BV a beta? - let me be clear, I love BV but he seems more like an asst in the interim HC role than a true HC. I don’t know if he even fought for his team during tonight‘s calls. It’s something that might be stupid to call out, but is kind of a microcosm of how a HC is aware of the ebbs and flows of a game and uses those moments to create some level of spark or advantage. It’s like the old BV who had fire in his belly is gone and we got the version that did self care and counseling at the med spa. The players love him, which is clear, but are they pushed by him to really be better?
Lebby’s Offense is gimmicky - It’s doesn’t scare opponents and is definitely more “horizontal” than down the field. Tonight was a rarity and it didn’t even take full advantage of what TT was giving us the whole game. We also inject trick Plays at the weirdest times that don’t seem to need it. We don’t have the physicality of previous offense’s or dominate in any aspect of the offensive scheme, even with this year’s occasional explosive pass plays. We put too much pressure on 2nd downs with little or no gains on 1st because of this crappy horizontal short pass to the WR on the outside that often nets little or negative yards. It’s a far cry from our downhill running offensive identity with Riley or the creative nuances/plays that he created out of the standard formation and personnel. The hurry up needs more balance and situational awareness without blindly just running a play quickly on 2nd and 10 just because that’s who we are. That is what teams with less talent have to do (Tech and old Baylor) vs teams with talent that should be able to impose their will. Would love to get back to the latter. Bob made Riley’s air raid offense more balance by demanding a physical running game while keeping the vertical passing threat, IMO. That built an offense that both elite QBs AND RB’s wanted to play in and did for us (Murray, Mixon, Hurts, Perine, Anderson).
Overall, this team has no identity. They aren’t physically imposing, and they aren’t high-octane offense that put up a ton of points and creates fear and pressure consistently. They literally have no leaders who will set the tone on either side of the ball where the other players want to follow. It‘s like the only consistent thing that BV and the coaching staff did this season was how to make the players feel good about working, but didn’t seem to hold them accountable to outcomes. In the business world, this kind of leader is trying to be friends with his employees so they like him, which they do. But they don’t necessarily perform well or even respect what’s asked of them because there aren’t really any consequences for bad performance. This is the worst thing that could happen to us because the culture, if not addressed, leads to acceptable mediocrity.
Sorry for the long-winded thoughts but this season hasn’t seen growth like we hoped and the team seems to be languishing more than building. I am sure I’m wrong about my observations but I think there’s at least some consideration for these points with the performance we are seeing.
