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A little historical quirk (Re: Shula)


Mr. Scot

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Back when Mike Shula was hired for our offensive coordinator position, there were two other candidates for the job. Remember who they were?

Pretty sure most folks remember that Hue Jackson (at the time, an offensive assistant with the Bengals) was one of them, but probably only few remember the other guy. It was Pat Shurmur, who at the time had been fired as head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Shurmur wound up with the Eagles, and later the Vikings.  In fact, he's done such a good job as Vikings OC that he's getting head coach interviews again. Jackson?  He went back to the Bengals for a few more years, eventually rising to the position of offensive coordinator where he did such a solid job that he ended up getting Shurmur's old gig: head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

So basically, our candidate pool that year was two Cleveland head coaches and Mike Shula.

But even with all the stink that comes with being part of the Browns organization, both the other guys have had consistent success as coordinators.  Shula had one good year, got figured out and hasn't yet to get back to being good again.

Yeah...

What's the point of this?  There isn't one.  In the face of seeing two more years of Shula, I'm just wishing we would have gone in a different direction back in 2013.

But you know what they say: Wish in one hand...

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Look, I understand criticizing Shula last year but how the hell are you making him the scape goat right now?  He drew up a damn good game plan imo.  He was able to put up 400+ yards in the Dome with Cam, CMC, Stewart and an island of misfit toys. We should have scored more than 26 points, Cam missed a wide open CMC for 6 early and Funchess couldn't locate what could have been the winning TD.  Gano also left off 3 more. I think Shula was actually pretty solid all year considering the injuries he was dealt with.

If there's a coordinator that we should be criticizing right now, it's Wilks.  Stop bringing up Shula.  He was prepared to win today, Wilks wasn't. 

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7 minutes ago, FuFuLamePoo said:

Look, I understand criticizing Shula last year but how the hell are you making him the scape goat right now?  He drew up a damn good game plan imo.  He was able to put up 400+ yards in the Dome with Cam, CMC, Stewart and an island of misfit toys. We should have scored more than 26 points, Cam missed a wide open CMC for 6 early and Funchess couldn't locate what could have been the winning TD.  Gano also left off 3 more. I think Shula was actually pretty solid all year considering the injuries he was dealt with.

If there's a coordinator that we should be criticizing right now, it's Wilks.  Stop bringing up Shula.  He was prepared to win today, Wilks wasn't. 

 

2 minutes ago, Fright said:

As much as I hate Shula sometimes, I feel confident going into next year with this coaching staff. We’re seriously 2-3 player pieces away from having the puzzle complete. 

1 game doesn't tell the whole story. Shula was let go in TB cause of red-zone inefficiency. We want Shula to go cause of the overall numbers season to season. Its frustrating you guys do this and then the next season in week 13 sitting there like wtf shula

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6 minutes ago, Fright said:

As much as I hate Shula sometimes, I feel confident going into next year with this coaching staff. We’re seriously 2-3 player pieces away from having the puzzle complete. 

I wish.

Shula's play designs are generally awful.  That play for example where you saw Olsen and McCaffrey in the same area?  Not likely an accident or a mistake.  It happens all the time.

It's telling that even back in 2015 when we had the top offense in the league, no one came calling to interview Shula as a head coach.  He's made clear that he does want a head coaching job, but no one in the pro or college ranks is asking (though I wish they would). 

Atlanta and Denver figured out how to stop that offense, and Shula's never managed to counter.  heck, we were supposed to "evolve" this year.  That lasted about two and a quarter games.

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9 minutes ago, FuFuLamePoo said:

Look, I understand criticizing Shula last year but how the hell are you making him the scape goat right now?  He drew up a damn good game plan imo.  He was able to put up 400+ yards in the Dome with Cam, CMC, Stewart and an island of misfit toys. We should have scored more than 26 points, Cam missed a wide open CMC for 6 early and Funchess couldn't locate what could have been the winning TD.  Gano also left off 3 more. I think Shula was actually pretty solid all year considering the injuries he was dealt with.

If there's a coordinator that we should be criticizing right now, it's Wilks.  Stop bringing up Shula.  He was prepared to win today, Wilks wasn't. 

Yeah bc it wasn't those 4 field goals (one missed) that lost us the game. One play we had both Funchess and Olsen on the sidline. Shula sucks and only get saved by Cams incredible play. Without him Shula would be on the street 

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Just now, Mr. Scot said:

That might be valid if we were looking solely at this game.

This is an ongoing problem.

The last time this team had a actual offense with weapons was 2012. Both Hurney and DG failed at giving Cam a #1 WR and Cam has never had two good WRs in a year. I understand a great OC can overcome lesser talent but besides Greg Olsen Cam hasn't had anyone to throw to since Smith left. 

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16 minutes ago, Snake said:

The last time this team had a actual offense with weapons was 2012. Both Hurney and DG failed at giving Cam a #1 WR and Cam has never had two good WRs in a year. I understand a great OC can overcome lesser talent but besides Greg Olsen Cam hasn't had anyone to throw to since Smith left. 

And yet our best actual offensive performance came in 2015.

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