Mike Bajakian

[sWiley]

I really would like to see this guy get a look for OC. Currently at Northwestern but due to coaching change there, will be available after tonights bowl game.

Mixture of NFL and college experience. Likes to huddle and run the football. Good ole balanced, complimentary football. Run opens up the pass and vice versa yada yada yada.

right up Mason's alley

 

[Sommy]

He seems to be well regarded. I know people want to keep Mitch, but I would prefer as much of a turnover as we can to aim for a better culture. Also I’m still worried that Mitch is not running a style that Mason wants to see and it could be an issue down the road.

 

[BRaiderDave]

Please, ZERO retained coaches. A total enema is required. So to speak.

 

[crposton]

I understand wanting a complete reset, but Mitch has only been here one season. I don’t necessarily want Mitch to stay, but wouldn’t be completely opposed to it.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

I understand wanting a complete reset, but Mitch has only been here one season. I don’t necessarily want Mitch to stay, but wouldn’t be completely opposed to it.

Drain the swamp.
Cope, Murphy Center, Football and Men’s Basketball
Complete reset.

 

[MT01]

This is the most important hire as you all have already pointed out. Unfortunately, this one worries me immensely. Pro style offense isn't going to work in C-USA. How many schools still run it at the G5 and successful with it? Boise - which is more of a modified multiple offense. You just have to be better at every single position for it to work and I don't think we're ever going to be able to recruit at a couple of levels higher than our conference mates consitently at every offensive position. College offenses moved to spread for a reason, because it creates mismatches all over the field if you know what you're doing. Pro style offenses don't really do that for you. Which is why most of the NFL has abandoned it too, because parity means you can't out leverage the defense like the bigger market teams used to be able to do.

There's a reason why one of his first commitments was a punter. Mason is going to put the best players on defense. Try to shorten the games. He's going to try to play a bunch of games at 17-13, 20-14, etc. I personally don't think that's going to fly in C-USA. Because even with a good defense, Liberty, Jax, wkcc are still going to often get their points and score in the 20s or even 30s even if we have the best defense. I also don't think it's going to excite the fan base.

I'm going to point you to one very useful example. Troy. Troy goes 11-2 and wins their second straight conference title. Even with the sixth ranked scoring defense in the nation, they still averaged 28 points per game on offense with over 400 yards of total offense. They could have been 12-1. One of their losses was just like the type of game I described that MAson wants. A 16-14 loss to JMU. One possession made all the difference in a win and loss. Two other games - even with a top 10 defense - they needed 27 and 31 points, respectively to beat Western Ky and Louisiana. Being able to score in the upper 20s and 30s even with a great defense is 100% necessary. It's the difference between a conference championship season and an 8-4/7-5 season.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

Has CDM said he wants a pro style? All I've seen him say is he does want under center at times, which makes sense. Even in an Air Raid offense, shotgun on 4th and Goal at the 1 is just stupid in my book.

You can be spread and still be balanced to allow RPOs and keep the defense honest. 100% possible I missed a quote of him saying he wants a pro style though. He did run that the bulk of his years at Vandy but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

 

[MT01]

He did say pro style once but we haven’t really heard him elaborate on what he wants to do - specifically.

 

[ewglenn]

Has CDM said he wants a pro style? All I've seen him say is he does want under center at times, which makes sense. Even in an Air Raid offense, shotgun on 4th and Goal at the 1 is just stupid in my book.

You can be spread and still be balanced to allow RPOs and keep the defense honest. 100% possible I missed a quote of him saying he wants a pro style though. He did run that the bulk of his years at Vandy but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

I have listened to all of his interviews and I’ve heard him say a few times he wants to be able to go under center when needed. He wants to be physical and more balanced. I don’t recall him saying he wanted a pro style offense. The closest he has said that I can remember is it being a big change from what we’ve been doing. That leaves a lot to the imagination. I think everyone here is scarred and expecting the worst in every move we make. It’s understandable but I will wait to see what our OC hire is before panicking about the offense we’re going to run.

 

[MT01]

He did use the phrase pro style once but can’t recall which of his many hits it was in his first couple of weeks.