Champeen

February 6th, 2023 at 10:37 AM ^

There is nothing wrong with predictability if your good at what you do.  Bo and Carr ran the same telegraphed shit all the time.  But they were soooo good at what they did, they still jammed it down the opponents throat.  And that 1 out of every 10 plays the deviated was truly a masterful big play.

Just know what you have, be elite at it, and force it down your opponents throat.  Right as soon as you start overthinking and getting cute, you fail.

Joined: 04/07/2011

MGoPoints: 14967

ShadowStorm33

February 6th, 2023 at 12:04 PM ^

There is nothing wrong with predictability if your good at what you do.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with predictability when you're playing mediocre to bad teams. We saw a great example of that this year. The coaches knew they could just pave most of the (crappy) teams on the schedule, and they did. Most of the games weren't really close.

But the danger with that mindset is that predictability won't cut it against the great to elite teams, and those are the teams you really should be scheming to beat*. It's probably fine as long as you can open it up when need be, but many coaches seemingly can't. Just look at Bo and his abysmal bowl record, and Harbaugh hasn't exactly been immune to this type of criticism either...

*As an aside, I think one of the big failings of advanced stats (and accordingly an overreliance on them) is that they can overvalue results against bad teams that aren't translatable to the great/elite teams you play. Like I said, you should be scheming against those elite teams; a good team should beat a bad team regardless of the scheme, but not all schemes are created equal when you're facing a loaded opponent. If those line up, great, but you're better off beating the crappy teams by 30 instead of 50 if that scheme sets you up for more success against the best teams you're going to play...

Joined: 07/22/2008

MGoPoints: 23063

Don

February 6th, 2023 at 12:45 PM ^

"Bo and Carr ran the same telegraphed shit all the time.  But they were soooo good at what they did, they still jammed it down the opponents throat."

19 bowl game losses between them would suggest that "telegraphed shit" wasn't nearly as successful against quality opposition.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 148371

DY

February 6th, 2023 at 1:53 PM ^

Ugh, Carr's last Rose Bowl when after the game a bunch of the USC defensive players said they knew exactly what M was going to do. Meanwhile M bottled up USC in the first half and then they came out and threw on every play in the 3rd and 4th quarter and buried M, until it was salt away the clock time. One of the most frustrating games to watch.

Joined: 07/01/2008

MGoPoints: 1979

BlueMk1690

February 6th, 2023 at 2:09 PM ^

Nope. Predictability is always a negative in a contest. It can be a good thing in life (people don't like people prone to unpredictable action), but in a contest you always will have a significant advantage over the opposition if you know exactly what they're going to do. That's why governments invest so much into intelligence. The U.S. intelligence budget is bigger than many countries' GDP.

Now, predictability can be a tolerated defect if other advantages are derived from a predictable course of action. Bo and Carr didn't *want* to be predictable, but they would rather be predictable than bad at execution, and they did not, could not conceive of a way of being both unpredictable and well-drilled. This is the common cause of predictability in sport. It's not that predictability isn't a negative, it's just seen as the lesser evil. It usually only works though if you have a significant talent advantage over the opposition, and if their ability to surprise you is checked by their limited execution and by your ability to adjust.

Joined: 02/04/2011

MGoPoints: 12933

MgoBlueprint

February 6th, 2023 at 9:32 AM ^

Didn’t Hart and Carr go after Harbaugh?

Now Hart is on Harbaugh’s staff here.

Rees made the right move. Freeman is young. I’m assuming that Rees wants to become a HC soon and Saban positions his coordinators for just that.

Joined: 12/15/2008

MGoPoints: 11576

steviebrownfor…

February 6th, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^

I don't think losing Rees will have much of an impact on ND either but this is pretty lame from Tim Brown.  The equivalent of getting dumped and saying she wasn't that hot anyways.

Joined: 02/01/2009

MGoPoints: 10078

jdib

February 6th, 2023 at 10:07 AM ^

All the more reason for Tommy to leave if a fellow alum is going to throw you under the bus.  Every coordinator that left Bama moves upwards.  Whether Tim Brown is right or wrong remains to be seen but one thing is for certain and that is all eyes will be on Freeman to get a new shiny coordinator and see if he can turn it around.

...Still a dick move though.

Joined: 10/31/2012

MGoPoints: 13905

Tom in AnnArbor

February 6th, 2023 at 10:29 AM ^

Any turmoil in the land of the Irish is good turmoil.  To hell with Notre Dame.

In regards to Tommy Rees not being a good OC, Nick Saban just hired him to do just that.  If Tim Brown thinks he's better at identifying college football coaching talent he might want to fire at someone else.   

Joined: 06/12/2018

MGoPoints: 2374

ERdocLSA2004

February 6th, 2023 at 11:39 AM ^

I don’t think Saban hires coordinators because they are good.  I think it’s like his own little side gig.  He hires guys that need a year or two to boost their resume or actually trains them to be better.  I think he’s more interested in expanding his own coaching tree rather than hiring the best coordinator available.  

Joined: 01/08/2011

MGoPoints: 16057

Amazinblu

February 6th, 2023 at 10:29 AM ^

Well, Tim Brown did win the Heisman while wearing the Irish jersey - back in 1987.

It seems there might be a few different perspectives on things in South Bend.   

From my vantage point - and, I have no horse in this race (though, admittedly, find a bit of joy when ND comes up short) - their offense faced challenges last year.   There were early season losses to the receiving corps, their OL returned to a new / former coach who was instilling schemes, approaches, etc. - and, they really didn't have a strong QB.   That's a tough combination to overcome.

It will be very interesting to see what Rees does in Tuscaloosa, and - who they find to replace him as the OC.

 

Joined: 01/22/2010

MGoPoints: 41400

VAWolverine

February 6th, 2023 at 10:37 AM ^

ND had QB issues last year and very little speed and quickness on the offensive side of the ball.

Maybe Brown can be awarded a COVID year of eligibility to help the plodding Irish offense out. 

I believe Rees wants to be in the NFL eventually so going to Bama to be anointed by St. Nick is the fastest route to that goal. 

Joined: 11/06/2008

MGoPoints: 9927

MH20

February 6th, 2023 at 10:40 AM ^

ND fans seem somewhere between ambivalent and ecstatic that Rees is gone, but to me their biggest issue was assuming they were set at the QB position with Buchner and Pyne. Neither of those guys were all that interesting and it showed in their four losses. Further, their best offensive skill player was a TE, so explosive plays were hard to come by.

Joined: 10/30/2008

MGoPoints: 40582

Amazinblu

February 6th, 2023 at 1:10 PM ^

I'm not sure who ND's OC was the last time they played in Michigan Stadium (it was an evening of rain - for those who don't remember).

My thought is - I loved it.  The setting was unforgettable - as was the result (45-14).  It's a memory to hold on to until the next time the two teams meet - which is a decade away (2033).

I wonder what Tim Brown thought about that last ND-Michigan game.

Joined: 01/22/2010

MGoPoints: 41400

rdonahue87

February 6th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^

Probably not deserving of its own thread since it's not related to Michigan or any sport anyone cares much about, but since this thread is about "Irish"....

 

Ireland hosting France on Saturday for a massive rugby match (Six Nations Tournament).

Ireland is currently ranked #1 in the world (and plays as a United Ireland) and France is ranked #2.

If you like rugby it's a must-watch event....I'll be at the Ireland vs. Italy game in Rome in a few weeks which should be far less interesting. 

Joined: 11/26/2022

MGoPoints: 4137