I don't think the cuts are finished

[8timechamps]

Listening to Stoops press conference, he was asked about Mike's situation and he answered it in a strange way. He said something about Mike is part of the program, but never came out and said he wasn't going anywhere. Then, he quickly included something to the affect of "he's part of our current recruiting". That leads me to believe there are defensive changes coming, and the plan is to wait until after National Signing Day (February 4) to make those public.

Mike has personally been part of several recruits that are committed, and several that will probably commit. I can't see Stoops trying to "fool" recruits into thinking he's staying, when in reality, he's not. However, I do think there are some changes coming on that side of the ball, and it's just easier to answer those questions after signing day.

If Mike is staying (and I think that's the way it's heading), then I wouldn't be surprised if BJW is moved to an administrative role/retires, and Kish is let go. As poor as the until played last year, I can't imagine nobody being let go, and only one change (Monty to co-DC).

If Heupel/Norvell can take the fall for the disappointing season, then someone on the defensive side needs to join him.

[BoulderSooner79]

Lots of speculation about this on other boards too. Many think that Bob is just giving Mike time to find a new job. If that's the case, then it makes sense that no position coaches on defense are being let go now as the new DC would want to be involved in the process. I'm not convinced Mike is gone myself - he may get another year if he can't find something soon.

On offense, the "Co-" coordinator pair are going, so again, there may be more changes on that side of the staff when the new OC sheriff comes to town.

[Breadburner]

He's giving Mike time to find another job so he doesn't have to fire him.....

[8timechamps]

Lots of speculation about this on other boards too. Many think that Bob is just giving Mike time to find a new job. If that's the case, then it makes sense that no position coaches on defense are being let go now as the new DC would want to be involved in the process. I'm not convinced Mike is gone myself - he may get another year if he can't find something soon.

On offense, the "Co-" coordinator pair are going, so again, there may be more changes on that side of the staff when the new OC sheriff comes to town.

I was convinced that Mike was gone, but after the way Stoops talked today I'm not sure anymore. The defense was terrible this year, but I'm okay with giving Mike one more year (if that's how it goes down). I really hope that Montgomery works out as co-DC, and that Mike listens to his input.

The dust may not settle on all of this until the spring. I just hope it doesn't drag out, because if we have any chance at a solid year, everything needs to be locked down by the spring.

[Sooner8th]

If Heupel/Norvell can take the fall for the disappointing season, then someone on the defensive side needs to join him.23rd in the country in total offense, 20th in scoring offense. 55th in total defense and 51st in scoring defense. If two offensive side of the ball get fired, then shouldn't four on the defensive side get fired?

[BoulderSooner79]

23rd in the country in total offense, 20th in scoring offense. 55th in total defense and 51st in scoring defense. If two offensive side of the ball get fired, then shouldn't four on the defensive side get fired?

I've seen more drill down on those offense stats and they don't look so good. Basically, Perine's stats against weak teams inflated the averages enough to be deceptive. And fortunately, we're keeping Perine for a while.

[Blue]

We can do better on D. Bye. Don't let the door hit ya.

[SoonerMarkVA]

We can do better on D. Bye. Don't let the door hit ya.

+1

[8timechamps]

We can do better on D. Bye. Don't let the door hit ya.

Yep.

[Sooner8th]

I've seen more drill down on those offense stats and they don't look so good. Basically, Perine's stats against weak teams inflated the averages enough to be deceptive. And fortunately, we're keeping Perine for a while.In all five losses in 2014, Oklahoma gave up at least 31 points. In three of those losses, the Sooners scored at least 30 points. You should win when you score 30.

[BoulderSooner79]

In all five losses in 2014, Oklahoma gave up at least 31 points. In three of those losses, the Sooners scored at least 30 points. You should win when you score 30.

I don't disagree, but there were plenty of stats on offense that will never add up to a CFB playoff team or even a conference champ. That was true last season as well. In a conference that always boasts a few top offenses, an offense ranked in the 20's is not going to cut it unless the D is the '85 bears. Note, I'm not implying in any way that the defense doesn't need major work - it clearly does.

[graphster]

I can't think of a single game that we lost where both the offense and the defense didn't contribute significantly to the loss. Defensive changes need to happen.

[BoulderSooner79]

I can't think of a single game that we lost where both the offense and the defense didn't contribute significantly to the loss. Defensive changes need to happen.

You forgot special teams (KSU) :D

[pappy]

You forgot special teams (KSU) :D

And OSU


So far what's happened on the defensive side gives me zero faith that the defense will be any better next season. I like the idea of Montgomery being Co-Defensive coordinator but as far as scheme and play calling goes I don't think it makes a bit of difference cause at the end of the day, Mike is still here making the call.

[BoulderSooner79]

And OSU


So far what's happened on the defensive side gives me zero faith that the defense will be any better next season. I like the idea of Montgomery being Co-Defensive coordinator but as far as scheme and play calling goes I don't think it makes a bit of difference cause at the end of the day, Mike is still here making the call.

Well, this is a thread about thinking the cuts are not finished. I think the promotion of Montgomery was to reward his efforts and to calm the nerves of recruits still in progress. It's reported that Monty just got another DL verbal commit today.

[Eielson]

23rd in the country in total offense, 20th in scoring offense. 55th in total defense and 51st in scoring defense. If two offensive side of the ball get fired, then shouldn't four on the defensive side get fired?

I suppose you think the offense against Texas was just fine, right?

They scored 17 points in the first half! Never mind the fact that the offense didn't score the points itself; a factor your statistics don't account for.

Your statistics also don't account for the pick-6 against KSU. Not only does that not count against the offense, it actually counts against the defense. That speaks to the futility of your statistic.

It also doesn't factor in the pick-6 against TCU, nor the inability of the offense to punch a score in despite being gift wrapped the ball in FG range.

The defense needs to improve; that's an unmistakable fact. It was better than our offense, though.

[kenth68]

Yep. That's his brother. He'll let him find a job and quit so he doesn't have to fire him.

[ashley]

Mike isn't going anywhere. BJW has been talking retirement for the last year to friends so that might happen.

[badger]

It looked like a wonderful decision to bring Mike back after the Sugar Bowl last year. No wonder Bob and Mike are clinging to that so much in interviews/press conferences.

[KantoSooner]

Here's my take. It's personal and I'm not a great X's and O's guy. FWIW.
Diagnosis: our problems this year were rooted in a lack of leadership and commitment. The team never grew up because there was no real direction or fire from the top. That's on Bob, primarily, but it extended all the way through the assistants to the players. Nobody seemed to just say, 'Fine, this is what I'm doing. Eff it.' and go after the job at hand. Examples? We run a 'Zone Read'...but for whatever reason, there doesn't seem to be much 'read' in that ZR and thus it fails. Likewise, we fail to put the pieces together to support a three man rush. We don't blitz, we don't press cover or otherwise disrupt the WRs...leaving the QB all afternoon in the pocket. No surprises, every QB with a pulse picks us apart.
It was like we were a Frankenstein's Monster, going in all directions at once.
Prescription: Bob needs to decide what our basic schemes are going to be and his assistants need to carry out those schemes. Now, we might have to run schemes that Bob and his boys don't like because we don't have the personnel right now. That's fine. You can have a long term plan and a short term plan...and recruit to the former while you go hammer and tongs at the latter.

So, should Mike go? Maybe. If Bob is not going to insist on clarity from his DC, I'm not sure anyone is going to be successful. The key is whether Bob is going to stand up and drive the ship. He seems to be taking action, but we'll see.

[Soonerjeepman]

Wasn't Kish just a HS friend of stoops? or college friend? only coach like Jr High football before getting the OU job? Thought I remembered that and thought WTH...wish I knew someone in D1 bball...

[cherokeebrewer]

Wasn't Kish just a HS friend of stoops? or college friend? only coach like Jr High football before getting the OU job? Thought I remembered that and thought WTH...wish I knew someone in D1 bball...

You're kidding right?

[SoonerMarkVA]

Wasn't Kish just a HS friend of stoops? or college friend? only coach like Jr High football before getting the OU job? Thought I remembered that and thought WTH...wish I knew someone in D1 bball...

I think you're thinking of Kittle. Kish was the DC at 'Zona that Mike insisted on bringing with him.

[Soonerjeepman]

ah...

no CB...I was admittedly too lazy to go look it up...so sue me. That's why I asked...everyone seems pretty he!! bent on him getting fired figured part of it was that. Geeze...chill~

[cherokeebrewer]

ah...

no CB...I was admittedly too lazy to go look it up...so sue me. That's why I asked...everyone seems pretty he!! bent on him getting fired figured part of it was that. Geeze...chill~

Hey now, if I chill any more, I'll be in a coma...

[SoonerorLater]

ah...

no CB...I was admittedly too lazy to go look it up...so sue me. That's why I asked...everyone seems pretty he!! bent on him getting fired figured part of it was that. Geeze...chill~

You have to give us all a break. We're like the lynch mob gathering outside of the Sheriff's Office.

[SoonerForLife92]

I suppose you think the offense against Texas was just fine, right?

They scored 17 points in the first half! Never mind the fact that the offense didn't score the points itself; a factor your statistics don't account for.

Your statistics also don't account for the pick-6 against KSU. Not only does that not count against the offense, it actually counts against the defense. That speaks to the futility of your statistic.

It also doesn't factor in the pick-6 against TCU, nor the inability of the offense to punch a score in despite being gift wrapped the ball in FG range.

The defense needs to improve; that's an unmistakable fact. It was better than our offense, though.


These facts, along with the bad 3rd down conversion % and all the 3 and outs, are ones that our fanbase loves to overlook.

[Jason White's Third Knee]

I've seen more drill down on those offense stats and they don't look so good. Basically, Perine's stats against weak teams inflated the averages enough to be deceptive. And fortunately, we're keeping Perine for a while.In all five losses in 2014, Oklahoma gave up at least 31 points. In three of those losses, the Sooners scored at least 30 points. You should win when you score 30.


It's hard for a defense to stop a pick six. IMO the offense had so many three-and-outs that the opposing team had far too many opportunities to score. I never call for a coach's head and I was calling for JH's love the guy. He got screwed with TK and Shep going down. He also didn't have the likes of a developed Metoyer. I really didn't care to watch the odd crap that he was doing. Of course I would have loved it if it had worked.

Anyway, if the offense is generating points for the other team and can't hole the ball more than two minutes, the defense looks like a bag of dicks.

[Breadburner]

Funny how everyone forgets the turnovers and missed field goals.......

[Jason White's Third Knee]

Whoops. My point has already been made.


But yeah, the terrible offense made our defense look horrific... Except to Baylor. We gotta figure out how to defend Baylor. The defense look ****ty all by its self that day.

[BoulderSooner79]

Funny how everyone forgets the turnovers and missed field goals.......

Who forgot them? They sure were discussed a bunch.

[EatLeadCommie]

It's hard for a defense to stop a pick six. IMO the offense had so many three-and-outs that the opposing team had far too many opportunities to score. I never call for a coach's head and I was calling for JH's love the guy. He got screwed with TK and Shep going down. He also didn't have the likes of a developed Metoyer. I really didn't care to watch the odd crap that he was doing. Of course I would have loved it if it had worked.

Anyway, if the offense is generating points for the other team and can't hole the ball more than two minutes, the defense looks like a bag of dicks.

Josh's primary problem wasn't injuries. It was situational ineptitude and coming up with crappy gameplans for a lot of games, save for Alabama. His Texas gameplans were garbage two straight years.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

The problem on defense is that you are dealing with 3 coaches who just came in (boulware/ms/kish) that have 2 recruiting classes under their belts. For Boulware, he at least had all of BJW's excellent DE recruits to raid (Tapper, Ndulae, etc) along with one RS DT so he had some protection to allow his recruits to RS and grow into the system. Both Kish and Mike were forced to play 2nd year players that they recruited (In Kish's case that was all he had all year). That is what we call "Inheriting a sucktastic situation". The one wild card here is BJW. BJW is an excellent DE coach/recruiter. The question is whether he can still do evaluation from the administrative desk freeing that slot up to someone else.

[soonercastor]

If that's the case Jerry shouldn't have been promoted to co-DC yet. Let Mike find his job then decide on "co" thing after hiring another person.

[Eielson]

The problem on defense is that you are dealing with 3 coaches who just came in (boulware/ms/kish) that have 2 recruiting classes under their belts. For Boulware, he at least had all of BJW's excellent DE recruits to raid (Tapper, Ndulae, etc) along with one RS DT so he had some protection to allow his recruits to RS and grow into the system. Both Kish and Mike were forced to play 2nd year players that they recruited (In Kish's case that was all he had all year). That is what we call "Inheriting a sucktastic situation". The one wild card here is BJW. BJW is an excellent DE coach/recruiter. The question is whether he can still do evaluation from the administrative desk freeing that slot up to someone else.

You mean Montgomery instead of Boulware, right?

[8timechamps]

I wasn't as down on Heupel as many folks were, but I started to see the issues as the season played out. Josh will do well at a smaller program, with less pressure. The biggest issue I had with Josh was his inability to make good situational calls. The other thing that bothered me was how we would get away from things that were working, then come back to them too late in games.

It's all water under the bridge now, and I wish him nothing but luck going forward.

The defense is at a crossroads right now, and I could see it going either way. It's entirely possible that this last season's performance was due to youth/inexperience in the secondary (which in turn led Mike to play ultra conservative). If that's the case, we'll know soon enough. There's no reason our secondary can't be better if, in fact, it was youth and inexperience causing the issues.

If it was scheme based, then that's going to be an issue. From Stoops press conference, it didn't sound like a scheme change was in the plans. He alluded to some "changes" within the scheme, but it appears we're staying in the 3-4. If that is what's happening, then I really hope Mike consults with someone, or brings in someone with experience, because he didn't appear to have a good grasp on that scheme.

I'm a little concerned about losing Phillips, because the key cog in the 3-4 is the NT, but it can't get much worse. Montgomery has done an outstanding job recruiting, and our D-line has depth. What we need are play-making line backers, and enough to provide some depth in that group. Right now, we have enough to start and some unproven, inexperienced guys behind them. We are razor thin at MLB, and as of right now, we haven't landed a prospect for this class.

We have talent in the secondary. Sanchez is a very good DB when he's healthy. I would (as everyone else would) like to see him work on his tackling, but he is the best CB we have right now. Parker is going to be a solid safety, and in time I think he'll be a excellent play maker. Jordan Thomas is coming along, and I think he'll be a consistent player for us opposite Sanchez, he could also move back to safety if needed, and can always play the nickle. After those three guys, we have a lot of unknowns. Marcus Green? Tito Windam? Dakota Austin? Stanvon Taylor? I doubt all of those guys stick around much longer. Then there's Byrd and Thomas...I'm not sure those guys can develop further. I suppose they're both serviceable, but we want more than that. Then we get a couple of very talented freshmen coming in with Wil Sunderland and PJ Mbanasor. I think both of those guy (especially Mbanasor) will push for playing time immediately. The talent is there, it's just all unproven. Can/will Mike trust those guys enough to make the changes needed? Time will tell.

I will be slightly surprised if Kish is still on staff when the season rolls around. If he goes, then I think we have a chance to have a rebound year next season. Even if he stays, it's possible, but things definitely need to change on that side of the ball.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

You mean Montgomery instead of Boulware, right?

Yeah him. I was actually thinking that some of these "quality control" guys need to go as well. I have zilch point nothing clue about what they are supposed to be doing though.

[Soonerjeepman]

Hey now, if I chill any more, I'll be in a coma...

lol...okay. My mistake.