re: I've been doing some research on Kragthorpe...

Here's the biggest thing I like about the Kragthorpe hire:

Kraghorpe on his Philosophy

Krags has some wrinkle or counter that he can run off of every play.

Under Crowton we even struggled against teams like ULM and LaTech in terms of getting our superior athletes in space. IMO we had too many "tells", based upon personnel and formations. How is it that nobody ever (a stretch, but not that big of an exageration) was suprised when Russell Shepard got a bubble screen? Trindon Holliday's yards per touch went down every year that Crowton had him, and I'm pretty sure the same is true for Shep. Once teams saw what was in the trick bag...they knew what was coming.

Not enough time this morning before work to comment too much, I'll hit this thread again later, but this is a favorite subject of mine.

At aTm Krag was mostly I-formation. There's not many highlight clips from that time, but there's a few on YouTube.

At Tulsa that looked to me like classic Charlie Stubbs offense - 1-back - that he ran everywhere. He's a really good OC. IMO Krags mostly gets credit for hiring Stubbs, although I'm sure he learned some things there.

Louisville was a train wreck. Can't tell much from that.

He's really sort of an enigma to me. It's been over a decade since he was really an OC with no other responsibilities.

It really doesn't matter what krags wants to do. Les will micro manage this offense and run the ball 65 to 70 percent of the time. He is convinced that we can run the ball on any front because coach stud is the second coming of Don Shula. Personally our o line has been a huge disapointment the last 3 years and they need to air it out some more but make no mistake about it les is calling the shots. It's like a business owner who keeps loosing money and firing managers. If you just get the he'll out of the way and let these guys coach we would be far more successful. But hey it's hard to bitch when your 11-2 but any real fan can see we are a handful of plays from 5 losses last year!

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I don't think much at all, honestly.

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It really doesn't matter what krags wants to do. Les will micro manage this offense and run the ball 65 to 70 percent of the time.

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Considering we finished 102nd in America last year in terms of passing offense, and yet, we finished 26th in America running the ball, I'd say he's pretty much right.

Any team that's so anemic through the air should (theoretically) have big issues when they're trying to run the ball, simply because you're going to run base coverage schemes & stack the box to stop the run. Yet, we still rushed for 187.5 yards per game last year, had a 1,000 yard rusher, and a QB who set the single season school record for rushing & tied the single season rushing TD record.

To put it frankly & honestly: We were an amazing rush offense last year, considering what a shitty pass offense we were.

This is not just the tailbacks we had. Our Offensive Line did yeoman's work last year. We gave up 30 sacks in 2009. We gave up how many last year? (Here's a hint; it was way less than that).

That was all with T-Bob Hebert starting at Right Guard after our starter at the position (Blackwell) went down with an essentially season-ending injury on the 1st play of the 1st game of the season, and also with Hebert looking like a turtle that's been flipped over onto his back on most plays where he was actually called upon to block a defensive lineman.

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He is convinced that we can run the ball on any front because coach stud is the second coming of Don Shula. Personally our o line has been a huge disapointment the last 3 years and they need to air it out some more but make no mistake about it les is calling the shots.

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I agree we need to air it out some more, but believe me, it ain't because of Stud. I was one of-if not the-harshest critic of Greg "Dudrawa". But info I've learned this past offseason made me look foolish for my displeasure with him.

Beyond that, he didn't plan on Ciron's knee being a wreck, or on Blackwell being injured either.

But, on top of all of that, there's a reason Kragthrope's biggest challenge and focus has been working on fundamentals with Jefferson. Because when you take a 9 step drop instead of a 7 step drop, you're putting yourself directly into the path of the blocking work being done by your tackles. JJ's footwork fundamentals were lacadaisical at best, and made not only him-but his OL (especially his OT's)-look much worse than they were in 2009, and 2010.

When your QB knows the play calls for a 7 step drop or 9 step drop, and drops 10-12, and gets sacked, that's not the OL-or Stud's-fault.

Bottom line, Stud is much better than we give him credit for. He's done a great job molding the OL, and we've got more talent and depth than at any time since 2007. 2010's unit was better than you think, when you stop and look at the context of the QB's footwork & fundamentals relating to how the line works for him, nevermind the production they gave in the run game.

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Considering we finished 102nd in America last year in terms of passing offense, and yet, we finished 26th in America running the ball, I'd say he's pretty much right.

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I see those offensive rankings and I am amused at how all the JJ lovers used a poor running game as an excuse for his horrid play in 2008.

"If we only had a strong running game. You'll see."

We did and we saw last year. As long as the O-line holds up, we should be at least as stout running the ball this season. If we don't get that, our season is screwed, because JJ won't be winning any games for us with his arm. I don't care what he allegedly did at the Manning Passing Academy against no defense.

Until I see him do it consistently in games, I will remain a skeptic.

He will be much more attentive to the QBs' mechanics, which should really help with consistency from JJ and JLee.

I once worked with a DC who drew up about 50 different formations that a team we were going to play ran. Then one of the assistant coaches said, "why focus on the formations when all we have to do is teach the players to read their keys and use appropriate techniques". Simplisity is the best formula for success. Most plays can be diagnosed based off of what the OL does. Henceforth, the flaw in GC approach. All the formations and trick plays can be stopped if the defender is read his keys. Too often GC tried to be too fancy with gadget plays that never worked and often were poorly timed. GC never stayed with what was working. If we pounded the ball down an opponents throat on a scoring drive, GC would come out on our next serious with five wides and no-backs. Even Mike Leach's wide open offense contains about 10 run plays and 10 pass plays. There just run to perfection.

Okay, here's some great quotes from Jesse Palmer of ESPN coming out of the Manning Camp. He's been gracious enough to indirectly fill in some blanks on this Krags pass offense philosophy. Pertinent information bolded (my emphasis).

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-Jesse Palmer -

Watching him this week you can’t come away from here and not be impressed with his passing skills. He looks more confident and more comfortable as a player. I can’t wait to see play against Oregon to see his progress as a quarterback and a leader... They will be run-oriented, but they will fully utilize the talents of Russell Shepard, Reuben Randle and Deangelo Peterson, and the other young receivers they have. In talking to Coach Kragthorpe they will also heavily use the receiving skills of Spencer Ware and Alfred Blue and that element will help Jordan out also. As good as their offensive line is those folks up front will keep him clean and give him extra time to throw, so the sky is the limit for Jordan Jefferson.

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Looks like we're going to see some tailback flares & circle routes, some designed dump-offs, and maybe even some of my absolute fav-o-rite offensive plays-TB & WR SCREENS!!!!

I know its just one quote, but that's the first I've seen about anything in terms of concrete playcalling tendencies. Everything else is "conceptual" stuff.

Krags won't cry as much when CLM is calling the "hand-off, hand-off, scramble for your life-sack, punt " offense like Crowton did...should make CLM's life more drama free on Sat nites!