Can't imagine the staff not changing with another bad season. Hell, I could potentially see him leaving this offseason if Stockstill comes across an intriguing candidate. I think we still might see staff shake ups after the big coaching convention in January.
Stockstill knows we have problems on the offensive side of the ball. We cannot win a game without rushing for at least 200 yards. That right there tells me our offensive coordinator cannot get it done unless the team is making it easy for him. Faulkner is terrible at generating offense when the players are not dominating their opponents. And please don't misinterpret what I mean by that.
What I'm trying to say is, many coaches across the land can adjust a game plan and find ways to generate offense when the line of scrimmage is equal or they're even losing. (ie. knowing when the enemy will blitz and throwing a screen). Faulkner (and consequently Grammar) can't seem to get anything done if we are not completely dominating our opponent. Our offense is feast or famine because of this. They either turn in a great performance or look like they should all be replaced. Faulkner has even alluded to this phenomena in his post game comments. For example, after beating Marshall last year, Faulkner made the comment that he had to resist from calling other plays. He said something to the effect of having to be disciplined to call the same play over and over. In my eyes, that's the team making it easy for him. Offensive coordinators should know when to ride a play, but Faulkner and his offenses have become dependent on it. Where this becomes a huge problem is when the plays are NOT working and he continues to call the same shit over and over. Run, run, run anybody? Or one WR screen after another? Zero predictability. After you see our first 3-4 plays on offense in the beginning of a game, you know what 95% of the rest of the plays will be. We are not forcing teams to defend the entire field and have become insanely too predictable.
It's understandable for a team to have those inconsistencies and weaknesses during the first week or two of the season....but when those problems are still clearly present in the last game of the year, you know something has to change.
Personally, I'd love to see a new offensive coordinator in this program. I don't think Faulkner was ever the right hire to begin with (so unqualified in my opinion) and I can't help but wonder if Stock is feeling the same. One thing Stock hasn't been stubborn with is offensive coordinators as he's ran several out of town, however; it could be different with Faulkner because I guarantee Stock has his fingerprints all over our game plans and play calling so he might want to keep Faulkner so he can continue meddling in the offense.
The most successful offensive coordinators we've had here at MT have been insanely independent coaches. Fedora obviously did his own thing and Franklin wanted to operate his own ship as well. Rumor is Stock ran Franklin out of town because of his constant desire to meddle in the offensive game plan and play calling (Which makes perfect sense because Franklin made a lateral move despite having all the keys in place to have another monster season)
Ever wonder how we went from a 10-2 team blowing Southern Miss out in the New Orleans bowl to a 6-7 team getting spanked by Miami-Ohio behind 4 INT's from our QB.....with virtually the same players......(QB D. Dasher, RB's Phillip Tanner & Desmond Gee...)
Let me paint you a picture....
On February 5, 2009, Franklin was hired to fill the vacant position of offensive coordinator at Steve Spurrier.
Under Franklin's tutelage, the Blue Raiders offense improved from 7th in the conference in scoring before his arrival (and 84th in the nation) to 2nd in the conference his first season (and 23rd in the nation). Despite a losing record the year prior, MTSU finished the regular season with a 9-3 record including a win over the Maryland from the Atlantic Coast Conference (the lone conference loss came at Troy). The press characterized the year as redemption for Franklin after the difficulties at Auburn the prior year. Franklin's offense helped the Blue Raiders finish with 10 wins (after beating Southern Mississippi 42-32 in the New Orleans Bowl), the program's best record since it entered the Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) in 1999, with the offense averaging over 420 yards per game. Franklin's 2009 unit set MTSU records in total yards, passing yards, and total points. Quarterback Dwight Dasher finished the season ranked 7th in the nation in total offense, threw for a school record 23 TD passes, and was named the SBC Player of the Week three times.
On February 17, 2010, Sonny Dykes announced the hiring of Franklin as offensive coordinator.
On March 3, Mike Schultz, former Miami (OH) 21-35.
And it's been all down hill ever since.
Please stock, hire a legit FBS offensive coordinator and let him do his job. You're not the offensive mind you think you are and you know it.
Stockstill knows we have problems on the offensive side of the ball. We cannot win a game without rushing for at least 200 yards. That right there tells me our offensive coordinator cannot get it done unless the team is making it easy for him. Faulkner is terrible at generating offense when the players are not dominating their opponents. And please don't misinterpret what I mean by that.
What I'm trying to say is, many coaches across the land can adjust a game plan and find ways to generate offense when the line of scrimmage is equal or they're even losing. (ie. knowing when the enemy will blitz and throwing a screen). Faulkner (and consequently Grammar) can't seem to get anything done if we are not completely dominating our opponent. Our offense is feast or famine because of this. They either turn in a great performance or look like they should all be replaced. Faulkner has even alluded to this phenomena in his post game comments. For example, after beating Marshall last year, Faulkner made the comment that he had to resist from calling other plays. He said something to the effect of having to be disciplined to call the same play over and over. In my eyes, that's the team making it easy for him. Offensive coordinators should know when to ride a play, but Faulkner and his offenses have become dependent on it. Where this becomes a huge problem is when the plays are NOT working and he continues to call the same shit over and over. Run, run, run anybody? Or one WR screen after another? Zero predictability. After you see our first 3-4 plays on offense in the beginning of a game, you know what 95% of the rest of the plays will be. We are not forcing teams to defend the entire field and have become insanely too predictable.
It's understandable for a team to have those inconsistencies and weaknesses during the first week or two of the season....but when those problems are still clearly present in the last game of the year, you know something has to change.
Personally, I'd love to see a new offensive coordinator in this program. I don't think Faulkner was ever the right hire to begin with (so unqualified in my opinion) and I can't help but wonder if Stock is feeling the same. One thing Stock hasn't been stubborn with is offensive coordinators as he's ran several out of town, however; it could be different with Faulkner because I guarantee Stock has his fingerprints all over our game plans and play calling so he might want to keep Faulkner so he can continue meddling in the offense.
The most successful offensive coordinators we've had here at MT have been insanely independent coaches. Fedora obviously did his own thing and Franklin wanted to operate his own ship as well. Rumor is Stock ran Franklin out of town because of his constant desire to meddle in the offensive game plan and play calling (Which makes perfect sense because Franklin made a lateral move despite having all the keys in place to have another monster season)
Ever wonder how we went from a 10-2 team blowing Southern Miss out in the New Orleans bowl to a 6-7 team getting spanked by Miami-Ohio behind 4 INT's from our QB.....with virtually the same players......(QB D. Dasher, RB's Phillip Tanner & Desmond Gee...)
Let me paint you a picture....
On February 5, 2009, Franklin was hired to fill the vacant position of offensive coordinator at Steve Spurrier.
Under Franklin's tutelage, the Blue Raiders offense improved from 7th in the conference in scoring before his arrival (and 84th in the nation) to 2nd in the conference his first season (and 23rd in the nation). Despite a losing record the year prior, MTSU finished the regular season with a 9-3 record including a win over the Maryland from the Atlantic Coast Conference (the lone conference loss came at Troy). The press characterized the year as redemption for Franklin after the difficulties at Auburn the prior year. Franklin's offense helped the Blue Raiders finish with 10 wins (after beating Southern Mississippi 42-32 in the New Orleans Bowl), the program's best record since it entered the Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) in 1999, with the offense averaging over 420 yards per game. Franklin's 2009 unit set MTSU records in total yards, passing yards, and total points. Quarterback Dwight Dasher finished the season ranked 7th in the nation in total offense, threw for a school record 23 TD passes, and was named the SBC Player of the Week three times.
On February 17, 2010, Sonny Dykes announced the hiring of Franklin as offensive coordinator.
On March 3, Mike Schultz, former Miami (OH) 21-35.
And it's been all down hill ever since.
Please stock, hire a legit FBS offensive coordinator and let him do his job. You're not the offensive mind you think you are and you know it.
