My Vote of "No Confidence"

Bumped from FanPosts, great job 919!

CC said it in his previous post, "execution".

No, as much as some of you might like it, I'm not talking about executing certain coaches.

I was up late last night, thinking about OU's season and its future, and why I should even watch any more games this year. I asked myself: "really, why are we doing so poorly?" The answer is obvious: the Sooners just aren't executing on the road. But again, why? As I thought about their dismal record, only one thing kept coming to mind. Two individuals on this team have completely lost my confidence. And one of them is NOT Brent Venables.

Let me explain further. There have been times in past seasons where I was extremely unhappy with Brent's performance. However, given what he's working with this year, I would have to say that he has done pretty well. There have been times this year, and the second half last night was a good example (I will differ a bit here from JTE's evaluation of the defense last night), where he made some adjustments and got the defense back in somewhat-working order. We also should admit that we only did as well as we did last year because of Brent Venables and his defense. Until the debacle at Texas Tech, we had lost 4 games by a combined total of 12 points, and we were only in those games because the defense held up so well. With all the inexperience he's working with this year, I'm thrilled that he's done as well as he has.

But that's it for my leniency. Two individuals deserve to be removed from their current positions at OU.

The first is Landry Jones. He has consistently proven that he's nothing more than a placeholder while we wait for the next great OU quarterback to come along (Blake Bell? Kendal Thompson?). I said in the game thread that he reminds me of Nate Hybl, and the comparison really couldn't be more apt. Sure, Hybl won us a Rose Bowl. But the conditions in that game were the ones in which he was able to thrive. Great protection, no reasons to panic.  Because when things got rough, that's what Hybl did...he panicked. Sure, he could take hits...but the thing with Hybl was, if you started getting to him, he got rattled very easily and would usually be thrown out of his rhythm. He also was not very good under pressure (and I'm not talking about pass-rush pressure), and he wasn't much of a leader. Does any of this sound familiar?

We were spoiled with Sam Bradford, the latest in a line of incredible QBs under Bob Stoops. It started with Mr. Cool himself, Josh Heupel. Then Jason White came along, and I am positive he would've led us to even more greatness than he did if he hadn't blown out both knees. Later we had Bradford, and we know how that was. All three of those guys were the total package. Intangibles: calm, confident demeanor...the ability to lead the offense down the field, regardless of the circumstances...the ability to make plays...good judgment in tough spots...amazing even-keeled consistency. Talent: pinpoint accuracy...good arms...good if not Vince-Young-like mobility. These guys are the prototypical quarterback for the Bob Stoops system. Landry Jones is lacking many of these qualities, and those he does possess do not show themselves with the sort of regularity that this team demands. He's a good player, and could start for probably 75% of the D-I teams. But he's not the guy to lead us to our next National Championship...and frankly, with all the young talent that we DO have, I think we've reached the point where we start looking to the future. Landry is not the future any more; he can't be, if we're serious about playing for championships. This is where even the Hybl comparison fails...Hybl at least got us a Big 12 Championship and won both his bowl games. I am not confident we'll get a Big 12 Championship with Jones at quarterback.

The second person who has lost my confidence is Kevin Wilson. I have never, ever been one to call for the firing of an OU coach. I always figured that the guys in the program knew the score better than I did, and that who we had was who we had. (The lone exception was John Blake, and that was just too obvious a call.) With all the success that Stoops has had, I have been very lenient and deferred to his judgment. I can no longer do this.

It's true that Wilson instituted the no-huddle, and that has proven a great upgrade for us. But as an example of Wilson's questionable tactical decision-making, he often waters down this high-powered upgrade with multiple, unnecessary audibles and line-checks that end up slowing things back down and giving the defense the time to adjust prior to the snap (and sometimes, take so long that they force OU to burn time-outs because Wilson just can't find the "right play"). The offense has shown time and again that when they have a call, get up to the line quickly, get set, and go, they can consistently produce good results and score lots of points. All too often, though, Wilson lets up off the gas, in his constant quest for "The Perfect Play Call". (How many of you, like me, have found yourself watching this ridiculous tendency and screaming at the screen, "JUST RUN THE F$^#ING PLAY!!!"?) Sometimes it really is better to just run the play and trust in your guys to execute it.

Beyond tactical play-calling...there's the strategic game-planning. Wilson never seems to get this going the right way. A prime example is OU's offensive game plan against Missouri. That team had given up 250 rushing yards to lowly San Diego State. And yet, our offensive game plan against the Tigers has a 2-1 pass-to-run ratio. In last night's game, in the third quarter, Wilson had recommitted to the run...and with great success; we scored all of our points during the point where we were running more. Yet, when we needed to keep the momentum going, we fell back to Landry Jones and the passing game, which had been mediocre all night and saw Landry overcooking throws with regularity (a common issue for him in high-pressure situations). This reminds me of Chuck Long's decision-making against LSU way back in the 2004 BCS Championship game, when we scratched and clawed our way back into that hard-fought game with the run, only to try to get "cute" and leave it behind for the passing game when it was showing the most success. Give your guys the right call to execute, and they'll get it done.

Execute...there's that word again, so let's hit that the hardest. Wilson is unable to get his guys to consistently execute. Even in the good times, when OU was running up 60+ points a game and we got to the BCS Championship game, it was our inability to execute offensively that killed us. Remember the stuff at the goal line late in the first half against Florida? Make that play, score that touchdown, and we're in great position. Instead, we hand momentum back over to Florida, and the rest was all downhill for OU. Wilson is unable to prepare his players, and unable to motivate them to consistently play at the highest level...ESPECIALLY on the road, where the highest level MUST ALWAYS be reached in order to ensure success. Dropped balls...poor blocking...no pass protection...if we didn't have great players who are consistently able to perform under pressure like Murray, Broyles, Stills, and Finch, our offense would be in much worse shape than it is.

This in itself is another issue at Wilson's feet...why are those four guys the only ones who seem to be able to step up their play with consistency? OU is always able to recruit great offensive talent. Yet in Wilson's time with OU, most of those talented players have fallen strangely flat (with a few exceptions). Why, with all of the top-shelf receivers we have, are only Broyles and Stills able to perform? Why aren't the other guys getting it done? Is Wilson just not handling the personnel he has correctly? Are his coaches not doing it right? We know Wilson has some top coaching talent as well...Heupel's there, Gundy's there with the running backs and they're doing pretty well...what's missing? We have far too much talent to see it go to waste with this awful execution on the field.

So, to sum up, i have to give my vote of "no confidence" in Landry Jones and Kevin Wilson. We can find suitable replacements for each, and I fully believe that the time has come for Bob Stoops to do so.