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Sawful - does he dare?

This reminds me a bit of the sheep after they fired Sonny Lubick. They hired the then current Buffalo Bills OC and former sheep qb Steve Fairchild. After 1 mediocre season, he went 3-9 for 3 straight seasons. Pro experience means absolutely nothing on the college level. But if there is one thing we know about Sawvel, he is completely clueless when it comes to hiring assistants and evaluating the talent he has. I can't honestly believe we are going to see year 4 of this. But the incompetency of this athletic Dept. constantly surprises me.
 
Hughes isn’t going to be playing football much longer. I imagine his football career is done after this year.

This is Sawvel’s career. He should be doing everything he can to turn this around.
When you are guaranteed $2.5 million for the 2027 and 2028 seasons, there is nothing to turn around. Set for life. No real motivation to do anything but collect a check.
 
This reminds me a bit of the sheep after they fired Sonny Lubick. They hired the then current Buffalo Bills OC and former sheep qb Steve Fairchild. After 1 mediocre season, he went 3-9 for 3 straight seasons. Pro experience means absolutely nothing on the college level. But if there is one thing we know about Sawvel, he is completely clueless when it comes to hiring assistants and evaluating the talent he has. I can't honestly believe we are going to see year 4 of this. But the incompetency of this athletic Dept. constantly surprises me.
Times have changed. With NIL and the portal college players are professionals so I do think that some pro-type experience is helpful but not the first thing which is needed. UW needs a change from the top -Burman and Sawvel- all the way down to the players recruited.
 
I want a QB change. Sims should get 75% of the reps this week. That being said, I'd still start Hughes against Joser. If he can put up some points, then you go another quarter. If we have <10 at half (situational dependent, of course), I make the change. I would have done this even after I had put Sims in at half or the very least beginning of 4th quarter against NDSU.
 
I'm not giving Sawvel a pass here, but I bet a lot of Hughes remaining the starter is tied to our new OC.

I often wonder what Taylor was thinking when he decided to leave the Bills to come to UW. Why did he want to join a staff that had shown to be completely incompetent in the previous two years and an offense that had been historically bad for the past decade plus? It seems to me like jumping on the Titanic even though you already see it sinking.

I would not doubt that in order to convince Taylor to come, he was essentially guaranteed the QB of his choice (within reason), and the ability to have full-say over offensive personnel. He probably thought he could "fix it". Little did he know!
You saw what a serious program does with an ineffective coordinator at the ewe game a couple of weeks ago. At UW it’s “oh well” it’s a learning experience. In 20 years, it’s still a learning experience.
 
We always hear how Sawvel gets all the portal players and high school kids he goes after. I’m starting to suspect it’s because nobody else wants the players he wants.
Like I say - if you see a reliable recruiting site look at the actual offers and not the list of interest. Then look at any visits or scheduled visits.

Without substantive research it seems to me that Wyoming doesn’t go head to head very often within the MWC and is frequently in competition with a number of FCS programs with offers along with lesser FBS names.

The “diamond in the rough” concept is great if you find a diamond (Allen), but if you find a massive practice squad your depth is thin.

The physical size profile is another litmus test it seems. What I wonder is if the 6’4” 230 LB who is a step slower wouldn’t be better served by a 6’2” 220 quicker athletic recruit and I say this because so many of the WR’s over the years are like trees. The defense seems able to run in stride next to the WR.

Bohl never wanted to recruit a QB less than DE or TE size. Most of his project QB recruits you wouldn’t want as a dart partner at the bar if the objective is hitting a target.
 
Fair enough. Jay remained on staff however. I just don’t see a culture of accountability and the expectation to win at UW. From Burman on down.
Something is way off in our approach to the offensive side of the ball.

Scheme and play calling could definitely be part of it, but I'm starting to think it isn't the major contributor to our offensive problems. Why? We've had multiple OC's fail miserably here and some of them have went on to run very successful offenses at other schools.

Is it the players we recruit on that side of the ball? Could be, but we had a QB last year that looked pretty bad who transferred out and looks much improved on his new team. Chris Durr Jr barely saw the ball here and has already had three 100+ yard receiving games on a Big Ten team this season. Why didn't those two players perform better for us last year?

Whatever the problem is, it's becoming clear to me that we aren't going to solve it with small changes like a new OC, a new QB, or a new WR. We need wholesale changes. New AD, new coaching staff, new players, and new expectations.
 
Something is way off in our approach to the offensive side of the ball.

Scheme and play calling could definitely be part of it, but I'm starting to think it isn't the major contributor to our offensive problems. Why? We've had multiple OC's fail miserably here and some of them have went on to run very successful offenses at other schools.

Is it the players we recruit on that side of the ball? Could be, but we had a QB last year that looked pretty bad who transferred out and looks much improved on his new team. Chris Durr Jr barely saw the ball here and has already had three 100+ yard receiving games on a Big Ten team this season. Why didn't those two players perform better for us last year?

Whatever the problem is, it's becoming clear to me that we aren't going to solve it with small changes like a new OC, a new QB, or a new WR. We need wholesale changes. New AD, new coaching staff, new players, and new expectations.
hiring a dude to run the offense that was previously a defensive coach is a bad start
 
Love to see an OC with a willingness to operate out of the spread and gas opponents out at 7220.
Or do something entirely different. We can't compete for and certainly can't retain good WR, etc. in this era of college football. I think you find an offense that is completely different than what others run with players that other schools don't need or want in their program. Find someone that can identify talent in that scheme, cultivate it, and plow ahead. I know the wishbone and other old offenses fell by the wayside mainly because of the speed on defenses (at least I think that was a big part of it). But something like that. Maybe a wishbone with a twist? Maybe a wing t with a twist?
 
I'm not giving Sawvel a pass here, but I bet a lot of Hughes remaining the starter is tied to our new OC.

I often wonder what Taylor was thinking when he decided to leave the Bills to come to UW. Why did he want to join a staff that had shown to be completely incompetent in the previous two years and an offense that had been historically bad for the past decade plus? It seems to me like jumping on the Titanic even though you already see it sinking.

I would not doubt that in order to convince Taylor to come, he was essentially guaranteed the QB of his choice (within reason), and the ability to have full-say over offensive personnel. He probably thought he could "fix it". Little did he know!
I read something about Taylor having some "interests" in northern Wyoming, but can't find it now. Anyone read this?
 
Air Force runs
Or do something entirely different. We can't compete for and certainly can't retain good WR, etc. in this era of college football. I think you find an offense that is completely different than what others run with players that other schools don't need or want in their program. Find someone that can identify talent in that scheme, cultivate it, and plow ahead. I know the wishbone and other old offenses fell by the wayside mainly because of the speed on defenses (at least I think that was a big part of it). But something like that. Maybe a wishbone with a twist? Maybe a wing t with a twist?
Air Force runs their offense for a reason. It’s not unthinkable that we’ll never be able to afford keep WRs after their 1st or 2nd year and the ones in portal are too expensive. Qbs could would be even worse. Time to change? Not talking about tall slow qb and only handing the ball off. Go full fast qb and some kind of offense you mentioned. No giant chunks of money wasted on wr or qb. All defense, rbs and athletic undersized qbs. New Mexico did this for a few years I believe and did ok.
 
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