JoltinJacket Wrote:IMO, you're only as good as your assistant coaches. Clemson is learning that since Rich Rodriguez left.
Time to revisit this comment and combat it with sound logic.
For the record, all Rich Rodriguez installed was a shoot-from-the-hip, free-wheeling type of offense. Not extraordinary in the least, but contrarily quite limited. In 1999, with limited skill players, he and Tommy Bowden
resorted to using a break-neck pace no-huddle offense out of pure necessity. The philosphy was simple. Run as fast as you can, (almost never audibling a play change at the line) and take your chances against a defense which may or may not be set. The fast pace helps late in the game, as defenses take more time getting set. Each play was nothing more than a roll of the dice. We had an OK pocket style passer in Brandon Streeter who was effective at delivering the ball to recievers on short routes. He also took a beating many times and continued to hang around in the pocket. This whole offensive scheme was new , so none of our opponents had any film on us until the season got underway.
2000 was different still in that we switched from a pocket passer to something no one had seen in ages; a very mobile QB running a single wing. Again, this was out of necessity. Woody Dantzler was one of those athletes with rare talent you just had to use. He was not very effective throwing the ball, but man could he run between the tackles! Again, this is a new offensive scheme which none of our opponents were prepared for.....and it showed.
2001 differed in that our opponents did their homework and found a way to nuetralize the Heisman hopefull. Actually, UNC exposed us first with a good defensive strategy that even average defenses could employ. All you needed was decent cover men in the seconday and you could play this game too. The trick was to simply force Dantzler to use his achilles heel,...his throwing arm. This could easily be done by not rushing your linebackers north and south at him, but rather just shadowing Dantzler east and west and goobering up the running lanes. Let the linebackers lie in wait while the defensive ends eventually closed in. He either runs into the trap or he tosses errant pass after errant pass. :cuss:
Where was the genious of Rich Rodriguez in any of those seasons, I ask you ??? Where is the genious of Rich Rodriguez at Morgantown ??? Nothing against Rich-Rod at all. I think he's a fine coach and I appreciate everything he did for us. I also wish him the best at WVU or anywhere else. I just think he recieves far too much credit for Clemsons success, from 1999 to 2000.
Got any more cheese you wanna' serve up there, meat ? I'll hit it over the centerfield fence too.