Crowton is the issue

Much like last year when our defense was an absolute rotten mess, the o is doing a similar imitation. Fortunately, we have enough leadership that it hasn't rotted out the core of this team so that we aren't completely melting down in games (yet).

I've contemplated this a million times over.

Is it the line? Maybe.
Is it Miles? Maybe.
Is it JJ? Maybe.

But to me, the only thing you can definitively point a finger at is Crowton. We were all abuzz when Jimbo departed and we signed him over from Oregon... unfortunately, Oregon fans were abuzz as well. They saw him dissolve what had previously been one of the most dominant offensive attacks in college football. They quickly returned to form under Chip Kelly.

A lot of people here point blame at Miles and how he interjects himself into the gameplanning and playcalling etc. Which is totally speculation. I'm not saying the criticism is unfounded, but this team has won in a big way under Miles with both Jimbo and Crowton manning the offense so that leaves me to believe that regardless of what hand he plays in the gameplanning/playcalling, it's not enough to drastically kill our offensive production.

Crowton has a track record of deflating offenses after his first year:

Crowton Criticism

The numbers at LSU align with what's argued there.

I'm not a Miles lover. I try to be objective and take things as they come. Perhaps Miles is the source of the struggles, but it's so difficult to pinpoint specific struggles in football in particular because so many different elements go into a specific play and even more so a specific game. I don't buy that he's the reason we don't get the playmakers the ball. We didn't struggled to get Bowe, Doucet and Davis the ball during his early years. We didn't struggle to get Scott the ball last year. Here's is what I know about Miles:

1) He's an extremely effective recruiter. Talent hasn't stopped coming here... it stopped being cultivated.
2) His players love him. I think we can tell that. Recruits constantly rave about liking him... parents love him.
3) He's an excellent motivator.

In my opinion, LSU will continue to pull in top notch recruits if for nothing else than the fact that we are LSU (thank you Dinardo and Saban). We are the Miami of the 2000s right now and we can't let that window slip away.

Last year our defensive struggles were obvious and the struggles were most certainly coaching. It has become even more apparent this year when you see how well basically the same guys (with actually less talent on the DL) and they have played demonstrably better.

And it's not just better scheme... it's better coaching. Our LBers look like SEC caliber players and most of us last year talked about how we shouldn't have even recruited Riley, Sheppard or Cutrera. Danielson went into great depth applauding their play this year.

Now, to the point at hand. We need a similar change on offense. I don't think we need a world changing, out of this park schemer hire. We need a coach who understands fundamentals and is a great teacher. I don't care what kind of offense we run - IForm, Spread Option, Spread, etc. Those things don't matter. At this point, we have the talent to do any of them if we want.

What I do care is that by season's end, Gary Crowton, Greg Studrawa, and DJ McCarthy happily "find" other jobs just as the defensive staff did last year. Larry Porter could be in that same boat, except he's such a phenomenal recruiter that you can't let him go. And to be honest, RBs is the easiest position to play and coach in all of football.

That said, I want us to hire a coach who teaches sound fundamental football. We have and will continue to get the best athletes. They don't need exotic schemes and wild play calls to make plays. All they need is to be put in position and given the ball. They need to be taught how to run crisp routes and make sharp throws.

Also, I'd be fine if we wished well to Joe Robinson and brought in a bonafide QB coach as well.

I think if we made these changes, our team would return to dominant form.

eta: Sorry for the essay. No one will probably read it, but it felt good to get it out.