This article was written for Canespace by HurricaneMitch...
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I post before you, the jury, representing an innocent man. Patrick Nix is wrongfully accused of being a bad offensive coordinator. A rush to judgment by some Canespacers have already condemned him before a fair trial has been held. I will make my case by poking holes through the logic of his detractors. When I am done, one of three things must happen. You find him not guilty, guilty or grant this man a continuance so he may be judged later.
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Exhibit #1: Patrick Nix as a player:
Nix was a standout quarterback at Auburn University, where he came in for an injured Stan White vs. Alabama to help lead the Tigers to a perfect 11-0 record during his sophomore season in 1993. Nix graduated in 1995 as the school's career leader in passing efficiency (133.02 rating) and holds the record for most completions in a game — 34 out of 52 vs. Arkansas (10/28/95). He is also ranked #2 in lowest interception percentage .0244% or 16 interceptions out of 656 attempts. Based on this short factoid, I would argue that Nix was a very competent player in college.
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Exhibit #2: Patrick Nix as a coach:
Resume |
Years |
Title |
Location |
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2007-Present |
Offensive Coordinator |
Miami |
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2004-2006 |
Offensive Coordinator & Quarterback Coach |
Georgia Tech |
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2003 |
Running Game Coordinator & Recruiting Coordinator |
Georgia Tech |
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2002 |
Running Game Coordinator & Running Backs Coach |
Georgia Tech |
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2001 |
Wide Receivers Coach & Recruiting Coordinator |
Samford |
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1998 |
Passing Game Coordinator & Quarterback Coach |
Jacksonville St. |
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1996-1997 |
Running Backs Coach |
Jacksonville St. |
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While offensive coordinator, at Georgia Tech, Nix’s offense featured the Atlantic Coast Conference's leading rusher, Tashard Choice, and leading receiver, all-America Calvin Johnson. Nix worked with four-year starter and former ACC Rookie of the Year Reggie Ball, who led the league in 2006 with 20 touchdown passes. The third-leading passer in school history, Ball finished his career among the ACC's Top 10 in total offense, rushing yards by a quarterback and touchdown passes. With Ball sidelined for Tech's Gator Bowl game, sophomore Taylor Bennett stepped in and passed for 326 yards and three touchdowns against 12th-ranked West Virginia.
In January 2007, Nix was hired by Miami to serve as offensive coordinator under head coach Randy Shannon. Coach Shannon’s character witness testimony follows.
Randy Shannon: "I looked at how Georgia Tech was scoring points. I don't look at yardage. I've been in games at Miami as a player and as a coach where we've had 500 yards of offense, 200 yards rushing, 300 yards passing, but we only scored 10 points. The biggest thing I'm looking at is scoring points and that's what he was doing everywhere he's been as a player and coach. What really caught my eye was what he did when Reggie Ball got suspended. He brought in a freshman that hardly played all season and they scored 35 points.”
“I also notice he'd done a good job with quarterbacks. That was the biggest thing with me. I needed to find an offensive coordinator that does a great job with quarterbacks. To me that was the key to rebuilding this offense. If a guy can coach the quarterback then he knows exactly what the quarterback wants to do and should be doing. What are his reads? What he can and cannot do.”
“Him being a quarterback himself, winning 12 games at Auburn, being a winner, I saw a lot of potential in him."
Exhibit #3: Patrick Nix vs. Rich Olsen at Miami:
I present the following stats comparing Nix’s 2007 offense against Olsen’s 2006 offense. They had virtually the same players. The biggest difference is field goal percentage. Olsen’s stats reflect 13 games, while Nix’s is over 12 games.
TEAM STATISTICS MIAMI 06 MIAMI 07
SCORING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Points per Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.6
FIRST DOWNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Rushing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Passing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
RUSHING YARDAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1508 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1747
Yards gained rushing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2148
Yards lost rushing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
Rushing Attempts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
Average Per Rush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7
Average per Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145.6
TDs Rushing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
PASSING YARDAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2567 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2034
Att-Comp-Int . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360-213-15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301-161-20
Average per Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8
Average per Catch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.6
Average per Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169.5
TDs Passing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
TOTAL OFFENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4075 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3781
Total Plays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 779
Average per Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9
Average per Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315.1
TOUCHDOWNS SCORED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-21
RED-ZONE SCORES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-35 80% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30-42 71%
RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-35 57% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-42 52%
PAT-ATTEMPTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31-31 100% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-29 97%
Nix’s offense scored more per game, and was much better at running the ball. The passing stats are troubling for both coaches. I would say that both Olsen and Nix did not have very talented QB’s and/or WR’s to work with.
One only needs to look at how well Olsen did last year at ASU with a great QB. At Miami in 2008, Nix will have several great QB’s this year to work with and that alone could make all the difference.
As I have addressed before on Canespace, Miami 07’s dysfunctional kicking game may have cost us a few wins. Although the offense struggled in Nix's first year much of the troubles can be attributed to lack of talent, especially at the WR and QB position. Miami inked a talented recruiting class in February, addressing those issues. Nix did much better at Georgia Tech when he had better talent. Speaking of offensive talent at UM, the offense barely produced three draft picks in the last two drafts. Greg Olsen to the Bears, 31st pick Round #1, 2007. Eric Winston to the Texans, 66th pick Round #3, 2006. Rashad Butler to the Panthers, 89th pick Round #3, 2006.
I ask not for a verdict of innocence or guilt, but that at this time you reserve judgment. Those of you with your minds already made up, please be open minded, look at the facts, and reconsider. Through his accomplishments as a player, coach, and Coach Shannon’s endorsement, I hope I’ve made a compelling enough argument for you to not pass a true judgment of Nix's tenure at this time, less than a year after his hire. Grant him a continuance, and judge him at a later time when he has better players to work with.
I believe that by the end of next year, you the jury, will find Patrick Nix is innocent of being a bad offensive coordinator, In fact, I believe that with time and the right players, he will prove that he is in fact a very good offensive coordinator. And on that note, I will rest my case.