Seahawks go Fisch-ing, Al Nolen ineligible

The rumors are finally confirmed, Jedd Fisch is now officially no longer a member of the Minnesota Golden Gopher Football coaching staff. The 'whiz kid' offensive coordinator is headed back to the NFL to be Pete Carroll's QB coach, where he can mess with the throwing motion of high priced multi-million dollar athletes, instead of kids with scholarships. Jedd we hardly knew ye.

But that's just fine. I said after the Iowa game that Fisch should be gone, and I got my wish (although he wasn't fired). I don't want to sit here and bag on the guy now that he's gone. We all saw what his system produced this year, and the de-evolution of Adam Weber that went with it. A 3rd OC in as many years is, of course, a huge concern. Coach Brew wants his next hire to run the same style offense, based on the infrastructure Fisch had laid down. I don't like this at all, from the perspective of limiting our potential hires. But if it means continuity in recruiting by keeping kids who want to play in a pro-style system. Though winning and stability seem like they'd be far more attractive to the average recruit. Who ever Brewster brings in for this postion, he's GOT to get it right. This hire could conceivably be his cliched 3rd strike if the Gopher offense languishes again in 2010. Early rumor has it that Tim Davis (current O-Line coach and Running Game Coordinator) is one likely candidate. This would certainly help with the continuity issues, and presuming the terminology and hand signaling are kept relatively similar, the transition could be easier on the players.

I give Brewster credit for hiring Ted Roof and his successor Kevin Cosgrove to handle the defensive side of the ball. Roof substantially improved the defense, but then bolted for Auburn (no fault of Brewster), and Cosgrove/Lee continued the progression of the defense. Clearly, Brewster is capable of making good hires. Let's hope he can find the right guy this time around too. If he can't, the development of MarQueis et al is at stake.

And some quick hoops news - starting PG, Al Nolen has been ruled academically ineligible as of last Tuesday (he has appealed his status). Things just keep getting better for the Gopher cagers. Perhaps this will force the team to develop freshman Justin Cobbs a little quicker, and Devoe Joseph will pick up more minutes. What really hurts though, is the loss of Nolen's defense. With a critical game vs. Michigan State coming to The Barn this Saturday, the Gophs need all hands on deck.

Fun times for Gopher Nation.

Fisch to Seahawks?

Apparently the brilliance that was the Gopher offense this year has led to Jed Fisch joining Pete Carroll's staff in Seattle as his QB Coach.

"Jeremy Bates is expected to be the coordinator, Jedd Fisch of Minnesota likely to coach quarterbacks and Alex Gibbs will coach the offensive line and serve as associate head coach."

from this blog: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawksblog/2010797203_coaching_staff_1.html

Can't say I'll miss him particularly, BUT the coordinator position doors continue to spin for our Beloved Maroon-N-Gold.

Wonder who Brew will chase now to be the OC?

Fisch needs to be fired... Brewster needs to stay (for now)

In an effort to pull my good friend 'Just Jake' back from the ledge a bit, I've crafted this semi-counterpoint post to his POV.

We all saw the absolutely awful offensive performance the Gophers had on display Saturday. As putrid as the SDSU game was, this was even worse in some ways, because we knew we couldn't rely on the defense to completely win this game for us. The offense HAD to do something to get us to overcome the apparently overwhelming task of scoring more than 12 points. They didn't. They left our defense out to dry once again, with turnovers, 3 and outs, and poor execution.. How can our offense have become such a liability that I'd rather see us run the ball 3 times and punt, and give our defense a chance to score, than cringe at another turnover?

JJ holds Brewster responsible, as he was the one who hired Jedd Fisch, won't bench Weber, and can't get our WRs consistently involved in the offense. This is fair, but the reality is these are the growing pains we've had to face with hiring a man to run our football program who has had no head coaching experience. Coach Brewster has obviously made his biggest mistakes in his task of hiring effective coordinators. Its been a revolving door for his entire tenure.

But lets be honest about things, these mistakes have primarily been on the offensive side of the ball. His hiring of Ted Roof as defensive coordinator last season was outstanding. Roof improved our defense by leaps and bounds. Roof left for a better opportunity at Auburn after 2008, and that can hardly be blamed on Brewster. His hiring of Cosgrove, and the promotion of Ronnie Lee to co-defensive coordinator seems to have been a solid hire as well. But the offense is another story. The 'wunderkind' Jedd Fisch was brought in to replace Mike Dunbar, and has ties with Brewster from his Denver Broncos days. He also has no experience as a collegiate offensive coordinator. And if you review his credentials, they are pretty slim. Lots of work other under good coaches (NFL), but that's it. That's pretty much what Brewster's resume was coming in too, making it all the more of a blunder. When Brewster hired Mike Dunbar in 2007 to run the offense, I felt good that he was handing the reins of the offense to a sage veteran. This was the right call for a new head coach with no experience. He then 'pulled a Fisch' and hired Everett Withers, which obviously didn't work out. It would appear he has rectified his mistake of hiring an inexperienced coordinator on defense. But he somehow found a way to repeat his mistake on Withers with Fisch. If you believe that this is an unforgivable repeated mistake, then Brewster should be fired, here and now - so that he can't further repeat mistakes. I am not in this camp (and I'll get to why momentarily).

However, Fisch should be terminated no later than the close of whatever bowl game we end up in (and possibly sooner if the right candidate comes along, as we have a month and some change to implement a few components of a new offense). Fisch needs to be let go for 6 simple reasons:

1.) His inability to give the offense any kind of identity.

2.) His complete and utter lack of quality control (stupid penalties, poor execution, etc.).

3.) Adam Weber's regression and messing with his throwing motion.

4.) Ineffective and predictable use of MarQueis Gray (Gray threw what - maybe 10 passes all year?)

5.) Failure to effectively game plan for specific opponents, and find exploitable weaknesses.

6.) Failure to use our biggest weaknesses, and turn them to occasional success (poor pass blocking = runs screen passes)

Now, I realize that it can be tough to run an offense when the O-line doesn't allow for much at all to work, (and for that perhaps Tim Davis should be let go too), and I list these things, knowing full well that Brewster has major culpability in all this. However, he should NOT be fired until at least being allowed to finish the 2010 season for the following reasons:

1.) Recruiting - Brew has only 2 full classes of his players in house now, and only a few contributed this season. By all accounts his upcoming class is solid again. He needs to land this next class in full, and start getting his players on the field in 2010.

2.) His D-coordinator hires. Roof, Cosgrove, and the promotion of Lee were all solid moves. And despite all the seniors on the defense, I think our D can be even better next year with some continuity in coordinators. Tinsley, Cooper, Carter, Edwards, Kirksey, Wilhite, etc. will be excellent players with some more coaching up.

3.) It's too soon - he needs at least one more season to get things turned. Let's be honest - this season isn't a disaster. No it didn't follow the blueprint that we might have envisioned, but we still made a bowl game. Next year is the reason to react if Brewster doesn't get that signature win, or improve the play on the offensive side of the ball. Worst case scenario, he's got 3 talented recruit classes in for the next coaching staff to work with.

Now IF Brewster brings back Fisch, or IF he again hires a completely ineffectual new offensive coordinator for 2010, then all bets are off. There is absolutely no reason that the offense can't be resurrected for next year with a new offensive coordinator, given the players we have at the skill positions. However, I will follow up on this claim, with some hard research to see what other 1st year O-coordinators have had success, and what their situations were. If the offense can't be improved next season, then I'll be calling for Brewster's head as loudly as anyone else at that point.

Just my $0.02. So really, JJ and I are in agreement that 2010 is the year where it all comes to a head. We're just coming at it from different angles - he's placing more blame on Brew now, and I'm displacing it to Fisch for the moment.

Jedd Fisch Is The Key

Heading into a cold, rainy, sloppy mess of a game at Penn State, it is imperative that offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch do everything in his power to establish the run, and control the ball. Between Adam Weber's inconsistent play, the home-field advantage that PSU enjoys, and the inclement weather, the Gophers simply can not afford to fall behind early, or by more than a touchdown or ten points. The much-maligned Gopher offensive line has begun to play better as of late, leading the way to 2 strong rushing performances at Northwestern and home against Purdue. After averaging roughly 180 yards rushing in those 2 games, we must see kid genius Fisch stick to a steady diet of runs, be it sweeps to the edge utilizing Whaley's speed, or possible straight dives utilizing Bennett's drive and power as the largest of the 3 backs. Of course, that same line managed all of 4 first downs rushing and 57 yards total on the ground home against a stout Wisconsin front. Much like the arrogant Madison squad, the PSU defense boasts a stout defensive line, and a supposedly weak secondary. Unlike the Wisconsin game, the weather (and Adam Weber's JaMarcus Russell-like accuracy) most likely will not allow us to take advantage of the PSU secondary.

Fisch must mix it up as well, and see if some called MarQueis Gray scrambles or reverses to one of our tight ends would work. In particular, I remember sophomore Eric Lair showing some speed and athleticism when called upon to do so vs. Wisconsin. Fisch has to keep pounding the ball from a variety of formations, and can't fall in love with having Weber throw out of the gun, even if we get in an early hole. This is exactly the type of game where we need to see every single athlete we have being utilized and seeing what shakes out. We are a heavy dog, and have to play loose to get after this team.

That being said, the PSU offense boasts a bevy of weapons the likes of which the Gophers haven't seen since the Cal game. The Lions are 23rd in the nation in total offense, with a nice balance between the run and the pass. Of course, piling up 31 points on Akron and Temple, and 52 on Eastern Illinois boosts those numbers. Hopefully our D can slow the Nittany Lion attack a bit more than Illinois did in surrendering 35 points.

If, and it is a huge IF, our D/ST can keep the Nittany Lions under 28 points, and IF our offense can consistently move the chains and put some points up on the board, we can look for Brew's first signature win. To do that, we need to see Bandana Man's Man-Crush Troy Stoudamire continue his unbelievable return year by breaking one (or two!) to put up some quick td's.

Jedd Fisch, please, please stay with the rushing attack and keep the PSU offense off the field.