French on the Bench Offensive Coordinator Rant

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Okay, I thought last night I had finally reached my boiling. Pep Hamilton withdraws, which you can't blame him for if he is being offered the Forty Niners OC position when/if Greg Roman takes the Jacksonville job. At the same, the failure to hire Hamilton is a perfect case study in not making the coaching change immediately after the final regular season game. Every single person that can whisper seems to think this has been in the works for a long time, and by waiting until the NFL coaching carousel charged up while allowing his current staff to find new homes Frank screwed the pooch big time.

Then, Chuck "Third and Long" became the cause of upping my blood pressure, or it is David Teel trolling the hell out of Hokie nation. No matter what the numbers say about Chuck Long, Oklahoma's fan base was eager for him to head out of town, and he ran a hodge podge system where sometimes they wanted to be a power running team, but most of the time they featured a ton of screens and the reputation for not being able to dominate the front seven in big games.

A second name came to the front today, former Auburn OC Scot Loeffler. Loeffler had an impressive track record of adjusting his offensive system to fit personnel, but he was an abject failure at Auburn, but the system he has spent most of the time teaching is a single-wing based spread that features the quarterback as a primary power runner.

The third name, mention by Blacksburg radio host Kyle Bailey, is Redskins quarterbacks coach Matt Lafleur. While he might be a hot property based on the Redskins success with the read option and the pistol, his offense is grounded in the one back stretch zone play made famous by Mike Shannahan in Denver.

Now, I think all of us can debate which guy is the best coordinator, but the quality of the candidates isn't what has me so upset. If you review all the resumes of the rumored names, one thing stands out. EVERY SINGLE ONE RUNS A WILDLY DIFFERENT OFFENSIVE SYSTEM, WITH HUGE VARIENCES IN FUNDAMENTALS AND SKILLSETS REQUIRED FOR SUCCESS. Trey Edmunds would be ideal in a power I running offense, but is the best fit for Long's odd spread system. JC Coleman is the type of scatback that was utilized in Auburn and Rich Rod's system at WVU/Michigan, and Logan has the build to be the power runner in Loeffler's Florida HUHN system. Drew Harris is an ideal fit for Lafleur's one back zone stretch offense, but Logan Thomas is a horrible fit for the bootleg based play action part of the scheme. The offensive line is would need a crash course in each concept. To me, this clearly means that the decision maker (Frank Beamer) isn't sure of what he wants, and the only way this system change works is if the new offensive staff has full playcalling autonomy and coaches that believe in the system.

My friends, something is rotten in the air of Denmark. The leaking of so many potential candidates names are being floated to measure public reaction. The variety of systems suggest that Beamer isn't sure of what he wants. None of these hints are the action of someone who won't hedge their bets if the experiment is working as well as we hope by October of next season. But, without bringing in a strong, sound offensive mind that Beamer will give autonomy to and support in the same manner as he has with Bud Foster, the Hokies are doomed to be at best a regional power, and at worst a middling team in the ACC Coastal.

Thank you for the forum.