson (it seems)....and it was fun. Dawson once threw the ball 70 times in a game as OC at a small college. He wants to throw the ball.

My uneducated guess is that Stoops is what's holding this offense back (minus the execution issues)....probably did the same thing with Brown as well.

That is what leads me to believe that a guy like coley might be a better fit.

If you get a air raid coach let him run the air raid. If you go spread like cokey then stoops needs to let him run the spread. If you want Wisconsin style running game then hire someone that runs it.
Don't take a air raid coach and make him run a spread ect.

 

[WildCard]

According to this article Stoops was not interested in Coley when replacing Brown.

Peace

 

[truebluewildcat_rivals34254]

OC is not the problem here...

hasn't even been a year yet and it usually takes 2-3 for an offense to really take root and for players to fully develop with in it...

however...if coley is not going to be retained by the new HC down there, I would love to bring him on staff as some sort of chief recruiter and offensive assistant...

 

[BlueRaider22]

Part of me thinks this isn't all on Dawson. I think two of the biggest mistakes Stoops made when he was hired at UK was not hiring an experienced defensive coordinator and hiring an offensive coordinator who didn't have the same coaching principals as the head coach. Then he does it again in the hiring of Dawson.

Both Brown and Dawson are disciples of the Air Raid offense. Stoops is a run the ball and play defense kind of coach. It's too polar opposites of each other. I think you have too much head butting and confusion. The other part people forget about is if a head coach wants to play more ball control offense he recruits to that style. Now the OC wants to get out and throw it and go vertical and quick decisions. He's going to recruit to that style. Those don't work together. From the O-line to QB to the WR to the Running backs. You look at UK and they are a mixed bag still in year 3. I think this is why UK has struggles to find an offensive identity.

One or two things have to happen on offense next season. Either Stoops gets out of the way of Dawson and lets him run the offense & figure out the type of athlete you want to recruit. Or, you find a coordinator who has the same style as you and hire him. I don't think either happens so that's why I think this comes to a disastrous end next season.

I don't think it's all Dawson either. If the players had executed better throughout the yr, Dawson would've looked a lot better. My biggest problems with Dawson are:
-Playcalls and personnel decisions in certain situations. For instance, if you are on the 1 foot line and you never even think about a QB sneak with a mobile 6'5" 240# guy. Or choosing Boom for goal line situations when you 2 other RB's who would do better in that situation.
-Not making adjustments. Both Barker and Towles are fairly mobile, yet he has refused to utilize that skillset. Why? The o-line struggles to protect, but you don't slant protection or roll out the QB to help maximize protection? Why?
-The choice of Barker/Towles. Is this Stoops or Dawson or both? Honestly no one knows.


As for the choice of OC. Stoops has said that as long as the offense is fairly balanced and scores points that he's ok. He had his choice of OC's........and chose a Air Raid/Spread guy.......twice. It is highly illogical that he chose guys of this style of offense but wants to run a power rush attack.

 

[domino79]

There was an "arranged marriage" between Stoops and Brown...

Coley was going to come on as recruiting coordinator. Regardless, he's a south Florida guy. That ship has sailed.

 

[TeoJ]

Jimbo called plays at FSU not Coley.

 

[jnewc2_rivals30628]

Until Stoops truly figures out what he wants the identity of his offense to be, it won't matter who the offensive coordinator is because more often than not he'll be trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, forcing an Air Raid attack to be "balanced" (which it was never meant to be).

 

[appaws]

I'm for Bill Cubit as OC if we were to make a change, presuming Illinois launches him at the end of the season. But Stoops would have to really make him the offensive head coach and not interfere too much.

He is also an older guy, a former pretty successful Div 1 HC who could bring in some stability, organization, and management to a bunch of younger coaches.

 

[reflaine]

What offensive coordinator is going to want to come to a place if you don't average forty a game, run it only when fans think you should run it, throw it 99 percent of the time taking shots down field. And if you don't please everyone m, next man up.

Dawson been here ten games installing a new offense with little talent outside of freshman and sophomores. A horrid Line, but he ain't worth the crap people took in the morning. This isn't ncaa football on the PS3 where you can run five plays and never punt!

 

[BlueRaider22]

Until Stoops truly figures out what he wants the identity of his offense to be, it won't matter who the offensive coordinator is because more often than not he'll be trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, forcing an Air Raid attack to be "balanced" (which it was never meant to be).

No, the Air Raid isn't just Mumme/Leach ball. It's not just throwing 70% of the time. It's more than that. Which is why you have guys like Holgorsen running it even when they are near 50/50 balanced.

http://smartfootball.com/offense/th...-to-holgorsen-and-beyond#sthash.7NpdZkw4.dpbs


See, that was the largely miss-conception with Stoops hiring Brown. Stoops hired Brown (who averaged about 58-60% pass rate at TTU) and told him that he would prefer slightly more balance. This is not a big deal......he was not asking Brown to completely change offenses. Then Stoops goes out and hires Dawson who studied the Air Raid under Holgorsen (who runs the offense about 50/50 balance depending on the personnel).

But unfortunately, the average Kentucky fan hears those two words "Air Raid" and immediately think of Couch/Mumme. Whether Brown, Stoops, Dawson, etc.....the plan was never to throw it that much.

 

[numberonedad]

We have recievers that can't catch. a line that can't block. and a quarterback that isn't accurate at all. It doesn't matter if Bill Walsh is the offensive coordinator

 

[Kooky Kats_anon]

IMHO the true issue is special teams. They cost us the season.

Our starting field position, our blocked punt, our icing our own FG kicker, our 8 men on punt return, our ole coverage on Vols, our inability to pin punts, Timmons braindead muffed punts, offsides on insides kick, our delay of game than ultimate miss on a FG, blocks in the back, our inability to kickoff thru the endzone...an abortion to witness.

Instead of Lording over play-call selection on offense, Stoops exclusively should take on role of ST coordinator. Brooks did. OWN IT. Let's see if you (Stoops) can coach one damn facet!

Ensure our offensive playbook can be fully open as opposed to hamstrung garbage calls because you're continually backed up behind your own twenty...

Dawson is likely not behind the Towles/Barker decision either...which is a butcher job. Barker will fail. It's inevitable due to the way it went down.

The locker room is broken and it's time to stop blaming Joker and his recruits.

They lost me after getting blown out at MSU. Either we have 95 wussies in the lockerroom or we have an incompetent staff. Pick one. Recruiting rankings suggest the latter.

 

[wildcatdon]

Is there anyone on here that knows for a fact that Stoops is telling Dawson what to call? I bet not. And I don't want to hear about aren't i reading these boards after every game because everyone is saying it. That is not fact. Show me where Stoops has said that is what he is doing. Thanks

 

[Kats23]

I don't think it's all Dawson either. If the players had executed better throughout the yr, Dawson would've looked a lot better. My biggest problems with Dawson are:
-Playcalls and personnel decisions in certain situations. For instance, if you are on the 1 foot line and you never even think about a QB sneak with a mobile 6'5" 240# guy. Or choosing Boom for goal line situations when you 2 other RB's who would do better in that situation.
-Not making adjustments. Both Barker and Towles are fairly mobile, yet he has refused to utilize that skillset. Why? The o-line struggles to protect, but you don't slant protection or roll out the QB to help maximize protection? Why?
-The choice of Barker/Towles. Is this Stoops or Dawson or both? Honestly no one knows.


As for the choice of OC. Stoops has said that as long as the offense is fairly balanced and scores points that he's ok. He had his choice of OC's........and chose a Air Raid/Spread guy.......twice. It is highly illogical that he chose guys of this style of offense but wants to run a power rush attack.

Could not agree more with the 1 yrd line calls from Saturday, esp when we ran out of the shotgun. With UK's oline play why in the world would you put yourself at such a disadvantage by putting yourself 3 or 4 yards back?

I don't think Stoops is a power run guy but I do think philosophically he wants to ball control and win with his defense. It's why I think it's a mistake to have an air raid disciple as an OC. It's almost like he's trying to make the fan base happy by bringing in these air raid guys. I know he says he wants a balanced O but I don't know if I really believe him. I think if he admitted it, he would say he wants to control the clock and that just isn't what the air raid philosophy is based around.

I think he needs to just be a head coach and let his coordinators take care of the game plan. Get an experienced DC next year, let Dawson run the system and see where this fall. One thing I'm almost sure of, the offense can't get much worse next year if he just gets out of the way.

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

If we lose Dawson and lose the commits of our QB's then I wouldn't be too worried about that.

 

[K_TIME]

No, the Air Raid isn't just Mumme/Leach ball. It's not just throwing 70% of the time. It's more than that. Which is why you have guys like Holgorsen running it even when they are near 50/50 balanced.

http://smartfootball.com/offense/th...-to-holgorsen-and-beyond#sthash.7NpdZkw4.dpbs


See, that was the largely miss-conception with Stoops hiring Brown. Stoops hired Brown (who averaged about 58-60% pass rate at TTU) and told him that he would prefer slightly more balance. This is not a big deal......he was not asking Brown to completely change offenses. Then Stoops goes out and hires Dawson who studied the Air Raid under Holgorsen (who runs the offense about 50/50 balance depending on the personnel).

But unfortunately, the average Kentucky fan hears those two words "Air Raid" and immediately think of Couch/Mumme. Whether Brown, Stoops, Dawson, etc.....the plan was never to throw it that much.

It just don't think you can run the ball in SEC out of shotgun formation w/o some sort of read option/QB threat. Trying to run the ball in these air raid formations might work in ACC/Big 12....but in SEC at UK...it isn't going to work IMO. THis is where Stoops is not going down a path that will ever be successful

 

[BlueRaider22]

Stoops wants a flexible, balanced attack. When he hired Brown, he mentioned that he wanted something similar to what Oklahoma State was running at that time. An Air Raid attack that can bounce from 50-60% pass rate depending on the personnel they have available.

And now Dawson. Mmmmm, let's see who can connect the dots. Who was one of the last 2 OCs for Oklahoma State who influenced what Stoops wanted in his offense? And how does it relate to Dawson? And knowing this why in the world would Stoops want to hamstring that offense?

 

[UKWinsAgainYep]

This years schedule was set up for a huge success with the "New" stadium opening up and the breaking ground on the new training facility. 8 winnable home games. All that coupled with the SEC TV Network and a very manageable SEC schedule and it was built for a banner year. It didn't happen as we know. Next years schedule will be a lot more difficult. We could in fact be a way better team and win only 5 games. If you have an idea it was getting hot this year, wait till next year if we throw in a 5-7 or so.

I don't think Dawson is a bad OC. I think Stoops has proven to be a terrible in-game HC.

 

[Rawrrr]

Hey here's something interesting. Remember Steve Brown? When the illustrious Joseph Joker Phillips took over in 2010, he kept Steve Brown as DC. After Steve O's D under performed in 2010, Rick Minter was hired in, as CO-defensive coordinator for 2011, hmmm. Then good old Steve was gone after that year, and Minter moved in to the sole position.

So, they Bring in Coley as the co-OC until Dawson's contract is up, and abracadabra, buh bye Dawson, helloooo Coley. BTW should be we coveting Coley so much? His head coach just got fired for starting a dumpster fire.

 

[BlueRaider22]

^Good point about the co-OC's......and about coveting Coley.

As I said with the OP, I don't think they fire Dawson.

Coley was only in Miami for half the time Golden (HC) was there.
-2013 - 46th ranked total offense
-2014 - 42nd
-2015 - 59th

So, yes, there is cause to question Coley. I'm just intrigued by him.....doesn't mean that he's my first choice for a replacement should it come to that.

Also, I'm not 100% certain, but I think Coley runs more of a traditional spread offense.......whereas indications are that Stoops wants the Air Raid style of spread (see the thread about Stoops offense/Air Raid). Granted, these are very similar offenses, they do differ in some concepts.

 

[gobigblue812_rivals29381]

Dawson's not going and Coley isn't coming.

 

[Glenn Fohr]

Coley will be available. Miami is cleaning house.