Jim McElwain Another Texas OC Candidate Per Report
by Wescott Eberts (GoBR) on Dec 10, 2010 5:18 PM CST
in Texas Longhorns Football
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PrintThrow another hat into the ring with Major Applewhite, Bryan Harsin, and Chad Morris for the job of Texas offensive coordinator-- that of Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain.
If Harson was the buzz name early in the week and Major dominated the mid-weeks news, perhaps Friday and the weekend belong to McElwain. A source close to the Alabama program told TideSports.com that Texas "has shown an active interest" in McElwain, who has been in Tuscaloosa for the last two seasons and was recently interviewed for the Colorado head coaching position.
Of the four prominent names mentioned the most in connection with the Longhorns' open position, McElwain seems the most unlikely because of his candidacy for a relatively high-profile coaching position like Colorado. To even consider the Texas job, McElwain would have to be convinced not only that he won't be getting a head coaching position this off-season, but also that he would be better off at Texas rather than Alabama, one of the few lateral moves in college football for a coach coming to Austin.
The presence of Harsin and McElwain among those names discussed may provide some insight into the direction that Mack Brown plans to go offensively -- by hiring either of those coordinators, he would be making further attempts to install a power running game at Texas, with Harsin's offense probably being a litlte more multiple in terms of formation and pre-snap movement.
In terms of the short term, however, any serious discussions between McElwain and the Longhorns, as well as between Harsin and the Longhorns, probably will not happen until after the bowl season and given the considerations for McElain laid out above, it would seem like a longshot for McElwain to occupt the home press box at DKR next season.
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Not that anyone cares about my enlightened and intelligent opinion, but I concur. Meh.
What we have here is a failure to execute.
by dimecoverage on Dec 10, 2010 6:49 PM CST up reply actions
I don't like it.
I know nothing about McElwain besides the past 2 seasons at Alabama, so I could be way off with this.
The tools he had to work with at Alabama are not here at Texas. Our QB is (supposed to be) a playmaker with his arm. We have no Julio to complement our QB. Runningbacks? Haha. No thunder and lightning/Ingram and Richardson style combo to make his running game work. At least not until Malcolm Brown gets on campus and I see it unlikely that he becomes both. O-Line well, we’ll see who our next OL coach and S&C guys are and maybe we can produce one for next year.
My guess is McElwain ain’t coming and I wouldn’t rule him out of one of those SEC jobs that could be opening up in the offseason.
If you are going to put it like that
Then does Bryan Harsin have an Austin Pettis and Titus Young or Kellen Moore to run his offense through at Texas? Part of being a coach is adapting to your players. I think both McElwain and Harsin are capable of such a thing.
"I want to be remembered as the guy who gave his all whenever he was on the field."
-Walter Payton
I think it would be an easier transition for Harsin than McElwain
You’re right, they need to adapt to their players. We have potential at WR, with lots of youth, speed and lots of athleticism. They still have time to develop given the right game plan. Gilbert was able to throw the rock around in HS, so Harsin might be able to get his head and technique back together so that he’s able to return to old form.
In McElwain’s time at Bama he’s depended heavily on an effective RB and a game manager at QB. Maybe he knows how to use a play maker QB, I don’t know, but the running game isn’t there and neither is the talent. There isn’t much youth at RB, so not a lot of room to develop. I think we know what we’re getting from Fozzy and Cody, Trey is done and Malcolm Brown is still an unknown. Our O-Line might be improved with new coaching and there is potential there, so McElwain might be able to put together blocking schemes that set them up to succeed.
The point of my first post was essentially to say that McElwain’s current style isn’t set up to succed here at UT. I think Harsin’s current system would fit in easier. While I don’t think McElwain is the answer here, he should still be an upgrade from GD.
This makes zero sense to me.
Completely different players, different systems, and this would truly be a demotion, not even a lateral move — Texas has a young, already-appointed HCIW so he has no chance of moving up. Saban’s not stayed at any one place for very long in his career, and if McElwain doesn’t already have a HC job somewhere else, he would be in good position at Alabama. (If Kirby Smart is still there, I think he probably has the upper hand, but who knows.)
I’d put money on this being more of a power play from someone within the Alabama program, not anything truly connected to Texas.
It's a small vertical move
Texas is above Bama in resources. Smart would be the first in line to take over for Saban if they promoted within, and it’s not close. McElwain would get more exposure for a HC job at Texas than at Bama, especially not being in Saban’s shadow.
The system doesn’t matter—McElwain would bring his own. The players do matter, but guys like Bergeron, Shead, and Malcolm Brown fit perfectly into McElwain’s power system. The OL would have to get more physical, but we’re assuming that anyway based on firing our OL coach and relying on a bunch of young linemen in the near future. Guys like Espinosa, Flowers, and Hopkins fit the physical personality on the OL well.
That said, I have very little interest in his coming here, because I don’t know how much of his offense’s inability to hold a lead stems from him and how much stems from Saban’s shell-game playcalling once Bama gets up big. They’re bad at stepping on the opponent’s throat. Now, if they played the entire game like they did in the first quarter against Auburn, I’m sold.
Smart would be the first in line to take over for Saban if they promoted within, and it’s not close.
I agree for the most part, but I also think Smart is a year away from a head coaching job so if Saban doesn’t leave by then…
Possibly, at least at a school like Bama has become lately
And was before in their history.
Just answering your point about hypothetically promoting from within. If you’re saying that one reason why McElwain isn’t coming is because he could ultimately replace Saban, then it doesn’t make sense to say Smart is a year away because he is more highly coveted and thought of than McElwain in the current college landscape. Does that make sense because I feel like I’m still explaining myself in a bit of a convoluted manner.
Power Shortage
This power running stuff is no less irritating now than it was when they announced it last spring. What exactly constitutes a power running attack?
From what I understand, the Boise attack is pretty creative and is based on creating mismatches at the point of attack by shifts, motion and misdirection. I’m not sure I would call that a power running attack. This season, Boise had 449 rushing attempts and 384 passes for almost 1400 more yards passing than rushing. That’s about 54 percent rushing.
In contrast, Alabama had 339 pass attempts and 423 rushing attempts for only a 1000-yard difference pass over rush. That’s about 58% rushing. Last year about 64 percent of Alabama’s plays were rushes. Alabama is blessed with some really good talent right now at running back, so they’ve been able to pound it for the last couple of years. But Alabama lost three times this season, despite having such superior running talent, so their scheme can’t be all that great.
In contrast, last year’s Texas Tech team (Leach) ran 988 plays (67% passing) for about 6100 yards total and 63 touchdowns. That’s about 1000 yards and 20 touchdowns more than this year’s Alabama team and a couple hundred yards less than Boise this year. Boise scored 68 touchdowns this season. Last year, Alabama scored 48 touchdowns, so it’s pretty consistent.
The days when Bum Phillips could trade for Dave Casper and ride Earl Campbell into the playoffs with a two tight end formation are long gone. I’d rather have a scheme that could work even when you don’t have the best players. Power running isn’t it. If the name of the game is gaining yards and scoring points, whatever your talent, then it seems like either the Boise or the Leach approach works better. I think the answer is to combine a high-powered offense with a stout defense, which Texas ought to be able to do.
You expressed my frequent thought perfectly.
For the last few years it seems like much of our offensive strategy, at least in theory, has been about trying to keep our defense off the field. I would rather have a 2 play drive that results in 7 than a 15-play drive that results in a turnover. As the number of plays increases (increase?), the chances for a turnover or some other drive killing idiocy (tackle falling over and getting called for a false start) increase as well. When did GD/MB lose sight of the fact that the team scores the most points wins the game? Can you imagne the force TT would have been if they had put a strong defense on the field? If your defense gets tired, spell them with the freshmen, which also has the benefit of getting more players more experience.
"I'm not playing favorites. All my favorites have graduated." - A. Lemons
by Paleface Horn on Dec 11, 2010 10:11 AM CST up reply actions
But Harsin, please, not Leach.
We don’t need the sideshow or a coach who has a history of conflict. We already tried the conflict thing this season and I don’t think it worked very well.
"I'm not playing favorites. All my favorites have graduated." - A. Lemons
by Paleface Horn on Dec 11, 2010 10:14 AM CST up reply actions
...??
Look at who Bama lost to.
South Carolina, who has their own pretty impressive rushing attack.
LSU which is a top 10 team.
and Auburn – playing for the national championship game….
boise -
1 Loss to nevada…. a rushing team…
Only other game boise had trouble with… va tech… who prefers to run it out.
Tech – last year
Lost to UH
A&M
OSU
A power rushing attack can and does work. There is no reason to think it cant. An added bonus texas produces some pretty amazing rb’s every year. Half the amazing tailbacks out there are from texas. There is absolutely no reason to think we cant recruit the talent we need to run the scheme.
Total points put on the board are not everything. There is so much more to the game such as time of possession. Wearing a defense down. Play action.
Plus the chance for an interception is greater than the chance for a fumble.
Under a good rushing attack you will likely pick up positive yards every play… much fewer negative yardage plays…
passing does net you more yards per completion on average. Thats true and i wont deny that.
But there is oh so much more to the game than how many yards you pass for and how many touchdowns you score.
Jim Mcelwain
Would be the first hire to get this thing going in the right direction. He understands line play, blocking, rbs… They gotta make a play for this guy
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