Coley doesn't get enough heat around here IMO.
If Dorsett had one of these innovative spread guys as his OC he would've put up foolish numbers. Watching Sarkisian speak at an Orlando coaching clinic was all I needed to see to realize how pedestrian Coley is.
Been negged way too many times for sharing your same sentiments. Coach Coley is a recruiter, not an innovator. You would probably agree that coaches are either recruiters or innovators (or some sub category of the two)--and the great coaches are both. You can get far in CFB with elite recruiting, but I think you'll always hit a wall when things get tough. Coaching is the determining factor when collective talent is a par; and superior coaching is the equalizer and determining factor when there is a disparity in talent.
Since Coach Coley's arrival, I have always been more nervous of the offensive play-calling--and thats not exactly an endorsement of Coach D. Though, if you were to fit Coach D into one of the noted categories, he would fall into the latter as some form of Xs and Os guy. At the very least, it can be appreciated that our defensive personnel/front system is somewhat of a departure from what the rest of CFB does. I don't doubt his defensive mind, I doubt his ability to practically implement the rules and concepts through his players.
I'm weary of guys who start at the high school level and are not highly innovative. See Gus Malzahn (starting off as a wildly successful high school coach while developing his unique no-huddle system); See also Jeremy Pruitt (starting off as a Bama GA, but gained notoriety as a high school coach while developing his hybrid 33 scheme). He doesn't have any "classical" training as most CFB coaches do. Classical meaning that he never had a prolonged tenure as a QB in the NFL or even CFB (which is not a determining factor whatsoever, but at least it would have contributed to his training considering he is not an innovator), and he was not part of a football family like Bill Belichick or Nick Saban were. He has no identity, no calling card. He's just a smooth talking guy who recruited and coached a squad of superior athletes that ended up winning State. Dwayne Bowe punched Coach Coley's ticket to CFB stardom.
As always, I choose to be hopeful. So, my outlook is that Coach Coley will continue to develop into a serviceable OC. He can only do so by gaining more experience. He recruited Brad Kaaya--who is presumably way more intelligent than he is (in a general sense). Here's to hoping that Brad takes ownership of the system and demands of Coach Coley what he feels will help him, and ultimately the team, succeed. I can't help but look at Brad (through orange and green colored lenses) and see Peyton Manning. I can't help but imagine Brad taking control of the QB-OC relationship, much like Peyton does.
Perhaps Coach Coley knows of his shortcomings and he has been recruiting highly intelligent players to be his field general (Consider how Pro Style teams and No Huddle teams choose to treat their quarterbacks--Pro Style: immense responsibility and pre snap thinking; No Huddle: hand signals and spoon feed pre snap reads). Maybe Coach Coley would be served best by placing the intelligence factor into the hands of his quarterback instead of keeping a stranglehold over it, as many coaches do.