I thought I would do a little break down weekly of a couple of keys to getting this team to fire on all cylinders heading into camp and the season.
Y'all know as a former coach, I love talking ball with everyone. I hope you guys enjoy my points of view and look forward to the many perspectives / opinions from others.
Let's start it up,
IMHO last year's team really did over achieve in many areas on the field, but still as well as they did in some areas, others were dreadful. So, I want to look at a couple areas every week, one offensively and one defensively.
On the offensive side of the ball, one major deficiency from last year was 2nd quarter production and points. College defensive coordinators can and will make adjustments to any play or offensive style they see on the field. Last year UT owned the 1st quarter while teams were trying to adjust to the tempo of the offense, but once they did UT's offense usually sputtered in the 2nd quarter of games. Let's breakdown some of the causes for this issues and let's look at ways to remedy this problem.
First, I love the pace at which this offense runs at, but unfortunately I believe part of the 2 quarter issues can be linked to the pace of play. Lots of folks realize that the faster you play, the less time a defense has to make adjustments or can substitute. This is very true, but it also gives the offense less time to determine the coverage, where the pressure is coming from or recognize defensive personnel on the field. I truly believe this was part of the lack of 2 quarter production last year. I noticed watching the games again from last year that defenses started playing a lot more press man on outside, zone under with 2 deep zone against UT's offense. This allowed the them to press the outside guys to disrupt the timing and also caused the QB to hold the ball a little longer when he was waiting for receivers to find holes in the under zone. IT allowed teams to zone blitz more, confusing the QB and offensive line at times trying to recognize the pressure or stunt. If I'm not mistaken, I believe UT gave up more sacks in the second quarter than any other, further hindering the offense in bad down and distance.
Now, how can you adjust and not completely change who you are as an offense. Slow it down a little, you don't have to go from 4th gear to first, but nothing wrong with 3rd gear. Snapping the ball 5 to 6 seconds slower could result in recognizing a coverage or pressure. Possibly allowing time to change to another play or simply adjusting the one called to better attack the defense. This could also enable the O-Lne to adjust to the pressure and make the correct pick up call. In those few extra seconds the offense could simply motion or adjust splits to further identify coverage. Another is to be more multiple with your formations and personnel as you roll into the 2 quarter. One other thing I use to do as a coach, was to have another 10 plays scripted for the 2 quarter. Many coaches always seem to script the first 10 to 15 few plays in the first quarter with success and it was always my belief that you could do the same in the 2 qtr. This seems simple, but I believe simple things are what kids can execute the best and sometimes the easiest thing to do for better success.
Well, on to the defense,
I'll hit the oblivious one right off the bat, 3rd down efficiency. This was an area that honestly cost UT two more wins last season and one if not improved will cost them a couple this year. Now, a lot honestly goes into stopping teams on 3rd down and it's honestly never easy. It takes being able to get pressure with your down 4, Linebackers have to get depth in coverage, redirect inside routes and DB's have to play with good inside leverage. Last year, UT literally just could not get pressure with 4 down lineman and it was the biggest contributor to the lack of stops on 3rd down. When they sent pressure with the backers, they to often got stone walled at the line of scrimmage and leaving the inside open to quick slants or crossing routes. Safeties have to be able to cover ground and close throwing lanes quickly.
To improve this year, this team has to find players that "want" to get to the QB, to many times last year I saw guys get stoned and then kind of just stop pressing. UT's ends have got to get on the OTs outside hips quicker, cause them to have to open up their stance and they have to bend to shorten the distance to the QB. Derek Barnett was one of the best I've seen do this at UT in a long time at bending to shorten his path to the QB. When bringing pressure widen the ends to extend the gaps of the O-Line, this creates better opportunities for inside blitzes and stunts to find an opening to the QB. Mix coverages more and drop a DE in that middle zone from time to time when blitzing the ILB. Most teams 90 percent of the time are going to run slants and crossing rub routes to convert 3rd downs. At the end of the day DBs have to have great inside leverage.
Just my thoughts, look forward to hearing from others. Go Vols
Y'all know as a former coach, I love talking ball with everyone. I hope you guys enjoy my points of view and look forward to the many perspectives / opinions from others.
Let's start it up,
IMHO last year's team really did over achieve in many areas on the field, but still as well as they did in some areas, others were dreadful. So, I want to look at a couple areas every week, one offensively and one defensively.
On the offensive side of the ball, one major deficiency from last year was 2nd quarter production and points. College defensive coordinators can and will make adjustments to any play or offensive style they see on the field. Last year UT owned the 1st quarter while teams were trying to adjust to the tempo of the offense, but once they did UT's offense usually sputtered in the 2nd quarter of games. Let's breakdown some of the causes for this issues and let's look at ways to remedy this problem.
First, I love the pace at which this offense runs at, but unfortunately I believe part of the 2 quarter issues can be linked to the pace of play. Lots of folks realize that the faster you play, the less time a defense has to make adjustments or can substitute. This is very true, but it also gives the offense less time to determine the coverage, where the pressure is coming from or recognize defensive personnel on the field. I truly believe this was part of the lack of 2 quarter production last year. I noticed watching the games again from last year that defenses started playing a lot more press man on outside, zone under with 2 deep zone against UT's offense. This allowed the them to press the outside guys to disrupt the timing and also caused the QB to hold the ball a little longer when he was waiting for receivers to find holes in the under zone. IT allowed teams to zone blitz more, confusing the QB and offensive line at times trying to recognize the pressure or stunt. If I'm not mistaken, I believe UT gave up more sacks in the second quarter than any other, further hindering the offense in bad down and distance.
Now, how can you adjust and not completely change who you are as an offense. Slow it down a little, you don't have to go from 4th gear to first, but nothing wrong with 3rd gear. Snapping the ball 5 to 6 seconds slower could result in recognizing a coverage or pressure. Possibly allowing time to change to another play or simply adjusting the one called to better attack the defense. This could also enable the O-Lne to adjust to the pressure and make the correct pick up call. In those few extra seconds the offense could simply motion or adjust splits to further identify coverage. Another is to be more multiple with your formations and personnel as you roll into the 2 quarter. One other thing I use to do as a coach, was to have another 10 plays scripted for the 2 quarter. Many coaches always seem to script the first 10 to 15 few plays in the first quarter with success and it was always my belief that you could do the same in the 2 qtr. This seems simple, but I believe simple things are what kids can execute the best and sometimes the easiest thing to do for better success.
Well, on to the defense,
I'll hit the oblivious one right off the bat, 3rd down efficiency. This was an area that honestly cost UT two more wins last season and one if not improved will cost them a couple this year. Now, a lot honestly goes into stopping teams on 3rd down and it's honestly never easy. It takes being able to get pressure with your down 4, Linebackers have to get depth in coverage, redirect inside routes and DB's have to play with good inside leverage. Last year, UT literally just could not get pressure with 4 down lineman and it was the biggest contributor to the lack of stops on 3rd down. When they sent pressure with the backers, they to often got stone walled at the line of scrimmage and leaving the inside open to quick slants or crossing routes. Safeties have to be able to cover ground and close throwing lanes quickly.
To improve this year, this team has to find players that "want" to get to the QB, to many times last year I saw guys get stoned and then kind of just stop pressing. UT's ends have got to get on the OTs outside hips quicker, cause them to have to open up their stance and they have to bend to shorten the distance to the QB. Derek Barnett was one of the best I've seen do this at UT in a long time at bending to shorten his path to the QB. When bringing pressure widen the ends to extend the gaps of the O-Line, this creates better opportunities for inside blitzes and stunts to find an opening to the QB. Mix coverages more and drop a DE in that middle zone from time to time when blitzing the ILB. Most teams 90 percent of the time are going to run slants and crossing rub routes to convert 3rd downs. At the end of the day DBs have to have great inside leverage.
Just my thoughts, look forward to hearing from others. Go Vols
