To me he seems a bit conservative. The only time I've seen him really open up the offense is when Rohan was in the backfield. Other than that, he seems to like to run a punishing offense rather than taking what the defense gives him and picking them apart. How much of his offense does he adjust from week-to-week? Personally, I like wide open offenses like Spurrier ran at Florida, and Bowden runs at Clemson, and Tedford at Cal. Tedford totally turned Cal's program around in one season. Tedford and his offensive coordinator George Cortez are top QB technicians, and completely gave Kyle Boller a dream senior season. So good of a season that Kyle went from a dissappointment to a first round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens. I just hope Jimbo can do something good with these talented QBs that are coming in. Big reason why Russell decided to come to LSU is b/c of Jimbo Fisher. A lot of people credit Jimbo Fisher with the development of Rohan Davey. I think thats a bunch of crap; Davey got his chance his senior year and proved his stuff. No telling where we would've been if he would started his Junior year as well. Reggie Robinson might have gotten a lot more recognition. He could've had a coming out year in 2000. Rohan is the man though!
To me, Jimbo is an excellent offensive coordinator, Period. I think the differance in his play calling this past year v/s 2001 season, is due to the fact that his decisions on what plays to run are based upon the strengths and weaknesses of the QB. I would think most would agree with me. If and when the starting QB has displayed enough arms strength & accuracy we will see a wide open offense as in the past. If you think about it. I believe he utilized Mauck to his strengths last year. II. We all noticed a little more arm strength or touch in Marcus Randall's passes but his decision making and bad passes raised a flag in Jimbo's play calling. If it were me, I would have played the offense a little more conservitive last year too....... One bad pass play and a interception can make a lot of difference, especially if you don't have a quick strike style offense to get back in the game. And I believe that was something that we were lacking a little bit last year. Geaux Jimbo........
Sen-Sation, Don't you think a coordinator has to work around the talent he has. You can't run a wide open "O" if you don't have the talent at QB. Did you see the Auburn game? You not wanting to give Fisher any credit for Rohan is a bunch of crap.
I'm not saying Jimbo doesn't deserve any credit. I'm just wondering why Jimbo failed to notice Rohan's ability to run a wide open offense, and instead opted to play more conservative and finish 3-8 on the year. Then in 2000: Rohan is the man thanks to Jimbo? Don't get me wrong. I do like the Jimbo, I have no problem with him and I have no intentions of replacing him. I think he will do the best he can with his talent. I just questioned him for not noticing Rohan's abilities sooner than his last year of eligibility.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Jimbo Fisher wasn't here for the 3-8 season in 1999. He came with Saban in 2000. I do remember when he came in there was all this bravado about how LSU was going to have a "wide-open, West Coast offense." That was a bunch of horse-crap and I knew it. This is the SEC. You must have a balanced offense and you HAVE to be able to run the ball consistently to win in this conference. Even Florida under Spurrier ran the ball well. That's the reality of things. When Fisher got here, he had two choices; run West Coast, personnel be damned, and lose a whole lot of ballgames during the learning process, or tailor the offense to the personnel he had and implement a passing system piecemeal. He did the latter, and it worked so well I think he decided to stick with the balanced offense of run/pass 50/50. When Rohan Davey and Josh Reed started clicking late in 2001, he opened the offense up just enough to let them flourish. But we never stopped running the ball. Toefield had almost 1,000 yards rushing that year and Davis had some good games too, including a monster performance in the Sugar Bowl. I think Fisher is a great offensive coordinator. He is committed to having a balanced offense, and he understands that championship caliber teams MUST run the football. He has done the best he can with the personnel he has been handed and, now that he has started to stockpile talent, will only get better. He and Saban have made some mistakes (who can forget the overly conservative play-calling in the 35-24 loss to Ole Miss in 2001) but they have always demonstrated an ability to learn from their mistakes. As for your argument that he did not notice Rohan's abilities, I think they were always aware of Rohan's abilities. They were just convinced at the time (before 2000 season) that Josh Booty had equal abilities and could perform better as the starter. They gave Rohan snaps early in the year, he did not perform like they thought he could, they put him back on the bench. That simple. Then he performed well in the Tennessee game only to get hurt the very next week, and Booty put together a four game winning streak. They were not about to bench Booty while he was hot. They brought him in for the Georgia Tech game, he performed admirably, and the rest is history. In short, I am more than confident in Fisher's ability to evaluate players and put them in the game at the right time to make the team better.
Dude, you need to check your facts before you make these types of claims. First of all, Jimbo wasn't the offensive coordinator in 1999, so he was unable to notice Rohan's ability. Secondly, Rohan didn't show much ability at the time. Think back, he played great against the perennial power house of North Texas and earned the start against AU the following week...Remember that game, 41-7....Rohan played terrible and was replaced with Booty. Booty starts the next game and almost pulls it out against Georgia. Then the season falls apart and Rohan pulls it out against Arkansas after DiNardo is fired. In 2000, Rohan had severe ankle problems and only played in 4 games, one of which was the UT overtime win...and we finished 8-4. The whole basis of you're argument isn't valid....
Thanks for the enlightenment. I aplogize for my bogus points and admit that I totally forgot Jimbo wasn't here until Saban's era. I do however think that Jimbo still has some things to prove, and he has the talent that will allow him to do it for upcoming seasons. Understand that I do like and still have confidence in Jimbo.
SeN-SaTioN SeN-SaTioN I guess you haven't been a tiger fan for very long because Jimbo Fisher joined with Saban and coach his 1st year at LSU in 2000. That's O.K. though. But man, he had nothing to do with the 1999 3-8 season. I know, it was aweful but hey, he put Rohan on the field in the 1st part of the 2000 season if you'll recall. How about that overtime victory 38-31 over Tennesse!!!!!!!!! I think you could say thanks to Jimbo Fisher on that one. Geaux Jimbo........
Thanks Jimbo I just wasn't thinking before i stated my opinion. I actually am an LSU Alumni, 1997-2001. Sorry guys.
