The Offensive Coordinator

Clearly, I’m off my game.

Somehow I completely blew through the hiring of Greg Davis last month as the offensive coordinator at Iowa. There are many things I find disturbing about this announcement.

This statement from head coach Kirk Ferentz is one of them:

“Greg's units have demonstrated impressive production and they have done so using a variety of systems and styles - he has done an outstanding job of playing towards the strengths and abilities of the players with which he has worked.”

Woah, woah, woah. Say whaaa?  Is Ferentz the only person (besides the Dan Dans and David McWilliams) who doesn’t realize that the offensive players, namely quarterbacks, who were successful at Texas were successful despite being handicapped by having Greg Davis as their OC? Isn’t there a general consensus that Davis did absolutely nothing to foster and develop the unique strengths and abilities of his players? From what I can gather, he worked pretty hard to fit all of his players into the little quarterback molds he developed sometime in another decade. Players were successful in spite of him.

Another disturbing point of note is that Hawkeyesports.com throws out this horribly mis-guided statistic:

Under Davis' guidance, Texas averaged 39.0 points per game in the last decade (2000-2009), which ranked second nationally and first among BCS conference schools.

Again....Um, No. Texas was blessed that they landed talented, top recruits each year who knew how to play football and were bonded together by on the field leadership, thus were able to succeed.

This hiring decision has also alerted me to the disturbing conclusion that Iowa has decided to roll out a whole new offense - one Greg perfected at Texas. I’m not a football expert or anything, but I don’t think the patented Horizontal Offense (TM)  is the best way for any football team to go.

Additionally, I’ve learned that Greg Davis is … I won’t say delusional … but I will say maybe he’s a little out of touch. Let’s take a peeksie at this snippet from a Brian Bennett article on ESPN.com:

But Texas finished 88th nationally in scoring during a wildly disappointing 5-7 season in 2010, and Davis was forced out by his longtime boss, Mack Brown.

"Our talent level slipped a little bit, and we were just not as good," Davis said of that 2010 season. "We just didn't handle things as well as we had. That was really the only year out of 13 that I was there that I felt like we didn't do as good a job as we should have."

I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but many of the burnt orange faithful (myself included) had been calling for Davis’ head since even before the Longhorns won the BCS title in 2005. Again, many (myself really included) felt these teams were successful due to a combination of amazing defenses and offensive talent that Greg Davis, no matter how hard he tried, could not stifle.

Also, have my eyes deceived me or has Greg Davis taken a page out of Gary Patterson’s Guide To (Not Taking) Accountability?  Really Greg? Texas has TOP RECRUITING CLASSES EVERY YEAR. Texas has MORE MONEY THAN ANY OTHER COLLEGE FOOTBALL PROGRAM. Saying the “talent level slipped” is NOT A VALID EXCUSE FOR THE ABISMAL FAILURE OF A SEASON THAT WAS 2010.  Greggie...if you can't make the sweet-sweet-top-talent that Texas manages to recruit every year work, then what do you intend to do at Iowa?  Don't go nuts, I'm not saying Iowa players aren't talented, but let's think about this for a minute. 

Maybe Iowa knows something I don‘t know. Apparently the Ferentz clan is amazing at football coaching, otherwise, why would Kirk Ferentz’s son, Brian, be selected out of a pool of over 100 applicants to be the offensive line coach at Iowa? The University says that the elder Ferentz was not a part of the decision, nor his contracted salary…which is just $15K higher than the defensive line coach hired at the same time...the AD must love him some Ferentz. 

I'm not judging.

Hey, if my Dad called me up to work for him at some obscene salary I’d say "yes" faster than Chris Simms can throw and interception. Hell, I’d probably just move back in with my parents so we could carpool. And I don’t even know what the heck he does for a living, really, which would make my new job completely awesome. I’m sure I'm totally qualified and could do it.  Not to mention, in the words of Brian Ferentz, I would have to take it because "you can't say no to your father.”

Hmm.

But back to Greg Davis...also from the Big Ten Blog on espn.com is the little gem:

Davis designs an offense based on what his players can do best. For example, he said he had never used a zone read play until Vince Young came along at quarterback in Austin. Option plays were cut out of the playbook when the less swift but super accurate Colt McCoy took over the job. When Davis first started at Texas, the Longhorns rode the running game behind Ricky Williams -- "You didn't have to be Bill Walsh to know you've got to hand it to the big boy," he says.

LIES! LIES! LIES!

And poor James Vandenberg….Davis has his eye on you:

"I see a guy that can make all the throws, who's throwing it from one hash mark on the field to the other," he said. "That tells you right there that he has a good arm. I see a good decision-maker. I was pleasantly surprised that he is more athletic than I had first anticipated. He's making plays off schedule and gets the ball out of his hand quickly. I would anticipate him having a really good senior year for us."

I, personally, would anticipate Greg Davis squashing that football-loving fire right out of his sweet little quarterback heart. All of those great throws are going to mean squat when it’s third & eight and Davis makes him throw a two yard screen pass for an eventual loss of 6. James, take these words of wisdom to heart: It’s easier to purposely break a play and fix it yourself ask forgiveness than get booed by your fans permission.  

Of course, it will be a little hard to feel bad for Vandenberg after hearing he is excited to work with Davis because "It's some fresh blood." The only plausible reference to fresh blood I can think of when it comes to the King of the East/West Offense is that he will suck it out of his players’ football loving souls.

Please note, I am not insinuating that Greg Davis is a vampire.

He’s not shiny enough.

　

The Bowl That Wasn't

A few nights ago, Debra and I were discussing the possibility of Texas going to a bowl game, possibly a regional one that would be difficult to attend.

It got me thinking about last year...by the end of our pitiful season, we were so completely beaten down by Longhorn Football, that by then end of the season we were pretty close to hoping for losses in the last few games.  I wanted the losses to put the nail in the coffin of the firing of Greg Davis.

It was a rough season.  Kacie, Debra and I still traveled to all of the games...in fact, when we facebook-checked-in at a bar Manhattan, Kansas, we noticed an immediate comment:  "Oh my God, they're masochists!"

And it was true.  We went there knowing full well we would lose...and the 'Horns did not disappoint.

With just a few games left to go, we were on the cusp of a bowl bid.  Any bowl bid.  The three of us were so disappointed/tired/beated down/frustrated with the football season that we decided we wouldn't even go to the game if they made a bowl.

"I wouldn't even drive to the Cotton Bowl to see them play!" Kacie declared. 

But it was Debra who summed it up so beautifully that the image will stay with me forever:

"Hell.  I wouldn't even walk to my window to see them play in the [her street name] Cul De Sac Bowl."

Luckily, or maybe sadly, none of us had to follow through on our threats of ignoring an "Addison Circle Bowl", the "Empty Lot Next to My Apartment Bowl" or the "Parking Lot of My Office Bowl."

The 'Horns finished so abysmally, they weren't even invited to one.

And that's the way college football go.

The Dan Dan Convention: Addendum A

The summer after the National Championship game against USC, we attended another Dan Dan Convention (Dallas Longhorn Club meeting), with featured speaker, former Longhorn Head Coach David McWilliams.  True to our experience with these season kick-off meetings, it was filled with Dan Dans, and featured speaker, former Longhorn Head Coach David McWilliams gave vague reports on the players and upcoming season. 

I'm pretty sure featured speaker, former Longhorn Head Coach David McWilliams remembered me from our first Dan Dan Convention, when we arrived late and had to cross in front of him while he gave his presentation. Which he did not like.

In fact, that was when he first began to despise me.

So at this particular Dan Dan Convention, we made sure to arrive on time and were seated before he began his speech.  I can't tell you any of what you said, because I was preparing myself for the Q&A.  I had a question to ask featured speaker, former Longhorn Head Coach David McWilliams. 

The Q&A began, and though my hand was raised on every question attempt, featured speaker, former Longhorn Head Coach David McWilliams did not call on me.  He would look straight at me, then look away.  He was not interested in my question, and held off calling on me until he had no choice.

When he finally acknowledged my raised hand, I dropped the bomb. "Can you tell me how much longer Greg Davis will remain the Offensive Coordinator at Texas?"

The room was instantly divided into two factions: Dan Dans and Everyone Else. The Dan Dans began to glare and me and grumble.

"....well he just won us a national championship..."

"....silly girl, she doesn't know what she's talking about...."
"....he's done a fine job with our quarterbacks...."
"....the NERVE!"
"....we've never had a better offense...."

Everyone Else began to nod and swiveled their heads to look at featured speaker, former Longhorn Head Coach David McWilliams for an answer.  My people, the Everyone Else knew that Greg Davis was running on borrowed time.  The Everyone Else and I looked expectantly at featured speaker, former Longhorn Head Coach David McWilliams.

Featured speaker, former Longhorn Head Coach David McWilliams stared me down from his podium.  I didn't flinch.  I wanted my answer.

"Greg Davis has a job at Texas as long as he wants it."  He might as well have called me "little girl" while he was at it, because the look on featured speaker, former Longhorn Head Coach David McWilliam's face showed very clearly that he didn't care for my question.

I'll rant about Greg Davis in another post.  But I did not like this answer.  I found it upsetting that no one else was asking the question or making the point that Greg Davis had been lucking out since he came to Texas, with Ricky Williams, Major Applewhite and Vince Young making plays on the field despite him.

Featured speaker, former Longhorn Head Coach David McWilliams was an example of this blind loyalty to a flawed coaching staff that was getting the job despite their best efforts.  He and the Dan Dans were unwilling to look at what was happening on the field, play by play, and were basing success on wins and losses.  This is not a long option for success, and it would take only one quarterback without the "it" factor to expose our major weakness, making us vulnerable to every defense in the nation.  I don't like our major weakness being exposed to every defense. 

As I sat back down, the Dan Dans all turned away from me in disgust and the Everyone Else gave me approving glances and mental high-fives.  We knew it was coming. 

It was January of 2010 when that weakness peeked out and it was the 2010 season when it was fully exposed.  Greg Davis has since "retired" and we're starting off with a brand new pair of Offensive Coordinators.  I guess it's true that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can claw your way out of the ditch.

And the Dan Dans cried....