[CTcard]

[quote author=OutsiderFan link=topic=11016.msg103832#msg103832 date=1414594276]Some people don't believe in the book, but my takeaways from "The Innovator's Dilemma" guide my thinking on innovation in competitive environments.  If you don't evolve, and stay the same, you risk being surpassed by others who are open to new ideas.

Hasn't this coaching staff by now shown that they're willing to evolve? 
[/quote]

The myth that won't die: David Shaw won't allow any changes to the Stanford offense.

Of course the problem with that is that the Stanford offense has been changing a ton both year to year, and notably in 2012 within the year.

2011 we had a very balanced offense with a power (and Power) running game and a passing game that hit all levels of the field. The latter was a little heavy on the tight ends and light on WRs, but that was the talent we had and not excessively so. It was also probably the best offense in Stanford history.

2012 part 1. We cut way back on the throwing. The run game was still primarily power, but we started to see  the jet sweep with some regularity. The passing game was almost exclusively the long ball - which tended not to be caught.

2012 part 2. Hogan comes in with a different skill set. We see the emergence of the read-option. Lots of short, safe throws - almost dink and dunk. Ertz becomes something approaching an exclusive target. Classic Power is basically gone and zone blocking plays pop up in the run game - partly because we don't have guards who can pull (remember Yankey was playing left tackle).

2013. Hogan and Shaw say Hogan needs to work on his deep ball during the summer. He obviously does. Tight ends are gone. WR starts to look viable. Power run game starts to come back as Yankey is back at guard and the line gains experience. Still a fair amount of read option. Overall scheme appears to be designed specifically to pull in a loaded box then go over their heads for the killer strike. Hogan averages a 14.6 yds/completion (vs 10.0 the year before).

2014. Running game is put out to pasture (we're running on about 50% of our plays, that's the lowest percentage since we tried to play BuddyBall). When we do run, we don't run Power much as it seems we don't have the guards for it. The long ball is there, but not particularly prominent. Lots of midrange and short passing, much more towards the sidelines. Tight ends are back. Read-option seems to be mostly gone. And now supposedly we're in no-huddle half the game.

-----------------
A lot of those changes I don't like - and a few seem quite hideously bad.
But saying these aren't changes is just ... weird.
At the moment Stanford is more in danger of simply losing having any identity on offense than in getting mired in what we used to do.

[CTcard]

[quote author=OutsiderFan link=topic=11016.msg103832#msg103832 date=1414594276]Some people don't believe in the book, but my takeaways from "The Innovator's Dilemma" guide my thinking on innovation in competitive environments.  If you don't evolve, and stay the same, you risk being surpassed by others who are open to new ideas.

Hasn't this coaching staff by now shown that they're willing to evolve? 
[/quote]

The myth that won't die: David Shaw won't allow any changes to the Stanford offense.

Of course the problem with that is that the Stanford offense has been changing a ton both year to year, and notably in 2012 within the year.

2011 we had a very balanced offense with a power (and Power) running game and a passing game that hit all levels of the field. The latter was a little heavy on the tight ends and light on WRs, but that was the talent we had and not excessively so. It was also probably the best offense in Stanford history.

2012 part 1. We cut way back on the throwing. The run game was still primarily power, but we started to see  the jet sweep with some regularity. The passing game was almost exclusively the long ball - which tended not to be caught.

2012 part 2. Hogan comes in with a different skill set. We see the emergence of the read-option. Lots of short, safe throws - almost dink and dunk. Ertz becomes something approaching an exclusive target. Classic Power is basically gone and zone blocking plays pop up in the run game - partly because we don't have guards who can pull (remember Yankey was playing left tackle).

2013. Hogan and Shaw say Hogan needs to work on his deep ball during the summer. He obviously does. Tight ends are gone. WR starts to look viable. Power run game starts to come back as Yankey is back at guard and the line gains experience. Still a fair amount of read option. Overall scheme appears to be designed specifically to pull in a loaded box then go over their heads for the killer strike. Hogan averages a 14.6 yds/completion (vs 10.0 the year before).

2014. Running game is put out to pasture (we're running on about 50% of our plays, that's the lowest percentage since we tried to play BuddyBall). When we do run, we don't run Power much as it seems we don't have the guards for it. The long ball is there, but not particularly prominent. Lots of midrange and short passing, much more towards the sidelines. Tight ends are back. Read-option seems to be mostly gone. And now supposedly we're in no-huddle half the game.

-----------------
A lot of those changes I don't like - and a few seem quite hideously bad.
But saying these aren't changes is just ... weird.
At the moment Stanford is more in danger of simply losing having any identity on offense than in getting mired in what we used to do.