The Bill Musgrave Thread (news, venting frustrations, ideas etc)

[VCU4LIFEGOVIKS]

I hate Musgrave more then any coach we have had for years but he earned another season after the record we ended up with. I almost threw up typing that....

[vikingsfan0845]

I hate Musgrave more then any coach we have had for years but he earned another season after the record we ended up with. I almost threw up typing that....

I have actually been reading some decent things about him over the final few weeks of the season on Tom Pelissero's twitter. He said Musgrave did a much better job over the final few weeks of the season with exploiting mismatches.

Personally I think he will be back too but I can't say I'm thrilled about it. I'd prefer somebody else but at the same time it probably isn't the best idea to be having Ponder learn a completely new play book.

[100%CHEESE FREE]

I hate Musgrave more then any coach we have had for years but he earned another season after the record we ended up with. I almost threw up typing that....

That's the other thing too though, although some can make an argument for it, I don't think we were winning in spite of this guy, when him and Ponder had it together, our offense was moving. For sure AP has a lot to do with that, Musgrave did a very good job in ENABLING AP to do what he did. A lot of times he was pretty maddening to watch, what with his cue card sized play sheet and all. Despite all that, and as vanilla as he is, he's not as plane-jane as the KAO (Run AP right 2 yards, Run AP left 2 yard, incomplete pass on 3rd and long, punt) and he's slightly more creative than he's given credit for, but in some cases he has very poor situational awareness (suddenly forgetting we have a pro-bowl FB and using Kyle Rudolph to block) and leaves a lot to be desired as a play-caller.

As much as we don't like Musgrave though, I can't say that he hasn't gotten better as an OC (despite what he did last week in Green Bay) so hopefully that will give him something to build off of. 2013 is a big year, probably going to be the last chance at a big run for a lot of our veterans.

[vikingsfan0845]

Why do we always get stuck with retarded coordinators? First it was Darrel Bevel and now Musgrave lol

[VCU4LIFEGOVIKS]

I have actually been reading some decent things about him over the final few weeks of the season on Tom Pelissero's twitter. He said Musgrave did a much better job over the final few weeks of the season with exploiting mismatches.

Personally I think he will be back too but I can't say I'm thrilled about it. I'd prefer somebody else but at the same time it probably isn't the best idea to be having Ponder learn a completely new play book.

Well that playbook is only a 5x7 inch note card.

[VCU4LIFEGOVIKS]

That's the other thing too though, although some can make an argument for it, I don't think we were winning in spite of this guy, when him and Ponder had it together, our offense was moving. For sure AP has a lot to do with that, Musgrave did a very good job in ENABLING AP to do what he did. A lot of times he was pretty maddening to watch, what with his cue card sized play sheet and all. Despite all that, and as vanilla as he is, he's not as plane-jane as the KAO (Run AP right 2 yards, Run AP left 2 yard, incomplete pass on 3rd and long, punt) and he's slightly more creative than he's given credit for, but in some cases he has very poor situational awareness (suddenly forgetting we have a pro-bowl FB and using Kyle Rudolph to block) and leaves a lot to be desired as a play-caller.

As much as we don't like Musgrave though, I can't say that he hasn't gotten better as an OC (despite what he did last week in Green Bay) so hopefully that will give him something to build off of. 2013 is a big year, probably going to be the last chance at a big run for a lot of our veterans.

What aggravated me most about him was his failure to adjust to what the opposing defenses were doing. For example the Lions game where their defense was solely out to stop short passes and the run. He didn't change his play calling and all we did was continue to make short passes and run. Thank god the special teams pulled that game out. Also like you mentioned his poor personal decisions were at points mind boggling.

[SiteWolf]

Why do we always get stuck with retarded coordinators? First it was Darrel Bevel and now Musgrave lol

you mean Bevel, the OC for the team that scored the 9th most points in the league despite having a WR corps no better than the Vikings?

.....not that I'd want him back

These 2 aren't BAD, per se......they're just not very creative nor do they adjust in-game very well

[100%CHEESE FREE]

you mean Bevel, the OC for the team that scored the 9th most points in the league despite having a WR corps no better than the Vikings?

.....not that I'd want him back

These 2 aren't BAD, per se......they're just not very creative nor do they adjust in-game very well

Well, you have to think that Childress probably sat on Bevell pretty good, but he didn't exactly pull out all the stops once Chilly was jettisoned. I think the last time we had a creative OC was Brian Billick, or arguably Scott Lineahan in the early 2000s (as bad as some of those years were, he made some nice things happen with Culpepper).

[Coenthar]

Our OC's haven't been bad at all,,,,what are you talking about Musgrave is the only one that we can call bad right now and he just popped off an 2000 yard rushing offense with a 10-6 record and into the playoffs....wow thats horrible. Brian Billick, Scott Linnehan, and now yes Bevels who might be getting an interview to coach the Bears are all successful OC's..and you guys need to get one thing right now through your heads,,Predictable and Successful are two different things. With Chilly/Bevels and Musgrave we were and are Predictable but are we getting results,,,well of these OC's we have only had 3 loosing records with these guys in the last I dont know how many years...Last year, the year before, and Chillys first year..all we have done is grow under these guys,,,its boring but productive

[vikingsfan0845]

you mean Bevel, the OC for the team that scored the 9th most points in the league despite having a WR corps no better than the Vikings?

.....not that I'd want him back

These 2 aren't BAD, per se......they're just not very creative nor do they adjust in-game very well

It's pretty easy to put up points with the personnel he been fortune enough to work with. If you watch a lot Seattle games you will see a lot of head scratching play calls. Even in Minnesota there were no shortage of stupid play calls.

[SiteWolf]

It's pretty easy to put up points with the personnel he been fortune enough to work with. If you watch a lot Seattle games you will see a lot of head scratching play calls. Even in Minnesota there were no shortage of stupid play calls.

I'm curious where you see the personnel in Seattle to be stronger than what the Vikings (with Harvin) have.

[vikingsfan0845]

I'm curious where you see the personnel in Seattle to be stronger than what the Vikings (with Harvin) have.

Ok well I'll do a side by side comparison

QB: Wilson vs Ponder
- Wilson easily better

RB: AP vs Lynch
- AP obviously but Lynch is still the 2nd best back in the league

WR: Rice/Tate/Baldwin/ vs Harvin/Simpson/Wright
- Harvin is the best of the bunch but all 3 of Seattles receivers are better than what we have behind Percy.

TE: Rudolph/Miller
- Rudolph but it's pretty close. Miller when healthy is a good tight end.

So basically they have much better QB play along with a solid core of a receivers and a damn good running game. If I had to pick right now between our core offensive players vs Seattle's I would pick Seattle.

[pacofunk64]

Musgrave will stay and I don't have a problem with that. Need to keep the same offense going into an important 3rd year for Ponder. It's so easy to blame and OC but the bottom line is the players need to make plays. We'll add another weapon this next season for Ponder so we should be a little more consistent. Ponder showed us at the end of this last season that he can be effective without a #1 guy. I think once Harvin went down he had to learn all over again because he had a trust with Harvin. Harvin going down was probably a blessing in disguise.

[FrankieFreakout]

I don't think it's crazy at all to suggest Seattle has better offensive weapons.

[Fired-Up]

Packers fan here and I remember watching the Vikings play many times. I thought Musgrave was exceptional. He did a tremendous job of allowing AP to shine. He didn't overuse him. He could have given him 400 carries and said the hell with it. Instead AP was only getting the ball what 21 times a game and 348 this year.

He used play action didn't always run on running downs. He allowed Ponder to use the element of surprise. He allowed AP to not have to run on 1st short gain, run on 2nd short game and then pass incomplete.

It's all on the execution and the lack of talent at WR and QB. It's not Musgrave, he was exceptional.