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YOUR BALANCE
Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...
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Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 5:19 AM

Elliot's quote regarding the last 15 seconds of the game: "We haven't been much of an under-center team in the past, so we are going to do what we did."

And therein lies a problem. The idea that we either don't have and/or routinely practice an under-center QB sneak is coaching malpractice. For the love all that is holy, we have a 250 pound giant at QB and a 315 pound center and the thought of not routinely practicing a play where that big QB takes a snap under-center and instantly follows that big strong center forward for a yard is beyond ridiculous.

Regardless of having an under-center play or not, Elliot's quote looks like a symptom of a bigger problem that has been slowly creeping into our offense. The "we don't change who we are", "we just do what we do" and "be who we are" coaching mantras seem to have morphed into an attitude of "we don't care if we are predictable - we are just going to out-talent you and there is nothing you can do to stop us". I understand and agree that every coach wants/needs their team to have an identity. However, when we stop innovating and become so set in our trends and tendencies that a team on the talent level of GA Tech can stymie us - we definitely have a problem in the coaching room that needs to be addressed.

We don't have to change "who we are" but we do need a little imagination to keep our opponents off balance. Prime example - every time our QB turns and throws straight down the line of scrimmage to a WR everyone we play cues on it with a DB rushing forward to get in our WR's grill the moment he catches the ball. Have we ever considered using that same play action to do a "pump and go" to the WR to break our tendency? It might stop some of the DB's from jumping on it so quickly if he knows we might "pump and go" from that same play action.

I'll give Chad Morris credit for one thing in the years he was running our offense - every off-season he would visit other programs and work on ways to bring new elements and new wrinkles into our offense to try and make us less predictable. When is the last time any of us watched a Clemson game and said of the offense - "that play looks different" or "that showed some imagination".

One final thought - the obvious Clemson coaches talking point for our offense last night was "GA Tech did some things we hadn't prepared for" and I have no doubt that is a true statement. GA Tech showed some innovation and imagination that keyed off our offensive predictability and the result was a team with inferior talent took our much more talented Tigers down to the wire. When is the last time an opposing team has said "Clemson did some things we haven't seen or prepared for"? It surely hasn't been within the last couple of years. Maybe its about time we helped our young talented players by giving our opponents some things they haven't seen or planned for as well...

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Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 6:17 AM

Excellent post. I was posting something similar about the QB under center at about the same time you posted this.

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Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 6:18 AM

I definitely agree with you on the “we do what we do” as being a problem. I always go back to the last game against Ohio State. Maybe they were lucky and their offensive strengths matched up against our weaknesses, but watching that game, it really looked and felt like it was a skilled OC adapting his playcalling to what we were doing and every counter we tried he had a counter-punch dialed in. I really don’t see that we do anything like that - against elite teams or average ones. We have our plays and rely on guys to make chicken salad out of chicken poo.

I understand that teams are going to throw looks abs “structures” that we aren’t ready for, but that’s why we need an OC that has a playbook in place that we can adjust on the fly that exploit the downside of what the other team’s defense is doing. They can’t cover everything, weird alignments or not. From the statements, you almost get the sense we were YouTubing during the weather delay to try and figure out what to do.

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They had 2+ hours to fix it. Adjust......


Sep 19, 2021, 6:40 AM

to what they didn't prepare for.

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Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 6:41 AM

Where is Dabo in all of this besides a sideline cheerleader? Is he part of the problem? This has been an issue since JS left and is getting worse. It's easy to cover up when you have a Trevor, Travis and the receivers that we have had in the past. It seems to me when we reach a situation that requires a little coaching we are in trouble.

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A QB Not Being Under....


Sep 19, 2021, 7:17 AM

Center has been an issue for us for years. Not having DQ4 under center when we were at the 1 yard line cost us the game against FSU .

Elliot's play calling is pathetic and DJ's playing is Cole Stoudt level .

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Cole Stoudt regular season or Cole Stoudt bowl game ?


Sep 19, 2021, 12:26 PM

Asking for a friend.

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Brad Brownell: Only Larry freaking Shyatt has a WORSE overall winning percentage among Clemson basketball coaches since 1975. Let that sink in. It's Larry Shyatt & then Brad Brownell.


Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 12:17 PM [ in reply to Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue... ]

Makes you wonder how Saban is able to produce every year, non-stop with the revolving door of coaches that he has. Sounds like he has a structured system that every coach must follow. We lose a couple of coaches and the offense totally turns to chaos. You could be correct with your comment about Dabo.

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It’s nothing short of amazing


Sep 19, 2021, 1:12 PM

What he’s been able to do at Alabama is truly amazing. Their ability to completely revamp their Offense in one off season blew my mind.

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Great point and something I’ve been thinking.


Sep 19, 2021, 1:09 PM [ in reply to Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue... ]

Let me be clear; I love Dabo and wouldn’t take any other HC right now to run The Clemson program. BUT, was Jeff Scott’s greatest role keeping Dabo out of the offense?? We’ll more than likely never know, but it does seem the farther removed we are from Jeff Scott, the more predictable and uncoordinated our offense has been. Maybe Jeff Scott was the creative side that helped Tony break tendencies.

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Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 7:37 AM

I’ll follow your well thought out post with a less calculated, more emotional one. Before the ####### delay of game penalty in an attempt to draw them offsides, DJ didn’t NEED a yard. Simply hike the ball while under center and let him kneel. Game flippin over. Amazing that we don’t practice that considering football is year-around now.

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Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 11:58 AM

Quality post. Totally agree with you the coaches’ mindset (at least publicly) as being more concerning than what I’m actually seeing on the field by the players.

Frankly, I can’t stand that mindset (this is what we do) unless you do it well consistently. And we are nowhere near that right now with any part of our offense. If Brent Venables uses that in the post game about a 3rd down blitz we got beat on- so be it. He’s earned that. Our offense hasn’t earned much this season. And the off coaching staff absolutely hasn’t earned the credibility to offer up that excuse when the end of the game was so poorly managed. The game changes. Have to be able to adapt. We look painfully inept at adapting right now on offense. And worse, we’re not that good at whatever the #%* our plan A is either.

No one- not Dabo, not Saban, not Lombardi - can sell me on a shotgun snap in the end zone being a lower risk play because “that’s what we do.” The ball flies in the air vs being handed from the center to the QB. At the D1 level, any QB and center should be able to do that in a game situation that lends itself to that. Full stop.

Sincere good luck to the team (esp the offense) this week in practice. Tigers need to get better. This NC St game will be a big test.

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If we don't ever "change what we do", then it gets easier


Sep 19, 2021, 12:02 PM

and easier to coach defense against us. Which somehow seems to be the actual case, lately.

Scott + Elliot must have been one of those cases where the sum was a lot greater than all the parts. Because Scott is not doing well down in Florida, and Elliot for shore is struggling here on his own. Trevor and perfect execution was hiding a lot of flaws, it seems.

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Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 12:11 PM

Excellent post!! We need to remember that we have a newby coach at WR and at RB. They need to get with the program quickly! They are obviously teaching something different than their predecessors.

I would only add one thing that makes me very wary about this offensive staff. Elliott said in his presser that GT did some things that shut down the deep balls. NO THEY DID NOT!! They lined up with 3 down linemen most of the game but they brought 4, 5 or 6 on every play to shut down the run and apply pressure. Elliott made it sound like GT ran a 3-deep prevent the entire day. This bothers me a lot because he obviously does not even know what he is looking at. Also, do you thing having a deep safety would stop Bama and OK from stretching the defense anyway? Of course they would......to coin an over used phrase......"it is what they do".......there were gaps behind the blitzing LB's and safety all day and they never even tried.

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Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 12:12 PM

POTW

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Gotta be able to run a qb sneak


Sep 19, 2021, 12:23 PM

Refusal to line up under center is why I was glad to see Chad Morris go. A qb sneak is a minor part of a playbook. But, sooner or later, EVERY team needs a qb sneak to win.

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GoTiguhs!!


Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 12:53 PM

Good post. I agree with everything except your comment about running the slug-go or stop-and -go. We have run it and did again last night. The WR was wide open and DJ missed him by 10-15 yards. DJ has been woefully inaccurate on downfield passes. I’m wondering if TE not trying more downfield 50:50 balls and back shoulder throws is because of DJ’s inability to execute consistently? It’s all so surreal to us fans because Dabo was pumping the “DJ is ahead of Trevor” sunshine so much in fall camp. But you know Dado, he also had KP being better than most pro QB’s too, so there’s that. I love Dabo but he’s prone to get a little too giddy and sunshine pump players before they prove it on the field. I know y’all all think we have elite playmakers all over the field, but I am yet to see that. I see Bresee and Tyler Davis and Mukuba and Booth emerging as elite defensive playmakers. I see our big tall plodding WR’s running with a DB in their hip pocket consistently (i.e. no separation). I see no WR who can be on the same page and execute a back shoulder with the QB. We know Ross can do this, but can DJ execute it? I see no WR who can do the Mike Williams and go up over the DB to consistently win 50:50’s. The WR body type we are recruiting must do these things to be successful. When Sammy got to Clemson he immediately burst on the scene as a true fresh as an immediate playmaker. He had speed and short area quickness and got wide open separation. What type WR’s is Bama having so much success with...the Sammy type...right? Sammy was an elite playmaker and you saw it on the field immediately. It didn’t take coaching up for years to see it. I am afraid we lost WR development when we lost Jeff Scott. Same thing was true for ETN at running back. Guys, face it we have NO Sammy or ETN out there right now! Heck, we have no blue collar Nuke out there who just wills himself to be great. Ngata may emerge but he’s no Nuke, and surely is no Mike Williams or Sammy or even Tee Higgins. I’m still waiting to see what Ross is going to be. Glaringly, we have NO Renfrow or Scott or Ray Ray or Amari in the slot. JR is not a slot receiver. I agree our current WR’s were high stars and are supposed to be elite playmakers, but are they? Y’all are falling into the UGA rivals says we are great scam. They ain’t great until they are great on Saturdays. The only possible elite playmaker I’m seeing on offense is maybe Shipley, and his playmaking ability is 4-5 yards and a cloud. But he is skilled in that game with breaking tackles and finding seams. DJ has an elite arm, but he’s no elite QB right now. I was encouraged to see DJ run with some authority late yesterday.

Maybe all this supposed offensive talent will show up, but I ain’t holding my breath. Our great runs were because of a few great playmakers surrounded by solid talent development. Right now all I see on offense is potential talent. Maybe they’ll develop. We’ll be good if they do but not great until we find the next Deshaun, Trevor, and ETN, and Mike Williams. Those don’t come along often.

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Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 1:01 PM

Good comments. A good team has to convert a third and two or four and one at some point in time to win a game. We don’t seem to be able to do this now and haven’t been able for years.
To not be able to simply line up under center and take a knee to ice the game seems incomprehensible, especially since there was a fumbled shotgun snap earlier in the game.

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Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 19, 2021, 1:12 PM

Spot on and bingo

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Re: Elliot press quote that is indicative of a bigger issue...


Sep 20, 2021, 5:18 AM

Excellent perspective. Adjustments are part of the game--both in-game and from year to year to fit current players.

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"It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers any more than it is to make sheep ferocious."
--Henry David Thoreau


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