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interesting article on SherRossley found on the net....
Helpless (10/15/05)
The West Coast Offense (WCO) when run well, is a dance of beauty. A shimmering, violent grace which hits them where they’re not and punches them in the mouth when they let their guard down. It was once described as the offense whose goal was to put each player in the best position to express his individual talent. On a more basic level, the purpose of the route combinations was to put each receiver in a place where he only needed to beat one man. You saw some of the glory of that approach in the waning moments of the Green Bay/Carolina game. When Brett Favre took over the play calling from Mike Sherman and Tom Rossley, you saw the night and day difference between college and the pros.
Sherman plays in set pieces. He brings in a package of players (like U-71) and then attempts to attack a specific player or gameplan of a defense. When he guesses right, good things can result. When he guesses wrong, it takes a full half to make changes and even then it might be too late.
The beauty of the WCO is its dynamism. It imposes its will via tempo. Using mostly the same personnel each play, it can run fast or slow, controlling the ball until able to take cruel advantage of defensive mistakes.
Sherman by contrast is too simple and too clever by half. His package approach means that he needs specific people on the field for specific plays. The infamous U-71 derives its name from Kevin Barry’s #71 jersey and is based on Barry playing tight end and flattening the man in front of him. There’s not much subtlety. That’s okay when you have one of the best offensive lines in football, not so okay when you don’t.
The larger weaknesses of Sherman’s approach center on tempo, philosophy and personnel. On nearly every play in the Holy Cross offense, two or more players need to go in and out of the game. This slows the speed of the offense down. Players must come in and go out, must all be together before the play is called, must all take their positions before the ball is snapped. This package approach does not allow players to get in a rhythm with each other and makes it harder for players to learn other positions. Players learn the package and not the position. Each Sherman package seeks its own way of attacking the defense. U-71 for power, three wideouts for vertical passing, etc. Perhaps it’s the correct approach for the dumbest team in football. But it is not a pro approach and it lacks a principle that players can learn.
I consider it a great crime that we did not fire Sherman two years ago and throw the house at Charlie Weis in trying to sweet talk him here. Weis was offensive coordinator for the Patriots and is now head coach at Notre Dame. For my money, he is the best offensive mind in football right now. His attack mentality permeates his play calling and rubs off on the attitude of his offensive players. I felt that one of his finest moments came in the Superbowl win against the Eagles. When New England picked up their offensive tempo, it changed the rhythm of the game, something evident even to the reporters:
Not only did the Patriots begin using the screen pass effectively, but they also began approaching the line and snapping the ball faster. A faster-paced offense resulted in a New England touchdown drive and kept Philadelphia off balance.
http://www.superbowl.com/news/story/8170992
The same story also highlights this fact:
Throughout a scoreless first quarter, the Patriots offense produced one first down and 45 total yards. But following the Eagles' opening touchdown drive, New England changed tactics.
New England changed tactics after the first quarter. Changing tactics just isn’t in the Mike Sherman lexicon.
I don’t think that the Packers should run the two-minute drill every time they have the football, but they do need to develop their ability to change gears, to call the tune and make the defense dance.
Let me return again to philosophy. You can’t develop tempo without a philosophy. It’s like trying to rumba during a waltz. A bit more from one of Weis players:
He really made us learn the philosophy of the offense, what he’s trying to do, instead of just learning what you do on which play. -- Senior tight end, Anthony Fasano.
I don’t think that there could be a comparable Sherman/Rossley philosophy as I really don’t think they have one. It’s all set pieces.
To be fair to Sherman and Rossley, I just called Charlie Weis the best offensive mind in football. It’s not their fault that they’re not as good. That does not excuse them from having basic competence in the fundamentals of the game itself. It also does not excuse them from not having the flexibility of mind to change the things that aren’t working.
If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it again. I’m sure both are decent men. I’m sure they love their families and would probably be excellent neighbors. They’re not made for the pro game however and are destroying a proud franchise.
Mike Sherman must go.
Helpless (10/15/05)
The West Coast Offense (WCO) when run well, is a dance of beauty. A shimmering, violent grace which hits them where they’re not and punches them in the mouth when they let their guard down. It was once described as the offense whose goal was to put each player in the best position to express his individual talent. On a more basic level, the purpose of the route combinations was to put each receiver in a place where he only needed to beat one man. You saw some of the glory of that approach in the waning moments of the Green Bay/Carolina game. When Brett Favre took over the play calling from Mike Sherman and Tom Rossley, you saw the night and day difference between college and the pros.
Sherman plays in set pieces. He brings in a package of players (like U-71) and then attempts to attack a specific player or gameplan of a defense. When he guesses right, good things can result. When he guesses wrong, it takes a full half to make changes and even then it might be too late.
The beauty of the WCO is its dynamism. It imposes its will via tempo. Using mostly the same personnel each play, it can run fast or slow, controlling the ball until able to take cruel advantage of defensive mistakes.
Sherman by contrast is too simple and too clever by half. His package approach means that he needs specific people on the field for specific plays. The infamous U-71 derives its name from Kevin Barry’s #71 jersey and is based on Barry playing tight end and flattening the man in front of him. There’s not much subtlety. That’s okay when you have one of the best offensive lines in football, not so okay when you don’t.
The larger weaknesses of Sherman’s approach center on tempo, philosophy and personnel. On nearly every play in the Holy Cross offense, two or more players need to go in and out of the game. This slows the speed of the offense down. Players must come in and go out, must all be together before the play is called, must all take their positions before the ball is snapped. This package approach does not allow players to get in a rhythm with each other and makes it harder for players to learn other positions. Players learn the package and not the position. Each Sherman package seeks its own way of attacking the defense. U-71 for power, three wideouts for vertical passing, etc. Perhaps it’s the correct approach for the dumbest team in football. But it is not a pro approach and it lacks a principle that players can learn.
I consider it a great crime that we did not fire Sherman two years ago and throw the house at Charlie Weis in trying to sweet talk him here. Weis was offensive coordinator for the Patriots and is now head coach at Notre Dame. For my money, he is the best offensive mind in football right now. His attack mentality permeates his play calling and rubs off on the attitude of his offensive players. I felt that one of his finest moments came in the Superbowl win against the Eagles. When New England picked up their offensive tempo, it changed the rhythm of the game, something evident even to the reporters:
Not only did the Patriots begin using the screen pass effectively, but they also began approaching the line and snapping the ball faster. A faster-paced offense resulted in a New England touchdown drive and kept Philadelphia off balance.
http://www.superbowl.com/news/story/8170992
The same story also highlights this fact:
Throughout a scoreless first quarter, the Patriots offense produced one first down and 45 total yards. But following the Eagles' opening touchdown drive, New England changed tactics.
New England changed tactics after the first quarter. Changing tactics just isn’t in the Mike Sherman lexicon.
I don’t think that the Packers should run the two-minute drill every time they have the football, but they do need to develop their ability to change gears, to call the tune and make the defense dance.
Let me return again to philosophy. You can’t develop tempo without a philosophy. It’s like trying to rumba during a waltz. A bit more from one of Weis players:
He really made us learn the philosophy of the offense, what he’s trying to do, instead of just learning what you do on which play. -- Senior tight end, Anthony Fasano.
I don’t think that there could be a comparable Sherman/Rossley philosophy as I really don’t think they have one. It’s all set pieces.
To be fair to Sherman and Rossley, I just called Charlie Weis the best offensive mind in football. It’s not their fault that they’re not as good. That does not excuse them from having basic competence in the fundamentals of the game itself. It also does not excuse them from not having the flexibility of mind to change the things that aren’t working.
If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it again. I’m sure both are decent men. I’m sure they love their families and would probably be excellent neighbors. They’re not made for the pro game however and are destroying a proud franchise.
Mike Sherman must go.
