Fix the Offense

Redbird28

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Bielema gave him 1 year, and he got the axe in favor of the UTSA Offensive Coordinator.

Illini ranked 121st in Passing Offense with 156.2 ypg tossing 13TD/6 INT. They ranked 55th in Rushing Offense with 173.6 ypg scoring 12 Rush TD. Overall, they were 115th in Scoring Offense at 20.2 ppg.

Spack surely liked that Rush Offense, but the Passing O clearly was inept and Peterson was also the QB coach there as well.

Here's hoping he figures out what went wrong in the land of orange and blue before he dons the red and white.
 

DaveBird10

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Bielema gave him 1 year, and he got the axe in favor of the UTSA Offensive Coordinator.

Illini ranked 121st in Passing Offense with 156.2 ypg tossing 13TD/6 INT. They ranked 55th in Rushing Offense with 173.6 ypg scoring 12 Rush TD. Overall, they were 115th in Scoring Offense at 20.2 ppg.

Spack surely liked that Rush Offense, but the Passing O clearly was inept and Peterson was also the QB coach there as well.

Here's hoping he figures out what went wrong in the land of orange and blue before he dons the red and white.

In my opinion what went wrong down in Champaign was the QB's are terrible and the top 2 wide receivers was a former QB and transfer from Valpo (which is non-scholarship football).
 

Birddog

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I saw this tweet and thought ”oh good, that name sounds familiar. And a legitimate OC. This could be good.”

Then a quick search and “oh now I know where I know that name.”

Then I thought. “Marriage of convenience or marriage of necessity? Both?”

Either way, looks like Brock got his new Kurt Bethard and Peterson doesn’t really have to move.

Should be better than last year season but I am not booking a room in Frisco. Just not yet anyway.
 

jbird

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Looks like his single year with the illini might be an outlier; the year before he was OC an QB Coach at Appy State when they went 9-3, won one of the FBS "Who Cares" bowls and averaged 452 yards per game. Last year, Big HoweverMany defenses just had much more talent than the lilini offense.
 

TIMMY

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This guy is a good coach. This is a huge win for our program. IMO this hiring exceeds anything we could have reasonably predicted. He will run a competent offense based on sound football principles and not feelings and crossed fingers.

As for last year at Illinois.....🤮 I had the misfortune of going to their homecoming game. My wife's a grad. All I can say is this. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit. Don Coryell wouldn't score points with that group. It's a shame it has to go on his resume.
 

Virginia Redbird

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I looked up Peterson's previous stops and he has been an Offensive Coordinator at a few places before. Looks to have been successful overall. He got one chance with the Illini but as Davebird pointed out the Illini are not over flowing with talent. Maybe he and BeiIema were just on different pages. Who knows. I am glad they filled the position and did not let it linger. I don't know how he will do but I don't think it could be much worse than what we watched last season.
 

MadBird

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Okay, I'm very satisfied, if not overjoyed, with this hire. Experience, including 8 years in the Big 10. Several bowl games to show for it, and some noteworthy QB's have come under his direction. cubird mentions Pennington and Leftwich, also Jeff Driskell and Gardner MInshew who are in the NFL. Bryan Cupito at Minny set passing records under Peterson. Asad Abdul-Khaliq was a great duel threat QB at Minn. Does he get credit for Randy Moss at Marshall?

Yes, you'd like to see an overall better win-loss record. But he can succeed in the MVFC, and has had decent success at LA Tech, Marshall and Minnesota. I'm gonna guess he and Annexstad will get along fine. Wonder if this was in the wind when Annexstad committed?


From the press release linked below when he was hired at UIUC:

"After competing against Tony and his offensive style and game plan I have had tremendous respect for him as a coach," Bielema said. "Throughout his career he has blended the roster and skill sets of the players to maximize the results. Here at Illinois, we will build an offensive identity that will provide balance, use tempo, and play with a physicality that will make Illini Nation smile. No matter from playing on the road in a hostile environment or here at Memorial Stadium, we will execute and maximize our players' talents to build a sustained winning culture."

Petersen has directed some of the nation's most exciting and prolific offenses during his 30-year college coaching career, serving as an offensive coordinator in the Big Ten, MAC, Conference USA, American and Sun Belt prior to taking the reins of the Fighting Illini offense.

 

cubird

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Goredbirds states that Tony was drafted as a QB by Vikings in 1989 and also drafted previously by KC for baseball.
 

DannyCooksey

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I think this is a pretty solid hire. i Like the run game production. I like imposing my will on teams in the run game
 

cubird

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In the updated OC Pantagraph story, Spack comments on the passing game needing to get better. He said that the Co-OCs were put in a situation to fail, but it was the best alternative at the time. Peterson fell into his lap. Apparently, Spack try to hire him previously.
 

MadBird

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In the updated OC Pantagraph story, Spack comments on the passing game needing to get better. He said that the Co-OCs were put in a situation to fail, but it was the best alternative at the time. Peterson fell into his lap. Apparently, Spack try to hire him previously.
Interesting article, makes me feel even more upbeat about the new OC and QB combo (Petersen and Zack). I like Spack's "spin" on getting some "outside eyes" to look at the offense and take it to the next level. Hopefully Petersen can have a positive influence also on QB coach Belloumini and RB coach Ojuri especially and on TE coach Irvin - some experienced leadership with Coach Etheridge for the offense.
 

Virginia Redbird

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In the updated OC Pantagraph story, Spack comments on the passing game needing to get better. He said that the Co-OCs were put in a situation to fail, but it was the best alternative at the time. Peterson fell into his lap. Apparently, Spack try to hire him previously.
Well, if they were put "in a situation to fail" it was Spack who put them there. Regardless, I am feeling more upbeat about this hire the more I read about him. I thought they needed to go outside to bring someone in to take the objective look at the offense and the players. ISU had issues at QB last season. Jefferson had developed about as much as he was going to I think. Waring was brand new with little field experience. Couple that with a lack of experience at the Offensive Coordinator position and there is no doubt that negatively impacted the passing game. Running the ball requires much less of the QB skill set. The Birds have a QB coming in with some Big 10 experience and the new OC's resume is far more impressive than the predecessors. I am glad they hired one guy to fill that position. He is a former QB himself and former QB coach. He should know the passing game and that is the missing link for the Birds. I am looking forward to see what he does with this group.
 

Total Red

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The comment about the previous Co-Coords on offense being put "in a situation to fail" caught my eye too. Most quotes are predictable but that one surprised me. I would have liked a follow up to better understand what Coach Spack meant by that comment. We can speculate but I'd rather hear it from him.
 
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