zephyr88 said:

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AggieInMichigan said:

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Like going for it on 4th down when you're down 11 with 4 minutes to go.

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This is where I lost all faith in Elko.

HE QUIT ON ALL OF US.

He was no longer coaching to win, just coaching to manage the defeat.

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Pulled a page right out of the RC Slocum playbook, circa Sugar Bowl 1998/1999

TheDecadeSapling said:

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rootube said:

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TheDecadeSapling said:

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rootube said:

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OP thinks "The Worst Part" is that we aren't running gimmicky plays. That is as far from the worst part as you can get.

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That's not what I said. I said we're not making any attempts at actually winning games. Do you see any urgency in game from our coaching staff to win?

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We are running our offense from last year just incredibly poorly.

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Yes we are. But that doesn't excuse the dumbfounded looks of confusion as we do the same thing over and over. If you're gonna lose anyways, take the risk. Don't roll over on fourth down with 3 minutes to go and wave the white flag. There's no fight left in this team. I'm not sure there ever was any to begin with

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I don't think it's effort at all. We have no edge rushers to pressure the QB like last year. This is directly attributable to the breakdowns we see in the back end.

On offense, Marcel is playing incredibly poorly and will not compete in the SEC playing at his current level. Every other fault can be traced to our complete lack of a passing threat.

I don't see any effort issues on this team. And our issues can't be fixed with a flea flicker.

You're missing my point. Coaching is doing nothing to try to win in these games. If they were marcel would be benched. There would be some kind of attempt to get a spark. There's nothing. Try to fix stuff in practice, that's fine. But when the game is coming down to the wire and what you've been doing isn't working, why is there no attempt to win? I'm not saying a flea flicker is gonna change things. I'm saying show us you're actually trying to win. We punted down 11 with 3 minutes to go. Is the win highly unlikely? Yes but you still gotta try.

If Mike Elko was trying to win games, he would have benched Marcel Reed and/or fired Holmon Wiggins. Like Brent Venables and Dan Lanning, he fell into the exact same trap of internal promotions, providing a harsh reminder that promoting a familiar face to coordinator positions in major college football often backfires.

In 2024, Brent Venables promoted offensive analyst Seth Littrell to the coordinator role after Jeff Lebby left for Mississippi State. Rather than sustaining Oklahoma's elite offensive standards, the unit tanked into historical mediocrity. Mismanagement of the quarterback transition and severe development issues along the offensive line completely derailed the program. Consequently, Venables fired Littrell after two dismal outputs: 34-3 loss to Texas on 10/12/24 and a 35-9 home loss to South Carolina on 10/19/24.

Dan Lanning promoted tight ends coach Drew Mehringer to offensive coordinator after Will Stein left for Kentucky. The offense fell off a cliff, averaging a meager 24.7 points per game against FBS competition. Oregon scored just 10 points in its loss to Illinois and has failed to score 20 points in each of its last three games. Consequently, Lanning fired Mehringer 2 days ago.

Mike Elko promoted co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Holmon Wiggins to offensive coordinator. When former offensive coordinator Collin Klein left to take the head coaching job at Kansas State, Elko faced a critical decision. Despite conducting an external search and interviewing five outside candidates, Elko ultimately prioritized "continuity" and promoted his wide receivers coach/co-OC, Holmon Wiggins.

Elko's decision to double down and keep Wiggins under center rather than pulling the plug reveals a completely different head coaching psychology compared to Venables and Lanning. While Venables and Lanning quickly fired their failed internal promotions, Elko has opted to sink or swim with his chosen guy.

What will happen after the 4-8 or 5-7 season? What will zero balls do about it in the offseason