I've been on Hobbie for a while

[JeffreyBEllis]

Well, I'd rather have Hobbie than East Carolina's offensive coordinator. That guy sucks in Technicolor.

East Carolina's offensive coordinator is none other than Noah Brindise, a former backup quarterback to Danny Wuerffel at the University of Florida and a Steve Spurrier protege. In fact, the aforementioned six visitations made by the Spurrier Family to Greenville to which I was referring in an earlier posting were made possible by Brindise's hiring at ECU.

Nevertheless, I must say that I prefer Brindise's offensive schemes to that of Rick Stockstill, ECU's former offensive coordinator in John Thompson's debut season in Greenville. The Pirate fan base routinely refers to the Stockstill regime as the "Standstill Offense." Currently, Stockstill is serving as an associate coach at the University of South Carolina.

Regarding Mike Hobbie's coaching aptitude, one must take into account the fact that ECU's run defense is exceptionally porous. Wake Forest's Chris Barclay, West Virginia's Kay-Jay Harris and Pac-Man Jones, as well as Louisville's Eric Shelton experienced "career days" in the backfield against the Pirates.

In terms of analyzing USF's upcoming contest against the Cincinnati Bearcats, I do not believe that USF will struggle to contain Cincinnati's running game or experience difficulty in terms of advancing the football.

Hopefully, the Bulls will continue to perform well and perhaps, become bowl-eligible in the coming weeks ahead.

On a final note, thank you, Bulliever, for opening the live chat forum to my fellow Pirate fans during last evening's ECU/USF football game. I enjoyed sharing thoughts, feelings and impressions with everyone, even if the final result was unacceptable for Pirate fans. Fortunately, I could not suffer a loss last evening, irrespective of the final result.

;D

[Apis Bull]

The announcers said Hall got benched to "calm him down" after the fumbles.

[The_Reaper]

No wonder ECU had a bad OC  He's a GAYTURD!!! ::sick::

oops   there I go again!!!

[BULLheaded]

I have also been very critical of Hobbie....him and all the offensive staff. I'll admit he has been calling better games but its really hard to tell if he is up to the task of winning once we step up to the BE next year. My main concern has been as much about their ability to teach the techniques and fundamentals necessary to win at the next level as it has been about the play creation/calling. Probably what I am more impressed with then the play calling is the improvement I am seeing in PJ. It is slow and we'll have to see what happens against Memphis and Pitt to get a true idea of how we are progressing but he is definately improving IMO.

Regarding benching Hall, I think that is exactly what happened temporarily after each fumble. It was pretty obvious Leavitt was PISSED, post game show when it was mentioned how he put hall back in after two fumbles I was expecting the usual "these things happen" remark but instead his whole tone changed to one of irritation and he just said..."he blew it and he knows that"

[Bull Matrix]

You really could not put all the blame on Hobbie. You have to see that USF had some plays that would have done well if they were just executed. There were many bad passes and dropped passes to automatically put all the blame on Hobbie this season. The OC is only as good as the players on the field. When the players start executing then the OC looks very good. That is all there is to it. In other words, it does not matter what calls he is making as long as USF is winning the games and scoring points.

[Jim Johnson]

I was a very vocal critic of Hobbie earlier this season.  Primarily because I thought he didn't get it.

Well, I don't know if it was Hobbie or CJL - but the offense has adjusted midseason.  The system relies on our strong running game (rather than passing it), and makes it easier on PJ to make plays that he can, rather than those he has to.

If Hobbie has actually found his brain and used it to make these mid-season adjustments, then I must say it was never expected.  It's a shame that he couldn't make these changes earlier this year.

Finally, Anthony Severino played last night - blowing his "redshirt" season.  Why oh why oh why didn't CJL put him in against L'ville ??  He couldn't have been any worse than 3 for 20!!

[BULLheaded]

You really could not put all the blame on Hobbie. You have to see that USF had some plays that would have done well if they were just executed. There were many bad passes and dropped passes to automatically put all the blame on Hobbie this season. The OC is only as good as the players on the field. When the players start executing then the OC looks very good. That is all there is to it. In other words, it does not matter what calls he is making as long as USF is winning the games and scoring points.

Here is where the big disagreement I have with so many people. The offensive coaches perform 2 tasks IMO. Yes, ONE is to make plays that will succeed and execution is a must BUT the coaches must also be able to take the talent they have and hone it to execute properly. When you look at a team that has had two QB with a consistent problem of throwing at feet, not setting properly before throwing and just making plain old bad decisions you have to question the coaching. Yes you must have talent but you also have to have coaching to allow the talent to learn how to execute. Top that off with sloppiness in penalties, a historic problem with dropped passes, poor blocking with veterans then you just have to point fingers at the coaches abilities. Things are looking better but is it enough for the highest level? We'll just have to see.

[Jim Johnson]

You really could not put all the blame on Hobbie. You have to see that USF had some plays that would have done well if they were just executed. There were many bad passes and dropped passes to automatically put all the blame on Hobbie this season. The OC is only as good as the players on the field. When the players start executing then the OC looks very good. That is all there is to it. In other words, it does not matter what calls he is making as long as USF is winning the games and scoring points.

I agree with Bullheaded here.  College football is not the NFL.  Most schools don't have the luxury of recruting talent that fits the schemes they run.  FSU runs the pro-set, I formation -- and they can get the offensive talent to do that.  USF tries to run the spread, but we don't have the Blackwells or Ingrams needed to do this.  

So, during the Spring, the coaches should have taken a step back - looking at the big picture and said... "Okay, what kind of talent will we have..." and then designed a system that would utilize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of the personnel.  Instead, the coaching staff tried to fit the "square pegs" into the "round holes" - (saying, "Jeesh. They fit in practice.")...

Only with the UAB and the ECU games does it seem that the offensive scheme is now based on the talent we have, rather than the ideas floating in and out of the transom of Hobbie's mind.  If PJ threw 16 passes over 11 games, that would be his kind of game (176 passes for the year, which works for a kid that threw 100 passes in high school).

To be sure, if the coaching staff changes the system AND the talent can not execute, that is a different story.  But for most of the season - especially U of L - that wasn't the case.  The talent wasn't executing because they were being asked to do things they can not do.  Now they are being asked to do things they can do.

It was a simple thought really: "If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting."

[GarySJ]

To those who complain that the offensive scheme wasn't addressed pre-season, I have four words:

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.

I applaud the offensive staff for realizing that what they were doing wasn't working, and making changes to address it.

Even if USF doesn't win any more games this year, it is VERY encouraging to see that we have a coaching staff that is willing to adjust. Malleability is a huge asset. This year it might make the difference between 3-8 and 5-6. Some year in the future, it might make the difference between 7-4 and 9-2.

[smazza]

gsj-good point