Yes, I agree. But I mean it obviously will affect the bank account to the tune of millions just this year. Fans are going, no bowl game, season tickets will be impacted, etc. So in effect, it's already affected the bank account, we're just watching it in slow motion.

Then there's next year, recruiting will be impossible, those that were interested will go elsewhere. Everyone sees it coming.

Dave made a terrible initial OC hire that was a terrible fit in scheme and personality.

For his second try, he brings in the mediocre wide zone. This wide zone scheme is just too limiting and has too little room for error. It doesn't fit the personnel being put out in high schools. It sucks the energy out of the room.

Aranda kept saying this had the potential to be the supposed "most athletic line ever." And now that we know that isn't the case you're left with undersized guys that cannot operate in a different scheme. No adaptability. Dave basically handcuffed his own offense with his repeatedly poor decisions, extremely poor line development, and poor feel for the game (as strange as that seems).

I hear people say we don't have the personnel to run anything other than the wide zone. The issue I have with that point is that maybe we just don't have the personnel to run the wide zone and they would be pretty good (talent-wise) with other schemes. It's not like we are killing it at wide zone and we are trying to make a change. Most of these players probably played a spread-type offense if they played HS football in Texas, they probably would be able to adapt pretty quickly to those concepts. We saw in the second half of the UCF what the team can do if they play more up-tempo, spread concepts. I doubt Grimes will adjust his play calling significantly though and he'll wait until we are down 3-4 touchdowns before trying something different.

With all of that said, I think the comment in the OP was really just Aranda/Grimes trying to get our opponent to plan for another wrinkle that we don't really have. It will become apparent pretty quickly on Saturday if they were bluffing.

Perhaps. The challenge is Aranda knows how to support a strong leader. But he isn't one himself. That's why he was a very good assistant. Arguably one of the best assistant coaches in the last decade. But he's overwhelmed. That doesn't mean he's stupid. But pressure decisions aren't his thing and neither is full game planning. That's not an experience problem. It won't improve over time.
Likewise, if Aranda went to serve under a strong HC (example Texas or Florida State) that program would improve because he is a perfect leftenant.

contrario said:

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I hear people say we don't have the personnel to run anything other than the wide zone. The issue I have with that point is that maybe we just don't have the personnel to run the wide zone and they would be pretty good (talent-wise) with other schemes. It's not like we are killing it at wide zone and we are trying to make a change. Most of these players probably played a spread-type offense if they played HS football in Texas, they probably would be able to adapt pretty quickly to those concepts. We saw in the second half of the UCF what the team can do if they play more up-tempo, spread concepts. I doubt Grimes will adjust his play calling significantly though and he'll wait until we are down 3-4 touchdowns before trying something different.

With all of that said, I think the comment in the OP was really just Aranda/Grimes trying to get our opponent to plan for another wrinkle that we don't really have. It will become apparent pretty quickly on Saturday if they were bluffing.

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You can't fundamentally change your offensive scheme in a week or two. It's not possible. At best, you can put some kind of simplified Frankenstein offense together, and you would need to block to run that effectively too.

This season was doomed from the start. The second we decided this line was talented and experienced enough to run our offense, we guaranteed a failed season. Couple that with another bad defense and you get what we've seen this year.

There are no magic bullet in-season scheme fixes. Run or pass, this offense will continue to struggle because we can't create holes in the run game or protect our QBs in the pass game. That will continue to leave us in a bunch of third- and fourth-and-long situations and make it extremely difficult to finish drives in the red zone.

No offense works when you can't block.

For the record, I agree with what you're saying. But, I think running more spread concepts would help this OL. Right now there is no way they can block any plays efficiently because every team we've played so far doesn't respect our passing game. That means they stack the box to stop the run and trust their corners to cover the deeper routes (because they know we rarely throw those so it's a good gamble). With 7-8 defenders in the box that frees up at least one to rush on every down, causing our QB to scramble before he can make his reads on our SLOW developing route trees. If we run some more spread concepts and quick hitters that forces the defense to pull a couple out of the box to defend the middle or edges and takes some pressure off the OL.

Now, can this OL win their 1v1 blocks at the point of contact? From what we've seen so far that answer may very well be no. They're undersized to hold the line for very long against big athletic DL but maybe at least they wouldn't be standing there after the play looking confused on who they should've picked up on the blocking scheme. Get them isolated with a DL and let them work, then we might be able to see if they're serviceable or not. Right now they look completely lost. It seems like every passing down results in at least one of our OL standing by himself at the LOS looking confused, like he wasn't sure what his blocking assignment was, while watching the other OL getting up off the ground (or helping our QB up who just got smashed by an unblocked rusher).

Ok great they are talking about it.


Have they tried going out and practicing it????

Oso Pardo said:

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For the record, I agree with what you're saying. But, I think running more spread concepts would help this OL. Right now there is no way they can block any plays efficiently because every team we've played so far doesn't respect our passing game. That means they stack the box to stop the run and trust their corners to cover the deeper routes (because they know we rarely throw those so it's a good gamble). With 7-8 defenders in the box that frees up at least one to rush on every down, causing our QB to scramble before he can make his reads on our SLOW developing route trees. If we run some more spread concepts and quick hitters that forces the defense to pull a couple out of the box to defend the middle or edges and takes some pressure off the OL.

Now, can this OL win their 1v1 blocks at the point of contact? From what we've seen so far that answer may very well be no. They're undersized to hold the line for very long against big athletic DL but maybe at least they wouldn't be standing there after the play looking confused on who they should've picked up on the blocking scheme. Get them isolated with a DL and let them work, then we might be able to see if they're serviceable or not. Right now they look completely lost. It seems like every passing down results in at least one of our OL standing by himself at the LOS looking confused, like he wasn't sure what his blocking assignment was, while watching the other OL getting up off the ground (or helping our QB up who just got smashed by an unblocked rusher).

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Nah bear2be has a crush on Grimes. Despite what b2b says, Grimes or CDA can change up our O play calling significantly, doesn't mean it's going to work, but our O is garbage now, so changing it up is really the only thing to try that may help prevent us from losing out, no matter how unlikely success is.

TinFoilHatPreacherBear said:

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Oso Pardo said:

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For the record, I agree with what you're saying. But, I think running more spread concepts would help this OL. Right now there is no way they can block any plays efficiently because every team we've played so far doesn't respect our passing game. That means they stack the box to stop the run and trust their corners to cover the deeper routes (because they know we rarely throw those so it's a good gamble). With 7-8 defenders in the box that frees up at least one to rush on every down, causing our QB to scramble before he can make his reads on our SLOW developing route trees. If we run some more spread concepts and quick hitters that forces the defense to pull a couple out of the box to defend the middle or edges and takes some pressure off the OL.

Now, can this OL win their 1v1 blocks at the point of contact? From what we've seen so far that answer may very well be no. They're undersized to hold the line for very long against big athletic DL but maybe at least they wouldn't be standing there after the play looking confused on who they should've picked up on the blocking scheme. Get them isolated with a DL and let them work, then we might be able to see if they're serviceable or not. Right now they look completely lost. It seems like every passing down results in at least one of our OL standing by himself at the LOS looking confused, like he wasn't sure what his blocking assignment was, while watching the other OL getting up off the ground (or helping our QB up who just got smashed by an unblocked rusher).

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Nah bear2be has a crush on Grimes. Despite what b2b says, Grimes or CDA can change up our O play calling significantly, doesn't mean it's going to work, but our O is garbage now, so changing it up is really the only thing to try that may help prevent us from losing out, no matter how unlikely success is.

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I don't have feelings for or against Grimes. Same with his scheme, which -- like all others -- works when executed well and doesn't when it's not.

I'm not defending Grimes. Like our entire staff, he's failed this year. I just think it's bull**** that he's being singled out while the head coach who brought him here skates, despite putting a defense on the field that is objectively worse than our offense.

I also don't want a lame duck season in 2024. I think Aranda should be forced to sink or swim with Grimes and the wide zone. He got a mulligan after the Fedora disaster. I have no interest in extending another.

If Grimes goes, he should go with Aranda.

cowboycwr said:

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Ok great they are talking about it.


Have they tried going out and practicing it????

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Yeah, but only on XBox

Stranger said:

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gobears20 said:

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Dave Aranda says that the team has talked all bye week about throwing the football in order to help the run.

Finding ways to run it without running it is something they have looked hard at.

— Grayson Grundhoefer (@GrayGrundhoefer) October 16, 2023

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Is Graydon a joker or is he here to force sunshine on us from the athletic department? Just wondering.

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How sweet would it be if we had a few "bad dudes" with no playbook running the route tree?

It's too late to change the playbook. But it's not too late to call passes on first down. It probably won't work, but it'll still be second and 10 at worst.

Unless there's a sack or interception, but what the hell.

Well, glad they "talked about" it.
Probably did some clapping at it too.

Reverend said:

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It's too late to change the playbook. .

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Disagree. They've had two weeks to add to the playbook and change some things. This "it can't be done" from a few here just doesn't make any sense.

Not going to have a completely changed offense, but changes can be made. Now whether Grimes has the creativity to change, no I don't think that he does, not enough to matter. His well is dry.

If nothing more, spread the WR's out sideline to sideline. Doesn't mean your running a CAB type offense but it does cause the defense to spread out as well. Might loosen the middle up more for a hole to open up for a back.

bear2be2 said:

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TinFoilHatPreacherBear said:

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Oso Pardo said:

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For the record, I agree with what you're saying. But, I think running more spread concepts would help this OL. Right now there is no way they can block any plays efficiently because every team we've played so far doesn't respect our passing game. That means they stack the box to stop the run and trust their corners to cover the deeper routes (because they know we rarely throw those so it's a good gamble). With 7-8 defenders in the box that frees up at least one to rush on every down, causing our QB to scramble before he can make his reads on our SLOW developing route trees. If we run some more spread concepts and quick hitters that forces the defense to pull a couple out of the box to defend the middle or edges and takes some pressure off the OL.

Now, can this OL win their 1v1 blocks at the point of contact? From what we've seen so far that answer may very well be no. They're undersized to hold the line for very long against big athletic DL but maybe at least they wouldn't be standing there after the play looking confused on who they should've picked up on the blocking scheme. Get them isolated with a DL and let them work, then we might be able to see if they're serviceable or not. Right now they look completely lost. It seems like every passing down results in at least one of our OL standing by himself at the LOS looking confused, like he wasn't sure what his blocking assignment was, while watching the other OL getting up off the ground (or helping our QB up who just got smashed by an unblocked rusher).

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Nah bear2be has a crush on Grimes. Despite what b2b says, Grimes or CDA can change up our O play calling significantly, doesn't mean it's going to work, but our O is garbage now, so changing it up is really the only thing to try that may help prevent us from losing out, no matter how unlikely success is.

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I don't have feelings for or against Grimes. Same with his scheme, which -- like all others -- works when executed well and doesn't when it's not.

I'm not defending Grimes. Like our entire staff, he's failed this year. I just think it's bull**** that he's being singled out while the head coach who brought him here skates, despite putting a defense on the field that is objectively worse than our offense.

I also don't want a lame duck season in 2024. I think Aranda should be forced to sink or swim with Grimes and the wide zone. He got a mulligan after the Fedora disaster. I have no interest in extending another.

If Grimes goes, he should go with Aranda.

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How is Aranda skating? You and others attack him cumulatively (not individually) close to daily like he is Steele. Some of the personal attacks on him here are way over the top.

Personally I thought he needed to clean house on the offensive side after last season.

PartyBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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TinFoilHatPreacherBear said:

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Oso Pardo said:

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For the record, I agree with what you're saying. But, I think running more spread concepts would help this OL. Right now there is no way they can block any plays efficiently because every team we've played so far doesn't respect our passing game. That means they stack the box to stop the run and trust their corners to cover the deeper routes (because they know we rarely throw those so it's a good gamble). With 7-8 defenders in the box that frees up at least one to rush on every down, causing our QB to scramble before he can make his reads on our SLOW developing route trees. If we run some more spread concepts and quick hitters that forces the defense to pull a couple out of the box to defend the middle or edges and takes some pressure off the OL.

Now, can this OL win their 1v1 blocks at the point of contact? From what we've seen so far that answer may very well be no. They're undersized to hold the line for very long against big athletic DL but maybe at least they wouldn't be standing there after the play looking confused on who they should've picked up on the blocking scheme. Get them isolated with a DL and let them work, then we might be able to see if they're serviceable or not. Right now they look completely lost. It seems like every passing down results in at least one of our OL standing by himself at the LOS looking confused, like he wasn't sure what his blocking assignment was, while watching the other OL getting up off the ground (or helping our QB up who just got smashed by an unblocked rusher).

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Nah bear2be has a crush on Grimes. Despite what b2b says, Grimes or CDA can change up our O play calling significantly, doesn't mean it's going to work, but our O is garbage now, so changing it up is really the only thing to try that may help prevent us from losing out, no matter how unlikely success is.

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I don't have feelings for or against Grimes. Same with his scheme, which -- like all others -- works when executed well and doesn't when it's not.

I'm not defending Grimes. Like our entire staff, he's failed this year. I just think it's bull**** that he's being singled out while the head coach who brought him here skates, despite putting a defense on the field that is objectively worse than our offense.

I also don't want a lame duck season in 2024. I think Aranda should be forced to sink or swim with Grimes and the wide zone. He got a mulligan after the Fedora disaster. I have no interest in extending another.

If Grimes goes, he should go with Aranda.

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How is Aranda skating? You and others attack him cumulatively (not individually) close to daily like he is Steele.

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I'm not talking about here on this message board. Fans don't have any control over anything -- at least individually. I'm talking about what we're hearing from Aranda and Rhoades in the press.

I would be willing to bet that many of our players from TX ran a spread type offense in high school and changing the o or adding in spread offense plays/sets would not be a big deal for them as it would be familiar.

Aranda looks like a deer in the headlights in all of his interviews.

ImABearToo said:

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If nothing more, spread the WR's out sideline to sideline. Doesn't mean your running a CAB type offense but it does cause the defense to spread out as well. Might loosen the middle up more for a hole to open up for a back.

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I totally agree. We have been jamming the line of scrimmage and do not pick up a yard. We should use wide gaps not only with the receivers but the offensive line as well.

PartyBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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TinFoilHatPreacherBear said:

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Oso Pardo said:

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For the record, I agree with what you're saying. But, I think running more spread concepts would help this OL. Right now there is no way they can block any plays efficiently because every team we've played so far doesn't respect our passing game. That means they stack the box to stop the run and trust their corners to cover the deeper routes (because they know we rarely throw those so it's a good gamble). With 7-8 defenders in the box that frees up at least one to rush on every down, causing our QB to scramble before he can make his reads on our SLOW developing route trees. If we run some more spread concepts and quick hitters that forces the defense to pull a couple out of the box to defend the middle or edges and takes some pressure off the OL.

Now, can this OL win their 1v1 blocks at the point of contact? From what we've seen so far that answer may very well be no. They're undersized to hold the line for very long against big athletic DL but maybe at least they wouldn't be standing there after the play looking confused on who they should've picked up on the blocking scheme. Get them isolated with a DL and let them work, then we might be able to see if they're serviceable or not. Right now they look completely lost. It seems like every passing down results in at least one of our OL standing by himself at the LOS looking confused, like he wasn't sure what his blocking assignment was, while watching the other OL getting up off the ground (or helping our QB up who just got smashed by an unblocked rusher).

---

Nah bear2be has a crush on Grimes. Despite what b2b says, Grimes or CDA can change up our O play calling significantly, doesn't mean it's going to work, but our O is garbage now, so changing it up is really the only thing to try that may help prevent us from losing out, no matter how unlikely success is.

---

I don't have feelings for or against Grimes. Same with his scheme, which -- like all others -- works when executed well and doesn't when it's not.

I'm not defending Grimes. Like our entire staff, he's failed this year. I just think it's bull**** that he's being singled out while the head coach who brought him here skates, despite putting a defense on the field that is objectively worse than our offense.

I also don't want a lame duck season in 2024. I think Aranda should be forced to sink or swim with Grimes and the wide zone. He got a mulligan after the Fedora disaster. I have no interest in extending another.

If Grimes goes, he should go with Aranda.

---

How is Aranda skating? You and others attack him cumulatively (not individually) close to daily like he is Steele. Some of the personal attacks on him here are way over the top.

Personally I thought he needed to clean house on the offensive side after last season.

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Maybe a few are attacking him personally, but nothing comes to mind. The vast majority of posters seem to like the man but believe that he's a bad head coach. Attacking his coaching and ability to recruit and his ability to lead his coordinators is perfectly acceptable. He's a big boy, and our program is in terrible shape, and as head he's to blame.

chorne68 said:

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Aranda looks like a deer in the headlights in all of his interviews.

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He does a lot of pondering and maybe this and that kind of stuff barely above his breath. Rhule always had a confident straight-forward answer, even if it was a bullcorn car salesman answer to satisfy the questioner. But he at least exuded confidence.

I'm not a big fan of either approach. I actually prefer the Aranda style of being, one who ponders and questions things and is a thinker. And I don't really care what coaches say in media events, because they aren't necessarily meaningful in most cases, unless they are talking about specific things like injuries.

But you have to put that thinking to work and come up with solutions, and/or you have to take that manufactured bravado and back it up with results.

One way or another, I just want to see improvement.

Put it on paper..