Chip Scoggins: 5 years in Kill’s offense is in shambles. And the blame stops with him

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Chip:

Kill declined to commit to Croft as his starter moving forward, saying he wants to evaluate video and reflect on his decision.

Fine, but is it really a difficult choice at this point? They’ve seen what Leidner can do. Now, they must see what they have in Croft.

The coaching staff already misplayed the situation by not giving Croft snaps in nonconference games. Those games proved to be closer than anyone anticipated, but Leidner’s struggles didn’t just sneak up on everyone.

The coaches had to realize that a change was possible, even likely, at some point. They should have found ways to use Croft before Saturday.

Kill looked deflated after the game. He talked quietly. His program has made progress in so many areas, but one remains a major problem.

Five years in, Kill’s offense is in shambles. And the blame stops with him.

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-offense-without-punch-is-out-of-its-league/330541641/

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-offense-without-punch-is-out-of-its-league/330541641/

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

The Gophers don’t have a quarterback, and their line can’t block well enough to sustain anything, run or pass. An ultra-conservative game plan showed the coaching staff has zero confidence in any part of the offense.

And the blame falls squarely on Kill’s shoulders.

“Everyone wants to blame the quarterback,” Kill said. “They need to blame me.”

The Gophers suffered their first shutout since a 58-0 thumping by Michigan in 2011, Kill’s first season. That one was somewhat understandable. This one was inexcusable.

Credit where it’s due: Northwestern has an aggressive and athletic defense. Pat Fitzgerald has built a formidable unit. But the Wildcats aren’t the ’85 Bears.

The Gophers’ last goose egg against Northwestern came in 1959 — the same season fans hung coach Murray Warmath in effigy. Twitter is now the gathering place for seething frustration.

The opinion here remains that Kill is a good coach and right fit for Minnesota. But it is alarming that his offense looks so incompetent five years into the job.

A point made recently is worth repeating: Offense has never been easier in college football. The game is designed for offenses to flourish. Points are scored at record pace.

Not for the Gophers. Statistically, they own one of the worst offenses in college football. What’s more, they seem so disjointed that it’s hard to know what they’re even trying to accomplish when they have the ball.

They amassed only 173 total yards, averaging 2.7 yards per play. They often ran up the middle or threw short passes on third down because they had no faith in Mitch Leidner to make a play or his protection to give him time.

The plan felt as if the coaches were hoping that Northwestern might fumble a punt or the Gophers defense would intercept a pass to create an opening.

That approach won’t win many Big Ten games.
 

Is it Kill or Limegrover? Kill's football philosophy is: run, run, control the clock; stop the run and have a good defense. The forward pass is an afterthought. That may work in the MAC, but in the B10? hard to see us running against Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin if we can't run against Kent State. There is nothing new in this - it goes back five years as the Gopher offense is near the bottom of the B10 in passing yearly and Mitch is near the bottom of the NCAA. He has an occasional hot hand (Missouri bowl game, Ohio U this season), but is generally a 50 percenter, not much of a runner, and awkward when the pocket collapses, as it does regularly this year. What if Kill allowed Limegrover to use the personnel at hand, especially the younger ones, to do something different and less predictable? In five games we've had a real offense in only one game: Ohio U, which edged Akron Saturday by two points.
 

We really don't know who calls the plays or who has the final say (I assume it's a combination of the OC and Kill) but the problem with "turning things over" to the OC might be this:

"I'll be honest, I'm no revolutionary offensive mind," Limegrover said. "That's not how we operate. Coach Kill does a good job of making sure his staff fits together well, and I happened to be a very organized guy. I can bring it all together on Saturday."

The game-planning is done by the entire staff, using a system it has developed over several seasons. On Sunday, the coaches watch film of their next opponent, then brainstorm ideas for attacking the defense, encouraging each other to be as creative as possible.

"Every game plan is like a snowflake; it's unique. Even if we're running similar packages, like power rush, we won't run it the same way," Limegrover said. "And we'll throw some crazy stuff on the board, then see how everyone feels about it."

They narrow the possibilities during the week, after seeing what works and what doesn't during practice, then go through an exercise called "defending your thesis" in slotting particular plays into various situations for Limegrover to order up during a game.

"If someone really believes in a play, I'll say, 'Defend your thesis: What do you like about it? When do you feel good about it?'" Limegrover said. "The important thing is we're honest. If we think something is too risky or the protection isn't right, we leave it out. And at the end, we have something we're confident in, and the kids can have confidence in."
 

gopherfannnn said:
We really don't know who calls the plays or who has the final say (I assume it's a combination of the OC and Kill) but the problem with "turning things over" to the OC might be this:

"I'll be honest, I'm no revolutionary offensive mind," Limegrover said. "That's not how we operate. Coach Kill does a good job of making sure his staff fits together well, and I happened to be a very organized guy. I can bring it all together on Saturday."

The game-planning is done by the entire staff, using a system it has developed over several seasons. On Sunday, the coaches watch film of their next opponent, then brainstorm ideas for attacking the defense, encouraging each other to be as creative as possible.

"Every game plan is like a snowflake; it's unique. Even if we're running similar packages, like power rush, we won't run it the same way," Limegrover said. "And we'll throw some crazy stuff on the board, then see how everyone feels about it."

They narrow the possibilities during the week, after seeing what works and what doesn't during practice, then go through an exercise called "defending your thesis" in slotting particular plays into various situations for Limegrover to order up during a game.

"If someone really believes in a play, I'll say, 'Defend your thesis: What do you like about it? When do you feel good about it?'" Limegrover said. "The important thing is we're honest. If we think something is too risky or the protection isn't right, we leave it out. And at the end, we have something we're confident in, and the kids can have confidence in."
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Sounds rinky dink to me.
 


It's very depressing. I was hoping good O-line play would mask Leidner's serious shortcomings.
We are as bad as we were in Kill's first year on offense. Kill's warts are showing.
 

Kill looked deflated.?Starting to think the lights are too bright for him. His attitude is contagious to his team. His reaction after games is a problem. He acts like the world is ending and then on Monday tries to tell his players that everything is going to be fine and tries to give them confidence?
 

Not giving Croft any snaps until Saturday was just inexcusable. You can second guess play calling all day long but to go four games and then play Croft was just plain stupid. I have heard Leidner even struggles throwing the ball at practice so to go all in with no backup plan seems to be coaching suicide to me. Lucky for Jerry last year was a good one.
 

gopherfannnn said:
We really don't know who calls the plays or who has the final say (I assume it's a combination of the OC and Kill) but the problem with "turning things over" to the OC might be this:

"I'll be honest, I'm no revolutionary offensive mind," Limegrover said. "That's not how we operate. Coach Kill does a good job of making sure his staff fits together well, and I happened to be a very organized guy. I can bring it all together on Saturday."

The game-planning is done by the entire staff, using a system it has developed over several seasons. On Sunday, the coaches watch film of their next opponent, then brainstorm ideas for attacking the defense, encouraging each other to be as creative as possible.

"Every game plan is like a snowflake; it's unique. Even if we're running similar packages, like power rush, we won't run it the same way," Limegrover said. "And we'll throw some crazy stuff on the board, then see how everyone feels about it."

They narrow the possibilities during the week, after seeing what works and what doesn't during practice, then go through an exercise called "defending your thesis" in slotting particular plays into various situations for Limegrover to order up during a game.

"If someone really believes in a play, I'll say, 'Defend your thesis: What do you like about it? When do you feel good about it?'" Limegrover said. "The important thing is we're honest. If we think something is too risky or the protection isn't right, we leave it out. And at the end, we have something we're confident in, and the kids can have confidence in."
Click to expand...

Yep. On one hand this lets them be creative and multiple. On the other it can mean you lack an identity or something to hang your hat on.
 



Blackhammer said:
Kill looked deflated.?Starting to think the lights are too bright for him. His attitude is contagious to his team. His reaction after games is a problem. He acts like the world is ending and then on Monday tries to tell his players that everything is going to be fine and tries to give them confidence?
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I don't think it matters. If he isn't upset, deflated, etc. he is going to be criticized for not being more upset and deflated.
 

Upset is good. Deflated and beaten seems to more the case. Might be wrong and yes it is kind of a lose-lose. Think expectations have wore on him. Might just be a combination of injuries and poor recruiting of the offensive line have made this a bad football team and they ain't a thing he can do about it.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I don't think it matters. If he isn't upset, deflated, etc. he is going to be criticized for not being more upset and deflated.
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This. People will bitch and moan regardless of how a coach reacts. People criticized Leslie Frazier for not showing enough emotion on the sidelines because apparently if fans are prone to throw big diaper filling temper tantrums the coaching staff should do the same.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I don't think it matters. If he isn't upset, deflated, etc. he is going to be criticized for not being more upset and deflated.
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This is 100% true. Anyone who says it is not is kidding themselves.
 




saintpaulguy said:
Well, play to expectations and this part of the job will be easy.
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I'm not commenting on play. That's the point. I think how much time people spend caring about how the coach acts after a game is dumb and some will complain no matter what.
 

gopherfannnn said:
We really don't know who calls the plays or who has the final say (I assume it's a combination of the OC and Kill) but the problem with "turning things over" to the OC might be this:

"I'll be honest, I'm no revolutionary offensive mind," Limegrover said. "That's not how we operate. Coach Kill does a good job of making sure his staff fits together well, and I happened to be a very organized guy. I can bring it all together on Saturday."

The game-planning is done by the entire staff, using a system it has developed over several seasons. On Sunday, the coaches watch film of their next opponent, then brainstorm ideas for attacking the defense, encouraging each other to be as creative as possible.

"Every game plan is like a snowflake; it's unique. Even if we're running similar packages, like power rush, we won't run it the same way," Limegrover said. "And we'll throw some crazy stuff on the board, then see how everyone feels about it."

They narrow the possibilities during the week, after seeing what works and what doesn't during practice, then go through an exercise called "defending your thesis" in slotting particular plays into various situations for Limegrover to order up during a game.

"If someone really believes in a play, I'll say, 'Defend your thesis: What do you like about it? When do you feel good about it?'" Limegrover said. "The important thing is we're honest. If we think something is too risky or the protection isn't right, we leave it out. And at the end, we have something we're confident in, and the kids can have confidence in."
Click to expand...


Well, we finally understand the reason we have a below-average offense and have had one the last five years. Many of us have been insisting that Limegrover isn't a great offensive mind and here he pretty much admits it. We have a hodge-podge, mish-mash offense and it's pretty much looked that way from the beginning. This should be very discouraging for Gopher fans and recruits. Limegrover doesn't even have ownership over the offense. No wonder he can't be held accountable.
 

I would be nice if they pulled out the game film from 2000-2007 and looked at a few of the offensive plays. Maybe Adam Weber could help them since he was there is 2006.
 

oak_street1981 said:
I would be nice if they pulled out the game film from 2000-2007 and looked at a few of the offensive plays. Maybe Adam Weber could help them since he was there is 2006.
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It would never happen in this universe, but good gawd almighty would I love to see us hire Glen Mason as offensive line coach, because so far as gurus of the zone blocking system go, he ranks right up there with Alex Gibbs in my opinion as being one of the greatest line coaches ever. It wasn't so much blocking as it was like a perfect symphony, with everyone in synch. Blocking as an art-form, leading to absolutely overwhelming rushing offenses. Heck, you could have stuck all 5'9, 165 lbs. of me behind those lines and I'd have probably gone for 100+. I remember how in demand Mase was during the off-season, with teams wanting to bring him in so as to impart some of his zone blocking mastery to them.

Never happen, but fun to dream about nonetheless. Maybe in another universe...
 

Seany said:
It would never happen in this universe, but good gawd almighty would I love to see us hire Glen Mason as offensive line coach, because so far as gurus of the zone blocking system go, he ranks right up there with Alex Gibbs in my opinion as being one of the greatest line coaches ever. It wasn't so much blocking as it was like a perfect symphony, with everyone in synch. Blocking as an art-form, leading to absolutely overwhelming rushing offenses. Heck, you could have stuck all 5'9, 165 lbs. of me behind those lines and I'd have probably gone for 100+. I remember how in demand Mase was during the off-season, with teams wanting to bring him in so as to impart some of his zone blocking mastery to them.

Never happen, but fun to dream about nonetheless. Maybe in another universe...
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It isn't Mason that we need but rather the Browning/Shaw combo. Those two had a great thing going in coaching offensive line, Mitch worked with the tackles and TE and Shaw worked with the Centers and Guards. One area we almost never had to worry about during those Mason years was the offensive line and this because those two had it locked down and knew exactly what they needed from players to be successful.
 

Did kill not kiss enough media member's asses or something?

They hit a bad streak and some of the media guys seem in an awful hurry to trash the coach.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Did kill not kiss enough media member's asses or something?

They hit a bad streak and some of the media guys seem in an awful hurry to trash the coach.
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Could be because this is the worst gopher offense in at least 10 years, maybe in decades, through 5 games in terms of scoring offense. I don't have time to look it up this morning, but I'm confident well get into the 90s to find a gopher team that scored less than 15 points a game.

They need to find a way to step it up. The good news is they can turn it around, but it is more than a little disconcerting to read about the offense by committee, IMO. The great coaches will study the tendencies of opposing teams and find those tendencies and match ups. Every team we play knows ours. We know ours. Limegrover has to have a set of plans. I'm not sure we do, or if countered we are able to adjust. The unnecessary timeouts are alarming, but make more sense if he's not real confident in what he's doing. He's taking suggestions? Send in your emails boys...
 

N
Pompous Elitist said:
Could be because this is the worst gopher offense in at least 10 years, maybe in decades, through 5 games in terms of scoring offense. I don't have time to look it up this morning, but I'm confident well get into the 90s to find a gopher team that scored less than 15 points a game.

They need to find a way to step it up. The good news is they can turn it around, but it is more than a little disconcerting to read about the offense by committee, IMO. The great coaches will study the tendencies of opposing teams and find those tendencies and match ups. Every team we play knows ours. We know ours. Limegrover has to have a set of plans. I'm not sure we do, or if countered we are able to adjust. The unnecessary timeouts are alarming, but make more sense if he's not real confident in what he's doing. He's taking suggestions? Send in your emails boys...
Click to expand...

Agree 100%.
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Did kill not kiss enough media member's asses or something?

They hit a bad streak and some of the media guys seem in an awful hurry to trash the coach.
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Same as any team in MSP. Media is quick to turn on a scapegoat, however that doesn't mean it isn't deserved. Twins: Mauer, Wild: Parise/Vanek/Yeo, Vikings: Turner/AP/Walsh (this year)

College sports it's almost always the head coach.
 

The defense is coached much better than the offense. Just sayin.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Did kill not kiss enough media member's asses or something?

They hit a bad streak and some of the media guys seem in an awful hurry to trash the coach.
Click to expand...

Probably because most, if not all of them, bought into the pre-season narrative of the Gophers being dark horse shots at getting to the Big Ten Championship. They even bought into the "Kill and Company's teams only get better" theme. Even after the Gophers/Colorado State game most were on board. After the abysmal performances against Kent State and NW and the squeaker of a win against Ohio you still expect them be cheerleaders?

Kill trashed both his and the team's performances against Kent State and Northwestern. Why should media members go softer on them?
 


Maybe it will take this type of offense and a 4-8 season for Kill to make a change at the offensive coordinator position like his buddy Patterson did at TCU.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Maybe it will take this type of offense and a 4-8 season for Kill to make a change at the offensive coordinator position like his buddy Patterson did at TCU.
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If the struggles continue all year it will be interesting to see how Kill handles the coaching situation at the end of the season. I don't see him ever firing Limegrover but maybe there is some sort of restructure or something along those lines.

Said before that at any other power 5 school in the country the offensive coordinator would be on the hottest of hot seats after the offensive struggles of the past few years and really slow start on offense this year. But I honestly don't think that is the case here given Kill's extreme loyalty to his staff. So the question is how do you fix it if the guy in charge isn't willing to make a change to the leadership of the unit that isn't getting it done. The only solution is recruiting but so far the success in recruiting on that side of the ball leaves a lot to be desired.
 


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