Gary Danielson made that remark during the final game Gus coached in the Iron Bowl. In case you don't understand, that is a backhanded compliment in football.
Good is the enemy of great. Auburn fired Gus because "he didn't win enough." I will focus on that.
At Auburn and at UCF, I witnessed inexplicable "lulls" in offensive production, typically in the second half of games.
(A lot of people who don't know football will say "The other team 'made adjustments'" on defense. But anyone who has coached and knows football knows major adjustments cannot be made in a football game. For example, a team that bases out of a 3-3-5 defense cannot change into a bear front in the middle of an offensive possession UNLESS the team has not practiced the formation. You can make minor in-game adjustments, such as with play calling, manipulating alignment, reading keys, etc., but major in-game adjustments can only be used ONLY IF they have been practiced or are already built into your system. For example, if you practiced and ran a front or blitz against an earlier opponent, you can jump into it within an offensive drive because the players have already practiced it and remember it. Or you can practice for a defense to be used before halftime and practice for a totally different defense to change to in the second half, but you cannot change to a new defense at halftime that you never practiced.)
Point is... Minor adjustments do not account for the lulls in offensive production. It is almost like Gus goes into a game with a plan and never deviates. It happened again in the second half last night.
I didn't get to watch last night's game, but I cannot explain the box score. I understand the failure of the defense. UCF was without Corey Thornton, Jarvis Ware, Ja'Cari Henderson, and DeJordan Mask. I knew it was limited. But I don't know why the offense featured Javon Baker so much. UCF had only 33 rushes for just 169 yards. RJ Harvey averaged 8 yards per carry and had only 15 carries. Haynes King outrushed John Rhys Plumlee in terms of carries and yardage. Georgia Tech ranked 128th in rush defense. Whoever called plays for UCF ran a "balanced" offense, but shouldn't have.
Moving forward, Gus needs to do the following things to improve the trajectory of the UCF program:
No. 1, Hire Gary Patterson as DC.
No. 2, Hire Terry Bowden and Scott Frost as offensive analysts. Bowden is one the best game day coaches in college football. Y'all are enamored with Frost so even though he is worthless, his hire will rebuild a lot trust in the fan base.
EDIT: Frost did recruit Hawaii well. I will give him that.
Maybe then Gus can be great again.
Good is the enemy of great. Auburn fired Gus because "he didn't win enough." I will focus on that.
At Auburn and at UCF, I witnessed inexplicable "lulls" in offensive production, typically in the second half of games.
(A lot of people who don't know football will say "The other team 'made adjustments'" on defense. But anyone who has coached and knows football knows major adjustments cannot be made in a football game. For example, a team that bases out of a 3-3-5 defense cannot change into a bear front in the middle of an offensive possession UNLESS the team has not practiced the formation. You can make minor in-game adjustments, such as with play calling, manipulating alignment, reading keys, etc., but major in-game adjustments can only be used ONLY IF they have been practiced or are already built into your system. For example, if you practiced and ran a front or blitz against an earlier opponent, you can jump into it within an offensive drive because the players have already practiced it and remember it. Or you can practice for a defense to be used before halftime and practice for a totally different defense to change to in the second half, but you cannot change to a new defense at halftime that you never practiced.)
Point is... Minor adjustments do not account for the lulls in offensive production. It is almost like Gus goes into a game with a plan and never deviates. It happened again in the second half last night.
I didn't get to watch last night's game, but I cannot explain the box score. I understand the failure of the defense. UCF was without Corey Thornton, Jarvis Ware, Ja'Cari Henderson, and DeJordan Mask. I knew it was limited. But I don't know why the offense featured Javon Baker so much. UCF had only 33 rushes for just 169 yards. RJ Harvey averaged 8 yards per carry and had only 15 carries. Haynes King outrushed John Rhys Plumlee in terms of carries and yardage. Georgia Tech ranked 128th in rush defense. Whoever called plays for UCF ran a "balanced" offense, but shouldn't have.
Moving forward, Gus needs to do the following things to improve the trajectory of the UCF program:
No. 1, Hire Gary Patterson as DC.
No. 2, Hire Terry Bowden and Scott Frost as offensive analysts. Bowden is one the best game day coaches in college football. Y'all are enamored with Frost so even though he is worthless, his hire will rebuild a lot trust in the fan base.
EDIT: Frost did recruit Hawaii well. I will give him that.
Maybe then Gus can be great again.
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