WARNING: This OP may be complimentary of Gus and Lashlee. As such, should either or both blow chunks vs. Arky, the entire post shall be considered retracted. (I kid!)
"Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!"
- General George S. Patton
The obvious {Bunker / mediots} narrative on Gus handing the play calling duties entirely over to Rhett Lashlee was a) Gus completely lost it, was forced to do so; b) Gus was setting up an OC scapegoat firing / one last move to save his job in '17.
There may have been kernels of truth on both those fronts, but miniscule kernels I believe we can now conclude. Having watched what's happening with our offense the last two games, Lashlee's play call sequencing, and simplicity of taking what a defense is giving, yet not conceding our strength which is downhill pounding the ball, it seems clear to me that Gus at least believed that Rhett could make a difference in "unblocking" the crap that had seeped in. This offense, under Gus-gone-stale, had become constipated, and absurdly predictable to defenses, which then exposed a mental flaw Gus has that caused him to lock up, call insanely "gimmicky" plays, and transmit panic and lack of confidence to the entire offense.
It turns out, or at least appears, that Lashlee had worked pretty hard to have a "clue" as an OC, and it's just possible that what he most lacked was simply a head coach willing to loosen the death grip on play calling and game planning, for his young OC to do his thing.
Oh, by the way, Gus and Rhett deserve some credit for the remarkably rapid development of Sean White at this point in the season. White is throwing the ball before his WR's make their breaks. He is getting almost all his presnap reads right, which we haven't seen really well since Cam Newton and to a lesser extent Narshall in '13.
So where are we now with this offense, with an open date to heal, install a few wrinkles that keep us a step or two ahead of Arky and Ole Miss DC's?
Well, an advantage that none of us particularly talked about emerges . . . DC's preparing for this Auburn offense are potentially moved back to zero in tendency preparation assumptions precisely because there is no "book" on Rhett Lashlee as a play caller. NONE. Well, there are two games.
As the Arky or Ole Mrs. DC, do you assume that Lashlee will be "mini-Gus" with game planning and play calls relative to down and distance on 1st, 2nd, 3rd down, and field position? Do so at your own peril, as CRL has shown himself to be more "agnostic" whether to call a pass or run on any given down. It appeared State used such assumptions, and we repeatedly caught them flat footed, like Lashlee calling a beautiful wheel route up the right sideline to a TrFR, Kam Martin standing on our own goal line.
If Gus continues to have a very loose grip on the reins, both in game planning and in-game play calling, Lashlee at least has the opportunity to cause DC's to be playing guessing games at how to attack us. Shift each coming game plan just slightly to break tendencies, or show new "looks" with the same effective play, and we can keep winning the way this defense is playing. And I expect the new wrinkles very gradually to be an increasing utilization of JF III in a read option / RPO package, as well as new personnel (Martin, Truitt) as RB's to spell Pettway until KJ is full go again, which if rumors are true it's a high ankle, could be the Vandy game, who knows.
I'm hardly nominating Rhett Lashlee as "OC of the Year". Let's see wins over Arky and Ole Miss with the offense continuing to impress. I'm just saying there's a tactical advantage in the element of surprise that is borne of desperation after the aTm game, if Gus and Lashlee seize upon it.
E5
"Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!"
- General George S. Patton
The obvious {Bunker / mediots} narrative on Gus handing the play calling duties entirely over to Rhett Lashlee was a) Gus completely lost it, was forced to do so; b) Gus was setting up an OC scapegoat firing / one last move to save his job in '17.
There may have been kernels of truth on both those fronts, but miniscule kernels I believe we can now conclude. Having watched what's happening with our offense the last two games, Lashlee's play call sequencing, and simplicity of taking what a defense is giving, yet not conceding our strength which is downhill pounding the ball, it seems clear to me that Gus at least believed that Rhett could make a difference in "unblocking" the crap that had seeped in. This offense, under Gus-gone-stale, had become constipated, and absurdly predictable to defenses, which then exposed a mental flaw Gus has that caused him to lock up, call insanely "gimmicky" plays, and transmit panic and lack of confidence to the entire offense.
It turns out, or at least appears, that Lashlee had worked pretty hard to have a "clue" as an OC, and it's just possible that what he most lacked was simply a head coach willing to loosen the death grip on play calling and game planning, for his young OC to do his thing.
Oh, by the way, Gus and Rhett deserve some credit for the remarkably rapid development of Sean White at this point in the season. White is throwing the ball before his WR's make their breaks. He is getting almost all his presnap reads right, which we haven't seen really well since Cam Newton and to a lesser extent Narshall in '13.
So where are we now with this offense, with an open date to heal, install a few wrinkles that keep us a step or two ahead of Arky and Ole Miss DC's?
Well, an advantage that none of us particularly talked about emerges . . . DC's preparing for this Auburn offense are potentially moved back to zero in tendency preparation assumptions precisely because there is no "book" on Rhett Lashlee as a play caller. NONE. Well, there are two games.
As the Arky or Ole Mrs. DC, do you assume that Lashlee will be "mini-Gus" with game planning and play calls relative to down and distance on 1st, 2nd, 3rd down, and field position? Do so at your own peril, as CRL has shown himself to be more "agnostic" whether to call a pass or run on any given down. It appeared State used such assumptions, and we repeatedly caught them flat footed, like Lashlee calling a beautiful wheel route up the right sideline to a TrFR, Kam Martin standing on our own goal line.
If Gus continues to have a very loose grip on the reins, both in game planning and in-game play calling, Lashlee at least has the opportunity to cause DC's to be playing guessing games at how to attack us. Shift each coming game plan just slightly to break tendencies, or show new "looks" with the same effective play, and we can keep winning the way this defense is playing. And I expect the new wrinkles very gradually to be an increasing utilization of JF III in a read option / RPO package, as well as new personnel (Martin, Truitt) as RB's to spell Pettway until KJ is full go again, which if rumors are true it's a high ankle, could be the Vandy game, who knows.
I'm hardly nominating Rhett Lashlee as "OC of the Year". Let's see wins over Arky and Ole Miss with the offense continuing to impress. I'm just saying there's a tactical advantage in the element of surprise that is borne of desperation after the aTm game, if Gus and Lashlee seize upon it.
E5
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