Coaching Grade (A) in 2008 ?

[Since71ASooner4Life]

After seeing the outcome of the NFL draft, I had to ponder the following:

Without many Oklahoma players taken, and only Loadholt taken in the 2nd round with others much lower, what is that telling us about the job that Bob and company did last year, given that we did make it to the NC game, and with a few breaks could have won? One way to look at it would be to quickly conclude that they did one hell of a job with only "average" talent (by OU standards). And we cant say that our talent was concentrated among underclassmen because we had 21 seniors, many who played. Contrast that with USC and The OSU who had 8 and 7 Draft picks, with USC's being mostly the first two rounds, and I think it says a lot about how much Bob gets out of his players. Now it is true that top tier teams are very deep on talent so winning isn't necessarily incumbent on having starting lineups filled with NFL players, but I think it is safe to conclude that our talent level was not equivalent to USC's, and I can't see any arguments to support the idea that we had more than the other top tier teams who we outperformed. My conclusion is that I have to be very pleased with the job this team did last, unlike 2004 when we had 12 drafted players and got our butts whipped in the NC game.

Thoughts?

[soonerfan28]

They should all get an A+ especially BV.:D

[Curly Bill]

They should all get an A+ especially BV.:D


...and you're full of crap! :P


...though I do have to hand it to him -- the D played well in the NC game.

[AlbqSooner]

I kinda thought the D played well in the Tech game too. Just my opinion.

[starclassic tama]

well to be fair our best players didn't come out early. but anytime you have the success we have in '08 the coaches no doubt did a good job. i'd give kevin wilson an A for installing the no huddle hurry up and taking our offense to the next level, bob an A, brent an A- (even though we gave up points the D played well enough to secure a spot in the title game and probably played well enough to win that game too)

[OKC-SLC]

Sam probably had something to do with our success.

And Gresham.

And McCoy.

etc.

[starclassic tama]

ya don't say!

[Jdog]

How may top 150 kids does OU sign in a year out of high school? I don't know, but would guess maybe 4 or 5? in a great year maybe 5 or 6? How many of those get hurt bad enough to effect their draft position like what happened to Kelly last year - or Manny this year.

How many are a top 150 draft picks? ----maybe 3 to 4? Count Bonehead and you may have 4 or 5.

[Salt City Sooner]

While it wasn't one of Stoops' vintage D's, they took WAY too much heat from the fans, IMO. OU gave up 26+ points 7 times last year, which, on the surface, would point to an unacceptable defensive performance. However, when one takes a closer look at what actually happened, you find out that they had a TON of help from 2 things: A) breaking in a new QB of the D, (that would be MLB in case you missed it) in 3 consecutive games, UT,KU, & KSU, & B) special teams constantly putting them with their backs against the wall. Game by game:

UTC- meh.

Cincy- The name Mardy Gilyard ring a bell? He only averaged 49 yards per return, including a TD.

UDub- See UTC.

TCU- Ditto.

Baylor- Griffin got loose a couple of times, other than that, not much here.

UT- Game #1 of MLB troubles, + coughed up another KO ret. TD.

KU- The Harris @ MLB experiment. Notice that it didn't last past this game. Seemed like a possible good idea at the time. Chalk one up for trial & error.

KSU- Box takes over @ MLB, & the newbness shows. Also gave up a 75 yd. KO return in the 2nd quarter, setting up KSU on the OU 20 (they scored).

NU- it was 35-0 at the end of the first quarter, including a pick 6 by Franks. NU was never in this one, & scored w/ 20 seconds left in the game to get to 28.

A&M- yet another deceptive score on the opponents side of the ledger. A&M scored 2 TD's in the 2nd quarter, one of which was set up by (SURPRISE!) a KO return to the OU 25. As if that wasn't a sterling enough performance by the coverage unit, Gray decides to haul one all the way back for a TD in the 3rd quarter. Other than that, A&M only scores a meaningless TD in the 4th to cut it to the final 38 point margin.

Tech- I won't even go into it. Harrell's still wondering what hit him. When considering the potency of the opponents offense, the best performance of the D all year in my books.

OSU- the one game where the D got it taken to them pretty good when they were at full strength (until the cheap shot on Box's knee, that is). Sometimes you just have to give the devil their due. The ags have a dang fine offense, especially at home. If you'd told me pre-game that we'd give up 35 to that O (remember, OU coughed an NCAA record 4 KO return for a TD in this one), I'd have taken it. Also remember that OSU got another 7 that they shouldn't have when Nic flat got jacked on a fumble recovery.

MU @ KC- it's 48-7 before MU scores their 2nd TD.

UF- 24 points to an offense that came in averaging over 45? I'll take it 8 days a week. Any kind of a performance remotely resembling average by the offense, & there's a 2nd crystal ball in the Switzer Center.

Summary? Again, I'm not saying that I haven't seen better D's in my time as a fan because I have, but I AM saying that the D had a lot of help when it came to opponents scoring, whether it be by lousy luck (I'm not sure that I've ever seen 1 particular position get targeted by the injury/uncertainty bug like MLB was last year), or by the worst of the Stoops era special teams.

[DMAFB_Sooner08]

While it wasn't one of Stoops' vintage D's, they took WAY too much heat from the fans, IMO. OU gave up 26+ points 7 times last year, which, on the surface, would point to an unacceptable defensive performance. However, when one takes a closer look at what actually happened, you find out that they had a TON of help from 2 things: A) breaking in a new QB of the D, (that would be MLB in case you missed it) in 3 consecutive games, UT,KU, & KSU, & B) special teams constantly putting them with their backs against the wall. Game by game:

UTC- meh.

Cincy- The name Mardy Gilyard ring a bell? He only averaged 49 yards per return, including a TD.

UDub- See UTC.

TCU- Ditto.

Baylor- Griffin got loose a couple of times, other than that, not much here.

UT- Game #1 of MLB troubles, + coughed up another KO ret. TD.

KU- The Harris @ MLB experiment. Notice that it didn't last past this game. Seemed like a possible good idea at the time. Chalk one up for trial & error.

KSU- Box takes over @ MLB, & the newbness shows. Also gave up a 75 yd. KO return in the 2nd quarter, setting up KSU on the OU 20 (they scored).

NU- it was 35-0 at the end of the first quarter, including a pick 6 by Franks. NU was never in this one, & scored w/ 20 seconds left in the game to get to 28.

A&M- yet another deceptive score on the opponents side of the ledger. A&M scored 2 TD's in the 2nd quarter, one of which was set up by (SURPRISE!) a KO return to the OU 25. As if that wasn't a sterling enough performance by the coverage unit, Gray decides to haul one all the way back for a TD in the 3rd quarter. Other than that, A&M only scores a meaningless TD in the 4th to cut it to the final 38 point margin.

Tech- I won't even go into it. Harrell's still wondering what hit him. When considering the potency of the opponents offense, the best performance of the D all year in my books.

OSU- the one game where the D got it taken to them pretty good when they were at full strength (until the cheap shot on Box's knee, that is). Sometimes you just have to give the devil their due. The ags have a dang fine offense, especially at home. If you'd told me pre-game that we'd give up 35 to that O (remember, OU coughed an NCAA record 4 KO return for a TD in this one), I'd have taken it. Also remember that OSU got another 7 that they shouldn't have when Nic flat got jacked on a fumble recovery.

MU @ KC- it's 48-7 before MU scores their 2nd TD.

UF- 24 points to an offense that came in averaging over 45? I'll take it 8 days a week. Any kind of a performance remotely resembling average by the offense, & there's a 2nd crystal ball in the Switzer Center.

Summary? Again, I'm not saying that I haven't seen better D's in my time as a fan because I have, but I AM saying that the D had a lot of help when it came to opponents scoring, whether it be by lousy luck (I'm not sure that I've ever seen 1 particular position get targeted by the injury/uncertainty bug like MLB was last year), or by the worst of the Stoops era special teams.

This, and of course it goes without saying...our offense scored so dang much and with the quickness, leaving lots of time/opportunities for opponents to score

[BornandBred]

I'm typically one of the first to criticize BV, but for all the injuries and adaptations he had to make in season I was very impressed this year. He had to make several adjustments in personnel, and for the most part, they worked. I'd give BV an A.
The fact is, our special teams were the worst I can remember seeing at OU. Whoever that coach was, D.
Wilson put together one of the best offenses the nation has ever seen. You will see a lot of the same style we ran last year adopted by other teams. He gets an A (down from the A+ he would have gotten if our play calling wasn't so predictable in the MNC).
Stoops overall had a great year. He always seems to say the right things and make me smile with his underhanded, snarky, smartazzed comments. I'll give him an A+ because his team got to the MNC and nearly won the dang thing.

[badger]

for all the injuries and adaptations he had to make in season I was very impressed this year.

as long as we're discussion coaching grades, how bout conditioning?

are we training our players too hard to the point that they get injured so much, or is that just part of the college game?

even so, we seem to fizzle come the new year :(

what grade does schmiddy deserve considering the injuries and performances in January?

[NormanPride]

BV's game plans were pretty good, though he struggled to find a MLB replacement quickly enough. It didn't hurt us, obviously, and he DID plug the hole enough to keep us winning.

Honestly, I think Wilson did the poorer job in the MNC game, but his guys also didn't execute nearly as well as BV's did. You can't really blame his failures in the red zone on Wilson, though, because they were the same plays that worked all year to perfection.

The only time I've thought that we were out coached was in the gowwdns. Our guys didn't care, and the game plan was pitiful. After that, though, I think we've had good plans but poor execution.

[Mad Dog Madsen]

After seeing the outcome of the NFL draft, I had to ponder the following:

Without many Oklahoma players taken, and only Loadholt taken in the 2nd round with others much lower, what is that telling us about the job that Bob and company did last year, given that we did make it to the NC game, and with a few breaks could have won? One way to look at it would be to quickly conclude that they did one hell of a job with only "average" talent (by OU standards). And we cant say that our talent was concentrated among underclassmen because we had 21 seniors, many who played. Contrast that with USC and The OSU who had 8 and 7 Draft picks, with USC's being mostly the first two rounds, and I think it says a lot about how much Bob gets out of his players. Now it is true that top tier teams are very deep on talent so winning isn't necessarily incumbent on having starting lineups filled with NFL players, but I think it is safe to conclude that our talent level was not equivalent to USC's, and I can't see any arguments to support the idea that we had more than the other top tier teams who we outperformed. My conclusion is that I have to be very pleased with the job this team did last, unlike 2004 when we had 12 drafted players and got our butts whipped in the NC game.

Thoughts?

This makes the second straight year we haven't had a first-rounder. I'm a little disappointed because since 2005 we've only had 2 first-rounders in Davin Joseph and AD. What seems to be the dealio with that?

[BornandBred]

as long as we're discussion coaching grades, how bout conditioning?

are we training our players too hard to the point that they get injured so much, or is that just part of the college game?

even so, we seem to fizzle come the new year :(

what grade does schmiddy deserve considering the injuries and performances in January?

I don't think shots to the knee can be conditioned around. I think that's just part of the game. The only time I think we may be 'over conditioning' is during the time between the B12 game and the bowl games. I feel like the guys are ready for the season to be over, not ready to go kill somebody. I'd suspect they're being worked too hard in the time between, but honestly, I don't know their schedule, so I could be wrong.

As far as grading Schmiddy, I think we're usually bigger and stronger than most teams, with the big game exceptions of UT and MNC. The one complaint I may have there is that sometime I feel our guys are too bulky, ex. DM. But that weight is put on to improve durability at the loss of speed. So, I think you could argue either side. But overall, he gets an A.

[badger]

This makes the second straight year we haven't had a first-rounder. I'm a little disappointed because since 2005 we've only had 2 first-rounders in Davin Joseph and AD. What seems to be the dealio with that?

We either have players leaving early that would have been first rounders had they stayed, or players staying that would have been first rounders. Here are a few that come to mind...

Left before 1st round status: Jimmie Wilkerson, Malcolm Kelly
Stayed despite 1st round status: Bradford, Gresham, McCoy

Overall, we still average one first rounder every year... we're not gonna try to stockpile 'em just to improve our public perception unlike a certain west coast program :D

[DMAFB_Sooner08]

as long as we're discussion coaching grades, how bout conditioning?

are we training our players too hard to the point that they get injured so much, or is that just part of the college game?

even so, we seem to fizzle come the new year :(

what grade does schmiddy deserve considering the injuries and performances in January?

But it wasnt the defense that fizzled, if the O could have scored half of what they averaged in the season...its a win.

[OU_Sooners75]

as long as we're discussion coaching grades, how bout conditioning?

are we training our players too hard to the point that they get injured so much, or is that just part of the college game?

even so, we seem to fizzle come the new year :(

what grade does schmiddy deserve considering the injuries and performances in January?

I think the physicall training has something to do with it...yes.

Didn't Nebraska have this type of problem until about 1995 when Osborn ordered the physical training part be cut back a little bit?

[badger]

obviously, our players were a little outta shape when stoops first arrived and he had to get them vomiting a little to clear out their last remnants of the boo era. however, that time is long gone and we have a team of hard workers... perhaps too hard?

[goingoneight]

I agree with BornandBred... sometimes I'm flabbergasted on why the hell we're adding weight to some of OUr premier playmakers.

Adding weight to a lineman? Good idea.

Adding weight to a corner who is already slow by NFL standards? Bad idea.

Adding weight to a QB? Probably a good idea when you look at how skinny Bradford was early-on.

Adding weight to Murray? I saw twice last year where that cost us a touchdown. Murray's little end-around reception should have been GONE against Texas, and would have been the year before when he flat out ROASTED the entire group of Texas D-backs. They caught up to Murray in 2008 with ease, not necessarily the play, but they caught to supposed "speedster." The next was several games later against Texas A&M. Murray's first touch should have gone the distance... it was a huge hole and he couldn't outrun a linebacker. A LINEBACKER... at TEXAS A&M!!!
I know the weight they put on him they thought would make him more of a power back that the offense could feature like we did AD... but it looks like it hurts guys like Marcus Walker, Murray and DJ Wolfe "bulking them up."

However, having said that it's also easy to point out that we won 12 games last year, and a Heisman. We were a couple of bad breaks and turnovers away from cashing in on #8 while ots are still just jealous that... well, they WEREN'T there.

[Curly Bill]

Good posts, I've long thought we've put too much weight onto some of our skill guys. Murray is a prime example.

[goingoneight]

Murray wanted to build his lower body according to Hale in the 2008 off-season, but that obviously took a backseat to just being able to play again with the surgery. I wonder if they'll have him drop any weight?

[sooner94]

While I love Nic Harris and what he did for 4 years, do you think all that extra muscle slowed him down a little?

He was about 230 with no bodyfat last year. I think we was 210 when he came in, probably not as lean.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

on the field coaching for 2008, you have to say we overachieved to an A+.

DT*, linebacker and db recruiting you have to say we massively underachieved in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 to the tune of a D (DT a B+). that may have been the least talented/softest defense i've ever seen at OU. you take out the DEs (who were the best group in the country even without austin english) and that defense would have been pedestrian by pokey state standards.

*DT is suffering a quality depth problem. we are pretty good until we have to rotate, then the talent drops off. this forces us to play our top guys more plays which causes late game issues with DL push.

[ashley]

Some people are really hard to please. Given our success I don't see how people so many things to complain about.

[IronHorseSooner]

For the glaring exception of Special Teams, I would give "A"s. BV did the best he could given the injuries at MLB. Wilson developed one of the most prolific offenses in the modern game. The position coaches even performed to that level. Again, something NEEDS to be done about special teams. With all of OUr elite athletes, we should be like FLA or VA TECH in regards to that. I know that in some programs, the Head Coach personally coaches the special teams. I don't know if that should be done here, but last year was just pathetic.

[SoonerInFortSmith]

No amount of conditioning can keep whorns from diving at Reynolds's knees ten yards down field.

I was pleased with our D's lack of getting beat deep. Big improvement from previous years. BV A+

[goingoneight]

I thought he wrenched his knee on an assisted tackle.

[SoonerInFortSmith]

Whose side are you on anyway? :rolleyes: