Quarles

[FUBeAR]

It won't be the HC from Valdosta, he's been announced as HC at McNeese St.

Hmmm…thought his name sounded familiar.

[The Jackal]

He may end up being a great HC, a role where he was one of the best ever in the HS ranks. What he did not excel at was being a college OC. Furmanoid is right.. lots of really good young OC talent out there in the lower Divisions that would see Furman as a great opportunity to move up.

….but are any FU graduates. Isn’t that a requirement?

I don't think hiring known individuals is a bad thing.

Furman isn't Notre Dame or LSU. We aren't looking to pluck a guy from across the country with great offensive credentials that is going to leave us in a year or two.

A school like Furman is going to have the most success hiring coaches (1) with ties to the program or (2) ties to the area. That is, coaches that want to be at Furman.

[The Jackal]

Another thought on alum/coaches

Most of the Furman alum coaching tree are guys out of the same era of Furman football. Lamb, Hendrix, Quarles, Fowler, Sorrells, Kiser, etc. all played at Furman during roughly the same 10 year period in the late 70s to late 80s under Sheridan and Satterfield.

I don't think anyone would complain if Billy Napier or Des Kitchings were announced as the new offensive coordinator despite being Furman alums. The younger generation of coaches is still out there, but most of them worked their way up at schools other than Furman. Bratton is, obviously, in this younger group.

So, I do not believe being a Furman alum is a requirement. I also do not believe it should be a demerit.

[FUBeAR]

Stop it, Jackal! You are trying to annoy FUBeAR by making good sense for a change.

…and…

*detriment

[The Jackal]

Stop it, Jackal! You are trying to annoy FUBeAR by making good sense for a change.

…and…

*detriment

"Demerit"

Noun : a quality that deserves blame or lacks merit : FAULT, DEFECT

[Jasper]

A step in the right direction.

[FUBeAR]

Stop it, Jackal! You are trying to annoy FUBeAR by making good sense for a change.

…and…

*detriment

"Demerit"

Noun : a quality that deserves blame or lacks merit : FAULT, DEFECT

Needed a double star or something…demerit works, but detriment is a better word choice in that context. An an FU English major, FUBeAR has final jurisdiction over these matters.

[The Jackal]

Stop it, Jackal! You are trying to annoy FUBeAR by making good sense for a change.

…and…

*detriment

"Demerit"

Noun : a quality that deserves blame or lacks merit : FAULT, DEFECT

Needed a double star or something…demerit works, but detriment is a better word choice in that context. An an FU English major, FUBeAR has final jurisdiction over these matters.

Feel free to use whatever word you'd prefer.

[youwouldno]

We know that Bratton is in line for the OC job. But the opening for an offensive coach is still an opportunity to bring someone in that can help fix the offense . . . hopefully CCH makes good use of said opportunity.

[DungeonRealm]

This is the best thing that could happen for him and us

[The Jackal]

We know that Bratton is in line for the OC job. But the opening for an offensive coach is still an opportunity to bring someone in that can help fix the offense . . . hopefully CCH makes good use of said opportunity.

I guess that's what I'm pushing back on. Is some of this just recency bias?

Furman had the SoCon's top scoring offense in 2017 and 2019. That would have been two different coordinators. (I bet you'd win some trivia contests with Furman fans with that stat).

The scoring offense in 2018 was a healthy 27 ppg. Lower than 2017 and 2019, but still finished middle of the pack in the conference.

We didn't play in the fall of 2020, lost a key offensive player to transfer, and produced a weak 21.1 ppg in the spring of '21. That season, offensive numbers were depressed all across the country and there were 6 SoCon teams that averaged 24 ppg or lower.

In the fall of '21, with a roster that has now played a lot of football this calendar year, we showed some improvement behind a true freshman, but still didn't have a great offensive season.

To me, we tend to heavily focus on the bad games and ignore the good games. The data stares us in the face that over the last 5 seasons, Furman's offense has been more "good" than "bad."

[FUBeAR]

[youwouldno]

It's not "recency bias" if the offense actually did get worse more recently. That's not the direction you want to go.

The weakness of the SoCon helps cover up the degree of underachievement (relative to meaningful goals) that has taken place. But the reality is, being around #50 overall in FCS multiple seasons in a row, with an established coaching staff, is really, really bad. Most of the teams below that are not fully-funded. Relative to funding, attendance, history, etc., it's inexcusably bad even under extenuating circumstances.

And defense has generally been the relative strength of the team. Special teams has been unexciting but adequate. So the offense alone is dragging the program down to the depths of scholarship FCS football. And yet things are more "good" than "bad"?

I truthfully, sincerely hope that CCH does not think the way you do. If he does, there's no hope.

[soconjohn]

I am pretty sure people forget the 2019 offense had a record setting season...Furman has no doubt struggled offensively as of late...that can't be said of the 2018 and '19 offenses as a whole.

[FUBeAR]

We all know Furman’s O averaged 40 PPG in, roughly, the final 3rd of the 2021 season, right?

Yep - the FU O did not perform well during 4 losses in the Spring & 3 this Fall, but there is a larger body of work than those 7 games to consider/review. Those 7 are part of the body & they sure sucked, but they aren’t the whole story.