I get that we recruited to play a certain type of offense but why can’t we throw past the first down marker on 3rd and 6 instead of throwing short or running up the middle? WTF? I thought Natkin had some offensive imagination
Why does our play calling suck so bad?
- Thread starter Miners1991
- Start date
Natkin is flopping and failing in this "audition" for a play calling job, his special teams unit is also piss poorly coached. Way past time to clean house, horrible offensive coaching and philosophy. And Still five sh*t shows still left in the season too....
How many times are we going to throw short to the TE on 3rd down? On the 3rd and 3, we threw a 1 yard pass to Lucero. The next possession, 3rd and 10, and we threw a 5 yard pass to Lucero. Lucero appears to be our first option on these routes, yet we never even get him to the first down marker. Is our philosophy to intentionally have our TE run 3rd down routes at half of the yardage that we need?
The playcalling is awful. But thebplays that the coaches installed over the years suck a fat one too. It’s just a bunch of dives and rollouts with short routes. None of it seems made to produce big plays.
The sad thing is the defense has really stepped up these last couple of weeks.
With bye week next weekend maybe Price can take over as OC and breath some life into this awful offense. Nothing to lose.
I can’t imagine he would be running the route incorrectly. He has been running the route for weeks. This pass game is based on safe/short routes. How about you have them run down the field and challenge the defenders as opposed to running towards the sideline?
I'm more a fan of Josh Weeks. Hated seeing him get injured after that first down play. Hope to see him back late this season.
Natkin was given special teams and struggled from the get go the next game after Kug gave him the position to coach special teams and Kug set him up to fail from the get go. The special teams problems were obvious has heck: Kug used the reserves (unless they were going pro like Jones was used to show his S.T. skills to NFL scouts); whereas, many coaches use their best for special teams because it can turn the momentum of a game over to the opponent within a few seconds. Kug hated kickers and special teams and this was one of many major reasons for his downfall.
How about it doesn't matter the playcalling because we just don't have the talent?
Let's not kid ourselves. UTEP isn't all of a sudden going to start pulling in a higher level of athlete/football player. That's why it's going to take a head coach with a vision and belief that he can turn this thing around. He's gonna have to do it with who he already has and he's going to have to maximize the potential that is here. Something Kugler never even scratched the surface in doing. It isn't going to be easy, but one might be amazed at how much heart can make up for lack of talent.
What I'm saying is that he needs better sense of where he is on the field. If the play calls for 5 yards for a first down and he runs 4 yards, then it has nothing to do with play calling. I've seen way to many receivers not run routes correctly. We as a fans have no clue, it happens alot.
Right now it will damn near be. If you are a 3* kid and you have offers from UTEP, UTSA and say UNT, who is the least desirable of the three right now? It ain't UTSA and it ain't UNT...and neither of those schools are pulling in many 3 star recruits. So impossible? No. Improbable? Highly.
"I understand you've spoken to a few other schools. Yes, they had better records last season, but they're set at your position. Here you'll have the opportunity to start as a freshman and talent like yours wil be what we'll build our upcoming success around..."
"Thanks coach. I appreciate the interest you've shown in me during the recruiting process. I have a strong belief in my ability to make a difference at this level and possibly even start as a freshman. I know I have a tough decision ahead of me, however your 0-12 record has helped me narrow it down to just two...UNT and UTSA."
A decade ago we had a much better chance of recruiting 3 star players from Texas. UTSA didn’t have a football team. Texas St played FCS ball. UNT was the lone Texas team in a much weaker Sun Belt league. Now all three of those teams are in equal conference footing. UH and SMU play in a league that has a much better tv presence and perception.
A lot of odds are stacked against us such as losing record and distance. That’s why we can’t hire some up and coming OC/DC. We need to grab the bull by the horns and hire a big time football coach. A Freeze, Dykes, Nutt someone who is well known. We need to get the fanbase excited and use our only leverage we have over the other CUSA/Sun Belt Texas schools.
“If you come to UTEP not only will you play for a proven recognized coach you’ll also have a full stadium with 40-50 thousand in attendance.”
It’s interesting all the buzz the UNT vs UTSA game generated. Some writers were calling it the biggest conference game in North Texas history. All that commotion for only 23,000+ to show up. Same with UTSA they have closed the upper bowl reducing their overall capacity to around 37-39k. Not that’s it needed. Their big game vs Southern Miss two weeks ago only drew 23,500. For two teams with winning records and expectations of winning the West title it’s not that impressive.
We need another Mike Price hiring boost like we had in 2004. It’s our only chance to compete against the other Texas schools of our caliber.
A lot of odds are stacked against us such as losing record and distance. That’s why we can’t hire some up and coming OC/DC. We need to grab the bull by the horns and hire a big time football coach. A Freeze, Dykes, Nutt someone who is well known. We need to get the fanbase excited and use our only leverage we have over the other CUSA/Sun Belt Texas schools.
“If you come to UTEP not only will you play for a proven recognized coach you’ll also have a full stadium with 40-50 thousand in attendance.”
It’s interesting all the buzz the UNT vs UTSA game generated. Some writers were calling it the biggest conference game in North Texas history. All that commotion for only 23,000+ to show up. Same with UTSA they have closed the upper bowl reducing their overall capacity to around 37-39k. Not that’s it needed. Their big game vs Southern Miss two weeks ago only drew 23,500. For two teams with winning records and expectations of winning the West title it’s not that impressive.
We need another Mike Price hiring boost like we had in 2004. It’s our only chance to compete against the other Texas schools of our caliber.
Let's be reasonable. Kugler was on par saying the ranking was rather bogus and had proof to back it up. Jones was a three star out of Burgles High and Kareem Hunt was not even ranked but had solid offers from P5 schools and now both are hot NFL rookies. He mentioned how Boise recruited NorCal big time but the players were unranked from small school in that region.
A rivals big wig came on this site a few years ago and mentioned how the rating system is subjective to stats obtained from seasonal play and well known recruiting camps, etc and a formula is thrown in to show their propensity to make it to the NFL. One star=highly unlikely to five star=very likely. No ranking means no information available. Price himself has recruited some solid players who came from 1A east Texas schools that were no larger than the Duranguito neighborhood. Okie State's best receiver is from a small school and was a two to three star in some rankings.
My point is a star doesn't mean diddly. John Dorenbos was a no name Nord recruit who became a well established NFL long snapper (and professional magician). I think Jordan Palmer was a two star out of California but came to UTEP because Nord was the only one who promised he would have a legit shot at qb. So who knows?
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If your point is rating systems are not infallible and there are exceptions to all rules, that's spot on. I am well familiar with one of those 2 star players that ultimately made an NFL roster. But your comment that rating systems are "bogus" and "... a star doesn't mean diddly" has no basis in fact and is the type of comment you hear from coaches unable to recruit (or develop) quality football players. Like Sean Kugler.
Ummmm.....I agree with you 100%. Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers. I would gather we're on the same page? You know a 2 star that made the NFL is exactly my point.
No feathers ruffled, none at all. However, with exceptions like the one I mentioned above, I do believe rating (stars) systems are relevant and predictive, that there is a direct correlation between recruiting rankings and W/L records, particularly over time. Just gets tiring hearing some fans (and especially coaches) argue to the contrary. Again, that is the crutch for coaches that typically cannot recruit talent. Or even worse, cannot develop the talent they recruit.
You'll see an occasional 3-4 star kid bust and a 2 star recruit make the NFL, but they are the 3-4% on the tail of the bell curve. Projecting over a 4-5 year college career can be tricky, but good coaches and talent evaluators can identify an under-rated or under-developed two star player who is long, has a good frame, can add 25-30+ lbs of muscle, is smart, is coachable, has a serious nasty streak. And most important, they know that speed kills. Regardless of stars, that's a good combination. Trust me.
