[NU Sports] Coach McCall

Mon Oct 19 13:11:03 CDT 2009

You're right on the fact that the OL has disappointed this year despite
fielding two guys who had impressive years as redshirt freshmen last year
(LT Netter & C Burkett) and the fact that Fitz has been bringing in some
highly touted recruits (we've seen redshirt freshman Dieters a lot at RT and
even true freshman Ward at guard).  I think I've mentioned this before, but
don't discount losing OL coach Ingalls to the Saints after last season.

In any case, I do agree that McCall's work hasn't been overly impressive,
but I don't think he warrants all the blame.

Jonathan

On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 11:19 AM, Jim Leonard <jleonard518 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 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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