tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post3954406158314018732..comments2024-03-13T03:27:50.582-04:00Comments on Smart Football: Was Spurrier's offense a failure in the NFL?Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204245083374821812noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post-37289002081994521032009-07-16T15:49:27.647-04:002009-07-16T15:49:27.647-04:00It seemed to me that Spurrier's offense is des...It seemed to me that Spurrier's offense is designed in large part to take advantage of defensive mistakes and mismatches. In the NFL you are simply not going to have the blown coverages without safety support or the LB who cannot cover a screen play. As a Redskins fan I spent all sunday asking why we are throwing wide reciever screens and 3 yard crossing routes the whole game. It doesn't work when the defence is full of 4.4 corners and 4.6 LB's.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post-207918111919028802009-07-13T16:11:52.686-04:002009-07-13T16:11:52.686-04:00Talent on the field and simplicity in his some of ...Talent on the field and simplicity in his some of his play designs certainly contributed to his failure in the NFL.<br /><br />However, he probably could have lasted awhile longer had he hired experienced NFL assistants instead of some of the boobs he had for buddies, like Jimmy Ray Stephens on OL.<br /><br />With pro assistant coaches, they might have been able to have more advanced protection schemes and give his qbs more time to throw.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08984910033008642736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post-87923127668551255902009-07-13T13:41:46.447-04:002009-07-13T13:41:46.447-04:00I believe Spurrier had losing records to both FSU ...I believe Spurrier had losing records to both FSU and Miami (arguably the only other programs of that era with comparable talent to those UF teams). Why is that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post-27857191891513968042009-07-13T13:10:44.994-04:002009-07-13T13:10:44.994-04:00Way back in August 2005 when ND fans actually like...Way back in August 2005 when ND fans actually liked him, Charlie Weis was a little bit blunt in his assessment of Steve Spurrier: <br /><br />"Well, first of all Steve's a great coach. I think one thing that's a little different, though, is those defenses in the NFL, they'll figure you out in a hurry now. I mean you're just sitting there, and every time they blitz, you're going to throw a slip screen. That's what he did. Everyone in the league knew it. He was going to throw a slip screen and everyone would be playing the slip screen."<br /><br />There were a ton of articles that were written when Spurrier took the Redskins job about how Spurrier thought it was silly that some coaches worked all night. I think Steve Spurrier wasn't really willing to put in the time necessary to be a successful NFL coach.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post-31199791298638828632009-07-13T11:17:53.096-04:002009-07-13T11:17:53.096-04:00My personal opinion is that the game had passed Sp...My personal opinion is that the game had passed Spurrier by well before he ever went to the skins.<br /><br />Spurrier was an inovator at Duke. He threw the ball and ran a pro style offense when many other teams didn't. That gave him a great advantage. Plus he was a great teacher.<br /><br />Early on when he got to UF he was still ahead of what everyone else was doing, but by the time he left tons of teams passed the ball first and his schemes were not that original. He was still a great teacher and UF's talent advantage still allowed him to dominate.<br /><br />But in the pros where he had no talent advantge he failed to update his protection schemes and it was clear that the game caught up to him. Same thing goes for South Carolina, he just isn't that inovative anymore to the point where he can elevate his teams above their talent level.Bradnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post-11978755940310239402009-07-13T08:42:21.812-04:002009-07-13T08:42:21.812-04:00Woody Widenhofer's Vandy defenses did very wel...Woody Widenhofer's Vandy defenses did very well against Spurrier. I asked him about it during a visit there and he said that Spurrier's offense used the same few concepts all the time. What made it look difficult was the way he was able to use so many different formations, motion, etc. to get matchup advantages.<br /><br />Homer Smith ten years later wrote basically the same thing on his blog.Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01575178552426939685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post-7881089473797714622009-07-12T05:25:16.429-04:002009-07-12T05:25:16.429-04:00You have to accept that just because the Redskins ...You have to accept that just because the Redskins had other problems, does not necessarily mean the offensive schemes did not exacerbate the issues.<br /><br />Well, you also can't ignore the struggles he has had at USC. I've heard some different opinions on why Spurrier has failed at USC now. The most obvious one is the quarterback one as alluded to by an earlier commenter, but I don't completely buy that. It certainly explains some of the struggle, but you can't convince me that every quarterback he has had at USC has been this consistently bad. As previously noted, the quarterbacks he was working with at UF certainly were pretty marginal talents themselves.Tylernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post-35782973489079190642009-07-10T13:21:19.216-04:002009-07-10T13:21:19.216-04:00I think the reason for his failure was just that h...I think the reason for his failure was just that he couldnt be the Taskmaster in the Pros like you can college, and that he simply never had a good QB to run it.<br /><br />The QB position is the main reason he has faultered at USuCk now.Dochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05828427134435684591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post-59542997843284304082009-07-10T12:46:41.653-04:002009-07-10T12:46:41.653-04:00Chris, Great Blog. As a Redskins fan and football...Chris, Great Blog. As a Redskins fan and football junkie, Spurrier's offense is something I've spent a lot of time defending. As you aluded to in your post, many think Spurrier's offense failed but his pass concepts were quite sound and often times many people were open downfield during his Redskins tenure. The ultimate problem was his lack of using solid protection schemes. In high school and to some degree in college you can get away with having a RB take on a DE on occassion(though thats a match-up I don't ever like), but in the NFL that is a recipe for failure and thats what he did on a few occassions in the NFL. He also ran many deep route combos in 4/5 WR sets and if you are going to do this consistently at any level, sufficient hots and sight adjusts must be built in to deal with all the blitzes. If he had protected a little better, his offense would have been in the top 10. I'd love to see what Spurrier would do if he had another crack at it.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04003027728048607471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15377771.post-59355370058086852882009-07-10T11:51:39.466-04:002009-07-10T11:51:39.466-04:00This begs another question: why have Florida QBs ...This begs another question: why have Florida QBs never excelled in the NFL?Jon Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16087002514994745333noreply@blogger.com