Archived Topic

How Good is Anae?

by Wickchad · 9/27/2010

Wickchad

9/27/2010, 5:31:41 PM

I've started to lean towards the time for a change crowd in regards to the play calling. As I question whether we would be seeing a force out of Norm Chow Part II, I wonder:

Did Anae's play calling make our offense good over the past five years, or did the players make our offense good? In theory the majority of plays that are called if ran perfectly would result in massive yardage gains. I always thought that it wouldn't matter who was saying hand the ball to Reggie Bush around the end, no matter what he makes you look good.

So what has Anae had the past five years?

- The highest drafted QB at BYU since Steve Young

- Followed by the winningest QB in BYU history who is 2nd string as a rookie in the NFL

- The all time NCAA leader at TE and all time leader in receptions at BYU

- The best receiver in BYU history who is currently leading the NFL in receptions, yards, and TD's.

- The all time leading rusher in BYU history

- 2 FB's in the NFL

- 2 other TE's in the NFL

During this time we lead the nation in 3rd down efficiency and were top 25 in total offense and scoring each year.

So over the past five years did Anae's play calling make these players what they were, or did it take this kind of NFL talent to make Anae's play calling look good?

My opinion at this point is: NFL talent > Robert Anae

byutx

9/27/2010, 5:32:30 PM

I think almost all of our offensive successes were in spite of Anae and not because of him. Time for him to move on.

jonnylingo

9/27/2010, 5:37:17 PM

i would say just that, he is good, not great, but good. I here mike leach is looking for a job.

byucougar1

9/27/2010, 5:43:08 PM

Leach would need to have a future filthy filter fitted for finesse football focused fans.

Guest

9/27/2010, 5:46:06 PM

I think most people agree that Anae is good, and that almost all the positive things that have occurred over the last 5 years is because NFL caliber players succeeded with a decent set of plays in their especially when they were able to go off script and audible to other Anae plays that perhaps fit the situation better and thus allowed the team to succeed better.

Now, if we change OC, the players will need to learn a new system, how different it would be depends on who we could get, but it could put Heaps even further behind than he already is. Also, would the new OC be as open to his players calling their own plays out on the field? Or would they be more micro-managers?

I don't know if replacing Anae is the right decision or not. It does seem a little crazy to think that the cause of the best offensive run in the history of BYU is completely in spite of the offensive coordinator. I mean, that's a pretty far stretch. But there have definitely been errors.

frdbtr

9/27/2010, 5:48:53 PM

Wickchad84087 wrote:
I've started to lean towards the time for a change crowd in regards to the play calling. As I question whether we would be seeing a force out of Norm Chow Part II, I wonder:

Did Anae's play calling make our offense good over the past five years, or did the players make our offense good? In theory the majority of plays that are called if ran perfectly would result in massive yardage gains. I always thought that it wouldn't matter who was saying hand the ball to Reggie Bush around the end, no matter what he makes you look good.

So what has Anae had the past five years?

- The highest drafted QB at BYU since Steve Young

- Followed by the winningest QB in BYU history who is 2nd string as a rookie in the NFL

- The all time NCAA leader at TE and all time leader in receptions at BYU

- The best receiver in BYU history who is currently leading the NFL in receptions, yards, and TD's.

- The all time leading rusher in BYU history

- 2 FB's in the NFL

- 2 other TE's in the NFL

During this time we lead the nation in 3rd down efficiency and were top 25 in total offense and scoring each year.

So over the past five years did Anae's play calling make these players what they were, or did it take this kind of NFL talent to make Anae's play calling look good?

My opinion at this point is: NFL talent > Robert Anae

So the question I would ask, is; would those NFL players still make it to the NFL without the development that they got from the coaching staff? Kind of a chicken and egg thing. I just find it funny that after the Oklahoma game, everyone talked about how our coaching was better then theirs and how the final drive that Max hall engineered was spectacular and Robert Anae was a hero. Now everyone is giving all the credit to Max because he was running the 2 minute drill to perfection. Who taught him the 2 minute drill? I think the Robert Anae talk is all reactionary myself. I don't think he is the best but I don't think he deserves 100% of the blame here. Play calling has never been his best side but it has been pretty good with the exception of a couple of times. This year is not the time for this kind of reactionary thought. We need to give this team time to develop. If Heaps is here as a Sr and our offense is still this bad, then I think it is time for the "fire Anae" talk to heat up.

jonnylingo

9/27/2010, 6:04:10 PM

hawkwing wrote:
I think most people agree that Anae is good, and that almost all the positive things that have occurred over the last 5 years is because NFL caliber players succeeded with a decent set of plays in their especially when they were able to go off script and audible to other Anae plays that perhaps fit the situation better and thus allowed the team to succeed better.

Now, if we change OC, the players will need to learn a new system, how different it would be depends on who we could get, but it could put Heaps even further behind than he already is. Also, would the new OC be as open to his players calling their own plays out on the field? Or would they be more micro-managers?

I don't know if replacing Anae is the right decision or not. It does seem a little crazy to think that the cause of the best offensive run in the history of BYU is completely in spite of the offensive coordinator. I mean, that's a pretty far stretch. But there have definitely been errors.

Good points. Bad idea to get rid of him right now. if we were it should have been last year. but i think he has done enough to keep his job. anyway, who else better are we going to get?

Mars

9/28/2010, 6:29:34 AM

frdbtr wrote:
I just find it funny that after the Oklahoma game, everyone talked about how our coaching was better then theirs and how the final drive that Max hall engineered was spectacular and Robert Anae was a hero. Now everyone is giving all the credit to Max because he was running the 2 minute drill to perfection. Who taught him the 2 minute drill? I think the Robert Anae talk is all reactionary myself.

BYU scored 14 points against OU with a butt-ton of offensive NFL talent. Utah State scored 28 points.

frdbtr

9/28/2010, 1:14:38 PM

Mars wrote:
I just find it funny that after the Oklahoma game, everyone talked about how our coaching was better then theirs and how the final drive that Max hall engineered was spectacular and Robert Anae was a hero. Now everyone is giving all the credit to Max because he was running the 2 minute drill to perfection. Who taught him the 2 minute drill? I think the Robert Anae talk is all reactionary myself.

BYU scored 14 points against OU with a butt-ton of offensive NFL talent. Utah State scored 28 points.

Hmmmmm, Did you really just post this mars? How long have you followed College football? Did it occur to you that the defense that BYU faced is a different one then the one USU faced? Do you think this years BYU team would play OK the same this year as last years team played them? Do college teams have turnover? I could keep going but I am still in shock that you actually posted the assinine comment that I am responding too.

northerncougar

9/28/2010, 2:40:13 PM

Worst offense in 35 years. We are averaging 15 pts a game. Anae is awesome!!

frdbtr

9/28/2010, 3:21:16 PM

northerncougar wrote:
Worst offense in 35 years. We are averaging 15 pts a game. Anae is awesome!!

Sooooo, the last three games is a more accurate sample of his offensive coaching abilities then the last 5 years of BYU offense which was some of the best offense in the history of BYU? That makes sense. :roll:

Brayden Green

9/28/2010, 5:20:04 PM

frdbtr wrote:
Worst offense in 35 years. We are averaging 15 pts a game. Anae is awesome!!

Sooooo, the last three games is a more accurate sample of his offensive coaching abilities then the last 5 years of BYU offense which was some of the best offense in the history of BYU? That makes sense. :roll:

It kind of does make sense, though. My dad always taught me that when people are faced with adversity (like poverty) their true character shows up. I think this season sans NFL talent galore is more telling than not. Why is noone prepared to step in and take the reigns? In any position? Why does anae want to turn us into an option running team? And why did we split reps with a non-throwing qb all spring and fall when apparently he was getting over a bad shoulder injury? Why does same qb go in with shoulder injury and throwing hand injury? many other questions that have been raised.

I think Anae is being exposed for what he is, and have posted as much a few times: an average play caller being bolstered up by the best all time receiver, best all time TE, 2 NFL qb's including highest drafted and al time winningest, and good running backs and fullbacks galore. Not to mention all the Olineman all over the place.

Anae is average to good, and certainly not great.

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northerncougar

9/28/2010, 5:21:52 PM

BlueIsBetter wrote:
northerncougar wrote:
Worst offense in 35 years. We are averaging 15 pts a game. Anae is awesome!!

Sooooo, the last three games is a more accurate sample of his offensive coaching abilities then the last 5 years of BYU offense which was some of the best offense in the history of BYU? That makes sense. :roll:

It kind of does make sense, though. My dad always taught me that when people are faced with adversity (like poverty) their true character shows up. I think this season sans NFL talent galore is more telling than not. Why is noone prepared to step in and take the reigns? In any position? Why does anae want to turn us into an option running team? And why did we split reps with a non-throwing qb all spring and fall when apparently he was getting over a bad shoulder injury? Why does same qb go in with shoulder injury and throwing hand injury? many other questions that have been raised.

I think Anae is being exposed for what he is, and have posted as much a few times: an average play caller being bolstered up by the best all time receiver, best all time TE, 2 NFL qb's including highest drafted and al time winningest, and good running backs and fullbacks galore. Not to mention all the Olineman all over the place.

Anae is average to good, and certainly not great.

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Correct.

Guest

9/28/2010, 5:32:11 PM

BlueIsBetter wrote:
northerncougar wrote:
Worst offense in 35 years. We are averaging 15 pts a game. Anae is awesome!!

Sooooo, the last three games is a more accurate sample of his offensive coaching abilities then the last 5 years of BYU offense which was some of the best offense in the history of BYU? That makes sense. :roll:

It kind of does make sense, though. My dad always taught me that when people are faced with adversity (like poverty) their true character shows up. I think this season sans NFL talent galore is more telling than not. Why is noone prepared to step in and take the reigns? In any position? Why does anae want to turn us into an option running team? And why did we split reps with a non-throwing qb all spring and fall when apparently he was getting over a bad shoulder injury? Why does same qb go in with shoulder injury and throwing hand injury? many other questions that have been raised.

I think Anae is being exposed for what he is, and have posted as much a few times: an average play caller being bolstered up by the best all time receiver, best all time TE, 2 NFL qb's including highest drafted and al time winningest, and good running backs and fullbacks galore. Not to mention all the Olineman all over the place.

Anae is average to good, and certainly not great.

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I think you just answered your own question. Nelson quite possibly was the only stepping up and making others around him better.

Y 4 Ever

9/28/2010, 5:38:24 PM

IMO, the mark of a great OC is one who can not only put together creative and dynamic plays with a high probability of success, who can not only put together a great game plan that focuses on the strengths of your players and mitigates their weaknesses, but who has the ability to recognize adjustments that need to be made based on what the defense is giving you, and then the flexibility, willingness, and the courage to veer off course from the charted game plan, and to take advantage of defensive schemes as presented in game situations.

It can be argued that Anae meets the first two criteria - effective and creative plays, and game planning. But he has shown again and again and again that he cannot and/or will not meet the final criteria - recognizing what adjustments need to be made, and then making them (or, stated differently, using what's working on the field rather than what it says in his little notebook what his game plan is)

I think (as stated by the OP) that BYU has succeeded over the past 5 years in spite of Anae, rather than because of him. I don't think Anae will ever be more than a mediocre OC. Hope he proves me wrong, fear he'll prove me right.

(Oh, and I'm STILL freaking pissed at Bronco for not calling a TO with 2 minutes left and the clock running and Reno getting ready to punt. He gave up, plain and simple. Absolutely inexcusable.)

Mingjai

9/28/2010, 6:15:36 PM

Wickchad84087 wrote:
I've started to lean towards the time for a change crowd in regards to the play calling. As I question whether we would be seeing a force out of Norm Chow Part II, I wonder:

Did Anae's play calling make our offense good over the past five years, or did the players make our offense good? In theory the majority of plays that are called if ran perfectly would result in massive yardage gains. I always thought that it wouldn't matter who was saying hand the ball to Reggie Bush around the end, no matter what he makes you look good.

So what has Anae had the past five years?

- The highest drafted QB at BYU since Steve Young

- Followed by the winningest QB in BYU history who is 2nd string as a rookie in the NFL

- The all time NCAA leader at TE and all time leader in receptions at BYU

- The best receiver in BYU history who is currently leading the NFL in receptions, yards, and TD's.

- The all time leading rusher in BYU history

- 2 FB's in the NFL

- 2 other TE's in the NFL

During this time we lead the nation in 3rd down efficiency and were top 25 in total offense and scoring each year.

So over the past five years did Anae's play calling make these players what they were, or did it take this kind of NFL talent to make Anae's play calling look good?

My opinion at this point is: NFL talent > Robert Anae

It's pretty tough to think that BYU has had so much NFL talent on offense and still couldn't do better than 11-2. My assessment of Anae is that his focus on execution is generally enough to win games when BYU has similar talent to the opposing team. When the opposing team is motivated or more talented (or both), we see BYU offenses get dominated.

This is different than the classic 80s-90s west coast offense that BYU ran, because that offense with the focus more on timing than execution, seemed better able able to make up for talent gaps. BYU would always get yards and almost always get points no matter who they were playing against. When BYU didn't score much, it was because of turnovers or injuries, which is why it felt like BYU was never out of a game--the offense was still getting yards and moving the chains.

frdbtr

9/28/2010, 7:01:46 PM

BlueIsBetter wrote:
northerncougar wrote:
Worst offense in 35 years. We are averaging 15 pts a game. Anae is awesome!!

Sooooo, the last three games is a more accurate sample of his offensive coaching abilities then the last 5 years of BYU offense which was some of the best offense in the history of BYU? That makes sense. :roll:

It kind of does make sense, though. My dad always taught me that when people are faced with adversity (like poverty) their true character shows up. I think this season sans NFL talent galore is more telling than not. Why is noone prepared to step in and take the reigns? In any position? Why does anae want to turn us into an option running team? And why did we split reps with a non-throwing qb all spring and fall when apparently he was getting over a bad shoulder injury? Why does same qb go in with shoulder injury and throwing hand injury? many other questions that have been raised.

I think Anae is being exposed for what he is, and have posted as much a few times: an average play caller being bolstered up by the best all time receiver, best all time TE, 2 NFL qb's including highest drafted and al time winningest, and good running backs and fullbacks galore. Not to mention all the Olineman all over the place.

Anae is average to good, and certainly not great.

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I ask again, since you or someone else made this same comment about talent in another thread; Who developed that talent? Guys don't become the all time reciever, tight end and running back unless that talent is developed and used properly.

I don't think that Anae is the best Ocoordinator in the country but I think that he is what we have and has done (with the exeption of some bone headed things ei utah 2008) a pretty good job. He has done a phenomenal job of developing talent. (Harline, Pitta, and Coats were all converted wide recievers) You have to give credit where it is due and have patience when it is required. You have to remember that our current QB has made all of 1 start in the NCAA, our current set of TE's had never played a down on an NCAA team, our current running back had never started a game in the NCAA and his backup had never played a down in the NCAA until this year. This team is YOUNG and is getting better. Next year, all you guys calling for Anae's head are going to be singing his praises when our offense is, once again, averaging 30+ pts per game.

runbyu1

9/28/2010, 7:09:44 PM

33311710 wrote:
IMO, the mark of a great OC is one who can not only put together creative and dynamic plays with a high probability of success, who can not only put together a great game plan that focuses on the strengths of your players and mitigates their weaknesses, but who has the ability to recognize adjustments that need to be made based on what the defense is giving you, and then the flexibility, willingness, and the courage to veer off course from the charted game plan, and to take advantage of defensive schemes as presented in game situations.

It can be argued that Anae meets the first two criteria - effective and creative plays, and game planning. But he has shown again and again and again that he cannot and/or will not meet the final criteria - recognizing what adjustments need to be made, and then making them (or, stated differently, using what's working on the field rather than what it says in his little notebook what his game plan is)

I think (as stated by the OP) that BYU has succeeded over the past 5 years in spite of Anae, rather than because of him. I don't think Anae will ever be more than a mediocre OC. Hope he proves me wrong, fear he'll prove me right.

(Oh, and I'm STILL freaking pissed at Bronco for not calling a TO with 2 minutes left and the clock running and Reno getting ready to punt. He gave up, plain and simple. Absolutely inexcusable.)

Amen, Amen, and Amen

Brayden Green

9/28/2010, 7:12:04 PM

I haven't really ever sung Anae's praises... I don't think our offense has ever been as good as it should be. It has been good enough to win lesser talent, and that is enough for a lot of people. I unlike a lot of people watch the football games and study them, instead of just reading box scores and wearing shirts when we are winning. As a former football player, i really don't know how to stop doing that (from the old film session days.) It actually can be annoying to know most likely what play we are calling, and why in this position it won't work. i would rather just sit back and seewhat happens. that is why i loved Crowton in charge of the offense. I had no idea what was going to happen next play. That was a good part of the reason we were beating people by 30 and 40 that year.

As for developing talent, i would give most of the credit to the guys actually IN the weight room, putting in the work. Collie is a great WR even in the NFL, because he was the first one in the gym, and the last one out. Hall was great because he ate up tape like most students eat top ramen. Sure, there was guidance, but as far as on field success, I think they got held back quite often in the field. see the Utah game going away from Unga in the 4th, among many other games.

I am not saying that Anae has nothing to do with developing talent, and attributing to wins, but any fool watching can see that he contributes quite heavily to our losses. Again, it isn't just having talent, it is putting them in the right places to succeed. Our players are not always in the best positions to succeed on the field. Our most recent example, being kariya running a sweep to the short side of the field on 4th and 4.

frdbtr

9/28/2010, 7:32:21 PM

I don't agree that talent is developed in the weight room. Talent is developed by coaches at practice. Pitta didn't learn how to run precise routes in the weight room, he learned them from Robert Anae (who is the tight ends position coach, along with being the Ocoordinator). Coats didn't learn the blocking schemes from the weight room, he learned them from Anae who is his position coach. Harline, and George as well. the fact is, we have 4 tight ends that have dominated everyone over their time at BYU and one of the main reasons is Robert Anae. I agree that he is an average play caller but his average play calling has gotten BYU to 30+ points per game average since 2005. I have a feeling that once this current group of players comes into their own, we will be averaging that again.

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