The fans are increasingly angry over the Offense's struggles so far, and I agree with most of what has been posted on the Board.
First and foremost, I am biased in favor of Rhett because of the successful offense he had as OC at my alma mater, SMU- a football program that needed 30 years to recover from the Death Penalty to be respectable again. What Rhett (and HC Sonny Dykes) did at SMU a few years ago is almost incomprehensible. #15 8-0 at one point, with College Gameday. 10-3 finish, best record in 35 years for SMU.
- QB Shane Beuchele, who was a former Texas QB and a mere 6'0" 205 lbs, threw for 3,900 yards and 35 TDS
- 2-Star RB The X-Man Xavier Jones, ran for 1,250 yards and an NCAA LEADING 23 TDs
- 3-Star WR Jimmy Proche (now with the Ravens) had over 1,200 receiving yards and 15 TDS
- 2-Star TE Granson had 10 receiving TDs
- 30 or more points in 11/12 games
- 70 TDs scored, 35 Passing TDs and 35 Rushing TDs
- 7th in Points Per Game (41.8 PPG)
- 30th in 3rd Down Conversion % (.440)
- 25th in Yards Per Play (6.1)
- 3rd in Plays Per Game (80 PPG)
All this, with ZERO OL TALENT.
SMU's SOS was #59 Miami's SOS was #61.
Rhett finished a semi-finalist for the Broyles Award.
After the 2019 season several high profile programs, from Penn State to USC, strongly considered hiring Rhett from SMU. Manny, to his credit, made the proper, proactive decision to fire Dan Enos' worthless ass, and hire Rhett to finally implement a Spread Offense. Adding a dynamic, athletic, and experienced guy in King as QB via the transfer portal was a smart QB bridge play between the Kosi-Jarren class and the TVD-Garcia class.
Last year, our Offense was:
- T-25th in Points Per Game (34.3 PPG)
- 33rd in Plays Per Game (72.7 Plays)
- 39th in Yards Per Play (5.9) (almost a full yard improvement)
-33rd in Yards Per Game (440.4 YPG)
- T-60th in 3rd Down Conversion % (.406) (a 45 ranking improvement)
So there was significant improvement from what we saw with Enos in 2019.
So why have we seen a regression now to start 2021?
I have 3 thoughts:
(1) Trust Issues With King - Rhett has better RB, WR, TE, and OL talent here at Miami than he did at SMU. The BIGGEST difference is QB play - Shane Beuchele vs. D'Eriq King. Shane was a high 4-Star recruit coming out of high school and well-regarded as an exceptional thrower of the football. At Texas, he beat Notre Dame on the road his freshman year, had an excellent career at SMU (as above stated), and is on an NFL Roster (Kansas City Chiefs). D'Eriq was a 3-Star "athlete" and had no offers to major programs other than Clemson. For Rhett at SMU, Shane was an EXCELLENT distributer of the football in the passing game, and had VERY good command at the LOS, establishing a very good cerebral-football relationship with Rhett. Since returning from his catastrophic injury, King has looked hesitant, defensive, and sluggish throwing the football with what looks like a "dead" arm, Combined with being more of a runner than a thrower, it appears as though King and Rhett do not have a good cerebral-football relationship right now between OC and QB the way Rhett had with Shane at SMU, and I think that is leading to a lot of consistency, trust, and production issues with the Offense.
(2) Lack of Innovation - huge problem. Pre-snap motion, bunch formations, screen game, different concepts out of the spread. The innovation which Rhett profoundly demonstrated at SMU which made him the dynamic OC who he was, has clearly been lacking through the first two games to start the season. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe Rhett is still shell shocked from the Bama game. The Offense desperately needs a shot of innovation to get it going.
(3) Lack of Run Variety - Running King up the middle from the shotgun in short yardage situations is an act of futility. Also, the run game needs to have more sweeps/stretches to the outside, and perhaps pulling the guards to show opposing defenses something different. The run game is far too predictable, and I suppose that ties into the lack of innovation issue.
There is AS MUCH pressure on Rhett both this weekend and this season, as Manny, because Rhett indisputably wants to be a HC, and he MUST succeed here to have those opportunities.
First and foremost, I am biased in favor of Rhett because of the successful offense he had as OC at my alma mater, SMU- a football program that needed 30 years to recover from the Death Penalty to be respectable again. What Rhett (and HC Sonny Dykes) did at SMU a few years ago is almost incomprehensible. #15 8-0 at one point, with College Gameday. 10-3 finish, best record in 35 years for SMU.
- QB Shane Beuchele, who was a former Texas QB and a mere 6'0" 205 lbs, threw for 3,900 yards and 35 TDS
- 2-Star RB The X-Man Xavier Jones, ran for 1,250 yards and an NCAA LEADING 23 TDs
- 3-Star WR Jimmy Proche (now with the Ravens) had over 1,200 receiving yards and 15 TDS
- 2-Star TE Granson had 10 receiving TDs
- 30 or more points in 11/12 games
- 70 TDs scored, 35 Passing TDs and 35 Rushing TDs
- 7th in Points Per Game (41.8 PPG)
- 30th in 3rd Down Conversion % (.440)
- 25th in Yards Per Play (6.1)
- 3rd in Plays Per Game (80 PPG)
All this, with ZERO OL TALENT.
SMU's SOS was #59 Miami's SOS was #61.
Rhett finished a semi-finalist for the Broyles Award.
After the 2019 season several high profile programs, from Penn State to USC, strongly considered hiring Rhett from SMU. Manny, to his credit, made the proper, proactive decision to fire Dan Enos' worthless ass, and hire Rhett to finally implement a Spread Offense. Adding a dynamic, athletic, and experienced guy in King as QB via the transfer portal was a smart QB bridge play between the Kosi-Jarren class and the TVD-Garcia class.
Last year, our Offense was:
- T-25th in Points Per Game (34.3 PPG)
- 33rd in Plays Per Game (72.7 Plays)
- 39th in Yards Per Play (5.9) (almost a full yard improvement)
-33rd in Yards Per Game (440.4 YPG)
- T-60th in 3rd Down Conversion % (.406) (a 45 ranking improvement)
So there was significant improvement from what we saw with Enos in 2019.
So why have we seen a regression now to start 2021?
I have 3 thoughts:
(1) Trust Issues With King - Rhett has better RB, WR, TE, and OL talent here at Miami than he did at SMU. The BIGGEST difference is QB play - Shane Beuchele vs. D'Eriq King. Shane was a high 4-Star recruit coming out of high school and well-regarded as an exceptional thrower of the football. At Texas, he beat Notre Dame on the road his freshman year, had an excellent career at SMU (as above stated), and is on an NFL Roster (Kansas City Chiefs). D'Eriq was a 3-Star "athlete" and had no offers to major programs other than Clemson. For Rhett at SMU, Shane was an EXCELLENT distributer of the football in the passing game, and had VERY good command at the LOS, establishing a very good cerebral-football relationship with Rhett. Since returning from his catastrophic injury, King has looked hesitant, defensive, and sluggish throwing the football with what looks like a "dead" arm, Combined with being more of a runner than a thrower, it appears as though King and Rhett do not have a good cerebral-football relationship right now between OC and QB the way Rhett had with Shane at SMU, and I think that is leading to a lot of consistency, trust, and production issues with the Offense.
(2) Lack of Innovation - huge problem. Pre-snap motion, bunch formations, screen game, different concepts out of the spread. The innovation which Rhett profoundly demonstrated at SMU which made him the dynamic OC who he was, has clearly been lacking through the first two games to start the season. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe Rhett is still shell shocked from the Bama game. The Offense desperately needs a shot of innovation to get it going.
(3) Lack of Run Variety - Running King up the middle from the shotgun in short yardage situations is an act of futility. Also, the run game needs to have more sweeps/stretches to the outside, and perhaps pulling the guards to show opposing defenses something different. The run game is far too predictable, and I suppose that ties into the lack of innovation issue.
There is AS MUCH pressure on Rhett both this weekend and this season, as Manny, because Rhett indisputably wants to be a HC, and he MUST succeed here to have those opportunities.
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