New Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon lays out his vision for the Orange offense

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[JRHEETER]

Interesting that in this interview they say Alford decided to move on

 

[MadNY3]

Interesting that in this interview they say Alford decided to move on

That is consistent. By all accounts, Damien told the coaches he was thinking of leaving at end of semester to start the whole issue.

 

[richmondcuse03]

That is consistent. By all accounts, Damien told the coaches he was thinking of leaving at end of semester to start the whole issue.

Isnt it in his benefit to start looking sooner? He missed the portal window. This seems to give him more flexibility.

 

[CuseLegacy]

Isnt it in his benefit to start looking sooner? He missed the portal window. This seems to give him more flexibility.

Unfortunately I think he has to wait for the next portal window.

 

[Orangefizz]

I think his offense is going to look something like this from 2019 Baylor.

The first 5 minutes the offense was really moving the ball scoring 3 TD’s

 

[AZOrange]

Sorry but these reporters…great opportunity to dig in…oh well

 

[PhatOrange]

Great another Damien Alford thread and all of his 33 catches last year. Anthony Queeley had more catches than that in his sophomore season when the team went 1-10. In two fewer games. Courtney Jackson had more catches the next season. That’s how big of a loss Alford is.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Good notes on Gadsden, sounds like they're positive about him having a good year. Also sounds like McCord is already establishing himself in a leadership role.

Interview gets more interesting at the 22 minute mark. He was big on balance and being able to attack weaknesses in the defense. Personally I like to hear a little more intent on doing what you want to do with the talent you have, but it's pretty clear he's in coach speak mode trying not to give anything up. Fran was pretty intent on running the ball, and I'm sure we will, but Nixon seems to have some enthusiasm about passing.

It does sound like he likes the skill talent. Good notes on LeQuint, sounds bullish on Villari, and confirmed to Ax that we will throw the ball to the tight end. Wouldn't commit to naming a WR standout from the current roster but says they like their guys.

One thing I didn't love - said he hasn't thought much about the Dome and how playing there may impact the offense.

 

[bigmike]

How refreshing to:
1) Actually hear from an assistant coach.
2) Hear candid and thoughtful responses with only a slight sprinkle of coach speak.
3) Hear actual players names in an interview.
4) End the listen feeling like you actually learned something about the program and the men running it.

 

[baggerbob]

Good notes on Gadsden, sounds like they're positive about him having a good year. Also sounds like McCord is already establishing himself in a leadership role.

Interview gets more interesting at the 22 minute mark. He was big on balance and being able to attack weaknesses in the defense. Personally I like to hear a little more intent on doing what you want to do with the talent you have, but it's pretty clear he's in coach speak mode trying not to give anything up. Fran was pretty intent on running the ball, and I'm sure we will, but Nixon seems to have some enthusiasm about passing.

It does sound like he likes the skill talent. Good notes on LeQuint, sounds bullish on Villari, and confirmed to Ax that we will throw the ball to the tight end. Wouldn't commit to naming a WR standout from the current roster but says they like their guys.

One thing I didn't love - said he hasn't thought much about the Dome and how playing there may impact the offense.

To the point of the Dome, It seems he wants to be able to run his offense in any situation, much like Mac, Coach P, and Deleone.
That's how you win championships, you set your offense for ideal conditions and when you have a monsoon like Wake Forest a few years back you lose.
He said multiple, pass 50 times if necessary, and run 50 times if that's what it takes.

 

[JoeSU]

There weren't a lot of substantive take-aways. I'd imagine he is still getting to know the names of the players. He wants Allen to get bigger/stronger, which should also help his NFL stock. It sounded like he expects our offensive identity in a given game to be dictated more by the strengths/weaknesses of the opposing D, than by playing in the dome.

 

[storange]

Wha I gleamed from the interview was that we’re going to run the ball some plays and pass the ball some plays.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

To the point of the Dome, It seems he wants to be able to run his offense in any situation, much like Mac, Coach P, and Deleone.
That's how you win championships, you set your offense for ideal conditions and when you have a monsoon like Wake Forest a few years back you lose.
He said multiple, pass 50 times if necessary, and run 50 times if that's what it takes.

Yeah that's why I said he seemed more enthusiastic about passing.

To your point on the monsoon, I'd rather play the odds of tailoring the offense to conditions we'll know we'll have in at least half our games and gamble we don't encounter acts of God frequently, but I'm not in the coaching profession.

 

[SU in Hershey]

Wha I gleamed from the interview was that we’re going to run the ball some plays and pass the ball some plays.

Great. Now you've distilled down our offensive scheme and made it plain for all of our opponents' scouts/spies. Gone now is the element of surprise (smh). Might as well tell them what our special teams are going to do: "Sometimes we're going to kick the ball off the ground as far as we can, and sometimes we'll kick it off the ground between the tall, yellow, stick-thingies, and other times, when the ole run/pass plan doesn't work, we'll try to drop kick it to the roof of the dome."

Well, maybe we can surprise them with some trick plays at least. (Dammit...well I guess this one's on me.)

 

[DPCuse]

Good notes on Gadsden, sounds like they're positive about him having a good year. Also sounds like McCord is already establishing himself in a leadership role.

Interview gets more interesting at the 22 minute mark. He was big on balance and being able to attack weaknesses in the defense. Personally I like to hear a little more intent on doing what you want to do with the talent you have, but it's pretty clear he's in coach speak mode trying not to give anything up. Fran was pretty intent on running the ball, and I'm sure we will, but Nixon seems to have some enthusiasm about passing.

It does sound like he likes the skill talent. Good notes on LeQuint, sounds bullish on Villari, and confirmed to Ax that we will throw the ball to the tight end. Wouldn't commit to naming a WR standout from the current roster but says they like their guys.

One thing I didn't love - said he hasn't thought much about the Dome and how playing there may impact the offense.

I was taken back a bit by him admitting that he hadn't thought about the dome environment when designing the offense. But then I thought about it more. The dome is really a tool you should use when recruiting rather than building your offensive gameplan.

 

[upperdeck]

You can count on one hand the number of games that playing outside the Dome had weather issues in the last 10-20 yrs for SU.

The dome is great for fans to sit in on bad days. I dont know that you change the offense much for it.. the B12 doesnt seem to change much with the weather issues they have.

The key is do we have a 2 armed QB to throw the ball. The better we are at running, the easier throwing can be, as long as we dont use the QB as the lead RB.

 

[Dcuse]

Wha I gleamed from the interview was that we’re going to run the ball some plays and pass the ball some plays.

 

[sutomcat]

Wha I gleamed from the interview was that we’re going to run the ball some plays and pass the ball some plays.

Yes. Coach Nixon seems like a good guy and someone the players can relate to well.

That said, thought he said a lot of stuff but really didn't say anything meaningful. He speaks 'coach speak' well.

Cool by me. Honestly, I would prefer our coaches not give out a lot of important information in podcasts with bloggers.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I expect some pretty large growing pains.

 

[ForCuseSake]

I expect us to be multiple.

(As George Deleone smiles down from heaven)

 

[Goin' Deep]

Coach said he liked his skill position players...
Translation...Oline, we gotta long way to go...

 

[upperdeck]

It was hard to tell last year if the scheme fit the oline. Running one kind of running play limited options for sure but so did injuries.

 

[baggerbob]

Coach said he liked his skill position players...
Translation...Oline, we gotta long way to go...

Crawling on your hands and knees will make you work harder in all your workouts. I would expect leaner and stronger players on the OL.