Listening to Hamdan talk really makes me wonder what his deal is. He is definitely hearing the talk and said something to the effect that he couldn't go what he really wanted to do, but he didn't say why.
Either
A- Stoops is interfering to the point he is handcuffed
or
B - The personnel on the offense sucks so bad that he has to run super simple stuff. The line would certainly qualify for that statement. Vanderpuff's noodle arm and lack of progressions qualify as well.
If it's 'A', then Stoops should be fired. He's the head coach and a defensive coach from pedigree. Except on rare occasions (4th down plays, for instance), Stoops should never tell the OC what to call. That's why he hired him.
If it's 'B', then Hamdan's at fault. He has to design the offense to take advantage of the talents that he has. If Brock can't roll left and throw, NEVER call a play that may result in him doing so. If the left side of the OL is better at inside zone, don't call outside zone running plays but once in a blue moon to the left side (have to give the D something to think about at least once in a while). I'm guessing the full playbook has 200+ plays (some with multiple options) - for every opponent he HAS to pick the plays that his players have the best chance of executing vs what the opponent does on defense. If that's not what he 'wants' to call, too friggin' bad. It's his job to craft the game plan to fit our skills vs the defense and make sure our guys can execute. He can't install a shallow drag to combat a fierce pass rush in a week's time? There are no pass patterns where the TE chips and releases about 5 yards? Screen passes to a RB? Slants to WRs? I mean, WTF does he mean by he 'can't call what he really wants to'? I'd like to call Tom Brady to Randy Moss about 6 times a game, but, shoot, I can't call what I really want to.
Head scratcher. He needs to design the offensive game plan every week to fit the players and the opponent. If it's only 20 plays - so be it. At least we can execute those 20 plays well (presumably) rather than the 80 plays in the game plan only 10 of which we have a prayer of executing. Especially in the passing game, almost every play has a read or two for both the QB and the receivers, so, theoretically, the same play may be run a half dozen different ways and 3 different receivers may catch the ball. If there's a blitz, then that same play may completely change. Let's concentrate on a small subset of plays that we can really execute well and we know all the reads and the hot receivers, etc. If we can execute those, then add a handful at a time more. At some point, it's blocking and tackling. If we block better than they tackle, we move the ball. The opposite is also true as we saw the final 53 minutes of the Auburn game.
