Al's coach Mike Miller

[CFL_4_Ever]

Alouettes assistant head coach/offensive coordinator/QB coach spent six seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He worked as the offensive coordinator in 2012, and was the team's wide receiver's coach in 2008 when the team went to the Superbowl, loosing to the Steelers.

Are his best coaching days behind him? He's only 42. Or will he adapt to the Canadian game?

[Tridus]

He's got Doug Berry available to him, who knows CFL offense. If Miller taps Berry's knowledge for how to adapt to the CFL, he could do just fine.

If he keeps doing silliness like 3rd-and-1 from your own 30 by calling plays from the shotgun? He'll be lucky to last the season.

[CFL_4_Ever]

@"Tridus"

He’s got Doug Berry available to him, who knows CFL offense. If Miller taps Berry’s knowledge for how to adapt to the CFL, he could do just fine.

If he keeps doing silliness like 3rd-and-1 from your own 30 by calling plays from the shotgun? He’ll be lucky to last the season.

That’s true, he does have Doug Berry. For some reason, I tought Berry’s tenure as head coach of the Bombers was a bit of a disaster, but no, he got the team to the Grey Cup in 2007. Yes, the 3rd and 1 should only be run inside the opponents 40? Maybe the 50?

[Tridus]

@"High_Five"

That’s true, he does have Doug Berry. For some reason, I tought Berry’s tenure as head coach of the Bombers was a bit of a disaster, but no, he got the team to the Grey Cup in 2007. Yes, the 3rd and 1 should only be run inside the opponents 40? Maybe the 50?

Well, I think the bigger problem is you run it with a quarterback sneak, not a handoff in the shotgun 5 yards back from the line.

[disciplineandpunish]

Miller was a failure in the NFL. Yeah, he was receivers coach (not OC) the year a stacked Arizona offense took that team to the Superbowl game. The following two years as OC, he was a disaster. Offense ranked at the bottom of the league, could not score majors, could not protect the quarterback.

Trestman had proven a heckuva lot as an OC in the NFL before he came up here. Miller has only proven that he’s a failure, and so far, he’s done nothing to counter that impression.

[wolverine29]

@"disciplineandpunish"

Miller was a failure in the NFL. Yeah, he was receivers coach (not OC) the year a stacked Arizona offense took that team to the Superbowl game. The following two years as OC, he was a disaster. Offense ranked at the bottom of the league, could not score majors, could not protect the quarterback.

Trestman had proven a heckuva lot as an OC in the NFL before he came up here. Miller has only proven that he’s a failure, and so far, he’s done nothing to counter that impression.

That is so true. And when you’re having Warner play pitch and catch with Fitzgerald and Boldin, that makes it easy. The more he moved up in the ranks of the Az Cardinal coaching staff the worse the team got. His career was thanks to those guys IMO.

[CFL_4_Ever]

@"disciplineandpunish"

Miller was a failure in the NFL. Yeah, he was receivers coach (not OC) the year a stacked Arizona offense took that team to the Superbowl game. The following two years as OC, he was a disaster. Offense ranked at the bottom of the league, could not score majors, could not protect the quarterback.

Trestman had proven a heckuva lot as an OC in the NFL before he came up here. Miller has only proven that he’s a failure, and so far, he’s done nothing to counter that impression.

I was wondering about that becuase the Cardinals had a couple of poor seasons when Miller was OC. It makes me wonder why Popp hired him…Time will tell.

[HfxTC]

@"High_Five"

@"disciplineandpunish"

Miller was a failure in the NFL. Yeah, he was receivers coach (not OC) the year a stacked Arizona offense took that team to the Superbowl game. The following two years as OC, he was a disaster. Offense ranked at the bottom of the league, could not score majors, could not protect the quarterback.

Trestman had proven a heckuva lot as an OC in the NFL before he came up here. Miller has only proven that he’s a failure, and so far, he’s done nothing to counter that impression.

I was wondering about that becuase the Cardinals had a couple of poor seasons when Miller was OC. It makes me wonder why Popp hired him…Time will tell.

Jury is still out but he was .500 in his first season as OC and started his second season with four straight wins, then the wheels fell off in large part because of injuries. I think if Berry is given a lot of latitude in developing our passing game we might improve. The players like Miller and he’s said to be a hard worker. Hawkins is in more danger IMO.

[ArgoT]

All I know is no coach when they are mapping out a playbook designs plays that do not succeed.
It is a simple "X" and "O" scenario.
My friends it's all about execution of the said plays.
Granted, some OC's for example are more ingenuous then others and use the Canadian rules to their advantage.
Maybe that is what Miller with his American back ground has to get acclimatized with, just like when coach Trestman started.

[disciplineandpunish]

@"ArgoT"

All I know is no coach when they are mapping out a playbook designs plays that do not succeed.
It is a simple “X” and “O” scenario.
My friends it’s all about execution of the said plays.
Granted, some OC’s for example are more ingenuous then others and use the Canadian rules to their advantage.
Maybe that is what Miller with his American back ground has to get acclimatized with, just like when coach Trestman started.

Xs and Os are not simple, and not all coaches are created equal. To be blunt, some coaches are better than others. It’s what separates the Wally Buonos of the league from the Bart Andruses. Intelligence, creativity, attention to detail, ability to maximize the strengths of your personnel, and adaptability in your playcalling … that’s what makes a great coach, which Miller is not.

[disciplineandpunish]

I posted this at the start of the year, and it’s still true, for the most part.

@"disciplineandpunish"

The basic problems, as I see it, are:

[ol]- No meaningful pre-snap motion

• No access routes for receiver via formations that allow for rubs and picks
• No variety of pass plays that test defenses in all nine zones (vertical and horizontal)[/ol]

No meaningful pre-snap motion: I can’t stress enough how important it is in the CFL to maximize the benefits of unlimited backfield motion. The three-down game means you do not have downs to waste inching the ball forward as you do in the NFL. When I watch our receivers and backs pre-snap, I see very little pre-snap motion designed to spring our players in certain areas. We basically run up to the line and go, making it dead easy for DBs to play man under with LBs in zone because our running game is pathetic.

An example of good pre-snap motion is having the boundary wideout hit the line after the boundary slot crosses the whole backfield horizontally; when the ball is snapped, the two receivers can cross each other, making it harder for DBs to get to their assigned receiver in man. The whole effing idea of pre-snap motion is to do two things:

1. Create confusion about where the receiver is going
2. Make it hard for DBs to get to their coverage assignments post-snap.

We are doing neither, because we run straight up to the line with no disguise or any kind of lateral movement.

No formations: One of the benefits of running a trips bunch (3-WR stacked to wide-side) is the ability to spring different receivers out of a tightly clustered bunch. Because the receivers are so close together, they can use each other as screens and pick for their fellow receivers, besides keeping the defense guessing about which receiver is going where out of that bunch (will the field WR go post, or shallow cross? will the middle WR curl into the flat, or run an intermediate cross, putting the enemy safety in a bind about who to cover).

Once again, our use of formation is pathetic. Seriously, a high school team could do better. I have no idea why our offensive philosophy seems to be vanilla surprise, but it reflects poorly on the coaches. Any time I hear talk about keeping things simple because players are having a hard time grasping the offense, red flags go up for me (that was the line with Bellefeuille’s offense in 2007, incidentally). A good coach should be able to install a complex, pro system and have his players able to grasp it all out the gate. We had no trouble executing Trestman’s system right from the start, which wasn’t simple at all. If you can’t get your players to execute, it means you are not a good coach.

Finally, no variety of pass plays. Oy. Miller has apparently never heard of a crossing pattern, or a sluggo, or any type of route besides the vanilla post, go, hook, etc. Crosses are especially good at springing receivers, because it will be hard for the DB or LB to stay with the receiver through all the traffic in the middle of the field. That’s what I mean by testing defenses in all the zones.

Vertical zones: short, intermediate, deep
Horizontal zones: left hash, right hash, center
3x3 = 9

If you aren’t willing to attack the whole field, you will be eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, because the second defenses figure out that you aren’t utilizing the whole CFL field, they will cluster into the areas you are willing to attack, and take away your bread-and-butter plays.

There’s a lot more to write in terms of specific plays, but these are the main problems as I see them.

[HfxTC]

@"ArgoT"

All I know is no coach when they are mapping out a playbook designs plays that do not succeed.
It is a simple “X” and “O” scenario.
My friends it’s all about execution of the said plays.
Granted, some OC’s for example are more ingenuous then others and use the Canadian rules to their advantage.
Maybe that is what Miller with his American back ground has to get acclimatized with, just like when coach Trestman started.

I’m happy he managed to look at what had worked for Saskatchewan and did not give up on the running game despite it not working early on. He went right back to Whitaker in spite of the fumble and the team lost its third onlinesman, the left tackle of all guys and kept moving the ball.

[disciplineandpunish]

I too am happy he stuck with the run, but in this league, you can't live on the run. You have to be able to pass the ball. If teams don't fear you through the air, they will just stack the box and dare you to beat them over top. This isn't the NFL; you can't grind out an entire drive on the ground (5 yards and a cloud of dust) game in and game out.

[LetsGoBlue]

I thought the Al's Offence looked improved yesterday, seemed like they went to some of the old plays. While AC still only just cracked the 200 yard plateau, the offence combined for over 350, which I think has been their best game so far.
The win buys both Hawkins & Miller some time. The next game will be another big one for Montreal as it is another home game, and they will only have 5 of the next 12 games at home to close the season.

[HfxTC]

@"LetsGoBlue"

I thought the Al’s Offence looked improved yesterday, seemed like they went to some of the old plays. While AC still only just cracked the 200 yard plateau, the offence combined for over 350, which I think has been their best game so far.
The win buys both Hawkins & Miller some time. The next game will be another big one for Montreal as it is another home game, and they will only have 5 of the next 12 games at home to close the season.

We are very lucky all the teams in the East have their problems…They can’t drop any home games till the end.

[HfxTC]

@"LetsGoBlue"

I thought the Al’s Offence looked improved yesterday, seemed like they went to some of the old plays. While AC still only just cracked the 200 yard plateau, the offence combined for over 350, which I think has been their best game so far.
The win buys both Hawkins & Miller some time. The next game will be another big one for Montreal as it is another home game, and they will only have 5 of the next 12 games at home to close the season.

We are very lucky all the teams in the East have their problems…They can’t drop any home games till the end.

[tony]

@"HfxTC"

@"LetsGoBlue"

I thought the Al’s Offence looked improved yesterday, seemed like they went to some of the old plays. While AC still only just cracked the 200 yard plateau, the offence combined for over 350, which I think has been their best game so far.
The win buys both Hawkins & Miller some time. The next game will be another big one for Montreal as it is another home game, and they will only have 5 of the next 12 games at home to close the season.

We are very lucky all the teams in the East have their problems…They can’t drop any home games till the end.

6 of them left, 7 on the road.