- Jun 9, 2014
- 78,567
- 111,180
Founding Member
Preliminary autopsy results are in and the following are a summary of the significant findings as to the cause of death of the Butterteeth Regime:
1. Poor staff- a few hires looked better than thought at first, but even the ones who could recruit a little showed very little ability to develop what they recruited. Almost all were either people fired from P5 (Nusschump, NOOOOOORD! Shannon) or FIU directional school budget hire types, two of whom ended up coaching positions they had never coached before (Wrs and Lbs). Compare this to what Saban does, he keeps a dozen fired coaches in the backrooms cutting film and ready if needed (and familiar with process, players, and playbook). Also compare it to Creyer's staff while here, he either hired an allstar from another staff (Durkin) or even guys with HC or coordinator experience. He had them all over the staff. The results spoke for themselves at both programs.
2. Nusschump and NOOOOOORD!- let’s revisit this as a second cause because even given the poor staff, there was hope I think. I still believe reports that the decision had been made to fire Nusschump and NOOOOOORD after last year, but that Butters vetoed and insisted the problem wasn’t coaching and blamed the players. This was the flurry of "there were receivers running wide open" echoed throughout pumperdom. AD folded--after all you have to trust your coach right?-- but, I suspect, put Butters in a "if he sinks again, you go down with the ship." Make no mistake, Nusschump is Butters' boy, having played for him then followed him from job to job, truly his handpicked protege and part of his family. Nuss' offense was Butters' offense. There was IMO a brief opportunity for Butters to right the ship with a new OC, but he demanded to keep his boy instead. The transfer of Grier wouldn’t have mattered the slightest so long as Nusschump were still here running the O. We saw what Grier looked like under Nuss, and it was more of the same.
3. Poor recruiting- Butters inherited a decimated OL, but also got a pair of 4 four star Qbs and talented RB. Not great no doubt but Butters' rebuild was even worse. Only one 4 star QB in the next three classes (even Chimp landed 4), numbers still sucked at OL after one large group, and recruiting on the defense that easily equalled Chimp’s negligence on the OL. Even after failing to land Dts and inside Lbs, we were still neglecting the area totally with this NEXT class. Inexcusable. This was never going to get better. This staff seems to be procrastinators who waited til the very end then ran from fire to fire, fixing it at the last minute with jucos and two-three star leftovers.
4. Injuries and suspensions- this did play a big part but not in the way some think. IMO Callaway and Scarlett made almost zero difference. The offense was going to be what it was going to be. It looked no different in the past with them on the field. If Callaway were outside, then Cleveland and Toney would have gotten little or no touches. If Scarlett were not suspended, we would have never seen Davis at all this year IMO. The real injuries that hurt us were Marcel and Duke. With our big donut in the middle at DT and inside LB, we needed to be able to drop a safety in the box (Marcel) and trust whomever was left to cover what was left alone. We cant do that with the lack of quality depth at safety (another 3 star U problem).
These first four preliminary causes aren’t weighted.
1. Poor staff- a few hires looked better than thought at first, but even the ones who could recruit a little showed very little ability to develop what they recruited. Almost all were either people fired from P5 (Nusschump, NOOOOOORD! Shannon) or FIU directional school budget hire types, two of whom ended up coaching positions they had never coached before (Wrs and Lbs). Compare this to what Saban does, he keeps a dozen fired coaches in the backrooms cutting film and ready if needed (and familiar with process, players, and playbook). Also compare it to Creyer's staff while here, he either hired an allstar from another staff (Durkin) or even guys with HC or coordinator experience. He had them all over the staff. The results spoke for themselves at both programs.
2. Nusschump and NOOOOOORD!- let’s revisit this as a second cause because even given the poor staff, there was hope I think. I still believe reports that the decision had been made to fire Nusschump and NOOOOOORD after last year, but that Butters vetoed and insisted the problem wasn’t coaching and blamed the players. This was the flurry of "there were receivers running wide open" echoed throughout pumperdom. AD folded--after all you have to trust your coach right?-- but, I suspect, put Butters in a "if he sinks again, you go down with the ship." Make no mistake, Nusschump is Butters' boy, having played for him then followed him from job to job, truly his handpicked protege and part of his family. Nuss' offense was Butters' offense. There was IMO a brief opportunity for Butters to right the ship with a new OC, but he demanded to keep his boy instead. The transfer of Grier wouldn’t have mattered the slightest so long as Nusschump were still here running the O. We saw what Grier looked like under Nuss, and it was more of the same.
3. Poor recruiting- Butters inherited a decimated OL, but also got a pair of 4 four star Qbs and talented RB. Not great no doubt but Butters' rebuild was even worse. Only one 4 star QB in the next three classes (even Chimp landed 4), numbers still sucked at OL after one large group, and recruiting on the defense that easily equalled Chimp’s negligence on the OL. Even after failing to land Dts and inside Lbs, we were still neglecting the area totally with this NEXT class. Inexcusable. This was never going to get better. This staff seems to be procrastinators who waited til the very end then ran from fire to fire, fixing it at the last minute with jucos and two-three star leftovers.
4. Injuries and suspensions- this did play a big part but not in the way some think. IMO Callaway and Scarlett made almost zero difference. The offense was going to be what it was going to be. It looked no different in the past with them on the field. If Callaway were outside, then Cleveland and Toney would have gotten little or no touches. If Scarlett were not suspended, we would have never seen Davis at all this year IMO. The real injuries that hurt us were Marcel and Duke. With our big donut in the middle at DT and inside LB, we needed to be able to drop a safety in the box (Marcel) and trust whomever was left to cover what was left alone. We cant do that with the lack of quality depth at safety (another 3 star U problem).
These first four preliminary causes aren’t weighted.
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