To Fix Clemson’s Offense

Oct 14th 2009 - Written by: John Webb

Q: What does Kyle Parker do if he goes to take a mid-term exam, needs to make an “A”, and feels some pressure?

A: Rolls right and throws 60 yards down field.

Q: Does Kyle Parker know that in football you don’t have to get the steal sign to run?

A: Cheeseburger toast (this answer was contributed by my seven-year old, but I think you get the point of the joke.)

These are both things about which I would have long conversations with Kyle Parker if I were the offensive coordinator during a bye week, which I’m not – even when it’s not a bye week. I have written that “helpers” have conjured up 500 ideas for fixing the Clemson offense, and in this blog that number will swell by two or three. Maybe the Clemson coaching staff will pick up on some of these nuggets of reason, cogency, and insight. What coach hasn’t dreamed of having a helper monkey on the internet? Fortunately, I volunteer.

First of all, Billy Napier has said that we need to get Dwayne Allen more involved in the game plan. I agree. The area where that falls apart is that he hinted we will have more two tight end sets to get Allen the ball. I would like to see Allen playing with his hand up like (gulp!) South Carolina does with their tight ends, maybe even using pod formations like (gulp!) South Carolina. Another factor is that the double tight end set is dangerously close to Rob Spence’s dreaded double-double tight end set, which rarely worked. I just thought of another joke:

Q: What is Rob Spence’s plan for stopping nuclear proliferation in the Muslim world?

A: Add more tight ends, and then don’t use them to block for the bubble screen.

Like everyone else, I think we need to find an identity, whatever that means. In fact, I would trade having an identity for a more esoteric measure of offensive productivity: scoring.

I think that we need to increase elements of misdirection in our offense. Orbit motion secured an ACC Championship for Wake Forest a few years ago. Former Clemson coordinator Rich Rodriguez has made a career of developing the read option, even if he didn’t invent it himself. Urban Meyer has very fast partial qualifiers running through the backfield on many plays along with other read misdirection tactics. Paul Johnson has three options on every play in what he calls his spread offense, a misnomer if there ever were one. Miami’s Whipple has unbalanced lines and his guards and tackles are always on the run. Some exceptions of note: Oklahoma and Southern Cal just have sick talent. An observation of note: Clemson doesn’t have sick talent, just good talent.

I think that teams need to scheme to create confusion on defense. I believe that this can not be done solely by being multiple on offense, even though Clemson was just outscored by a multiple offense in Maryland. I believe the best offenses in college football use misdirection as their primary tactic.

Lou Holtz agrees with me. I heard him say last week that offenses can’t move the ball unless they “fulshkeya”. After hitting the replay button several times on my DVR, I realized he was saying, “false key you.” I concur, Lou. Well said. Unfortunately I don’t think in a bye week we can install an offense to fulshkeya, so we may have to wait until next year for the misdirection.

I’ve saved dropping the bomb for last. C.J. Spiller needs to be moved to wide receiver. His most dangerous plays this year have come as receiver and returner, not as running back. He has run wheel routes and has been the check down receiver, but I think he can do much more. He ran a beautiful fly route for a touchdown against Georgia Tech. Having Spiller will take attention off of Jacoby Ford. Indeed, Spiller is the equal of Ford as a receiver. Andre Ellington would replace Spiller as starter at running back. I definitely think we gain more by having Spiller at wide receiver than we lose by having Ellington start at running back.

Most of these ideas have been floating around along with many others, so I don’t claim them as exclusively my own, unless they are implemented and effective, in which case I retroactively claim them as my exclusive intellectual property, even if they started out as someone else’s original idea. I learned this from a boss I once worked for. It’s ethical; I promise.

Please send fawning emails to sectionHrowJ@gmail.com .

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