Has Paul Johnson struggled calling the offensive plays

BarrelORum

BarrelORum

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to suit Vad Lee's strengths?

Obviously we are running more formations that Vad Lee likes like the Pistol and Diamond. But do you think PJ has struggled calling the offense this year? We have a QB who isn't necessarily inclined to maximize the potential of the TO particularly the mesh read from the flexbone.

It seems to me that PJ has struggled calling the games this year moreso than in past years. Discuss.
 
Yes. CPJ in the past has made real-time corrections to his play calling that would pay dividends in the second half. Haven't really seen this too much this year.
 
I think he's struggled since Monken left. If you really think about it, the current offensive staff is very different as a whole than his first couple of years here.
 
BainbridgeJacket said:
I think he's struggled since Monken left. If you really think about it, the current offensive staff is very different as a whole than his first couple of years here.
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This. I think Monken was an integral piece to CPJ's coaching staff and losing him hurt more than most of us think.
 
The biggest loss from 2009 was Jeff Monken.

But yes I agree Vad Lee hamstrings CPJ in that he forces him to guess right, because CPJ needs to do the guesswork on what will be there on the next play. There's very little true option going on.

However it should be noted that we aren't exactly stinking on offense if you take out the turnovers, and we've played some good defenses.
 
This is a good observation.

In the past, Tech's offensive pattern was to start slow for the first few series, then pick up momentum as CPJ adjusts the play calling and blocking scheme to what the defense is doing. Our offense typically was dominate in second half.

Interestingly, our defense seems to be the side of the ball more able to make quality adjustments in the second half.


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Yes, he has struggled because what he knows best (spread option) isn't what his QB can do best.

It is not always easy to know if a play call was the correct play call or not. You can have the correct play called but it can get blown up because someone doesn't execute... and that someone could be the QB, an OL, a perimeter blocker, etc.

If anything, I feel CPJ may be guilty of being stubborn sometimes with his play calling. He may, indeed, be calling the right plays, but if his players cannot execute those plays, he needs to stop calling them and try something else. FWIW, I've felt this way about CPJ since his first year, not just in 2013.
 
I wish he would quit pushing the players out onto the field after he tells them the plays....
 
I don't think so. My theory is that he is calling the plays that Vad needs to learn - and that he feels Vad can learn. I imagine CPJ knows exactly what to call to take advantage of Vad's strengths. That said, I bet he also knows that we're not set up to execute, thus making it pointless to call them.

The problem is that if Vad were truly so gifted at some things, then we'd see it by now. I'm not convinced his strengths are worth accommodating. CPJ might be thinking the same thing. Spring practice will be Vad's last chance to show that he's "getting it" or this will be JT's team next year.
 
etc79 said:
I wish he would quit pushing the players out onto the field after he tells them the plays....
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the push is probably his way of showing that the call is final. It's like when my family plays board games, passing the dice is the end of your turn, no questions asked.
 
GTCrew4b said:
the push is probably his way of showing that the call is final. It's like when my family plays board games, passing the dice is the end of your turn, no questions asked.
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LOL, would be funny if he forgot to do the push...next thing you know you see Paul running 30 yards out onto the field to give him the push.
 
etc79 said:
I wish he would quit pushing the players out onto the field after he tells them the plays....
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He's been doing it his entire career. You don't like it and why?

I honestly can't tell if or when you are joking or serious.
 
GTTerrific said:
He's been doing it his entire career. You don't like it and why?

I honestly can't tell if or when you are joking or serious.
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No I don't like it....I just remember my crappy Middle School Coach pushing us out onto the field like that and I wanted to turn around crack him.
 
Who cares about the push. Don't derail the thread topic over something so stupid. Start your own thread about PJ pushing players. See what type of reaction you get there. LEt me save you the trouble... most people will think you're being an idiot.
 
BarrelORum said:
to suit Vad Lee's strengths?

Obviously we are running more formations that Vad Lee likes like the Pistol and Diamond. But do you think PJ has struggled calling the offense this year? We have a QB who isn't necessarily inclined to maximize the potential of the TO particularly the mesh read from the flexbone.

It seems to me that PJ has struggled calling the games this year moreso than in past years. Discuss.
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One, unless he's calling the fumble play, I think CPJ is doing fine. Against two really good defenses we scored 10 and 20. That's obviously the low point. In the rest of our games, all conference, we've scored 56, 38, 35, 30, 28, and 21. That's despite having a turnover margin of -8 in FBS games, including -6 in conference.

Two, I think you are mostly overreacting to the Pitt game. In every other win I feel like the offense has gotten better as the game went on. If you look at the Pitt game, we were moving the ball on our second possession (after scoring a TD) and then fumbled the ball. Third possession we again moved the ball, but through an incomplete pass on 1st down and Laskey got stuffed on 3rd down. In the third quarter we were moving it again but Sims fumbled.

Three, we are calling a lot more passing plays when it matters. Just look at Pitt for example. First possession, we converted 3rd and 5 with a pass. Second possession, 2nd and 15. Third possession we tried to get Waller a big play but couldn't complete the pass. Fourth possession was a TD. Sixth possession was again an incomplete pass. Eighth possession was an incomplete pass on 1st and 10 to start the drive. Ninth possession we threw twice. We obviously drilled the 3rd and 17 play.

We are very clearly gearing our offense toward VL. He's already thrown for 1000 yards, which should be good for the 2nd or 3rd best passing season we've had since CPJ got here (in Vad's first season starting without any experienced WRs besides Waller to start the year).

The problem isn't the playcalling, it's the execution. A lot of our passing game will always be the jump ball. That is because our run game is designed to bring defenders up in the box to open up the deep pass. A lot of people on here complain about how we don't throw enough slant passes. Well that is exactly what you DON'T want to do if teams are bringing up corners or safeties to help stop the run.
 
I was thinking about this after the Syracuse game. We ran nearly everything from under center and it was very successful. Aside from the reverse, the playcalling was good. It also helped that Syracuse defended us poorly.

Things seem to fly apart from a playcalling and execution standpoint when we deviate. Could be that we're just aren't good at the other formations (unless we're playing Duke's defense).
 
BarrelORum said:
Who cares about the push. Don't derail the thread topic over something so stupid. Start your own thread about PJ pushing players. See what type of reaction you get there. LEt me save you the trouble... most people will think you're being an idiot.
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He seems to be calling more double option where he would have called triple option. He did the same in Tevin's early starts when he struggled with the mesh read. So, yes it means he has to guess right from the sideline rather than trust the QB to read on the field.

However, I also think the point that we have not done so poorly if you take out the turnovers is a good one. Fix the turnovers and we could still be doing much better even though the offense is not clicking perfectly on all cylinders.

Vad's strengths looked more impressive when he was a change from Tevin as the defense was geared toward stopping our standard offense. This year the defenses are more prepared for his speed and do not take bad angles like they were prone to do last year.

Having said all that, i think Vad has improved just over the course of the past few games. He hesitates less in passing and in option reads. Better to sometimes make the wrong decision than to hesitate.
 
Legal Jacket said:
The problem isn't the playcalling, it's the execution. A lot of our passing game will always be the jump ball. That is because our run game is designed to bring defenders up in the box to open up the deep pass. A lot of people on here complain about how we don't throw enough slant passes. Well that is exactly what you DON'T want to do if teams are bringing up corners or safeties to help stop the run.
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+1. Against good defenses we just don't execute very well. When our OL looks overmatched, CPJ keeps calling the dive, like he thinks this time will be different from the last 6 times. Coaches will always argue, though, that you have to keep running some plays to force their defense to continue to make those stops. Otherwise, they will just adjust to what plays you switch to.

The old days of Nesbitt getting the guaranteed 2 yards on 3rd or 4th and short are gone. Calling a pass play is not the solution, and going with the pitch risks a loss. So usually CPJ is calling the right play, but we don't block or don't make the right read.
 
etc79 said:
No I don't like it....I just remember my crappy Middle School Coach pushing us out onto the field like that and I wanted to turn around crack him.
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Why didn't you? Man, er, boy-up.

To the OP (so I don't get yelled at), I think it's Monken leaving and the replacements not being as versed in the offense. It's almost like they're also learning it to a certain degree and may not be recognizing the indicators that would help that 2nd-half or 2nd-series surge we've seen in past years.

I think this has also been discussed as a probable reason why Sewak is still around. CPJ probably trusts him to relay info more than others.
 
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