Jeff Monken

[Gamecock Lifer]

Ok hear me out.
Jeff Monken. Rumor has it Caslen is lobbying for him. They rebuilt Army FB together at the Us Military academy while Caslen was Pres there... Guy has been a winner! 38-16 as a HC at Ga Southern. Comes to Army- won 3-4 games the first two years, then 8 wins, 10, 11- had a fall off last year but 6-2 right now. Dude is a winner, our President loves him... Seems like a fit? Meh whatever... Here is the catch- they run the option. Right? The “flexbone” instead of the wishbone? Hasn’t Army been an option team forEVER? Is it Gimmicky? Is it out dated? Maybe... but maybe it is just WHAT WE NEED!

Think it through:

1- we do not recruit as well as Bama, Auburn, UT, UGA, UF... We have been close at times, if we win they will come.. Yeah yeah but we are NOT ALABAMA on the recruiting trail. Never will be most likely. The option is a way to equalize that a bit. A well run option attack is hard to stop if ARMY or THE CITADEL are running it right? What if we, with our level of talent ran it? Which segues to my next point:

2- we HAVE the talent on offense right now to run an effective option offense! Think of all the ways this makes sense. We have a STUD RB, a thick stocky guy name of Harris (maybe you saw him break records in a losing effort this past weekend?), and we have Fenwick who has played well at the position- and we should get Lloyd back next year as well! That is a deep, talented RB pool, maybe Prentice returns as a strong blocking FB too- plenty of legs in that backfield! Then, QB- Move Joyner back to QB? Doty... Don’t we already have two 4* dual threat QB recruits on the roster..? I mean that is a fit! Then at WR- not a damn guy on our team can catch, so... just don’t throw the damn ball! Perfect! I don’t know that there is a roster in America today -*that is not already running the option- more perfectly set up to take on the transition to an option offense than we are right now.

Seriously- would you care if we ran the same 5 plays over and over if it meant we won 10 games a year and competed for the East? Nobody can guarantee that obviously, but that is what this guy does. He runs a disciplined team (bet he could clean up our garbage tackling and diarrhea of the mouth on defense in a hurry), he runs high percentage plays and he wins. If it meant we would WIN, more... Would you be a fan of an option team?

 

[uscg1984]

Monken, maybe. Wishbone, no.

We won't win 10 games a year running the wishbone. Not with our schedule.

Correct that we don't recruit as well as UGA, UT, etc. but if we start running the wishbone, we won't even recruit as well as Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arkansas, etc. We'll go from top 25 and middle of the SEC recruiting classes to 50th-75th recruiting classes. It's tantamount to throwing our hands up and saying we are happy being the Ga. Tech of the SEC.

 

[rogue cock]

Think GA Tech with Paul Johnson and without the recruiting base.

 

[kotr]

I will go back and read the entirety of your post, but for now I have only seen the very end. I think when it comes to big-time college football, the option is ultimately doomed to fail. Good defenses will simply stay true to their assignments and basically shut down the offense. That means the option will almost certainly guarantee we wouldn't win more games.

 

[viennacocks]

Ok hear me out.
Jeff Monken. Rumor has it Caslen is lobbying for him. They rebuilt Army FB together at the Us Military academy while Caslen was Pres there... Guy has been a winner! 38-16 as a HC at Ga Southern. Comes to Army- won 3-4 games the first two years, then 8 wins, 10, 11- had a fall off last year but 6-2 right now. Dude is a winner, our President loves him... Seems like a fit? Meh whatever... Here is the catch- they run the option. Right? The “flexbone” instead of the wishbone? Hasn’t Army been an option team forEVER? Is it Gimmicky? Is it out dated? Maybe... but maybe it is just WHAT WE NEED!

Think it through:

1- we do not recruit as well as Bama, Auburn, UT, UGA, UF... We have been close at times, if we win they will come.. Yeah yeah but we are NOT ALABAMA on the recruiting trail. Never will be most likely. The option is a way to equalize that a bit. A well run option attack is hard to stop if ARMY or THE CITADEL are running it right? What if we, with our level of talent ran it? Which segues to my next point:

2- we HAVE the talent on offense right now to run an effective option offense! Think of all the ways this makes sense. We have a STUD RB, a thick stocky guy name of Harris (maybe you saw him break records in a losing effort this past weekend?), and we have Fenwick who has played well at the position- and we should get Lloyd back next year as well! That is a deep, talented RB pool, maybe Prentice returns as a strong blocking FB too- plenty of legs in that backfield! Then, QB- Move Joyner back to QB? Doty... Don’t we already have two 4* dual threat QB recruits on the roster..? I mean that is a fit! Then at WR- not a damn guy on our team can catch, so... just don’t throw the damn ball! Perfect! I don’t know that there is a roster in America today -*that is not already running the option- more perfectly set up to take on the transition to an option offense than we are right now.

Seriously- would you care if we ran the same 5 plays over and over if it meant we won 10 games a year and competed for the East? Nobody can guarantee that obviously, but that is what this guy does. He runs a disciplined team (bet he could clean up our garbage tackling and diarrhea of the mouth on defense in a hurry), he runs high percentage plays and he wins. If it meant we would WIN, more... Would you be a fan of an option team?

Paul Johnson was a smashing success at Georgia Tech. Why couldn't we duplicate that here?

 

[rogue cock]

Paul Johnson was a smashing success at Georgia Tech. Why couldn't we duplicate that here?

82-61 is a "smashing success"?

 

[OldFlaCock]

Paul Johnson was a smashing success at Georgia Tech. Why couldn't we duplicate that here?

Are you nuts?????

 

[Carolina4]

82-61 is a "smashing success"?

Right, GT got a few seasons in on teams and won some games. But by the time it was over GT fans had completely lost interest in that program. I remember when they had about 75 people show up for a Spring Game. This would be a disaster.

here we are talking about being offensive minded and we have a fan that would be ok running a 1970’s offense?? My goodness...

 

[viennacocks]

Are you nuts?????

You don't agree?

 

[robertfootball]

You don't agree?

I think you broke their sarcasm detector.lol

 

[Gamecock Lifer]

Right, GT got a few seasons in on teams and won some games. But by the time it was over GT fans had completely lost interest in that program. I remember when they had about 75 people show up for a Spring Game. This would be a disaster.

here we are talking about being offensive minded and we have a fan that would be ok running a 1970’s offense?? My goodness...

Who is that fan? I believe I was posing a question not stating my opinion. I asked if people would be ok running the option if it meant we would win more. All I have heard thus far is people not answering the question and implying we would NOT win more.

Ok, believe what ya’ll want- the premise though is: would you be ok with the option if it meant we WOULD win more? If he came in and started winning 8-10 games a year instead of the 4-6 we have averaged for over a CENTURY... If that was the situation, are you as a fan going to be ok with it?

 

[Gamecock Lifer]

Are you nuts?????

Ya’ll laugh- Paul Johnson won as many ACC Championships as Carolina ever did in all the time we were in the ACC (apparently it was vacated which I don’t recall but..) and he won three division championships. Tech was good off and on through his tenure there. Both Army and Navy have been in and out of the rankings even in recent years despite being way under manned and under sized relative to their competition... If run effectively I think some of you are under estimating the efficacy of the flexbone.

 

[OldFlaCock]

You don't agree?

Johnson never had a top 20 recruiting class. He struggled to win in the ACC, and he was 3& 9 against Ga.!

 

[OldWiseCock]

We did this for awhile with Dietzel and then Carlen, back when the veer offense was in vogue. Carlen went to a more power offense as soon as he could.

Morrison used some option too but slowly morphed the offense as the talent improved. As soon as Todd Ellis came in we adopted the spread offense with a single back.

If Monken comes in and does it for a couple of years because it suits our personnel, but intends to up the talent level go with a more sophisticated offense then I might be okay with that. But my fear is that the triple option is all he knows.

 

[king ward]

Ok hear me out.
Jeff Monken. Rumor has it Caslen is lobbying for him. They rebuilt Army FB together at the Us Military academy while Caslen was Pres there... Guy has been a winner! 38-16 as a HC at Ga Southern. Comes to Army- won 3-4 games the first two years, then 8 wins, 10, 11- had a fall off last year but 6-2 right now. Dude is a winner, our President loves him... Seems like a fit? Meh whatever... Here is the catch- they run the option. Right? The “flexbone” instead of the wishbone? Hasn’t Army been an option team forEVER? Is it Gimmicky? Is it out dated? Maybe... but maybe it is just WHAT WE NEED!

Think it through:

1- we do not recruit as well as Bama, Auburn, UT, UGA, UF... We have been close at times, if we win they will come.. Yeah yeah but we are NOT ALABAMA on the recruiting trail. Never will be most likely. The option is a way to equalize that a bit. A well run option attack is hard to stop if ARMY or THE CITADEL are running it right? What if we, with our level of talent ran it? Which segues to my next point:

2- we HAVE the talent on offense right now to run an effective option offense! Think of all the ways this makes sense. We have a STUD RB, a thick stocky guy name of Harris (maybe you saw him break records in a losing effort this past weekend?), and we have Fenwick who has played well at the position- and we should get Lloyd back next year as well! That is a deep, talented RB pool, maybe Prentice returns as a strong blocking FB too- plenty of legs in that backfield! Then, QB- Move Joyner back to QB? Doty... Don’t we already have two 4* dual threat QB recruits on the roster..? I mean that is a fit! Then at WR- not a damn guy on our team can catch, so... just don’t throw the damn ball! Perfect! I don’t know that there is a roster in America today -*that is not already running the option- more perfectly set up to take on the transition to an option offense than we are right now.

Seriously- would you care if we ran the same 5 plays over and over if it meant we won 10 games a year and competed for the East? Nobody can guarantee that obviously, but that is what this guy does. He runs a disciplined team (bet he could clean up our garbage tackling and diarrhea of the mouth on defense in a hurry), he runs high percentage plays and he wins. If it meant we would WIN, more... Would you be a fan of an option team?

I'm imagining the plays on words focusing on his last name when things go south.

 

[king ward]

We did this for awhile with Dietzel and then Carlen, back when the veer offense was in vogue. Carlen went to a more power offense as soon as he could.

Morrison used some option too but slowly morphed the offense as the talent improved. As soon as Todd Ellis came in we adopted the spread offense with a single back.

If Monken comes in and does it for a couple of years because it suits our personnel, but intends to up the talent level go with a more sophisticated offense then I might be okay with that. But my fear is that the triple option is all he knows.

It will hinder the kind of recruiting it would take to move over to modern football.

 

[Gamecock Lifer]

I am of the Al Davis school of thought personally- “Just win baby”! I don’t care if we ran the same play over and over. If the other team could not stop us and we won, I would be fine with it.

 

[rogue cock]

It will hinder the kind of recruiting it would take to move over to modern football.

I think the more contemporary version of the older veer and option offenses is the zone-read or read option, which we are already familiar with.

 

[king ward]

I am of the Al Davis school of thought personally- “Just win baby”! I don’t care if we ran the same play over and over. If the other team could not stop us and we won, I would be fine with it.

Paul Johnson wouldn't have won as many games in the SEC as he did the ACC. There would be fewer teams he could beat with a one-dimensional offense.

 

[mavcock]

I couldn't stand how Caslen was hired over many more experienced people because he was all Army rah rah rah. Mc Master put him in that seat Now we have to hold our breath to see who he anoints as the next coach. I have no confidence in him or Tanner.

 

[SOSUSC]

Ok hear me out.
Jeff Monken. Rumor has it Caslen is lobbying for him. They rebuilt Army FB together at the Us Military academy while Caslen was Pres there... Guy has been a winner! 38-16 as a HC at Ga Southern. Comes to Army- won 3-4 games the first two years, then 8 wins, 10, 11- had a fall off last year but 6-2 right now. Dude is a winner, our President loves him... Seems like a fit? Meh whatever... Here is the catch- they run the option. Right? The “flexbone” instead of the wishbone? Hasn’t Army been an option team forEVER? Is it Gimmicky? Is it out dated? Maybe... but maybe it is just WHAT WE NEED!

Think it through:

1- we do not recruit as well as Bama, Auburn, UT, UGA, UF... We have been close at times, if we win they will come.. Yeah yeah but we are NOT ALABAMA on the recruiting trail. Never will be most likely. The option is a way to equalize that a bit. A well run option attack is hard to stop if ARMY or THE CITADEL are running it right? What if we, with our level of talent ran it? Which segues to my next point:

2- we HAVE the talent on offense right now to run an effective option offense! Think of all the ways this makes sense. We have a STUD RB, a thick stocky guy name of Harris (maybe you saw him break records in a losing effort this past weekend?), and we have Fenwick who has played well at the position- and we should get Lloyd back next year as well! That is a deep, talented RB pool, maybe Prentice returns as a strong blocking FB too- plenty of legs in that backfield! Then, QB- Move Joyner back to QB? Doty... Don’t we already have two 4* dual threat QB recruits on the roster..? I mean that is a fit! Then at WR- not a damn guy on our team can catch, so... just don’t throw the damn ball! Perfect! I don’t know that there is a roster in America today -*that is not already running the option- more perfectly set up to take on the transition to an option offense than we are right now.

Seriously- would you care if we ran the same 5 plays over and over if it meant we won 10 games a year and competed for the East? Nobody can guarantee that obviously, but that is what this guy does. He runs a disciplined team (bet he could clean up our garbage tackling and diarrhea of the mouth on defense in a hurry), he runs high percentage plays and he wins. If it meant we would WIN, more... Would you be a fan of an option team?

I have serious misgivings about Monken.

 

[cadcock]

SC hiring a wishbone option coach would be one of the most SC things SC has done since promoting its Baseball coach to AD.

 

[Flameout12]

 

[Mcbulldog1]

wouldn’t want that offense here but what Gus malzahn runs is pretty much a wing T from the shotgun

 

[Legendary Cock]

 

[DarkHorse2001]

Nobody knows if it will work. I do remember The Citadel using a trip option and beating a SEC team not long ago.

 

[Sending an SOS]

Honestly, I would rather have kept Muschamp than hire Monken. This not only is a terrible idea, but I’d quit watching the Gamecocks if it happened...

 

[biting curve]

The option works occasionally for smaller programs against bigger programs solely because it’s something they rarely see.

But here’s the problem with the option, and what Ga Tech ran headfirst into....today’s offenses tend to score like pinball machines. If you fall behind with the option, it’s hard to make up ground, you burn too much clock.

Similar to our issues this year, as long as we can control the clock and force the other team to make errors, we can win (Auburn). But if those teams don’t make mistakes and score, you can’t make up ground (our losses this year).

Option is ok for a change of pace. But to do it full time you need to completely restructure your offense at almost every position.

 

[TAV31]

Hell no. It's like you just suggested we use a 1920 model T vehicle against a modern day race car in a race.

 

[Carolina4]

Who is that fan? I believe I was posing a question not stating my opinion. I asked if people would be ok running the option if it meant we would win more. All I have heard thus far is people not answering the question and implying we would NOT win more.

Ok, believe what ya’ll want- the premise though is: would you be ok with the option if it meant we WOULD win more? If he came in and started winning 8-10 games a year instead of the 4-6 we have averaged for over a CENTURY... If that was the situation, are you as a fan going to be ok with it?

I may have misread a couple of posts. As far as the question you posed...I think long term it would be a bad move. If it was sustained during his tenure, that would be nice to get those wins. I have no problem seeing us hit long runs and the occasional deep ball. But I think there would be some very frustrating moments along the way. Our recruiting would be even worse than it is now. And I look at what GT is having to do to implement a new offense...that process is going to take years. I just don’t think it’s wise from a program standpoint if we ever have any serious hopes of becoming a real winner.

I don’t see the Paul Johnson era as a successful one. They had a couple of good years in a very down ACC. After that it put the program on life support. We’re already close to life support. I don’t see us having the couple of good seasons and winning much.

 

[Judson1]

Not interested in watching the same 4 plays for 5 years!!!

Besides Clemson destroyed GT and that offense of theirs. Even before they took their latest step UP.

 

[Jbouton2]

I think the more contemporary version of the older veer and option offenses is the zone-read or read option, which we are already familiar with.

If he would an OC that implemented the zone read then maybe. Hopefully the coach we hire will get the staff to be successful.

 

[Jbouton2]

If he was hired and later not successful, would Tanner get the blame by everyone? I would lean toward the President. We will never know what influence he made on this decision. I believe Tanner works for President, not the BOT, correct?

 

[Gamecockben1979]

I would not go this route because realistically it’s about a 10 year commitment at minimum. It would take 2-3 years to cycle out the kids here that aren’t really fit for running the system, another 3-4 years to see if it is paying off and if it’s not another 2-3 years to purge the program of those players recruited to run the option.

 

[dirtydomincker1]

This fan base is gone forever if we run the option.