I disagree. I think the terrible line play forced us into a lot of shotgun type stuff. Grubb was doing everything he could to work around that massive problem. Like starts playing better and we see less shotgun stuff. Others see it differently but that’s how I see it. Not saying he is or was perfect but most of the stuff he was being blamed for I don’t think was necessarily his fault. I said a couple weeks ago I think he’s going to be one of the best OC’s in the league and I still feel that way.
Even Mark Schlereth who after watching several of our games came to the conclusion that a big part of our problem is that we werent calling a smart game. Too much pass. Too much shotgun. Not enough commitment to the run. Tipping too much advantage to opposing defenses.
I dont know how you can watch the games we played and not understand the fundamental issue that was Grubb not doing what he has admitted to not doing himself. We were entirely out of balance and Grubb was, in the beginning, defensive about insisting 'we are a shotgun team and thats what we are going to do' . That's fine if that's your strength. But you dont undermine your strength by refusing to threaten to do anything else.
And one thing Schlereth said about our running woes that was so simple an observation one could almost dismiss it ad being too basic- that you cant expect to run block if you dont build confidence. And buikding confidence in part is about finding what you do well and doing it again and again and again. Disguise it by formation, confuse it motion and misdirection but find what you CAN do and repeat it until the other team stops it. We have done EXACTLY that the last two weeks.
The insistance on running out of shotgun the way we were and then running the same vanilla plays was a huge part of the problem. Not building through commitment to a philosophy (other than 'shotgun'), not growing out of mastering fundamentals and then leaning too far into complex blocking schemes that ensued was a major problem.
You disagree that a lot of the issue wasnt Grubb but his own admissions say otherwise. Even him saying his realization that the NFL doesnt afforded the number of possessions he was used to in the college game is telling.
Mike came out just before the bye and said he was realizing things were too complex on D and that he needed to simplify things and let the players do what they do well more often. He did that and across the board the play is better.
He also said that (paraphrasing) he was hoping that as the coaches on offense got more experience and focused on what the players did well (pretty sure he was speaking specifically in repsonse to a question about the run game and the o line) that the O would have the same kind of turnaround the D did.
Thats what is happening. Is our new guard helping? Sure. Is Lucas being back helping? Sure. But those two elements without improved judgdment and experience at the OC spot are nullified.
Schlereth has said this multiple times - Show him an O line that is struggling the way ours was a he can show you an OC that isnt doing something right. It was understandable that we were being beaten at spots where talent wasnt high. But to be beat the way we were points to something more.
Good on Grubb for fixing it. No one expected him to be perfect from day one. All you can hope for is honesty, humility, accountability andnthe willingness to grow. He seems to be showing that. If he keeps it up, he has the potential to be pretty damn good.
