[NU Sports] Coach McCall

Mon Oct 19 11:19:55 CDT 2009

Perhaps this is much more of a personnel issue than I thought. I was of the understanding that our style of spread offense could be adjusted to compensate for lesser talent. I also was under the impression that our o-line recruits were as talented (if not more so) that players we've had in the past.

I don't think that McCall MUST be fired, I'm just saying I'm not impressed with what I've seen. If it's simply a talent issue, then we should (at some point) play all the younger guys and focus on next year. 

Go Cats!
Jim

________________________________
From: Herman Wang <herms at hotmail.com>
To: jonathanwhodges at gmail.com; jleonard518 at yahoo.com
Cc: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Sent: Mon, October 19, 2009 9:24:24 AM
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Coach McCall

 I think Jonathan's spot on.  We have a lack of game-breaking wide receivers who can get open downfield on a consistent basis.  We have a porous offensive line that hasn't opened holes for the running game or given Kafka much time to pass.  We have a quarterback who is great at the short to medium passes, but has questionable accuracy on downfield passes.  And we have no running game whatsoever to keep defenses honest.  

Given those constraints, what an offensive coordinator to do?  If we keep trying to pass downfield, Kafka's in for a lot of sacks or interceptions.  If we keep trying to establish the run, which is what I believe McCall and Fitz have been trying to do against our weaker opponents, we end up with a bunch of 1- to 2-yard runs.  

We actually have been running the option for about 4-5 plays each game.  I can't recall a single option play that has netted more than four yards.  Defenses don't need to fear the deep pass, and they don't need to key on our running backs, so they stack the box with eight or nine defenders and spy on Kafka.  Against that defense and with our poor o-line blocking, I don't see where the option is going to succeed any more than the short passing game.

As Jonathan noted, we're scoring more this season than we were last season.  I think, by and large, McCall and Fitz are using what we've got.  We lost three top-notch NU receivers in Lane, Peterman and Ward, plus a great running back in Sutton.  Our o-line, which wasn't great last year, has for whatever reason regressed this year.  Our short passing game is effective and efficient, but our margin of error is very thin, so a fumble like Dunsmore's against MSU or critical drops like we've seen throughout the season, can be killer.

I would like to see Jeravin Matthews more involved in the running game, perhaps out of the Wildcat formation.  And maybe we could try a deep fade to one of our speedier receivers once or twice a game.  Overall, though, I think McCall's hands are tied by the personnel we've got.

Go 'Cats!
Herman

> From: jonathanwhodges at gmail.com
> Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:46:23 -0500
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Coach McCall
> To: jleonard518 at yahoo.com
> CC: nwu-sports at tssi.com
> 
> NU fans have basically been calling for McCall's head since he took over
> last year, despite a pretty good showing from last year's offense (that
> featured 4 brand new starters on the OL at the beginning of the year), and a
> not-horrible showing this year from a unit that lost all 5 starting skill
> position players (including a few that are arguably among NU's all-time
> greats) while having an OL that is vastly under-performing.
> 
> At this point, though, I don't feel the criticism is entirely warranted, and
> thankfully the NU coaching staff and administration don't bend to the whims
> of fickle fans like at other institutions.  Expect McCall to be back next
> year because the offense has been decent enough even without any kind of
> real running game.
> 
> Yes, I don't always agree with his play calling, but when an entire portion
> of the playbook just isn't working (basically any running play), it's hard
> to get real upset at the guy.  I know many have taken shots at him for not
> calling downfield passing, but that is rather difficult when the OL allows
> pressure to get to Kafka so quickly (NU is 87th nationally in sacks allowed
> and would be worse if Kafka couldn't save some plays with his legs).  Yes,
> Kafka holds the ball a little too long, too, but it's apparent he's trying
> to make a play with his arm (which is what the QB is for).
> 
> Basically everyone expected the NU offense to struggle this year with a new
> slew of skill position players, but they haven't been horrible, scoring 27
> points per game (NU ended up with 24.4 points per game last year).  They've
> left some points on the field and have had issues in the red zone, but this
> offense looks a lot like the one from 2007 that could put up huge numbers
> but also failed to convert in the red zone on occasion.
> 
> In any case, I think that the past two NU offensive coordinators have faced
> an uphill battle in winning support given their predecessors (Wilson and
> Dunbar) who oversaw some prolific and all-time great NU offenses, and the
> fact it that it's difficult to replicate that every year.  Not to mention
> that those teams featured some all-time great players (Kustok, Basanez,
> Bacher, Anderson, Wright, Herron, Sutton).
> 
> The biggest difference I've seen between last year and this year has been NU
> making the one or two plays in the game that it takes to win - last week we
> saw NU yield two long TD passes and fumble a kickoff that promptly turned
> into a TD.  There was also the Dunsmore fumble that was questionable given
> forward progress.  Take just a couple of those plays away and NU would have
> been in that one until the end.
> 
> There are still 5 games left and anything can happen, so let's hope NU
> starts getting some of those plays in their favor starting this week.
> 
> Go 'Cats!!!
> Jonathan
> 
> On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 8:23 AM, Jim Leonard <jleonard518 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Fellow Wildcat Faithful,
> >
> > At the end of the first half on Saturday I was convinced we had an upset in
> > the making. We did, only it was me being upset with coach McCall not the
> > Cats upsetting MSU.
> >
> > After a season and a half I'm not convinced he's the right guy. He's
> > predictable, which is not a good thing to be as an Offensive Coordinator. I
> > don't know where the running game has fallen flat. It's somewhere between
> > not having a true Big Ten size running back and having a weak offensive
> > line. But, great coaches find a way to work with the talent they have.
> >
> > We have a better than average running QB who has developed into a fairly
> > accurate passing QB. We should be able to make that work. I'd like to see a
> > lot more option plays. We can't run north-south between the tackles, so it's
> > time to take that page out of the playbook. And just once I'd like to see
> > all 4/5 wide receivers run beyond the first down marker so that Kafka can't
> > dump it for a 3-yard gain.
> >
> > I've given up on bowl hopes for this team, but I want to see them improve.
> > At this point, I won't be excited to have McCall back next year.
> >
> > Victory & Honor,
> > Jim
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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