the most shocking thing for this Canes fan, is the total lack of creativity and imagination on Offense. The great coaches know how to employ their CURRENT personnel to win. (Think Shula who went to a grind it out approach under Griese etc to a pass happy approach when Marino arrived). As such, I disagree with any opinions (including Martz op recent post) that suggest CMR is instilling in the current regime his style which may work one day when he has the horses to win. The current offense (with returning players) is built for speed and was the squad that should NOT be the one to worry about now. If the OL is playing poorly and you have a QB with little mobility and/or pocket presence, then CMR has to throw short slants, screens and bubble plays IE, adjust to what is happening in the game. These type of plays have been successful (yet we choose to do it a few times then abandon the success, to return to a up the middle run game -- which destroys any momentum. [Note that the New England Patriots' worse play is the dump off or short pass. If the pass rush prevents a long down field pass, the screen or dump off is effective and the most demoralizing thing to an aggressive Defense.] Winning now is critical to our future success. Recruits have said in the past and are already saying again now that they DO NOT want to play for a program that loses (4-4; with wins against D2's and low D1s is not creating any buzz). True, a missed Point After (FSU) and a missed fumble recovery against Notre Dame, could have turned this season around (think 6-2 and with marque wins). But the failure of CMR to make adjustments and be creative on offense killed the hopes to win these games earlier in the contest and win game against NC and VTech. The amazing thing is that Diaz, with LESS to work with, but simply with a better approach and killer mentality, has made the D fun to watch with good results. The same cannot be said for the Offense -- sadly, CMR is responsible for the lack of Offensive points. This conclusion was apparent to me very early in the season. we all thought, because the players said as much, that the Off playbook had not been opened up. At this juncture, there is no such further playbook to draw from. Look at Notre Dame-- up tempo, reverses and other creative offensive plays were impressive to watch. Even V tech and UNC outplayed and outcoached us on Offense. An exciting O is something that The U is known for. We have the playmakers. If we don't have the full arsenal it falls on CMR to call the plays and schemes to make it happen! I hope that CMR is courageous enough to make significant changes on Offense. If after an evaluation that means he needs to bring on a new OC, I truly hope he is humble enough to make such a change! The honeymoon is indeed over. But who says the best years cannot still be ahead of us! GO Canes
