Talking football.

[gef21]

So I have a slow year (will explain that in a second) and it is a tough Rutgers football season to say the least. I figure I would start a thread to see if anyone has questions about anything in regards to coaching, football, recruiting, concept, etc. etc. I love talking football and I do not pretend to know everything but I figure I have somewhat of a unique perspective on football in NJ.
I played in HS and was a decent player but nothing special. I understood the game but was never fast enough or big enough to be an elite player.

I started coaching at 18 (2 years as a youth coach getting my 60 credits) and doing film break down and review for a successful HS team. I spent the next 5 years coaching at that HS team and had a lot of success. I was a RB coach all 5 years but spent time as a OLB, and DL coach. During those 5 years I was the run game coordinator for 3 and then the special teams coordinator for the final 2. After those 5 years I left, because I needed a teaching job, and spent 2 years coaching at another school as an OC and RB coach. Had a lot of success there. From there I spent 2 years as a special teams coordinator and a RB coach at the D1aa level. Had a ton of success but decided to return to high school coaching and teaching. I spent 2 years as a special teams coordinator RB coach and LB coach at a high school and then moved on to spend 2 years as a DC for another school and helped turn the program around. I took the year off this year and am currently advising a very successful south jersey program (who offered me a coordinator spot but I turned it down). I currently am waiting on 4 offers to see which one will come up with a teaching job to go with it.

I currently have kids playing at every level in the college world. I have never sent a kid to the NFL.

If anyone has any questions about anything (including film stuff on recruits or Rutgers football film) I will always talk football.

I was bored and figured I would start a thread.

 

[Knight Shift]

Why do we suck so bad right now? LOL. No, that was not a serious question.

How are game day decisions made within most coaching circles.
Does the run game coordinator put his stamp on the starting RBs, and the OC blesses it and the HC accepts it? Or does the Head Coach have final call on all such decisions--or does it depend on the head coach.

Because you may have noticed that the QB choice tends to garner a lot of interest and controversy.

But I am sort of curious about the RBs, and why Hicks has been pretty invisible this year.

 

[Knight Shift]

And one other question--what % of players are great in practice, and are so-so or terrible in games--and the opposite--do some players practice poorly and light it up game time?

 

[RutgersRaRa]

gef, I appreciate all your posts and learn a lot from them. Thanks for this thread. My first question (of perhaps more to come) is, other than where they line up, what are the primary differences between the Will and Sam? Speed, size, tackling, blitzing opportunities, etc.

 

[gef21]

HC had final call on everything and anything. That being said the best teams I have née a part of the HC does very little coaching and trusts his assistants. As the run game coordinator my job was to identify, from film, what formations and runs I thought would be effective. The OC and I would then sit down and discuss our plan of attack. That would include formstion, personnel, packages, and anything we needed to install.

As a rb coach my job was to make sure kids were prepared and identify who would out us in the best positions to be successful. The OC and HC could make a final call but the best teams I was ever with they trusted my decision on who to play and when to pull them.

 

[gef21]

And one other question--what % of players are great in practice, and are so-so or terrible in games--and the opposite--do some players practice poorly and light it up game time?

I've had one player who was lazy and a pain in the ass in prsctice. He rushed for 1800 his junior year and 1600 his senior year. He had 6 carries for 5 tds and 300 yds in a HS game. Everyone else I've ever coached that has been successful worked their asses off in practice and the off season.

 

[gef21]

gef, I appreciate all your posts and learn a lot from them. Thanks for this thread. My first question (of perhaps more to come) is, other than where they line up, what are the primary differences between the Will and Sam? Speed, size, tackling, blitzing opportunities, etc.

This really depends on the defense you are running.

Generally what I looked for in a will was his intelligence, because he has to stay home, and he must be a tremendous tackler. Usually he would end up being a small guy in high school.

My sam would be my best all around lb. He would have to be big, physical, athletic, and fast. As we saw more spreads and I morphed my defense from a 4 3 cover 4 shell to a 4 2 5 our sam became a bigger safety type.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

This really depends on the defense you are running.

Generally what I looked for in a will was his intelligence, because he has to stay home, and he must be a tremendous tackler. Usually he would end up being a small guy in high school.

My sam would be my best all around lb. He would have to be big, physical, athletic, and fast. As we saw more spreads and I morphed my defense from a 4 3 cover 4 shell to a 4 2 5 our sam became a bigger safety type.

When the Will "stays home," is that because he generally covers an area rather than a man? And does this mean he tends to blitz less than the Sam or is that irrelevant? Also, I thought the mike was the most physical. I remember Harry Carson saying that Carl Banks was a better LB than Lawrence Taylor in the Giants' defense because he held down the middle so well, though not sure how that's measured.

 

[gef21]

When the Will "stays home," is that because he generally covers an area rather than a man? And does this mean he tends to blitz less than the Sam or is that irrelevant?

The will looks for cut back, boot, and reverse. And zone or man depends completely on defensive scheme. For me he was a third down blitzer.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

When a sam blitzed did that mean the safety had to crouch up in case the TE goes into the flat or runs a crossing route?

 

[gef21]

When a sam blitzed did that mean the safety had to crouch up in case the TE goes into the flat or runs a crossing route?

Good question and it entirely depends on scheme. We ran pattern read. So if I'm blitzing the Sam I would have us in our cover 4 shell but we would be in our cover 3 or our squat call. We would not blitz the Sam to any trips unless it was 3rd and long. The safety would run vertical with #2 wr (a te or slot) until his flat was threatened.

 

[gef21]

The LB questions are actually very important to Rutgers because our LB play is quite poor right now. It's the huge thing I've noticed about our run defense.

 

[Scarlet4Shore]

This may seem like a silly question to some, but what are the outside receivers doing when they are on the line of scrimmage and raise their arm toward the sideline? To make sure they are on the line of scrimmage?

Also, what's the difference between a running back, a half back, and a tailback?

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Good question and it entirely depends on scheme. We ran pattern read. So if I'm blitzing the Sam I would have us in our cover 4 shell but we would be in our cover 3 or our squat call. We would not blitz the Sam to any trips unless it was 3rd and long. The safety would run vertical with #2 wr (a te or slot) until his flat was threatened.

This sounds exactly what the New England Pats' type of offense is designed to be effective against. Quick and precise underneath route runners and a QB who makes great pre-snap reads.

 

[gef21]

This may seem like a silly question to some, but what are the outside receivers doing when they are on the line of scrimmage and raise their arm toward the sideline? To make sure they are on the line of scrimmage?

Also, what's the difference between a running back, a half back, and a tailback?

When the wr raises his hand he is telling the ref he is on the line.

Running back and tailback no. H back is a full back that goes out in passes a lot. Think brian Leonard.

 

[Blitz8RUCrazy]

Why are our special teams atrocious?

 

[RU5781]

What's your opinion on Drew? I love him. I think we don't have the horses to run the offense, but we have to run it to show recruits how and where they fit in.

 

[gef21]

Why are our special teams atrocious?

I would actually love to have real film of the RU games and watch the special teams. I can not tell if it is a scheme problem or just a talent problem.

Two red flags to me are the dropped kicks. That is inexcusable. The second is the pause our returners take as soon as they catch the ball. I hate that. Maybe it is something they teach them to do but I dislike it a lot.

I think we void our lanes too much on kick off, which might be a product of us not being strong enough yet, but it could also be a practice thing.

 

[gef21]

What's your opinion on Drew? I love him. I think we don't have the horses to run the offense, but we have to run it to show recruits how and where they fit in.

I am biased here because I am anti power spread. It is just wing t concepts spread out. I hate the wing T. I am a single back, stretch zone guy. Two TE sets or the H/slot flexed out.

I think we have the horses to run it minus the lead horse. We have no QB to run this offense.

I question what our actual plan of attack in the passing game is. We have rolled our QBs more to their weak side than strong side. We rarely attack the middle of the field. I do not like how we block jet sweep at all.

That being said I am a Drew fan. He is a young guy who is learning. I said from the start that this staff is going to have a learning curve because they are young.

I think a huge issue is our O line is not playing very well.

 

[RUJMM78]

Why does Rutgers have such difficulty getting a consistent pass rush?This has been a ongoing problem with different head coaches.

 

[gef21]

Why does Rutgers have such difficulty getting a consistent pass rush?This has been a ongoing problem with different head coaches.

We do not have the horses to consistently get pressure from a 4 man rush. We have beefed up a bit, but this has slowed our stunts down. We need to scheme more to create pass rush opportunities, but that takes guys out of coverage. I think as our secondary gets better we will see our defense bringing more heat from different levels.

 

[ScarletDave]

How much of a "script" is there in a gameplan? Ie., do the coaches say "alright, we're going to run it on 1st down in the first 3 drives, then pass if it's 2nd and 5 or longer" etc, or are those decisions made in-game and based on some criteria, like if the score is this then we pass here, or run here, etc. Do they plan all the way to the fourth quarter?

I say this because as fans, especially when watching on TV, it seems most of us would say "you have to pass here" or "you have to go over the middle" etc on a certain play, making the decision right there based on the situation only, and then the team does something completely different and it doesn't work, is that because the coaches have a plan and they are sticking to it? Thanks

 

[gef21]

How much of a "script" is there in a gameplan? Ie., do the coaches say "alright, we're going to run it on 1st down in the first 3 drives, then pass if it's 2nd and 5 or longer" etc, or are those decisions made in-game and based on some criteria, like if the score is this then we pass here, or run here, etc. Do they plan all the way to the fourth quarter?

I say this because as fans, especially when watching on TV, it seems most of us would say "you have to pass here" or "you have to go over the middle" etc on a certain play, making the decision right there based on the situation only, and then the team does something completely different and it doesn't work, is that because the coaches have a plan and they are sticking to it? Thanks

Offensively I have been a part of programs where we literally script our first 15 plays and stick to it.

There will be many situations where an OC will say were running this in these situations and stick to it. When I was an OC I knew exactly what I was going to call on the next play 95% of the time.

My last two years as a DC I had a chart, that was new for every game, that would have the exact play I wanted to run broken down by placement on field, time of game, down, and distance. All of that was based on film that I would watch of the other team.

Sometimes that goes out the window but a lot of times everything if called for a reason and was determined from watching film.

 

[gef21]

If I can find one of my old play sheets, in digital form, I will attach it to show you what it looks like.

 

[gef21]

I figured I would put my take on the game in this thread.

1. The offense looked improved. RT is terrible. I mean I rarely scream while watching a game (I am not coaching in) and twice I flipped out. My wife told me to calm down. I hope he gets screamed at in film session.

I love our read option play when we use the H to make the read jump in or out. We made money all day off of it.

I loved how we attacked the secondary. I liked a lot of the pass combos we ran and, with better pass protection, would have been more effective.

2. The defense is up and down right now. The biggest issue is our Lbs. They are trying, and sometimes make great plays, but we scrape very badly. We get caught on blocks constantly, and we over pursue without getting our shoulders square constantly (which is why we allow the cut back underneath a lot). They have potential but just have zero experience.

3. Special teams. I have said all year our KOR coverage is going to give up a TD because of the way we line up and way we play the gaps. Our KR game is terrible, i can not figure out our PR game. I think the only positive unit is the punt team.

I think we have a shot to win 2 to 3 games this season but could easily win zero.

 

[miketd1]

2. The defense is up and down right now. The biggest issue is our Lbs. They are trying, and sometimes make great plays, but we scrape very badly. We get caught on blocks constantly, and we over pursue without getting our shoulders square constantly (which is why we allow the cut back underneath a lot). They have potential but just have zero experience.

Could this have something to do with the Cover-4 scheme in general?

It would appear that we are expecting our front 4 to attack which puts a lot of pressure on the LBs to get off blocks because they are "uncovered".

This guy does a much better job of explaining what I'm asking:
Importance of the MIKE in a wide-9 scheme

 

[gef21]

Could this have something to do with the Cover-4 scheme in general?

It would appear that we are expecting our front 4 to attack which puts a lot of pressure on the LBs to get off blocks because they are "uncovered".

This guy does a much better job of explaining what I'm asking:
Importance of the MIKE in a wide-9 scheme

This question touches a lot of things.

The first is we do not run a true cover 4. We run a cover 4 shell pattern read. This means that our players are not just bailing but they are playing the combination of routes in front of them. This means that a CB could have deep 1/4 responsibility but because of what happens in front of him he will stay in the flat.

I do not think our LBs are in a bad spot, in the run game, with playing our cover 4 pattern read. They pursue the ball at a mediocre level. they have frozen feet, and they are not great at taking on blocks. We have flashes but zero consistency. I would say the issue is 2 things. The first is a lack of football IQ, which is coming from having never played in game. They are late getting to the ball because they are reacting late. The second thing is we do a very bad job of getting off blocks and moving through traffic. The old rule for LB is scrape cloudy to clear. This means the LB will run, down hill, and get square when he sees a clear hole. We do not get square when we see the hole and it gives the RB a great cut back through an arm tackle.

 

[Knight Shift]

I figured I would put my take on the game in this thread.

1. The offense looked improved. RT is terrible. I mean I rarely scream while watching a game (I am not coaching in) and twice I flipped out. My wife told me to calm down. I hope he gets screamed at in film session.

I love our read option play when we use the H to make the read jump in or out. We made money all day off of it.

I loved how we attacked the secondary. I liked a lot of the pass combos we ran and, with better pass protection, would have been more effective.

2. The defense is up and down right now. The biggest issue is our Lbs. They are trying, and sometimes make great plays, but we scrape very badly. We get caught on blocks constantly, and we over pursue without getting our shoulders square constantly (which is why we allow the cut back underneath a lot). They have potential but just have zero experience.

3. Special teams. I have said all year our KOR coverage is going to give up a TD because of the way we line up and way we play the gaps. Our KR game is terrible, i can not figure out our PR game. I think the only positive unit is the punt team.

I think we have a shot to win 2 to 3 games this season but could easily win zero.

RT is a freshman, and this was his first start. Mehringer said after the game that he thought he played "pretty well." He agrees with your wife on this. LOL.
http://www.app.com/story/sports/col...ersexplains-qb-shuffle-crucial-time/92650150/

 

[gef21]

RT is a freshman, and this was his first start. Mehringer said after the game that he thought he played "pretty well." He agrees with your wife on this. LOL.
http://www.app.com/story/sports/col...ersexplains-qb-shuffle-crucial-time/92650150/

He played well in the run game but twice that speed rusher went right by him untouched and hit the hell out of gio. I mean his head did not even move. Maybe it was someone elses job to pick him up but there was no back or anything.

Maybe I missed something haha.

 

[RU205]

Gef. Last year we had a long discussion about the DBs poor play. Getting beat off the line, being in a trail position and not turning their heads around on long passes.

What is your take on the DB play this year? They seem to be playing better. Has cover 4 made it easier for them.?

Thanks for the good discussion.

 

[gef21]

Look at :41. Granted we score here but the RT does not do his job. This exact thing resulted in a sack earlier and got him hit. They run a 5 man pressure. The center picks up the 3 technique, the guard picks up the LB who fakes going C gap and then goes b, and the rush end goes untouched with our RT blocking no one.

Again we do score here but this happened multiple times and it did not end in positive situation for us.

 

[gef21]

Gef. Last year we had a long discussion about the DBs poor play. Getting beat off the line, being in a trail position and not turning their heads around on long passes.

What is your take on the DB play this year? They seem to be playing better. Has cover 4 made it easier for them.?

Thanks for the good discussion.

Even after sitting down with Rossi last year I did not understand the defense we were trying to run. we ran a cover 2 base last year with the CB attacking inside of #1 and the safeties on the outside. Essentially we were to cut slants off and then run vertical. We did not have the athletes to do it. It terrified me.

I love us running the pattern read cover 4. It is the defense I run, I think it is tremendous and simple.

I think we are still not doing a great job of putting our hands on WRs and really reading the routes. We peak a little too much and still get beat. I think we are improving. I want to see the LBs getting more comfortable knocking routes off of their mark BUT the LBs have a lot to worry about and fixing their run game fills is way more of a priority than taking away a dig or a slant.

That being said we got a pick six because he followed the routes and it brought him to the football. He was not reading the QB he was playing his pass route reads and it brought him to the football.

 

[miketd1]

He probably saw the boundary LB moving and thought "cross-dog blitz" in which 2 come and he plays it inside to outside.

Except the boundary LB went all the way to the field to cover the RB.

That's definitely confusing...

PS: I'm not sure how DM makes his playcalls, but I've read that a lot of spread teams don't tell the line what the play is -- just how to block. So it's possible he didn't know the RB behind him was running to the flat and that the LB was just following him there. All he sees are the LBs moving in a way pretty similar to a cross-dog set-up.

 

[gef21]

He probably saw the boundary LB moving and thought "cross-dog blitz" in which 2 come and he plays it inside to outside.

Except the boundary LB went all the way to the field to cover the RB.

That's definitely confusing...

PS: I'm not sure how DM makes his playcalls, but I've read that a lot of spread teams don't tell the line what the play is -- just how to block. So it's possible he didn't know the RB behind him was running to the flat and that the LB was just following him there. All he sees are the LBs moving in a way pretty similar to a cross-dog set-up.

Ive never heard the term cross dog but I see where you are going with it. Even if he is watching that LB in man coverage two linemen will never go to the same game. The way he steps he covers B gap and so does the Guard. He has to get his kick step bigger (look at the steps our LT takes) in order to see anything that is coming.

They most likely identify the mike and block it by splitting a g/t one way and a g/t/c the other way.

He may have missed a call that the back was leaving or not there. And if that is the case it happened multiple times in the game. It seems that they are voiding the weakside A gap, putting the blitz in front of gio so he can see it. But we do not pick up C gap, while leaving A open.

 

[miketd1]

Ive never heard the term cross dog but I see where you are going with it. Even if he is watching that LB in man coverage two linemen will never go to the same game. The way he steps he covers B gap and so does the Guard. He has to get his kick step bigger (look at the steps our LT takes) in order to see anything that is coming.

They most likely identify the mike and block it by splitting a g/t one way and a g/t/c the other way.

He may have missed a call that the back was leaving or not there. And if that is the case it happened multiple times in the game. It seems that they are voiding the weakside A gap, putting the blitz in front of gio so he can see it. But we do not pick up C gap, while leaving A open.

It's a Pittsburgh Steeler favorite.

 

[rcube1994]

Are there any good websites/blogs/books you can recommend that explains strategy, defensive formations, etc. for someone that hasnt played the game?

 

[gef21]

View embedded media

It's a Pittsburgh Steeler favorite.

Similar except the N goes A gap and the M goes B gap. The motion that the Will goes in puts him on a trejectory to either blitz C gap or go into man coverage on the HB.

 

[gef21]

Are there any good websites/blogs/books you can recommend that explains strategy, defensive formations, etc. for someone that hasnt played the game?

If you really want to understand our defense get anything by Narduzzi on the cover 4 defense. His books and DVDs are solid gold mines of info.

Are you looking for more fundamental type stuff or tactical stuff?

 

[miketd1]

gef: I envy you bro. X&Os are just a hobby for me. You're actually living it!

I remember most of my coaches quite fondly. They taught me some very valuable lessons that I carry with me to this day.

rcube: If you need a primer (click pictures):




When you're ready for more in-depth stuff:




After those books, the (internet)world is your oyster -- so much good stuff out there with clever Googling.

But these are good books that can provide you with a solid knowledge base to build upon.

Have fun!

 

[rcube1994]

Thanks, will start with those books. I watch a lot of football but want to understand more about the underlying strategy and these seem like a good place to start.