Coordinators & Position Coaches

[jdub27]

I'll preface this with believing you need to play with the hand your dealt and make the best of it and I think both sides of the back have left things to be desired but: How much flexibility can you really have when you are dealing with that much inexperience? At that point, wouldn't doing the basics of the system be the most obvious solution? If you're only missing a few pieces, some adaption works but trying to teach young guys something that deviates from whatever it is they've learned in their short time could just cause even more problems. Just a thought. 

[geaux_sioux]

3 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

I'll preface this with believing you need to play with the hand your dealt and make the best of it and I think both sides of the back have left things to be desired but: How much flexibility can you really have when you are dealing with that much inexperience? At that point, wouldn't doing the basics of the system be the most obvious solution? If you're only missing a few pieces, some adaption works but trying to teach young guys something that deviates from whatever it is they've learned in their short time could just cause even more problems. Just a thought. 

The offense is plenty experienced to be flexible. 

[jdub27]

1 hour ago, geaux_sioux said:

The offense is plenty experienced to be flexible. 

At the skill positions, yes for the most part outside of a game or two at WR and Keaton's leg.

Line has been a revolving door until recently (in more ways than one). Losing Norberg was a pretty big blow plus Fiedler is the best blocking tight end on the roster, not having those two really dampens max protect schemes to help the inexperienced line, though Luke is back now. 

I'm not saying that things couldn't be better, I'm just wondering how much of it was limited by personnel and how much is coaching limitations. It's somewhere between the two, tough to tell exactly where. Regardless, it's been a disappointment to say the least. 

[Sioux95]

39 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

The offense is plenty experienced to be flexible. 

Agree.  We have been hearing since spring that freshmen would be playing on the offensive line.  Those boys should have been ready for a.lot of playing time.  The excuse that they are young doesn't work when you have known for the past 6 months that they would be playing.

[jdub27]

1 hour ago, Sioux95 said:

Agree.  We have been hearing since spring that freshmen would be playing on the offensive line.  Those boys should have been ready for a.lot of playing time.  The excuse that they are young doesn't work when you have known for the past 6 months that they would be playing.

Playing maybe, but not starting and playing pretty much every down. Based on the pre-fall depth chart posted a few days ago, I don't think the redshirt freshman were planning on seeing a ton of snaps behind Stockwell and Bell other than some rotation. The silver lining is there are quite a few getting a taste now and are learning what it takes. 

 

[90siouxfan]

7 hours ago, UND92 said:

I vote for this guy.  UND Quarterback 2007-2011

 

Jake Landry is in his second season as an assistant football coach in 2017.  He serves as UW-La Crosse's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach while working in the sports performance center in the intercollegiate athletics department. 
 

Why would he be interested in coaching under a Run first, Run every time offense plan dictated by the head coach?

[Sioux94]

1 hour ago, 90siouxfan said:

Why would he be interested in coaching under a Run first, Run every time offense plan dictated by the head coach?

You can be a run first offense and still be a highly potent and respected offense and offensive coordinator if the team is successful in running it.  

[UND-FB-FAN]

13 hours ago, iramurphy said:

I believe he will be gone shortly. He should be first to go.  Rudolph should be next. We need a QB coach. That has got to be  a top priority.  We haven't been able to develop our QB's.  Rudolph's assessment of who has the most potential has never been good from day one. Not just  recently overlooking Zimmerman but  Studsrud hasn't developed under Rudolph. What he has accomplished hasn't been because of the coaching.  I would be willing to give Freund a shot at QB coach but not OC.  Kostich shows promise and I would retain him. Kids like him. Special teams need to improve but before I would dump Kostich I would need to know more about how much time they spend on special teams each week. He is a good recruiter and I have heard good things about him.

You I completely agree with this. Although Rudolph's playcalling gets criticized the most, its actually his QB coaching that should be looked at the closest. It's embarrassing how UND has tried to devalue the QB position while every other winning program from high school to college to the NFL understands it's the most important position. UND needs a better QB coach and also a coach that knows how call a game to better favor the QB. Add some quick passes and play-action on first down. Have personnel that actually has the best players on the field at the same time (Santiago split out with Oliveria and Johannesson in the backfield). Allow for some tempo to get the QB in a rhythm while the defense is on their heels. When the defense is "guns a blazing" and blitzing, actually call screen passes to help out the offensive line and QB.

There is so much this team could try to help out the QB position (most important in football) that just isn't there. Rudolph needs to go in order for better playcalling AND better QB recruiting, assessment, and development. 

[BigGame]

1 hour ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

You I completely agree with this. Although Rudolph's playcalling gets criticized the most, its actually his QB coaching that should be looked at the closest. It's embarrassing how UND has tried to devalue the QB position while every other winning program from high school to college to the NFL understands it's the most important position. UND needs a better QB coach and also a coach that knows how call a game to better favor the QB. Add some quick passes and play-action on first down. Have personnel that actually has the best players on the field at the same time (Santiago split out with Oliveria and Johannesson in the backfield). Allow for some tempo to get the QB in a rhythm while the defense is on their heels. When the defense is "guns a blazing" and blitzing, actually call screen passes to help out the offensive line and QB.

There is so much this team could try to help out the QB position (most important in football) that just isn't there. Rudolph needs to go in order for better playcalling AND better QB recruiting, assessment, and development. 

Your comment about tempo says that you really just don't get it.  Running a high tempo offense or fast paced offense in counter to the team philosophy.  The team is built on defense and everything done on offense is meant to support them by controlling clock and keeping them off the field.   

[MadScout03]

Tempo doesn't necessarily refer to fast or quick.  We don't have to run a hurry-up style offense to have tempo.  We can have a smashmouth style and still have tempo, but when you're not moving the ball because you don't have the flexibilty or mindset to not be as predictable as this offense has been, you have zero tempo or rhythm, which in turn creates zero momentum.  

[geaux_sioux]

1 hour ago, BigGame said:

Your comment about tempo says that you really just don't get it.  Running a high tempo offense or fast paced offense in counter to the team philosophy.  The team is built on defense and everything done on offense is meant to support them by controlling clock and keeping them off the field.   

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go hurry up and rip a teams throat out when we have a good rhythm. If we catch them with a bad matchup it should be go time. Still haven’t seen it yet under Bubba. 

[gundy1124]

2 hours ago, BigGame said:

Your comment about tempo says that you really just don't get it.  Running a high tempo offense or fast paced offense in counter to the team philosophy.  The team is built on defense and everything done on offense is meant to support them by controlling clock and keeping them off the field.   

Our offense should be based on scoring efficiency.  I swear to God the current staff would take a 6 minute drive with no points over a 1 minute drive that ends in a touchdown.  That's the way the game is called anyway.

[BigGame]

Tempo is the speed at which you are running plays and right now UND slows the game down and lessens the number of plays overall in the game.  If you speed up that tempo, even a little you can change the dynamic and that isn't what UND is trying to do.  I am in full agreement that you have to be adjustable and change as needed depending upon all types of variables but UND isn't built to get into a track meet with most big sky teams right now.  Try playing EWU up tempo game against them this season and I bet they get to 60 on us while the UND offense would score but certainly not at the rate EWU would.   Right now plays an offense that tries to for lack of  a better team protect the defense by hopefully keeping them off the field.   When Mussman was in charge UND was explosive offensively but was consistently putting the defense in a tough spot.  Different philosophy, and the one Bubba is using now is similar to what got UND a national title and won NDSU a bunch.  UND needs to get better in a lot of areas but I don't really see how people are so intent on heads rolling when the team wasn't going to the playoffs anyway with all the injuries.  !@#$ happens and I don't think firing coaches for a lot of the reasons posted on this board make much sense.  Now if a deeper look happens and problems are found then certainly people may need to be removed.  It is funny to me how many people on this board think they know exactly what is going on from an outside look at the program.  

[BigGame]

Just now, gundy1124 said:

Our offense should be based on scoring efficiency.  I swear to God the current staff would take a 6 minute drive with no points over a 1 minute drive that ends in a touchdown.

I think they would as well, at least most of the time because they are trying to play keep away from some offenses so they don't have the as many chances to make big plays and tire our defense.  The key to this is that you need a successful ball control offense which UND hasn't much of the year because the run game has been inconsistent at best.  Play calling is some of the problem but blocking execution has been very poor most of the season.  

[fightingsioux4life]

19 minutes ago, BigGame said:

Tempo is the speed at which you are running plays and right now UND slows the game down and lessens the number of plays overall in the game.  If you speed up that tempo, even a little you can change the dynamic and that isn't what UND is trying to do.  I am in full agreement that you have to be adjustable and change as needed depending upon all types of variables but UND isn't built to get into a track meet with most big sky teams right now.  Try playing EWU up tempo game against them this season and I bet they get to 60 on us while the UND offense would score but certainly not at the rate EWU would.   Right now plays an offense that tries to for lack of  a better team protect the defense by hopefully keeping them off the field.   When Mussman was in charge UND was explosive offensively but was consistently putting the defense in a tough spot.  Different philosophy, and the one Bubba is using now is similar to what got UND a national title and won NDSU a bunch.  UND needs to get better in a lot of areas but I don't really see how people are so intent on heads rolling when the team wasn't going to the playoffs anyway with all the injuries.  !@#$ happens and I don't think firing coaches for a lot of the reasons posted on this board make much sense.  Now if a deeper look happens and problems are found then certainly people may need to be removed.  It is funny to me how many people on this board think they know exactly what is going on from an outside look at the program.  

The 2001 UND title team had a dual threat QB (Klosterman) and a couple of speedy WRs (Dan Graf being one of them) who could stretch the field and make things happen. We wouldn't have won that title without them, regardless of how great the D was (and it was great, don't get me wrong).

NDSU's title teams had good, solid QB play and could pull out a big yardage play when needed.

None of the above described teams went run-run-pass-punt most of the time. If they had, we wouldn't talk about them today.

[Irish]

What ever happened to recruiting the best players available and adjusting your schemes a bit to accommodate them?  We could still have an overall philosophy, but be much stronger as a team.  The current running back situation shows this - even with the O line injuries, we have three of the biggest stud running backs we have ever had and are using none of them effectively.  If anyone thinks that splitting out Santiago and getting him the ball in space is "putting our defense in a bad spot" they are delusional.  We could split him out and still have two absolute horses lining up in the backfield.  Instead, we have a scheme that consistently lets teams play 8-9 in the box with impunity and try pound pound our 185 pound back up the middle.  The entire staff has shown Zero coaching chops this year.  What would our recruiting pitch be to a star passer coming out of high school?  Come to our school and we can sure use your talent on those 3rd and 8 downs?  How about a star running back - "We are a run first team, even if it means plunging into the middle of a 9 man front - I hope you can move the pile a yard or so.  We won't try get you the ball in space because everyone knows that the offense is just a mechanism to allow the defense to rest up."  

[UND-FB-FAN]

2 hours ago, BigGame said:

Your comment about tempo says that you really just don't get it.  Running a high tempo offense or fast paced offense in counter to the team philosophy.  The team is built on defense and everything done on offense is meant to support them by controlling clock and keeping them off the field.   

Really? How can you claim to know what you're talking about? UND is 3-6. The offense is not putting up big points this season and the defense is not helping them out. Last season the defense was competent, this season its been a different story. I agree with playing conservative offense and somehow acknowledging 3 and outs if the defense is getting stops consistently, but that isn't happening. UND needs to compensate, not play stubborn Bubba ball.

Tempo can still embody a running offense. When you're going three and out often and/or the defense is not effective, the rhythm produced from tempo can increase QB play. Look around the country and see what it has done. I'm not saying UND needs to go to an air raid type Texas Tech system or go up-tempo all the time, but it could be done at times to help give UND advantage. Right now, it's not even considered. The issue I have is the potential stubbornness of the coaching staff; when things aren't working, try new things. 

[BigGame]

12 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

The 2001 UND title team had a dual threat QB (Klosterman) and a couple of speedy WRs (Dan Graf being one of them) who could stretch the field and make things happen. We wouldn't have won that title without them, regardless of how great the D was (and it was great, don't get me wrong).

NDSU's title teams had good, solid QB play and could pull out a big yardage play when needed.

None of the above described teams went run-run-pass-punt most of the time. If they had, we wouldn't talk about them today.

Did you watch the title game?

[UND-FB-FAN]

21 minutes ago, gundy1124 said:

Our offense should be based on scoring efficiency.  I swear to God the current staff would take a 6 minute drive with no points over a 1 minute drive that ends in a touchdown.  That's the way the game is called anyway.

Exactly. If UND takes a minute to score vs. 5 minutes to punt, which is better?

C'mon folks, this is the major issue UND's philosophy entails. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

23 minutes ago, BigGame said:

Tempo is the speed at which you are running plays and right now UND slows the game down and lessens the number of plays overall in the game.  If you speed up that tempo, even a little you can change the dynamic and that isn't what UND is trying to do.  I am in full agreement that you have to be adjustable and change as needed depending upon all types of variables but UND isn't built to get into a track meet with most big sky teams right now.  Try playing EWU up tempo game against them this season and I bet they get to 60 on us while the UND offense would score but certainly not at the rate EWU would.   Right now plays an offense that tries to for lack of  a better team protect the defense by hopefully keeping them off the field.   When Mussman was in charge UND was explosive offensively but was consistently putting the defense in a tough spot.  Different philosophy, and the one Bubba is using now is similar to what got UND a national title and won NDSU a bunch.  UND needs to get better in a lot of areas but I don't really see how people are so intent on heads rolling when the team wasn't going to the playoffs anyway with all the injuries.  !@#$ happens and I don't think firing coaches for a lot of the reasons posted on this board make much sense.  Now if a deeper look happens and problems are found then certainly people may need to be removed.  It is funny to me how many people on this board think they know exactly what is going on from an outside look at the program.  

No one said we should play tempo all the time against every opponent, but rather it should be used when UND has the momentum and/or the opposing defense is struggling with substitutions. The closed-mindedness you're showing right now is the potential problem with the staff. 

[fightingsioux4life]

2 minutes ago, BigGame said:

Did you watch the title game?

The title game was low-scoring. But I remember the D giving up a late touchdown. And I remember Klosterman driving us down the field for a TD that won the game for us. Under Rudolph, I don't think we would have done that.

And I was talking about the season as a whole, not just the title game. But nice job cherry-picking.

[UNDBIZ]

Playing with tempo doesn't necessarily mean playing up-tempo.

It'd be nice to see the plays consistently called in quickly to allow Studs to get up to the line and assess the defense without getting a delay of game call.

[BigGame]

3 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Really? How can you claim to know what you're talking about? UND is 3-6. The offense is not putting up big points this season and the defense is not helping them out. Last season the defense was competent, this season its been a different story. I agree with playing conservative offense and somehow acknowledging 3 and outs if the defense is getting stops consistently, but that isn't happening. UND needs to compensate, not play stubborn Bubba ball.

Tempo can still embody a running offense. When you're going three and out often and/or the defense is not effective, the rhythm produced from tempo can increase QB play. Look around the country and see what it has done. I'm not saying UND needs to go to an air raid type Texas Tech system or go up-tempo all the time, but it could be done at times to help give UND advantage. Right now, it's not even considered. The issue I have is the potential stubbornness of the coaching staff; when things aren't working, try new things. 

You are being very short sighted by putting all this blame on the offense when the defense has actually taken the bigger step backward this season and for some very valid reasons.  UND WR's still don't consistently catch the ball so how much confidence should a play caller have with the passing game.  A lot of people on the board have jumped on the Zimmerman band wagon but I didn't see enough to know he is certainly the answer but I did like a lot of what I saw from him.  UND offense hasn't been good but it hasn't been as horrible as people are saying.  The OL has been an issue, WR drops are and issue, play calling has been an issue but you can likely say that for most teams.  A big issue this season has been turnovers which is different from last year.  

[geaux_sioux]

32 minutes ago, BigGame said:

Tempo is the speed at which you are running plays and right now UND slows the game down and lessens the number of plays overall in the game.  If you speed up that tempo, even a little you can change the dynamic and that isn't what UND is trying to do.  I am in full agreement that you have to be adjustable and change as needed depending upon all types of variables but UND isn't built to get into a track meet with most big sky teams right now.  Try playing EWU up tempo game against them this season and I bet they get to 60 on us while the UND offense would score but certainly not at the rate EWU would.   Right now plays an offense that tries to for lack of  a better team protect the defense by hopefully keeping them off the field.   When Mussman was in charge UND was explosive offensively but was consistently putting the defense in a tough spot.  Different philosophy, and the one Bubba is using now is similar to what got UND a national title and won NDSU a bunch.  UND needs to get better in a lot of areas but I don't really see how people are so intent on heads rolling when the team wasn't going to the playoffs anyway with all the injuries.  !@#$ happens and I don't think firing coaches for a lot of the reasons posted on this board make much sense.  Now if a deeper look happens and problems are found then certainly people may need to be removed.  It is funny to me how many people on this board think they know exactly what is going on from an outside look at the program.  

Going up tempo does not mean for the entire game. It can literally be for two plays in a row. Catch them off balance. Pound the rock a couple of times out of the no huddle and get a free first down. I’ve seen it done where they see a certain run play crush a defense so they do it out of the hurry up 4 or so times in a row and then while the defense is reeling they pop a play action pass over the top for a big gain or a TD.

Also, some on this board don’t have an outside look.

[BigGame]

5 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

The title game was low-scoring. But I remember the D giving up a late touchdown. And I remember Klosterman driving us down the field for a TD that won the game for us. Under Rudolph, I don't think we would have done that.

And I was talking about the season as a whole, not just the title game. But nice job cherry-picking.

So a missed tackle on a short pass and a long run after is driving the team down the field?  You can't know what would have happened but the play that got them in scoring position was a fluke and a good play but very lucky.