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Sheridan and the mistakes

MMcCormick

Sophomore
Dec 7, 2004
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One thing that has always amazed me is how good coaches give players the confidence to make plays and how bad coaches have constant mistakes that kill their teams performance. I don't have an issue with Sheridan's play calling, but the one characteristic of his offense is constant mistakes. It's been that way since day 1 with him. Six drops, procedure calls, three interceptions, poorly thrown passes, bobbled snaps, a fumble, missing blocking assignments. His offense runs the whole gamut of mistakes you can make. An all conference quarterback who completed twenty passes in a row under Deboer suddenly can't throw the ball. This is not new. The game in which he got injured last year he could not it the broad side of a barn. It's not just the injuries. It's confidence. An all conference receiver suddenly can't catch the ball. It's confidence. As much as I'd like to blame Penix (and he's been terrible), I am afraid its just symptomatic of the greater issue of a coordinator who players underperform under because he's offenses are simply mistake prone, and not well executed.
 
Your point is well taken. We were spoiled by Deboer and the wonderful things he did with this offense. Not the kind of coach IU can usually get and we were lucky to have him for one year, in a way, but that makes Sheridan look all the worse Now.

You are right about how many areas the offense is struggling in and it will be interesting to see if NS can straighten any of it out the rest of the way, and if not will CTA make a change at the end of the year.
 
One thing that has always amazed me is how good coaches give players the confidence to make plays and how bad coaches have constant mistakes that kill their teams performance. I don't have an issue with Sheridan's play calling, but the one characteristic of his offense is constant mistakes. It's been that way since day 1 with him. Six drops, procedure calls, three interceptions, poorly thrown passes, bobbled snaps, a fumble, missing blocking assignments. His offense runs the whole gamut of mistakes you can make. An all conference quarterback who completed twenty passes in a row under Deboer suddenly can't throw the ball. This is not new. The game in which he got injured last year he could not it the broad side of a barn. It's not just the injuries. It's confidence. An all conference receiver suddenly can't catch the ball. It's confidence. As much as I'd like to blame Penix (and he's been terrible), I am afraid its just symptomatic of the greater issue of a coordinator who players underperform under because he's offenses are simply mistake prone, and not well executed.

How is Sheridan responsible for a player dropping passes, fumbling a ball, committing a penalty or getting injured?

This is on a new level.
 
How is Sheridan responsible for a player dropping passes, fumbling a ball, committing a penalty or getting injured?

This is on a new level.
Because he's running the drills, and preparing the team. And the coaches who are not good have players that make all of those mistakes. The offense is 115th out 130 teams. Passing efficiency is 119th. Turnovers is 120th. If there was a stat for dropped passes he'd be last in that too. Good coaches teach their players to concentrate and execute at a higher level. He doesn't.
 
Ahhhh, that explains it.
I thought Sheridan called a good game, but still a little too predictable on first down. I liked how he involved Matthews and the tight ends. Fumble and very ill-advised throws were not on him,
 
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I thought Sheridan called a good game, but still a little too predictable on first down. I liked how he involved Matthews and the tight ends. Fumble and very ill-advised throws were not on him,
Kinda agree with you here. Sheridan calling of the game wasn't all bad. Along with the fumble and a couple of really bad interceptions we also had a few dropped balls that would have led to huge plays. Sure Sheridan is responsible for the offense but he put guys in the position to make plays which is about all he can do. Players gotsa make plays at the end of the day.

We do however seem to be lacking in overall execution and this falls at his feet predominantly.
 
About the only part of all those maladies that can be truely laid at Sheridans feet is the QB play... That's his position of responsibility...

Looks to me like everyone just assumed that Mike would continue to get better in spite of missing Spring, part of Summer, and while only a taking few Live snaps during Fall camp... It doesn't work like that.

Having teammates not get open and when they do, drop the passes thrown to them, doesn't help much either...
 
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About the only part of all those maladies that can be truely laid at Sheridans feet is the QB play... That's his position of responsibility...

Looks to me like everyone just assumed that Mike would continue to get better in spite of missing Spring, part of Summer, and while only a taking few Live snaps during Fall camp... It doesn't work like that.

Having teammates not get open and when they do, drop the passes thrown to them, doesn't help much either...
Yeah, there’s plenty of blame to go around on the players side. There were more successful plays yesterday, but all too often it seems we’re seeing the OL blocking poorly, and if they make their blocks, MP is off target significantly, and if he throws a gem the WR stone hands it. Can’t get everyone in sync.
 
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Because he's running the drills, and preparing the team. And the coaches who are not good have players that make all of those mistakes. The offense is 115th out 130 teams. Passing efficiency is 119th. Turnovers is 120th. If there was a stat for dropped passes he'd be last in that too. Good coaches teach their players to concentrate and execute at a higher level. He doesn't.
Sorry but under that logic Heard is a big cause of the problem ame McCollough shouldn’t have trusted Baldwin down there.
The further I get from game, more I agree we had THREE times inside 10 yard line! The OL was playing during that time and Sheridan was the OC. Penix didn’t seem to play snap well or the sneak well, and Penix threw a bad INT in the end zone. Then Baldwin fumbles on the 4!

if we convert 2 of those 3, it’s a tie game or more likely we win bc the first TD would have had us up 21-0. (And second INT before half cuts 3 more points from Cinci)

The kick off return for a TD should not be minimized either! That was a terrible gut punch!
Those were all things not technically the “OC’s fault.”
 
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Last year, IU had 34 penalties called against them. Only Minnesota has less.

Position coaches teach fundamentals in practice.

Penix survived several unblocked defenders yesterday.

Sheridan called 2 well-timed reverses and a well-timed draw. And somebody failed to properly game situation and called a poor QB sneak.

IMO Penix is still not 100% back, even though he is 100% physically healed. He still has to settle back into game-speed reading and game-speed throwing mechanics, now while throwing to new guys like Matthews and Buckley, who are also not used to playing with Penix.

Unless he is hurt, Penix the QB. If you change now, you blow up the season.
 
Yeah, there’s plenty of blame to go around on the players side. There were more successful plays yesterday, but all too often it seems we’re seeing the OL blocking poorly, and if they make their blocks, MP is off target significantly, and if he throws a gem the WR stone hands it. Can’t get everyone in sync.
He threw some nice passes, but he is not the same player we saw earlier in his IU career. He looks tentative, he's making poor decisions and too many of his throws are way off the mark.

I mentioned this in another thread and I'll say it again here. The kid has had three (3) season-ending injuries, followed by surgical repairs and arduous rehab. That has to be mentally exhausting and anxiety-inducing. It's almost as though he now has the football equivalent of the yips or twisties. I feel for the kid, an enormous talent who's been through a lot. Obviously we're all on the outside looking in, but I wonder if some time away from the game might help.
 
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Because he's running the drills, and preparing the team. And the coaches who are not good have players that make all of those mistakes. The offense is 115th out 130 teams. Passing efficiency is 119th. Turnovers is 120th. If there was a stat for dropped passes he'd be last in that too. Good coaches teach their players to concentrate and execute at a higher level. He doesn't.

This might be the dumbest take I've read in a long time

Sheridan now doesn't coach to concentrate and execute at a high level? You really don't believe that, do you?

You may not know this, but the Baldwin fumble, if we're being 100% with each other, and we're blaming coaches, is on coach DMac. That's a drill that he would run, not Sheridan, who is the QB coach, but you would know that already.

And those dropped passes, that would be on coach Heard, since he would run the receiver drills, since you know, he's the receiver coach, not Sheridan, who again, is the qb coach, and doesn't tell the running back coach nor receiver coach what drills to run.

Sheridan isn't the only coach that is preparing these guys, so again, how is his fault that guys are fumbling, dropping passes, committing penalties and getting hurt?
 
Sorry but under that logic Heard is a big cause of the problem ame McCollough shouldn’t have trusted Baldwin down there.
The further I get from game, more I agree we had THREE times inside 10 yard line! The OL was playing during that time and Sheridan was the OC. Penix didn’t seem to play snap well or the sneak well, and Penix threw a bad INT in the end zone. Then Baldwin fumbles on the 4!

if we convert 2 of those 3, it’s a tie game or more likely we win bc the first TD would have had us up 21-0. (And second INT before half cuts 3 more points from Cinci)

The kick off return for a TD should not be minimized either! That was a terrible gut punch!
Those were all things not technically the “OC’s fault.”
The coordinator coaches the position coaches. When Deboer was coordinator, there were hardly any dropped balls, the timing on the routes was better, and it didn't matter who the quarterback was Penix or Ramsey, they both looked great. Coordinators matter, and a bad one effects the entire system. We have gone from top ten in pass efficiency to 119th under Sheridan.
 
This might be the dumbest take I've read in a long time

Sheridan now doesn't coach to concentrate and execute at a high level? You really don't believe that, do you?

You may not know this, but the Baldwin fumble, if we're being 100% with each other, and we're blaming coaches, is on coach DMac. That's a drill that he would run, not Sheridan, who is the QB coach, but you would know that already.

And those dropped passes, that would be on coach Heard, since he would run the receiver drills, since you know, he's the receiver coach, not Sheridan, who again, is the qb coach, and doesn't tell the running back coach nor receiver coach what drills to run.

Sheridan isn't the only coach that is preparing these guys, so again, how is his fault that guys are fumbling, dropping passes, committing penalties and getting hurt?
If it's not the coordinators fault then explain to me why there have been so many more drops, turnovers, penalties, and bad throws under Sheridan than Deboer. The line coach, and receivers coaches were the same. It's the difference from being a well oiled machine where players have confidence in what they are doing, to being a mistake prone calamity where good players lose confidence and begin to make more mistakes.
 
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The coordinator coaches the position coaches. When Deboer was coordinator, there were hardly any dropped balls, the timing on the routes was better, and it didn't matter who the quarterback was Penix or Ramsey, they both looked great. Coordinators matter, and a bad one effects the entire system. We have gone from top ten in pass efficiency to 119th under Sheridan.
DeBoer beat UCLA last night.

If I’m USC, I hire him TODAY.
 
I’m watching the Colts right now and it’s like watching Sheridan’s O. Run on first down then fight for something good to happen on the next two plays against a D that knows you have to pass. I don’t blame him for all the problems but he is predictable. How many passes are over the middle behind the LBs compared to passes on the outside? Except for the passes on the out routes everything seems to be vertical. How often have you seen the slip screens? He has a lot of options but doesn’t use them. IMO
 
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The coordinator coaches the position coaches. When Deboer was coordinator, there were hardly any dropped balls, the timing on the routes was better, and it didn't matter who the quarterback was Penix or Ramsey, they both looked great. Coordinators matter, and a bad one effects the entire system. We have gone from top ten in pass efficiency to 119th under Sheridan.

Players sometimes need to make plays. It wasn't Sheridan that fumbled at the 2. It wasn't Sheridan that threw the pick in the endzone. It wasn't Sheridan that drops passes. That's not things Nick Sheridan is teaching these kids, and the only one that he has direct control over is the picks, because he is the position coach.

The team doesn't go for the fourth and one if Tom Allen doesn't want to. Sheridan isn't overruling the head coach, and if you think he is, you are crazy.

Again, you made the claim that it Sheridan's fault for the fumbles, injuries, penalties and dropped passes. You have yet to explain how it's his fault considering this is his second year and not his first considering DeBoer hasn't been here in over 2 years now.
 
One thing that has always amazed me is how good coaches give players the confidence to make plays and how bad coaches have constant mistakes that kill their teams performance. I don't have an issue with Sheridan's play calling, but the one characteristic of his offense is constant mistakes. It's been that way since day 1 with him. Six drops, procedure calls, three interceptions, poorly thrown passes, bobbled snaps, a fumble, missing blocking assignments. His offense runs the whole gamut of mistakes you can make. An all conference quarterback who completed twenty passes in a row under Deboer suddenly can't throw the ball. This is not new. The game in which he got injured last year he could not it the broad side of a barn. It's not just the injuries. It's confidence. An all conference receiver suddenly can't catch the ball. It's confidence. As much as I'd like to blame Penix (and he's been terrible), I am afraid its just symptomatic of the greater issue of a coordinator who players underperform under because he's offenses are simply mistake prone, and not well executed.
Quarteback certainly struggling but I am more concerned about the lack of open receivers
 
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I do think there is an element of truth in this in that a player’s psyche has a lot to do with their athletic performance, and some coaches and programs are better at instilling confidence in their players than others. Two coaches can teach the same skills and run the same drills but get very different results on the field from players of equal physical ability.

I’m not ready to say one coach is causing this but the phenomenon can’t be denied, and has rarely worked in IUs favor.
 
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I thought Sheridan called a good game, but still a little too predictable on first down. I liked how he involved Matthews and the tight ends. Fumble and very ill-advised throws were not on him,
One thing you have to know is that there are some folks on this board will blame coaches if a player doesn’t tie his shoe correctly.
 
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