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Message: [QUOTE="dinosaurbbq, post: 1164145, member: 1333"] There were a bunch of problems at Baylor that led to 8-16 records his first two years. First, the Big 12 was pretty strong at that point (Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech each had 1 or 2 losses, plus 10 win Missouri and 9 win Nebraska and Okie State). Second, Baylor didn't have nearly the same athletes/talent to compete. He had to get talent in for it to be an effective offense. Third, it actually takes a while to get kids to understand an offensive system sometimes and in some cases for them to buy into the system. We are seeing that right now at WVU. Last year, after graduating effectively all of his outstanding offensive skill players, WVU was forced to play QB Clint Trickett and Trickett didn't buy into the system and didn't fully understand the system and what it could do for him. This year is night and day different. The offense now works. Add to that the effect of adding Bradley on the defensive side and WVU is hugely improved. Get ready for WVU to be a perennial power in the Big 12. With Strong at Texas, that is why I have said as many times on here as people will listen that the Big 12 is poised to take over as the best conference in the country within the next 5 years. That doesn't equate to making it a bad decision for SU to have pulled play calling from GMD and giving it to Lester after the Louisville game. Briles had a ton of experience and had honed his offensive play diagramming and play calling well prior to Baylor. GMD had none. GMD's play diagramming has looked very poor. His play calling in sequence has been horrible. His inability to get plays in timely has been plainly evident. His constant shuffling of personnel has been ridiculous and counter-productive. His use of particularly players in particular roles in any given play has been absurd. GMD was obviously going to have to learn on the job, but it appeared he was not learning very fast what to do in that job. SU surrounded him with other offensive coaches with play calling OC coordinator experience, which is exactly what SU should have done. When it was apparent his slow learning process was costing the team significantly on the offensive side, HCSS acted as swiftly to resolve that as I hoped he would. It is my understanding that he resolved it last year with Lester taking over play calling part way through the season before turning the reigns back over to MCD at the start of this season to see what MCD had learned and how he had progressed. It is my belief (I could be right or wrong and have no inside info) that HCSS tried to do the same thing this year and MCD was not cooperative and so that the plan of pulling play calling from MCD and giving it to Lester turned into pulling MCD from OC and Assoc. HC duties and making him solely WR Coach. He then went to the press and that planned quiet transfer became public without SU making it public. I fully appreciate that Hunt may have been a major reason for the lack of offensive production here and that GMD's planned offensive system may be theoretically sound. I also believe it is likely the planned system isn't going to be scrapped, but that it will be better implemented by Lester. I think there is a possibility that MCD stays beyond this year, hones his knowledge of this system and how to implement it and actually gets another chance in the future to call plays for the orange. [/QUOTE]

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