Mike Shula's Evolution: A Case Study in the Mating Rituals of Banana Slugs

[Jimmy]

So, here we are, the Monday after the 2017 NFL Draft salivating over the new members of our team.  We are researching, dissecting, and evaluating these young men.  We have heard the defense of their selections by our GM and Head Coach. What are we left with? That our 2017 Carolina Panthers offense will look and feel much different than it has in the past: We are Evolving!

That term has been thrown around a lot in recent months but what does it mean?  In simple terms, it means the offense is going to adapt from its run between the tackles at all cost mentality to a more wide open multiple threat approach.  Sounds great right?  Sure it does.  But hang on a daggum minute...who or what is going to be the catalyst for this evolution?  It will be a combination of folks but the primer for it all will be Mike Shula. 

Can the offense, based on it's newer parts, evolve if the catalyst is never lit?

Let's look at the animal world.  More specifically, let's look at the Banana Slug and the adaptations it has gained during its evolutionary process.  Banana Slugs are hermaphroditic. For you mouth breathers, that means it is equipped with both male and female sex organs.  How freaking awesome is that...I know a few Huddlers who would never leave the house if this were them.  When the Banana Slug mates with another Banana Slug they both insert their penises. Weird, I know.  When the Banana Slugs are done fugging each other they both bite off and eat the other's penis.  That sucks!  But they both still have a vagina and carry on with life...that's pretty great.

As much as evolution can be great thing given the right circumstances sometimes the adaptations gained as a result of that evolutionary process are unnecessary.  Although our team seemingly has all the right pieces to evolve into a matchup nightmare against opponent defenses, the adaptation we are left with at the end of this process is Shula. 

Having both sex organs may seem like an awesome idea until you get your penis bit off by Mike Shula, and all your left with is a vagina offense, that gets pounded by your opponent's defense.

[uncfan888]

Had me at the thread title 

[nctarheel0619]

@ECUHeel

Yeah, this is the reason you and I wanted Fournette.  :(

[top dawg]

5 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

So, here we are, the Monday after the 2017 NFL Draft salivating over the new members of our team.  We are researching, dissecting, and evaluating these young men.  We have heard the defense of their selections by our GM and Head Coach. What are we left with? That our 2017 Carolina Panthers offense will look and feel much different than it has in the past: We are Evolving!

That term has been thrown around a lot in recent months but what does it mean?  In simple terms, it means the offense is going to adapt from its run between the tackles at all cost mentality to a more wide open multiple threat approach.  Sounds great right?  Sure it does.  But hang on a daggum minute...who or what is going to be the catalyst for this evolution?  It will be a combination of folks but the primer for it all will be Mike Shula. 

Can the offense, based on it's newer parts, evolve if the catalyst is never lit?

Let's look at the animal world.  More specifically, let's look at the Banana Slug and the adaptations it has gained during its evolutionary process.  Banana Slugs are hermaphroditic. For you mouth breathers, that means it is equipped with both male and female sex organs.  How freaking awesome is that...I know a few Huddlers who would never leave the house if this were them.  When the Banana Slug mates with another Banana Slug they both insert their penises. Weird, I know.  When the Banana Slugs are done fugging each other they both bite off and eat the other's penis.  That sucks!  But they both still have a vagina and carry on with life...that's pretty great.

As much as evolution can be great thing given the right circumstances sometimes the adaptations gained as a result of that evolutionary process are unnecessary.  Although our team seemingly has all the right pieces to evolve into a matchup nightmare against opponent defenses, the adaptation we are left with at the end of this process is Shula. 

Having both sex organs may seem like an awesome idea until you get your penis bit off by Mike Shula, and all your left with is a vagina offense, that gets pounded by your opponent's defense.

L O L

I have ALWAYS been skeptical of Shula. I believe I started the first thread in the September after his promotion, questioning whether he was a bust? I said something to the effect that Cam was a high performance vehicle that Shula couldn't handle. But, you know, I guess Shula deserves some grace just like everyone else. He has in some ways been a victim of suspect offensive pieces as much as Cam or Rivera, so now he gets his last stand. He has a mandate to evolve, and he has some legit pieces to evolve with (not that he didn't necessarily have them before), so he has fewer excuses.

Give the man a chance, huddle. Let's let this thing play out! It's not like we can do anything anyway except hope for the best. I mean, you can hope for the worst, but that's really not what fans generally do. 

On an off note, give the man Barnidge and Cruz, if nothing else in the spirit of competition. Then, he'll really have no excuses left (except maybe a convalescing Cam who may take a little bit to get right). 

[LinvilleGorge]

We now have real evidence that this "evolution" talk wasn't just talk. I wanted Shula gone, but he's still here and he has some shiny new toys, so let's see what's happens.

[top dawg]

Even the Shula loyalists can't possibly have a hard-on for Shula after the junk he displayed last year---I wouldn't think. He looked like he bit off more than he can chew.

[L-TownCat]

@PhillyB you been teaching a class on thread titles?

[Hogmolliesmaht]

19 minutes ago, top dawg said:

Even the Shula loyalists can't possibly have a hard-on for Shula after the junk he displayed last year---I wouldn't think. He looked like he bit off more than he can chew.

I could make the exact same statement about Cam but I still have faith in the guy. In the NFL, players and coaches have to learn from their mistakes and improve their techniques or they won't be around very long.

[top dawg]

4 minutes ago, Hogmolliesmaht said:

I could make the exact same statement about Cam but I still have faith in the guy. In the NFL, players and coaches have to learn from their mistakes and improve their techniques or they won't be around very long.

I was playing to the OP mostly, but of course I believe it may be true. The thing is, I don't think you can say the exact thing about Cam. We have all seen Cam rise to amazing heights---carry the team on his back. Last season, he appeared out of sorts from being hit and banged up, and like he essentially said "fug it!"  To me, him and others appeared to just be going through the motions by mid November. He even said after the season (I believe) that he essentially wasn't having fun anymore, and it showed in his play. I think that some of the others fed off this and played down to lower expectations as well. This is the biggest problem that I had with Rivera and Shula last year; they needed to get some new blood in the game on game days to shake things up, but they kind of let the status quo linger on until the end of the season. They never adapted, and an OC can't afford to keep doing the same things over and over again that are not working. 

[d-dave]

Very funny read!  I almost got in trouble reading it!

I think many of y'all like to use "Shula-appologist" or something like that, as a way to make some divisive statement.  I'm a fan, and my HOPE is that Shula will adapt.  Rivera went out on a limb for him and Dorsey, to keep them from getting fired.  If I like my job, I'm going to do what my boss says I need to do to keep it.  If my boss say evolve, I'm going to evolve.

Yes, Shula has had some pretty poopy results in his career.  He also is widely recognized for his running game, and his offense was the number one offense in the NFL with the OPY and MVP at the helm.  So he's not complete poop.  Some can be attributed to luck, much to Cam and the rest of the team, but he also has a share in that success in 2015.

[Jimmy]

11 minutes ago, top dawg said:

I was playing to the OP mostly, but of course I believe it may be true. The thing is, I don't think you can say the exact thing about Cam. We have all seen Cam rise to amazing heights---carry the team on his back. Last season, he appeared out of sorts from being hit and banged up, and like he essentially said "fug it!"  To me, him and others appeared to just be going through the motions by mid November. He even said after the season (I believe) that he essentially wasn't having fun anymore, and it showed in his play. I think that some of the others fed off this and played down to lower expectations as well. This is the biggest problem that I had with Rivera and Shula last year; they needed to get some new blood in the game on game days to shake things up, but they kind of let the status quo linger on until the end of the season. They never adapted, and an OC can't afford to keep doing the same things over and over again that are not working. 

This was written as a "Wait and See" with a lighter tone. Can Shula evolve? Hell if I know. Can Cam? Who knows? I know we won't get rid of the read-option completely so there's that. 

[UpstatePanther]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

We now have real evidence that this "evolution" talk wasn't just talk. I wanted Shula gone, but he's still here and he has some shiny new toys, so let's see what's happens.

im of this same mindset. i do not like Shula. no not one bit. but Gettleman has, through this draft, put Shula on notice (and perhaps Ron too since Ron has stuck by Shula for so long). The GettleFather has spoken. put up or shut up Shula. fail, and

 

33 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

I know we won't get rid of the read-option completely so there's that. 

nor should we. Nor should we get rid of the bubble screens. keep everything in the playbook. but use it at the appropriate times. use it in variety, not predictably

[PhillyB]

i would let someone bite off my dick if i could get a guarantee we won't be designing routes to put three receivers tripping over each other in the same quarter of the field

[GoobyPls]

Shula is not as bad as many people say, we have lacked offense weapons since Cam was drafted