Can anyone think of any downsides?

It feels like we're being stubborn (or cheap) in not adding a legit offensive-coordinator asset to mix with Jimbo's expertise and playcalling.

We have been in rebuild mode. Starting to add depth. Dickey's true colors will show with this next QB I think.

Jimbo is the play caller by choice. There are only a handful in the college game as good as him.

Agsuffering@bulaw said:

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Jimbo is the play caller by choice. There are only a handful in the college game as good as him.

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Ehhh. I'm not convinced Jimbo is creative enough to be a play caller in this era of football. I thought our offense lacked imagination this season. I wouldn't be opposed to injecting some creativity in the form of a playcalling OC. Just my opinion

We had one game that was a wtf with the play calling.....LSU. Besides that, everyont thing was geared to our "game control" QB. No big plays, no bad play offense.

I like picking up 3rd downs and protecting the defense.

Jimbo is creative, in a subtle way. He just about always runs TE covered early to see how they defend it. He usually has several variations of the original look. He usually calls a few options and other designed runs early, then has variations off it.

Then pretty much most of whatever plays succeeded in the first half, he intentionally runs a variation in a high leverage situation later.

i kinda like the way his play calling sets us up for the 4th quarter. never seen an Aggie team like this one, frankly.

When the casual viewer can't pick up the subtle differences in the offense is a good thing.

Because we're not running double reverse pass back to the QB, doesn't mean the offense isn't "creative".

Punked Shank said:

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When the casual viewer can't pick up the subtle differences in the offense is a good thing.

Because we're not running double reverse pass back to the QB, doesn't mean the offense isn't "creative".

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THis. I am also a firm believer in if it ain't broke don't fix it. Besides, football is won and lost in the trenches and we are just now starting to get some good OL and DL play.

No highly accomplished highly compensated OC wants to come to a situation where he doesn't call the plays. Besides that seems like you would be inviting a too many cooks in the kitchen scenario.

Punked Shank said:

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When the casual viewer can't pick up the subtle differences in the offense is a good thing.

Because we're not running double reverse pass back to the QB, doesn't mean the offense isn't "creative".

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That and Jimbo doesn't use freaking INDEX CARDS like a former OC that we all know and ...well, you know the rest...

The better the personnel you have the more creative your offense will look. Ask yourself what Alabama's offense would look like with our personnel? Not nearly as good imo. Last yr I was a proponent of bringing in a younger mind to at least throw in some twists after watching LSU have one of the better offenses in cfb history with principles brought in by Joe Brady. I changed my mind this yr. Jimbo tailored the offensive attack to what he had to work with. I think it will probably look a little different next yr. Different QB, more speed at receiver ( fingers crossed), and another highly talented and speedy RB with a full yr in the system. OL probably won't be quite as good but they have 4 games to get it clicking with what I believe will prove to be higher end talent on the line.

Example, Sarkisian didn't look so smart and creative when he was the Falcons OC. Put him at Alabama where he had a talent advantage over every opponent and he looks like an offensive genius. Guys like Smith, Waddle, Harris, Jones, and a good OL will make you look pretty smart.

Save the $2MM. Maybe bring in a consultant in the offseason to help you to tweak your plan.

txag72 said:

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We had one game that was a wtf with the play calling.....LSU. Besides that, everyont thing was geared to our "game control" QB. No big plays, no bad play offense.

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No, we didn't. That WTF was 100% on Mond, he was very inaccurate in that game. Jimbo called a great game and Kellen couldn't' execute. He was missing wide open guys all over the field, wasn't leading receivers on crossing routes, short-armed passes to RBs, etc., etc. The limitations in that game were QB related. Otherwise it would have been 34-7 not 20-7 with a defensive TD. As it was, should have been 17-0 at HT but a 4th year Sr. QB decided to try to extend the ball on a QB sneak for a 1st down.......

Off_The_Wood said:

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Agsuffering@bulaw said:

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Jimbo is the play caller by choice. There are only a handful in the college game as good as him.

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Ehhh. I'm not convinced Jimbo is creative enough to be a play caller in this era of football. I thought our offense lacked imagination this season. I wouldn't be opposed to injecting some creativity in the form of a playcalling OC. Just my opinion

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I have to disagree. Jimbo's 2013 year was every bit as explosive as Bama's offense this year. His FSU team averaged 51.9pts/game compared to Bama's 48.5pts/game; 7.4yds/play vs Bama's 7.6yds/play.

He's adapted his play calling to the skillsets of this team; which is the sign of a great play caller.

• 2018: 1015 plays and 6.0 yds/play - 35.5 pts/game
• 2019: 915 plays and 5.6 yds/play - 29.5 pts/game
• 2020: 685 plays and 6.4 yds/play - 32.8 pts/game

6.4 yards per play with an all SEC schedule looks pretty strong.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/stats/team/_/view/offense/stat/downs/table/miscellaneous/sort/thirdDownConvPct/dir/desc

3rd in college football on 3rd down conversions, behind only Alabama and Kent State.

That is a sign of a good play caller. Someone who sets up successful plays when they are most needed.

Agree with the above points. Not sure why there would be a push to change what's going on on offense right now. Also, is there something wrong with the job Dickey is doing?

dannyv said:

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Agree with the above points. Not sure why there would be a push to change what's going on on offense right now. Also, is there something wrong with the job Dickey is doing?

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We aren't used to winning. The Zoo has literally no idea what to do now.

The biggest argument against it is that Jimbo doesn't want it. If he wants one, then great. This is not an NFL.

I think the sentiment I sense is that there is frustration we didn't blow away teams. We had several games where we were clearly in control of the game but didn't run away with the score.

Our defense benefited greatly from playing fewer plays. I'd like to keep this going. We also were severely handicapped in the receiving corps this year, with some guys having to step up that were not supposed to be as big a part of the game plan. Losing Cupp, Chapman, Ausbon... this offense would have had that explosiveness many saw missing this year with those players on the team.

Personally, I love the style. I love running the football on someone when they know you are going to run it. And yes, offense has changed, that the fundamentals will always work.

Off_The_Wood said:

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Agsuffering@bulaw said:

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Jimbo is the play caller by choice. There are only a handful in the college game as good as him.

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Ehhh. I'm not convinced Jimbo is creative enough to be a play caller in this era of football. I thought our offense lacked imagination this season. I wouldn't be opposed to injecting some creativity in the form of a playcalling OC. Just my opinion

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I think the bottom line is, you're playing checkers and Jimbo is playing chess.

A&M fans can't stand prosperity. Yea, let's mess with Jimbo's play calling and OC. This is shear idiocy!

Jimbo is going to call his own plays. Period. And if a fan doesn't like that, then too bad. Because that is what Jimbo wants and is going to do.

Texags has progressed from calling for the backup qb to wanting a backup coach.

Sadly Jimbo's offense does have a tradeoff. We'll choke teams out and win by a couple scores but the only true blowouts was Arkansas and South Carolina. Jimbo's offense is all about efficiency and effectiveness, and it's designed to win consistently at the cost of "looking pretty". I am very confident that we will never see a UCLA level choke under Jimbo. Having flash and passing the eye test can get you games like that. I recall FSU fans telling us this, but think about how much we just want to win and be relevant again. I fear we'll be a perennial bubble 4/5 team for the playoff but that is light years ahead of Fran's short side option, or Sherman's 2nd half collapses, or Sumlin's swaggercopter. We're finally winning now and a large part of that is the fact that we run Jimbo's Offense and Jimbo calls the plays. I suggest ya'll watch OC Dickey's interview before the Orange Bowl, he breaks down his purpose in the offense. I do believe we hire him to help with the downfield passing game that's starting to takeover the sport, I just think that was out of Mond's range mostly. I hope we start to see results with King in the future that suits his skill set much better.

Lastly can I just say that Jimbo's system is extremely impressive. I honestly don't think there's another offense that exists like it in the country. Most offensive schemes these days are like rock-paper-scissors, find the weak spot and exploit the defense, then adjust at half against their game plan. Jimbo's offense is like a shapeshifter, test the defenses early and hopefully score some points. But regardless as the game goes on Jimbo will find more and more weaknesses and tells so that by the time the critical 4th quarter comes around he has adapted to the defense so well that he grinds them up. All while controlling the clock and protecting the defense. We can adapt so well that we can run 5 wide or power 23 formations even within the same personnel groupings. In fact this is how we beat down Auburn, we caught them in nickel when we had both running backs and Anias on the field and so we lined it up in power I and ran roughshod over them. We'll also run plays one game and then drop them the rest of the season, it's all apart of the adaptation and the inevitable 4th quarter where we enforce our will.

TLDR: Jimbo's offense is so good in that it adapts play to play vs half to half, but it's not necessarily showy and will rarely pass the eyeball test. Regardless it's simply a winning system.

AggieNFL said:

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Can anyone think of any downsides?

It feels like we're being stubborn (or cheap) in not adding a legit offensive-coordinator asset to mix with Jimbo's expertise and playcalling.

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Christ Almighty. We were 4th in SEC in yds/gm (behind Bama, Fla, OM). Top 15 offense in the country by most advanced metrics (SP+, etc).

We somehow managed that while still controlling the ball, wearing the other team down, grinding them out, helping a defense to be #1 in SEC in yds/gm, and another Top 15/20 unit by advanced metrics.

And some people on here think our O-coordinator isn't "legit". What a joke.

At least this beats nickname threads, I'll give the OP that.

Again, some just dont appreciate how good Jimbo is. Jimbo had a defense to protect. We were supposed to play 10 SEC games in 11 weeks. So, Jimbo had to call plays with that in mind at least until LSU.

We were the wrong 2 injuries away from exposure. Look at the personnel:

DT: 3 solid for 2 positions (could have moved Leal inside in a pinch)
DE: 3 solid for 2 positions (Martin would have been serviceable but not great on running downs)
LB: 3 solid for 2 positions
S: 2 solid, 1 serviceable for 2 positions (love Carper's work ethic, but he is an avg SEC athlete)
CB: 2 solid, 1 serviceable for 2 positions (George may be good next year, but he got burned alot)
NB: 1 solid, 2 serviceable

It was like a basketball team with a short bench, playing games on consecutive days, holding the ball until 10 seconds or less on the shot clock, but still hitting 45% from the field, making free throws, and not turning it over. At least until the last 10 minutes of the game.

Very few offensive coaches have both the discipline and the tactical ability to do it at a high level.

akm91 said:

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Off_The_Wood said:

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Agsuffering@bulaw said:

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Jimbo is the play caller by choice. There are only a handful in the college game as good as him.

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Ehhh. I'm not convinced Jimbo is creative enough to be a play caller in this era of football. I thought our offense lacked imagination this season. I wouldn't be opposed to injecting some creativity in the form of a playcalling OC. Just my opinion

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I have to disagree. Jimbo's 2013 year was every bit as explosive as Bama's offense this year. His FSU team averaged 51.9pts/game compared to Bama's 48.5pts/game; 7.4yds/play vs Bama's 7.6yds/play.

He's adapted his play calling to the skillsets of this team; which is the sign of a great play caller.

• 2018: 1015 plays and 6.0 yds/play - 35.5 pts/game
• 2019: 915 plays and 5.6 yds/play - 29.5 pts/game
• 2020: 685 plays and 6.4 yds/play - 32.8 pts/game

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That's true. That 2013 team was absolutely loaded too: Jameis, Devonta Freeman, Karlos Williams, Kelvin Benjamin. But what about the other years? Probably better to look at a wider set of data:

2010: 31.4
2011: 30.6
2012: 39.3
2013: 51.6
2014: 33.7
2015: 31.7
2016: 35.1
2017: 27.8 (final year at FSU)

I think we can all agree that with the direction football is going, most of those average points/game aren't high enough to win championships anymore. That's all I meant when I suggested more creativity might not be a bad thing.

Off_The_Wood said:

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akm91 said:

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Off_The_Wood said:

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Agsuffering@bulaw said:

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Jimbo is the play caller by choice. There are only a handful in the college game as good as him.

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Ehhh. I'm not convinced Jimbo is creative enough to be a play caller in this era of football. I thought our offense lacked imagination this season. I wouldn't be opposed to injecting some creativity in the form of a playcalling OC. Just my opinion

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I have to disagree. Jimbo's 2013 year was every bit as explosive as Bama's offense this year. His FSU team averaged 51.9pts/game compared to Bama's 48.5pts/game; 7.4yds/play vs Bama's 7.6yds/play.

He's adapted his play calling to the skillsets of this team; which is the sign of a great play caller.

• 2018: 1015 plays and 6.0 yds/play - 35.5 pts/game
• 2019: 915 plays and 5.6 yds/play - 29.5 pts/game
• 2020: 685 plays and 6.4 yds/play - 32.8 pts/game

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That's true. That 2013 team was absolutely loaded too: Jameis, Devonta Freeman, Karlos Williams, Kelvin Benjamin. But what about the other years? Probably better to look at a wider set of data:

2010: 31.4
2011: 30.6
2012: 39.3
2013: 51.6
2014: 33.7
2015: 31.7
2016: 35.1
2017: 27.8 (final year at FSU)

I think we can all agree that with the direction football is going, most of those average points/game aren't high enough to win championships anymore. That's all I meant when I suggested more creativity might not be a bad thing.

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I think you just made my point. Jimbo adapts his play calling to his personnel to maximize the output. When he had a loaded roster, he was called plays that accentuated the explosive plays. When he didnt' have the talent, he still managed to get good output.

We're right in the thick of the top offenses in the country already. What your talking about is explosive plays, I think we haven't seen it because Mond wasn't suited for it.

Agsuffering@bulaw said:

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I like picking up 3rd downs and protecting the defense.

Jimbo is creative, in a subtle way. He just about always runs TE covered early to see how they defend it. He usually has several variations of the original look. He usually calls a few options and other designed runs early, then has variations off it.

Then pretty much most of whatever plays succeeded in the first half, he intentionally runs a variation in a high leverage situation later.

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Wait... So are you saying Sumlin wasn't doing that kind of analysis on the sideline prior to JImbo?

Jimbo is smart enough to run / use his players to the best of their own abilities.

His 2020 offense was designed for this player set.

2021's offense will be based on next year's set of players.

I just thought the passing game could use some more schemes/concepts. I don't see what it hurts to bring in an additional OC. Jimbo can still call plays.

Some of the posts just reminds me of people excited about Fran because he would run 2-3 trick plays a game.

I rather like what we have now. I also think the more Jimbo gets his type of players in...the more explosive the offense will get.

Who would we bring in? Don't most great minds want to call the plays?

the downsides are it messes with your established coaching roles, & it presumably costs you $2MM per yr ( your estimate) . Not really a downside but what they are doing also seems to be working pretty well. I was right there with you last yr but I changed my mind this yr. I wouldn't argue with you that they might be able to do some things to optimize but I don't think you really need another full time staffer to do that. Bring in a consultant with proven cred.