Posters want down grade DW in any way they can, 82 Hoosier is one of the posters doing just that. Dexter had no time in practice with #1s before getting the nod to start and coach Bell didn't do him any favors calling pass plays to fit his skills although in the overtime against MSU Bell seemed to find the pass plays Dexter was good at executing. Now I agree that with Jackson and Lowry [Sorsby if he improves dramatically, Dexter coming to take over the offense in 2024 is unlikely.
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DW appears to be a very high potential player and I dearly hope his recovery allows him to reach that potential. IU is due some good breaks...past due.
1. Play your No. 2 regularly. You WILL need him. He’s NEEDS to know that up front. He NEEDS to play IN GAMES to get and stay ready. Not an “if.” Not a “maybe.” Not a BS old saw line about “if you have 2 you Don’ have one.” Tell the kid and his family and his team - “HERE, the No. 2 plays. Every player - be ready For that - every game.” It’s a whole new ball game, and if you get stuck with a guy with 0 reps when you need a player, it’s your own fault. Going to the portal after the season doesn’t help you today.
2. Don’t play hurt knees as soon as the doctors say they can play. “Well” in the office does not equal “well” on the field.
3. Find out before you sign him whether a kid will quit if he is not No. 1, or work harder to make himself and his No. 1 and his team better. At least make him say it once. Then repeat No. 1. Also find out if your No. 1 believes it is part of his job to make No. 2 good enough to win.
Mantra over.
OMMMMMM.
2. Don’t play hurt knees as soon as the doctors say they can play. “Well” in the office does not equal “well” on the field.
3. Find out before you sign him whether a kid will quit if he is not No. 1, or work harder to make himself and his No. 1 and his team better. At least make him say it once. Then repeat No. 1. Also find out if your No. 1 believes it is part of his job to make No. 2 good enough to win.
Mantra over.
OMMMMMM.
The challenge is that playing the #2 in games disrupts the game planning, both on game day and in practice (where time is limited). It’s a great goal to have but it’s much more difficult to execute than people understand. If bringing in the #2 jeopardizes a win, no one will support that. And snaps during games limit the amount of rep time for others, and that can be a big negative to the development of the team.
As for finding out in advance whether kids will quit, competitive people really don’t think that way. They want a chance to win the job, and plenty of things can intervene to blur those opportunities. No one will say they’ll leave if they don’t win the job, but plenty will do so if they don’t feel they've been given a fair chance to compete to win the job.
That’s the old school - and it will not work anymore.
How about we make the opposing DC try and practice 2 game plans to face our 1 and 2?
Every team is and must be new and re-created every year. Gotta deal with it. Gotta do it faster and better or die. Your chances of keeping a good 2 without playing them is portal x zero squared. So you must adapt. You practice your 1 and 2 and your varying offensive schemes CONSTANTLY in Spring and Fall and summer film so when you need to switch a game plan, even mid-game, you can. It ain’t rocket surgery. You tell your guys they have to be able to run it ALL, and they will. “Know the playbook” and game plan gets easier.
Plus, we did OK having to juggle with Penix and Ramsey - who were completely different players. follow Penix up with a newbie who has not taken a game snap and it’s a disaster.
My rule - No. 2 goes when I say so. Might start him and freak out the opposing DC and while he is scrambling to grab his “other plan” send in the 1 on second series. Maybe play the 2 on series 3, or the first possession of the second quarter - whatever gets him GAME EXPERIENCE, with the exception that anybody who scores stays in for the next possession. Anybody who goes three and out sits the next possession.
If you tell me “we can’t game plan and win with our 2 - we’re limited to preparing Plan 1 and QB 1 - then get ready for a lot of 2-10. Because until we can recruit the ELITE bodies, No. 1 is getting hurt every season at some point.
As long as you’re good with sending your #1 and #2 out far less prepared, sounds good. DC’s would be thrilled to go against less prepared starters, which is what your approach would produce. It’s why no coaches, anywhere, advocate that kind of approach.
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I was not intending to downgrade Dexter. But his body of work was so small opposing teams could not even scout him. If and when he gets healthy he might end up being an outstanding quarterback. It's just too early to tell.
In fact there might be an outstanding quarterback over with the wide receivers. I think every quarterback that lined up to take snaps last year never got a fair shot due to our porous offensive line. And that's because Hiller was such a lousy coach. And he was there because Tom Allen didn't do his job when he should have fired him at the end of the prior year. It all starts at the top.
The offense with Williams was the kind coach Allen wanted but with more passing. I hope we see the misdirection plays, counter plays and misdirection passing. Dropping back and just pass the ball doesn't work for IU in the B1G unless there is a big running game with misdirection plays..
Absolutely. Harry Gonso & B-I-G gang paved the way for RPO at Indiana back in the 60's & this formula still today remains Indiana's pathway to success.
We ran a dialed down version of our offense so that Williams wouldn’t be overwhelmed, given his lack of practice and prep. We knew he wasn’t going to throw much because he simply wasn’t ready to do that. We‘ll be running the same run first / tempo spread next Fall. It’s always been the plan of Coaches Allen and Bell.
In 1967, we’re overwhelmingly a running team (75% / 25% run to pass).. Gonso Was an under 50% passer, and he likely had more rushing attempts than passing ones. Our #2 quarterback was our starting tailback. It wasn’t an RPO . . . It was an R.
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Not what I said - I said prepare them both and make sure No. 2 gets some game snaps.
"Far less prepared" my hiney. Just stop.
If your kids know your offense, they can game plan and change game plan too. Stop selling them so short.
It ain't rocket surgery. It's football.
I'm good with #2 coming in for a series or two just to get them some reps, but the idea is to recruit our qbs for our system so we don't have to change up our offense if our qbs get hurt so not sure how playing multiple quarterbacks makes a lot of sense.
Last season initially both 1 and 2 were limited option QBs but only one played after an early coaches decision (despite the incorrect claim here that the decision was not made and that we would see A lot of both).
Given our OL situation, the chance of injury was high so many agreed with you that #2 should see some series to prepare for the inevitable. It was a common discussion at home games.
The DW Situation inexcusable as all things consume was the best solution day one.
Preparing them both means the starter gets prepared less. That’s how it works. And if you want the #2 to get meaningful snaps, you can’t give him token reps in practice. Again, that’s how it works. Your starter would be far less prepared, no matter what your hiney is telling you.
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I don't advocate for rotating QBs, but every game but a few, get to the point of being well ahead or out of touch when #2 can come in for experience. I would also sub for a series or two if the starter is ineffectual for several series let #2 come in and let the starter see the game from a different perspective. Also, let #2 run the offense not just hand the ball off.
I'd do my very best to get the first 4 QB's significant snaps at some point in the first 4 games because it's a historical certainty that we will need All of them at some point in the next 8 games...
Throwing guys out there with no game experience at all is simply "hoping" they'll respond and just relying on hope is not a good plan..
With our history and OL issues, this is common sense.
I think people are missing how good the OL can be with proper coaching as I have pointed out how our good OL our incoming OL played as freshmen. The longer they stayed with Hiller's coaching the worse they performed. We may be somewhat disappointed this season but I doubt it. I have no doubt over the next couple of years the OL will improve a lot with better recruits coming in.
Do you recall when Bostad last coached in a run first / tempo spread attack that Coaches Allen and Bell want to run?
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Well, it can't get much worse lol.
I am with you that there should be material improvement this season, ramping up as new players are brought in. The other aspect most of us agree on is that a second QB should have at least some mop up series to get a level of comfort and get the #1 out of harms way. TA did not do that last season and when the bell rang...it showed.
By strategically playing other QBs, you also find out which QB is a gamer that can help your team out.
I get it, and i know it is not real games, but that is what months of practice are for.
I would like to see Allen recruit to a QB type and stick with it. I've followed Indiana since the middle 80's, and it is clear to me that they're best served with a dual threat QB.
Allen's recruiting approach should constantly reflect this fact. Hell, Ohio State has moved to this philosophy. A kid that has the ability to make something happen with his feet AND arm, is what we need.
It is frustrating that TA decided to start Bazelak over Dexter. If Allen can not make the correct decisions on his starting personnel, he will soon be fired.
Allen's recruiting approach should constantly reflect this fact. Hell, Ohio State has moved to this philosophy. A kid that has the ability to make something happen with his feet AND arm, is what we need.
It is frustrating that TA decided to start Bazelak over Dexter. If Allen can not make the correct decisions on his starting personnel, he will soon be fired.
In fairness, DW had been injured and hadn’t played or practiced much since high school. I get that fans see a game and a half and want to anoint him as the next great player, even as they don’t understand practice and prep and gameplanning, all of which goes on without their ”appreciation”. Our single biggest issue at quarterback and most position groups is obvious: A lack of talent, something they realize and are trying to address.
#1 never is unprepared due to lack of reps, unless he suddenly becomes #1 and didn't get reps when he was #2 or 3.
different QBs should get reps, and at full speed with contact, because that's the only, i repeat ONLY, way you can credibly evaluate who should be 1, 2, and 3.
not all practice needs to be full speed full contact, but enough to credibly evaluate different QBs with different skill sets, does.
i railed on this here all last spring and summer, and in past yrs.
by far our highest ceiling QB languished at 3 all yr because the coaching staff never properly vetted our QB room, stubbornly refused to rethink things no matter how much that policy totally failed, and went solely on who threw the prettiest ball in drills.
and it flushed the entire yr down the drain, on top of being very unfair.
mistakes happen.
"stubborn" is the refusal to correct them, or even try to, which is why "stubborn" is among the worst traits any leader can have.
Once the season starts, the #1 gets the vast majority of reps in high school, college and the pros. Limited practice time makes that essential, and it’s why you see coaches stick with their #1 (and the rest of the starters) even after games are safely won. It’s additional reps that are the most valuable, and this is how you get them. The key is to recruit better talent at the position of you don’t want big drop offs when guys get hurt. We haven’t been able to get that done.
You are right about practice but unfortunately some coaches don't evaluate talent in different ways the way a game would. The evaluation of QB talent is one of my big concerns about coach Bell. I hope he shows this year that it is different than what I think right now.
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