Do you like Max?

[Flattop]

At a military institution far superior* to the one that developed that pollock you quote they frequently taught that a less well developed plan violently executed will usually bring better results than a better plan poorly executed.

At the end of the day the way to evaluate the effectiveness of the different approaches is easily done. At least with respect to college football coaches. Check out the win and loss records.

* I would think that most educated and intelligent people would agree with me and Forbes Magazine.

LOL

[LA Ute]

Ute fans like to deride Max because of the horrible game he had at RES last fall, but I respect him. The Utah game was closer than the score indicated and if Max had not been so spooked (or whatever got into him) it would have been a nail-biter. I expect him to do well this season, even though he is not the elite-caliber QB some Cougar fans think he is. A Utah win this year at LES would be a great one, no matter the margin.

[Flattop]

a less well developed plan violently executed will usually bring better results than a better plan poorly executed.

Where does the Maginot Line fall in that equation? In 1940 the French were adhering to an obsolete strategy. How well they executed that strategy didn't matter.

[JohnnyLingo]

As someone who has never coached football at any level (though I have spent more than a few hours on the Xbox), how hard is it to adjust to what your opponent is doing?

[Goatnapper'96]

Where does the Maginot Line fall in that equation? In 1940 the French were adhering to an obsolete strategy. How well they executed that strategy didn't matter.

Do the french violently execute anything other than strikes at car manufacturing plants? I think that the french military doctrine was flawed in the face of Blitzkrieg, but methinks the troops were even worse at executing the Xs and Os than the defensive strategy was at defending Blitzkrieg.

Basically, the french, or at least their performance in WWII, would be what I might qualify as being pussies. But their teenage girls love Obama because he "isn't a Republican!" weeeee!

[FMCoug]

What if a coach piles up blow-out wins against a weak schedule but loses the few games against good teams because he can't make adjustments?

A fair point. Those double digit wins came primarily from MWC dead weight like CSU, Air Force, Utah, etc.

[Indy Coug]

As someone who has never coached football at any level (though I have spent more than a few hours on the Xbox), how hard is it to adjust to what your opponent is doing?

That depends. What if your opponent pulls out a new wrinkle just as you are about to adjust based on what they were doing before? Then, you're one step behind trying to shoot a moving target.

[JohnnyLingo]

A fair point. Those double digit wins came primarily from MWC dead weight like CSU, Air Force, Utah, etc.

CSU 2007: 35-16
CSU 2008: 45-42

Air Force 2007: 31-6
Air Force 2008: 38-24

Utah 2007: 17-10
Utah 2008: 24-48

[Flattop]

Do the french violently execute anything other than strikes at car manufacturing plants? I think that the french military doctrine was flawed in the face of Blitzkrieg, but methinks the troops were even worse at executing the Xs and Os than the defensive strategy was at defending Blitzkrieg.

Basically, the french, or at least their performance in WWII, would be what I might qualify as being pussies. But their teenage girls love Obama because he "isn't a Republican!" weeeee!

Ok, let's look at the Japanese Army in the Pacific War. The Japanese repeatedly had "less well developed plans" that they "executed violently." This violent execution availed them little.

[JohnnyLingo]

That depends. What if your opponent pulls out a new wrinkle just as you are about to adjust based on what they were doing before? Then, you're one step behind trying to shoot a moving target.

It's risky, I know. When playing against human opponents on the Xbox you have the same problem. But I say trying to adjust is better than not adjusting to getting taken to the woodshed.

[Goatnapper'96]

As someone who has never coached football at any level (though I have spent more than a few hours on the Xbox), how hard is it to adjust to what your opponent is doing?

I think it is easier when you have better athletes as changing your scheme requires folks to think more instead of reacting instinctively. I think Mendenhall's approach seeks to mitigate BYU's lack of athleticism by maximizing reactions on instincts through repetitions and a focus on execution. I think BYU's defensive zone alignments are pretty complex. They are beatable but the approach is to force teams to beat BYU, not put BYU in a position where it is frequently torched due to a lack of athleticism. I think by making the zone coverages more complex you see BYU better handle younger quarterbacks who need more time to find the holes, and BYU is able to get pressure on the qb not because of zone coverages by better athletes but because the qbs are confused. The strategy is less effective against older quarterbacks who have seen it a few times.

[Goatnapper'96]

Ok, let's look at the Japanese Army in the Pacific War. The Japanese repeatedly had "less well developed plans" that they "executed violently." This violent execution availed them little.

I think the Japanese were fighting a war that was unwinnable. Similar to the Confederates in the Civil War. Saying that, given the situation the Japanese faced I think their violent execution brought them as close to victory as their resources allowed.

[JohnnyLingo]

I think it is easier when you have better athletes as changing your scheme requires folks to think more instead of reacting instinctively.

So it's harder for BYU to implement adjustments than it is for a team like Florida.

Are you saying the act of seeing and mentally adjusting to what your opponent is doing is harder than actually implementing changes on the fly?

[Flattop]

I'm not sure "violent execution" helped the American Army in the Huertgen Forest. In fact, a failure to make adjustments to match the difficulties of fighting in that terrain made it a much bloodier affair. But the battle should never have been fought in the first place.

[Indy Coug]

So it's harder for BYU to implement adjustments than it is for a team like Florida.

Are you saying the act of seeing and mentally adjusting to what your opponent is doing is harder than actually implementing changes on the fly?

I think your talent and experience, or lack thereof, can greatly limit your schematic flexibility. I think there are many times where coaches know what adjustment they would ideally like to make, but don't have confidence in the players to be able to pull it off.