I want to start this thread by saying it was inspired by lsutiga's poll regarding our coaches. I would have posted this as a reply to that poll, except, IMHO, sometimes ideas get lost in the middle of threads on this forum, and I want to read your opinions concerning this specific issue. When I first signed onto the forum, there was discussion about our team's focus on "playing not to lose" when we had the lead rather than an offensive push to win. An obvious example was the Tennessee game in 2005. At one point the discussion was about whether it was Miles or Fisher leading us in that direction. Question: Does anyone else remember this discussion, and, if so, what do you think now following the change in our offensive coordinator?
There is no doubt in my mind that Crowton is the better OC. He has proven it where ever he has had the players that could run his offense. I think we won inspite of Jimbo's offense because we had to rely on or defense to win a lot of games. I am really looking forward to our players in the Dome on that fast surface! We might score a 100.
Check out the coach rankings on Rivals... http://collegefootball.rivals.com/viewCFSE.asp HC - Miles #8, Saban #9 OC - Crowton #2 - Jimbo Fisher = #13 DC - Pelini #1 Note Virginia Tech DC Bud Foster is ranked #2, VT has only allowed 10 points in last two games.....so much for VT's defense being over-rated I guess.
Thanks for sharing. As we keep winning Miles rank should continue to rise. What I find most revealing is Bama's OC and DC are not ranked. I think they are the highest paid in the SEC. I've never been impressed with their coaching staff, but I do understand it is hard for Saban to find someone who will work for him. Bama's approach of finding the best who will take the job + pay the most money, = National Championship. This kind of formula usually does not work.
I am enjoying Crowton's offense much more than I did Fisher's. Everyone was blaming Miles for being too conservative offensively, and I never thought that was the case. That being said, some people think Miles' philosophy of "run the ball" is conservative, but think about how important it is to win the time of possession battle to keep the defense fresh (especially one as aggressive as ours.) Also, I've noticed that we run to set up the pass beautifully. We'll be running, running, running, then we'll kill the other team with a pass. In the process, we sustain long drives (last week notwithstanding--due to the factors all of us have discussed at length.) Jimbo lacked enough imagination in his play calling.
crowton v fisher---way too early to tell. also seems like many of you have forgotten that jimbo was OC back when the lsu d couldnt stop anyone. im encouraged by crowton's use of multiple formations and every skill player on the roster (although disappointed he hasnt passed to an OT yet), but jimbo brought us 2 SEC titles and 1 NC.
...and we tended to lose 3 or 4 games a year when our "D" couldn't stop anyone (5 games in '02.) Fisher was an adequate to good OC. Crowton, in my opinion, has already taken it to another level. I expect that to only get better as the team has more PT under their belts as the year goes on.
