Hallelujahhhh!!!! Helluva start to turning this thing around. But if Dawson ain't goin then I think next season will still be hopeless. If he seriously is saying changes to staff will happen, I just can't find it fathomable that he keeps Dawson. Just no way right? If Dawson leaves I will renew my season tickets please make this happen I would love to have hope for next season.
Stoops confirms there will be changes to the staff
- Thread starter andreIGUODOLLAsigns4UK
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I want to see DJ Elliot get moved to coaching the position that he coached at Florida State, and I wanna see UK bring in a real DC (Pelini has been a popular name, for obvious reasons). Not sure if Dawson goes. He's had one year. Not sure if Stoops can afford to have a 3rd OC in 4 seasons.
Agreed. Would be very surprised to see Dawson replaced. I think Elliot needs to be demoted. If there are staff changes that are major, will it make a difference. That's the key.
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I don't think Dawson was as bad as you're making him out to be. Obviously there were issue and things need to improve, but I don't think it was so bad you can say your fandom or hope for next year depends on him being replaced.
I think Stoops is going to have to step meddling with the offense first. Quit trying to force the run, this is Kentucky, not Alabama.
absolutely zero proof of him doing anything beyond what is normal for HEAD COACHES to do with regards to their team.
If wide receivers made catches, the QB's made consistent good throws, and the oline protected the QB this offense looks a whole lot different.
I'm not happy with our offense this year but getting rid of your first year OC is not necessarily the right answer. I've seen enough glimpses of what the offense could look like when everyone does their job to give the guy another year.
You can see the position coaches that need turnover, the units that stink to high heaven... OL, DL, and receivers. Those coaches needed to have been replaced a year ago. Korem has been a failure also, adios. The DC needs demoted or cut loose, he has failed in games and in managing the other defensive coaches. Bring in a big time DC if possible or Stoops take over as DC. OC needs another year and Stoops to get off his back. They also need ST and quarterback coaches added.
Geez, so sick of the can Dawson or else crowd, as if he was the sole reason for all of the failures. Let's see what kinds of changes Stoops makes before we push Dawson out the door. Let's see if Stoops gets out of Dawson's way more. Let's see what Dawson can do with the offense when not faced with a QB controversy. Let's see how this offense improves with Drew Barker getting all of the starters reps through spring and fall camps. Let's see if the new recruits and guys like Tate Leavitt for example can come in and bolster the offensive line by allowing players to play their natural positions. We had OLinemen playing out of position all season out of necessity. Maybe other staff changes under Dawson will help. We have to give Dawson more than one year before making him the scapegoat for the problems.
You can scream hallelujah all you want. but to me when you admit that three years into your program that you DO NOT know what your offensively philosophy is then the head man needs to look at him self in the mirror...I have said before this is the dilemma that you get when you hire a defensive coordinator as a head coach that knows probably little to nothing about offensive football then to make it worse he can't make up his mind what he wants...
Just me...I think the offensive woes of thus team start with the HC not the coordinators, especially NB
Not sure if Dawson goes either but stoops sounded pretty pissed about the offense today on KSR. Guess we will find out. I'd love Pelini as DC.
If he changes OC hopefully he will bring a guy in that knows how to run some form of a pro style like we did when we went to 4 bowls. The lining up in shotgun with a yard to go crap isn't working. If we are recruiting better then we should have players that are able to run that style of offense.
If a DC change is made, I think that Pelini could be a possibility, but I also have reasons to doubt that it would happen. If a DC is brought in, I am wondering if his brother Mike might not be a bigger possibility.
A must have change! Hire a frickin special teams coach, make sure he knows what he is doing and knows how to count to 11.
The special teams thing is way overblown.
Always funny - I remember Ortmayer had an awful special teams outing vs Florida and now would be wanted back...Peveto was bashed as ST coordinator and loved after he left...Naivar last year was the fans target (couldn't coach), then joins Houstons staff as coDC and they have an awesome year...
Buh was basically the ST coach.
The truth is that we need an explosive playmaker returning the ball...and those have been few and far between on the roster.
Always funny - I remember Ortmayer had an awful special teams outing vs Florida and now would be wanted back...Peveto was bashed as ST coordinator and loved after he left...Naivar last year was the fans target (couldn't coach), then joins Houstons staff as coDC and they have an awesome year...
Buh was basically the ST coach.
The truth is that we need an explosive playmaker returning the ball...and those have been few and far between on the roster.
Just curious as to "why" so many people think Dawson was so terrible as an OC? Don't quote me the stats, I know that. Just tell me what "should have been done" to make the offense better. FWIW, I have opined many times that this staff has mishandled the QB position from the day they set foot on campus. But, other than that, what should have been done? I thought Dawson was a pretty good replacement for Brown in terms of maintaining some degree of offensive continuity and not reinventing the wheel on that side of the ball.
As for Elliot, until I hear him say "that's not what I wanted to do" I simply cannot believe that CMS is not part and parcel of the defensive "problems". Elliot is presumably there because he knew what CMS "wanted to do" on defense. If CMS is really unhappy with Elliot perhaps he should follow Mason's somewhat unusual approach at Vandy and take over DC responsibilities himself. Or do the opposite; divorce himself decisions about the defense. All, of course, JMO.
Peace
As for Elliot, until I hear him say "that's not what I wanted to do" I simply cannot believe that CMS is not part and parcel of the defensive "problems". Elliot is presumably there because he knew what CMS "wanted to do" on defense. If CMS is really unhappy with Elliot perhaps he should follow Mason's somewhat unusual approach at Vandy and take over DC responsibilities himself. Or do the opposite; divorce himself decisions about the defense. All, of course, JMO.
Peace
Couldn't get 8 men on the field for a punt return...not earth shattering but certainly not overblown in light of the other troubles getting aligned and executing properly, particularly on special teams and defense. We are part of the SEC and that wouldn't/shouldn't be tolerated at other programs.
I doubt Elliot is in trouble.
If Dawson is in trouble then it says two things. 1-Dawson wants a more air raid open it up offense and Stoops wants a grind it out thing and they are just not on the same page. Or 2-Stoops who is the boss and observed everything from play calling to game planning to half time adjustments believes that Dawson is in over is head. I don't think we will know the truth until Stoops hires a new OC. Assuming Dawson is gone. It's just speculation at this point.
I agree with you on the QB situation. That's why I'm glad Stoops said today that Barker is his guy. He didn't say he would look at the competition this spring and give Phillips a shot. Barker is the starter and is going to get the snaps. He'll be a MUCH improved QB next year.
I don't think Dawson was completely terrible, but certainly there are some areas that he could've done a lot, lot better.
-adjustments - clearly the OL had trouble this yr.....and we have 2 decently mobile QB's in Towles/Barker. We could've rolled them out and/or slanted the coverage schemes to allow for more time. This rarely happened. There are other things like this
-maximizing strengths while minimizing weaknesses - sitting both Horton/Kemp while trying to run Boom at the goaline......why? Makes little sense. Also, we struggled to pass for a good portion of the yr.......while our RB's were fairly consistently good.......why not play to our strengths and run it more? There are other things like this.
All being said, if the players had executed better, Dawson would've looked much better. So, there is reason for optimism.
What you don't know is that was on the head and defensive coordinator. Stoops wanted punt safe, which is basically defense plus Return man. The defensive players were in scramble mode.
Helping your little bro when he helped you as head coach : pricelessGoing from being defensive coordinator at Oklahoma to Kentucky ...
Lol
Actually, UK had about 19 players on the field, with no time outs & with the play clock winding down. UK was waiting on the O to commit and they had 2 different personnel groups on the field. Some of the 19 were on the field as the regular D in case the O went for it on short yardage. The rest of the 19 were on the field in the event that they punted (punt safe)... Which they did. Stoops wanted punt safe & there was confusion with another coach regarding the correct personnel group (possibly why Eliot is now up in the booth). As the clock ran down, confusion ensued as to which group needed to remain on the field. Trying to avoid a VERY COSTLY penalty, 3 more guys ran off of the field than were supposed to.
Was it bad? Yes. Does it need to be fixed? Yes. However, it was something that happened in the heat of the moment due to last second confusion. It was not like they just marched 8 guys out & forget to send out the other 3. I also think that it was a learning experience for the coaches and that it likely will not happen again.
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If you watched the vandy game. And saw the play calling where we continuously ran up the middle out of the shotgun at the one yard line. You would understand why all my hope is based on him leaving. He's the worst at what he does. I've never seen such a predictable play caller
What should have been done? Not running the ball up the middle out of shotgun formation 3 plays in a row at the goal line. He was just simply the most predictable play caller I've ever seen. He's the worst. How people can act like he did a decent job is beyond me.
I actually think Elliot was halfway decent at what he did. Don't know why he gets more heat from fans than Dawson? Especially considering the offense we had that was a constant 3 and out. Kinda hard to expect much out of a defense when they're on the field the entire game.
Learning experiences of this magnitude shouldn't be happening at this level and in the SEC. I've been a season ticket holder since retiring from the Navy in 2003 and I've never seen anything like that before at UK or anywhere else for that matter. I was at the game and the only confusion was on the part of the coaching staff. Had a professional special teams coach been in charge it would not have presented much of a problem, if it did then he doesn't know his trade. Its called leadership.
Why not Kentucky? Especially if OU wins the championship, Mike may be looking for a new challenge. Besides, he already knows both the D system and the HC well. Honestly, I don't think that it is very far fetched at all,Going from being defensive coordinator at Oklahoma to Kentucky ...
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Still shouldn't have happened. Someone has to be in charge and make a decision, delegating responsibility is one of the facets of that elusive trait for UK's coaching staff. With a ST coach you have the punt return team standing by to go in on a moments notice since there was better than average chance Auburn was going to punt in that situation.
I truly don't understand the people who use growing pains of a first year coordinator as an excuse for an inept offense. Was there really that much of a difficult transition needed when going from Neal brown to Shannon Dawson? People act like we had never ran this kind of offense with these players til this year. You can give me the first year in his system crap all you want, the 2 years previous were the same kind of offense so it really wasn't much adjusting if any going on. He is the most predictable play caller I have ever seen. People act like it was the personnel's fault. When we run up the middle out of the shotgun 3 straight plays from the one yard line in the SEC. You're in big trouble. I really don't see how people see so much promise from him. We had the same kind of offense before he was here, the players didn't have to learn an entirely new offense like so many here claim as a reason for our offensive woes. We did the same thing here before Dawson it was just a lot more successful though with a lot less talent. It really doesn't get worse than Dawson. It was his first year ever calling plays at the D1 level. And it showed. He doesn't belong in the SEC calling plays. He's in over his head. He needs to go.
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You are correct. Still, it's easy to see how it happened, how that mistake will be fixed & how it likely won't happen again,
Again, had nothing to do with not having a ST coach...that was on Stoops and Eliot. Punt return safe - defense minus a safety plus a return man. You do not send out the punt return team...they didn't want the punt return team out there.
What about that first half at South Carolina where the offense looked like world-beaters? Or the second half against Auburn? Yes, the Vandy debacle was HORRID, but as others have said, turn a few of the costly drops into catches and we are preparing for a bowl game and things look MUCH better.
Though I'm not terribly sure why I'm responding to you..... nothing anyone says will change your mind about the current coaching staff (and that's perfectly fine).
Call a run play from the goal line under center. And we're preparing for a bowl game. Works both ways. Yes there's no changing my mind because I watched the game. I go to the games. I see what's happening on the field. It doesn't get more predictable than Shannon Dawson. A man who had never called plays at the D1 level til now.