They Fired Walt Bell

[IUFootballHappyHappyJoyJoy 724]

If we are going to have a thread for Tom Allen that is going to be undermined by his contract buyout, at least let's discuss the other elephant in the room, the offensive/quarterback coordinator Walt Bell (my phone keeps telling me to type Walt Disney, so I'll just call him Bell from here on out). 

Bell's tenure at Power 5 programs never yielded offenses in the top 50%, and in a few cases, the bottom 20% per season.  He likely was always stuck with ho-hum talent but a good coach is able to make lemonade out of lemons, and I assume the stats alone aren't telling the true story.  He had a habit of failing upwards for a period, ultimately becoming a head coach, even if it was with the worst program in FBS, UMass.  There, he went 2-23 before being fired mid-season in 2021.

And now he's our problem. 

I see this as similar to Darren Hiller, where it will only take drastic measures for Tom Allen to get rid of the guy, as he gets extremely sentimental to all his coaches and that firing people is definitely not LEO.  So we're likely stuck with the meathead. 

 

EDIT:  WELL... 

Edited October 2, 2023 by IUFootballEndlessMisery
I mean, they finally fired his @$$

[Hovadipo 55,047]

[Naturalhoosier 15,407]

Dude should have been fired before even making it to the post-game presser.  He is absolutely horrendous at his job. 

[Crimson and Cream 5,777]

He's going to cost us Jaylin Lucas at the end of the season because he has no idea how to properly utilize him. 

[Alford Bailey 12,350]

Bell is giving us exactly what we thought we’d get when hired.

[maharkn 1,686]

He's going to cost us Jaylin Lucas at the end of the season because he has no idea how to properly utilize him. 

I think if we keep Bell it might cost us a QB as well

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

[Hoosierfan2017 20,876]

Tom Allen really saw this and thought that’s my guy…

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich 8,610]

9 hours ago, Alford Bailey said:

Bell is giving us exactly what we thought we’d get when hired.

There were a lot of people here and especially Twitter who were hyping him up.

[kreigh8 2,019]

8 hours ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Tom Allen really saw this and thought that’s my guy…

I think he identified someone willing to say yes for a minimum investment. 

[HoosierX 1,523]

11 hours ago, Alford Bailey said:

Bell is giving us exactly what we thought we’d get when hired.

Was one single person excited by the hire at the time? I feel like everyone was scratching their heads.

[IUFootballHappyHappyJoyJoy 724]

9 hours ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Tom Allen really saw this and thought that’s my guy…

The fact that Tom Allen saw all those numbers and said "I can fix him" is more about Tom Allen and his mindset more than it is about actually wanting to win games. 

[Alford Bailey 12,350]

11 hours ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Tom Allen really saw this and thought that’s my guy…

IU has a history of terrible hires and this may go down as one of the worst.

[Hoosier987 1,062]

Yikes. Not surprised. His play-calling has been atrocious. A change needs to happen ASAP. Allen can ill-afford to wait i.e., Hiller. Mike Schumann wrote a good article about this.

[Demo 19,611]

Translation: Our best position group might be our receivers, but I’m afraid of my quarterback. 

[monskisprodigy 1,814]

8 minutes ago, Demo said:

Translation: Our best position group might be our receivers, but I’m afraid of my quarterback. 

A team with a run first identity that cant punch it in from the redzone, and gets stuffed on 4th and goal, over and over and over and over......

[Alford Bailey 12,350]

Our run first offense with the 5’9” 160 lb running back that has 184 yards in 4 games

[monskisprodigy 1,814]

25 minutes ago, Demo said:

Translation: Our best position group might be our receivers, but I’m afraid of my quarterback. 

What makes this comment even more concerning. If that really is the identity he wants our offense to have, he needs to have his eyes checked. Not sure what he is seeing in practice or on the field, but the advanced stats say we are anything other than a run first team. 

Per Schumann's article, our rushing offense ranks 114 our of 130...109 yards per game. Offensive line ranks 121 for pass blocking grades and 104 for run blocking. Can't be a run team if your line is getting abused every Saturday. 

Open up the playbook, make changes to the line to get Jackson a little breathing room, toss the ball down the field and deal with the turnovers here and there as he grows. Allen and Bell are paid nearly $6million total a year to figure this out..

On the bright side...we have a good punter haha.

[bigrod 2,848]

40 minutes ago, Demo said:

Translation: Our best position group might be our receivers, but I’m afraid of my quarterback. 

Square peg, meet round hole.

Seems like a guy who is putting an awful lot of thought in how to fail. 

[DChoosier 7,849]

21 hours ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Tom Allen really saw this and thought that’s my guy…

To be fair my guess is that Allen must have thought that a high number is good.
Ie he thought that Bell’s UMASS offense being 124/130 meant that 124 coaches had a worse offense than Bell. As dumb as that is it’s better than thinking he hired a guy that was 94/130, 113/130 (at FSU !) and 124/130.

[Alford Bailey 12,350]

Kevin Wilson is an offensive genius. DeBoer and Penix currently lead the nation in total offense. How the **** do you hire Walt Bell? Better question might be how does he keep getting jobs as an OC?