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Ignatius J. Reilly
(66.88.249.114) on 2/18/2004 - 4:41 p.m. says: ( 16 views
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"A February Football Post (And Lengthy at That)"
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(EDITED BY AUTHOR: 2/18/2004 - 4:46 p.m.) I, like most of you, have scanned articles about the hiring of Al Borges as offensive coordinator. Honesty compels me to confess that I have lurked about for a few moments on ITAT after the announcement to see what the less recipe intensive of the Auburn family had to say. (Luckily, I have no Bunker subscription as both my doctor and firm managing partner forbid it for health and productivity reasons, respectively -- but I digress). The responses I saw on ITAT ran roughly the range from tepid, "wait and see" attitudes to the kind of emotions that only grave robbers, child molesters, and unannounced visits by the in-laws can inspire in me. I suppose the anger from last season has not been fully managed, or folks are honing their barbs for next season.
I am a proud member of the wait and see camp. Perhaps it is my natural tendency to be optimistic. Perhaps it is belief that any hire of a coordinator with D1 experience would be an upgrade from last year. Perhaps it is simply fatigue. I don't know. I do not, however, see the need for outrage over this hire -- at least not now. Nor do I understand the euphoria over the potential hire of either the Miami of Ohio or Toledo offensive coordinators. I am sure they are both fine coaches, but both those teams run almost exclusively out of the single back, spread the field formations that seem to cause quite a bit of heartburn around here and elsewhere in the Auburn family. Now, had someone announced that Miami of Ohio's QB had decided to reconsider his early NFL draft designation, transfer to Auburn, and had received some sort of waiver from the NCAA that would enable him to start next year for the Tigers, that would be cause for celebration. And turning him down for Indiana's QB would be cause for outrage. But the Miami of Ohio OC? Best case, I would be wait and see for him, too. Ditto for the guy from Toledo.
Another point: in my view, the term "West Coast Offense" is a nebulous at best. Most folks seem to equate it with a pass happy, dink and dunk approach. I wonder if that characterization is completely fair or accurate. Here are some "West Coast Offenses" from the NFL: Green Bay, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Seattle, Denver. Look up their team rushing records from this past season, and I think you will find that they do quite well on the ground. Breen Bay averaged 5.0 yds.per carry as a team, which is basically unheard of in the NFL. Further, the fullback is an integral part of the "West Coast Offense." Remember Tom Rathman from the 49ers? Think Fred Beasley of the 49ers and William Henderson of the Packers, now. These are big, physical, bruising fullbacks who play in the West Coast style. Had Borges been here last season, we might have used Brandon Johnson as a lead blocker more frequently as well as a receiver out of the backfield. Fullbacks are expected to catch passes in a "West Coast Offense." I certainly would have been in favor of throwing the ball to No. 45 a bit more last season.
There is evidence to suggest that Borges knows how to run the ball. He coached at UCLA in 2000 and his featured back was DeShaun(sp?) Foster (Stephen Davis' capable backup at Carolina), who was among the nation's leading rushers at the time. I seem to recall Foster running it down the gullet of some highly rated team from West Alabama at the beginning of that season.
No koolaid for me yet. I am troubled by the wandering nature of this guy's resume. OC at Indiana is hardly a prime job. But it is a job that neither Nall nor Ensminger could have obtained in the open market, in all fairness.
Wait and see. Wait and see. Thank you for your indulgence. You may return to the previously scheduled discussions of terms of art in Military Justice proceedings, the meaning of marriage, and when "never" means NEVER, or something less absolute. Please pardon the interruption.
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