PlayerRep said:
Grizbeer said:
For some reason, against my better judgement, I feel compelled to chime in on this. First I acknowledge Pflugrad was dedicated to UM and if it was his choice would probably still be here, and if he was UM football would have had a better last several years than we had. Having acknowledged that, the following must be said:
Pflugrad wanted to bring the "Oregon" system to UM. First Pflugrad had been fired from Oregon prior to coming back to UM as an assistant. No reason was ever giving for his being fired, but that is not a confidence builder
The "Oregon" system required fast athletes to run it - the kind FCS schools don't get. Pflugrad needed fast nimble O-Lineman, and the result is several years of ineffective offensive line. Blame Lurch all you want, but this started with Pflugrad.
The "Oregon" system was fun to watch at Oregon, and lifted them heights they had never seen, but ultimately never won the a National Championship. It wasn't sustainable, and ultimately led to firing of their coach.
Pflugrad lost both his O-coordinator and D-coordinator after 2011. Rumor was their was lots of friction with Jonathon Smith over Pflugrad overriding his play calls. Further rumor is this ended before the Weber State game, after which the Griz got on a winning roll.
Pflugrad replaced Smith with Timm Resenbach.
I'm am sure this will be disputed, but Pflugrad took several NFL players and an experienced roster in 2010 and turned in (relatively for circumstances) the worst season and worst coaching job in post 1985 Griz history.
5 years later, Pflugrad is an assistant coach at a junior college. Rosenbach is head coach at Adams College (and look at that record), while Smith is the O-coordinator at playoff bound UW.
I know people are upset at Pflugrad being fired, and God knows it had a negative impact on the program, but the Bottom line is I just don't see how a Pflugrad/Rosenbach Griz team trying to run the Oregon system would have put UM back in national contention the last 5 years. The real Griz decline started when Pflugrad was hired, exasperated when he was fired.
Where did Pflu ever say he wanted to run the Oregon system? I don't recall ever seeing that?
Pflu was let go by Oregon because he didn't see eye to eye with Chip Kelly. Kelly was not exactly a great guy or a coach who was doing everything right.
I'm not so sure that the Smith rumors were accurate. I asked Pflu about them once, and he reacted like he didn't know what I talking about.
It is often a positive when asst coaches leave for better jobs. FCS coaches encourage that.
No, UM, in just Pflu's second year, went to the semi's, and almost came back and got the win to go to the championship game. UM was bound for bigger and better things under Pflu.
Pflu is where he is now, solely because of Engstrom.
You need to get some facts before you make such a BS post like this one again. I don't know if you are an idiot, but your post shows signs of being written by an idiot. It is beyond far-fetched.
UM football has declined primarily because of Engstrom. If you paid any attention or knew what had occurred, you would understand.
I knew saying anything unflattering about Pflugrad I would get hammered, and I stepped in it so I can't complain. And if you are still wondering, yeah I am often an idiot. However a few comments:
About Oregon:
Pflugrad sprinkled a lot of humor in with his first official remarks as head coach, including a promise that his Griz — who went 14-1 last fall under Hauck — would be “very fast on offense, up-tempo and upbeat.”
http://billingsgazette.com/sports/college/pflugrad-says-griz-will-be-up-tempo-on-offense/article_fce75db2-fcfb-11de-ad1d-001cc4c03286.html
This year the Griz intend to spread the field and put pressure on the edges. Andrew Selle, like Reynolds a candidate for the Walter Payton Award, will trigger a more wide-open attack similar to what Oregon has used.
http://missoulian.com/sports/college/montana/football/pflugrad-finally-gets-chance-to-put-stamp-on-montana-football/article_e7f4c1f6-b30d-11df-96bf-001cc4c002e0.amp.html
It's just that the Grizzlies' fast-paced spread option offense, heavily touted by Pflugrad when he took the job, has yet to fully take root.
http://billingsgazette.com/sports/college/big-sky-conference/university-of-montana/football/rachac-defense-making-offensive-minded-pflugrad-look-good/article_f8696dfd-4e89-5c80-a533-4417b3764c9f.html
I don't know if that is enough references to Pflugrad running an "oregon style" offense?
Yes assistants leaving for FBS jobs is good - the point is the Griz were going to have new coordinators on both sides of the ball in 2012 unrelated to Pflugrad being let go. And with no JJ for QB 2012 was not going to be a championship year.
I'm not sure how Engstrom is responsible for where Pflugrad is now 5 years down the line. Pflugrad got a job the next year with Weber State. When they got fired from Weber State and Sears went to Sac State he didn't bring Pflugrad with him. Are you saying Engstrom got Sears and Pflugrad fired from Weber, and convinced Sac State not to hire Pflugrad? Pflugrad was a finalist for the Rocky Job in 2016 and didn't get it. Are you saying Engstrom stopped Rocky from hiring Pflugrad? I thought someone here recently said Engstrom gave Pflugrad a good recommendation after he fired him.
I get that being fired has negative connotations that makes schools look twice, but Pflugrad had a job the next year in the same conference. I think coaching hires are largely based on perceived performance on the field - Petrino at Louisville, Krammer at ISU are examples of fired/disgraced coaches who got another head coaching job. If Pflugrad is blaming Engstrom 5 years later for not being a head coach somewhere that might be his problem.
None if this is meant to defend Engstrom - he was a disaster for the University and for the football team.
