"At not one point did I feel we had confidence as an offense," first-year offensive coordinator...

"At not one point did I feel we had confidence as an offense," first-year offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said today. "You can go back to the spring. The first scrimmage we struggled. The second scrimmage we turned the ball over three times. This fall in the scrimmages ...

"I don't think I ever walked off the practice field here, saying, 'We're finally close to where we need to be.'"

Scout.com: Clawson saw it coming

about 3 years ago Joel Hollingsworth 9 comments 0 recs |

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Bully for him.

That had to be hard to not blab that to the media for the whole time.

by David Hooper on Nov 25, 2008 8:48 PM EST reply actions

Things might have gone smoother if someone in a position to know would have said, “Look, we’re gonna have some rough patches putting this new offense in, please be patient while we get it worked out.” No one ever said that, as far as I know.

by wvvol on Nov 25, 2008 8:49 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Precisely.

That should have been very explicitly set forward, especially since they were trying to install a West Coastish thingy.

And I, among others, should have been cognizant enough of that to at least expect some hiccups in the UCLA game, if nothing else.

by David Hooper on Nov 25, 2008 8:55 PM EST up reply actions

The other thing that gets me

Is where in the article Fulmer notes if we’d beat UCLA and Auburn we’d be playing for our 8th win (subtext: and we probably wouldn’t be saying adios to him on Saturday).

"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook

by rustytanton on Nov 25, 2008 9:15 PM EST up reply actions

That may actually be true.

At the very least, winning those early games would have kept the fans interested a lot longer, and Hamilton would not have felt such financial pressure to move so quickly.

by David Hooper on Nov 25, 2008 9:35 PM EST up reply actions

I think he's right

There’s also no reason why we shouldn’t have won at least one of the two games against Florida and Alabama. Our defense (and offense, to an extent) kept us in both of those games… but the offense just couldn’t put points on the board. I think winning against UCLA and Auburn would have given the offense enough confidence to win one of these. It would have been an upset to be sure (both of those teams are better than us), but I think it could have happened.

by rblakeh on Nov 25, 2008 9:51 PM EST up reply actions

That's true, BUT

he was the coach of those games too. He didn’t beat UCLA or Auburn (UT had ball in the Auburn end of the field almost the entire 2nd half and couldn’t do anything with it) or Wyoming!!! (no offense, hooper). He wasn’t competitive against Florida, Georgia, or Alabama. The coaches can only blame themselves. Or not, but their fate has been sealed.

I couldn’t read the article, I don’t have an account, so I’m just going by what’s been posted here.

by wvvol on Nov 25, 2008 10:23 PM EST up reply actions

heh. No offense taken, natch!

Actually, I can spin it one worse. Wyoming fired Joe Glenn this year. Evidently, winning in Neyland stadium is not enough for a mid-major coach at a very tiny 1-A university to keep his job for one more year.

by David Hooper on Nov 25, 2008 10:43 PM EST up reply actions

Implied?

Ummm…as fans, shouldn’t

"Look, we’re gonna have some rough patches putting this new offense in, please be patient while we get it worked out."

have been implied in the first year of a new offense/OC? I still don’t understand why the collective fanbase had these immediate high-expectations? I, for one, certainly didn’t have such high-hopes.

by Aerobab on Nov 27, 2008 9:58 PM EST up reply actions