The Case for an Offensive Coordinator

Actually, I'm not going to make a case, but here are some interesting stats from "footballjacket" at the Hive. This is our offensive and defensive national rankings since 1999:


...Offense NR/PPG.... Defense NR/PPG
2005.... 103/18.5.... 23/20.1
2004.... 85/22.0..... 21/18.9
2003.... 90/21.08.... 27/20.5
2002.... 94/21.54.... 27/20.5
2001.... 28/31.75.... 37/22.3
2000.... 18/33.82.... 21/19.0
1999.... 2/40.7...... 93/30.3


So statistically the defense has been very consistent since the 2000 season, while the offensive has progressively gone downhill. To this point Chan Gailey has not wanted to hire an offensive coordinator but there is a large fan base that would like to see this happen.


Our ACC coastal rival Tarheels just hired an OUTSTANDING offensive coordinator in Fresno State's Frank Cignetti, Frankly I'm a little jealous. There are plenty of good ones out there. I'm not saying someone else would automatically do a better job, but the results haven't been there in 4 years offensively and we know what an outstanding defensive coordinator can do for you. Why couldn't it help on offense? If a junior QB 3-year starter, the best wide receiver in the nation and a senior RB who led the ACC 2 years ago can't get it done, then where are we going? Ok, I conveniently ignored the fact that our inexperienced offensive line was the #1 reason why the offense struggled this season. Our QB was #2. The bottom-line is that some type of adjustments need to be made to improve this offense. There is good individual talent, but we're not scoring much.


There is a good debate over at the Hive about different offensive options and issues. Actually some very good football discussion.