Q&A with LSU OC Cam Cameron: 'There will be a noticeable change'
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LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron during LSU's spring football game held in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on Saturday, April 18, 2015. (Photo by Brianna Paciorka, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
By Jim Kleinpeter, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
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on April 02, 2016 at 6:00 AM,
LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron has been a lightning rod for Tiger fans' criticism during the past two seasons of ineffectual offense. LSU had one of the best running games in the nation in 2015 but the passing game ranked 105th, averaging 180 yards per game. That was a big reason for a three-game November nose dive that turned LSU from 7-0 and the No. 2 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings. It almost cost both Cameron and LSU coach Les Miles their jobs.
In this exclusive interview with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, Cameron says fans can expect significant, and noticeable, improvement in the Tigers' offense for a team with 18 starters returning. Cameron also talks about his contract extension, his bout with cancer last year and his family.
How have the quarterbacks looked since the end of the season and how is the offense coming along?
"We did a lot of work prior to the (Texas Bowl) bowl game. Our staff, Les, we wanted to look at those things. . . When we had Zach and that group, we had basically a pocket passing team. We weren't working on the zone reads and a whole series of other things. We started doing more one-on-one with the DBs, walking through our passing game, we made a lot of adjustments during bowl practice and you saw it in the game. It doesn't matter who the opponent is.
Our guys have carried that right into January and February while we were on the road. It's probably the best January and February we've had. Our guys throwing the football, showing up, Brandon (Harris) and Danny (Etling) running the passing sessions. . . we were off to a great start there.
"We've made some adjustments this spring. But Brandon is still a sophomore this spring. He'll be a junior in the fall and he's going to do nothing but get better and better. Danny has been a great addition because he's such a team guy. He understands his role is to compete. We want every guy helping each other grow in the room. We want to have starter No. 1 and starter No. 2, and Justin McMillan is having a nice spring. He's gotten over a couple of hurdles these last few weeks, just getting more comfortable. He's still a freshman.
"I'm pleased with the direction we're headed. I like the way our guys work together. Our receivers are getting better and better. Even though they are young, a lot of them, this is probably going to be a pretty good group, and by receivers I mean backs, tight ends, wide receivers."
Read more...http://www.nola.com/
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Win or be fired:
It is truly on the line for LSU Head Football Coach Les Miles for real guys, because he just can't keep surviving another 2015 disappointment, and keep coaching the LSU Tiger football team.
So Les Miles either starts making crucial first downs in this coming 2016 LSU Football season, or he will be fired for real afterwards.
Like-ReplyIt is truly on the line for LSU Head Football Coach Les Miles for real guys, because he just can't keep surviving another 2015 disappointment, and keep coaching the LSU Tiger football team.
So Les Miles either starts making crucial first downs in this coming 2016 LSU Football season, or he will be fired for real afterwards.
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Cam
Cameron is the sole reason our offense is trash. It's not the players
it's the system. Why did we not fire him this off season.
Like-Reply-----------
Hi Jim ,
Great article
As I was a participant in the coaches clinic , I did not see the ball hit the ground for 20 minutes
The out routes , go routes , and passes to the Rb 's and te's were on the money !
We the coaches were very impressed with both qb's and the wide receivers. It looks to Boris as a major improvement in the passing game as regards to last year
The reads by the qb's were quicker and the throws more accurate !
Tiger fans you will be pleasantly surprised by the vast improvement in the passing game
The touch of Harris and etling was much much better.
Jim I really enjoyed our time together at the clinic .
I alway learn a lot when around you
Best wishes,
Boris
Like-ReplyGreat article
As I was a participant in the coaches clinic , I did not see the ball hit the ground for 20 minutes
The out routes , go routes , and passes to the Rb 's and te's were on the money !
We the coaches were very impressed with both qb's and the wide receivers. It looks to Boris as a major improvement in the passing game as regards to last year
The reads by the qb's were quicker and the throws more accurate !
Tiger fans you will be pleasantly surprised by the vast improvement in the passing game
The touch of Harris and etling was much much better.
Jim I really enjoyed our time together at the clinic .
I alway learn a lot when around you
Best wishes,
Boris
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@Lsu2011secmnc
Thanks, Mr. B. It's always interesting sitting down and talking with
you. Cam opened up and he's pretty confident things will be different.
Like-Reply-----------
Jim,
I don't know if you follow the SEC network or not, but I would like to
pass on to you a comment about Miles and LSU changing up their offensive
philosophy by a former LSU player recently on the Paul Finebaum show.
When asked the question if LSU was truly changing up their offensive
scheme next year, his response was. I don't care what Miles or anyone
else says, as long as Miles is the head coach at LSU and he has the
horses at running back, LSU will run the football the majority of the
time and throw only when they have to throw. With that said, he may be
correct, for how many times in the past has Miles come out and said that
there will be some offensive changes and us fans and the media were
again fed a bunch of bull crap. Your question and answer article with
Cam Cameron was adequate in some ways but it is nothing new that us fans
haven't heard in the past that have not come to be. I myself will
continue to be a doubting Thomas until I see it with my own eyes and
until Harris can consistently complete the short to medium pass routes
nothing will change with this offense. Another good point this former
player said was that all the other coaches know exactly what LSU is
going to do offensively and they don't have much to prepare for in game
plan preparations against LSU. Finally, I fail to understand why the
majority of the media like yourself and the fans continue to fall for
all of these coaches nonsense or may I say, bull crap. Like P.T. Barnum
once quoted, there's a sucker born every minute, and I guess the media
and the LSU fans are a bunch of them.
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@Rat Monster
I'm not sure what you want me to say. This is a Q&A and I let Cam
talk, it's the first time he's spoken publicly since the end of the 2015
season. Take it in the context it's written in. If you have read or
heard any opinions I've expressed, you would know that I have been
critical of the very things you complain about in your post. It's a new
year and with a starting quarterback returning plus eight other
offensive starters, it stands to reason they will be better. Cam is
admitting his failings but LSU will have a better passing game. And he's
not going to publicly criticize Les or his quarterback. Try to read
between the lines a little.
As for the SEC Network guy who played at LSU, did he play for Miles? What does he really know? He doesn't spend one-tenth of the time around LSU that I do. He might be a former LSU player but he's just another talking head brought in because of his name recognition. If LSU has a good season, no one will remember what he said, and that goes for every one of these experts, from Kirk Herbstreit on down. Talk is cheap. But you have to keep things in context and perspective.
-----------As for the SEC Network guy who played at LSU, did he play for Miles? What does he really know? He doesn't spend one-tenth of the time around LSU that I do. He might be a former LSU player but he's just another talking head brought in because of his name recognition. If LSU has a good season, no one will remember what he said, and that goes for every one of these experts, from Kirk Herbstreit on down. Talk is cheap. But you have to keep things in context and perspective.
Your
reply is absolutely perfect. People/fans fail to realize the Sec is
hardly ever won with a one year starter as a freshman or true sophomore.
Harris had better stats than all the best senior sec quarterbacks that
shined when they were sophomores and most were redshirt sophomores.
Harris is going to have a great year after the year experience. People
also
Forget he wasn't 100% the later part of the season. Also is #7 can only get 30 yards against bama I would think the line would have a hard time giving the QB time to through.
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Forget he wasn't 100% the later part of the season. Also is #7 can only get 30 yards against bama I would think the line would have a hard time giving the QB time to through.
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