Borges Candidate for Notre Dame OC?
January 12th, 2014 at 4:26 PM ^
Im pretty sure Rees is graduating.
January 12th, 2014 at 5:09 PM ^
Rees never graduates..He will be there
January 12th, 2014 at 6:56 PM ^
doesn't really seem like a Borges kinda QB.
January 12th, 2014 at 7:00 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 4:11 PM ^
He would have no reason to get familiar with our defense while he was our OC.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^
Other than that he went up against it every day when we scrimmaged?
January 12th, 2014 at 4:20 PM ^
If they were scrimmaging 1 vs. 1, they certainly wouldn't waste time game planning for us. Plus, most of the scrimmages are against the scout teams running the oppositions defernse.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
They do scrimmage 1 vs. 1 - all programs do. The idea that a guy would be here three years and still be unfamiliar with what his counterparts on the other side of the ball do is a bit implausible.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:02 PM ^
With a new OL almost and a mobile QB...maybe Kelly wants to make golson pay for screwing up this season.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:03 PM ^
I care way more about that one game against ND next year than I do how they do overall. And I have no doubt that Gorgeous would torch us. He always throws up 3-4 great games a year. The problem is he also throws up 3-4 stinkers, and you need to be consistent to win championships.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:08 PM ^
but in his first year here, the first legitimately good game he called was Minnesota, the fifth game of the season. The first 1st quarter touchdown we scored was against San Diego State, the 4th game of the season. Obviously, ND would have less of a schematic adjustment than we did transitioning from RR-Hoke, but it took him a while to get the offense going at all.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:03 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 4:07 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 4:17 PM ^
Of course it wasn't. But at some point he becomes accountable, in a larger sense, for offense going backwards two years in a row. Same thing happened at Auburn.
Sure, the line sucked, but what playcaller wouldn't look good with great players everywhere? It's about maximizing what you have, and we had enough to be better than we were. It's never an easy argument in a game like football, where so much is intertwined and blame is impossible to assign with any accuracy, but it is what it is.
Bottom line for this story is that whatever one thinks of him, we can all agree that he is by no means a consistentlygreat coordinator, and he's certainly one with more downside (sucking total shit) than upside (fielding an elite offense).
And since I hate ND, I hope they grab him, if mostly to enjoy this offseason while their fans spin it like crazy.
January 12th, 2014 at 5:33 PM ^
" Sure, the line sucked, but what playcaller wouldn't look good with great players everywhere? "
This is why I'm not as geeked about the Nussmeier hire like everyone else. The guy didn't build Alabama, he just came in and did ok. That Saban didn't mind loosing him says a lot. Borges got too much of the blame around here but he was not the problem. He was fired for political reasons, a la Scott Schaefer.
January 12th, 2014 at 5:42 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 5:49 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 6:20 PM ^
Borges's 2013 offense finished the season ranked #42 in offensive FEI.
Shafer's 2008 defense finished the season ranked #44 in defensive FEI.
(Before anyone says anything, I'll grant that it was only Shafer's defense until the week before the Purdue game, and while I don't know how to find out, I'm willing to bet the ranking was better at that point.)
January 12th, 2014 at 7:25 PM ^
Borges did manage to have tas bad as you say Borges was, his offense produced the #2 all time yards by a QB in a season, #1 and #2 all time passing yards in a game, #2 all time receptions in a seaons, #1 all time receiving yards, and #1 all time receiving yards in a game. He did all this with a bad OL and just about no run game. Not sure how much more he was supposed to do under the circumstances. If the defense stopped Penn State, Nebraska or Iowa when we had 4th quarter leads, we would have had a 10 win season...
January 12th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
Is that all? RR was also held to 300 or fewer 11 times in his three seasons. From the talk around here, I'd have thought Borges must have doubled that number.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
and RR got fired after three seasons as well, funnily enough.
January 12th, 2014 at 5:32 PM ^
...though I don't think failings on the offensive side of the ball were high on the list of reasons.
January 12th, 2014 at 7:45 PM ^
Then you obviously didn't watch Rich Rod's team every single time we played a decent defense. The myth that RR had a good offense while he was here just will not die, and it's annoying.
January 12th, 2014 at 9:53 PM ^
disagree with you, or else Denard wouldn't have won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and Big Ten MVP the same year Rodriguez got fired.
I challenge anyone that can decisively prove the 2010 offense was overrated to write a diary explaining why. And no, "because I said so" doesn't refute standard and advanced metrics.
January 12th, 2014 at 7:51 PM ^
But honestly, I'd say the offensive woes that he did have were a major deciding factor in his firing.
January 12th, 2014 at 6:03 PM ^
RR's first QB was Threet-Sheridan-DEATH. Borges' was Denard Robinson as a Junior.
RR had Schilling and R Freshman Molk in the OL. Borges had 2 time All American Lewan, Schofield, 5th yr Sr. Molk (who would win the Rimington), RS Jr.Omameh (who would be All Big whatever the next year) and 5th yr. Sr Huyge who had 16 prior starts.
They didn't exactly start from the same place.
January 12th, 2014 at 6:14 PM ^
But aren't those "excuses"?
(I'm trying to say that I think you missed my point.)
January 12th, 2014 at 7:18 PM ^
2008 - 8 games under 300
2009 - 3 games under 300
2010 - 0 games under 300
Borges arrives
2011 - 3 games under 300
2012 - 4 games under 300
2013 - 5 games under 300
Obviously, it's not that the total under RR (11) roughly equals the number under Borges (12). The majority under RR came in his first year. Borges' number of games under 300 rose each year. The regression under Borges at Michigan is consistent with the regression that Borges has experienced at other stops.
That said, he seems like a good guy and I wish him well.
January 13th, 2014 at 12:42 AM ^
January 13th, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^
In Borges' third season, we had five games with below 300 yards of offense.
In RR's third season, we had zero.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:32 PM ^
Is puting the team in a position to succeed. The playcalling should have been adjusted to reflect the limitations of the OL. Specifically - it should have been simplified. Instead, they went the other way and that's on Al (Probably).
He didn't do a good job at Michigan. That doesn't mean he won't do well at ND.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 5:22 PM ^
If the offensive line was the problem, then how did we torch the defenses of Ohio State and Notre Dame -- 2 of the best defensive lines we played all year?
January 12th, 2014 at 6:00 PM ^
I still believe the blame was more due to the oline. No one could game plan for that.Except for the game plans with this year's offensive line that produced two of the highest single-game yard totals in U-M history?
January 12th, 2014 at 6:31 PM ^
Those gameplans worked so well because the offense took risks that payed off when the players were able to execute. I don't think you can have the record breaking games without having some stinkers as well, unless your players are truly that talented and experienced (we have one out of two).
So yeah, Borges looks like a genius one week and an idiot the next, is his game planning that drastically different? Is that the best explanation we can come up with?
Don't get me wrong, I am glad Borges was let go and I am beyond thrilled about what Nuss said about being downhill, physical, and controlling the pace of the game to maximize their advantage. But the amount of emotion-driven Borges hate on this board can be pretty frustrating. Dude did some things that worked and some things that didn't. His tenure is over now. Let's move forward.
January 12th, 2014 at 6:57 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 4:07 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^
With Kelly being so involved with the offense, I could see Borges being a good fit there.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:10 PM ^
Seems like an odd fit. Doesn't Kelly have a hand in play calling? Which is Borges' calling card (since we know it's not recruiting or development).
January 12th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 9:58 PM ^
I wonder if it might be better for Borges to have a boss who's also an offensive guy. Kelly might be more likely to rein him in when his creativity gets the better of him. "That's really cool, Al, but it's getting a little too far from our base stuff, don't you think?"
January 13th, 2014 at 1:45 AM ^
Clearly Borges' problem the last two seasons is that his playcalling was too creative.
January 13th, 2014 at 6:50 AM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 4:13 PM ^
January 12th, 2014 at 4:14 PM ^
Kelly is a passing spread guy; why would he hire a west coast coach except to coach the QBs? Am I wrong in thinking that their offensive philosophies are fundamentally incompatible?
January 12th, 2014 at 4:23 PM ^
He might just want a guy with a good track record with QB's and high football IQ regardless of philosophy.
January 12th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
although for the first time, Kelly gave play-calling duties over to his OC Chuck Martin against Temple of September 3rd. I don't know if that continued last year. I was at the ND game in person so I have no idea who was calling plays. Does anyone remember?
N.B.: Chuck Martin is now head coach at Miami (Ohio).
January 12th, 2014 at 4:37 PM ^
Maybe Kelly wants to incorporate some WCO ideas into his offense?
Borges's strength is his understanding of that offense; he's also shown a willingness to blend it with spread concepts and he's innovative as a play designer. The hire would make sense to me, from that perspective.
January 12th, 2014 at 10:59 PM ^