Badger Bits: Oh, Canada?

by Sam Zastrow on Jan 18, 2012 9:07 AM CST in Badger Bits

When the Badgers announced they had hired Matt Canada as their new offensive coordinator yesterday, my reaction was no doubt similar to that of many Badger fans: "Who the heck is that?"

Though I don't think anyone should be surprised Bret Bielema made an off-the-radar hire, the only thing I knew about the guy was that he shared a name with our neighbors to the north. After reading John's piece (linked above) and the UW press release on the hire, I was a bit more comfortable with the move. Canada directed one of the top offenses in the NCAA last season at Northern Illinois after coaching several prolific players at Indiana, where he served as offensive coordinator from 2007 to the conclusion of the 2010-2011 season. Still, first impressions can be deceiving, so I did some digging. I was curious about his stats when coaching against Big Ten defenses:

Indiana offense B1G rankings, 2007-2011
	Scoring offense	Total offense	Pass offense	Rush offense	Red zone offense	3rd down offense
2007-2008	3rd	8th	4th	8th	6th	8th
2008-2009	10th	7th	9th	7th	11th	10th
2009-2010	9th	9th	4th	9th	10th	t-7th
2010-2011	7th	7th	1st	11th	4th	6th

There are a few things we can take from this table. Although Canada was working with less talented players at Indiana than he will at Wisconsin, his numbers against Big Ten defenses aren't all that impressive. He never led an elite rushing attack, nor did he coach an offense that finished in the top half of the league in third down efficiency. His offenses were more successful passing the ball in a spread offense, which he also ran at Northern Illinois. I'm interested to see how he adapts his philosophy to suit Wisconsin's ground-and-pound tradition. It is comforting to see that his last year as coordinator at Indiana was his best.

What do you think, Badger fans? Are these numbers troubling, or do they not tell the whole story?

Football Links

NIU blogger Mike Breese wasn't a big fan of Canada.

It appears the Badgers have also hired a new linebackers coach.

Montee Ball is behind Matt Barkley and Denard Robinson in Heisman Pundit's pre-spring watch list. (via Dave Heller)

Wisconsin comes in at No. 17 in Sporting News' too-early preseason top 25. (via Dave Heller)

Hoops Links

The Badger hoops team has struggled, statistically speaking.

Three-point shooting, even at the Kohl Center, has been one particularly glaring weakness.

On the other hand, Mike Bruesewitz has been better.

Frank Kaminsky will be facing a familiar foe.

If you're going to the game, make sure to arrive early.

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Comments

Well, assuming it was Canada and not Lynch calling plays for the Hoosiers,

prepare to watch handoffs to tailbacks attempting to run straight through the middle of the line on first down, every time, no matter what the defense looks like. Wisconsin will probably have more success making that work if Canada continues that tradition, but you will likely be frustrated by the predictability of play calls.

A sassy, brassy, classy lassy.

by LoneStarHoosier on Jan 18, 2012 9:31 AM CST reply actions

Different Style of Offense = Different Results

You totally fail to address a few things in this article. 1) He was running a spread offense, so the rushing numbers are totally skewed because of the pass happy nature of that style of offense. 2) You never address where the QB’s he coached ended up ranking. Ben Chappell’s last season in Bloomington (‘10) saw him rank #1 in attempts, completions, and yards passing in the conference. All that while having nothing really around him outside of two good WR’s. (James Hardy comes to mind) 3) The first offense that he ran at Northern Illinois under Jay Novak was a pro-style offense that was very potent. If you were going to do a statistical analysis, why not look at his whole tenure as an offensive coordinator and his coaching career, not just a select 4 years?
It’s not as if he’ll be running the spread offense at Wisconsin, so the numbers don’t really matter at Indiana all that much. The only thing they really indicate is that he can take limited talent in a passing game and make them above average to very good.

by dacsgeek on Jan 18, 2012 9:41 AM CST reply actions

I agree, for the most part

I would have liked to address the issues you brought up if I had the time and space. My goal was merely to take a look at his track record as an offensive coordinator in the Big Ten from a statistical point of view, which obviously is only a small part of the puzzle.

by Sam Zastrow on Jan 18, 2012 11:03 AM CST up reply actions

ha ha

The NIU link tells me Chryst hired Eddie Faulkner as RBs coach — chalk up another Badger for Pitt!

Follow me on Twitter @hoopsmarinara for Wisconsin hoops news, insight and recruiting.

by Phil Mitten on Jan 18, 2012 12:12 PM CST reply actions

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