[cardcoug]

I'm amazed at the number of people hold Tavita Pritchard responsible for perceived shortcomings at quarterback. Kevin Hogan is in his fourth year in the Stanford football program. Pritchard has been his position coach for 10 months. And nobody here has any idea what instructions Pritchard has received from his OC or head coach when it comes to quarterback instruction. The presumption of knowledge of the inner workings of the coaching staff is, I think, dubious.

(Also in reply to your second post further down, as well, but most directly to this one. Not sure how to double quote.)

I'm not sure I understand exactly what has got you so bothered here Garvin. First, by using "perceived shortcomings at quarterback", do you mean to cast doubt on the fact that our quarterback play this year has come up short? If so, I don't know what I could say to that. But more importantly, with your reference to the quarterback instruction being given from above to Pritchard, are you saying it could be that P. is just coaching Hogan exactly as Shaw & Co. tell him to, and so it could be their fault?

If I have misunderstood you, please do clarify what you mean here. But if I got you right, then I do think there is still plenty to criticize Pritchard for in this situation, though you are definitely right that it is too rash to assign sole blame to Pritchard. One thing is glaringly obvious: Hogan's technique - most notably his throwing motion and his (in)ability to scan the field - has simply not improved over the course of his time at Stanford. Pritchard has only been in his position 10 months, so somebody else is to blame for the lack of progress prior to that. But if Pritchard's title has any meaning at all, then Hogan's failure to develop this spring and fall is to a large extent his fault. Perhaps Pritchard has been given poor guidance from above, but then it is his job to say "Coach, this isn't working...", and to make some adjustments in his approach. (Perhaps he has. If so, they haven't worked.) The simple fact is that his job is not being done well; as is almost always the case whenever any job is not being done well, many things and many people factor into the problem. But there is plenty of blame to go around.

I do agree with you that we don't have anything even approaching the necessary information to call for his job. Think of it this way: if you were putting together a new coaching staff, would you pursue Pritchard for your QB coach? I think that would be a terrible idea. He may blossom into a great coach, but it is simply true that the Stanford quarterback is not developing through his college career. While I'm sure this happens occasionally, I can't think of any other college QB that started for multiple seasons and simply did not improve in some of these basic aspects of QB play. Hogan's job has become more difficult with the loss of a run game and adequate pass protection, for sure, but some of his problems are independent of that. (One's throwing motion doesn't change based on who the running back is.) These are defects that we all saw two years ago, and we assumed he'd outgrow them. He hasn't, and I don't see how you can not fault the person on the staff who has the specific task of helping him develop.

[cardcoug]

I'm amazed at the number of people hold Tavita Pritchard responsible for perceived shortcomings at quarterback. Kevin Hogan is in his fourth year in the Stanford football program. Pritchard has been his position coach for 10 months. And nobody here has any idea what instructions Pritchard has received from his OC or head coach when it comes to quarterback instruction. The presumption of knowledge of the inner workings of the coaching staff is, I think, dubious.

(Also in reply to your second post further down, as well, but most directly to this one. Not sure how to double quote.)

I'm not sure I understand exactly what has got you so bothered here Garvin. First, by using "perceived shortcomings at quarterback", do you mean to cast doubt on the fact that our quarterback play this year has come up short? If so, I don't know what I could say to that. But more importantly, with your reference to the quarterback instruction being given from above to Pritchard, are you saying it could be that P. is just coaching Hogan exactly as Shaw & Co. tell him to, and so it could be their fault?

If I have misunderstood you, please do clarify what you mean here. But if I got you right, then I do think there is still plenty to criticize Pritchard for in this situation, though you are definitely right that it is too rash to assign sole blame to Pritchard. One thing is glaringly obvious: Hogan's technique - most notably his throwing motion and his (in)ability to scan the field - has simply not improved over the course of his time at Stanford. Pritchard has only been in his position 10 months, so somebody else is to blame for the lack of progress prior to that. But if Pritchard's title has any meaning at all, then Hogan's failure to develop this spring and fall is to a large extent his fault. Perhaps Pritchard has been given poor guidance from above, but then it is his job to say "Coach, this isn't working...", and to make some adjustments in his approach. (Perhaps he has. If so, they haven't worked.) The simple fact is that his job is not being done well; as is almost always the case whenever any job is not being done well, many things and many people factor into the problem. But there is plenty of blame to go around.

I do agree with you that we don't have anything even approaching the necessary information to call for his job. Think of it this way: if you were putting together a new coaching staff, would you pursue Pritchard for your QB coach? I think that would be a terrible idea. He may blossom into a great coach, but it is simply true that the Stanford quarterback is not developing through his college career. While I'm sure this happens occasionally, I can't think of any other college QB that started for multiple seasons and simply did not improve in some of these basic aspects of QB play. Hogan's job has become more difficult with the loss of a run game and adequate pass protection, for sure, but some of his problems are independent of that. (One's throwing motion doesn't change based on who the running back is.) These are defects that we all saw two years ago, and we assumed he'd outgrow them. He hasn't, and I don't see how you can not fault the person on the staff who has the specific task of helping him develop.