Settled: Lujan is no JON

[HKKJB]

Read something at some point here suggesting Lujan was Braun's JON.
Obviously it must have irked me since it's been festering until today.

Lujan was not a buddy hire - Braun didn't know him well, hiring a former bitter rival. JON was a buddy hire.
Lujan had a consistent history of winning and championships as a coordinator - JON had a history of losing before Fitz hired him
Lujan is for the most part a fundamentals guy - JON was a creative/exotic scheme guy (I'm being generous in calling read and react a scheme)
Lujan inherited an empty cupboard in his first year - in terms of talent and system. JON inherited a stacked defense within a well-established system (which he promptly threw out)
Lujan has actually managed to get some talent onboard since joining (Wilde, Stone, Offensive line). JON lost the locker room and was talent repellant. (remember Brandon Joseph?)

Lujan's unit just put up more yards on Minny than either Ohio State or Oregon, by the way.
The offense has been sub-par at several points this season, but it's clearly moving in a positive direction over the course of the season, and year-on-year. At no point under JON was the defense moving in a positive direction.

 

[EvanstonCat]

If you had written this post at any point prior to tonight, you would have laughed off as a fool.

As it is, I’m not exactly sure what happened tonight, but if this was an inflection point, congratulations for your unwavering faith. Though I would have thought him Braun’s Bajakian (who also inherited a bare cupboard and didn’t follow a legend).

But, not convinced yet with one game of Stone playing out of his mind (or perhaps, Stone finally overcoming some injury unknown to us). If the O had performed like this all season (and the D didn’t collapse) we’d maybe be 11-0 or at least 9-2 right now. And I’d probably join the rest if you in supporting Braun’s retention.

I hope it’s not a one off, when the D decided to trade ineptitude for competence with the O (maybe a bit harsh given the special teams gaffes) but it would be great if we can score 30 pts a game, and put up 300 yard passing and 200 yards rushing a game from here on out. It would be a return to what we came to expect from NU offenses prior to Fitzball and his hapless OCs.

 

[prez77]

I don't think Lujan is JON, but we just beat - - - Minnesota.
We had a really good offense in 2000, 9th in scoring, and 2005 when we were 28th. So the Walker administration was the glory years for the offense. Barnett's teams peaked at 46th in 1996. 2012 we got to 42nd.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Read something at some point here suggesting Lujan was Braun's JON.
Obviously it must have irked me since it's been festering until today.

Lujan was not a buddy hire - Braun didn't know him well, hiring a former bitter rival. JON was a buddy hire.
Lujan had a consistent history of winning and championships as a coordinator - JON had a history of losing before Fitz hired him
Lujan is for the most part a fundamentals guy - JON was a creative/exotic scheme guy (I'm being generous in calling read and react a scheme)
Lujan inherited an empty cupboard in his first year - in terms of talent and system. JON inherited a stacked defense within a well-established system (which he promptly threw out)
Lujan has actually managed to get some talent onboard since joining (Wilde, Stone, Offensive line). JON lost the locker room and was talent repellant. (remember Brandon Joseph?)

Lujan's unit just put up more yards on Minny than either Ohio State or Oregon, by the way.
The offense has been sub-par at several points this season, but it's clearly moving in a positive direction over the course of the season, and year-on-year. At no point under JON was the defense moving in a positive direction.

Before the MN game we already had one of the best statistically ranked offenses at NU in years. I'm not saying Lujan was for sure doing a great job, but the way our talent and offensive philosophy has been for many, many years around here the bar is incredibly low, and I frankly think Lujan has established a more consistent, creative, and varied identity than any OC we've had since the early McCall era when he was running the spread he was actually good at (and developing QBS) and not the later years when Fitz was forcing him to run a nonsense offense. To compare that to JON, who took an amazing defense and immediately and almost singlehandedly put it in the tubes is totally silly.

 

[TheC]

Thread titles like this is how rumors get started

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Before the MN game we already had one of the best statistically ranked offenses at NU in years. I'm not saying Lujan was for sure doing a great job, but the way our talent and offensive philosophy has been for many, many years around here the bar is incredibly low, and I frankly think Lujan has established a more consistent, creative, and varied identity than any OC we've had since the early McCall era when he was running the spread he was actually good at (and developing QBS) and not the later years when Fitz was forcing him to run a nonsense offense. To compare that to JON, who took an amazing defense and immediately and almost singlehandedly put it in the tubes is totally silly.

It is not a great offense, but consider also our desire to bleed clock, which, if we did not do, might show slightly better numbers

 

[AdamOnFirst]

It is not a great offense, but consider also our desire to bleed clock, which, if we did not do, might show slightly better numbers

The numbers I'm citing are SP+ type numbers that are about efficiency per drive and thus adjusted for tempo, so that wouldn't be a confounding factor. And to be clear, OBVIOUSLY our offense has been anything but great, good, or average until the MN game. It's just silly to bring JON into this conversation when Lujan is actually having one of the best seasons of an NU OC in a decade, low praise that may be.

This Illinois game will be interesting. I do think there was a chance Braun made changes on the offensive staff this offseason even with 6-7 wins, but if we score a bunch of points this Saturday, win or lose, it'll be tougher to jettison Lujan when the offense carried the day so well late in the season. I'm... ambivalent. I'm the contrary voice, neither excusing Lujan's shortcomings nor blaming him for everything.

 

[corbi296]

The numbers I'm citing are SP+ type numbers that are about efficiency per drive and thus adjusted for tempo, so that wouldn't be a confounding factor. And to be clear, OBVIOUSLY our offense has been anything but great, good, or average until the MN game. It's just silly to bring JON into this conversation when Lujan is actually having one of the best seasons of an NU OC in a decade, low praise that may be.

This Illinois game will be interesting. I do think there was a chance Braun made changes on the offensive staff this offseason even with 6-7 wins, but if we score a bunch of points this Saturday, win or lose, it'll be tougher to jettison Lujan when the offense carried the day so well late in the season. I'm... ambivalent. I'm the contrary voice, neither excusing Lujan's shortcomings nor blaming him for everything.

Lujan is not going anywhere.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Lujan is not going anywhere.

Thanks, Mark Jackson

 

[Deeringfish]

The real problem with this seasons offense has been red zone scoring. NU has moved the ball pretty well but settled for FGs way too often. I don't think one game against Minnie necessarily shows that that fatal flaw is fixed.
The 2 point conversion was a pleasant surprise though.

 

[KramerCat91]

The real problem with this seasons offense has been red zone scoring. NU has moved the ball pretty well but settled for FGs way too often. I don't think one game against Minnie necessarily shows that that fatal flaw is fixed.
The 2 point conversion was a pleasant surprise though.

This has been a problem since Thorson graduated as he was a QB sneak machine. Our problems in the red zone are surprising given how good the running game has been this season.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

The numbers I'm citing are SP+ type numbers that are about efficiency per drive and thus adjusted for tempo, so that wouldn't be a confounding factor. And to be clear, OBVIOUSLY our offense has been anything but great, good, or average until the MN game. It's just silly to bring JON into this conversation when Lujan is actually having one of the best seasons of an NU OC in a decade, low praise that may be.

This Illinois game will be interesting. I do think there was a chance Braun made changes on the offensive staff this offseason even with 6-7 wins, but if we score a bunch of points this Saturday, win or lose, it'll be tougher to jettison Lujan when the offense carried the day so well late in the season. I'm... ambivalent. I'm the contrary voice, neither excusing Lujan's shortcomings nor blaming him for everything.

Assuming Lujan returns, the only pink slip that should be handed out should go to Creighton.

 

[Rebel II]

Assuming Lujan returns, the only pink slip that should be handed out should go to Creighton.

Creighton and kicking game just need an attitude adjustment and a review of key fundamentals. Review, review, and review then plan how to implement the needed corrections. I think he is a solid coach and STs is a thankless, critical position. I believe in two special teams coaches: one for offensive specials and one for defensive specials. Everyone on O helps on theirs and everyone on D helps with theirs. Put their feet to the fire and you'll find more dedication and competition!!! See if you can assign the correct kicking situations to O or D! Let me know.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Assuming Lujan returns, the only pink slip that should be handed out should go to Creighton.

As I said, I’m ambivalent.

 

[HKKJB]

Yep, we'll see if the O can build on the Minny performance. As disappointing as the O was last year and at times this year, we forget that coaches develop too. Collins is a case in point. The Collins we have now - along with his staff - is far better than the Collins we had in our first NCAA tourney. The time and patience we had as a program is now paying dividends. We'll see if Lujan (and Braun for that matter) have the capacity and humility to consistently improve. (A capacity JON proved he did not have). I suspect they do, but this needs to be assessed based on performance. Special teams is no exception....