Today I heard a couple of NFL analysts discussing why Cam Cameron was fired by the Ravens in December. The words used to describe his offensive scheme... simple, predictable and sophomoric. Isn't that what we already have? I just don't see how adding Cameron helps our situation.
I never understand NFL hires/fires............a guy loses his job on one losing team and gets another job on another losing team and they think something will change. In the NFl if you don't have close to the best players WHO DON'T GET HURT, you will not win. If you happen to play on a team that the General Manager is also the owner.........you are doomed! I think the secret in college whether you are on defense or offense, if the coach does not come up with a system that fits the players HE HAS, he will probably not do very well. Coaches that MAKE players fit their systems regardless of their skills usually fail until they figure it out. I think Sumlin at A&M broke the code in the first year.
See I kind of disagree with that. Lets say Norv Turner is the Redskins OC, he obviously is not a read option coach, he likes to run alot of draws and screens, under center mostly. That obviously wouldn't work, however if he were fired and a team like say.....Dallas were to hire him, I think they would be alot better on offense. Point being, I think player personnel in the NFL has to match the OC.
Remember Cam and Les spent a number of years together coaching at UM. Cam is one of the few guys, in college, to have played football and basketball at Indiana University under coaches Lee Corso and Bob Knight. To add, Les and Chan Gailey spent time coaching together with the Cowboys.
Thats why they are analysts and not coaches. Cam is known in the NFL, the guy knows his stuff. In his last 125 games as an NFL offensive coordinator, the teams Cameron was a part of in San Diego and Baltimore lost a total of only eight games by more than seven points. Thats a stat, not many in the NFL can match.
I don't watch pro football much, but when I have a lot of stress in my life and I'm not sleeping well all I have to do is turn on a pro football game and by the middle of the second quarter I'm sleeping like a baby, so I did watch the Ravens/Patriots game. That was just after Cameron was fired so I don't think the Ravens offense had changed that much and what struck me right away was how much the Raven's offense resembled LSU's offense. I guess that's the Schembechler influence, so if we get Cam Cameron we probably won't be see a change in philosophy.
Cam Cameron runs an Air Coryell offense http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Coryell As for the Ravens offense changing from Cam to Caldwell... ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfo Ravens attempted to pass on 60% of plays with Cam Cameron as offensive coordinator, but have dropped that to 52% under Jim Caldwell what's interesting is that when i was listening to an ex NFL player turned analyst discuss Cam's firing, he was saying that he thought it was to get the attention of the players, saying that would certainly get his attention at the next practices and team meetings knowing that a respected OC just got fired And now, Cam came out and said this about his firing: “It was a brilliant move,” Cameron said Wednesday at his home outside Baltimore. “Everyone on the team took a look in the mirror after that.” ... An acolyte of the longtime coach Don Coryell, whose high-octane passing attack continues to influence the modern game, Cameron directed one of the highest- scoring offenses in N.F.L. history in 2006 with the San Diego Chargers. After one dismal season as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, he joined the Ravens as the offensive coordinator in 2008 and helped Joe Flacco develop into one of the league’s top young quarterbacks. This season, the Ravens’ offense was not exactly scuffling with Cameron at the helm. When he was dismissed, the team was 9-4, having lost two straight games, and averaging 344.4 yards of offense. Under Jim Caldwell, who was promoted from quarterbacks coach, the Ravens have averaged 406.2 yards — including 424.7 yards per game in the playoffs. Cameron said the change made a difference — not so much because of any schematic overhauls, but because it put everyone in the organization on alert. “We were inconsistent,” Cameron said, “and if I’m in charge, I’m saying: ‘Why are we inconsistent? We need to get the team’s attention.’ ” As center Matt Birk put it, “It’s not like we changed everything we were doing.” ... Coach John Harbaugh invited Cameron to meet in his office. The conversation was brief, Cameron said, with Harbaugh essentially telling Cameron that the team needed to make a change. Harbaugh later called it his most difficult decision as a head coach. Cameron said he told Harbaugh that he understood. The two men hugged, and Cameron said he wished Harbaugh luck before leaving the building. ...
