Just wanted to close the loop on the latest OL coach for Karl Dorrell. After our post on Wednesday our friends over at Roll Bama Roll (RBR) chimed in on their former OL coach Bob Connelly. Todd listed both pros and cons on Connelly. Since we listed lot of the concerns wrt to Connelly yesterday, thought it would be fair to list the "pros" on BC from RBR pov:
1. Connelly came to Alabama with Mike Price from Washington State, so he's returning to the Pac-10 where he had plenty of success before.
2. His blocking schemes were designed more for a spread offense instead of the pro-style attack Shula ran, a big reason his lines performed so terribly here but reasonably well at Washington State.
3. I have a sneaking suspicion that the ridiculous personell decisions on the line were more Shula's doings than Connelly's, playing younger (and less talented) guys for the sake of continuity into the next season.
4. He's considered an excellent recruiter, being named to the Rivals Top 25 list of recruiters in 2005.
Let me get to number 2 right away. If his blocking schemes were primarily designed for a spread offense then I am not sure exactly how he would be a great fit for Dorrell's pro-set WCO. UCLA doesn't run a spread offense. If anything under Dorrell UCLA has run a so called pro-set NFL offense which BTW looked just an ineffective, boring, and predictable now fired Shula's offense in Tuscaloosa. Given number 2 is moot in this case, point number 1 really doesn't matter.2. His blocking schemes were designed more for a spread offense instead of the pro-style attack Shula ran, a big reason his lines performed so terribly here but reasonably well at Washington State.
3. I have a sneaking suspicion that the ridiculous personell decisions on the line were more Shula's doings than Connelly's, playing younger (and less talented) guys for the sake of continuity into the next season.
4. He's considered an excellent recruiter, being named to the Rivals Top 25 list of recruiters in 2005.
So what does that leave us with? Perhaps what happened at Alabama was all Shula's fault. Then again if Connelly is such a OL genius why didn't he speak up and help his young coach out by advising him how to correct his "ridiculous personnel" decisions on the line. Was he nothing more than a "yes man" for Shula?
Lastly I don't buy the hype of excellent recruiter when a coach is brought in any more. Call me jaded. But I heard the same hype about Karl Dorrell when he was hired four years ago. And after four years result hasn't been all that spectacular. Moreover, it is not all that difficult to recruit for a program like UCLA. So to me that really doesn't matter all that much. What matters to me is whether a coach has shown he is versatile, has the ability to teach, and is an independent thinker and an innovator. Based on his last stint at Tuscaloosa Connelly hardly inspires any confidence in BN.
In any event all this is fairly academic. Either Dorrell wins the Pac-10 or he gets fired. And even if he wins the Pac-10 he is probably gone to the NFL. If I were Connelly I wouldn't be looking to get all that comfortable in Westwood.
GO BRUINS.