get off course

"They do not care about how Austin is run — they care about running Austin. They care about who can scream the loudest, and usually that ends up being people with the least amount of integrity. And the entire Legislature is sick and tired of it. Nothing is good enough. And the second you get off course, you're going to get hammered."

“Just walk straight forward, Mrs. Frisby. There’s nothing to trip over, and nothing to bump into. If you get off course, you’ll feel the wall.”

“I don’t think they need to get off course with their strategy. I just think they have to address it as it comes up and move on.”

Well, not really, but it's bad to get off course here.

LeMay's capacity for anger has probably never been tested to its fullest: he runs himself as he flies an airplane; to spout smoke or to get off course would be inefficient.