[UPDATED] Welcome Coach Mazzone to UCLA
by muircoach on Dec 18, 2011 11:15 PM PST
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PrintBumped. -BN Eds.
While it will be debated if he is the right guy or not, I am very happy and think he will be a great hire. Several ASU friends of mine are very upset that he is leaving, and now that he is officially on board, we will officially have a "big boy" offense. Death to the Pistol is now official!!
Welcome Coach Mazzone. It is great to have you on board, and even better to get you from a Pac-10 rival. This can only help bring stability, but more importantly, some respect for the offense we are running.
[UPDATED - Bellerophon]: This is fantastic news that Coach Noel Mazzone has decided to leave Arizona State and officially join Coach Mora's staff. Here's the key quotes from the Scout article (not behind subscription firewall at the time of this post):
"Like any decision in life some of them have a bitter sweetness to them," Mazzone stated following Sunday’s practice. "The kids, the town here have all been awesome. Out of all the coaching stops I've had this has to be one of my favorites. I will always hold a special part in my heart for this town and for this program.
"It is going to be sad to move on, but I’m excited about that opportunity and also excited to finish the season with these kids and excited about the football game on Thursday."
Most exciting for Bruin fans is the development of Sun Devils QB Brock Osweiler, who gives Mazzone a lot of credit for developing him into a better QB:
"Coach Mazzone is the coach who got me to where I am today," Osweiler confessed. "Obviously you wouldn’t want anybody in that position to leave you, but that is part of the business. But I do know that coach Mazzone and myself will work together in the future again once I’m done at Arizona State.
"I’m just fortunate that he was here for the two years that he was and I was able to learn everything I did."
All-in-all, that bodes very well for the QB position at UCLA, which has often been our Achilles' heel.
GO BRUINS
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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+1
Welcome indeed! Glad to see Morgan center didn’t screw it up. Glad to pull in coaches that will be missed by the places they are leaving!
Love to see Mazzone take it to Petersen starting Thursday and any time we face him in the future!
Do we have any news/rumors on the defensive side of the ball?
You must run in such a way that you may be victorious. I Corinthians 9:24
This may be the best coordinator hire of any school this year
Great move by Coach Mora. Mazzone has ties at all levels from high school thru the NFL, any QB recruit should know his name.
Yes I'm happy
he seems like a very good hire. I’m not excited as I was about Norm Chow, but look how that turned out :)
Welcome to Westwood, Coach Mazzone
May many points be score by the Blue & Gold.
GREAT hire! Can’t wait to see Hundley running this offense.
by UCL@ on Dec 18, 2011 11:34 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Does this mean that our offense will consist of more than run, run, short pass?
I’ll see it when I believe it! Welcome to UCLA, OC Mazzone!
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 18, 2011 11:49 PM PST reply actions
well, run, run, short pass is basically mazzone’s offense…..still think it’s an upgrade, though.
by jtthirtyfour on Dec 19, 2011 12:09 AM PST up reply actions
As long as he moves away from the run, run, short pass, punt
I’ll be happy. Now for our DC….
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 19, 2011 10:10 AM PST up reply actions
Unless Mazzone has some type of magic cure for QB injuries
I don’t think that’ll remove our Achilles’ heel
Still, am hoping for a major enhancement to our offense
No pistol.
No running qb. Less chance for injury.
by UCL@ on Dec 19, 2011 12:12 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
actually, i'd be shocked if mazzone doesn't run the qb...
against a man under defense with cover 2, the entire point of a spread offense running game is to create a one on one match up of the mlb/rb. it is a match up that is generally very favorable for the offense.
to counter, a defense will do 1 of 4 things…
(1) try to help the mlb by bringing one of the safeties into run support and use a cover 1 over the top
(2) put a safety into man coverage, slide a backer off coverage and into run support and use cover 1 over the top.
(3) switch to a zone under and run cover 2/3.
(4) go to a 3 man front and add a linebacker
when you add a running quarterback into the mix, in a man under defense with cover 2, you have put the mlb in the impossible position of being responsible from the running back and the quarterback.
You have forced the defense to adopt 1 of the 4 above and the passing game should open up (especially to big plays).
Btw, Mazzone teaches his system to consider the “dual threat qb” to be the cherry on top of his offense.
by beanandcheeseburrito on Dec 19, 2011 12:48 AM PST up reply actions
A point that's already been made plenty
but I’m so happy to see our coach pick his own staff (as it should be).
The coaching carousel within our program was an absolute detriment to our team. I remember when CRN came on board and how strange it felt that he inherited his DC and how forced it felt that he picked up Norm Chow. Nothing ever felt cohesive – it felt like rather than being a guy coming in and dictating that “we’ll be playing like this – end of story,” he was running this patchwork system with a patchwork staff, aimlessly tweaking it every year, with the Pistol implementation being one of the greatest beacons of really not having an idea as to what he was doing.
So far, so good here.
Despite not seeing the field...
It’s becoming more and more obvious that CJM definitely did his HW prior to landing this job. I believe it when he’s said that he’s spent a lot of time looking at the college game these past couple of years. I can’t help but be excited for 2012.
P.S Anyone else catch RN’s appearance on the CBS talk show? He looked pretty sharp, and I think TV would be a great fit for him for the time being. Grace and class, cheering CJM on.
Anybody else think
Brett Hundley must be licking his chops at the (seemingly) great position he seems to be ready to step into?
NOTE Trying to remain reserved and not get too optimistic about an unproven staff.
I would like to continue to use the pistol
but no more than 25% of the time.
I hope we have a varied, diverse offense.
by silverlakebruin on Dec 19, 2011 8:31 AM PST reply actions
-1
There was nothing good about the pistol.
by Trojanswearskirts on Dec 19, 2011 8:52 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
this is completely false
No, it shouldn’t be a full-time offense against fast, aggressive defenses. But it has plenty of uses, the main one being misdirection. The pistol formation is (IMO) the most effective way to run the read option, because it gives the RB a downhill running start. Since Mazzone loves to spread the field and use misdirection, and since we have a very mobile QB starting either this year or the next, i’d be surprised if we don’t see the pistol at least a few times per game.
Saying that an offensive system that can put up 300 yards per game on the ground has “nothing good about it” is just wrong. I agree with silver, it’s a useful formation (not a good system) that i hope Mazzone uses sparingly to mix it up
by bucknellbruin on Dec 19, 2011 9:18 AM PST up reply actions
+1
And there’s nothing preventing us from running some spread plays from a pistol formation. It can be a useful tool in a multi-faceted offensive scheme.
Better analysis here than on BSPN, and that's for sure
I have a request of bean and cheese, and that’s for a bit more explanation of his four attack points above.
Also, to you guys who are more technical than I am, how can I tell the difference between the pistol and other offenses run out of what seems to me to be the same looking formation?
Thanks, and I’ll hang up and take your answer over the air.
We ran the "pistol" as our base offense
Most teams use it as a formation. Many spread teams use the pistol when they run the ball because the down hill running of the pistol is effective, but they run it our of a 3 or 4 reciever set. We ran it as our base offense, with tight ends and fullbacks, and became almost a “spread wing-t” team. I felt like we ran our offense like many wing t high schools.
The pistol has the back directly behind the QB
While in the spread the back is to the left or right. The pistol allows you to run more power plays and run between the guards more effectively because the running back is already moving downhill when he gets the ball, while making an outside linebacker account for the QB.
by themichael21 on Dec 19, 2011 3:21 PM PST up reply actions
The defining characteristic....
…is the QB only a few yards behind center as opposed to being in full shotgun (hence pistol, since it’s a mini-shotgun, of sorts), with the single back lined up directly behind the QB.
Mazzone used the pistol at ASU a bit
As a formation, a wrinkle to create new running angles and give the defense more to think about. We won’t likely see the old series with veer, fly sweep, etc, but there is plenty of crossover, it’s not black and white either pistol, spread, air raid, etc – systems blend into each other. As did plenty of other teams – Hawaii began running their run-and-shoot from the pistol to add a new dimension to the running game, West Virginia and Oklahoma State used some pistol with multiple backs to run the Raid as well, etc.
The way Mazzone runs his zone (aligning the back not next to the QB in shotgun, but to the side and back to create more of a downhill path) is actually pretty similar to how we ran pistol veer last season, so if anything it should help make for a smoother transition.
I’ll be putting up a series of posts detailing some of Mazzone’s stuff over the next week or so, have been rewatching some of ASU’s games since the hiring was 1st announced.
by jtthirtyfour on Dec 19, 2011 9:32 AM PST up reply actions
I disagree.
When it is run effectively, it is very deceptive and difficult for D to cover. With a fast QB like BH, it can deliver the goods.
People will see how effective the Pistol is ...
when we play Arizona.
Rich Rodriguez’ WVU offense was the Pistol. Of course, it works better when you have Pat White, Steve Slaton and Noel Divine. With Pat White or a guy like him running it, the Pistol is an effective, potent offense.
They can check out tapes of Alabama and TCU
From last few years. Both of them integrate pistol formation into their Os.
People always underrate coaching
They blame it on the system, not on the incompetence of the people running it. Thus being shut out by Cal, which allowed 52 points to Nevada the same year, is chalked up as a failure of the pistol.
Basically, anything innovative draws undue attention to itself, and away from how it’s run. There are lousy air raids, lousy pro-styles, lousy pistol-based (and more pro-style than people think) offenses, lousy spread-options…as well as great versions of all.
LSU this year also
has run the pistol quite a bit with Jefferson at QB
by bucknellbruin on Dec 19, 2011 2:52 PM PST up reply actions
I absolutely *HATE* how we ran the pistol...
we ran the pistol with the qb as a stagnant fixture thru all the options. by that I mean our qb’s feet were planted until the rb and the wg options were exercised and then he would move his feet.
watch a few other squads and their options are dynamic in that the qb has already started his “run” at the option mesh points. a qb that is moving at the mesh point give additional misdirection to the play and give the qb an extra two steps on his keepers.
by beanandcheeseburrito on Dec 19, 2011 4:49 PM PST up reply actions
Welcome to Westwood Coach!!
I was reading through the comments above and again I feel like every post on this site will have a comment related to injuries that have plagued this team. While I was no fan of the pistol offense I think the blame for the injuries is twofold. One, practices not being intense enough. No tackle practices do not prepare the players for the physicality of the game. And two, we must have a new S&C coach. Our team looked slow, soft and over matched. This led to injuries as well. Half of a strength coaches job is preventative, prehab and injury prevention type work. My brother has his masters in kinesiology and is a certified strength coach and he constantly commented on the lack of conditioning and strength he saw when our O-Line got manhandled.
+1
Not a fan of Mike Linn by any means – he’s been the S&C guy during some of our leanest years. Our best teams under Toledo were when we had Auburn’s current S&C coach, Kevin Yoxall. I’m hoping CJM brings in an SEC guy.
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 19, 2011 10:13 AM PST up reply actions
Welcome CJM
I really believe he has a nice core of offensive talent to work with. The cupboard in my opinion is not bare. I would like to see the passing lanes opened up for our nice core of young receivers. Also can you envision DC or Jetski catching a ton of balls from swing/slot/screen plays. These should be effective with a spread offense with multiple weapons. Getting cautiously optimistic…
by FlyBruin on Dec 19, 2011 10:12 AM PST via mobile reply actions
Sorry to burst your bubble
but DC is a senior. I can envision Jetski or Jordon James catching a ton of balls from swing/slot/screen plays though. James will benefit a ton from the Mazzone offense
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 19, 2011 10:16 AM PST up reply actions
James in the open field?
I like that thought. Buckle up!
greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com
Hundley to James
has a nice ring to it doesn’t it? We’ll be hearing that a lot in the future
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 19, 2011 11:24 AM PST up reply actions
Hundley to _____
sure sounds a lot better than Prince is going to keep it and run into a slew of defenders…no gain.
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 19, 2011 12:04 PM PST up reply actions
I don't think of Franklin
as much of a receiving threat… maybe he is just never in a position to catch balls?
None of or RB's
were put in position to catch balls. Hell most of our receivers and TE’s weren’t put in position to catch balls. smh
Go Bruins!
James got some play as a receiver
so at least have some idea what to expect there – Same with Barr.
He did get some plays at receiver
but I don’t think they were ever given routes or plays where they were at an advantage.
James was always used to run east-west instead of getting him upfield in space.
Barr was seldom used when he was the motion guy other than for blocking purposes.
Go Bruins!
Don't celebrate the death of the Pistol
Be careful what you wish for. That offense will work with proper coachng and execution. A solid coaching staff will use it at times and a great mobile QB will lead it well when called for. Mazzone will use all kinds of formations and should. the main challenge to out new staff is putting butts in the seats-you do that by being exciting and winning – we seem to be half way there
Good coaching hire
While our other assistants are good recruiting hires but may be a bit uncertain in terms of coaching, this is one that looks much more positive in terms of system and execution on the field. Welcome, Coach Mazzone.
greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com
I'm glad Mora got his man ...
but I must admit, I never watched Arizona State play and wished we had their offense.
Lots of passes/laterals into the flat is what I remember.
Again, I’m glad Mora got his man because I want him to have whatever resources he feels he needs to succeed. But I don’t recall watching Arizona State play and thinking “Wow, I wish UCLA had that offense.”
He may do great, I hope he does great. But I’m not blow away by the hire based on how ASU played this year.
Well...
if you have playmakers on the outside, and your offensive line isn’t dominant, maybe it makes sense to have those laterals? Our o-line could run block pretty effectively, so maybe we’ll see more inside plays than ASU had…
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
The problem ASU had ...
was in the red zone when the corners could start to creep up to the line of scrimmage.
In any case, I’m not against Mazzone. I’m just not in the group who thinks this is a slam dunk or a great coup. He’s just a guy to me, effective somewhat, but it’s not like we hired Oregon’s OC or something like that. ASU was okay, not spectacular on offense.
His history doesn't stop at ASU
he’s been in all sorts of different programs and has a lot of experience. He might be the most experienced coach on the staff including Mora. Look at his wiki page.
There are very few slam-dunk OCs out there
The best ones are head coaches, and the next best ones can only be hired as head coaches. Oregon’s OC is Chip Kelly, not whoever has the title now. That’s why it was so comical that everyone was declaring Norm Chow a genius…as if a career assistant was really supposed to be superior to all the great offensive minds who were kicking it as head coaches.
The next great offensive minds have to be discovered, like Belloti did with Kelly, at a lower level. Mazzone is one of the few guys out there with his own unique system, progressive-by-being-regressive spread, who is actually experienced and not headed to be an HC.
We also have a 6'8 TE
if IIRC
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 19, 2011 2:55 PM PST up reply actions
Now that the celebration is dying down, let's take a breath and see what we've got.
Remember the ecstasy when we got coach X? Maybe there was ecstasy only for Coach Chow. We have looked at lots and lots of numbers this year, and then we’ve looked at lots more numbers. Have we done any of this sort of analysis for Coach Mazzone? First question for me: Has he ever heard of Terry Donahue? If that one’s a no, then we can move on. But if there is even a tenuous connection, we need to look at it.
More questions – I read somewhere that his offense at finished in the top 25. If that’s true, that’s good enough for me. That’s basically the top 20 percent of the country.
But a tougher question. As I recall, Mazzone’s offense could only put up 28 points on one of the worst defenses in the nation (ours). What does that say for his top 25 offense? How can you not put up more points on a Tresey defense?
Another one. ASU was 1-4 on the road. (To put that in perspective, we were 1-6 on the road, or 1-5 if you don’t count the $c game as a road game, or 1-4 if you don’t count the Oregon game because we never should have been there.) So we have a coach who managed to win one road game (at Corvallis) coming to a team which managed to win one road game (at Corvallis) – how is that a step up.
We’re stuck with this guy at this point. I think we need to ditch the euphoria and look at some numbers and see whether the 10 win expectation for next season is going to be reached. (I don’t suggest that we lower the expectation, by the way. This has to do with whether we should be surprised if we don’t hit ten wins.
It's always tricky to blame coordinators for wins or losses
We’ve seen coordinators look horrible at some places and geniuses at other places. Norm Chow, Nick Allioti (never deemed a genius but competent enough to stay employed at a now-elite Oregon program for 13 years), Al Borges…really an endless list. So much of a team’s overall performance owes really to the head coach, and it looks like Erickson simply got too old to run a tight ship.
More important, to me, is the fact that one of the finest college offensive-minded coaches of his time (Erickson) saw enough in Mazzone to hire him; that Mazzone converted a 95th-ranked offense to top 25 in his first year; that his offense is self-designed for the college level; and that it’s a versatile spread attack.
Those are all good things. Whether they are good enough in a conference full of innovative offensive minded coaches is impossible to tell at this point…but it’s a good sign that More at least did not go with a dull pro-style staff.
I'm no football expert
But it seemed to me that what the pistol worked well at and what Prince did well was getting defenses to bite on numerous fake handoffs thus leaving Rosario and Fauria open, a lot. So when these guys were hit it was for big yards. The ASU game in particular. So what was frustrating for me as an armchair OC was why they weren’t calling plays like that more often when they seemed to work the few times that they did. Also, as a matter of balance, it seemed that with the pistol they needed for Prince to keep it a few more times since that possibility means fewer LBs going after Franklin and Coleman.
Powder to the People
It's about recruiting talent...
Talent makes coaches look good. My coach at UCLA went on to become the head coach at Houston and recruited Carl Lewis who wound up making him look great.
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