Is Kevin Wilson immune from criticism?

[tulsaoilerfan]

Just wondering why there hasn't been a lot of discussion about KW's performance Thursday night; if the score had been 41-14,BV would have been tarred and feathered on here, yet outside of a very few posts i have seen, KW seems to have emerged unscathed; why? Even the media hasn't said a whole lot about it; i'm not asking for him to be fired, but it would be nice if maybe he would step up and explain what happened the other night

[Sooner70]

I think part of the reason is that it appears that OU had a pretty good offensive game plan, but execution by the players might've failed on a few critical series, especially within the red zone. KW can't do the blocking or tackling. The players have to do that. Having said that, it appeared to me that more imagination mighta been in order on the red zone plays, but I haven't watched the replays that closely. I'm still sick over it, so it'll take awhile for me to look again.

BV did a very good job preparing for FLA. His players executed fairly well. OU got let down by the offensive, for the first time this year. Not blaming it on Bradford, necessarily.....even his intercepted passes were on the money.

[delhalew]

I can tell you I'm pissed at him. Our receivers execution was lacking, but his play calling was the opposite of the successful schemes we've seen since the Texas game.

[Boomer Mooner]

Given our previous record in the red zone, the final score should have been 28-24 OU with proper execution of two or three of the called plays in the game.

[Dio]

If I never again see a handoff 5 yards behind the line on 3rd-and-a-foot, it'll still be too soon.

[delhalew]

If I never again see a handoff 5 yards behind the line on 3rd-and-a-foot, it'll still be too soon.

A call so stupid, it was worth calling twice...consecutively.

[SoonerGrad2003]

A call so stupid, it was worth calling twice...consecutively.

And don't forget...he hurried up to call that stupid call.

[soonermagic14]

Execution- the recievers could not get open....that doesnt help the passing game. 2 scoring opportunites inside the red zone, Greshem's long reception in the 1st quarter called back for holding (would've put us in the red zone), after Florida was flagged for roughing the kicker we went three and out...etc.

[Boomer Mooner]

I didn't like the call either, especially in hindsight. But we did just move the ball a pretty damn good length of the field on the ground.

The next stop in the red zone was an intercepted pass.

All plays don't go as planned, get over it.

[SoonerLB]

No, he is not immune, and he deserves some criticism! Not only some suspect play calling (or bad in a few cases, see above posts), but the delays in getting the plays in at times were excruciating (in my opinion anyway). You can't win an A game with C- play calling!

[CaliBornSoonerBred]

His play calling and tempo choices at times baffled me. The hurry up run game GASHED the fla D on the drive we got stopped on 4th. The play calling on the goal line was pathetic as well. I am the last person to want to call a player out but I have to mention Juaquin's two drops as it's been a reoccuring theme with him on the deep ball. If he makes those 2 catches, we're looking at possibly 10 more points on the board, maybe 14. The one in the 4th Q hurt really bad.

[Monster Zero]

In the halftime show, Barry Switzer said this:

"If Oklahoma can continue to play good defense, and come out and run the ball downhill, they can win this game."

I think those were his exact words.

I know it didn't help to have DeMarco injured, but just sayin'...

[1890MilesToNorman]

I've questioned his play calling in a couple of posts. KW baffled me on Saturday, he didn't call the game like he had ever since Tejas. Looked like paralysis by analysis, I guess KW is the only one who can explain why? I can't.

[A-M]

No, he is not immune, and he deserves some criticism! Not only some suspect play calling (or bad in a few cases, see above posts), but the delays in getting the plays in at times were excruciating (in my opinion anyway). You can't win an A game with C- play calling!

I do agree on this. When we did have a hurry up offense, we did well, but when it took so long to get the play in then they were able to stop us. This also happened in the Texas game. A hurry up, no huddle offense does not take 40-44 seconds to snap the ball.

[budbarrybob]

If I never again see a handoff 5 yards behind the line on 3rd-and-a-foot, it'll still be too soon.

Yes KW is to be blamed for some of the calls. Like the afore mentioned off tackle plays that NEVER worked when they had a 5 man down front.
That being said there were alot of times that the players didn't execute. JI dropped a 2 passes and 1 led to a INT. SB through a ill-advised pass for the other INT.

Bottom line is we got out "executed" by an evenly matched team. I think most of our schemes where good but when you see Tebow running through the arm tackles of a sure Sack over and over again ...

I'm proud of OUr boys and coaches.

Like :les:

I'm awefully proud of my football team and I'll take them around and play any sucker in the country and I FREAKIN MEAN IT!!

BOOMER!!!!!!!!!!!!

[okienator]

When you hae the biggest o-line in college f/b ,and its second and goal at the two yard line why dont you run the qb sneak twice if you have too. just asking.

[BoulderSooner79]

I think KW has had most his immunity shots, but he'll need a criticism booster soon ;) It was a disappointing conclusion for what was a great year for KW.

[soonerspudman]

Hard to criticize too much when you've just had the best offensive production season in the history of football.

That said, I was really curious why KW didn't run more from the I. UF was showing a straight 4-3 against it and we gashed huge runs late in the 2nd. I give KW the benefit of the doubt, he know what he's doing and UF must have changed some things up to make KW want to go so much to the spread, but the I was working wonderfully, I think that's what prompted Barry's halftime comment about running downhill to win the game. That also would have made UF sitting ducks for play action.

Also, hindsight is 20/20, but clearly on the failed 4th and 1 a play action rollout would have been taking candy from a baby.

[soonermagic14]

I thought trotting the FG unit out for 50 yd FGA was a bad move too. Just gave the Gator defense more confidence and more momentum for Florida.

[Toronto Sooner]

I like KW and I think he had a great year overall. However, IMO, it seems as if he struggles to make appropriate "real time" adjustments when the game is on the line. He either doesn't seem to grasp exactly what is happening or refuses to believe that his game plan needs to be adjusted within the game or perhaps just struggles to find the right solution. I am leaning more and more towards him just simply believing that his guys should just physically take charge of a game, and thus he refuses to alter the game plan away from smash mouth football (even for a few plays).

This is what I had previously posted in my post mortem on the Texas game (the KW point was only 1 of 8 points I had made about that game):

"7) Coach K. Wilson – as great a coach as he is and as great a season the offense has had, in my opinion, coach Wilson was a key reason we lost the Texas game. I was so frustrated with his play calling while watching the Texas game. Later in the game, he kept going with the run, possession, after possession, after possession, even though it was clear that the run game was not going to work on that particular day. The key problem with this it that instead of Sam having 3 plays to throw for a first down, he was often left with only 1 play (sometimes 2) to gain 10 years. It didn’t leave any room for errors, such as receiver drops. This resulted in a number of extremely short drives for our offence, which forced our D to stay on the field way too long – the long Taxes run near the end of the game was likely due to our D being too fatigued. I think coach Wilson has evolved as a play caller since the Texas game. If the running came ever sputters again I think he will not hesitate to now ride Bradford’s throwing arm completely for key parts of the game."

Now, here is my post mortem of the Florida game, as it relates to KW:

1) Why not more quick dump passes out of the backfield to an RB to beat the intense Florida pass rush and speed, to get the Florida safties/DB's to step up, and just simply to get easy yards? Chris Brown has the abilities, as he has demonstrated all year long, and also on the one big screen pass in the 4th quarter of the Florida game. Why didn't they mix it up when times got tough?

2) Why no (or few) run fakes, with a pass? With Florida's over aggressive D, this should have been a staple play all night long.

3) Why not roll Sam out of the pocket more often to buy more time, and to allow the receivers to separate?

4) Why not run Sam on a play here and there to get Florida's D thinking - injury to Sam is a slight risk, but this is football and the National Championship game (although, Sam has demonstrated he can run for 5 yards then dive before being hammered)? Granted, this would probably be the very last option.

5) Where was the quarterback sneak on very short yardage, where the D doesn't have enough time to gain penetration (and where we can take advantage of the bulk of our O-line players)? Afterall, we did it successfully all year long.

6) Why no trick plays to loosen up the D?

7) Why not go to Gresham even more frequently until they prove they can stop him? It was clear that Florida was unable to match up with Gresham. I know he drops a few, but you get at least 3 tries on every drive (unless a turnover occurs).

8) Why not utilize Chaney more frequently with a 5 to 10 yard pass play - take advantage of OU's height advantage like they did successfully earlier in the game? Going into the game, I felt that Gresham and Chaney would be key weapons for the Sooners, due to the size advantage. It seemed like Broyles was completely shut down by the speed and swarm tackling by Florida's D. I felt they should have gone more to Chaney, similar to the plays that worked in the first half - I don't think Florida proved they had an answer to either him or Gresham, especially on the 5 to 10 yard plays.

These are just my thoughts as I was watching the game. It is not meant to knock KW, but these are just questions without answers, in my mind anyway.

[birddog]

I thought trotting the FG unit out for 50 yd FGA was a bad move too. Just gave the Gator defense more confidence and more momentum for Florida.

did the coaching staff not see the same kicker we saw this season? we had a much better chance of getting the first down. MUCH BETTER.

[Toronto Sooner]

did the coaching staff not see the same kicker we saw this season? we had a much better chance of getting the first down. MUCH BETTER.

I was going to add that as my 9th point, but I left it off as I figured it was a Bob Stoops decision (as much as I like Bob), and likely not a KW decision.

I didn't understand the call at the time, and I am still totally confused now. This was a 49 yard field goal attempt in a pressure filled (tied) national championship game (by an already shaky rookie kicker), but also, the kicker hadn't hit for more than 42 yards all year long. Also, he has kicked the ball low at times this year, with both field goals and extra points.

I also felt that our chances were better with the ball in Sam's hands (the Heisman trophy winner). I figured if we hadn't made the first down then the placement of the ball would be about the same as a missed field goal.

The fact that the kick was low and blocked by Florida was clearly not a surprise.

[delhalew]

I wanna be clear. I heart KW. That said, mistakes were made. No one is immune to criticism, not even BOB.

Its clear our guys played hard, and I'm proud of them. They ALL made mistakes. Now they have big game experience. Those that stay can carry it forward. From here on out will begin to get more difficult to make it to the big show. I believe they can do it.

[adoniijahsooner]

On the plays on the line was Matt Clapp and Brody Eldridge in? We Should have ran the ball for the remainder of the game.

[delhalew]

On the plays on the line was Matt Clapp and Brody Eldridge in? We Should have ran the ball for the remainder of the game.

Clapp actually blew a big block in the red zone. Sorry I don't remember specifics and I don't want to watch it again. Like I said everyone makes mistakes. Even running had to very smart and well planned to work. Phlorida was not playing around. That said we had some luck up the middle. That only works if you're threat for the long ball.

It was a hard battle to win. I know they could have won it. No hard feelings.

[Crucifax Autumn]

All I have to say is I'm sure Wilson's questioning himself as much or more than anyone here. He, Bob and the rest of the staff will go over the game both together and trying to sleep nights and make themselves sick trying to figure out how to fix any actual flaws.

Then we'll see how that effects platcalling and strategy next year.

[tulsaoilerfan]

All I have to say is I'm sure Wilson's questioning himself as much or more than anyone here. He, Bob and the rest of the staff will go over the game both together and trying to sleep nights and make themselves sick trying to figure out how to fix any actual flaws.

Then we'll see how that effects platcalling and strategy next year.

he needs to learn how to fix the flaws during the game, not after; is it that hard to figure out that slow developing plays would not work against Florida? I got so damn sick of seeing that stretch play being run to the left

[ashley]

We tried to block the A gap player or 1 technique by reaching with the center. you cannot zone block a 300 pound 1 gap defensive tackle by reaching or zoning him on the goal line. You have to block everyone down and kick out with the fullback.
I a big fan of our O coodinator and Bob S. but that cost us 7 points on the goaline the first time and the second time we should have taken the fielgoal.

[aurorasooner]

I read somewhere where KW mentioned to the press that we would have some ""new wrinkles for CCG. I also saw posted that with Sam's injury, LJ got a lot of snaps with the offense in their prep. Makes me me wonder a little if SB had practiced any of those new wrinkles enough so KW felt confident in calling them. Seems like U. Meyer likes our up-tempo O, according to his quotes, and wouldn't have liked to defense it during the regular season with only the normal week of prep.
I've been really intrigued by the no-huddle, by the up-tempo, and we actually went to that the whole first week of spring ball a year ago,'' Meyer said. " I sent Dan Mullen to Missouri and came back with the mechanics of it. I hired Scot Loeffler. He's had some of that in his background. I think the tempo of the game, that's a pain in the butt, and if you only have two days to prepare.

"We did well because we had a whole month and Coach (Charlie) Strong and his staff and our players really worked hard. I'm going to really study it because I love their offense.''
"We really put in two packages that our defense did a great job,'' Meyer said. "One was bare defense, and they did a great job, and then a lot of odd. We played much more three down than we've ever played. Basically the whole game was four down against Alabama and then this game played three down and they call it bare defense, where they kicked down to stop the inside run.

"(Assistant) Chuck Heater and I were talking a couple nights before the game -- we'd do everything an offense doesn't like to see, and a lot of it was new. So they did a great job.''http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28582925/

[bluesmagoo]

KW was probably on downers. But I think he really needs an a**-chewing.

[GKeeper316]

i could have sworn chuck long was calling plays...

but ya we should have won. a pass gets completed and clapp makes his block its a 28-24 sooner win.

very very poor execution.

[Leroy Lizard]

These are the same tired arguments that get trotted out after every defeat.

If the players properly execute the plays that KW calls, OU wins and KW is a hero.

KW calls consecutive rushing plays in the red zone, he gets criticized.

On the next red zone series, KW calls a pass play that is intercepted, he gets criticized.

If he changes things, fans blame him for getting away from that which worked all season.

If he falls back on his bread-and-butter plays, fans complain that his offense is too predictable.

He calls a running play, he should have called a pass play. That would have worked, of course.

He calls a pass play, he should have called a running play. That would have worked, of course.


When you hae the biggest o-line in college f/b ,and its second and goal at the two yard line why dont you run the qb sneak twice if you have too.

Bradford has an injured hand. You want him fumbling?


However, IMO, it seems as if he struggles to make appropriate "real time" adjustments when the game is on the line.

No, the players didn't make real-time adjustments to the conditions around them. They need to block well. They need to catch the ball.

Another thing to understand is that just because Bradford passes to Iggy instead of Gresham, that doesn't mean KW called for the pass to Iggy. Maybe, just maybe, (and this is a radical idea), Gresham was covered.

[Leroy Lizard]

We tried to block the A gap player or 1 technique by reaching with the center. you cannot zone block a 300 pound 1 gap defensive tackle by reaching or zoning him on the goal line. You have to block everyone down and kick out with the fullback.

I a big fan of our O coodinator and Bob S. but that cost us 7 points on the goaline the first time and the second time we should have taken the fielgoal.

Let's not pretend even for one millisecond that any of us know more about running an offense than Kevin Wilson.

[ashley]

I would never do that but I would suggest it would have been better if we had kicked out with the fullback rather than have the tackle stop us on 4th down.

[Leroy Lizard]

Well, you can call Kevin Wilson and tell him not to run the "Tackle Stops Us on 4th Down" play.

Hint: None of these plays are designed to fail. If the play that KW called was really impossible to perform, he would have known about it long before the game. He isn't an idiot. In fact, he is probably the best offensive coordinator in college football.

[tulsaoilerfan]

Well, you can call Kevin Wilson and tell him not to run the "Tackle Stops Us on 4th Down" play.

Hint: None of these plays are designed to fail. If the play that KW called was really impossible to perform, he would have known about it long before the game. He isn't an idiot. In fact, he is probably the best offensive coordinator in college football.

It's not the fact he called it on 4th down, but the fact he basically ran the same play on 3rd down also; now it could have been a little different, but they were both runs to the left that took a while to develop

[MamaMia]

I wont criticize Kevin Wilson due to the fact that I'm still so freakin happy that Chuck Long is gone.

[Leroy Lizard]

It's not the fact he called it on 4th down, but the fact he basically ran the same play on 3rd down also; now it could have been a little different, but they were both runs to the left that took a while to develop.

And if our players execute they work.

This is all hindsight. That's all it is. As one coach said, "We spend hours practicing the play, and it works only because one of their players falls down."

[delhalew]

Excuse the hell out of me for having an opinion. What would you like to talk about genius?

[OU_Sooners75]

And don't forget...he hurried up to call that stupid call.


That has nothing to do with play calling. It has 100% to do with execution on that play.

How many times this year have we seen that play called and it worked to perfection?

Stop being a freaking douch* and realize that the plays we ran in the redzone are the same plays we ran in the redzone all season long. Florida was prepared for them. And we did not block them the way they should have been blocked.

Matt Clapp makes a better block....it is 6 points!

Blame Clapp on that play, not Kevin Wilson.

[delhalew]

Simple answer to the original Question. No one is immune to criticism. Ever.

[MamaMia]

Simple answer to the original Question. No one is immune to criticism. Ever. Criticizing Tebow however, is an unforgivable sin. It is written in the book of Gatorus, Chapter 24 Verse 7

[tulsaoilerfan]

And if our players execute they work.

This is all hindsight. That's all it is. As one coach said, "We spend hours practicing the play, and it works only because one of their players falls down."

So ur okay with the fact that on 4 downs inside the 10, we never gave our Heisman winning QB the chance to do anything but hand off? I'm not, but i respect your opinion and we can just agree to disagree.

[westcoast_sooner]

I'll throw in my two cents. KW has been absolutely masterful all season in his play calling with the exception of two games - and we all know which two.

In Dallas, our guys had not dedicated themselves to the run they did after that, and it just didn't work. Our insistence on running didn't help us, and the hurry-up probably didn't help/work as well as we all wanted.

Thursday, my two complaints were in the play calling in the red zone, especially on that 3rd and 4th down and in running the no-huddle in general. IMO, one main advantage of the no-huddle is to not let the defense settle in and adjust - basically don't give them time to react. IMO, on nearly every play in both games, we came to the line, looked over and almost never got the play off quick. I think we spent too much time analyzing what both Texas and Florida were going to do defensively and didn't agressively attack.

Our run game was solid most of the time. We moved the ball well on the ground in the first half, and with the exception of the first series in the 2nd half, we still moved the ball. Our WRs couldn't get as open as they had been - that's on Norvell. He's a fine coach, but that was the one place where we couldn't shake our guys loose.

I think these guys are good and can't complain too much on the season overall, but a couple of philosophical changes in critical moments would have made the difference between controvery and number 8.

[delhalew]

Leroy can insist I'm too stupid to understand such things, but fact is the majority off our success running the ball was on the inside. So I'm sorry if handing off to Brown 5 yards deep on a play to the outside on consecutive downs sounds foolish to me, but it does. As far as I know, I have a right to say so.

[Pigface1]

For the most part, he called a great game and I don't think anyone can put the loss on KW, or anyone in particular. Florida just made plays when they had to.

It was frustrating seeing the defense play better than they had (as well as special teams) in a long time and still lose. There will be second guessing for years, I'm sure. I can hear echos of "Put Paul Thompson in!" from the Sugar Bowl, still. :rolleyes:

Demarco being out in back to back bowl games didn't help, that's for sure. Nobody quit, but that really hurt.

[delhalew]

For the most part, he called a great game and I don't think anyone can put the loss on KW, or anyone in particular. Florida just made plays when they had to.

It was frustrating seeing the defense play better than they had (as well as special teams) in a long time and still lose. There will be second guessing for years, I'm sure. I can hear echos of "Put Paul Thompson in!" from the Sugar Bowl, still. :rolleyes:

Demarco being out in back to back bowl games didn't help, that's for sure. Nobody quit, but that really hurt.

I certainly wouldn't want to blame KW for the loss. However, if someone brings up the idea of criticizing him. Well, I've got a few doozies for him.

[Leroy Lizard]

So ur okay with the fact that on 4 downs inside the 10, we never gave our Heisman winning QB the chance to do anything but hand off?

On the subsequent red one series Bradford did throw it, and the ball was intercepted. And KW is getting criticism for that play call too.

So what was guaranteed to work?


Leroy can insist I'm too stupid to understand such things, but fact is the majority off our success running the ball was on the inside.

Wasn't the previous play a run to the inside that got completely stuffed?

As sure as the world turns, if we had handed it off up the middle and failed, everyone would be wondering why we didn't run it outside.


So I'm sorry if handing off to Brown 5 yards deep on a play to the outside on consecutive downs sounds foolish to me, but it does. As far as I know, I have a right to say so.

And I have a right to disagree.

[tulsaoilerfan]

On the subsequent red one series Bradford did throw it, and the ball was intercepted. And KW is getting criticism for that play call too.

So what was guaranteed to work?



Wasn't the previous play a run to the inside that got completely stuffed?

As sure as the world turns, if we had handed it off up the middle and failed, everyone would be wondering why we didn't run it outside.



And I have a right to disagree.


I don't think anyone has criticized him for throwing the ball, but it's the route everyone didn't understand; we had no TO's left, so we had no choice but to throw the ball and the slant into the teeth of the defense was a high risk play even if Johnson catches the ball

[delhalew]

I don't think anyone has criticized him for throwing the ball, but it's the route everyone didn't understand; we had no TO's left, so we had no choice but to throw the ball and the slant into the teeth of the defense was a high risk play even if Johnson catches the ball

Like I said nobody is immune to criticism. That was a bad read on Sams part. He had a deeper route that was nearly uncontested up top. These things all add up to a night of poor production at the time we needed it most.

[boomermagic]

KW Is a great OC and I will not critisize him.. No one is perfect all of the time the guy is human...

[cheezyq]

Just wondering why there hasn't been a lot of discussion about KW's performance Thursday night; if the score had been 41-14,BV would have been tarred and feathered on here, yet outside of a very few posts i have seen, KW seems to have emerged unscathed; why? Even the media hasn't said a whole lot about it; i'm not asking for him to be fired, but it would be nice if maybe he would step up and explain what happened the other night

I don't know how a guy can sit up in the booth seeing the whole field and every play, and MISS the fact that when we were running plays under center, we moved the ball easily. In shotgun? Not so much. I swore Chuck Long was calling plays for most of the game.

[rainiersooner]

It certainly was not one of his best efforts...but, having said that if the players had executed the plays that were called, we probably would have won the game by 3 - he would be considered a genius, and we would probably be worrying about him taking a head coaching gig somewhere. Such is the margin of error in this game I suppose.

[Toronto Sooner]

It certainly was not one of his best efforts...but, having said that if the players had executed the plays that were called, we probably would have won the game by 3 - he would be considered a genius, and we would probably be worrying about him taking a head coaching gig somewhere. Such is the margin of error in this game I suppose.

I respect your view, but I am of the belief that the problems go much deeper. Yes, squeaking out a win against Florida would have been great (and I would have gladly taken it), but even that would have just masked the problems. As I said in my post mortem of the Texas game, and my post mortem about the Florida game (posted earlier in this thread), KW doesn't adjust well during pressure situations in close game, IMO.

It's not just the well documented Texas and Florida games, but also with the Colorado game last year. To a certain extent, even in parts of the Tech and the West Virginia games last year (although, we got killed in all phases of the WV game). I recognize Sam was knocked out early in the Tech game last year, and KW was working with the backup QB. However, I thought his play calling was very suspect with Halzle (at first). I even felt panic in his play calling, believe it or not. You know, you have a new QB entering the game for his first meaningful action at top level college football, thus you would think that KW would call plays to gently ease him in (to calm both the QB and the rest of the team down in a hostile environment), right? No way. I clearly remembered the first play. It was a 40 yard bomb downfield (a very low percentage pass), which naturally missed. Halzle's confidence went straight downhill from that point, and the game got more and more out of reach. It took Halzle almost 3 quarters to get it together (he actually put up great numbers from then onwards), but outcome of the game was essentially already settled.

Again, don't get me wrong, KW has done a lot of great things for the Sooners. He has brought a lot to the table and is a huge part of our success. However, I watched as he struggled mightily in our losses and I cannot just sweep that under the carpet in hopes that it will go away, as it never does. I am currently not convinced that the outcome will be any different next year, until he improves in these very specific (critical) situations.

As a solution, I would like to see Bob somehow get him some help. Perhaps naming someone like Josh (if he stays) as Assistant Offensive Co-Ordinator (specializing in play calling). KW can still call the plays, but have Josh involved at times to bounce ideas off of, especially in big games or 4th quarter situations - kind of a checks and balances kind of approach, but with KW making the final call. This could also help to groom Josh for the primary OC job.

Another solution is for Bob to take a more active roll (in play calling) with KW in big games and/or 4th quarters.

Or, any other ideas that might improve the situation.

Of course, my guess is that egos are probably way too big for any changes to occur. Firstly, they would have to admit that there is a problem, and I personally don't believe that they will, unfortunately.

[Leroy Lizard]

Didn't we pull out a close game against Oklahoma State this year?


It was a 40 yard bomb downfield (a very low percentage pass), which naturally missed.

I guarantee you that if Halzle connects on that first pass everyone would have been calling KW a genius. "What guts! Shows confidence in his backup! Does what the defense did not expect! Takes control of the game! That's what Sooner football is all about, baby!!!"


Again, don't get me wrong, KW has done a lot of great things for the Sooners. He has brought a lot to the table and is a huge part of our success. However, I watched as he struggled mightily in our losses and I cannot just sweep that under the carpet in hopes that it will go away, as it never does. I am currently not convinced that the outcome will be any different next year, until he improves in these very specific (critical) situations.

By "improves," most fans mean "calls the plays that I thought would have worked."

Of course, if the play fails then the OC didn't call the right play. He should have called something else -- the one the fan thought would have worked.

Sorry, but we go through this second-guessing after every loss. If we only had an OC that called the plays the fans in SoonerFans think should have been called, OU would be riding a 64-game winning streak and broke every major college record for offensive production.

[Toronto Sooner]

Hi, I don't post often. Actually, I don't think I have posted since January. However, I thought I would make this one post about Kevin Wilson. For the most part I like KW, but at the same time he has been my greatest concern all along. I'm not trying to be critical. I'm just providing my personal analysis of the situation. I had previously posted my post mortems on the Texas and the Florida games (I even provided quick thoughts on the Texas Tech and Colorado loses), and I saw nothing in the BYU game that made me more comfortable with KW's abilities to make adjustments when the game is on the line. I am not going to post a post mortem on the BYU game as it would just be more of the same. Instead, here (the quote below) is what I wrote the last time I posted on this subject matter. This area continues to be my biggest concern, regardless of available player personnel.

As a side comment, is Gerald McCoy special or what? He played his heart out last night. Officially, is was a loss, but Gerald McCoy's performance (along with Travis Lewis, Ryan Reynolds and some others) made last night a win in my books. I couldn't be more proud of the players that played their hearts out last night. It is what sports is all about. Gerald McCoy became a legend last night in my books - to see him make such an effort for the Sooner fans, and literally almost fall over from exhaustion (especially since he is already a superstar with nothing to prove), is a win in my books.



I like KW and I think he had a great year overall. However, IMO, it seems as if he struggles to make appropriate "real time" adjustments when the game is on the line. He either doesn't seem to grasp exactly what is happening or refuses to believe that his game plan needs to be adjusted within the game or perhaps just struggles to find the right solution. I am leaning more and more towards him just simply believing that his guys should just physically take charge of a game, and thus he refuses to alter the game plan away from smash mouth football (even for a few plays).

This is what I had previously posted in my post mortem on the Texas game (the KW point was only 1 of 8 points I had made about that game):

"7) Coach K. Wilson – as great a coach as he is and as great a season the offense has had, in my opinion, coach Wilson was a key reason we lost the Texas game. I was so frustrated with his play calling while watching the Texas game. Later in the game, he kept going with the run, possession, after possession, after possession, even though it was clear that the run game was not going to work on that particular day. The key problem with this it that instead of Sam having 3 plays to throw for a first down, he was often left with only 1 play (sometimes 2) to gain 10 years. It didn’t leave any room for errors, such as receiver drops. This resulted in a number of extremely short drives for our offence, which forced our D to stay on the field way too long – the long Taxes run near the end of the game was likely due to our D being too fatigued. I think coach Wilson has evolved as a play caller since the Texas game. If the running came ever sputters again I think he will not hesitate to now ride Bradford’s throwing arm completely for key parts of the game."

Now, here is my post mortem of the Florida game, as it relates to KW:

1) Why not more quick dump passes out of the backfield to an RB to beat the intense Florida pass rush and speed, to get the Florida safties/DB's to step up, and just simply to get easy yards? Chris Brown has the abilities, as he has demonstrated all year long, and also on the one big screen pass in the 4th quarter of the Florida game. Why didn't they mix it up when times got tough?

2) Why no (or few) run fakes, with a pass? With Florida's over aggressive D, this should have been a staple play all night long.

3) Why not roll Sam out of the pocket more often to buy more time, and to allow the receivers to separate?

4) Why not run Sam on a play here and there to get Florida's D thinking - injury to Sam is a slight risk, but this is football and the National Championship game (although, Sam has demonstrated he can run for 5 yards then dive before being hammered)? Granted, this would probably be the very last option.

5) Where was the quarterback sneak on very short yardage, where the D doesn't have enough time to gain penetration (and where we can take advantage of the bulk of our O-line players)? Afterall, we did it successfully all year long.

6) Why no trick plays to loosen up the D?

7) Why not go to Gresham even more frequently until they prove they can stop him? It was clear that Florida was unable to match up with Gresham. I know he drops a few, but you get at least 3 tries on every drive (unless a turnover occurs).

8) Why not utilize Chaney more frequently with a 5 to 10 yard pass play - take advantage of OU's height advantage like they did successfully earlier in the game? Going into the game, I felt that Gresham and Chaney would be key weapons for the Sooners, due to the size advantage. It seemed like Broyles was completely shut down by the speed and swarm tackling by Florida's D. I felt they should have gone more to Chaney, similar to the plays that worked in the first half - I don't think Florida proved they had an answer to either him or Gresham, especially on the 5 to 10 yard plays.

These are just my thoughts as I was watching the game. It is not meant to knock KW, but these are just questions without answers, in my mind anyway.

[I Am Right]

Wilson, "GET HIM THE HELL OUT OF HERE"

[the_ouskull]

He's not immune at all. In fact, the opposite. I think that people are so pissed about our offensive gameplan that they're past b*tching about him. It's kinda like when you cut yourself so deeply that it doesn't bleed. You KNOW that there's a problem that needs to be fixed, but, until you see blood, you don't want to work on it.

I hope that Wilson, and the rest of the coaching staff, from Stoops to the grad assistants, are seeing nothing BUT blood today.

the_ouskull