Gus says: He will be more "Hands On" this spring

[Elephant Tipper 430]

You don't get it Stat, who runs the O does matter because we see that Gus is retaking that role, he's just not renaming Lashlee's title as GA as it should have been. Having RL run it has failed and we have a 15-11 record the last two seasons to show for it.

GM has jeopardized AU's success, along with his own career, by supporting two seasons of favoritism for a coach without a resume'.

WDE !!!

Okay... if you believe that... Lashlee receives credit for two outstanding offenses in 2013 and 2014 and one bad offense in 2015. You can't have it both ways.

We had one outstanding season of 12-2, followed by 8-5, followed by 7-6. NM was the difference maker for '14 season, not RL. No NM, no offensive production as we had. NM accounted for around 3,300 yds that season if memory serves me.

My suspicion (and this is not a stretch because this is how a new business is started with partially experienced people) is that Malzahn called the vast majority of the O in '13 and slowly handed the reins to RL in '14, maybe some in '13. In '15 RL bottomed out and now in '16 GM is resuming the play calls AND "taking on a more hands-on approach to coaching the qbs." The person who had been coaching the qbs is RL, no one else, and now we read that GM is taking that responsibility back because the job wasn't getting done. There's no other reason to do such.

Either it's been RL that's the problem or Malzahn's scheme is too inscrutable. I think the former.

WDE !!!

[lionheartkc 6,150]

You don't get it Stat, who runs the O does matter because we see that Gus is retaking that role, he's just not renaming Lashlee's title as GA as it should have been. Having RL run it has failed and we have a 15-11 record the last two seasons to show for it.

GM has jeopardized AU's success, along with his own career, by supporting two seasons of favoritism for a coach without a resume'.

WDE !!!

Okay... if you believe that... Lashlee receives credit for two outstanding offenses in 2013 and 2014 and one bad offense in 2015. You can't have it both ways.

We had one outstanding season of 12-2, followed by 8-5, followed by 7-6. NM was the difference maker for '14 season, not RL. No NM, no offensive production as we had. NM accounted for around 3,300 yds that season if memory serves me.

My suspicion (and this is not a stretch because this is how a new business is started with partially experienced people) is that Malzahn called the vast majority of the O in '13 and slowly handed the reins to RL in '14, maybe some in '13. In '15 RL bottomed out and now in '16 GM is resuming the play calls AND "taking on a more hands-on approach to coaching the qbs." The person who had been coaching the qbs is RL, no one else, and now we read that GM is taking that responsibility back because the job wasn't getting done. There's no other reason to do such.

Either it's been RL that's the problem or Malzahn's scheme is too inscrutable. I think the former.

WDE !!!

Or... in 2013 we had a solid QB with stellar blocking from a top NFL draft pic on the O-Line and a NFL quality fullback. In 2014 we lost the blocking, but still maintained offensive dominance... just not as dominant... Unfortunately, our D struggled mightily, as it has for years. Finally, in 2015, our #1 QB lost it under the lights. Our #2 QB, along with our #1 & #2 running backs got injured. Our #1 receiver lost his freaking mind and got kicked off the team. Finally, our starting center had never played the position before and it showed at times.

I think that's more likely your answer.

[sevenlee36 1,663]

I think it's very believable that Gus's first year at Auburn, he had a lot to do with the offense. Then after seeing success and having NM, and the majority of the offensive players returning, that he allowed the coordinators to take a larger role.

If we see Sean White running the read option this year, then Rhett and/or Gus has to go. No excuse for that.

[Elephant Tipper 430]

You don't get it Stat, who runs the O does matter because we see that Gus is retaking that role, he's just not renaming Lashlee's title as GA as it should have been. Having RL run it has failed and we have a 15-11 record the last two seasons to show for it.

GM has jeopardized AU's success, along with his own career, by supporting two seasons of favoritism for a coach without a resume'.

WDE !!!

Okay... if you believe that... Lashlee receives credit for two outstanding offenses in 2013 and 2014 and one bad offense in 2015. You can't have it both ways.

We had one outstanding season of 12-2, followed by 8-5, followed by 7-6. NM was the difference maker for '14 season, not RL. No NM, no offensive production as we had. NM accounted for around 3,300 yds that season if memory serves me.

My suspicion (and this is not a stretch because this is how a new business is started with partially experienced people) is that Malzahn called the vast majority of the O in '13 and slowly handed the reins to RL in '14, maybe some in '13. In '15 RL bottomed out and now in '16 GM is resuming the play calls AND "taking on a more hands-on approach to coaching the qbs." The person who had been coaching the qbs is RL, no one else, and now we read that GM is taking that responsibility back because the job wasn't getting done. There's no other reason to do such.

Either it's been RL that's the problem or Malzahn's scheme is too inscrutable. I think the former.

WDE !!!

Or... in 2013 we had a solid QB with stellar blocking from a top NFL draft pic on the O-Line and a NFL quality fullback. In 2014 we lost the blocking, but still maintained offensive dominance... just not as dominant... Unfortunately, our D struggled mightily, as it has for years. Finally, in 2015, our #1 QB lost it under the lights. Our #2 QB, along with our #1 & #2 running backs got injured. Our #1 receiver lost his freaking mind and got kicked off the team. Finally, our starting center had never played the position before and it showed at times.

I think that's more likely your answer.

In light of the Oline deficiency in '14 NM's skills were even more consequential. He had to hop a lot faster.

How do you take a qb whose passer rating was higher than Cam and AJ McCarron in his freshman and sophomore seasons and end up with a substandard qb his first as starter ? The deer in the headlights theory ? I have resumed my doubt about that. Goes to coaching, or lack of it.

WDE !!!

[Tiger 8,853]

There are countless HC's across the country who are offensive minded who employ legitimate OCs to call their offense. They call the HC's offense. Knowing every nuance there is to know about the playbook or offense doesn't amount to much if you're a poor/unseasoned play caller. Gus can give his playbook to anyone and ask him to call the plays. 18-22 year olds learn the offense with limited time. I imagine an experienced, grown man can pick up the offense after putting some time in. The fact of the matter is, Rhett is just not qualified to hold the OC position at a place like Auburn. An SEC power should never, ever, ever be in a position to have an offensive coordinator that is this inexperienced calling any kind of shots. QB coach? Maybe. But any hand in the game planning and play calling? That might be reaching a little bit.

Some people point to the success of 2013 as a plus for Lashlee. But we ran the same play, or a slight variation of it, for 80% of the time. If there was an example of when the team stopped our main play call and we had to adjust or there was evidence of RL making an adjustment credit would be due. But our personnel was what made that go. That left side of O Line was demolishing an entire side of the defensive front.

Sure there are but there are some head coaches that run their brand of offense and Gus is one of them. Do you believe that Art Briles 31-year old son actually has full control of his offense? Steve Spurrier controlled his offense. Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech runs his own offense. Mike Leach runs his own offense. Kingsbury at Texas Tech runs his own offense.

When Gus hires an experienced offense and allows him to install his own offense then and only then will I lump MNalzahn into the category you mentioned.

My issue is not whether the HC gives up control of his offense or if he is controlling everything. It is giving a guy like RL any control really is asking him to put on shoes that are just too big for him at this time. I know we will always run Gus' O as long as he is HC and that is how it should be. His offense is why Auburn, or anyone, would hire him. Now with the duties that include being a SEC HC one would think having an OC that is actually qualified to be an OC to run the offense while Gus is tending to his other responsibilities. Gus' latest comments shows us that he wasn't in control of the O as he has been in the past. Or that is how I perceive it. I would guess that 75-80% of current Power 5 coordinators would be chosen before Rhett Lashlee if we polled every P5 team in a hypothetical "Offensive Coordinator Draft". JMO.

Lashlee knows this offense, but that is not something somebody else cannot attain. And in every other aspect of the OC/QB coaching job responsibilities I am hard pressed to believe he is doing a better job than someone with more experience and a proven track record (like the type of person that, in theory, SHOULD always be on staff at a program like AU as an OC) would do.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

How do you take a qb whose passer rating was higher than Cam and AJ McCarron in his freshman and sophomore seasons and end up with a substandard qb his first as starter ? The deer in the headlights theory ? I have resumed my doubt about that. Goes to coaching, or lack of it.

WDE !!!

First... his rating was inflated by lack of playing time and inferior opponents. Most decent back-up QBs have good to great ratings. That's why they require a certain number of snaps before you can be ranked.

Second... I think he honestly wasn't prepared to go live. Gus has admitted that we hadn't gone live in practice since 2013 (which is the only thing I'm currently willing to lay at the coach's feet), and I don't think Jeremy was prepared, especially when he didn't have one of the top centers in the nation in front of him. I also think that it didn't help that our receiver corp was a mess last year.

[StatTiger 3,188]

My issue is not whether the HC gives up control of his offense or if he is controlling everything. It is giving a guy like RL any control really is asking him to put on shoes that are just too big for him at this time. I know we will always run Gus' O as long as he is HC and that is how it should be. His offense is why Auburn, or anyone, would hire him. Now with the duties that include being a SEC HC one would think having an OC that is actually qualified to be an OC to run the offense while Gus is tending to his other responsibilities. Gus' latest comments shows us that he wasn't in control of the O as he has been in the past. Or that is how I perceive it. I would guess that 75-80% of current Power 5 coordinators would be chosen before Rhett Lashlee if we polled every P5 team in a hypothetical "Offensive Coordinator Draft". JMO.

Lashlee knows this offense, but that is not something somebody else cannot attain. And in every other aspect of the OC/QB coaching job responsibilities I am hard pressed to believe he is doing a better job than someone with more experience and a proven track record (like the type of person that, in theory, SHOULD always be on staff at a program like AU as an OC) would do.

You are still missing the point. You are basically saying Lashlee receives no credit for 2013 and 2014 but takes the majority of the responsibility for 2015. I don't buy into that. Just because Gus tells the media he is taking back control of the offense, doesn't mean Lashlee was running the show in 2015. Malzahn and Lashlee have both publicly stated they have shared play-calling duties prior to 2015.

Gus is a control freak and most successful coaches are too. Like the other coaches I mentioned, he will not likely relinquish control of the offense to any OC. Had Lashlee been fired or hired away, Malzahn would have brought in someone previously on staff, familiar with his offense. I like Malazhn's offense but I believe it needs to be tweaked and that won't happen with Lashlee or another Malzahn disciple in place. When you say he should run his offense, I totally agree. I'm simply stating he needs to adjust over time like other coaches do. It took Spurrier 4 years at South Carolina to realize the Fun & Gun would not work at USCe. He adjusted his offense and it remained his offense but he found offensive success, utilizing other schemes to compliment the level of talent he had in place. Art Briles has adjusted his offense during his tenure at Baylor. He has gone from a heavy passing scheme to a more run oriented offense. He found balance and did so without relinquishing control of his offense. Malzahn is the HFC now so at the end of the day, HE is responsible for the entire team. I don't fault Lashlee for 2015 because I don't know how much control or influence he truly has possessed since being Auburn's OC. I put it squarely on the shoulders of Malzahn. I say this because if Lashlee was not capable of running the offense, Malzahn would be the biggest fool for keeping him on staff in 2016. Regardless of why Lashlee is still the OC, it was Malzahn's choice. Who knows what Lashlee has wanted to change or experiment with over the past several years that was vetoed by Malzahn. Lashlee could be the worst OC in the history of college but he remains the OC for 2016.

Again... this is Malzahn's TEAM as well as it should be until he leaves or is fired. One of the two will eventually happen but until that time, I believe two things must happen on the offensive side of the football. (1) Gus hires a proven OC and turns the offense over to the OC. I seriously doubt this will happen. (2) Gus makes adjustments to his offense for the sake of allowing his offense to evolve. He can keep the base offense, but there has to be an adjustment. These adjustments can come in schemes, formations, play-calling and personnel usage. I have a feeling Malzahn intends to lean on the spread-option element of the offense, he had in 2013 and 2014. If that is the case, fine! Just recruit for this type of offense to establish some element of an offensive identity. If he wants to open up the offense to be a 30-35 pass attempt offense, that is fine too. Again, recruit the players suited to operate that style of offense and move on.

2 cents

[lionheartkc 6,150]

I like Malazhn's offense but I believe it needs to be tweaked and that won't happen with Lashlee or another Malzahn disciple in place. When you say he should run his offense, I totally agree. I'm simply stating he needs to adjust over time like other coaches do.

In my opinion, Gus hasn't run "his offense" in it's pure form since 2010, because he's always had to adjust for a lack of something, whether it be passing from the QB, downfield blocking from the receivers, or offensive line production. I think 2009 was a glimpse of the offense Gus likes to run and 2010 was it running at it's best. 2013 was the best example of him adjusting his offense to the talent he had. 2014 was an attempt to make that offense more like the 2010 offense, which succeeded in a lot of ways, but missed in others. I seriously hope that this years crop of wide receivers will be the key to opening things back up on the perimeter as well as deep and we'll get to see "his offense" again.

[Tiger 8,853]

Stat, the basis of how I feel is that Rhett Lashlee is qualified to be one step up from a GA but he is, for some reason, holding a position that is usually one step below a HC. As far as control over the past 3 years you're right we don't really know. I just perceived Gus' comments in the way that I discussed earlier. We can agree to disagree with what those comments meant as this staff rarely says anything of substance to the media. I hope you are right in that Gus did not or does not relinquish control of the O. And your last sentence is something I can definitely get on board with.

[keesler 5,943]

I just find it unfathomable that Gus had "co-OC's", one of which had basically zero input in last years offense resulting in him leaving his alma matre for a lateral move to a division rival who happens to have cleaned our clock for much of the last freaking decade; and the other Co-OC did a piss poor job of managing our offense, play calling, QB development, game planning, and in-game adjustments.

Now in the wake of a two year 15-11 skid......we have another set of "co-OC's", one of which is apparently in name only so that he could leave his former employer without problems; and the other Co-OC is still here, basically just drawing a salary while the Head Coach takes over the offense because his Co-OC is in over his head in the toughest division in the nation.

Sometimes I feel like Auburn is their own worst enemy.

[au_bsci_04 407]

Herb Hand...

[augolf1716 21,939]

It may be the closest we come to Gus admitting he gave too much to Rhett last season? Any thoughts?

The difference with Malzahn is that Lashlee was not hired to implement and run a offense for Auburn. He was hired to run Gus Malzahn's offense. Hiring him in 2013 made sense because as a player and assistant under Malzahn, Lashlee knew the offense better than anyone else. Though someone like Bobby Petrino might be a better offensive coach, If Petriono was an OC, he would be expected to run Malzahn's offense if he were Malzahn's OC. Personally, I would like to see Malzahn's offense evolve. I think it could be great Malzahn intends to be more "hands on" but if HE cannot evolve, what happens? Obviously with better talent and better QB play, the same offense will play better but has a limited ceiling. Malzahn's offense is 10-years into the collegiate level, which includes 135 games. There is plenty enough tape out their to understand his tendencies, schemes and personnel groupings. Hopefully the consultation with Coach Art Briles might bring about some new looks.

This is 100% correct

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Isn't that the same thing Gus told us this time last year. We all watch how that turned out.

[alexava 6,974]

I haven't read every post but I see references to Gus " needing to tweeck or adjust or evolve his offense." That is exactly what he has been doing his entire career as a college coach. He had one terrible year with some very odd circumstances at key positions. There was not a lot that could be done. The only thing he could do is try to have more options at those key positions, which he did. And work harder to develop the players and find a workable scheme. Which he is doing and the reason for this thread. People call Gus stubborn. I think he is anything but stubborn. The run up the gut after made first down annoyed me but he didn't have a full play book all year.

[keesler 5,943]

How many plays are in Gus' full playbook?

I'd be interested in seeing what he can do with a QB he recruited and developed to the point where we could see how extensive his full playbook really is.

[alexava 6,974]

I don't know how many but a passing game that challenges the middle of the field would fit in there.

[StatTiger 3,188]

I haven't read every post but I see references to Gus " needing to tweeck or adjust or evolve his offense." That is exactly what he has been doing his entire career as a college coach. He had one terrible year with some very odd circumstances at key positions. There was not a lot that could be done. The only thing he could do is try to have more options at those key positions, which he did. And work harder to develop the players and find a workable scheme. Which he is doing and the reason for this thread. People call Gus stubborn. I think he is anything but stubborn. The run up the gut after made first down annoyed me but he didn't have a full play book all year.

Since I am the only poster in this thread to utilize the above bold words, you are obviously referring to my comments. I enjoy football discussions so here is my response...

I am a huge Gus Malzhan fan when it comes to his offense. I do believe he is still learning to be a head coach and needs time to work through his mistakes.

I will agree he has adapted his offense but this is not the same as his offense evolving over time. He clearly attempts to adapt his offense to his quarterback, which is a good thing. When I refer to evolving, I am talking about breaking tendencies and adding new twists to his offense. Examples of what his offense could be can be seen at Ole Miss under Hugh Freeze and at one point Clemson under Chad Morris (OC). These are two offensive coaches who modeled their offenses after Malzahn but added their own adjustments to expand it.

You mentioned the 1st down issue being a non-issue in 2015 because of his limited options but this has been a tendency during his collegiate tenure. In 8 of 10 seasons, Malzahn has run the ball at least 75% of the time on 1st down. It's 6 of 6 at Auburn running the ball at least 77% of the time on 1st down.

Regarding Malzahn's offense throwing on first down, his offense has an average ranking of No. 115 over the past eight seasons. Though Auburn suffered through quarterback issues in 2015, the inevitability in play-calling magnified Auburn's offensive struggles.

This leads to the second issue. Here is Malzahn's national rankings in placing his passing offense in 3rd & 7 or worse from 2008-2015:

2008: 90th

2009: 68th

2010: 58th

2011: 112th

2012: 110th

2013: 34th

2014: 97th

2015: 92nd

Though he utilizes FB's and or TE's in nearly every set, he rarely utilizes them in terms of getting the football to them. I can only go back the last 56 seasons but 2015 marked the first time an Auburn TE did not catch a single pass the entire season. From 1970-2015, Auburn has utilized the TE in 14% of their completed passes. Under Malzahn it has dropped to 7%. He utilizes the TE inside the RZ very effectively. I can only imagine how great it would be if it were the same from 20 to 20.

He almost never uses his FB's to run the ball. Again, how great would be to run the FB 2-3 times per game just to keep the defense guessing. A good sign of a great offense is the use of all the skill players, which forces the defense to respect every option on any given down. As it is, the opposition knows to key on the TE inside the RZ and the FB on the occasional wheel-route.

Last season Auburn ran the ball 77% of the time on 1st down despite being ranked No. 33 in pass-efficiency on 1st down and No. 70 in yards per attempt, rushing on 1st down. Not only are teams selling out to stop the run on 1st down, they occasionally leave the slot WR uncovered to apply pressure off the edge. Georgia started it in 2013 and it has been an issue since. It would be nice for the QB and slot WR to have an automatic read when this happens. Though Gus Malzahn values the running game in his "spread option" offense, teams like Baylor, Oregon and Ohio State fielded top-11 run offenses in 2015 and still managed to throw the ball 34-40 percent of the time on first down. Baylor was No. 8 in pass-efficiency on first down, Oregon was No. 10 and Ohio State finished at No. 13. The three teams combined averaged 7.4 yards per play on first down. Last season Auburn had a pass-efficiency rating of 152.9, better than the 134.9 rating during 2014.

As for the passing game, Auburn doesn't attack the middle of the field in terms of the short to intermediate passes. Most of the passes in this area are square-in routes. Malzahn rarely calls slants or crossing routes. My theory on this is he wants to minimize possible turnovers. Passes over the middle can be tipped or if poorly thrown can be picked in traffic. Malzahn has done a great job of minimizing turnovers as his offenses are consistently in the top-25 of turnover ratio.

I know a lot of fans want "tempo" but I'd rather see more focus on execution before Auburn speeds things up.

Though the 2010, 2013 and 2014 offenses were his best in terms of productivity, I thought his 2009 offense was his best in terms of schemes. In 2009, we saw a lot of motion and misdirection, which we don't see as often. Auburn threw the traditional screen passes to the primary RB, which has faded over the years.

Wanting the offense to "evolve" is simply my opinion but the data I posted are facts. I still believe Gus Malzahn possesses one of the best offensive minds in college football but that doesn't mean he is beyond being creative year to year to stay ahead of the opposition.

[autig90 67]

I haven't read every post but I see references to Gus " needing to tweeck or adjust or evolve his offense." That is exactly what he has been doing his entire career as a college coach. He had one terrible year with some very odd circumstances at key positions. There was not a lot that could be done. The only thing he could do is try to have more options at those key positions, which he did. And work harder to develop the players and find a workable scheme. Which he is doing and the reason for this thread. People call Gus stubborn. I think he is anything but stubborn. The run up the gut after made first down annoyed me but he didn't have a full play book all year.

Since I am the only poster in this thread to utilize the above bold words, you are obviously referring to my comments. I enjoy football discussions so here is my response...

I am a huge Gus Malzhan fan when it comes to his offense. I do believe he is still learning to be a head coach and needs time to work through his mistakes.

I will agree he has adapted his offense but this is not the same as his offense evolving over time. He clearly attempts to adapt his offense to his quarterback, which is a good thing. When I refer to evolving, I am talking about breaking tendencies and adding new twists to his offense. Examples of what his offense could be can be seen at Ole Miss under Hugh Freeze and at one point Clemson under Chad Morris (OC). These are two offensive coaches who modeled their offenses after Malzahn but added their own adjustments to expand it.

You mentioned the 1st down issue being a non-issue in 2015 because of his limited options but this has been a tendency during his collegiate tenure. In 8 of 10 seasons, Malzahn has run the ball at least 75% of the time on 1st down. It's 6 of 6 at Auburn running the ball at least 77% of the time on 1st down.

Regarding Malzahn's offense throwing on first down, his offense has an average ranking of No. 115 over the past eight seasons. Though Auburn suffered through quarterback issues in 2015, the inevitability in play-calling magnified Auburn's offensive struggles.

This leads to the second issue. Here is Malzahn's national rankings in placing his passing offense in 3rd & 7 or worse from 2008-2015:

2008: 90th

2009: 68th

2010: 58th

2011: 112th

2012: 110th

2013: 34th

2014: 97th

2015: 92nd

Though he utilizes FB's and or TE's in nearly every set, he rarely utilizes them in terms of getting the football to them. I can only go back the last 56 seasons but 2015 marked the first time an Auburn TE did not catch a single pass the entire season. From 1970-2015, Auburn has utilized the TE in 14% of their completed passes. Under Malzahn it has dropped to 7%. He utilizes the TE inside the RZ very effectively. I can only imagine how great it would be if it were the same from 20 to 20.

He almost never uses his FB's to run the ball. Again, how great would be to run the FB 2-3 times per game just to keep the defense guessing. A good sign of a great offense is the use of all the skill players, which forces the defense to respect every option on any given down. As it is, the opposition knows to key on the TE inside the RZ and the FB on the occasional wheel-route.

Last season Auburn ran the ball 77% of the time on 1st down despite being ranked No. 33 in pass-efficiency on 1st down and No. 70 in yards per attempt, rushing on 1st down. Not only are teams selling out to stop the run on 1st down, they occasionally leave the slot WR uncovered to apply pressure off the edge. Georgia started it in 2013 and it has been an issue since. It would be nice for the QB and slot WR to have an automatic read when this happens. Though Gus Malzahn values the running game in his "spread option" offense, teams like Baylor, Oregon and Ohio State fielded top-11 run offenses in 2015 and still managed to throw the ball 34-40 percent of the time on first down. Baylor was No. 8 in pass-efficiency on first down, Oregon was No. 10 and Ohio State finished at No. 13. The three teams combined averaged 7.4 yards per play on first down. Last season Auburn had a pass-efficiency rating of 152.9, better than the 134.9 rating during 2014.

As for the passing game, Auburn doesn't attack the middle of the field in terms of the short to intermediate passes. Most of the passes in this area are square-in routes. Malzahn rarely calls slants or crossing routes. My theory on this is he wants to minimize possible turnovers. Passes over the middle can be tipped or if poorly thrown can be picked in traffic. Malzahn has done a great job of minimizing turnovers as his offenses are consistently in the top-25 of turnover ratio.

I know a lot of fans want "tempo" but I'd rather see more focus on execution before Auburn speeds things up.

Though the 2010, 2013 and 2014 offenses were his best in terms of productivity, I thought his 2009 offense was his best in terms of schemes. In 2009, we saw a lot of motion and misdirection, which we don't see as often. Auburn threw the traditional screen passes to the primary RB, which has faded over the years.

Wanting the offense to "evolve" is simply my opinion but the data I posted are facts. I still believe Gus Malzahn possesses one of the best offensive minds in college football but that doesn't mean he is beyond being creative year to year to stay ahead of the opposition.

Great post Stat. I have less real football knowledge than a lot here, but I have wondered a lot why we don't do more over the middle and utilize the TE and FB's more. That would seem to keep the defense more honest and give them more to plan for. That just seems like common sense and not some grand football thing. I like Gus but have always scratched my head at this.

[AUIH1 1,515]

I haven't read every post but I see references to Gus " needing to tweeck or adjust or evolve his offense." That is exactly what he has been doing his entire career as a college coach. He had one terrible year with some very odd circumstances at key positions. There was not a lot that could be done. The only thing he could do is try to have more options at those key positions, which he did. And work harder to develop the players and find a workable scheme. Which he is doing and the reason for this thread. People call Gus stubborn. I think he is anything but stubborn. The run up the gut after made first down annoyed me but he didn't have a full play book all year.

Since I am the only poster in this thread to utilize the above bold words, you are obviously referring to my comments. I enjoy football discussions so here is my response...

I am a huge Gus Malzhan fan when it comes to his offense. I do believe he is still learning to be a head coach and needs time to work through his mistakes.

I will agree he has adapted his offense but this is not the same as his offense evolving over time. He clearly attempts to adapt his offense to his quarterback, which is a good thing. When I refer to evolving, I am talking about breaking tendencies and adding new twists to his offense. Examples of what his offense could be can be seen at Ole Miss under Hugh Freeze and at one point Clemson under Chad Morris (OC). These are two offensive coaches who modeled their offenses after Malzahn but added their own adjustments to expand it.

You mentioned the 1st down issue being a non-issue in 2015 because of his limited options but this has been a tendency during his collegiate tenure. In 8 of 10 seasons, Malzahn has run the ball at least 75% of the time on 1st down. It's 6 of 6 at Auburn running the ball at least 77% of the time on 1st down.

Regarding Malzahn's offense throwing on first down, his offense has an average ranking of No. 115 over the past eight seasons. Though Auburn suffered through quarterback issues in 2015, the inevitability in play-calling magnified Auburn's offensive struggles.

This leads to the second issue. Here is Malzahn's national rankings in placing his passing offense in 3rd & 7 or worse from 2008-2015:

2008: 90th

2009: 68th

2010: 58th

2011: 112th

2012: 110th

2013: 34th

2014: 97th

2015: 92nd

Though he utilizes FB's and or TE's in nearly every set, he rarely utilizes them in terms of getting the football to them. I can only go back the last 56 seasons but 2015 marked the first time an Auburn TE did not catch a single pass the entire season. From 1970-2015, Auburn has utilized the TE in 14% of their completed passes. Under Malzahn it has dropped to 7%. He utilizes the TE inside the RZ very effectively. I can only imagine how great it would be if it were the same from 20 to 20.

He almost never uses his FB's to run the ball. Again, how great would be to run the FB 2-3 times per game just to keep the defense guessing. A good sign of a great offense is the use of all the skill players, which forces the defense to respect every option on any given down. As it is, the opposition knows to key on the TE inside the RZ and the FB on the occasional wheel-route.

Last season Auburn ran the ball 77% of the time on 1st down despite being ranked No. 33 in pass-efficiency on 1st down and No. 70 in yards per attempt, rushing on 1st down. Not only are teams selling out to stop the run on 1st down, they occasionally leave the slot WR uncovered to apply pressure off the edge. Georgia started it in 2013 and it has been an issue since. It would be nice for the QB and slot WR to have an automatic read when this happens. Though Gus Malzahn values the running game in his "spread option" offense, teams like Baylor, Oregon and Ohio State fielded top-11 run offenses in 2015 and still managed to throw the ball 34-40 percent of the time on first down. Baylor was No. 8 in pass-efficiency on first down, Oregon was No. 10 and Ohio State finished at No. 13. The three teams combined averaged 7.4 yards per play on first down. Last season Auburn had a pass-efficiency rating of 152.9, better than the 134.9 rating during 2014.

As for the passing game, Auburn doesn't attack the middle of the field in terms of the short to intermediate passes. Most of the passes in this area are square-in routes. Malzahn rarely calls slants or crossing routes. My theory on this is he wants to minimize possible turnovers. Passes over the middle can be tipped or if poorly thrown can be picked in traffic. Malzahn has done a great job of minimizing turnovers as his offenses are consistently in the top-25 of turnover ratio.

I know a lot of fans want "tempo" but I'd rather see more focus on execution before Auburn speeds things up.

Though the 2010, 2013 and 2014 offenses were his best in terms of productivity, I thought his 2009 offense was his best in terms of schemes. In 2009, we saw a lot of motion and misdirection, which we don't see as often. Auburn threw the traditional screen passes to the primary RB, which has faded over the years.

Wanting the offense to "evolve" is simply my opinion but the data I posted are facts. I still believe Gus Malzahn possesses one of the best offensive minds in college football but that doesn't mean he is beyond being creative year to year to stay ahead of the opposition.

Great post Stat!! I have posted often in the past year that I want Gus to be the OC along with HC. I want Gus developing the game plan during the week and calling the plays on Saturday. Let Rhett go get Gus his coffee or gum. I also hope that Herb Hand may be another adult in the room that can provide Gus some good input that Gus will listen to.

Regarding Gus evolving, I agree that he must. I am concerned however; that Gus is so head strong that he doesn't believe he has to evolve. Again, great post.

wde

[au_bsci_04 407]

Hiring Hand and mtg with Briles in the off season tells me he understands the need to evolve. To me, it seems like he reverts back to old ways when the O struggles. Like he has great intentions to do something different but then regresses in high stress times.

[AUIH1 1,515]

Hiring Hand and mtg with Briles in the off season tells me he understands the need to evolve. To me, it seems like he reverts back to old ways when the O struggles. Like he has great intentions to do something different but then regresses in high stress times.

I am cautiously optimistic about the Hand hire too (both as an OL coach and as a legit OC-type who can influence Gus in a good way) and I hope meeting with Briles helped him as well. We will see how Gus handles the high stress times on O this season and we will find out pretty quickly (against Clemson) if he has evolved or continues to regress.

wde

[AUpreacherman22 3,945]

It's ok guys. It was a contraction.

He going to have a more Hand's on approach to the offense. See: Hand is on. This clearly means that Herb Hand will be more involved in the offense!

[bigbird 60,926]

It's ok guys. It was a contraction.

He going to have a more Hand's on approach to the offense. See: Hand is on. This clearly means that Herb Hand will be more involved in the offense!

this is absolutely true

[AuburnSpider 2]

Love the Offense hate the play calling. Malzahn has been very fortunate to have been blessed with the Blessed One and a freak athlete for a QB and a once in a decade OT and 2 miracles direct from heaven to make up for a lot a bad play calling.

[AU-24 3,128]

I had no idea, this thread was going to turn into this.

For the record, I am a big Gus fan as well. I understand the very unfortunate injury bug and Duke situation that had such a negative impact on the O. Most of that (if not all of that) Gus could do little about.

I also feel that both Mississippi games and the Thuga game, were very winnable, with better play calling... IMO. I blame that more on Rhett, if he was the primary coach calling said-plays. Yes, in the end, it all falls on the shoulders of our Head Coach!

Just my .02