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Thoughts on Jonathan Smith
DerekJohnson
Administrator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 70,271 
I realize that I'm the only one in the Western Hemisphere defending Jonathan Smith at all, and that my words are bound to be misunderstood by some.
I agree there's a chance that Smith is a problem and in over his head. I do find it to be a puzzling hire given his resume. It also doesn't help matters that he doesn't look like a commanding leader, to say the least.
But my position of not completely rushing to judgment is based on two main factors. First, the decisions about which personal to use stems from Petersen's philosophy of OKG's and Smith has to adhere to that. Second, as the Huskies were running the ball down UCLA's throat and got inside the red zone, how do we know that Smith didn't have another off tackle play dialed up for Shaq, when Petersen intervened and told him it seemed like a grand time to run consecutive fly sweeps? We don't know what is going on there. For all we know, Petersen might have been the problem there.
When I was a teenager I used to get mad at Gary Pinkel for being so conservative, not understanding until later it was the Don James philosophy that led Pinkel to be that way. It's in that spirit that I'm trying to LIPO a bit before seeing if these disturbing offensive trends we are seeing stem from the OC or head coach. And at the end of the day, the head coach is the one who hired the OC.
So I guess that's all I have to say on the matter.
I agree there's a chance that Smith is a problem and in over his head. I do find it to be a puzzling hire given his resume. It also doesn't help matters that he doesn't look like a commanding leader, to say the least.
But my position of not completely rushing to judgment is based on two main factors. First, the decisions about which personal to use stems from Petersen's philosophy of OKG's and Smith has to adhere to that. Second, as the Huskies were running the ball down UCLA's throat and got inside the red zone, how do we know that Smith didn't have another off tackle play dialed up for Shaq, when Petersen intervened and told him it seemed like a grand time to run consecutive fly sweeps? We don't know what is going on there. For all we know, Petersen might have been the problem there.
When I was a teenager I used to get mad at Gary Pinkel for being so conservative, not understanding until later it was the Don James philosophy that led Pinkel to be that way. It's in that spirit that I'm trying to LIPO a bit before seeing if these disturbing offensive trends we are seeing stem from the OC or head coach. And at the end of the day, the head coach is the one who hired the OC.
So I guess that's all I have to say on the matter.
Comments
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That's your big announcement?
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Not that I watched much of the game, but I'm pretty sure UW got its ass kicked in all three phases by UCLA.
Let's all blame the OC for that. -
You don't win over 80% of your games for being stupid.
However,
It is starting to appear as if Peterman forgot how to coach. -
A thoughtful, reasoned (yet technically unsound) post.
It won't do very well in this forum. -
Petersen said way back that he doesn't like to interfere with the coordinators during the game. Maybe he should reevaluate that stance.
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Lost in all this is that Shaq and the block by Clay on the Ross return were the only two instances where UW looked as tough or tougher than UCLA.TierbsHsotBoobs said:Not that I watched much of the game, but I'm pretty sure UW got its ass kicked in all three phases by UCLA.
Let's all blame the OC for that. -
Here are some quotes from Petersen on his assistants and personnel. It's pretty clear that in the past his assistants have chosen which players to play. One could assume his philosophy is consistent on the play calling as well. But, of course, we don't know for sure unless a media member asks the question and he answers it.DerekJohnson said:I realize that I'm the only one in the Western Hemisphere defending Jonathan Smith at all, and that my words are bound to be misunderstood by some.
I agree there's a chance that Smith is a problem and in over his head. I do find it to be a puzzling hire given his resume. It also doesn't help matters that he doesn't look like a commanding leader, to say the least.
But my position of not completely rushing to judgment is based on two main factors. First, the decisions about which personal to use stems from Petersen's philosophy of OKG's and Smith has to adhere to that. Second, as the Huskies were running the ball down UCLA's throat and got inside the red zone, how do we know that Smith didn't have another off tackle play dialed up for Shaq, when Petersen intervened and told him it seemed like a grand time to run consecutive fly sweeps? We don't know what is going on there. For all we know, Petersen might have been the problem there.
When I was a teenager I used to get mad at Gary Pinkel for being so conservative, not understanding until later it was the Don James philosophy that led Pinkel to be that way. It's in that spirit that I'm trying to LIPO a bit before seeing if these disturbing offensive trends we are seeing stem from the OC or head coach. And at the end of the day, the head coach is the one who hired the OC.
So I guess that's all I have to say on the matter.
Where did philosophy come from of allowing assistants so much freedom?
“Maybe me being an assistant. I think we’ve got really good assistants that know what they’re doing. I trust them as much as anybody in the world. And if they want my opinion, which some of them do, I’ll give them my two cents. But these guys are great coaches and I trust them. If they think that guy should play, and he should play a little more than him, that’s what we do.”
Do you ever intervene?
“I don’t think since I’ve been a head coach I’ve ever had a disagreement with an assistant on who should play. I think we see things – we’re all trying to get the best guys on the field, I think we see things pretty clearly.”
Read more here: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports/2014/08/27/quoting-chris-petersen-on-hawaii-recruiting-and-autonomy-among-assistants/#storylink=cpy
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While I don't think Smith has done a great or even good job at OC this year, I'm not going to trash him to no end like many are doing. With the clusrerfuck at OL, RB, and QB that he was left with I'll give him the benefit of the doubt at this point and LIPO. I don't think he's coaching Cyler to be slow and dumb. I don't think he's coaching DiAndre Campbell to drop the ball, and I don't think he's coaching Mickens to run backwards. In a way, he's playing Texas Hold 'em and keeps getting dealt 2s and 7s non-suited. I'll give him another year or two to get his system in place and to get the Sark stink off.
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Boise use to make unconventional, seemingly high risk play calls on a regular basis when their offense was rolling. I'm not talking about specific, high profile ones that have gotten all the publicity (hook and ladder, statue of liberty) but routine play calls mixed into routine drives. They would pull strange plays out of nowhere and pull them off more often than not.
I don't think Petersen is involved in specific play calls, but I think it's a reflection of his offensive philosophy. I'm personally not concerned about it anymore. When the personnel and the training match the philosophy it will start working. I'm still confident that it will eventually match even though the process of getting there is more painful than I was prepared for. -
Smith is just the most visible part of the problem...the entire offensive staff is a bit of a head-scratcher:
- Strausser (OL) - seems legit...no problems there.
- PaoPao (TE) - brand new coach and hold-over from Sark...not saying he's a bad coach but a newbie.
- Pease (WR) - Experience coach with a really checkered history, including his 2 year pissing match at UK as the OC and his 2 year failure as Florida's OC. Suppose to be a good recruiter, but not sure on his coaching or his personality.
kentucky.com/2012/09/19/2342968/john-clay-hefty-lefty-still-throwing.html
cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/24310386/ap-florida-coach-will-muschamp-fires-offensive-coordinator-brent-pease
- Bhonaphala (RBs) - College DB who's coached with Peterson and been his recruiting guy...my guess is a decent coach (assuming someone other that Shaq learns how to run) but one focused mostly on recruiting
and finally Smith (QBs/OC) -
Its not just that Smith is inexperienced and doesn't seem to know how to adapt his people to what he wants to do (still amazed in a driving rain and 30mph winds they gave TW his first start instead of starting Lundquist and running the read-option Swede 50 times...difference between inflexibility and trying to find any way to win). The entire offensive staff doesn't have a lot of history/experience with the exception of Pease, and his is pretty checkered with his time and UK and UF. He also seems to be a pretty strong personality, so not sure how he and Smith work together especially as the offensive gets more inept week-to-week (and I'm assuming the others aren't really focused on overall strategy).
Just a weird group of folks together...you'd think Peterman would be hands on and would get involved with the offense more to right the ship but can't say I've seen that.
