Answer Wednesday! (Part 6)
Back to those post-Arizona debacle answers.
Q: Gatsby said:
Scott, would you pass the following question to Pete Carroll for me?
Only don't tell me that you're innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and it makes me very angry. Now, who (approached you first? Barzini or Tattalgia? ) called the offensive plays this year? Was it Bates or Morton or was it you?
A: I will ask but I can also answer. There is a great misconception that John Morton is involved in playcalling. Jeremy Bates calls the plays. Pete Carroll has veto power. The end.
Q: Barko said:
Scott, a thought kept growing in my mind as the season progressed: how much did the team miss Sark, especially given his time in the system developing quarterbacks? Could his experience have helped Barkley in the second half of the season? Could his play calling have given some life to the offense? Would the third down percentage have been better? Related question: was Bates actually helpful at all in helping Barkley develop?
A: It's a funny thing that Steve Sarksian got a lot of criticism from fans and the media when he was offensive coordinator. But now people wonder if he was missed. And I think he was missed regarding Barkley. For one thing they had a long relationship since Sarkisian recruited him early on at Mater Dei. And they became quite close. So I think it would have been beneficial to have Sarkisian around this season.
There's no question there's a tremendous gap left by Sarkasian. Bates doesn't translate his style of offense to the college game. Coach Carroll I think is so overwhelmed by his faith in his coaches, and his responsibilties both inside and outside the institution that he's starting to be stretched too thin. Afterall Pete's expertise is defense not offense. So for him to oversee the offense I think is too much. Therefore the comfort of having Chow, and his proteges came to an abrupt end. I'm sure Berkley would have benefited from Sark.
I can not believe that after all the criticism piled on Sarkasian when he was here that now anyone would say we would be a better team if he were still coaching at SC.
Apparently the old saying "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" proved to be true again.
Inheriting a winless team, Washington finished approximately #63 in scoring offense. USC, with 10 returning starters, and likely 6 upper class, top 4 round NFL draft picks, finished #58 in scoring offense.
Relative to offensive talent, Sark kicked our coaches' butts this season. On and off the field.
Correction, the above is total, not scoring. They were close in scoring too.
Now we know why Carroll kept telling Bates when Barkely struggled that "playcalling is so easy that a grad student could do it!"