In terms of their skills and talents I can't really say, but in terms of this being a critical year for the program, and especially Stoops, I'd say they are very important. Another 5 win season (or less) is not going to sit very well with the football portion of BBN. They have the incentive that if we do get bowl eligible or better it will be a feather in their caps, and another step in their career. I hope they are all in because this team, this program needs everyone to be all in next season.
Just how important are the Gran and Hinshaw hires to the football program?
- Thread starter screwduke
- Start date
I will echo some other posters but I think these hires are outstanding and may well save Stoops' career here. Gran has long term success coaching in the SEC at a very high level that should pay off both in recruiting and execution on the field. For instance if you are are a high level RB recruit what would Gran's resume in developing RB's look like compared to Dawson? Night and day. Gran's offense at Cincy has been very productive and flexible and he is experienced enough to help Stoops with on the field decisions like time management and when to take a chance on field position, something he needs. Hinshaw is a young guy who played the position and has had great success coaching QB's. Both guys can recruit Florida and the South as well as Ohio. Gran and Stoops both trust each other and now, for the first time in a while, UK has a coach who knows defense in Stoops and one who knows offense in Gran at a level that you can see at other SEC football programs. Usually we can only muster one at a time. Now if we finish recruiting with a QB who can play next year and some help on D and I think we are in business to move forward again.
I agree these are the types of hires you normally see from the Auburns and Georgias of the SEC.
Agree and add this, it addition to what Gran and Hinshaw bring to the table it is also noteworthy to ask how bad did we need Dawson to be gone. If he and Stoops were at odds as bad as it seems then you could bring in recruits as good as the 85' Bears in their prime and you wouldn't get as much out of them as you should because of the environment.
You must be a genius because Coach Stoops doesn't seem to understand that UK's program might need a QB coach.
I disagree. I think Dawson is actually a good coach. Gran may be better and is more proven.
Dawson simply was running up against SEC defenses. I don't care how good of an OC you are, if you don't have the players in the SEC, you are going to suffer. Coach Dawson repeatedly tried to take advantage of our offensive strengths and it just didn't work in the SEC because of drops by WRs, our O-Line, and a QB who gets way too nervous in big games.
We didn't get 6 wins mostly because of Coach Stoops' in-game mistakes, not Coach Dawson.
Stoops and Dawson proved to be not a good mix, as the above poster said the WR's dropped enough catchable balls to pick up one more win. I think some over state the talent disparity as the sole cause of our lack of being competitive in some games. One or two decisions or lack of decisions changed a few games, if all coaches and players had been on the same page more of the time things would have looked and maybe worked out differently.
Last edited:
I never said he was a poor coach. I said he was too inflexible for Stoops liking.
And it was a shared suck. If the players execute better we win 7. If Dawson is more flexible we win 7. If Stoops game mistakes are corrected we win 7.
Maybe he was inflexible, but shouldn't Stoops know that before hiring him? I just asked for 6 wins this season. JUST SIX. That's all I wanted as a UK fan and Stoops couldn't even manage that.
We will know if Dawson is a good coach when he runs an offense himself. Just like Elliott, who serves in the shadow of a very good coordinator turned head coach, Dawson never ran anything at this level until this year and it worked out badly for everyone involved. Let's see where he lands and how he does before we blame Stoops for the offensive woes this year.
Frankly, I think Dawson was the problem this year and UK should have shelled out enough money last year to get a better coach. We are paying for it now anyway with two guys under contract. UL did the right thing in that they had an outstanding offensive coach and they knew enough to recognize that they needed a SEC level defensive coordinator and they went out and got UGA's guy for a mil a year. If you are going to beat teams in the SEC you need coaches who could get jobs in the SEC. Pretty simple really.
Frankly, I think Dawson was the problem this year and UK should have shelled out enough money last year to get a better coach. We are paying for it now anyway with two guys under contract. UL did the right thing in that they had an outstanding offensive coach and they knew enough to recognize that they needed a SEC level defensive coordinator and they went out and got UGA's guy for a mil a year. If you are going to beat teams in the SEC you need coaches who could get jobs in the SEC. Pretty simple really.
Amen. I wholeheartedly agree with you. Gran and Hinshaw are highly valuable to Mark and the program. I am not expecting the huge numbers they put up in Cincinnati due to SEC defenses. However, they will be successful and combined with Mark's defensive prowess, I look for much more positive results starting next season. Write it down.
It's all about depth and talent to withstand the injuries and attrition SEC football hands all league teams. As Dan Mullen said, it takes two to three deep in three to four star talent to win in the 12 game SEC schedule. That is a primary reason we faltered badly in the second half of the past two seasons.
Yes, there are other internal reasons discussed ad nauseum on this board re our poor second half 2014 and 2015 performance. Yet, at its root is the lack of depth and corresponding talent.
Stoops, being clairvoyant, should know all things, because coaches should know everything about everything. Good points.
I wouldn't have hired him but it doesn't mean that Stoops would know about his inflexibility. Dawson mentored under Holgorson which is fairly flexible with the WVU offense....not to mention resembles Stoops' desired offense. Dawson probably sold his influence at WVU.
We all wanted to get to a bowl game. We were a few catches from 7-5......and close to 3-9. But it is what it is. It was a shared failure. Unfortunately no single entity is to blame.....cause one thing is easier to fix.
the hire is very important. This staff has proved to be extraordinary recruiters. These two are solid as well.
What I hope to see is that old devil 'player development'. I would question a statement the coach made about a couple of players having a ton of reps at their position and not performing.....
my question would be why are they still at that position if they aren't?
Coaches are tasked with these guys developing their talents. I know about a third of them will never reach that level. My other question is when will the other two thirds reach theirs?
What I hope to see is that old devil 'player development'. I would question a statement the coach made about a couple of players having a ton of reps at their position and not performing.....
my question would be why are they still at that position if they aren't?
Coaches are tasked with these guys developing their talents. I know about a third of them will never reach that level. My other question is when will the other two thirds reach theirs?
This will tell us how good this offense will be. barker Boom Kemp Horton Johnson baker greenwood badet bone leavitt young toth. On defense finding pass rushers. We have talent at the skill guys can we maximize what they do.
He had the ball twice at the goal line in a must win at vandy and no points to show for it. It was pretty obvisious that stoops didnt interfer on the play calling in those 2 series... When he was hired he ditched the wildcat because he didnt like it. My point is if you had success with a formation and a jojo in the previous year you do whatever it takes to score in those situations. You can go to the auburn game winning drive! The only reason we beat mizz was because our defense played lights out. There is a lot of finger pointing at stoops and also at dawson. For whatever reason dawson ended up with a team that quit on him and had a team that was split on who to play at qb..
I remember people saying the only resson towles was still qb was because of stoops loyalty. Ended up being inaccurate by what i have seen happen after the season..