Whatever he sees in his candidates when he makes hires for his offensive staff simply does not translate.
Baldwin was not an awful choice as OC…he’d won an NC at EWU as an HC and coached one of the most prolific WRs in the history of the sport…likewise in Spavital - dude knew O.
But the Angus hiring was a mess; giving Bloesch duel OC/OL-coach duties a complete and total whiff; and his Oregon buddy Bill Musgrave, who had not coached collegiately in like 20-years, was an unmitigated disaster.
However, the Harsin/Rolovich/Anae hires should pay immediate dividends. They’ve proven already that they can recruit and mold at least functional units…if this troika face plants…
I think early JC hires where reaching for more senior, mentor-like figures. For example, Beau Baldwin was perceived to be a good hire because of his HC experience that could help Wilcox along. Problem is, he turned out not to be all that great of an OC. I would put Musgrave in a similar light...perhaps the thought was that players would be drawn to play under a legendary coach (not totally untrue), but, in retrospect, it was not a great idea. I'm not on the Spav train with you. Maybe more effective because of its simplicity, but, to me, his offense is basically RPO with school-yard routes Only reason it worked was because of Ott; otherwise, blah.
Yep, agree. And hey, I’m no real huge fan of Spavital, just thought his knowledge of college offenses was as good as any of the guys JW had hired.
My issue with Musgrave and Bloesch as playcaller was that they were suspect OC hires at the time…no Monday morning QB-ing was even necessary. Musgrave was a backup NFL QB with a mediocre track record as a pro coach and zero recruiting chops. And Bloesch showed in the Independence Bowl that he was woefully overmatched in his role as both….JW not hiring a dedicated OL coach was a questionable move at the time.
The fact that Wilcox has had a chance to hire 5 OC’s in 8 years despite being 20-games below .500 v conference foes remains one of life’s great mysteries…;-)
JW demonstrates the hallmarks of a great leader on many fronts, making his W-L record that much more perplexing.
Whatever he sees in his candidates when he makes hires for his offensive staff simply does not translate.
Baldwin was not an awful choice as OC…he’d won an NC at EWU as an HC and coached one of the most prolific WRs in the history of the sport…likewise in Spavital - dude knew O.
But the Angus hiring was a mess; giving Bloesch duel OC/OL-coach duties a complete and total whiff; and his Oregon buddy Bill Musgrave, who had not coached collegiately in like 20-years, was an unmitigated disaster.
However, the Harsin/Rolovich/Anae hires should pay immediate dividends. They’ve proven already that they can recruit and mold at least functional units…if this troika face plants…
I think early JC hires where reaching for more senior, mentor-like figures. For example, Beau Baldwin was perceived to be a good hire because of his HC experience that could help Wilcox along. Problem is, he turned out not to be all that great of an OC. I would put Musgrave in a similar light...perhaps the thought was that players would be drawn to play under a legendary coach (not totally untrue), but, in retrospect, it was not a great idea. I'm not on the Spav train with you. Maybe more effective because of its simplicity, but, to me, his offense is basically RPO with school-yard routes Only reason it worked was because of Ott; otherwise, blah.
Hope the new guys get it done.
Yep, agree. And hey, I’m no real huge fan of Spavital, just thought his knowledge of college offenses was as good as any of the guys JW had hired.
My issue with Musgrave and Bloesch as playcaller was that they were suspect OC hires at the time…no Monday morning QB-ing was even necessary. Musgrave was a backup NFL QB with a mediocre track record as a pro coach and zero recruiting chops. And Bloesch showed in the Independence Bowl that he was woefully overmatched in his role as both….JW not hiring a dedicated OL coach was a questionable move at the time.
The fact that Wilcox has had a chance to hire 5 OC’s in 8 years despite being 20-games below .500 v conference foes remains one of life’s great mysteries…;-)
indeed