The deal with Dawson

[Cawood86_rivals]

To me this loss is only a sidebar to the fact that Stoops fired Dawson. He fired him. Usually that means you aren't good at what you were hired to do. It means you didn't perform well enough to keep the job and hiring you was a mistake.
For the same guy to come here and hang 44 points and almost 600 yards on the guy that fired him should tell everyone how bad a coach and decision maker Stoops is actually. How do you explain to your boss that the guy you fired because he wasn't good enough or qualified enough to keep, absolutely throttles your team?
What does this tell the players on UK's team?

 

[TheBigBluePrint]

In Dawson's first game at Southern Miss, he had an overall better offensive team than he did last year, playing against a defense that was weaker than most he faced last year. Like he said, he's a good coach when he has a good quarterback, just like most of us are good fans when we have a good team.

 

[Pulaski Cat Fan_rivals377587]

To me this loss is only a sidebar to the fact that Stoops fired Dawson. He fired him. Usually that means you aren't good at what you were hired to do. It means you didn't perform well enough to keep the job and hiring you was a mistake.
For the same guy to come here and hang 44 points and almost 600 yards on the guy that fired him should tell everyone how bad a coach and decision maker Stoops is actually. How do you explain to your boss that the guy you fired because he wasn't good enough or qualified enough to keep, absolutely throttles your team?
What does this tell the players on UK's team?

I agree wholeheartedly. He's clueless. The problem is his and Eliot' s historically bad defense. If I was a supposed defensive guru and I fielded a unit as bad as I witnessed Saturday night, I'd jerk out a sword and fall on it at the 50 yard line. Honestly, its disgusting. He will run Gran off to, if Barnhart gives him time and the OK.

 

[CatCrazyChuk]

Reckon that Dawson might have retained a little knowledge about UK's defensive schemes, weaknesses and tendacies? I was hoping against hope that we would win Saturday night but I also was worried from the minute Dawson's hiring was announced.

 

[law1127]

I would try to flip WKu,Appy State, or SoMiss defensive line commitments. Then hire their DC!

 

[catfanjd]

To me this loss is only a sidebar to the fact that Stoops fired Dawson. He fired him. Usually that means you aren't good at what you were hired to do. It means you didn't perform well enough to keep the job and hiring you was a mistake.
For the same guy to come here and hang 44 points and almost 600 yards on the guy that fired him should tell everyone how bad a coach and decision maker Stoops is actually. How do you explain to your boss that the guy you fired because he wasn't good enough or qualified enough to keep, absolutely throttles your team?
What does this tell the players on UK's team?

Did you watch Drew Barker Saturday night? Did you see his footwork compared to his 2 outings last year? Someone developed that footwork. Dawson didn't develop Mullens he already had it. Do you remember the divided football team last year towards the end of the season? I don't have the inside scoop but am betting that his arrogant attitude had something to do with it.

 

[Tannerdad]

Dawson is still crappy.

They did nothing more than most talented teams would do against a putrid defense. We make plenty of OCs look good.

Hell....it took Dawson nearly a half to figure out they didn't have to pass against us to kick our ***.

 

[Lukasz0brzut]

Dawson proved nothing to me on Saturday..

I personally was a fan of Gran and his shots down the field- something Dawson never tried.. like many have said Saturday just proved how clueless either Stoops or Eliot is at a.) recruiting defense b.) coaching defense or c.) both

 

[richbrookstomato]

Saturday's game tore down any inkling of hope for our program to thrive under Coach Stoops. Players, recruits and fans left that game with DOUBT and FEAR. Hard to overcome a total lack of confidence in your abilities as an SEC Football Coach at UK.

Our coach HAS TO be able to improve EVERY player he recruits to compete in the SEC. Coach Stoops has TALKED a mean game, but has lacked in SHOWING.

It's time to PUT UP OR SHUT UP!! I'm pulling HARD for PUT UP!!!

 

[Chuckinden]

IMO, Dawson and Stoops just didn't see eye to eye last year.

 

[catfanjd]

Saturday's game tore down any inkling of hope for our program to thrive under Coach Stoops. Players, recruits and fans left that game with DOUBT and FEAR. Hard to overcome a total lack of confidence in your abilities as an SEC Football Coach at UK.

Our coach HAS TO be able to improve EVERY player he recruits to compete in the SEC. Coach Stoops has TALKED a mean game, but has lacked in SHOWING.

It's time to PUT UP OR SHUT UP!! I'm pulling HARD for PUT UP!!!

So you are saying Drew Barker does not look improved? Please go on the record

 

[richbrookstomato]

So you are saying Drew Barker does not look improved? Please go on the record

If you look closely at my post I stated "EVERY PLAYER" must improve, not just a few. However, the 2nd half Barker was nothing like the 1st half, that is directly on the coaching staff. In-game adjustments is a deficiency that this staff has been killed by opposing coaches WAY too often.

I will "go on the record" to say that when you fire the Off. Coord. and he goes to a directional school that you open the season with, you absolutely CAN'T allow 34 straight points to lose a game at home. Especially when you are a defensive specialist.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

Did you watch Drew Barker Saturday night? Did you see his footwork compared to his 2 outings last year? Someone developed that footwork. Dawson didn't develop Mullens he already had it. Do you remember the divided football team last year towards the end of the season? I don't have the inside scoop but am betting that his arrogant attitude had something to do with it.

SO you don't know anything you're just making assumptions? Gotcha..

 

[brianpoe]

My fear from the start was Dawson exploiting us and providing a open book to our defense's primary weakness for others to follow.

You think Florida is not going to test their speed on the corners?

You think we will learn to seal and contain in one week?

 

[JBHolmesfan]

Dawson didn't work out here. Him getting fired was probably a blessing for him. Wasn't the right fit. Doesn't mean he'd be a failure wherever else he went. Perhaps he learned from his mistakes he made here and became a better OC.

 

[NavyCat88]

Storybook vindication for Dawson. Fired and scapegoated by HC-under-fire for incompetence. He returns on opening night in his former boss' house with a team expected to lose, and he directs a miraculous comeback dominating his former team on national TV. Many here are saying "Dawson still stinks".....more likely Dawson is a pretty fair OC, and his problems at UK were actually more than his problems alone.

 

[KopiKat]

Reckon that Dawson might have retained a little knowledge about UK's defensive schemes, weaknesses and tendacies?

Reckon Stoops would have retained a little knowledge about Dawson?

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

Dawson didn't work out here. Him getting fired was probably a blessing for him. Wasn't the right fit. Doesn't mean he'd be a failure wherever else he went. Perhaps he learned from his mistakes he made here and became a better OC.

Looks to me like learned more than the guy who fired him. IMO there's no way to spin this to make Stoops look good or Dawson look bad. Although, some are trying very hard. Do not mean you specifically JB.

 

[akaukswoosh]

Reckon Stoops would have retained a little knowledge about Dawson?

My first thought too.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

Looks to me like learned more than the guy who fired him. IMO there's no way to spin this to make Stoops look good or Dawson look bad. Although, some are trying very hard. Do not mean you specifically JB.

I see what you're saying and I agree. That was meant to be more complimentary towards Dawson. The fact his offense did the exact opposite trending wise as his offenses did here shows he learned as an OC. Or that he wasn't awful to begin with. I don't recall many 2nd half offense outbursts when he was here. EKU maybe, but that's EKU.

Dawson's game is a bad look for Stoops, no question. That's not to say Stoops can't improve and learn as well. I think most on here believe he has 2 seasons left whether we want him to or not. That's a lot of time to turn it around. He needs to learn how to manage games and I hope he does.

 

[CatCrazyChuk]

Reckon Stoops would have retained a little knowledge about Dawson?

Well guess not.... Sounds like Stoop checked out on Dawson halfway through the season so Dawson was really more spectator than anything else.

 

[thepip]

Dawson proved nothing to me on Saturday..

I personally was a fan of Gran and his shots down the field- something Dawson never tried.. like many have said Saturday just proved how clueless either Stoops or Eliot is at a.) recruiting defense b.) coaching defense or c.) both

No, you can't get by with that mis-information. Dawson was not the OC last year, Stoops was!!

 

[BigBlueTuckian]

It's obvious Dawson was not the problem. He had an experienced QB (Towles) and weapons available last year.

I still don't think he was a good fit at UK. If he didn't mesh with Stoops and the rest of the staff, that's on him.

Regardless, this game showed more about Stoops' inability to coach up and develop our players than it does about Dawson's ability to coach an offense. Dawson was new to his guys; Stoops was not.

 

[Stenchymouse]

I have NO IDEA how good Dawson is and what I feared appears to possibly be the case.

Stoops micromanaged him and wouldn't let him run his own stuff which lead to an offense that had no rhythm and no identity.

I'd guess that's what lead to the chemistry issues.

I wouldn't be surprised if Stoops started messing with Gran in the 2nd half which lead to our offense hitting a wall.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

I have NO IDEA how good Dawson is and what I feared appears to possibly be the case.

Stoops micromanaged him and wouldn't let him run his own stuff which lead to an offense that had no rhythm and no identity.

I'd guess that's what lead to the chemistry issues.

I wouldn't be surprised if Stoops started messing with Gran in the 2nd half which lead to our offense hitting a wall.

Defensive coaches who become head coaches they tend to do that, Saban did it at Bama they just overwhelmed people with talent, Muschamp did it at UF the success he had the one year was talent leftover from the Urban years and it is the biggest fear I have with Kirby as our head coach. We weren't very balanced, only threw about 20 passes with close to 50 rushing attempts. It took Saban a long time and several OC's to open up his offense to what they are doing now. I am not saying if Stoops will ever be a successful head coach or not, but learning to be a head coach at a P5 school is a very public education, Saban, Meyers both got their first head coaching jobs at places where their results weren't seen by as many. May not have mattered, but they had a learning time too.

 

[KopiKat]

IMO there's no way to spin this to make Stoops look good or Dawson look bad.

Some of our fans could spin a 50 pt. loss to the college for the blind and make our coach look good in the process. I just love the free entertainment from reading those 9 paragraph posts that begin Just finished re-watching the game, this time with a level-head . . . here are my takes and it's not all bad . . .

 

[FilsonCat]

Dawson could have given Stoops a script of every play in the second half. I still doubt we'd have been able to stop the run game.

 

[gracetoyou]

Let's remember that Dawson inherited aN offense that put up BIG TIME numbers last year. He didn't make them good, they were already good.

Think Tubby Smith & 1998 championship & then you get Dawson.

Either way...Dawson wasn't getting it done at UK. Offense looked great Saturday in the 1St hAlf (best in a LONG time). 2ND half they just had to sit for such a LONG time with S. Miss long methodical multiple 3 down drives...disrupted Barker's rhythm, & they just could not get it going

 

[sluggercatfan]

To me this loss is only a sidebar to the fact that Stoops fired Dawson. He fired him. Usually that means you aren't good at what you were hired to do. It means you didn't perform well enough to keep the job and hiring you was a mistake.
For the same guy to come here and hang 44 points and almost 600 yards on the guy that fired him should tell everyone how bad a coach and decision maker Stoops is actually. How do you explain to your boss that the guy you fired because he wasn't good enough or qualified enough to keep, absolutely throttles your team?
What does this tell the players on UK's team?

He has fired everybody to save his @$$...next up will be Scharlman, Brumbaugh and Eliott. Till MB cuts off the head of the snake it will all be for naught.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

He has fired everybody to save his @$$...next up will be Scharlman, Brumbaugh and Eliott. Till MB cuts off the head of the snake it will all be for naught.

He ain't firing Eliot

 

[TBCat]

To me this loss is only a sidebar to the fact that Stoops fired Dawson. He fired him. Usually that means you aren't good at what you were hired to do. It means you didn't perform well enough to keep the job and hiring you was a mistake.
For the same guy to come here and hang 44 points and almost 600 yards on the guy that fired him should tell everyone how bad a coach and decision maker Stoops is actually. How do you explain to your boss that the guy you fired because he wasn't good enough or qualified enough to keep, absolutely throttles your team?
What does this tell the players on UK's team?

I was stating this before the season. I don't think Dawson was bad but he clearly was the issue last year. Largely because he and Stoops were at odds. Dawson is a go for it type of coach. Stoops is very conservative. It was never going to work. Dawson is in a better situation right now. It's not clear that Stoops however is. He still doesn't have an OC that matches his conservative tendencies and might not ever find one. Most of the good OCs these days are up tempo. I think we saw on Saturday how different that offense is when it is allowed to attack rather than being forced to "give the defense time on the side line". The Air Raid was meant to be an attack system. It just doesn't work without aggression.

 

[bigbluewildcat84]

I still support Gran and Hinshaw. The first half offense was the best I've seen from UK in a while.

I agree that the defense is the thorn in our side. We fix the defense and the rest should come. You cant blame the offense for scoring to fast when the defense cant even contain the run. You have to make the most out of the players you have and lead them to winning. You have to set your guys up for success and "staying the course" isn't working. In game adjustments have to happen.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Let's look at some of the stats here...

Southern Miss ran the ball 65 times in the game and averaged almost 4 yards a rush. 31 of those rushes came on first down. 16 times in the game they faced a 2nd and short or a 2nd and medium. When you are getting numbers like that the playcalling is pretty easy. What is possibly even worse is that even when they faced 2nd and long, 18 times in the game, they still were able to run the ball for 5+ yards 7 times in 12 tries. So, even if we successfully stopped them on first down, they would often come back on second down and run it down our throats. They were just 2 for 6 passing on 2nd and long.

Dawson deserves some credit, but I think it is more a testament to how poorly our defensive line played that we could not in any way shape or form stop the run.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

If Stoops wants to run an Alabama offense, he's at the wrong place. Also, if that's the offense he wants to run, then why is he hiring OC's that run a spread, fast paced offense?

 

[bigblueinsanity_rivals250340]

Dawson is still terrible. Hes 2 busted coverages away from having his terrific QB being completely shut down. And hes an incompetent DC who failed to adjust to 2 plays over and over away from being completely blown out.

Unfortunately, we do have the incompetent DC who failed to adjust to 2 plays.

 

[KY1WING]

My fear from the start was Dawson exploiting us and providing a open book to our defense's primary weakness for others to follow.

You think Florida is not going to test their speed on the corners?

You think we will learn to seal and contain in one week?

Sure we will.

We are gonna work harder ...

 

[KY1WING]

Dawson is still terrible. Hes 2 busted coverages away from having his terrific QB being completely shut down. And hes an incompetent DC who failed to adjust to 2 plays over and over away from being completely blown out.

Unfortunately, we do have the incompetent DC who failed to adjust to 2 plays.

He may still be terrible and maybe nothing is gonna change and maybe his year goes down the tube after this but the fact remains ...

He has a win. An SEC win.

He has some players.

He works for a HC who seems to like him.

Not sure, but I doubt many fans want him or his boss fired ... Yet.

And he's drawing two paychecks to do it.

Not a bad Saturday...

 

[bigblueinsanity_rivals250340]

My fear from the start was Dawson exploiting us and providing a open book to our defense's primary weakness for others to follow.

You think Florida is not going to test their speed on the corners?

You think we will learn to seal and contain in one week?

I really dont think it was even speed on the corner that hurt us. There was no gap integrity by the DL/LB. Penetration kills any action that requires pulling OL. We got none. We had no consistent fill from any LB, unless it was Love 8 yards down the field (which shouldnt even count). Our DE's didnt help by folding like wet paper towels. The lack of gap integrity allowed for easy cut backs on the rare occasion we had the POA shut down.

UL did the same thing to us with their QB read during the 2nd half last year. No contain. No gap integrity. No discipline. They ran the same play over and over too. No adjustment. Youd thought it was the first time any of our players had seen a QB read in their life.

Honestly? No. These are issues that should never appear. If they do, they should be solved by Spring. If somehow they still persist, they definitely should be resolved before the first game. I truly think this DC just doesnt have the teaching ability to get players to understand these simple concepts.

Elliot is a complete and total failure as a DC. He needed to be gone in the offseason. It needs to happen even more now.