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Same as it ever was - How Tony Dungy dealt with Shula's overly complex play calling

Jeremy Igo

By Jeremy Igo,
in Carolina Panthers

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Jeremy Igo Newbie

Jeremy Igo

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An overly complex and confused offense is nothing new when it comes to Mike Shula. This has all played out before. While his plays may look good on paper, he is just not good enough of a teacher to have his men execute properly. The result is an anemic offense.

 

Dungy's solution was to force Shula to simplify. Cut down on mental mistakes and execute a smaller play book properly. 

 

DATE: November 2, 1999

ROY CUMMINGS The Tampa Tribune 

Excerpts... 

Quote

TAMPA - In an attempt to end a season-long offensive slump, the Bucs may become even more basic in their approach.
For those of you who didn't think the Bucs' remedial offense could get any simpler, just wait. They may have a surprise for you.Still unable to score points with their see Mike run, see Eric throw the ball beneath coverage to Warrick routine, the Bucs are considering simplifying their offense even more.

 

Quote

"We're going to have to look at that," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said Monday when asked how he will try to ignite an offense that continued to fizzle Sunday in a 20-3 loss to the Detroit Lions at the Pontiac Silverdome."Whether we have to scale back, do some things differently, we'll have to see," Dungy said. "But obviously we've got to do something to put more points on the board. We'll have to look at everything."

 

 

Quote

Everything, it seems, except permanent personnel changes. Although Kevin Dogins and Todd Washington may get a few reps at left guard, where regular Jorge Diaz has not graded out highly in recent weeks, a major lineup shake-up appears unlikely.Rather, Dungy and his offensive coaches probably will opt to reduce the number of plays they practice and run during games. The Bucs, whose game plan usually consists of between 60-80 plays a game, already have fewer varieties of plays to choose from than most NFL teams. But that likely will be reduced by about 20 percent during preparations for Sunday's game against the Saints at New Orleans."We have to get to where we know exactly what we're doing and we don't have these breakdowns we've been having,"Dungy said.


 

Quote

 

"That's what's been killing us. We've had breakdowns everywhere."If it was one thing that we could pinpoint it would be easy to correct. But it's been throws; [Sunday] night it was a false start, a fumble, a sack on second down where you really can't take a sack. It's just been different things."The errors have led to one constant: too few points. The Bucs have gone eight quarters without scoring a touchdown and are averaging 13 points a game."It goes beyond plays," quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen said. "It's people performing, and that includes the coaches. Offensively, as a unit, we're functioning at about 80 percent right now. It's that other 20 percent we've got to get out of everybody."

 

 

Quote

Once considered a team of considerable offensive talent, the Bucs are starting to field questions about the true ability of their offensive linemen, wide receivers and even their running backs. Dungy defended the talent on offense, saying he believes his players are good enough to win regularly and compete for a championship. He also defended the scheme of offensive coordinator Mike Shula, saying it, too, is good enough to win the Bucs an NFC or Super Bowl title.

 

 

Any of this sound at all familiar to you? 

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Castavar Grand Master

Castavar

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Yep. Fast forward to Alabama and it's the same thing. Dude thinks he is playing chess when he isn't even winning at checkers. This is most likely the main factor as to why we waste like 2 timeouts a game. When players are thinking too much, it's never a good thing. Our WRs are always in the same spot and our O-line looks like they don't know who to block half the time. Just because it's complex doesn't make it better. Actually counterproductive as players play faster when they know what they are doing and not having to think so much. Seems that everywhere Shula is fired, that team starts winning championships afterwards. Maybe we should follow suite?

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raleigh-panther Grand Master

raleigh-panther

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33 minutes ago, Jeremy Igo said:

An overly complex and confused offense is nothing new when it comes to Mike Shula. This has all played out before. While his plays may look good on paper, he is just not good enough of a teacher to have his men execute properly. The result is an anemic offense.

 

Dungy's solution was to force Shula to simplify. Cut down on mental mistakes and execute a smaller play book properly. 

 

DATE: November 2, 1999

ROY CUMMINGS The Tampa Tribune 

Excerpts... 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Any of this sound at all familiar to you? 

The past is prelude

Perhaps someone could inform Rivera or Hurney, but that last name though..

Newton works miracles to save Shula. Over and over and over again

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Snake Grand Master

Snake

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32 minutes ago, raleigh-panther said:

The past is prelude

Perhaps someone could inform Rivera or Hurney, but that last name though..

Newton works miracles to save Shula. Over and over and over again

The past is never a prelude to the Panthers. Example 1. Fire John Fox a extremely conservative coach. Hire Rivera a extremely conservative coach. Example 2. Fire Hurney after years of poor drafting and cap management. Hire Dave, wow correct move and the team flourishes. Fire Dave because of good drafting and cap management bring back Hurney and team looks like before Hurney left. I could actually go on but I will stop there. 

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Kevin Greene Newbie

Kevin Greene

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9 minutes ago, Jeremy Igo said:

... So Ron Rivera will win a Superbowl with his next team?

Perhaps, Dungy's Playoff performances speak for itself. Dominant regular seasons and numerous one and done post seasons. Dungy finally got lucky and so did Peyton Manning because they only had to beat Rex Grossman for that Lombardi. :tongue:

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/clt/

One thing for sure, if Rivera does win eventually it will be because he has an outstanding OC like Tom Moore and Rivera will literally have nothing to do with the offense's success.

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KillerKat Grand Master

KillerKat

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Look at the quotes of Dungy. That is a coach that takes responsibility. "We have got to do something differently" as apposed to "The players didn't execute", "they always keep things in front of them when we have a lead", "A catch here or a tackle here would've won the game".  I don't understand how Rivera gets the title of a "player's coach" when he constantly blames the players.
 

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Hoenheim Grand Master

Hoenheim

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1 hour ago, Castavar said:

Yep. Fast forward to Alabama and it's the same thing. Dude thinks he is playing chess when he isn't even winning at checkers. This is most likely the main factor as to why we waste like 2 timeouts a game. When players are thinking too much, it's never a good thing. Our WRs are always in the same spot and our O-line looks like they don't know who to block half the time. Just because it's complex doesn't make it better. Actually counterproductive as players play faster when they know what they are doing and not having to think so much. Seems that everywhere Shula is fired, that team starts winning championships afterwards. Maybe we should follow suite?

Well the frustrating thing is the fans have been calling for a coaching change for a long time now and its not going to happen unless we get another losing season with no playoffs. And even then they might get one more chance (Shula and Ron). Imagine if we had Jim harbaugh as HC and Mike Shannahan as OC , for instance . Or if JR just did what he needed to do to get the organization's head of the sand and get a offensive minded HC and smart OC . 

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Castavar Grand Master

Castavar

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54 minutes ago, Hoenheim said:

Well the frustrating thing is the fans have been calling for a coaching change for a long time now and its not going to happen unless we get another losing season with no playoffs. And even then they might get one more chance (Shula and Ron). Imagine if we had Jim harbaugh as HC and Mike Shannahan as OC , for instance . Or if JR just did what he needed to do to get the organization's head of the sand and get a offensive minded HC and smart OC . 

Like you said, I don't think he gets fired even if we miss the playoffs this year. I thought FOR SURE last year was his last year after that abysmal season, yet here he still is. He will get another chance because of the "injury" excuse. Him and Ron both.

And yes, Jim Harbaugh would be GREAT for Cam. 49ers was stupid AF to let him go. I don't buy the narrative "he was losing the locker room". BS, his ONLY bad season was still 8-8. I have no doubt if we had Jim as HC and Shanahan at OC, we would have won 2 superbowls by now. I don't think people understand just how much this coaching staff is holding back this talented team. Wasted potential.

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Jim Harbaugh Newbie

Jim Harbaugh

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1 minute ago, Castavar said:

Like you said, I don't think he gets fired even if we miss the playoffs this year. I thought FOR SURE last year was his last year after that abysmal season, yet here he still is. He will get another chance because of the "injury" excuse. Him and Ron both.

And yes, Jim Harbaugh would be GREAT for Cam. 49ers was stupid AF to let him go. I don't buy the narrative "he was losing the locker room". BS, his ONLY bad season was still 8-8. I have no doubt if we had Jim as HC and Shanahan at OC, we would have won 2 superbowls by now. I don't think people understand just how much this coaching staff is holding back this talented team. Wasted potential.

You can't afford me.

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