Offense - Stoops wants to run a flexible spread offense. This basically means playing to the strengths of your personnel. If you lack a passing game then run it. Lack a running game hen pass it. The ideal offense would be fairly balanced.....explosive and variable in its approach. Eddie Gran as an OC would fit this perfectly.
There are very few who run a "real" Air Raid but there are those (Brown, etc) that still claim to run it. In reality they run basically an explosive up-tempo spread. Which is what Stoops wanted all along. He never wanted Mumme/Leach ball.....that notion was born of fan ignorance.
Defense - almost no team runs a strict front alignment anymore. A team that claims to run a 4-3 doesn't really do it strictly.....they run elements of a nickel, a 3-4, etc. We have started with more of a 3-4 base but that's not all were gonna do. We will run all kinds of alignments and fronts.
Stoops has always ran an attacking defense, but it is a bend not break defense. Many get confused by this b/c they view the words "bend not break" as soft and conservative. This is not the case. It's simply a philosophy where you attack with the offense in front of you.....under no circumstances do you let them behind you. But you attack none-the-less.
Here are the issues that we are seeing:
1. Offense - Joker ran a pro-style offense. There are differences between pro-style players and spread players. So, under the best circumstances it takes years to change the roster over. Unfortunately we didn't have the best of circumstances. Joker left the roster in horrid shape, Brown left for a very special job in his eyes before the roster could be turned over, Dawson was most likely a mistake of a hire, and we lost several key OL recruits. Not to mention very possible or likely poor coaching......WR/QB/OL development, game management, play calling, poor play, etc. For these many reasons they just couldn't execute. And when execution is a problem then things like speeding up-tempo go right out the window as well. (Just ask Texas A&M)
Getting a guy like Eddie Gran is critical. Coming off a guy that he couldn't trust in Dawson, Stoops needs a very veteran friend that he can trust. Also, the players need someone with great experience and pedigree to get behind in the wake of several OC changes. He's darn near the perfect fit for what Stoops wants and he couldn't come at the best time. That is, if he comes.
2. Under the best of circumstances, it takes about 3-4 yrs to switch over personnel from a 3-4 to a 4-3. (Even though I mentioned that teams are multiple). Joker left the cupboard bare, Eliot is a first time DC, and we had a few losses on the defensive front 7 (guys like Tubman, etc). All of this didn't help matters at all. Not to mention not having an offense or special teams makes it darn near impossible to play decent defense.
Depth is crucial throughout the season. Guys get fatigued throughout the year. Without depth this is damning. The same can be said for playing experience as well. Sure, a freshman can do quite well if he plays between two seniors but when you have a freshman playing between two other freshman and little to no depth.....ouch!
3. Special teams....who's responsible? I think Stoops is right. I think that a staff "could" get by without a ST Coordinator but I certainly wouldn't try it as a rookie HC. To me that's just a poor mistake in judgement. There's a reason why the vast majority of teams still employ a ST Coordinator.
It's not all doom and gloom though. Strangely enough between the poor coaching, the youth, the inexperience, etc, we still were just a handful of plays away from a .500 regular season. "If" we do improve in some key areas the ship can right. Since, the contract has more or less locked Stoops up for 2 more yrs, I guess the only thing we can do is sit back, cheer for our Cats, and pray.
