Jim Chaney

[WashUhog6]

I'm not going to argue that you're wrong, because I'm honestly not sure, but I will note that in his final year at Tennessee, they finished 2nd in Total Offense and 4th in Scoring Offense.

My personal opinion is that the jury is still out on Chaney, but I'm still interested to see what he's got.  In the 2nd half of today's game, we had to pass to make Auburn's defense play honest, but the passing game just wasn't there.  To some extent, that's on Chaney, because he's supposed to be the guy that's going to give us a legitimate passing game, so something has to give.

According to ESPN.com, Tennessee was 68th in total offense in 2010, 107th in 2011, and 35th in 2012.

Simply giving total offense statistics without context isn't exactly fair, though. I'm just pointing out Chaney was the OC of a unit that had significant struggles at times.

[gijoejd]

Chaney is a good OC. Look at the facts. Our passing game is what is crippling our offense. BA placed the ball perfect for Hatcher to catch and hit him in stride and the receiver dropped the pass. If he catches that ball is six points. Another pass in the third quarter when we needed a first down hit the receiver right in the hands and drops the ball. Had to punt. BA put the ball right in the numbers on a slant and receiver drops the ball. These receivers has to concentrate on catching the ball before anything else. They make these catches we are scoring points and moving the chains opening up our running game.

Can't argue this. Had multiple well thrown balls that were just dropped. +1

[WBC Hog]

This thread is about ridiculous. If the game ended at the half, y'all would be griping about how our DC couldn't stop their offense and he should go.

Look at the players this coaching staff inherited... not the greatest.
Look at the players this coaching staff has recruited and the amount of them that are playing... so many young and inexperienced guys.

Look at the first half for example. There wasn't much to gripe about. Auburn clearly made better adjustments to the gameplay in the second half, whether that is due to our coaches from the booth not being able to make it to the locker room from being stuck in an elevator or not.

We need depth. We need more talent. We need more patience.

Don't forget, this is one of the top teams in the nation we played at their place... and we are just a year removed from a 3 win season.

Chill out.

[gijoejd]

This thread is about ridiculous. If the game ended at the half, y'all would be griping about how our DC couldn't stop their offense and he should go.

Look at the players this coaching staff inherited... not the greatest.
Look at the players this coaching staff has recruited and the amount of them that are playing... so many young and inexperienced guys.

Look at the first half for example. There wasn't much to gripe about. Auburn clearly made better adjustments to the gameplay in the second half, whether that is due to our coaches from the booth not being able to make it to the locker room from being stuck in an elevator or not.

We need depth. We need more talent. We need more patience.

Don't forget, this is one of the top teams in the nation we played at their place... and we are just a year removed from a 3 win season.

Chill out.

Ehhh...

Threads about play calling...not players playing. I've ask if Chaney is responsible for play calls/audibles AND recruiting.  Not if who we have is good enough. Our staff had done a fantastic job recruiting and the team as a whole is an improved unit. We will get there...but that's for a different thread.

[HF#1]

We are a run first/play-action offense.  If we aren't pounding the rock, we need to passing the ball vertically down the field.  Seemed to me everything in the second half was 3 throws to the boundary or screen type plays, nothing vertical.  Allen can throw the deep ball, we need to utilize that.

I really hope Bielema addresses this with Chaney.  I hope the 2nd half was just a panic attack by Chaney after the pick 6.

[redeye]

According to ESPN.com, Tennessee was 68th in total offense in 2010, 107th in 2011, and 35th in 2012.

Simply giving total offense statistics without context isn't exactly fair, though. I'm just pointing out Chaney was the OC of a unit that had significant struggles at times.

I only looked up his last season, because I wasn't interested in producing his entire career to make a point.  Fayettechill14 did that very well last year, so if that's what you're interested in, then give him shout.  My data came from the NCAA website and here's the link I should have included:

http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2012/Internet/conf%20stats/2012000000911TD.HTML

I'm not sure what sort of context you expected me to provide, but I was just giving you some facts that contradict your allegations.  I'll note that I mentioned that I wasn't saying you were wrong, so there's no need to argue that I'm being unfair.

[hoglady]

Ive tried to stay optimistic but Willy Robinson shut down a Chaney offense. Todays performance doesn't make me feel better about that.

Willy shut down Gus' offense.
Every one dogged him around here - but I was wishing for him today.
He always seemed to have Malzahn's number.

[HF#1]

Willy shut down Gus' offense.
Every one dogged him around here - but I was wishing for him today.
He always seemed to have Malzahn's number.

Really?  Willy stopped Malzahn's less talented teams.  But when he had real talent (Cam, Dyer, etc) we got curbstomped.

[hoglady]

And you know this, how? When has he had "equal talent"?

Well, if he's going to win at Arkansas he'd better figure out how to do it when there's a talent gap. Year in and year out our recruiting classes will not match Auburn, LSU, A&M and Bama.

[HF#1]

Well, if he's going to win at Arkansas he'd better figure out how to do it when there's a talent gap. Year in and year out our recruiting classes will not match Auburn, LSU, A&M and Bama.

Have you seen the 2015 class?  It's getting there.

[Fayettechill14]

Well, if he's going to win at Arkansas he'd better figure out how to do it when there's a talent gap. Year in and year out our recruiting classes will not match Auburn, LSU, A&M and Bama.

He's getting better. This was a better offense performance than most of last year.

[WashUhog6]

I only looked up his last season, because I wasn't interested in producing his entire career to make a point.  Fayettechill14 did that very well last year, so if that's what you're interested in, then give him shout.  My data came from the NCAA website and here's the link I should have included:

http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2012/Internet/conf%20stats/2012000000911TD.HTML

I'm not sure what sort of context you expected me to provide, but I was just giving you some facts that contradict your allegations.  I'll note that I mentioned that I wasn't saying you were wrong, so there's no need to argue that I'm being unfair.

My comment about giving statistics without the total picture was directed at my giving of Tennessee's offensive rankings without mentioning anything about the disaster that was Derek Dooley, not your post.

I got my information from here.

My only allegation is that Chaney's offense was pretty poor in 2010 and 2011, while it found more success in 2012. I don't think looking at just one year (and especially one game, considering today's events) is fair when criticizing which is why I included the total offense rankings from 2010-2012 in my post.

I want to reiterate: I'm not claiming that Chaney isn't the right man for the job because Bielema is the only one who has the qualifications to make that call, just that his total offense rankings have been subpar 3 out of 4 seasons as an SEC offensive coordinator.

[hoglady]

He's getting better. This was a better offense performance than most of last year.

I agree.
I'm not as down on Chaney as some around here.
Chaney will take ownership of tonight's 2nd half - he's a stand up guy everytime I hear him talk.
Lots of overreaction tonight after that great 1st half.

[Atlhogfan1]

Our offensive line was whipped in the second half.  It is difficult to call plays when you cannot open holes for the backs nor pass protect.  Johnson went aggressive in the second half and attacked the line of scrimmage.  We could not come close to holding up.  Hopefully this says more about AU's defensive front depth than it does about our oline going forward. 

[redeye]

My comment about giving statistics without the total picture was directed at my giving of Tennessee's offensive rankings without mentioning anything about the disaster that was Derek Dooley, not your post.

I got my information from here.

My only allegation is that Chaney's offense was pretty poor in 2010 and 2011, while it found more success in 2012. I don't think looking at just one year (and especially one game, considering today's events) is fair when criticizing which is why I included the total offense rankings from 2010-2012 in my post.

I want to reiterate: I'm not claiming that Chaney isn't the right man for the job because Bielema is the only one who has the qualifications to make that call, just that his total offense rankings have been subpar 3 out of 4 seasons as an SEC offensive coordinator.

I see what you mean.

As I noted, I think the jury's still out on Chaney, but Tennessee was a dumpster fire while he was there, so I won't criticize him much for what happened at UT.  IIRC, there was one year when they struggled to field a team because the roster was so depleted.

[Birminghog]

Okay. Wisconsin owned LSU for the first three quarters tonight. Now it's all LSU. To follow the logic of some on here, everybody at Wisconsin needs to go.

Smh.

[WashUhog6]

I see what you mean.

As I noted, I think the jury's still out on Chaney, but Tennessee was a dumpster fire while he was there, so I won't criticize him much for what happened at UT.  IIRC, there was one year when they struggled to field a team because the roster was so depleted.

I agree with that because there were a lot more problems at Tennessee that were out of Chaney's hands.

I don't have the information to say that Chaney is or isn't the guy for the job, but when I consider his offense's overall production at Tennessee plus what I've seen in his 13 games at Arkansas, I can't say that I have confidence in him. What I do have confidence in, however, is that Bielema will make adjustments to his staff if he deems them necessary.

[razorbrass]

So you're mad that he didn't try to run when Auburn was stacking guys in the box?

Think about that for a second...

It's pretty obvious; Chaney was calling passes to get Auburn to respect the pass so we could get back to running.

Problem was, our receivers weren't cooperating.

^^^^^^^^
This

[WBC Hog]

Okay. Wisconsin owned LSU for the first three quarters tonight. Now it's all LSU. To follow the logic of some on here, everybody at Wisconsin needs to go.

Smh.

Lol +1

[redeye]

I agree with that because there were a lot more problems at Tennessee that were out of Chaney's hands.

I don't have the information to say that Chaney is or isn't the guy for the job, but when I consider his offense's overall production at Tennessee plus what I've seen in his 13 games at Arkansas, I can't say that I have confidence in him. What I do have confidence in, however, is that Bielema will make adjustments to his staff if he deems them necessary.

Yea and that's huge, imo.  I wasn't ready to call for Ash's head last year, but I wasn't complaining when Bielema did.

I pretty much feel the same as you do about Chaney, but he does have an impressive background, so I'm willing to give him time.  He shares some roots in spread offenses with Petrino and then adapted his offense to a pro-style with the Rams.  He's certainly not a dummy, but I don't know if he's a good fit at Arkansas, either.

[Atlhogfan1]

The part I question offensively today is the use of Marshall.  I thought he would be used more in space like the swing pass he caught in the second half.  Running between the tackles should be more Williams due to his power and Collins because he has the best vision by far and moves in traffic.  Marshall between the tackles nearly caused a turnover and got him hurt.  I was hoping he would help stretch the field today even if it were horizontal to clear the box out some.  I think we have to get more creative with him.  Give Collins and Williams those "traditional" between the tackle carries. 

[Atlhogfan1]

I agree with that because there were a lot more problems at Tennessee that were out of Chaney's hands.

I don't have the information to say that Chaney is or isn't the guy for the job, but when I consider his offense's overall production at Tennessee plus what I've seen in his 13 games at Arkansas, I can't say that I have confidence in him. What I do have confidence in, however, is that Bielema will make adjustments to his staff if he deems them necessary.

On top of that, I think Bielema is a coach assistants like to work for and would consider Arkansas even though there are better coordinator jobs out there especially defensively.  As long as he has job security, I trust he will be able to hire qualified assistants. 

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

I think there are a few things we can do to have a more sustainable offensive effort. First, we need to do a better job getting the ball into our best playmakers' hands. Collins needs more touches.


Finally, we need to do a better job of making adjustments and counter-adjustments as the game progresses. Last year, and today, we had positive offensive showings only to sputter to a halt later in the game.

This

[Wright43]

So you're mad that he didn't try to run when Auburn was stacking guys in the box?

Think about that for a second...

It's pretty obvious; Chaney was calling passes to get Auburn to respect the pass so we could get back to running.

Problem was, our receivers weren't cooperating.

To be fair to the receivers, BA did make the huge mistake of hitting them in the hands

Honestly though, this is a team who played for the national title last year, and has one of the best offenses we'll see all year. I'm about as excited about this team as you can be after a 20+ point loss.

[dandd TD]

Chill, I mostly agree with you...I didn't see where we countered any of their adjustments on defense. I didn't see where Chaney tried to establish the run game. I saw plays where we passed the ball two yards, three yards, and six yards, then punted. It seems to me Chaney should have expected to have to use plays after they adjusted to our running attack. History should have told him not to put Allen in that situation. Allen played hard, our defense hurt us. Oline seemed to get complacent. However I saw a bad selection of plays given what the defense was giving us at the time. Several times the box wasn't full and we still forced the pass. This hurts us. Period.

[dandd TD]

This in the second half. He dialed it in well first half. Should have stayed with the run. I think he lost faith. Gotta stand the line.

[chitwnhog]

Where are you getting this?

Elevator from the box stopped working at halftime. It wasn't that Cheney wasn't "allowed" down he couldn't get there. Bielema said they made adjustments via cell phone.

[vbhogman]

We were never able to establish a vertical passing threat of any kind in the 2nd half when Ellis Johnson took the run away.  They shut down the A and B gaps where we were gashing them in the first half.  When they made their adjustment, we never answered.  IMO, Part of that was drops, part of it was very poor pass protection and part of it was poor play calling. 

I'm really worried about the defense.  The defense gave up more yards today (595) than we gave up in any game last season.  We only allowed 300 and something against Auburn last year.  All of the talk about an improved look and more talent on defense sure seems doubtful at this point. 

[hawginbigd1]

Not sure what game some of you were watching but play calling in second half was totally different and flawed. It's not just play calling issues but it is scheme as well that has me frustrated. Specifically we have 3 h back types playing TE who are not good blockers, but we consistently attempt to power run out of 2 and 3 TE sets. Spread the field and let these Great RBs operate in space.

Watch the game and you will see we made all those yards in first half against 8 and 9 in the box. Second half they were not committed to staying with the run. Sure would like to see some pitch plays to Marshall.

To the OPs original point, in 13 games now, I haven't seen 1 that I could say hey OC called a really great game! Even the Nutt boys called some great games IMO

[pigsooietim]

Its simple ask yourself this question. Who would do better with this group of offensive players.. ? Petrino ? Gus ? Or Chaney ? Arkansas is working on the secondary problems. But I agree the play calling tonight was bad. A guy like Gus would have practiced some motion to keep the defense honest a guy like Petrino would have practiced the deep ball soooo many times that we would have hit on more than one and CAUGHT them. Chaney needs to go. I understand the argument that it takes time and blah blah blah. But I'd rather see us roll the dice on an innovative high school coach then see Chaney back another year.

[Hog N Bama]

I'm not going to argue that you're wrong, because I'm honestly not sure, but I will note that in his final year at Tennessee, they finished 2nd in Total Offense and 4th in Scoring Offense.

My personal opinion is that the jury is still out on Chaney, but I'm still interested to see what he's got.  In the 2nd half of today's game, we had to pass to make Auburn's defense play honest, but the passing game just wasn't there.  To some extent, that's on Chaney, because he's supposed to be the guy that's going to give us a legitimate passing game, so something has to give.

Gotta catch the ball when it's catchable. Pretty much sums it up

[jimhog]

When Auburn stacked the box and dared us to throw we couldn't, wouldn't and so on and that should be worked out by now. You can't run against most sec teams if you don't keep them backed off with the passing game.

[texas tush hog]

this thread is completely stupid, or hilarious, i cant decide which. both maybe?

Finally a voice of reason, other than myself I wonder how many on this board have coached on the collegiate level, it's not that simple guys.

[grayhawg]

Stats don't lie and in the 3rd quarter we had 6 rushes for 7 yards and 8 passes for 36 yards. When we got the ball back in the 4th quarter we were down 38 to 21.

[Carl Lazlo]

When the defense starts blitzing pass plays, it wouldn't hurt to mix in a RB screen.

[Cure]

Chaney was not the problem. That offensive line got smashed in the second half, which is a good thing for the rest of the season.

[Athog]

So you're mad that he didn't try to run when Auburn was stacking guys in the box?

Think about that for a second...

It's pretty obvious; Chaney was calling passes to get Auburn to respect the pass so we could get back to running.

Problem was, our receivers weren't cooperating.

You are right.

[Been10Hog]

Don't think the play calling was an issue at all! Came down to execution and unfortunately for the third year in a row we have receivers dropping critical passes that hit them in the hands. We can't do that and just throw a whole play away. Hatcher, Wilson, Morgan all had critical drive saving/costing drops. Wilson redeemed himself later.

I would really like to know how our drops have compared to other teams. I thought BA was very accurate and pass protection pretty solid. We gotta catch the ones we throw!

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

Don't think the play calling was an issue at all! Came down to execution and unfortunately for the third year in a row we have receivers dropping critical passes that hit them in the hands. We can't do that and just throw a whole play away. Hatcher, Wilson, Morgan all had critical drive saving/costing drops. Wilson redeemed himself later.

I would really like to know how our drops have compared to other teams. I thought BA was very accurate and pass protection pretty solid. We gotta catch the ones we throw!

The drops killed us, especially since our defense was still not stopping Auburn

[Arkfan]

And you know this, how? When has he had "equal talent"?

Thats all we've heard all spring and summer.

The line is better, depth on the line is better, theyre bigger than most other linemen, we have 3 running backs as good or better than any team in the country, yada, yada, yada.

Yet we only rush for 2 yards in the 2nd half and Cheney has nothing to do with it?

[Sooie71923]

Can't run the ball in the 2nd half because oline wasn't blocking. Auburn was blasting into the backfield shutting down the run. That's why we stopped running.

Oh, and we were down by 2 scores so running the ball and clock wasn't smart strategy to get back in the game with time and a chance to tie/win.

Oh, auburn stacking the box so we throw more.

Surely y'all that are being critical understand the game of football... Right? 

It's like y'all are demanding a Houston Nutt offense. Run run run no matter if the box is stacked or it's not working or we re behind.... Only for after the game you can come on hogville and bash coaches for not passing.

The coaches are darned if the do, darned if they don't.  Just let them build and coach.  Dang.

[ChitownHawg]

So you're mad that he didn't try to run when Auburn was stacking guys in the box?

Think about that for a second...

It's pretty obvious; Chaney was calling passes to get Auburn to respect the pass so we could get back to running.

Problem was, our receivers weren't cooperating.

Did he say that? CBB sure didn't seem to be agreeing with your assumption during his presser.

[gijoejd]

I think the direction of my post must have been misinterpreted by some.

I truly saw an improved team. I saw a team that didn't have the depth to hang with a team that played in the NC last season and has depth at every position. We were gassed.

Hopefully our team and coaches will continue to grow from this experience. A lot of learning/growing points from last nights game.  Also, help is on the way. We have the makings of a stellar recruiting class coming in and a good crop of red shirts.

Did we actually attempt to adjust to Auburn or did we just get completely shut down on top of being gassed from lack of depth?

[GoHogs1091]

In my opinion, Chaney needs to get more innovative with his WR route schemes/route trees.  The 1987 Miami team that dismantled us in Little Rock had more innovative WR route schemes/route trees than what Chaney is currently utilizing.  That was almost a full 27 years ago in Little Rock. 

[three hog night]

I think the direction of my post must have been misinterpreted by some.

I truly saw an improved team. I saw a team that didn't have the depth to hang with a team that played in the NC last season and has depth at every position. We were gassed.

Hopefully our team and coaches will continue to grow from this experience. A lot of learning/growing points from last nights game.  Also, help is on the way. We have the makings of a stellar recruiting class coming in and a good crop of red shirts.

Did we actually attempt to adjust to Auburn or did we just get completely shut down on top of being gassed from lack of depth?

Our Oline got tired and receivers dropped too many passes when BA was under pressure from blitzes.  AU stacked 8-9 guys in run support in the second half, so the trap plays and cut backs were taken away.  AU also started flooding the oline with blitzes in the second half after the interception for a TD made it 35-21.  AU knew our WR's were too weak to fight through tough coverage.

[Sooie71923]

If Cheney was creative with wr routes would they catch the ball more?

Because what y'all fail to realize is that even if the routes are fancy and creative the players still have to execute and catch the ball.

Why is that concept so hard to understand??

[GoHogs1091]

If Cheney was creative with wr routes would they catch the ball more?

Because what y'all fail to realize is that even if the routes are fancy and creative the players still have to execute and catch the ball.

Why is that concept so hard to understand??

If they were more innovative (his WR route schemes/route trees), then it would be easier to get open, and our WRs wouldn't have to be trying to make a catch under heavy duress.  Some of those drops last season, and already starting to happen this season is because of the WRs having to try to make a tough catch.

In the SEC, with DBs who in many cases will be playing on Sundays in the NFL, the window of getting a ball to the WR is a tight/short window.  There has to be innovation to help the QB and WRs.

[Sooie71923]

What fantasy world do you live in?

Hatcher was not under heavy pressure when the ball was dropped.

It's football. If fast DBs are manned up on your average-slow receivers then there is no route to make your receiver faster.

Players have to catch open passes. Players have to make tough catches. Have to catch balls that hit you in the hand no matter who is covering you. Players have to make plays in a contact sport. Stop babying the receivers.  They didn't get the job done.   

It's up to the receiver to get open, not the route.

[Iwastherein1969]

those of you blaming Chaney are barking up the wrong tree....we had one TD pass dropped  that Ryan Mallett could not have thrown better, along with several key 3rd down passes dropped in the second half which would have kept drives going and AU's potent offense OFF THE FIELD...the problem is the defense, our MLB kept over running the zone option read as if he were going to out-run their speedy backs to the corner if they had chosen to run the ball outside...to beat the AU offense you must have two things, a big strong nose guard who can take up two offensive linemen, and secondly and above all, each defensive player must maintain their assignment integrity, and our MLB was over-running the motion almost every play allowing the cut back to daylight by their backs or the QB could keep it and run through the same huge hole left by our undisciplined play...until our defensive players learn that  most of the time they are not going to make some magnificent play on defense and just play your area and trust your teammates to do the same, we'll never beat the HUNH against a quality team

[Sooie71923]

No. We can't win with a broken defense.

Offense played good enough to win.

Like Houston Nutt said, "play calling is overrated."

Ultimately players have to make the plays.

So keep replacing the OC til the receivers start catching?  LOL

Cheney is here to stay. CBB sees the players not executing. That's not coaching. That's ability.

Solution = better recruits

Changing coaches every year is a program killer, but you people love that idea. Then complain when we can't get top recruits because they don't know who their coach is gonna be year to year.