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Picklewagon...
I came across this blog from 2007 written by Josh Harrison who has a Web site called Picklewagon (hey, I just report it).
Harrison is from Seattle and had some interesting comments for when Gary Crowton was hired away from Oregon as the Ducks' offensive coordinator in 2007 to join Les Miles as offensive coordinator at LSU.
"My buddy Shane and I were coming home from work yesterday and we were listening to sports radio," Harrison wrote. "Upon hearing the news of Gary Crowton leaving Oregon for LSU, we both chuckled. After a hard day of work, it always great to hear news like this.
It looks like Crowton is following my advice by getting out of Eugene. He needs to make sure to stay at LSU for only one year. Most likely he won't. I want LSU fans to know why Gary Crowton is going to cause you pain when he stays more than one year.
First of all, let me preface these comments by saying that Gary Crowton is a great person.
I'm sure he is a great husband/father. But because of what he did to BYU football, just thinking of his tenure here in Provo makes me cringe.
The news of Crowton's hiring is circulating around the internet. LSU fans are gitty about this hire.
Not many agree with me that this will be a bad hire.
Let me explain why I think this will be a bad hire.
Crowton runs a version of the spread offense. When he gets a new job, his first year has been great."
Looking back, Harrison has some valid points that apparently still ring true today.
When Crowton took the head coaching job at Louisiana Tech, he went 6-5 his first year of 1996 and then 6-6 in 1998.
Then Crowton took a job as offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, who went 6-10 in 1999 and their offense scored 272 points (17/game), 7th worst in the NFL.
In 2000, the Bears went 5-11. Their offense scored 214 points (13.4/game), 4th worst in the NFL.
In 2001, Crowton took the head coaching job at Brigham Young.
In 2001, the Bears went 13-3 with Jim Miller as the quarterback. They scored 338 points (21.1/game), good enough for 11th in the NFL.
In 2001, BYU went 12-2. They scored an amazing 608 points (46.8/game). Luke Staley was the leading rusher in the nation. Staley was injured and BYU lost big to Hawaii and Louisville in their final two games.
In 2002, BYU went 5-7, their first losing season in 30 years. They scored 272 points (22.7/game).
In 2003, the Cougars went 4-8. They scored 196 points (16.3/game).
In 2004, BYU went 5-6. They 267 points (24.3/game).
BYU went from scoring 608 points in 2001 to a low of 196 points in 2003.
Crowton moved on to Oregon in 2005. Oregon went 10-2 and scored 414 points.
In 2006, Oregon went 7-6, losing their last four. They scored 383 points (29.5/game).
Harrison stated the only year Crowton improved upon his previous year while at the same program was 2004. BYU couldn't have gotten any worse after a terrible year in 2003.
"The truth is Gary Crowton has a good offense," Harrison wrote. "But smart teams are going to figure it out. Guess who was coaching Utah when BYU went scoreless in 2003-Urban Meyer. Most of the coaches in the SEC are almost as smart as Urban and they will shut down LSU's offense. LSU has great athletes and he will find a way to make them look bad.
The Las Vegas Bowl was a great game this year. For most fans, I am sure it was a boring game. BYU almost shut out Oregon and won the game 38-8. Watching Oregon play brought back bitter memories of when Crowton was at BYU. They looked clueless out there. BYU's secondary was injured. They didn't have most of their best players playing because of injuries. Crowton failed to take advantage of his highly athletic receivers. Instead he was worrying about which quarterback to play on which down (sound familiar?).
Be ready for an undisciplined offense that fails to make any adjustments-during the game or season.
LSU will probably have a great year with their athletes. They will score a lot of points. But don't expect them to stay that way. Not with Crowton as the offensive coordinator. The numbers don't lie."
So let's pick up from there.
Crowton replaces Jimbo Fisher and LSU goes 12-2, winning the national championship in 2007.
In 2008, LSU goes 8-5. beating Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Now we are in 2009. LSU is headed for a second straight non-BCS bowl and will have to look a lot better than they have looked most of the season to finish 10-2 in the regular season.
The offense has been predictable and LSU is once again relying on its athletes to win games instead of a solid game plan or even a little imagination on offense.
Harrison said it best two years ago. The numbers don't lie. I've beat a dead horse talking about LSU's poor play-calling during the season. And if history tells us anything, it's not going to get any better with Crowton upstairs calling the plays. Surely there has to be an opening somewhere for some team looking for an offensive coordinator who is good for one year. Problem is, it appears to be one year only. |
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