Wednesday, August 29, 2007

1 day until we have college footbal


In 1 day, we will get to see QBs begin to break contaiinment.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Monday, August 27, 2007

Sunday, August 26, 2007

4 days until college football


4 days until we can watch WRs commit offensive pass interference.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

5 days left until we have college football


In 5 days, we can see WRs like Howard Morrow stretch out to make a catch.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Single back option offense without a running QB

One of the difficulties of running a run-n-shoot or spread offense was the lack of a true option game out of a four wide receiver set. Yes, you could run speed option with the QB and RB, or even a triple option using the RB as the dive player and a motioning WR as the pitch man, but you then lost the advantage of having four WRs in a pattern.
The solution to this problem was the creation of the Dart series, which gave the offensive line the advantage of zone-blocked double teams on the playside, while leaving the backside DE, the read man, unblocked. The QB read the unblocked DE, and either gave the ball to the RB, who attacked the playside 1-tech, or he kept, and ran a sweep outside the crashing DE. You could run inside and outsize zone, as well as traps, in the Dart series.
The problem then became what to do when you didn't have an incredibly mobile QB. Defenses could tell their Ends to crash every time, forcing the Take read by the QB, and giving their LBs a free shot at a lumbering QB.
Using Orbit motion, I think I may have found a solution to this problem.

One of the wide receivers will go in motion as the QB calls the plays; when the ball is snapped, the orbiting receiver speeds back and around into the backfield in a half-circle motion, like a planet in orbit, gaining depth and speed. The QB fakes the hand-off to the RB, who crosses in front of him to sell the fake and runs behind the trap block of the backside guard, as the line blocks this play the same as they would a Dart Trap. The playside DE now has a decision; he can crash down to stop the trap, or he can come upfield and attack the QB. Both decisions are wrong. As the orbiting receiver hits the outside of his arc to playside, the QB simply tosses the ball to the receiver, like a normal sweep play. The orbiting back is far enough outside the DE that he can't reach hm as he speeds past the line of scrimmage, and into the secondary.


The A-receiver goes in orbit motion around the backfield, receives the toss, and sweeps upfield

The advantage of this play is that it doesn't require a read by the QB, you can just use a Give (for the Trap) or Pitch playcall, so you don't have to teach a read. The QB doesn't have to learn the footwork or the technique to run option, nor does he have to attack the DE, putting himself in jeopardy. This play also takes advantage of a speed burner at WR, and allows every single one of your WRs to become a possible ballcarrier in the running game.
With a Trap option for the RB, Toss for any of the four WRs, and a Keep option if you do have a mobile QB, you have a nice robust series of 6 plays off of that one motion. And we haven't even looked at using counter motion to cut back and use the trap blocking backside.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Nice article on Matt Featherston

Not a fan of Robert Cessna, but he pens a nice piece on LB Matt Featherston. I've been a fan of Matt's ever since I saw his recruiting picture on signing day, and it looked like a prison mug shot. You knew when you saw the picture that this kid was a linebacker.
An interesting note on Featherston is that A&M offensive coordinator Les Koenning's father coached him in the HS All-American game that got him noticed by A&M, and that relationship helped in his recruitment.
I guess that is one thing I can give Koenning Jr. credit for, which is more than I would have given him credit for before today.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Cody Wallace on the Playboy All-American Team

I hope Cody had fun partying at the Playboy Mansion. The only thing I'm really curious about is the exclusion of Mississippi's standout left tackle, Michael Oher. Oher might be the first offensive lineman taken in the 2008 NFL Draft, but the writers at Playboy don't think he is good enough to be on their list?
Limas Sweed is on their list, if they're going to have an overrated player like him on there, they can put a guy who actually produces (Oher) on there.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Aggies appear to still be looking for a backup FB

Jodie Richardson came out of Spring Practice as the back-up fullback to starter Chris Alexander; now comes word that the Aggies are looking at walk-on Nick LaMantia as a possible back-up for Alexander. I don't know what Fran is thinking here, but I think this means that we need to really, really hope Chris Alexander stays healthy throughout the season.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

texas WRs dropping like flies

Billy Pittman is the third texas wide receiver to go down with injuries this off-season, joining Jordan Shipley (hamstring pull) and Limas Sweed (wrist). Pittman joined them this week, when he injured his shoulder. Pittman is out indefinitely, Sweed will probably be back in time for TCU, and who knows what is going on with Shipley.
I think if they have one more WR go down, they can use their injured receivers as an explanation for their poor secondary play, just like Fran did for us in 2005.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Possible replacements for Fran

I always like to keep a list of candidates ready for the A&M football job, just in case we need to fire our head coach.

My current list:

1. Rich Rodriguez - West Virginia: Yes, I know he turned down the Alabama job and the multi-millions that would have gone with acceptance to stay in his native West Virginia, but I still feel he is someone you have to approach. I am someone who believes that 'perception' really doesn't matter when you conduct your coaching search, so if your #1 candidate says he isn't interested, it doesn't doom your program. The important thing is to hire a winner, not worry about what sportswriters think. Rodriguez is a winner.

2. Bill Cowher - retired, former head coach of Pittsburgh Steelers: He won a Super Bowl and was a very successful coach in the NFL for many years. His NFL pedigree and winning ways would attract recruits galore, and his defensive-minded, ball control style would fit in with many die-hards at A&M. Only knock against him is I've heard rumors that Penn State may be looking at him to eventually replace Joe Paterno, whenever he decides to leave. Cowher may also be looking for another NFL job whenever he ends his current 'sabbatical'.

3. Steve Kragthorpe - Louisville: Krag did an outstanding job building Tulsa into a respectable program, and is stepping into the bigtime in a BCS conference with the Louisville job. Coach Krag has a history with A&M, having spent time here as our offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach from 1997-2000. Only knock on Krag is that he would be a one-year guy at a 'major' program before we hired him.

4. dark horse - Todd Dodge, University of North Texas: Todd Dodge has been the best high school coach in the State of Texas in the last 5 years, leading Southlake Carroll High School to a 79-1 record, including three consecutive undefeated seasons and three straight state titles before leaving after last season. I think Coach Dodge is going to be very successful at UNT, making him a candidate for bigger and better jobs. Similar to Krag, only knock on hiring Dodge would be that he has only been the head man for one year at a minor program. Also, with such a short tenure, we would have no idea of how well his program develops/his recruiting benefits the program. However, if UNT wins 8 games this season and goes to a bowl, I think you're going to see plenty of people after Coach Dodge.

Those are just a few names at the top of my list. Who is on yours?

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Red Bryant and Chris Harrington ready to play pain-free in 2007

Red Bryant blew out his knee in game 9, and missed the final four games of the season last year. Chris Harrington played the second half of the season with a bum shoulder. Now, both are ready to play without pain in '07, and lead the Ags to a Big 12 Championship.
I'm just thrilled we have Bryant's leadership back for '07. I believe Harrington can have an All-American type season for A&M this year, if we win enough games to get him the media attention he deserves.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Football notes

Jerrod Johnson is making progress at QB, there is less drop-off between the second team and the first team, the coaches have a new way to signify the play ending on game film, and more..

I'm happy Jerrod is making progress, but knowing Fran, I don't think this means we'll be seeing more playing time from him than the token garbage duty at the end of blowouts. This is Fran's time to blow smoke up everyone's rear.

I did enjoy the new method to signify the end of the play on film:

" Throwing in the towel: A&M coaches created a way while watching film during spring drills to know when the whistle blew, so they could know if the players were going full tilt until the play ended.
"A manager holds a towel up when the ball is snapped and when we have a coach blow the whistle, [the manager] throws up the towel at the end the whistle," A&M offensive coordinator Les Koenning Jr. said. "So we can tell who is loafing on the play. "

I need to take note of that, b/c it may prove useful later on, when filming games.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Chris Alexander gets some love

Robert Cessna often annoys me with the myopic drivel he writes, but not today. He pens a wonderful piece on the Aggies' unsung backfield hero, Chris Alexander. Alexander was the lead blocker on many key plays last season, most notably the load option play that gave A&M the 1st quarter TD to take the lead against texas.
I also had the chance to meet Alexander's mom after a few games in the 2004 season who is a wonderful lady, so Chris has always been a favorite player of mine.
Since Chris was second team All-Big 12 last season at FB, there is a pretty decent chance he'll make first team this season.
It would be some nice recognition for a very deserving player.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Big 12 to study Big Televen's new network

The Big 12 Conference is perfectly happy to let the Big Televen be the guinea pig in an experiment of a major BCS conference forming its own television network.
While I am still majorly skeptical that a television network featuring women's gymnastics and men's wrestling as its feature attractions will be successful, the whole experiment has me morbidly curious, to see if Big Televen fans will actually watch non-revenue sports on television in numbers large enough to sustain a network.
I don't think carrying Purdue/Northwestern football games will make the network a success, but I'm willing to wait and see.
I think the Big 12 and SEC Conferences are doing the right thing by letting the Big Televen put their money up to see if they can make a go of this network.
The unwitting beneficiary of such a network may be college baseball; they may get more time on television, and help attract more fans to the college game.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

CBS Sportsline gives a projected starting line-up

CBS Sportsline gives a projected starting line-up for the 2007 Aggies, as well as offering some other predictions on the team.
While I normally ignore semi-informed fluff about the program on sites such as these, their projections aren't bad, if a little disappointing.

Their projection:

Offense -- QB Stephen McGee, RB Jorvorskie Lane, FB Chris Alexander, WR Pierre Brown, WR Earvin Taylor, TE Martellus Bennett, QT Yemi Babalola, QG Kirk Elder, C Cody Wallace, SG Chris Yoder, ST Corey Clark.

Defense -- DE Chris Harrington, DT Red Bryant, NT Henry Smith, DE Cyril Obiozor, SLB Mark Dodge, MLB Misi Tupe, WHIP Jordan Pugh, CB Danny Gorrer, CB Jordan Peterson, FS Devin Gregg, SS Alton Dixon.

I'll be somewhat disappointed if Kellen Heard doesn't break into the starting lineup at NT at some point this season. Ignoring his problems with late hit penalties last season, the kid is a beast inside.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Suggested reading

I am currently reading When the Game Stands Tall, a book on Concorde De La Salle High School's improbable 151-game winning streak in football, and their coach, Bob Ladoceur.
I'm only a hundred pages into the book, but it is riveting reading. It covers the 2002 season, when they play national powers Hawaii St. Louis HS, Long Beach Poly HS, and others.
Of course, it is nice to see that De La Salle runs the split-veer option as their offense of choice. Ladoceur believed it gave his kids the best chance to win against teams with superior talent, and he was right. His emphasis on fundamentals, especially on the offensive line, which he coaches, is integral.


Former Spartan and UCLA star Maurice Jones-Drew is featured on the cover.

Notes to self

In the future, when volunteering to coach at a youth football clinic, make sure the organizers have enough sense to cut back the planned hours of instruction when the heat index travels to over a hundred.
We don't have high school athletes, those kids who we assume actually know the game, and are in some semblance of physical shape, stay out in the blazing sun for over three hours during two-a-days; there is no reason to have 6-12 yr olds out in the sun from 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Next time we're at an event where an Aggie great like two-time Super Bowl winner Detron Smith is present to speak, bring a camera.

Detron spoke to several different groups, delivering a great message about the value of teamwork, goal setting, and believing in yourself.
I was able to talk to him briefly, but a picture for my brother would have been nice. Detron was one-half of my brother's all-time favorite fullback duo, Detron Smith and Cliff Groce.


Looks a lot meaner than he is.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Sorry for the delay between posts

Technical difficulties prevented me from posting yesterday.

Today's news......

Jorvorskie Lane says he wants to rush for 1,000 yds and 24 TDs this season. If Lane keeps his weight down, and Fran gives him the necessary number of carries, especially in short yardage and goal-to-go, Lane can make those numbers.

Fran is 'intrigued' by true freshman safety Billy Chavis. At 6'5, 231 lbs, Chavis' size and the hitting ability he's displayed so far in practice have Fran touting him early. At that size, he sounds like a true OLB for a 3-4 defense, although we'll never run that.
I just don't want Fran to get cute, and do something that screws up the kid's development.

Fran is going to design some plays specifically for Jerrod Johnson. While this may cause some fans to overflow with optimism about the possibilities with Johnson and McGee in the same backfield, I'm fairly certain we're just talking about a few inside zone plays for a goal-line package. If we actually use Johnson like Florida used Tim Tebow in the 'Tim series' last season, I'll be pleasantly surprised.


QBs Stephen McGee, T.J. Sanders, and Jerrod Johnson at practice

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Wide receivers will be key this season

The Eagle takes a look at A&M's wide receiver situation this season. If we are going to truly make the spread portion of our spread option scheme work, we need to be able to execute the base scheme of mesh routes, and that means we need our WRs to make plays for us this season.
The running game, with returning starts on the OL and in the backfield, should be stellar.
What we want, though, is an offense that is equally lethal in the air and on the ground, and for that to happen, we need to find some playmakers at WR.
Personally, my money is on Kerry Franks, E.J. Shankle, and Pierre Brown to step it up big for us this season.



WR/KR Kerry Franks goes the distance against Texas Tech

Monday, August 6, 2007

Football news

Japhus Brown won't be returning to the team, having failed to qualify academically to play his senior season. While I'm disappointed we lose him as a player, I really hope he sticks it out and finishes his classwork, so he can graduate.

Also, I am impressed so far with what Randy Shannon has done at Miami, from a discipline standpoint. He is cracking down on his players, hard. I only hope their issues on offense continue long enough for us to beat them when we play them in Coral Gables this season.
Miami @ Miami is still the scariest game on our schedule, imo.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Big Televen expansion

There are rumors going around that should Notre Dame not accept another overture from the Big Televen to join their conference, The Conference That Can't Count will pursue texas university. Since texas basically won't go anywhere without Texas A&M in tow (I don't think the politicos in the Texas Legislature will allow it), this would be a move that would effect A&M.
However, I believe the travel costs for the non-revenue sports like women's swimming and men's tennis, et al., would make such a move cost prohibitive.
A move to another conference would also mean texas would be playing A&M and Oklahoma as out-of-conference games, which means they would only have two non-conference games to start the season that are already pre-determined. I don't see either A&M or Oklahoma changing the game dates they've had for years now, so it would royally screw with texas' conference schedule, if they made the move.
I wouldn't mind seeing A&M and texas in different conferences, mainly b/c it would strengthen the perception of college football in Texas. With two schools in two different BCS conferences, the schools could play each other at the end of the season, and regardless of who wins, it won't effect their ability to win their respective conferences and go to a BCS bowl. The situation they had in Florida with UF in the SEC, FSU in the ACC, and Miami in the Big East is a perfect example of this situation.
Regardless, I don't see this move happening.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

A&M ranked #25 in pre-season poll

I don't put much stock in pre-season polls, but A&M is ranked #25 in the USA Today coaches poll. It doesn't mean anything to me, b/c we'll know what kind of team we have after we face Fresno State and Miami, but it is better than being unranked.
Another positive is it guarantees our highlights will make Sportscenter.

I do think it is a joke that we're ranked behind Florida State, Nebraska, and Rutgers, but if we're a good team, we'll move ahead of those teams.

I will enjoy watching texas fall from their perch at #4.

I also think Oklahoma is overrated at #8.

Friday, August 3, 2007

The philosophy of a series-based offense

The offensive philosophy of a series-based offense is simple: We will run one play, our bread and butter play, that you won't be able to stop. If you over-align yourselves to stop that one play, you leave yourself open to the other plays in that offensive series.
A perfect example of this is the Double Wing Offense, a ground-bound offense that currently holds the national HS record for average points scored in a game, with Don Markham winning a state championship while averaging 63 points per game.
The main play of the Double Wing Offense is the Toss, or Power play.



Double wing power play video

Once the defense has become accustomed to seeing the wingback receive the pitch on Toss, the LBs and DTs will be slanting playside every time they see motion to stop the play. When this happens, the offensive coordinator will call a Counter.
The Counter shows the same motion and backfield action as the Power, but with the backside wingback taking the ball and coming back the other way, away from motion, countering the normal action of the Power play. In this way, you take advantage of the LBs and DTs being out of position watching for Power, and pop the Counter for a big play.


The Double Wing Counter play video

After the defense decides they are tired of getting hammered off-tackle by the Power and Counter, they will bring all their defenders up on the line to stuff the run. Often, they will stack LBs and CBs over and outside the OTs and TEs. The offensive coordinator will then call for the Wedge, having the whole offensive line attack one defensive lineman (usually the NT) as a unit. The five-on-one blocking is brutal, but effective. Wedge-blocking is often used in the NFL and college football in short yardage situations.

The Wedge play

Once the whole defense is packed into the box, and the offense has the defense committed to playing "football in a phone booth", the offensive coordinator can then call on a variety of play-action passes to his TEs or wingbacks, exposing DEs and LBs who are crashing down into the line, expecting a downblock that never materializes.


Passing from the Double Wing

You can now see why a series-based offense is very effective and many coaches run them, especially at the youth and high school level. A good series-based offense will have an answer for whatever the defense throws at them, making it very difficult, if not impossible, for the defense to stop them.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Two former goalies going head-to-head

Melanie Wilson and Kati Jo Spisak, both goalies for A&M's women's soccer team in their times at school here, will be facing each other in the semifinals of the W-League Championship in Rochester, NY tomorrow.
Melanie was at A&M the same time I was, and Kati Jo followed her; I was able to see both of them play, and both of them were and are awesome.
Both are now leading the W-League, Spisak in minutes played, games played, and victories, Wilson in goals against average. Both are tied for the league lead in shutouts.
I have a feeling this game will end 0-0, and go into sudden death overtime.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Criteria for greatness in college football

You know, there are a lot of fans and sportswriters who call a player at different positions 'great', without really defining greatness. Often, we end up with a player who has less than impressive statistics being called 'great', or even 'the best in the nation at his position', simply b/c a sportswriter believed something a coach said about the player, and doesn't know enough about football to intelligently disagree with that coach's assessment.

I have some criteria for greatness, statistical rules I think we should hold a player to before we call him 'great':

  • Quarterback: Must pass for over 2500 yds, minimum, and average more than 200 yds total offense per game, minimum. For example, texas' Colt McCoy, he of the sub-200 yds passing average per game, is not great.
  • Running back: Must average at least 5 yds per carry to be considered great. Must average 100 yds per game over the course of a season. Only exceptions are if the running back in question is playing behind an injury-depleted offensive line, after having shown greatness in a previous season.
  • Wide receiver: Must have over 1000 yds receiving in a season. Only exception is if the WR is in a true spread offense, with 3 or more other receivers averaging over 700 yds receiving, also. In that case, he must have a minimum of 40 receptions for 800 yds, or 20 yds per catch or better.
  • Offensive Line: I'm kind of simplifying this, I know, but must be a dominant run-blocker, and cannot give up more than 1 sack in a season. Greatness is difficult to achieve for linemen.
  • Defensive Tackle: Must have at least 5 sacks and/or 10 tackles for loss before he can be considered great. DTs often face double-teams, but that doesn't mean they should be shutout every game. Great players still make plays.
  • Defensive Ends: Must have 10 or more sacks, and double-digit tackles for loss to be considered great.
  • Linebackers: Minimum 80 tackles to be considered great. Must be dominant in stopping the run game.
  • Cornerbacks: Must get 3 or more interceptions in a season, minimum, before you can be considered for greatness. May not get beat more than once a season, unless it is by an equally great wide receiver.
  • Safeties: Must hit like a truck. Must not get beaten deep, must be able to cover opposing deep threats well. Must make at least 30 tackles over the course of the season. If teams are constantly trying to go deep on you when they aren't behind on the scoreboard, that's a sign of a safety who isn't great.

So, there you have it; my criteria for greatness. I know it doesn't mean anything to sportswriters, but I think if we had more actual criteria to judge players by, we wouldn't see so much bias in sports commentary.