I really believe that its Mike Debord. Tom Allen is fine as a head coach. Our roster is talented. But Mike Debord is flat out awful. If his offense doesnt finish in the top 7 of the Big Ten, Allen needs to send him out immediately. Watch how good Marylands offense will be this year with Matt Canada, a guy that we could've easily got to come back here.
Our biggest issue.
- Thread starter fkfootball
- Start date
Debord hasn't got a fair shot yet. If you want others to come here you don't fire people after one year when they didn't even have many tools to work with. I agree this year will tell the tale and if the offense doesn't click then I think Allen will pull the trigger. Allen isn't one to let things go on very long if they aren't working.
Matt Canada and Al Borges must be in a competition for most stops in a career. Man, that guy gets around.
The play calling last year looked bad,,,,,,,,really bad. I'm hoping that it was Lagow, the WR injuries, and a young OL that made DeBord look bad, and I think there's a decent chance that things improve significantly this year.
Yep, other than the problems with the offensive line, the slowest quarterback ever and a less than impressive running game, I blame everything else on DeBord.
If one believes in fairness, and hopefully most of IU fans do, then DeBord can truly only be judged after this season. No need to go thru the litany of differences, but think we all agree the tools in the shed look a lot different and better going into this season than compared to last year. S&C coaches starting in January to begin with, and then sorry, but all 3 QB's this year will have more mobility than Lagow ever could have.
If we totally sputter on offense this year, I might tend to agree, but I don't think that will be the case and I also don't think he's lasted as long as he has without some level of competency. Let a full season finish and then make the assessment.
If we totally sputter on offense this year, I might tend to agree, but I don't think that will be the case and I also don't think he's lasted as long as he has without some level of competency. Let a full season finish and then make the assessment.
To me the biggest thing that shaped playcalling was lack of a consistent run game, which I think was the result of an Oline deficit. When you are constantly in 3rd and long because the run game is weak, you aren't extending drives and don't have many chances to get creative with the playbook.
Under DeBord, Tennessee set school records in 2016 for points and touchdowns. I know what you're going to say: Tennessee had Joshua Dobbs and a host of talented players on O. My response is this: If you're going to dismiss an OC's record-setting season by arguing he was simply the beneficiary of talented players, you can't write off an OC after one disappointing season with banged up and inexperienced players.
If we sputter on offense again this season then, yes, it may be time for CTA to reevaluate the OC position. But let's give DeBord a fair chance and let the season play out. Personally, I think IU's offense is going to be explosive. The OL will be one of our strengths, I believe, and with the speed gains that have made (see the other thread that's currently running that talks about S&C), plus a number of very talented players at skill positions, I expect to see our guys flying into the end zone.
Enh . . . our biggest problem is all the unsupported negativity coming from a couple of posters on this board . . . .
I agree. I think we need to wait for more precincts to close before projecting the outcome of DeBord's ability to lead the offense. He has a lot at his disposal this year so this might be a better indication of what he can achieve.
Don't forget that our leading rusher was a true freshman that was hurt a couple of times. The other guys were banged up as well.
You could be right but I'm in the jury still out camp on Debord and here's why:.
- Senior QB couldn't deliver - Freshman (who was not ready) held his own until injury - Had to develop two playbooks - Total shit show
- O-Line injuries
- Running back injuries
- New system
- Has history of success at other schools
Goo Hoosiers!
Much of the negative feelings with DeBord have infiltrated from Mich and Tenn fans that are upset that he wasn't scoring 50+ points a game
I think the bigger concerns last year were with the OL Coach and the strength and conditioning staff. One of those concerns has been remedies and the other needs their unit to show marked improvement IMO. I'm not saying injuries were not a significant factor, but you would be hard pressed to find a lineman who looked better in 2017 than 2016. DeBord could have been better, but I don't think he was the issue (unless he called those back to back QB draws at MSU.)
There’s also no indication they oline would have improved had Frey stayed either. None of the oline has really established themselves as truly reliable BT players the year before. I think Cronk and Martin were serviceable as young players, but were helped significantly by the presence of Feeney. Knight spent most of last year with nagging injuries, and other than that, no oline men had contributed in any meaningful way to judge improvement year to year.
Debord was perfectly fine at Michigan. So fine, they hired him twice. The guys set single season records for offense at Tennessee.
Hmmm....Could it be that we hired him as a offensive coordinator and not some miracle worker?
I mean, our offensive line was awful. We had an inmobile quarterback. We had an inaccurate quarterback. We have our 1A wide receiver go down in the first game. We try to run the ball and gain a half an inch.
Given some decent personnel, Debord has proven that he does just fine.
Hmmm....Could it be that we hired him as a offensive coordinator and not some miracle worker?
I mean, our offensive line was awful. We had an inmobile quarterback. We had an inaccurate quarterback. We have our 1A wide receiver go down in the first game. We try to run the ball and gain a half an inch.
Given some decent personnel, Debord has proven that he does just fine.
Not to mention injuries to our top QB, RB, WR, kick returner, and defender (the latter three season ending).
Any OC has to have somebody to give it/throw it to and the time to do it.
