tenth Assistant, O or D or just recruiting?

[blazers]

What do ya'll think we should do with the tenth assistant?

I hear some teams will have a new person only dedicated to recruiting 24/7 , scouting and courting all yr long. But there seem tons of options --

An additional secondary coach. We run so much nickel that the secondary coach winds up with as much intricacy as any other coach. But i hated to hear things like safeties and corners not even in the same film room under Disch and Koenning.

An OC with no specific position group.

An additional WR coach, some places have an inside WR coach and outside WR coach, but that seems weird.

A special teams only person.... list goes on.

 

[KOOL123]

Full time QB coach and OC...

 

[blazers]

Full time QB coach and OC...

what would you do with current QB coach Heck?

 

[WoadBlue]

what would you do with current QB coach Heck?

Everything on offense goes back to Fedora. Every little thing. Hiring a new OC and/or QB coach will be a significant help only if Fedora has realized that 'his offense' aint what he fancies and that he requires new blood, near eyes and ears, new insights on offense.

Fedora promoted Kapliovic to OC because Kapilovic is Fedora's boy. Fedora wanted a Yes Man.

 

[blazers]

Everything on offense goes back to Fedora. Every little thing. Hiring a new OC and/or QB coach will be a significant help only if Fedora has realized that 'his offense' aint what he fancies and that he requires new blood, near eyes and ears, new insights on offense.

Fedora promoted Kapliovic to OC because Kapilovic is Fedora's boy. Fedora wanted a Yes Man.

Dude, are you on the wrong thread? This is a thread about what to do with the new rule which allows a tenth assistant.

 

[wilsinnc]

Everything i have heard points to dre bly being our 10th coach

 

[uncboy10]

Everything i have heard points to dre bly being our 10th coach

Word. Let him coach fundamentals for the secondary and recruit. Young guns would relate to a former player who hasn't been out of the league for half a century.

 

[blazers]

Everything i have heard points to dre bly being our 10th coach

Any word on if he'll be a position coach or ST or what?

 

[wilsinnc]

Any word on if he'll be a position coach or ST or what?

Not sure of the logistics but if he is the one it may be feds best hire to date

 

[WoadBlue]

Everything i have heard points to dre bly being our 10th coach

Is he coaching anywhere now?

 

[blazers]

Is he coaching anywhere now?

He's been an asst high school coach for a few yrs.

 

[riverswe]

Not sure if he can teach or not but he was probably our best corner ever. If we're not going to get an OC (and allow him to run the offense) then I can't believe we'd do better than giving Dre a chance.

 

[blazers]

If we're not going to get an OC then I can't believe we'd do better than giving Dre a chance.

Theoretically we could do both by replacing one of the current offensive staff guys with an OC

 

[KOOL123]

what would you do with current QB coach Heck?

My bad I said that wrong...I would like the OC and QB coach to be the same person...

 

[blazers]

My bad I said that wrong...I would like the OC and QB coach to be the same person...

I gotcha. So if we hire a new OC/QB coach, would you keep Heckendorf or replace him and if you replace him, then what would you do with the 10th assistant?

Jan 9th, the NCAA rules change from allowing us to pay 9 on-field assistants, to 10.

 

[ticket2ride04]

My bad I said that wrong...I would like the OC and QB coach to be the same person...

That is pretty much the case now. Heck is the OC and QB coach. Kap has that title to get paid better. He has some offensive duties, but Fed and Heck do the heavy lifting on the offense.

 

[KOOL123]

That is pretty much the case now. Heck is the OC and QB coach. Kap has that title to get paid better. He has some offensive duties, but Fed and Heck do the heavy lifting on the offense.

So who is calling the plays then...So during practice The Oline has Kaps undivided attention the whole time or does he work as the OC also putting in the game plan for the week...

 

[blazers]

So who is calling the plays then...So during practice The Oline has Kaps undivided attention the whole time or does he work as the OC also putting in the game plan for the week...

During the week, Fed, Kap, Brewer, and Heck are scheming, determining what plays to accentuate and practice. They're determing what they like against the D depending on down & distance. During the game, lots of stuff is scripted and lots of the play calls are based on down & distance. I don't think it is totally obvious who is calling which exact play on a particular drive (for example a fast-paced hunh drive), but Fed probably has plenty of input, and again the options of plays to choose from are largely down & distance based.

Supposedly this approach was even similar under Blake and Littrell.

 

[ticket2ride04]

During the week, Fed, Kap, Brewer, and Heck are scheming, determining what plays to accentuate and practice. They're determing what they like against the D depending on down & distance. During the game, lots of stuff is scripted and lots of the play calls are based on down & distance. I don't think it is totally obvious who is calling which exact play on a particular drive (for example a fast-paced hunh drive), but Fed probably has plenty of input, and again the options of plays to choose from are largely down & distance based.

Supposedly this approach was even similar under Blake and Littrell.

This is how I understand it. People forget we are in our 3rd OC in 6 years with Fed. His offense is so good, guys get their chance at HC jobs. He is grooming Heck to be the full-time OC, but he's still young and learning. I find it amusing that we have one down year on offense and people start to question our HC who has proven to be an offensive genius.

Never mind that we lost 90% of our offense before the injuries starters piling up.

 

[blazers]

This is how I understand it. People forget we are in our 3rd OC in 6 years with Fed. His offense is so good, guys get their chance at HC jobs. He is grooming Heck to be the full-time OC, but he's still young and learning. I find it amusing that we have one down year on offense and people start to question our HC who has proven to be an offensive genius.

Never mind that we lost 90% of our offense before the injuries starters piling up.

You say "one down yr" but the plays seemed different in 2016 compared to previous yrs. It kinda felt like it was all on Mitch's arm or nothing. Maybe this was due to personnel differences or the OL interior not being great, but it felt different.

I'm not worried about Fed offensively, but the overall mix of O coaches seemed to be a little more creative or something in the Blake and Seth yrs.

 

[riverswe]

I thought we had already hashed this out but Kap is the OC, not Heck. And when Kap talks about his guys he's talking about the entire offense, not just the O line. I'm sure Heck has lots of input too and may call the plays before Kap and Fed weigh in but he's not the OC. The offense has been good but I thought it was down last year compared to the talent we had and it was certainly down this year - and a couple of O linemen and a more experienced QB wouldn't have put it in the really good category. The O has gone backwards since Kap was made OC IMO, as has the O line.

 

[ticket2ride04]

You say "one down yr" but the plays seemed different in 2016 compared to previous yrs. It kinda felt like it was all on Mitch's arm or nothing. Maybe this was due to personnel differences or the OL interior not being great, but it felt different.

I'm not worried about Fed offensively, but the overall mix of O coaches seemed to be a little more creative or something in the Blake and Seth yrs.

Last year gelatin differently for a few reasons:

- Quide wasn’t rushing
- Hood was Hurt
- Landon Turner graduated
- Mack got hurt
- It was Mitch’s first year starting

We should have been worse in my estimation but Mitch held it together.

I thought we had already hashed this out but Kap is the OC, not Heck. And when Kap talks about his guys he's talking about the entire offense, not just the O line. I'm sure Heck has lots of input too and may call the plays before Kap and Fed weigh in but he's not the OC. The offense has been good but I thought it was down last year compared to the talent we had and it was certainly down this year - and a couple of O linemen and a more experienced QB wouldn't have put it in the really good category. The O has gone backwards since Kap was made OC IMO, as has the O line.

Heck is more involved now and will be so in the future. He is the understudy to Larry. Kap’s role is the Oline and some offensive fundamentals. But Larry and Heck are 1 & 2

 

[NoLaHeel]

He's been an asst high school coach for a few yrs.

This season (training camp and pre-season) he was a DB intern coach with the Saints down here. I went watched a little, and I think he could be really good. He oozes confidence like he did when he played, and the DB's here in NoLa have been better than I've seen in a long time. Not sure how much he's actually responsible for as he was just an intern of course. But something to think about for sure.

 

[riverswe]

Last year gelatin differently for a few reasons:

- Quide wasn’t rushing
- Hood was Hurt
- Landon Turner graduated
- Mack got hurt
- It was Mitch’s first year starting

We should have been worse in my estimation but Mitch held it together.

Sounds like a lot of excuses to me. With MT, Hood, Logan, Switz, Mack, Bug and Proehl and a fairly established O line we should have moved the ball at will last year. That's about as much talent as we can expect to have on offense.

Heck is more involved now and will be so in the future. He is the understudy to Larry. Kap’s role is the Oline and some offensive fundamentals. But Larry and Heck are 1 & 2

Hopefully Kap knows this because it doesn't sound like he does in his interviews. Also, if Fed made Kap the OC but doesn't allow him to do OC duties he's just setting things up for another problem. Kind of like when Disch and Vic both thought they ran the D (and we all know how successful that was).

 

[TVJ]

I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned what seemed to me to be a glaring need this past season - strength and conditioning. I don't know whether that calls for a new coach or what, but it was obvious when we couldn't hold early leads in several games. We wore out. And I know that injuries and lack of depth and experience were factors in that also - you can decide for yourself the balance between S&C and depth as causes. But IMO we definitely need significant improvement in S&C.

 

[blazers]

Last year gelatin differently for a few reasons:

Losing Turner and Ferranto were huge. And we now know they didn't dare run trubisky and an injury to (didn't trust Elliot).

I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned what seemed to me to be a glaring need this past season - strength and conditioning. I don't know whether that calls for a new coach or what, but it was obvious when we couldn't hold early leads in several games. We wore out. And I know that injuries and lack of depth and experience were factors in that also - you can decide for yourself the balance between S&C and depth as causes. But IMO we definitely need significant improvement in S&C.

First, strength and conditioning can be just as much about the Jimmys/Joes as the S&C coach.
Second, I think having consecutive 3 & outs were a big problem that needs to be added to the equation when looking at GT or Notre or VT. Vs NCSU we just didn't have enough solid, healthy linebackers. We had inexperienced linebackers playing as part of a dime package most of the game...

 

[riverswe]

S&C also shows up in the missed tackles (along with technique). Those happened starting play 1 most games. It could also have something to do with the size of our defense.

 

[blazers]

S&C also shows up in the missed tackles (along with technique). Those happened starting play 1 most games. It could also have something to do with the size of our defense.

I'm still not convinced this is something you can pin on the S&C program either. Missed tackles could just as easily be about jimmys/joes taking bad angles, coaches not having guys in position, etc. Missed tackles often look like a failure to wrap up and hold on, but they are often do to people being a step late or a step in the wrong direction.

 

[riverswe]

agreed but there are many types of missed tackles. some of ours are just guys pulling away from our defenders grasp or running through them. probably more are guys out of position or taking bad angles though and never really getting a good shot at the tackle.

 

[WoadBlue]

He's been an asst high school coach for a few yrs.

That's what I thought.

He was a great player, but we have real needs for college coaches. The reason to take some HS coach and add him to a college staff is if he clearly a brilliant HS coach. Gus Malzahn and Chad Morris are the great examples.

If Bly had been a very successful HS HC whose teams had been dominant, and dominant because of the D, with it at least likely being due to something Bly has developed in coaching (say, innovations in pass defense), then adding him as DB coach would make sense.

 

[WoadBlue]

I'm still not convinced this is something you can pin on the S&C program either. Missed tackles could just as easily be about jimmys/joes taking bad angles, coaches not having guys in position, etc. Missed tackles often look like a failure to wrap up and hold on, but they are often do to people being a step late or a step in the wrong direction.

And players either not wrapping as they hit or only using arms without a hit.

Each is poor fundamentals. And when you see over several years, it is a problem with the entire D staff and the HC.

And then we have the huge number of false starts, year after year.

 

[blazers]

And players either not wrapping as they hit or only using arms without a hit.

Each is poor fundamentals. And when you see over several years, it is a problem with the entire D staff and the HC.

And then we have the huge number of false starts, year after year.

If you are in the wrong spot, how do you have your the ability to use good technique and fundamentals? You can have amazing fundamentals and technique on a stationary dummy, but if you are juked and therefore a step late, or due to low ball-iq you take bad angles, your form isn't going to be good.

Why is it that some guys on our teams are better tacklers than others? The answer is "Jimmys & Joes". Cayson is a tackling machine this yr, while in the past he'd out of position and barely touch guys with his arms. Could be that Coach Eckeler is awesome, but Collins himself said he had trouble with the mental part of the game.

I love how quickly people are to blame S&C and coaching instead of the player. Guys like Travis Hughes, Cayson Collins and Kareem Martin (didn't explode til last half of his sr yr) are reminders that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

 

[riverswe]

blazers, I think there is definitely merit in your argument but it can't apply to all the players on the D. I think the jimmy/joes that just can't pick it up fall way down on the depth chart. I can't see how all the starters fall into that category - and if they do we have recruiting issues. I'm basing some of the S&C stuff on just the eye test. To me it seems like our defensive guys generally look smaller and less put together than the other teams we play (minus ODU, WCU, etc.). Also based on guys pulling out of arm tackles and who gets knocked backward on head to head hits. I also like to base a lot of the S&C observations on the first half of games, since the D is on the field quite a bit (whether we are good or bad on offense).

 

[franklin street]

And players either not wrapping as they hit or only using arms without a hit.

Each is poor fundamentals. And when you see over several years, it is a problem with the entire D staff and the HC.

And then we have the huge number of false starts, year after year.

who's coaching crest?

 

[franklin street]

or mallard creek?

 

[uncboy10]

blazers, I think there is definitely merit in your argument but it can't apply to all the players on the D. I think the jimmy/joes that just can't pick it up fall way down on the depth chart. I can't see how all the starters fall into that category - and if they do we have recruiting issues. I'm basing some of the S&C stuff on just the eye test. To me it seems like our defensive guys generally look smaller and less put together than the other teams we play (minus ODU, WCU, etc.). Also based on guys pulling out of arm tackles and who gets knocked backward on head to head hits. I also like to base a lot of the S&C observations on the first half of games, since the D is on the field quite a bit (whether we are good or bad on offense).

Genetics play a much bigger factor in size and strength than effort in the weight room does. The best players will respond to strength training more so than a player with less genetic potential.

The science of strength training is pretty much nailed down at this point. I doubt there is a single D1 program in the country that is really lacking in that area.

Aerobic fitness is a different issue. Guys have to put in the work for that.

 

[sctarheel30]

What about Thigpen?

 

[riverswe]

Seems like very few of the guys coming out of high school are at the size/strength they need to be to play at P5 level. Once at school the staff starts trying to build them up while maintaining or increasing quickness and speed. Without a doubt genetics and individual desire play a big role in how quickly this happens and how successful it is. It is hard for me to imagine that all the D1 schools are equal in how successful they are in accomplishing this.

 

[blazers]

Any new rumors? I've heard thigpen, bly, or one of the grad assistants, but it's all guesswork.

 

[riverswe]

May be waiting to see if there's any assistant/position coach turnover before deciding. With all the HC turnover this year I would think there would be a lot of movement at the assistant/position coach level too. Haven't heard much about our assistant/position coaches being courted. In a way that's good but in another way it's not.