4 Reasons To Like the Denver Johnson Hire

[CUwhit21]

1. Offensive success at Illinois State

"For the third-straight season, the Redbird passing offense was the best in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. ISU averaged 227.8 yards per game, while the offense as a whole posted 397.5 yards per game and ranked No. 8 nationally. In 2005, Johnson's Redbirds led the conference in total offense (477.5 ypg) for the third time in his tenure. The 'Birds also led the league in scoring offense with a school record 39.2 points per game and passing offense with 268.7 yards per game."

http://goredbirds.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/johnson_denver00.html

There's a pretty good summary of everything he was able to accomplish at Illinois State. The #1 thing that jumps out at me based on his profile is the offensive numbers his team's put up. He did not have a winning record while at ISU, but his offenses always seemed to produce.

2. Recruiting

The #2 thing that jumped out at me from the link above was this:

"Following a disappointing 4-7 campaign in 2007, Johnson and his staff hit the recruiting trail with determination. As a result, the Redbirds landed three, three-star recruits, as rated by national recruiting services, and the class as a whole ranked No. 2 nationally among all NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) programs."

Grimes never recruited Texas the way we should be able to. Hopefully Denver can fill that void and improve our recruiting there.

3. Coaching Style

Ok, this is from AZ's site (not very popular over here I know), but it is great to hear regardless. Denver's blocking schemes are quick hitting and quick to the hole. This is in contrast to Grimes style, who apparently was big on slow developing run plays. We may just add some explosiveness to our running game.

4. Offensive Shake-Up

So, regardless of excuses, our offense has struggled year after year. And we continued to struggle with Grimes. Many people were calling for Bandison and/or Collins to be fired after the season and after signing day. But, while the defense has not been dominant in the past 3 years, it has definitely been solid and capable of winning games (WVU, KSU last season, OU, TT the year before). A shake-up on the offensive side of the ball and a new voice in coaches' meetings could be exactly what we needed. And hey who knows, maybe when Helfrich brings up the weekly gameplan of end arounds, Denver will shoot that idea down.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I know people hate the end arounds, but if you actually blocked for Jfly... good things will happen.

 

[Daaah]

I know people hate the end arounds, but if you actually blocked for Jfly... good things will happen.

And the average gain on those is pretty decent.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I see it as a play that keeps the D honest. jmo.

 

[buffsyko]

I see it as a play that keeps the D honest. jmo.

I agree, as long as you don't run it 5 times a game.

 

[CUwhit21]

I know people hate the end arounds, but if you actually blocked for Jfly... good things will happen.

I actually think it is blocked pretty well most of the time. The problem is the WR running the end around doesn't follow those blocks and run up into the hole. Everytime we run that play (Cody Crawford, Kendrick Celestine, Josh Smith.. whoever) the WR is trying to outrun everyone to the sideline then turn it up.

Well that or we run it before we even have a chance to set the defense up for it.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I agree, as long as you don't run it 5 times a game.

I can agree with that. :lol:

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I actually think it is blocked pretty well most of the time. The problem is the WR running the end around doesn't follow those blocks and run up into the hole. Everytime we run that play (Cody Crawford, Kendrick Celestine, Josh Smith.. whoever) the WR is trying to outrun everyone to the sideline then turn it up.

I don't agree. Watching our TE's trying to throw blocks last year was horrible. I can't hold it against Geer or Deehan. Geer isn't a blocking TE, and Deehan is still adjusting to the game. Solder wasn't that great at T either. It was a jail break on just about every other play.

 

[14er]

1. Offensive success at Illinois State

2. Recruiting

3. Coaching Style

4. Offensive Shake-Up

I think all of these points are valid. And it is hard to tell how good the defense was at ISU (as far as W/L), but they did put up some big #'s. Hopefully he and Helfie can get along and share ideas. The 2 points I am excited about are the recruiting and the change in blocking schemes. :thumbsup: I hope this turns out to be a solid hire.

 

[CUwhit21]

I don't agree. Watching our TE's trying to throw blocks last year was horrible. I can't hold it against Geer or Deehan. Geer isn't a blocking TE, and Deehan is still adjusting to the game. Solder wasn't that great at T either. It was a jail break on just about every other play.

Hm.. well I can think of one play in particular.. Kansas perhaps?? Sumler was the lead blocker, ran into the hole and kicked a defender out of the hole.. J Fly kept running outside and Sumler had pushed the defender right into Josh. If Josh turns it up inside Sumler's block, he gets at least 5 yards.

Regardless, I don't see the point of running the same play week in, week out when for whatever reason we can't seem to run it successfully. That play has hurt us many more times then it has helped us.

 

[The Guest]

After reading White's excellent initial post, two things strike me.

1. Watch your ass, Valdez. This kid does his research and is detail-oriented as well. It's good having both of you on Allbuffs.

2. When you compress Go Red Birds into a web address, it becomes "Gored Birds". Not very encouragin.

 

[jjbuffs13]

Hm.. well I can think of one play in particular.. Kansas perhaps?? Sumler was the lead blocker, ran into the hole and kicked a defender out of the hole.. J Fly kept running outside and Sumler had pushed the defender right into Josh. If Josh turns it up inside Sumler's block, he gets at least 5 yards.

Regardless, I don't see the point of running the same play week in, week out when for whatever reason we can't seem to run it successfully. That play has hurt us many more times then it has helped us.

*Cough* A&M with Scotty McKnight on the 3 *Cough*

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

After reading White's excellent initial post, two things strike me.

1. Watch your ass, Valdez. This kid does his research and is detail-oriented as well. It's good having both of you on Allbuffs.

2. When you compress Go Red Birds into a web address, it becomes "Gored Birds". Not very encouragin.

Whit21 certainly knows his stuff. I'm also glad he's posting here on allbuffs. :thumbsup:

 

[CUwhit21]

*Cough* A&M with Scotty McKnight on the 3 *Cough*

Ha, maybe Helfrich had watched the Nebraska Texas Tech replay one too many times?

 

[sackman]

I see it as a play that keeps the D honest. jmo.

It's a terrible play that gets blown up easily with just the slightest defensive penetration. Block any play and it will produce good results. Too many things have to be done perfectly in order for that particular play to work.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

It's a terrible play that gets blown up easily with just the slightest defensive penetration. Block any play and it will produce good results. Too many things have to be done perfectly in order for that particular play to work.

Plenty of top BCS programs run this play. It's not a terrible play.

 

[sackman]

Plenty of top BCS programs run this play. It's not a terrible play.

It's a terrible play to run with the talent we have on this team. We need to be running right at people.

Just because other teams run it doesn't make it a good play for us.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

It's a terrible play to run with the talent we have on this team. We need to be running right at people.

Just because other teams run it doesn't make it a good play for us.

We have plenty of talent on this team. We're just young. I like the play because it's always going to be in the D coordinators mind. Especially with a player like JFly who can bust that for 6 every time he touches the ball.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

My point here is this isn't a garbage play. I'm not trying to defend it as it the best play in the playbook. I don't know why we run it so much every game, and watching them do it with Scotty McKnight just pisses me off. But it's a good play.

 

[rodrigo]

It's only a terrible play when you 1) run it too much; 2) don't block it well; 3) other teams know it's coming because you don't really have the ability to generate big plays in other ways (i.e. the long ball).

Think about it: CU needs to develop a big-play capability. Simply running gadget plays (Cody re-setting as a WR out of the shotgun comes to mind) in order to find some way, any way to get the opposing D off balance bites. Such plays are always more successful when the play off strengths, not weaknesses.

 

[rodrigo]

To the topic: Uh, his name?

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

Sorry about the threadjack Whit21.

 

[buffaholic]

1. Offensive success at Illinois State

"For the third-straight season, the Redbird passing offense was the best in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. ISU averaged 227.8 yards per game, while the offense as a whole posted 397.5 yards per game and ranked No. 8 nationally. In 2005, Johnson's Redbirds led the conference in total offense (477.5 ypg) for the third time in his tenure. The 'Birds also led the league in scoring offense with a school record 39.2 points per game and passing offense with 268.7 yards per game."

I hope Johnson had something to do with that, not just the OC....

 

[Duff Man]

Solid post Whit. I also really like the hire.

 

[Hugegroove]

His brand of coaching should be very noticeable when the spring game comes around. I'm just hoping the offense has their assignments down by the 1st game of the season. It could be a big adjustment for them.

 

[Tadploe]

Ma and Pa named a child "Denver"/Johnson..:bowdown:I wonder why that never crossed my mind? Come on, this guy's real name is "Long Dong" Johnson..You know Ron Mexico would have been a better deal for the kid....

 

[BuffsRising]

I don't mind the end around every once in a while, but we ran it too often the last two years. But whether we ran it by choice or because we had to do anything we could to get the defense slanting the wrong way to give our line easier blocks is another matter.It will be interesting to see what our running game looks like with our line able to make blocks on their own without using the receivers as decoys. And for that matter, it will be interesting to see what our receivers can do when they aren't being run around 5 yds behind the line as decoys.

When is spring practice again????

Another reason to like this hire: I doubt Denver Johnson is using us as a stepping stone, so he should be here for 4 or 5 years, at least. Grimes never stayed anywhere for longer than a couple of years.

 

[Wyo Buff]

I don't agree. Watching our TE's trying to throw blocks last year was horrible. I can't hold it against Geer or Deehan. Geer isn't a blocking TE, and Deehan is still adjusting to the game. Solder wasn't that great at T either. It was a jail break on just about every other play.

Valdez: As you know I have some experience being thrown in at left tackle and I believe you will see HUGE improvement from Solder this year. At some point, it becomes less about thinking and a light comes on and it feels natural. My bet is that the light will come on this spring for Solder.

 

[sackman]

Valdez: As you know I have some experience being thrown in at left tackle and I believe you will see HUGE improvement from Solder this year. At some point, it becomes less about thinking and a light comes on and it feels natural. My bet is that the light will come on this spring for Solder.

I sure hope you're right. We have all the pieces in place for a very dominant offense, but it just hasn't all come together yet. With the solid O-Line recruiting the last two years, we not only have talent, but depth as well. It's time for that talent and depth to show up on the field.

 

[Daaah]

I sure hope you're right. We have all the pieces in place for a very dominant offense, but it just hasn't all come together yet. With the solid O-Line recruiting the last two years, we not only have talent, but depth as well. It's time for that talent and depth to show up on the field.

As evidenced by the converted DLinemen we had playing on the OLine last year, we had NO depth at all. This 'talent and depth' hasn't shown up yet because it hasn't existed.